New features of version 2.0 of the browser include in particular an updated WebKit engine based on the February 2019 version, the porting of the media player from Wayfarer 1.21 and SSE acceleration for media playback, so that YouTube can be used again. (snx)
ePub reader: Legadon 0.3
Marcus 'ALB42' Sackrow's reader for e-books in ePub format, Legadon, has been updated for all Amiga systems.
Besides bug fixes, version 0.3 of the reader transforms some UTF-8 characters that have no direct equivalent in the Amiga character set into corresponding characters - for example various forms of quotation marks, dashes and accents. (snx)
Video series: AmigaOS - A Project with Sina & Paddy (German)
In a German video series with nine parts so far, Paddy da Linco and the developer Sina explore the Amiga:
AROS/x86: Update of the ABI v0 version
In February Krzysztof 'deadwood' Śmiechowicz ported version 20220318-1 of AROS/x86 for 32-bit systems back to the original binary interface ABIv0. Now at the title link as well as on GitHub a second update for it has been published (release notes).
The archive contains just the updated components which can be copied directly onto an existing installation of the operating system. (snx)
Do it yourself: Action Replay III cartridge with case
The ar3 project is a remake of the Action Replay III cartridge for the Amiga and offers modern features to use the legendary hardware module for the expansion port on original hardware. The replica provides the original functions of the module. With the open-source approach, ar3 enables expansion and adaptation to current needs. The GitHub project initiated by Nicola Avanzi provides the data (including Kicad and JED files), ROM binaries and component lists required for the replica in the ar3 repository.
The user fongo2k has provided a template for a 3D-printable case for the Action Replay III replica. The required STL or STEP files can be downloaded for free from the Amiga Action Replay 3 Replica – Case project website.
About the Action Replay Cartridge
The Action Replay III cartridge was a popular add-on for the Amiga 500, 1000 and 2000 that offered developers and gamers various functions for accessing the system's hardware more deeply. The main function was to use the hardware as a cheat module, with which the Amiga could be "slowed down" using a potentiometer to successfully complete tricky game situations. Game data stored in the main memory of a game that was currently running could be changed, for example to give yourself more lives. But the Action Replay III and its predecessors on the Amiga also allowed you to bypass copy protection mechanisms or "rip" music, samples or images, as well as many other functions.
Current lawsuit between Datel and Sony
Just two weeks ago, the “Action Replay” brand from the manufacturer Datel was in the spotlight: on October 17, 2024, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that offering cheat software such as Action Replay for consoles does not necessarily violate copyright law (case C-159/23).The plaintiff, Sony, thus lost a legal dispute against the British company Datel, which offers cheat software for PlayStation. With this ruling, the ECJ clarifies that the use of such software does not violate copyright protection provisions under certain circumstances. (nba)
Documentary: The Making of Worms (1995)
The documentary "The Making of Worms (1995)" on YouTube provides a comprehensive insight into the creation of the cult game Worms by Team 17. The one-hour film shows the history of the game, starting with developer Andy Davidson's idea and ending with its implementation and release in 1995.
In addition to game designer Andy Davidson, who recently announced a free new edition of "Worms: The Director's Cut" to mark the game's 30th birthday (amiga-news.de reported), producer Martyn Brown, graphic artist Cris Blyth and musician Bjørn Lynne also have their say in the documentary. The creators provide special insights into the mechanics, music and legacy of Worms, which has become one of the most famous classics in video game history. (nba)
A600GS: Update 46.1.864 with floppy drive support
With the new update v46.1.864 for the A600GS computer, manufacturer Amiga Kit is introducing, among other things, support for floppy drives via Drawbridge (amiga-news.de reported). The changes in detail:
System-v46-updates:
ARM Graphics Library: Add Text backend function to support generate to the antialiased text alpha template. Give 10% additional speedup on text rendering. BugFix: RGB src image with no mask was not handled correctly, resulting in no rendering at all in some cases or incorrect alpha in others.
ShowSlide v46.1 added to C directory.
AmiBench: Migrate to using an intermediate AmiBench-Startup script before the traditional User-Startup and filter the latter from update archives. Now the user can edit and customise this without having customistions overwritten
AmiSSL v5.18 updated
Icon Library v51.4.589 updated
Version command v46.21 updated
CLI v46.10 updated
Add def_DF0.info et al and snapshot the lower half of screen under current disks.
AB-Dock: Use custom rendering to draw IntuiText based lables, cacheing the font etc to try and reduce text flicker.
SetGadgetAttrs( node, GA_Selected,....) caused TWO refreshes under AROS (and none under OS3.x); Replace with SetAttrs() followed by RefreshGList()
A600GS-updates:
Add support for Floppy disk drives through Drawbridge.
Add note about pressing fire button to enable DB9 joysticks
Scene World Podcast Episode #201 - Charles Cecil (Revolution Software)
In the 201st episode of the Scene World podcast, the team welcomes Charles Cecil, founder of Revolution Software and an icon of British video game development. Cecil, known for some classic adventure games that are still popular today, talks about his career and the development of these influential games. Revolution Software brought many point-and-click adventures to the Amiga, including "Lure of the Temptress" (1992) and "Beneath a Steel Sky" (1994), and also ported the Sierra classic "King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow" to the Amiga. The interview starts at 1:03:08. (nba)
Educational game: Simons Siffror / Simon's Numbers (Swedish)
A playful introduction to numbers and math is provided by the new educational game "Simons Siffror" ("Simon's Numbers") for the Amiga - but only in Swedish text and speech. Players can solve various simple math problems designed especially for children. The user interface is tailored to a young audience, making learning easy and fun.
