Can't get Amberstar to work.

I went to Thalion's, the creator of Amberstar, website and found the english .ADF's for Amberstar but unfortunately they are only the install disks whereas the german ones that seem to be in abundance all over the net have both the actual game versions and install versions but since I don't understand german that is a closed route for me. I have tried installing the english version to newly formatted game disks but all I get is a black screen when I run them. I then tried creating hard drives within WinUAE and installing the game there but I keep getting a "not enough space" error when I do that. Has anyone got Amberstar to successfully run using WinUAE, the english version of the game that is? If so could you give me some pointers. Thanks.

Jason

[DamienD]

Hello Lambizkit,

Welcome to EAB

I read your other thread today... Unfortunately I still only use .ADF or .IPF files so don't have any experience with hard drive directories or hardfiles. I'm sure some members here will be able to help you though

Thought I'd try to get the .ADF files working though so I downloaded the originals from alexh's excellent Thalion Webshrine then set about formatting and installing the game onto floppy. After completion, rebooted and then had exactly the same issue as you i.e. blank screen and but can hear music playing

Tried quite a few different configuration options like Chipset type, Misc chipset options and RAM but alas I didn't find success...

Anyone else had any luck with the installing and playing the game from .ADF?

Thanks DamienD.

You know, I guess I could always download the PC port of Amberstar but I hear that the Amiga version is better in terms of graphics and sound. Playing the DOS version would be a last resort for me.

Emulating the Amiga has had to be the most difficult time I've ever head emulating anything in my life. I've gotten numerous games to work by using disk swap but the hard drive thing is enough to make me go insane hehehe.

[Retro-Nerd]

Hi Lambizkit,

you should try the WHDLoad version of Amberstar, together with a preinstalled Classic WB.

http://classicwb.abime.net/

http://wiki.abime.net/amiga:whdload_faq_by_codyjarrett

Get the preinstalled WHDLoad Amberstar here:

http://www.whdownload.com/games.php?name=a&sort=0&dir=0

[Jerry]

Hi Lambizkit,
I tried a different floppy version because the webshrine seems to be down. I encountered the same problem. I must confess, that I never played the english version but I can't remember having any problems with the german one. However it seems that it works ok with kickstart >= 2.0. So if you don't want to go the whdload route and have kickstart at hand, you could try that.

[Retro-Nerd]

Originally Posted by Jerry

Hi Lambizkit,
However it seems that it works ok with kickstart >= 2.0. So if you don't want to go the whdload route and have kickstart at hand, you could try that.

That's true. I remember this thread, very strange that only KS 2.0 works with WinUAE.


http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...ight=Amberstar

@Damien

Do you remember?

[alexh]

You'd be mad to play Amberstar from floppy disks in WinUAE, it has a hard disk installer built in!

Amberstar was written before CPU accelerators were invented and doesnt like cpu's with CACHE. But it works 100% if you switch off caches.

If you are using a real amiga and you can switch off caches using the early startup menu (hold down left and right mouse buttons).

If you are running from hard disk, you can modify the Amberstar ICONX script to switch off the CPU cache before running Amberstar, and put them back on once finished (or you can use the WHDload version).

I'll try the latest WinUAE 1.4.4 later today and see if Amberstar installer is still broken in WinUAE.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Jerry

the webshrine seems to be down

Thalion Webshrine is back online.

[jharrison]

ok here goes:

insert 2.05 rom
expand chip memory to 2MB
disable slow memory

it seems to work! other configs may also work but this is what i tried first

[jharrison]

if you insist on playing with a 1.3 kick, i may have a temp solution:

load disk A (german version) until screen with thalion emblem, then replace with english version you have created.

[andreas]

"insist on playing" is a good one
There are some people who are forced to use 1.3: those with their REAL mem-expanded A500s!
(Yes these machines are reported to still exist; unless I am meeting trouble halfway and 10 years from now, WinUAE might have characteristics of Google Inc.: = full autarchy over the world )

[macce2]

Has anyone had problems loading / running Amberstar on faster (060) machines ?!
I'm unable to load the game on my A4000 ( OS 3.9, 060) from floppies;
and the WHDload installed version(s) have a sound / music related problem:
There's noticeable clipping when playing the game music.
Shame the game has very good music overall, I think..
Regarding the WHDload installed versions of Amberstar;
I have tried both the Chip memory version and the Fast:
same result, the music has very disturbing "clipping" (= kind of " beeping"; dont know the exact word).
Im very keen in knowing, if someone else has had similar problems, when playing Amberstar in more "exotic" setups...

[mrv2k]

Originally Posted by macce2

Has anyone had problems loading / running Amberstar on faster (060) machines ?!
I'm unable to load the game on my A4000 ( OS 3.9, 060) from floppies;
and the WHDload installed version(s) have a sound / music related problem:
There's noticeable clipping when playing the game music.
Shame the game has very good music overall, I think..
Regarding the WHDload installed versions of Amberstar;
I have tried both the Chip memory version and the Fast:
same result, the music has very disturbing "clipping" (= kind of " beeping"; dont know the exact word).
Im very keen in knowing, if someone else has had similar problems, when playing Amberstar in more "exotic" setups...

Sounds like a timing issue. Have you tried it with the NOCACHE tooltype in the icon?

[alexh]

If you want to run Amberstar on 020+ CPUs all you need to do is turn the cache off.

The built in HD installer on the floppy disks is good enough, no WHDload required, I've played the GB v1.96 through several times on Amiga A4000 + A3640 using just the supplied HD installer doing nothing else but turning the caches off.

You can do this easily by editing the IconX script that is associated with the Amberstar Icon and add this line :

cpu NOCACHE

Or use your favourite CPU control tool.

[macce2]

Ok, it seems I can't get Amberstar installer to work on my 060 system..
It crashes when entering the character creation screen.
Tried with cpu caches turned off, same result !?

[alexh]

I'll have a look at it but I can only try WinUAE 060 emulation.

It might be worth installing using WinUAE and transferring to Amiga to play while I investigate.

I only ever used 040 when I played.

Which version are you using? English v1.96?

[alexh]

Originally Posted by macce2

the WHDload installed version(s) have a sound / music related problem: There's noticeable clipping when playing the game music. Shame the game has very good music overall, I think..
Regarding the WHDload installed versions of Amberstar;
I have tried both the Chip memory version and the Fast:
same result, the music has very disturbing "clipping" (= kind of " beeping"; dont know the exact word).

Please report it on WHDload Mantis and maybe someone will investigate.

http://mantis.whdload.de/search.php?...e_status_id=-2

[macce2]

First, I must add the sound problem I reported doesn't appear on the ( WHDload installed) game title music / screen, only during gameplay.

@alexh

Excusez-moi, but should I start a new issue on MantisBT,
or should I only add note(-s) to existing ones ..?!
I guess I'd need to learn a little about using MantisBT first..

[alexh]

New one

[macce2]

Ok, Mantis bug report created !