ql superbomber and m-crunch ..and more things

Anything QL Software or Programming Related.
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dilwyn
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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by dilwyn »

nikosdoykas wrote: SO WHAT ABOUT SUPERBOMBER????
Well, it was from Talent, and some of RWAP's games box sets on SellMyRetro.com have Talent programs. I don't see SuperBomber among them, may be worth asking RWAP if he has any plans to add SuperBomber.

Maybe it's more of a problem getting permission to re-release it?


RWAP
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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by RWAP »

I have SuperBomber yes, but didn't think it worth releasing this as part of the games box sets, as we already offer Deathstrike (which is very similar).

I have been trying to get Dolezal (the owner of Talent+) to agree to release his utilities as freeware, but he never answers when I ask that! I will try again (when I get some time to do QL related stuff that doesn't pay any bills) and ask about Superbomber, which was supplied with "RAM Disk & Spooler" and "BASICally"


nikosdoykas
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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by nikosdoykas »

was a freeware then.........
why not now????


Martin_Head
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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by Martin_Head »

dilwyn wrote:
nikosdoykas wrote:hello i got a qubata(qubide) so.......... i can unzip on a real ql and the both files so i can try the comparization to areal ql? and the medic? so i see that the medic has 4 files........ i presume that can be run from win1_medic xmm ... i will mece the unzip to a real ql and i will feed back for ALL
now about the super bomber?????
Well done for getting most of the programs to work on win1_!

It is always difficult with these programs which were written before the days of WIN and directories on the QL.

If the code contains no reference to drive names, there is a good chance you can edit the BOOT program to change MDV1_ to WIN1_MEDIC_ (or whatever). For example, in M-Crunch boot line 49 there is a reference to MDV1_ in the LBYTES statement. This type of change is easy for someone with experience of editing BASIC programs. But as the boot program contains some POKEs it is very unlikely that the game would run on anything other than an original BBQL, for example not on a Minerva system with secnd screen active.

It's always more difficult when a machine code program from the old days refers to a drive name to load pictures, fonts or high score tables or configuration information. It's hard to alter the code to make room for a longer drive and directory name, so then you have to resort to substitution tricks such as using the DEV or SUB devices on systems which supply those so that you can fool the system into temporarily thinking that MDV1_ is really WIn1_medic_, for example. Reading manuals or articles about DEV or SUB may help. A rule of thumb is that you define which drive and directory the DEV or SUB device refers to, then alter its name to the device being substituted. For example, with DEV device:

DEV_USE 1,win1_medic_
DEV_USE 2,win1_medic_
DEV_USE "mdv"

What happens after those three commands is that the system thinks that when you type MDV1_ that you really mean win1_medic_ so that DIR MDV1_ for example gives you a list of files on win1_medic_ - commands like LOAD, SAVE, LBYTES will all be "fooled" in this way. It is a kind of last ditch way of forcing older software to work from directories. The example given makes MDV1_ and MDV2_ refer to the same directory, but can be different if you wish by giving different names after DEV_USE 1 and DEV_USE 2.

The DEV device was built into the ROMs of some Miracle Systems interfaces and may well be in the Tetroid clones too (not sure, I don't have one, maybe Vitaly will confirm?).

For systems which don't have DEV, there is a dev_rext you can download from somewhere on my website, I think it might be on the Toolkits page http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/tk/index.html. It's not as comprehensive as the Miracle version, but suffices in most cases.

An article about DEV is available on my site at http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/docs/articles/index.html
What about the MDI driver http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/utils/MDIdriver107.zip I have never tried it on a 'real' QL, but I don't see why it would not work.

Create an image file on WIN1_, mount it as MDI1_, copy the game files to MDI1_, Then use MDI_USE mdv

Then RUN mdv1_boot

You should not have to change any of the drive references in the game. You might come unstuck if there is some kinds of copy protection .


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dilwyn
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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by dilwyn »

Thanks Martin, that's another method which can work with the majority of systems which have enough memory and, as you say, software which is not copy-protected.

Hope someone, somewhere is keeping a record of all these methods for running older programs on modern systems!


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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by RWAP »

nikosdoykas wrote:was a freeware then.........
why not now????
No it wasn't a freeware then - it was just included on the microdrives for two commercial programs by Talent (which were written by the same author) as an extra

You had to buy one of the commercial titles to get it, so the author still received his royalty.


nikosdoykas
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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by nikosdoykas »

i will try to run mdi driver to a REAL QL


nikosdoykas
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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by nikosdoykas »

MDI ITS VERY HARD TO RUN ON A REAL QL MANY SUBROUTINES... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :cry: :cry: :?
BY THE WAY THANKS RICH MELLOR AND Dilwyn Jones ABOUT THE ADVISES AND OFCOURCE THE GAME :) :) :) :) :)


Martin_Head
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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by Martin_Head »

nikosdoykas wrote:MDI ITS VERY HARD TO RUN ON A REAL QL MANY SUBROUTINES... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :cry: :cry: :?
What happens? Does it run at all? Or is it a speed issue?

My QL's are mothballed. And I don't have a QL with a hard drive any more. So trying it myself is problematic.

If it's a speed issue, I doubt that I can do anything about it. You could try either of the FDI drivers that you can find in same place, that emulate a floppy drive. But they work in the same way, so speed would also likely be an issue.


nikosdoykas
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Re: ql superbomber and m-crunch

Post by nikosdoykas »

MDI RUNNING ON A REAL QL FROM QUBIDE....
very nice program runs on folder on win1
its easy because a had time to read the manual 3 times......


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