Simon Siffror was originally programmed by Sami Vehmaa in 1998 for his then two-year-old son. The educational game is currently available in version 1.11 and requires AmigaOS 3.x, 2 MB RAM and a resolution of at least 640x256 pixels with 32 colors (640x480 pixels RTG with 8 colors are recommended). It can be purchased for a small fee of $0.99 from the project website under the title link. (nba)
The ninth issue includes, among other things, the cover story on "Amiga and the Internet" ("Amiga et Internet"), an interview with Oliver Roberts (IBrowse), a preliminary report on Dune AGA, reviews of "Tony - Montezuma's Gold" and "Glubble", a workshop on developing cracktros and a presentation of the A1K SimpleClock, a real-time clock for the Amiga 1000. (nba)
Hyperion continues to be managed by court-appointed administrator
“Ben Hermans BV” (hereinafter: BHBV) was a private company with limited
liability owned by Ben Hermans, which has held
97% of the shares in Hyperion
since 2019 and subsequently also acted as a ‘director’ of Hyperion. In March,
bankruptcy proceedings were
opened against BHBV for the second time and
shortly afterwards, at the request of BHBV's liquidator, a “provisional
administrator” was appointed for Hyperion to manage the company's business
until further notice.
According to a decision by the Commercial Court of Brussels
(automated translation), the provisional
administrator's mandate, which was due to expire at the end of September,
will be extended indefinitely: he will remain in office until any
uncertainties surrounding Hyperion's ownership have been resolved and a new
official director has been appointed. Hyperion will have to bear the costs of
the administrator for this period, as BHBV does not have any funds that could
be used for this purpose.
The BHBV liquidators had requested this extension because, on the one hand,
the shares in Hyperion are the only property of BHBV worth mentioning and, on
the other hand, the intangible assets of Hyperion Entertainment BV continue
to generate income and the interests of the company, its (other) shareholders
and creditors must be protected.
For his part, the administrator has already received assurances from the
other Hyperion shareholders that they do not want to collect outstanding
payments for the time being in order to prevent the company from going
bankrupt and are themselves interested in taking over BHBV's Hyperion shares.
BHBV, on the other hand, is finally bankrupt: Ben Hermans had lodged two
objections to this, but did not appear at the first hearing and withdrew his
objection at the second hearing. The decision is therefore legally binding.
But Ben Hermans is contesting the sale of the Hyperion shares which, according to
the bankruptcy trustees (and the latest available BHBV annual report from 2021),
were owned by BHBV. According to his account, the 2165 shares have since been returned to
his private ownership. The bankruptcy trustees had then initiated proceedings
to legally clarify the ownership of said Hyperion shares.
Editor's note: We have contacted both the liquidator Charlotte Piers
and Ben Hermans to clarify some points that are unclear to us and to give the
parties involved the opportunity to comment. We will provide any feedback as
soon as we receive it. (cg) (Translation: cg)
After our last news item, bugs have been fixed and the program "Sprite Animation" can now export C/Pascal/Basic code of all animation frames. In a recent YouTube video he shows how he created a simple platform game with the help of Raster Master and raylib (GitHub). (dr)
Video: Client for chatbot "Ollama"
In a short video, Marcus 'ALB42' Sackrow presents his client for the chatbot Ollama (German), which he wrote at an Amiga meeting in Berlin. You can install this model on your own server using a Docker container and then access it from a small Amiga programme. He wrote this client with FreePascal. (dr)
News from AmiWest 2024, AmigaOS 4.1 FE Update 3 announced
At AmiWest, which took place this weekend in Sacramento (USA), Steven Solie
and Trevor Dickinson were again present to give presentations and answer
questions about AmigaOS 4 related products. Just like last year, no Hyperion representative was
attending. Instead Bill Borsari from the organizing team announced
during the opening speech that Hyperion “plans” to release an update 3 for
AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition.
Updated version of AmigaInput which fixes some bugs with certain types of controllers
Latest and stable single core kernel for all hardware platforms including CyberstormPPC/BlizzardPPC for Classic Amigas.
New set of backgrounds from Martin Merz (Mason Icons).
Updated versions of several C commands
Updated datatypes (AIFF, JPG & PNG)
Several updated system libraries
Several Prefs updates (such as URL, Time, Font and Workbench)
Renewed USB stack including:
USB Stack is more stable and handles "quirky" & "stubborn" USB devices better
Support for gamers (now a lot of multiple keys at once are supported)
Bootkeyboard & bootmouse drivers
HID drivers
Improved EHCI Asynchronous hardware driver
Improved OHCI hardware driver with improved cache handling
Updated USBInspector
A lot of bugfixes and improvements in general.
Other system components updates i.e. SObjs, Find system tool, Utilities
Dickinson and Solie were very cautious with other statements. According to
the A-EON owner, a second batch of A1222+ motherboards will be produced,
Solie announced an updated A1222+ kernel with “faster CPU cache”, and an
updated version of the boot media (a USB stick) will be released.
In the subsequent Q&A session, the audience asked about LibreOffice and the
multicore support in the AmigaOS kernel that was announced years ago. The
port of the office suite - which was announced in 2012 - “mostly” works, but there are "a couple of major problems" with C++ exceptions and the rendering of the graphical user
interface. The team consists of Hans-Jörg Frieden, Dickinson and “maybe”
Solie (“I don't do much...”) and they are looking for volunteers who want to
work on the project. The source code is available in a private Github
repository.
The multicore support in ExecSG, which Solie had already stopped mentioning
last year, is “not functional”, but the team is “getting closer every day”.
The plan is to write a kernel-level debugger to get to the bottom of the
problem: Multicore support is running, according to Solie - but they are having problems
getting it to "stay running". (cg)
WHDLoad: New installers until 26.10.2024
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 26.10.2024:
File manager: New test build of Directory Opus 5.92
After eight years a new test build of version 5.92 of the file manager Directory Opus 5 (previously: "Magellan") is available at the title link. Directory Opus 5 became open source in 2012. (snx)
Interview with Linus 'lftkryo' Åkesson
At the title link Jon Håvard Gundersen has conducted another interview for the Norwegian site Spillhistorie, this time with Linus 'lftkryo' Åkesson. The Swede is known for numerous demos and music disks for the Amiga and the C64 and probably above all for the conversion of Commodore hardware into musical instruments (amiga-news.de reported). (snx)
Proof of concept: Image display without RAM
With his proof of concept "Amiga CPU Blit Read-Only" 'nicodex' shows how to display an image on the Amiga without write access to the RAM. His ROM requires a PAL Amiga with a 68000 or 68010 processor clocked at 7 MHz. (snx)
Pre-order sale: Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual - AmigaDOS as a printed book Press release: The "Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: AmigaDOS" by Thomas Richter will be published in a strictly limited print run - a project that does not pursue any commercial purpose, but aims to offer the PDF reference manual created by Thomas 'ThoR' Richter as a high-quality, printed book at an affordable price.
