amiga-news.de - Archive

Archive 11/2022

`09.Nov.2022`	Jump'n Run: Minky V1.3 Minky (Video) is a Jump'n Run similar to Super Mario or Giana Sisters, which requires an Amiga 500 with one Megabyte RAM (amiga-news.de reported). In version 1.3 "strange crashes were removed when throwing a ball and jumping at same time". (dr) [News message: 09. Nov. 2022, 05:29] [Comments: 0] [Send via e-mail] [Print version] [ASCII version]
`09.Nov.2022` Twitter	RastPort: KA02 - Improved version of external PCMCIA adapter Grzegorz Kraszewski's RastPort designs and manufactures accesories and expansions for Amiga computers. At the end of 2018, he had presented his project "KA02": a PCMCIA adapter for the Amiga 1200 in a standard desktop case. With the adapter, the PCMCIA card is placed vertically on the side of the Amiga and thus takes up much less space on the desk. Now he has published on Twitter a first photo of a variant that has an improved plug-in part. Inserting it into the slot is much easier that way, he says. (dr) [News message: 09. Nov. 2022, 04:49] [Comments: 0] [Send via e-mail] [Print version] [ASCII version]
`09.Nov.2022` Amigans	Metacompiler: Portabl E r6 Christopher Handley's metacompiler "Portabl E" - now written with spaces - works by translating your code written with the programming language Amiga E into C++, and then using GCC to compile it into an executable. This needs an installation of GCC. Please read his official press release: Portabl E is my recreation of the AmigaE programming language, along with most of the improvements I have wanted. Portabl E works on AmigaOS4, AROS, MorphOS, as well as even Linux & Windows! (It should also work on AmigaOS3, but compiling needs a powerful machine like WinUAE.) This is the finished r6 release, with the "beta" tag removed (amiga-news.de reported), although it hasn't really been beta since the last couple of release. See the main manual for what has changed since r5. The biggest changes since the last r6 beta release include: Added basic Linux support (64bit x86 only), to the same level as Windows, i.e. Shell-only, with no graphics or internet access. This was a major effort, partly due to all the differences (64-bit pointers, case-sensitive filing system, mount-points anywhere, etc), and partly due to all the C headers that needed to be converted. Linux: PEGCC now supports cross-compilation (for Amiga & Windows) using the TargetOS parameter, as long as an appropriate GCC cross-compiler is installed. Programs will now compile using the latest SDK of AmigaOS4, AROS and MorphOS. All OS procedures that can support unlimited parameters now do so, including the Amiga's SystemTags(). AmigaOS3: No-longer needs a modified "intuition/classusr.h" file. Added the 'std/pUnsigned' module, to provide basic support for unsigned number types, and the example program "Examples/std/Shell/crc32.e". Useful for porting certain C algorithms. Added the procedures InStrNoCase(), BigMax(), BigMin(), BigFastMod(), IsBigEndian() & IsLittleEndian(). In 'std/pTime', improved CurrentTime() to take a timezone parameter. Fixed FastNew() (and so NEW) which would trash memory, instead of raising the "MEM" exception, if it failed to allocate memory. Thanks to Dimitris Panokostas for reporting symptoms of this long-standing bug, especially as I don't see out-of-memory errors on the OSes I normally use. Amiga: The installer would fail at "Copying executables..." if the user-specified path for executables did not contain any (sub) folders, such as "C:" (which sadly was the default). Many thanks to "Zendarion" for the bug report. Windows: In 'std/pTime', CurrentTime() now returns the correct time when DST is in effect. I've renamed the language from "PortablE" to "Portabl E" with a space, in the hope of making it more easily searchable on the internet (as well as clarifying how to pronounce it). But the "PortablE" command name itself is unchanged. The new version can be downloaded under the title link or via OS4Depot. (dr) [News message: 09. Nov. 2022, 04:40] [Comments: 2 - 15. Nov. 2022, 08:45] [Send via e-mail] [Print version] [ASCII version]
`08.Nov.2022`	Preview video: Amiga port of "Cecconoid" Earlier this year, musician, DJ and developer 'Hoffman' had released the vertical-scrolling shooter Knightmare, originally written for the MSX and published by Konami, as an Amiga port (amiga-news.de reported). His new project is the port of the game "Cecconoid", originally released by "Triple Eh?": "an 8-bit inspired, flick-screen, twin-stick-shooter, set in an alternate dimension where the pixels are still chunky, and the bad guys are black and white." A Twitch recording now gives an impression of the game. As the author tells us when asked, about 85% of the game is finished. First and foremost, an integrated sub game "Eugatron" and the game's soundtrack are still missing. (dr) [News message: 08. Nov. 2022, 03:47] [Comments: 0] [Send via e-mail] [Print version] [ASCII version]
`08.Nov.2022`	Video interview: Jens Schönfeld talked about acceletator board projects At this year's AmiWest among other things an interview between Bill Borsari and Jens Schönfeld was planned, which couldn't take place due to technical difficulties. This has now been made up for via Jitsi and published on YouTube. The two mainly talked about the ACA1240/1260 turbo cards first announced by Individual Computers at the end of December 2018, of which the first pictures of the cooling system were shown a year later. As Schoenfeld reports, 18 boards of the fifth prototype "release candidate" status of the ACA1240 have currently been built and are now undergoing various tests again. This version has 256MB SD-RAM and does not need a separate power supply, but is designed to work with the standard power supply of the A1200. Schoenfeld explained that despite the higher clock speed, DDR memory would bring more disadvantages than advantages for this processor, and the apparently slower SD-RAM would have noticeable advantages that would make a 68040-40 faster in some (albeit few) disciplines than a 68060-50 on a 1990s board. The fan would be barely audible due to the generously sized heatsink and temperature control. One thing would still have to be checked before serial production could start: the correct functionality of the MicroSD card slot. His announcement at Amiga37 that the delivery could be done by Christmas seems unlikely at the moment, because the responsible