zlhb0a@apctrc.uucp (Lawrence H. Brown) (10/18/88)
In article <10094@cup.portal.com> Richard_Alan_Kaapke@cup.portal.com writes:
=
=I suspect Dungeon Master will be about as heavily copy protected as
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^<--strike one
=Discovery Software's ARKANOID. I think (for memory reasons) they
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^<---??Wha? Strike two
=will shut down multitasking. I know for certain this is a 1 megabyte
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^<---(see below) strike THREE!
=program! Also, the sound effects are in stereo and are vastly expanded
(FLAME ON)
I don't have any beef with the copy protection issue, provided there is a way
to load it onto a hard disk (not bloody damn likely). Even a read from manual
or (gasp) codewheel is fine.
The amiga can handle up to 8 megs, roughly. This program only uses 1 meg.
I find it very unlikely that it is truely a memory reason, its probably more
along the line of copy protection and a sloppy programming job that doesn't
cater to a multitasking environment (amoung other things for instance, the
ability to pause the game, switch screens, and do something else for a while).
I think this is bullsh-t. Why can't they program this? Smokescreen city.
(Side note, now that D-cksc-very is in the game business, notice how they
dropped Maurader?)
(FLAME OFF)
I like Discovery. They have written some good programs. I was
impressed with Zoom (saw it at a user group meeting) and thought it was a
flashy game. We should continue to support them but we (IMHO) should
also encourage them to write programs that work in a multitasking environment.
Responses and flames welcome. I know I sure don't have all the answers...
Lawrence H. Brown
USENET: ...!uunet!apctrc!zlhb0a or zlhb0a@apctrc.uucp (?)
Phone: (918-660-4389) 24 hrs, voice. USmail: 7325 E. 50th, Tulsa, OK 74145
"No. Amiga is not dead. Hell, it's not even tired."---Leo L. Schwabthad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (10/20/88)
Whoa! Someone just said they liked ZOOM. I did, too, when I saw it in the store. I really did. So I bought a copy (ZOOM, by Discovery Software, the prior purveyors of the Marauder program). ZOOM does *NOT* function on a 68020- or a 68030-equipped Amiga. My suspicion as to the nature of the problem is self-modifying code, in complete controversion of the Amiga Programming Guidelines issued at the FIRST Amiga Developers' Conference in Monterey, California, May 1985, and re-iterated in all the RKM and other publications. To those who've sent me mail in this regards (programs not functioning on the 68020 and 68030 Amigas), I haven't forgotten your email (it's still stacked up hre in my mailbox), it's just that I'm putting together a comprehensive list of software that violates Amiga programming guidelines. I'm re-running EVERYTHING I have. Don't laugh; for a while I purchased EVERYTHING that was being published for the Amiga until I became weary of being burned time and time and time again. People in this area (Silicon Valley) still joke (and I laugh along with them!) of how I used to follow the UPS trucks around just to be the first to have some new Amiga software the instant it would arrive at the dealer (our dealer is HT Electronics in Sunnyvale, CA). One person pestered Psygnosis DAILY with long-distance phone calls to England just to get a 68020-usable version of BARBARIAN; this was Ken Hodel. And let us not forget Chuck McManis' comments : "CRAZY CARS" in which the code calls Kickstart routines directly ... anyone get CRAZY CARS to work under 1.3 yet? :-) A *LOT* of people (at least in this area) have 68010, 68020 and 68030 Amigas, and we're ALL Amiga Fanatics, serious users, etc. No one ever complained about their computer operating too fast. So it's DISGUSTING how some software producers screw the Amiga and the people who buy Amiga-related products. Don't they realize we WILL publicize their sins? Stay tuned for my list of offending software (before the end of the month); some of the names on that list WILL surprise you. Thad Floryan [thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ...!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad]
t-stephp@microsoft.UUCP (Stephen Poole) (10/22/88)
>ZOOM does *NOT* function on a 68020- or a 68030-equipped Amiga. > >My suspicion as to the nature of the problem is self-modifying code, in I occasionally run into the same problem with some Mac software. Self modifying code, if it fails on the 68020, is generally due to the instruction cache. Have you tried disabling it and then running the offending software? That solution has worked on at least two Mac packages that I've played with. >Thad Floryan [thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ...!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad] -- -- Stephen D. Poole -- t-stephp@microsoft.UUCP -- Mac II Fanatic -- -- -- -- I'm just an Oregon Tech Software Engineering co-op at Micro- -- -- soft. Believe me, nobody here pays attention to my opinions! --
thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) (10/23/88)
Stephen Poole writes:
``
I occasionally run into the same problem with some Mac software. Self
modifying code, if it fails on the 68020, is generally due to the
instruction cache. Have you tried disabling it and then running the
offending software? That solution has worked on at least two Mac
packages that I've played with.
''
Though the following sequence serves to "reboot" the system (Amiga A1000) and
bypasses autoconfiguring of expansion RAM (for use with programs that don't
peacefully coexist with expansion memory):
XREF _AbsExecBase * ptr to ptr to ExecBase
XREF _LVOSuperState * offset for SuperState()
movea.l _AbsExecBase,a6 * get ptr to ExecBase
jsr _LVOSuperState(a6) * do SuperState();
jmp $F80000 * jump to Amiga ROM start
END
I haven't successfully managed to "boot" a game disk with the instruction
cache of an '020 disabled. Some game programs (e.g. JET) can be started
manually from, say, DF1:, which permits one to disable the instruction cache
before starting the game, but ZOOM is not one of these.
Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]