Interested buyers can pre-order the English-language paperback book (exp. 392 pages) until 18 November 2024 - the print run is strictly limited and there will be no reprints. The price is ¤29.90 plus shipping (worldwide delivery is offered). Delivery is scheduled around Christmas time.
For the serious programmer who wants to take full advantage of the Amiga's impressive features, the "Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: AmigaDOS" is an indispensable source of information on how to use the AmigaDOS file system, how to interact and implement handlers and file systems and how to make productive use of the AmigaDOS Shell. This volume covers the latest version of Amiga's operating system.
Preorder and further information at the title link. (snx)
Real-time strategy: Vanilla Conquer Red Alert 1.7.2
Artur Jarosik's port of "Command & Conquer: Red Alert", designed for Amigas with powerful turbo cards such as PiStorm/Emu68, Apollo/Vampire V4 or Warp1260, is now available in version 1.7.2.
The new features since version 1.5 include bug fixes, a reduction of the CPU load during video playback, accelerated movement of the map when the right mouse button is pressed and an SDL-less CGX/AGA variant. (snx)
Print magazine: Amiga Future, issue 171 - preview and excerpts
Preview and excerpts of Amiga Future issue 171 (November/December 2024) have been published online at the title link. Content includes interviews with Simon Phipps, Carlo Pastore and Achim Pankalla, several reviews, e.g. of ignition and X-bEnCh, and various specials, for example about MacroSystem, usergroups and the history of the demo scene.
Amiga Future magazine is available as an English and a German printed magazine and can be bought directly from the magazine's editorial office as well as several Amiga dealers. (snx)
Update: (14:16, 28.10.24, dr)
With version 28 released yesterday, some bugs have been fixed. It is now possible to start a single player mode with both characters. (dr)
At the same time, he also updated the demo version. Version 1.06 offers bug fixes, a better user interface, adjusted difficulty levels and timing for traps, etc. (dr)
PDF magazine: REV'n'GE! 163 (Italian/English)
The PDF magazine REV'n'GE! ("Retro Emulator Vision and Game") is available in both the Italian original and an English translation (right-hand side). The current issue 163 also contains three reviews of Amiga titles: the classic "Crystal Dragon", the new release "Dr. Dangerous" and the CDTV title "Gardenfax: Trees & Shrubs". (nba)
Emulator: Denise v2.4
Denise is a cycle accurate and platform independant emulator which since version 2.0 can emulate an Amiga 500 and Amiga 1000 (Kickstart disks are required) in addition to a C64 (German YouTube video). Numerous amiga-specific changes have been made since our last report on version 2.21: among other things, emulation has been improved, especially the disk drive, and a 4-player adapter is now supported. Detailed changes:
Version 2.4
support macOS Metal graphics driver with shaders
added Cocoa as a keyboard driver for macOS (avoid the system dialog to allow input)
added BSD UHID joypad driver, supported on FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD
reworked on-screen status messages
separated(C64/Amiga) file dialog preview options and moved to Software UI
improved openGL shader cache
improved handling of shader UI
added possibility to assign a different floppy sound profile for external drives
Amiga: added new floppy sound profile
Amiga: emulate Blitter<>Copper conflict
Version 2.3
added RetroArch Shader support
Amiga: improved emulation, especially the disk drive
Amiga: emulated Bitplane <> Refresh conflicts
Amiga: Final Fight Enhanced supported by temporary option to fake ECS Denise
Amiga: written floppy disks are now saved in a second file (this does not apply to uncompressed ADF (don't worry, emulator asks if ADF can be changed)
Amiga: added 4-player adapter
Amiga: added copy protection dongle support
fixed a bug not finishing Drag'n'Drop in Linux GTK
fixed some OSX bugs/crashes [looking for tester]
improved mouse capture handling for all OSes
UI changes (volume slider has moved to status bar, added option to capture pointer by left mouse button)
changed BuildSystem to CMAKE
added Linux/BSD XCB input driver for keyboard/mouse
improved GTK window resizing in some desktop environments
Version 2.2
added D3D11 driver
added italian translation (thanks to Luigi)
added an option to rotate the screen (90°/180°/270°)
added an option to force a single instance when opening another instance from frontend loader or file explorer
fixed Amiga basic volume (louder)
added a more easy way to set stereo separation (Audio -> DSP)
Denise is available cross platform for Windows 32/64 XP and higher, macOS (from version 10.9 on, Intel and Arm) and Linux (Ubuntu).
(dr)
PDF document: The Amiga 500 beginner's guide (German)
In a 46-page German PDF document, Patrick Schwedt has written both his personal Amiga story and, above all, lots of tips and hints for those who have bought an Amiga 500 for the first time or after a long time. There are chapters on drives, memory expansions, turbo cards, operating systems, mice and software, among other things. (dr)
Arananet: Accelerator Trinity 1240-60 can be pre-ordered
After four years of development and extensive testing, "best accelerator ever built for the Amiga A1200" has been finalised. The Trinity 1240-60 supports 68040-68060 CPUs and is compatible with all A1200 revisions. According to the developer, great care has been taken to optimise access to the chip memory, regardless of whether it is equipped with a 68040 or 68060 processor. It can now be pre-ordered for 369 euros.
According to the developers, numerous tests were carried out in which the Trinity was compared with the Blizzard 1260. The Trinity performed better in all the demos tested. The Trinity can be used with any MC68060/040 CPU (EC, LC or Full). When using a 68040 processor with 25MHz, please note that the Trinity automatically overclocks it to 33MHz. The use of a heat sink is recommended. The exact specifications:
128MB SDRAM Fast memory
Optimized chip memory access at any CPU clock speed
68040/68060 compatible (via jumper)
Onboard I2S 16-bit stereo sound card compatible with AHI
Includes a 3.5mm jack Paula PassThrough
Software interface for changing speed (MHz)
Expansion connector for future upgrades
Compatible with any A1200 motherboard revision
Compatible with PCMCIA
Compatible with Kickstart 3.1 (recommended 3.1.4 / 3.2)
Blog: Different versions of Amiga Topaz font
In his latest article, Alexander 'Losso' Grupe, member of the demo group AttentionWhore, reports on his journey of discovery regarding the different Amiga Topaz fonts of the respective Kickstart ROMs: while browsing through Cloanto's collection of Kickstart ROMs and looking at the screenshots, he noticed that Topaz font of the Kickstart intermediate version 1.4 Alpha 18 was already a sans serif, but would not look quite like the 2.0 version of Topaz.