employee was sick first and now has to take care of family matters. However, he hopes to be able to start production this year. The price for the smallest version with a 68040/25MHz CPU should be around 500 Euros. Versions with other CPUs may greatly increase the price. The capacity of the FPGA has been chosen so that there is room for future extensions. The circuit has already been checked so far that access to all signals is possible, which are necessary for planned (but not yet publicly known) extensions. The technology is similar to the Flickerfixer products from iComp: New features can be easily added via software update. Among other things, this was the reason why there were so many different prototypes: The interface for communication with the Amiga 1200 was completely new developed and contains a "quite sophisticated logic". So even theoretical maximum values (seven megabytes per second) can be reached when accessing the Chip RAM, independent of the processor's speed. There would likewise be considerations to develop a dedicated graphics card that fits equally for different processors on the ACA1240/1260. Only a "proof of concept" circuit exists here so far, which has confirmed the stability of the memory while using the "fast GFX" port. When asked by Bill Borsari, Schönfeld confirmed that the specifications for this port can also be opened to other companies. Schönfeld spontaneously mentioned the name Lukas Hartmann, owner of the company mntmn, known for the graphics card ZZ9000. Schönfeld described the ACA1240/1260 as "hackable" when asked because it is always equipped with a socket for the processor. However, a sale without a processor is not planned for warranty reasons. He advises customers who want to use their own 68060 processor to buy the cheapest version with 68040/25MHz. Finally, he showed a very early prototype of the ACA600: This should fit into the case of the Amiga 600 including connected Amiga1200 turbo card and floppy drive. It should be developed as inexpensive as possible (50-60 Euro) and bring 8 MB RAM. Two use cases are planned: the usage with ACA12xx acceletator board to build a very powerful ECS Amiga the usage as ROM/RAM extension without an A1200 turbo card The motivation for this new board is that the A600 is not fully A500 compatible and changes to the memory layout and Kickstart version are necessary to run certain (mostly older) A500 titles on the A600. Not only different Kickstart versions are included in the flash of the ACA600, but also other software. Schönfeld mentions the software equipment of the ACA1234, which brings the essential tools for the data transfer between other computers and the Amiga, as a comparison. According to Schönfeld, this has already had a lot of positive feedback from customers. The feature set of the ACA500plus should not be replicated with the ACA600, because many features of the ACA500plus are already included in the A600: The computer can boot from the internal IDE port, for which a CF card adapter is available. The PCMCIA slot can be equipped with another CF card adapter, for which the ACA600 only comes with the drivers, which can be used without further installation. According to Schönfeld, this also works if the floppy drive is defective and there is no other way to exchange data with other computers. (dr) [News message: 08. Nov. 2022, 03:42] [Comments: 0] [Send via e-mail] [Print version] [ASCII version]
`07.Nov.2022`	AmigaOS 4: Porting WebKit started According to George 'walkero' Sokianos in his recent Ko-Fi blog entry, he has frozen most of his projects to devote himself entirely to porting WebKit to AmigaOS 4. The goal, he said, is to provide WebKit as a dynamic or static library that can be used in any kind of application such as a new web browser or email client. Since this involves a mountain of tasks that is almost impossible to keep track of, he has gathered a small team around him and divided the tasks into small intermediate steps. The starting point was the WebKitty port used by the Wayfarer browser under MorphOS, which was created by Jacek Piszczek, because in his opinion MorphOS and AmigaOS 4 are very similar as operating systems. He has created a fork of WebKitty and set up a project so that everyone can take a look at the progress and status of the port. They are also using the repository's wiki pages to document as much as possible. He said he wants to work hard on this and see where it leads. If nothing tangible comes out of it, at least the efforts will be documented and someone else can continue the work at some point. (dr) [News message: 07. Nov. 2022, 06:38] [Comments: 0] [Send via e-mail] [Print version] [ASCII version]
`07.Nov.2022`	Dungeon Crawler: "Black Dawn Technomage" (AGA) released "Black Dawn: Technomage" (video) is the sequel to Black Dawn Rebirth, developed by the same team, and now available. The game requires an AGA Amiga and can be purchased for at least about 11,40 Euro. (dr) [News message: 07. Nov. 2022, 04:53] [Comments: 0] [Send via e-mail] [Print version] [ASCII version]
`07.Nov.2022`	AmigaOS 4.1: HiRes set of mouse pointers On Amiga-Look (amiga-news.de reported),'levellord' has released "a modern hires set of pointer presets for Amiga 4.1 operating system loosely based on a DMZ-White and Quintom pointers for Linux. Pointers are optimized for 1080p and there are three different sizes of 18px, 20px and 24px all in red, white and black base colors with white/black outlines." (dr) [News message: 07. Nov. 2022, 04:37] [Comments: 0] [Send via e-mail] [Print version] [ASCII version]
`07.Nov.2022`	Puzzle game: Connect 1.1 In the puzzle game "Connect" (screenshots), you have to connect a series of ICs in such a way that each chip receives exactly the number of connections printed on its package. Now version 1.1 is available providing the following changes: Works now with loaded P96-driver (except in combination with PiStorm) Removed some graphics issues on very fast machines Added in the "creator" the option to create CSV-files instead of Ascii-files. They can be loaded into a spreadsheet Speed up the board generation The installer was fully rewritten and now includes a "Close"-button Recognizes an existing installation and update the game files only (without the highscore!) (cg) [News message: 07. Nov. 2022, 03:18] [Comments: 0] [Send via e-mail] [Print version] [ASCII version]

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