Incidentally, when trying to load the Workbench under Kickstart 1.4, he discovered that a green "Recoverable Alert" with a "Guru Meditation" message appeared. (dr)
Blog: Installing a TF1260
Under the title link, Didier Malenfant describes his findings and experiences with the installation of a TerribleFire 1260 turbo card (see also turbo card comparison (German)). The article will be continuously updated. (dr)
Floppy disk images on PC and Mac: Greaseweazle Tools 1.21
Keir Fraser's "Greaseweazle" does - similar to Kryoflux - read the magnetic information on a floppy disk independently from the format used and saves as much information as possible to generate a so-called "Flux Level Image" in Supercard format (SCP), which enables reading and back-writing of copy-protected disks.
Version 1.21 of the Greaseweazle Tools provides the following changes:
micropolis: Codec for Micropolis hard-sectored MFM disks
gw reset: By default do not reset configured "gw delays"
Fix setup.py installation: Require bitarray earlier than v3
Encryption protocol: AmiSSL 5.18 (AmigaOS 3/4)
Version 5.18 of the open source encryption protocol AmiSSL has been released, which is now based on the latest version 3.4.0 (22.10.2024) of OpenSSL. Changes:
Switched to OpenSSL 3.4, with full compatibility with the latest OpenSSL 3.4.0 (22.10.2024) version, which includes new features, improvements and bug fixes.
Updated root certificates to latest Mozilla-based bundle, dated 24.9.2024.
Emulator: WinUAE 5.3.1
The Amiga emulator WinUAE has been released in version 5.3.1. Changes:
New features
Added Picmatic Marbelle Vice and Tierras Salvajes 100Hz TV laser disc arcade game support.
Updates
Implemented OpalVision undocumented automatic VRAM bank switch. King of Karate demo now have working scrolling background.
Implemented Mediator 1200TX 2x4M PCI window mode.
Serial port emulation updates: transmit speed is now more accurate, receive speed is throttled if data is arriving too quickly.
CTRL+F12 windowed/fullscreen switch now remembers previous fullscreen mode (fullscreen or full-window) and it is stored between sessions in registr/ini.
Bug fixes
Fixed GamePorts panel “Swap ports”.
Some screen resolution/font combinations caused crash when on screen keyboard was opened.
Fixed music glitch in James Pond 2 (non-AGA). Most likely also affected some other interrupt based music players too.
Golem SCSI II HD controller configuration didn’t load correctly.
Fixed SPRxPOS modification in last possible moment being missed causing sprite to be disabled. (Fixes Reshoot R background flickering)
Fixed possible crash when AmigaOS 4 resets during boot and switches to PPC mode if directory filesystem emulation was in use.
SCSI CD audio PLAY AUDIO TRACK/INDEX returned error if end track was higher than last track. SCSI spec allows it and it should not cause error.
Prometheus Firestorm PCI bridge interrupt state bit was inverted.
Print/PDF magazine: Amiga Addict, issue 33
Issue 33 of the English-language magazine Amiga Addict is now available from the publisher addict.media and in British newsstands. In the cover story, the editorial team discusses the influence of the Amiga on virtual reality systems.
This issue also contains reviews of the new games Dr. Dangerous and Droid Special Edition and the classic games Donk, Deuteros and The Chaos Engine, a feature on the Dune II Remaster project, a story about games that should have been ported to the Amiga, a downloadable cover disk with Alien Fish Finger and much more.
Amiga Addict is published every six weeks and is available as a single issue or by subscription, in either printed or PDF format. (nba)
Videogames studies: Experimental action game "Squarez" now available
The recently released Squarez is a remake of the Flash game SQUARES 2 and was developed as part of the CHLudens research project (amiga-news.de reported). This abstract action game is controlled entirely by mouse and offers minimalist, rectangle-based graphics. The aim of the game is to catch grey rectangles while avoiding the yellow ones in various levels.
It is interesting to note that Squarez was designed as a research game to explore why abstract games were rare in the home computer era, even though 1970s art was increasingly moving in this direction. While video games have become increasingly realistic, this game questions the urge for hyperrealism and invites players to enjoy a visually reduced experience.
The game was developed using the so-called cryAEngine and is available to download as freeware. The source code and the "Processing" development tool are also provided. Squarez is an exciting example of how creative research and video games can go hand in hand. (nba)
WHDLoad: New installers until 19.10.2024
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 19.10.2024:
AmigaRemix: Further files added
AmigaRemix collects remixes of well-known soundtracks of Amiga games. Since our last news-item, the following mp3 files have been added:
Flashback, Main Menu Music (Vandahlia Special Remix)
MorphOS: Future versions of Wayfarer without updated WebKit/GTK engine
As Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has told at the title link, future versions of his web browser Wayfarer will stay with the current version 2.46 of the WebKit/GTK browser engine. Already porting this one would have taken several weeks. Since the WebKit developers removed the Legacy/Win/Cairo target and its dependencies, which Wayfarer requires, and started to use Skia, further MorphOS ports of the engine wouldn't be feasible anymore.
Apart from this, contemporary websites would also increasingly require more performance than the ageing G4 and G5 hardware can offer. For the time being, however, the existing WebKit core would be modern enough to continue to display the pages that can be displayed so far - probably even for several years to come. Until then, he tends to set up a hosted browsing service under Linux or Mac OS, which then generates the Wayfarer pages externally. Accordingly, the next version of his browser will already offer the option of either displaying the web pages locally or having them generated externally using CEF. (snx)
Book: English edition of AmigaOS 3.2 Reference Manual / French one in progress
In February, Look Behind You published the Reference Manual "AmigaOS 3.2 - Das Handbuch" in German language with 512 pages. Now the 480-page English edition is available as a book and as a digital download as well - either directly from the publisher or from selected retailers: Amiga on the Lake (USA), RetroPassion (UK) and Retro 8bit Shop (Netherlands).
In addition, a French version is now also in the works on the initiative of the Swiss retailer Relec. "AmigaOS 3.2 le Manuel" will be available in three versions: as a book for 35 Swiss Francs, digitally for 20 and both combined for 50. Potential buyers are advised to express their interest using a corresponding form.
Meanwhile, the original German edition has been updated in its digital version. This includes additions and corrections. Registered customers can download the PDF file again via their account at the publisher. (snx)
Worms: The Director's Cut 1.5 for the 30th anniversary
Next year, the legendary game Worms celebrates its 30th birthday. To mark the occasion, its programmer Andy Davidson is planning a free new edition for the Amiga. To this end, demo groups around the world are invited to contribute new levels with their own names.
A level template is available on request. The levels must have a size of 960 x 350 pixels and be sent in by New Year's Eve. Specifications for the 16-color palette: 00 - black or dark color (transparent), 01 - white or near white, 02 - pink, 03 - any color, 04 - lighter shade of 03, 05 - any color, 06 - lighter shade of 05, 07-15 - any colors. Layers: Either one image for a conventional Worms level or two images for a two-layer level, consisting of foreground and background with the same color palette. The background - to be kept darker - is shown where the foreground is transparent or the foreground is destroyed in the course of the game. (snx)
Looking back: Battle Chess was not U-certificated in Germany
At the title link, "Gamers Global" looks 35 years into the past and recalls that the Amiga chess game "Battle Chess" was indexed as harmful to minors in Germany in April 1989 on the initiative of the Bavarian State Youth Welfare Office.
However, this only lasted for about five months, as Electronic Arts successfully appealed against it. Despite the high picture quality made possible by the Amiga 500, the depiction of brutality (video) would not have reached the intensity of violence required for the index.
For this reason, during the reassessment the responsible committee came to the conclusion that also children and young people could maintain the necessary distance from the gameplay, which would be in part also imaginative and funny. (snx)
Amiga Future also celebrated the 25th anniversary of its online presence last month: its website went online for the first time on September 9, 1999. What was initially intended as a source of information for the print magazine has since continued to grow with the news section, over 100 online readable issues of the magazine, 7,000 German and 2,000 English test reports, workshops, specials, etc. (snx)
Reshoot Proxima 3: Tin box variant available
To celebrate the first birthday of the shoot'em-up game "Reshoot Proxima 3", it can now alternatively be purchased in a metal box, limited to 55 copies and signed, at the title link - optionally also with a USB stick. (snx)
Logic game: Untangle V1.1
Grzegorz Kraszewski is in the process of writing the logic game Untangle for the Amiga. The player has a number of dots in front of him, which are connected by lines and cross each other. The aim of the game is to untangle the lines by moving the dots so that no line intersects another (amiga-news.de reported). He has now released version 1.1 with the following changes:
Fixed a bug of freeing a memory block twice at game end.
Added the game ending displaying total number of moves and time spent.
Added 25 more levels, now the game has 175 levels.
The game runs in a Workbench window, an Amiga with any processor and Kickstart/Workbench 3.0 or higher are required.
He also wants to design the game so that it will run on any Amiga, from an Amiga 1000 with 256 KB Ram and KickStart 1.1 to the fastest Amiga with 3.x. (dr)
Developer log: What can be expected from the final 64-bit version of Odyssey?
At the end of August, we reported on an initial test version of the Odyssey browser for AROS version 2.0, which is being continuously updated (the latest version of the 32-bit variant was released yesterday). In a short article, Krzysztof 'deadwood' Śmiechowicz describes various ways in which the upcoming 64-bit version Odyssey 2.0 can execute JavaScript code and what impact this has on performance. Some of the results are quite interesting and come very close to today's (October 2024) Firefox performance. This is all the more surprising given that the WebKit engine Odyssey 2.0 was released in February 2019. (dr)
Update: (06:17, 21.10.24, dr)
Demovesion V1.04 is now available. Since the first version, numerous bugs have been fixed, the "M" key can now be used to switch the music on and off and the CPU load should now be lower. (dr)
AROS distribution: TinyAros 3.4.1
The AROS distribution TinyAros is aimed more at users, which is why no developer tools are included (but can be downloaded optionally), which makes it leaner and therefore quicker to install and ready for use.
The now released version 3.4.1 (video) is based on the current ABIv0 backport and also contains updated libraries and programmes, additional included software and bug fixes. (snx)
Cowboy/shootout game: Demo version of Duel
In "Duel", two cowboys (or so far a cowboy and an alien) that can be controlled up or down shoot at each other, with various obstacles providing cover (video). In the finalised version, you will be able to choose from over 20 characters and the weather will influence the battle. (snx)
AmigaOS 4: AmiUpdate V2.55
AmiUpdate is an update system for AmigaOS 4 and helps to keep system components and applications up to date. There are currently 241 entries in the database. Version 2.55 has now been released with the following changes:
Fixed an error in the main list helphint where the date of the update was not shown correctly.
Made some changes to the routines that handle the Ignore Manager, and saving the list back to
disk. An apparent crash appeared to be located there, although it was unreproducible here.
Fixed a memory leak that occurred each time a scan was started.
Reworked the "Abort" logic. It is no longer possible to abort the scan, but aborting updating
works as originally expected. Whether this fixes the unreproducible crashes or not remains to
be seen.
Following a successfull login, users were complaining the details were not saved. The call to
save the details was commented out. No idea why, or how long it's been like that, but it should
work as expected again!
Added support for double-clicking items to expand them in the Path Manager.
Changed the way the notifications are handled when the preferences change.
Prefs_Updates 53.19: Prefs change notifications are now handled differently to suit the new mechanism.
Development tool: vasm 2.0
After eleven months of development, Frank Wille has released the update to version 2.0 for the modular assembler vasm. The changes in version 2.0 in detail:
Support for architectures which have bytes with more than 8 bits.
Output formats bin, ihex, srec, test and vobj currently support >8-bit bytes.
New options -obe and -ole to define the endianess of target-bytes in binary output.
New options -ibe and -ile to define the endianess of target-bytes in binary includes (incbin).
New option -underscore adds a leading underscore to all imported and exported symbol names.
New option -relpath to treat all include paths as relative first, even when starting with '/' or '\'.
Reworked relocations and added the option to define their signedness.
New CPU backend for unSP (micro-nSP), having 16-bit bytes. Contributed by Adrien Destugues.
New CPU backend for the FPGA-CPU HANS, using 32-bit bytes. Contributed by Yannick Stamm.
New output module "pap", which outputs MOS Paper Tape files, as documented in the KIM-1 User's Manual. Contributed by Dimitri Theulings.
When printing error messages in macros, also print the source text line calling the macro.
A macro redefinition prints a warning with the previous definition. The old macro is correctly replaced.
Also warn about initialized space atoms (.space, etc.) in BSS sections.
Workaround for a Windows bug, when reading a source text from stdin directly via the terminal.
Fixed output of 64-bit symbol values in vobjdump.
Directives to suppress listing file output (like NOLIST) will no longer appear in the listing file.
Fixed string constants (in immediate addressing modes) with non-ASCII characters.
Fixed potential buffer overflow when generating a section name for ORG directives (since V1.9f).
Output modules now show the source line for unknown relocation errors.
m68k: Most out of range errors have now become warnings.
m68k: Out of range 8-bit immediate constants write to all 16 bits of the extension word, with a warning (to be able to simulate the behaviour of some old, faulty assemblers).
m68k: Improved -opt-size optimization for move.l->moveq/lsl, which now optimizes all values below 0x8000 where the highest and lowest bit set does not span more than 7 bits (suggested by Erik Hemming).
m68k: Float-constant optimization (OPT of, enabled by default) now also supports integer constant optimization to 16-bit.
GUI for Greaseweazle Tools: ADFDiskBox v2
Keir Fraser's "Greaseweazle" reads the magnetic layer of the floppy regardless of the format used and stores as much information as possible in a so-called "flux level image" in supercard format (SCP), making it possible to read and write back copy-protected floppies. We have been reporting on FluxMyFluffyFloppy, a GUI for the Greaseweazle Tools, for some time now. In addition to GreaseweazleGUI, there is a third alternative for Windows, ADFDiskBox, which has now been released in version 2.
The author John Brett, who has made the source code of his project available on GitHub, has kindly given us a few explanations about the new version:
Both FluxMyFluffyFloppy and GreaseweazleGUI can handle many floppy formats, while my ADFDiskBox specialises in Amiga DOS floppies. It simplifies Amiga DOS batch read and write operations (for ADF, 82-track ADF, SCP:Amiga DOS and RawSCP).
The programme requires Net Framework 4.8 to run, so it should run on Windows 10 (also runs on the 32-bit version) and Windows 11. The latest version of Greaseweazle Tools must first be downloaded and unpacked before the installer can be executed.
I've been learning C# for a while now and I'm creating this program for learning purposes (which is why the code is a bit messy). When I started, the other programs couldn't handle 82-track Amiga DOS discs or batch mode. Now they can, using the editable diskdefs file. My GUI, on the other hand, uses its own version. I have recently added some more features, such as batch mode for all Amiga formats, which is why I have changed the version number to 2. Now more than one Greaseweazle is supported on the same computer. (dr)
AmigaOS 4: Tutorial for creating a USB boot stick for the AmigaOne X5000
'McFly' has published two tutorials (available in English and German) in the OS4Depot which should enable users of an AmigaOne X5000 to create a bootable USB stick either from a system backup (OS4Depot link) or with the help of the AmigaOS 4.1 installation CD and using an RX graphics card OS4Depot link).
When asked, the author kindly wrote us the following about how it came about:
Since my X5000 no longer started properly some time ago due to a mistake on my part and the install CD also refused to start, I was looking for solutions to persuade my X5000 to start again ;-)
At the time, a Radeon R7 graphics card was still installed and I found the following devastating information on the Internet, which explained why the installation CD could not be booted:
"The basic RadeonHD driver on the OS4.1 CD does not support models with the Oland Chip set (R7 240/250), thus you cannot boot from the CD."
I therefore created a boot medium using a card reader and CF card. I have documented how I proceeded step by step in a small illustrated tutorial.
A little later I upgraded my computer with a Radeon RX580 graphics card. Because of this I collected all the necessary information on how to create a USB installation stick for AmigaOne X5000/20 with RX graphics card. This graphics card requires separate drivers which are not included on the AmigaOs4.1 install CD. I have also summarised this procedure in an illustrated guide in the hope of being able to give some users a little help. (dr)
CLI command: sysvars V0.13
The sysvars command creates environment variables with system information in order to make it dependent on these, for example, in the startup sequence, which patches are included. So far there is information on the CPU and FPU, the chipset, the vertical frame rate (PAL/NTSC), Kickstart version and revision, version and revision of bsdsocket.library as well as whether the emulator UAE is used - and if so, in which version.
Version 0.13 provides the following changes:
Added $VampireType, $VampireCoreRev and VampireClockMult
Demis Hassabis: Nobel prize winner with an Amiga background (Update)
Demis Hassabis was recently honoured with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his outstanding contributions in the field of artificial intelligence. In particular, the development of AlphaGo, which was the first program to beat a professional Go player, and AlphaFold, which enabled revolutionary breakthroughs in protein folding, earned him the Nobel Prize. These achievements mark significant advances in AI research and biomedicine.
Interestingly, Hassabis began his career as a game developer: As teenager he was working for Bullfrog on the AI of the original Amiga game "Populous II". As project manager and lead programmer of "Theme Park", that, among other systems, was also released for the Amiga, and as a key contributor to "Black & White" (not released for the Amiga), he made a creative impact on the gaming world at an early age. The design principles Hassabis learned during this time – balancing complexity and usability, creating immersive worlds – later influenced his approach to developing AI systems. The ability to model and make accessible complex systems, which he honed as a game designer, fed directly into his scientific work. This interdisciplinary connection between game mechanics and AI research shaped his visionary approach to technological challenges.
In addition to Theme Park and Black & White, Hassabis was also involved in games like Republic: The Revolution. His experience in game development helped him to bridge the gap between entertainment and science by finding creative solutions to real scientific problems.
Update: (06:30, 17.10.24, snx)
Addition of Populous II to the news-item, based on an interview from 2016. (nba)
smbfs allows Amiga users to access Windows and Linux SMB shares, enabling network drives to be used like local drives. This makes it easier to integrate Amiga systems into modern networks and facilitates file sharing between different platforms.
"This release rolls back the changes contributed by Tygre in version 2.23, which implemented a workaround for dealing with directory and file names which made use of Unicode codepoints that could not be represented on the Amiga using the ISO 8859-1 character set. Tagged as amiga-smbfs 2.23, it was intended as a test in preparation for integrating Tygre's changes." Olaf Barthel continues on the smfbs-page on GitHub: "Sadly, the time to polish this feature never arrived and in the mean time there was no robust amiga-smbfs version to use instead. The amiga-smbfs 2.22 release intends to correct this, for the time being."
The file system in the new version for AmigaOS 3.x (68k) and AmigaOS 4.x (PPC) can be downloaded for free from the GitHub page under the title link. (nba)
Video: How the diskspare.device stores 984KB on a DD disc
Robert Smith is currently working on an update of DiskFlashback (amiga-news.de reported) and is currently working on support for the diskspare.device (Aminet link), which is a supplement or replacement for the trackdisk.device, which can be used to format discs with 960 KB or 984 KB or, if an HD drive is available, with 1920 KB or 1968 KB. In his latest video, Smith shares his findings and results on how it works. (dr)
Video series: The Amiga 1000 as a Workstation
In a nine-part journey through time, Thomas Cherryhomes attempts to categorise the Amiga 1000, which was officially launched in USA in 1985, in terms of its practical suitability as a workstation and to compare it with similar products.
At that time the Amiga 1000 was running AmigaOS 1.1, a 256KB expansion and two disk drives. Since, as the author writes, workstations were mainly used for scientific and technical tasks, with the expectation of developing customised software for a specific task, the series ultimately focused on this. The parts published so far:
WHDLoad: New installers until 12.10.2024
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 12.10.2024:
2024-10-12 improved: Wiz'n'Liz (Psygnosis) access fault fixed, 2nd button supported, trainers added, fast memory used (Info)
2024-10-09 improved: Superfrog (Team 17) adapted to WHDLoad 19, now uses internal joypad read routine (Info)
2024-10-08 improved: Trolls (Flair Software) another version supported, trainer bug fixed, manual included (Info)
2024-10-07 updated: Trolls (Flair Software) patch rewritten, audio/graphics/crash bugs fixed, 68000 support, more trainers, another version supported, all versions share features (Info)
GoVD: Virtual desktops for the Workbench
Krzysztof Donat's program GoVD makes it possible to use the Workbench on up to eight virtual screens under AmigaOS 3.2 (and possibly also 3.1.4, but he has not tested this). You can specify which Workbench windows and programs should use which of the screens.
The program is shareware, the fee is freely selectable. Developers who have placed programs on Aminet can register the program free of charge. (snx)
DIY: Two internal floppy disk drives in the Amiga 500
Rod Thomas' AmigaDualFloppyInterface allows the use of two internal floppy disk drives in the Amiga 500 (tested only with version 6A of the motherboard). In practice, one of them is a Gotek drive.
His project allows the use of two internal floppy drives without any additions to the external drive connector and without irreversible modifications to the Amiga, with the option of selecting which of the two drives can be booted from; the second drive can still be used. (snx)
Platform game: Tiny Pixel Adventure
Tiny Pixel Adventure is a classic platformer. Development has not yet been completed, but it is already playable. No information is given on the system requirements. (snx)
Managing ADF files: Rust library "adflib" V0.1.4
In March 2023, we reported on Volker Schwaberow's project to convert ADFlib, written primarily in C by Laurent Clevy, into the Rust programming language. At that time, it could be used to read and write ADFs, read and write tracks and sectors in a byte array.
He has now recently released version 0.1.4 and thus also made a disc bitmap implementation available.
He kindly explains to us: "adflib V0.1.4 offers some interesting functions for working with ADF disc images (Amiga Disk File). It allows you to read, write and manipulate ADF files directly from Rust code. The main functions include:
Extracting file information and directory structures
Extracting individual files from ADF images
Displaying and modifying disc and bitmap information
Formatting ADF images (OFS and FFS are supported)
Defragmenting ADF images
The Rust library includes a command line tool. It allows you to use many of the library functions directly from the shell without having to write your own Rust code. For example, you can quickly list the contents of an ADF image or extract individual files.
A special feature is the existing hunk implementation. Hunks are a special file format for executable Amiga programmes. The integration into adflib potentially makes it easier to work with Amiga executables within ADF images. I also plan to integrate this into the command line interface so that you can directly display information about Amiga executables from it.
All in all, adflib V0.1.4 is a first solid version for developers who want to work with Amiga disc images. The library offers basic functions that should be sufficient for many applications. At the same time, it is still manageable and easy to understand.
I would also like to emphasise that the library is designed to work not only with physical ADF files, but also with ADF data embedded in ZIP archives. DMS support is also planned. Tests are also included and we have modularity in the library.
For retro computing enthusiasts or developers of Amiga emulators, adflib could be a useful addition to the toolbox. The Rust implementation promises robustness and good performance. More importantly, the build environment is available on almost any system and the project can be easily compiled and installed. The library is also available in the Crates.io library repository, which allows installation via 'cargo install adflib'. This is an easy way to obtain the command line tool and the library.
Of course, I'm happy if anyone wants to participate in the project. Contact is easily possible via Github." (dr)
APEO - AMOS Professional Executable Optimizer
Simone 'saimo' Bevilacqua's APEO, which he originally developed for his game "Ring around the World", patches the executable files generated by the AMOS Professional Compiler 2.0 to make them faster. The technical details are included in the manual. (snx)
Installing floppy disks on hard disk: JST 7.4
JST can be used to install disk-based games on hard disk using WHDLoad slaves. After a long break - our last news-item dates back to 2002 - the further development of this program, which was first released in 1996, has been resumed in 2017. Today's focus is on WHDLoad compatibility, non-upgraded Amigas (or weak emulations) and those without a keyboard, i.e. a substitution by the CD³² control pad.
This year's update 7.4, released three days ago, supports the ReadJoyPort API of WHDLoad 19 (to some extent) and fixes a potential memory cleanup bug when using the Kickstart ROM 1.3. (snx)
Interview: Matthew Leaman (Amiga Kit, A-EON) about the A600GS
About a year ago, the first photos of the ARM-based "Games System and Classic 68K compatible computer" A600GS were shown at AmiWest 2023. Since August 2024, the console is officially available (amiga-news.de reported) and we regularly report on updates and new games or software that is provided for the A600GS. Time to talk to Matthew Leaman, Managing Director of A-EON and Amiga Kit, about this project and possible effects on AmigaOS 4 software such as the Enhancer Software.
Amiga-News (AN):Matthew, we've been reporting a lot lately about the latest project from you and Amiga Kit: the A600GS. How satisfied are you with the sales launch?
Matthew Leaman (ML): Sales have had a encouraging start. We hope to recuperate our two years of development costs as we sell more units. We are continuing to develop new software for the A600GS every few weeks so we are hoping this will encourage more sales.
AN: Perhaps you should introduce our readers to the computer a little more. GS stands for Game Station. So is it primarily intended for gamers? What can a buyer expect?
AN: Reading the forums, there seems to be some confusion about what the system is based on: many think it's AmigaOS 3 or WinUAE, but it's actually AROS, right? Why did you choose it?
ML: For the last 6 years we have been working on projects called System Release V46 and System Release V54. They share the same code base, V46 is compiled for 68K and V54 is compiled for PPC. System Release V54 components have been released as part of the Enhancer Software for PPC machines such as the X1000, X5000 and A1222 Plus.
System Release V46 is installed on the A600GS and has a high degree of OS3 compatiblity. It features a new DOS command set written from scratch, a brand new datatype library, picture datatype and AK-Datatypes added. Quite a few system classes are added to enhance the programs. Our developers have also recreated a few System, Utilities and Prefs tools from the ground upwards. On top of SystemV46 sits AmiBench desktop running in 32bit 1080P screen resolution with it's AB-Dock, Clock and Calendar. Your readers can find out more by visiting the Wiki.
As you can expect to develop all of this software has taken many years. To make it a completely bootable system we used AROS 68K components to supplement the original software we have made.
AN: Now I'm not an AROS expert, but when I want to test games via the Amiga emulator vAmigaWeb and then use the AROS ROMs, many of them don't run. Did you have to test all the games and then adapt them?
ML: The A600GS user is free to install any ROMs they have legal licence to in the ROM section. You can achieve the maximum compatibility by doing this. Remember how games did not run on your Amiga 500 and you had to use a Kickstart ROM switcher to play the older games? This is the same principle but instead using software.
The A600GS also allows users to alter the individual game settings for Chip, Fast and Slow Memory. Some old games did not like memory expansions. I remember in my Amiga 500 having a trapdoor expansion with a switch to disable it. A600GS users can do this easily in the software.
AN: We recently reported not only that there is a new Final Writer version for AROS, but also that a special edition of the word processor is installed on the A600GS: did this also contribute to your decision in favour of AROS?
ML: We were very grateful to Timothy Deters for contributing Final Writer for pre-installation on our product. All of the credit goes to him and his team of developers. We have not had any hand in the development of that application. He has invested a lot of time and resources in modernising the application. It is looking great for fans of Final Writer to get a new 2024 edition. Using AROS ROMs enabled us to use his software without a lot of development work.
AN: And what about support for current printers? Is it possible to print directly from A600GS?
ML: You can print directly using Postscript printers or alternatively print to PDF.
AN: In addition to Final Writer, an updated version of OctaMED is also installed and a new version of PPaint has been announced: were these applications planned from the outset? Or did you decide during the project that the A600GS should become more than just a gaming computer after all...?
ML: From the outset we planned to bundle these A-EON software applications. It gave us an excuse to invest more development into them. The expanded user base from the A600GS will hopefully make development of OctaMED and PPaint financially sustainable.
AN: How did the idea of the new computer come about in the first place?
ML: As you know our beloved computers are getting older and sometimes they need recapping and maintenance. The cost of retro computers on auction sites such as Ebay has gone to very high levels. There is not a low cost way of introducing our community to new users. We hope that the A600GS will be the low priced computer system that shows that our community likes gaming but also being creative with applications such as OctaMED and Personal Paint. AmiBench also lets A600GS users install their own applications. We recently added the famous YAM application to AmiBench (amiga-news.de reported) so now you can send and receive your emails on the A600GS.
AN: Did you realise that there was a gap in the market or was this an idea that had been in the drawer for a while?
ML: We first pitched this idea a couple of times since 2012 to see if we could obtain ROM licences. We emailed the concept pictures and description of the project to parties who we thought could help us. Unfortunately we had no feedback. Presumably the lack of response was due to the ongoing legal problems. The original hardware idea was slightly different: we were going to put the new system in one of our Arcade Evolution Joystick cases and call it A1200GS. It would have a joystick built in and plug directly into the television. The software idea would be exactly the same as the A600GS with an integrated AmiStore App Store. Of course since 2012, ARM hardware has improved substantially so the A600GS is now a far more rounded computer system with features such as WiFi and Bluetooth. The delayed release has let us develop our own system software so we did not to partner with other third parties to launch the A600GS.
AN: Matthew, you are not only the managing director of Amiga Kit, but also of A-EON: the new Enhancer version should have been released some time ago, right? Has further development there suffered from the A600GS project? Or was it worth the wait and the Enhancer software benefits from the A600GS project? What is the status?
ML: We had a software contribution given to us for the Enhancer Software 2.3 which would have represented a key element of it. Unfortunately the contribution was withdrawn so we have had to remove it. This held the Enhancer Software 2.3 update back for a short time. There are lots of nice fixes and small updates in the current development version of ES 2.3, some of which are developed concurrently for the A600GS. We are polishing it for release in the near future.
AN: Are AmigaOS 4 and its users still on the priority list?
ML: A-EON always has it's hardware and software customers as a priority. We are not responsible for OS4 development of course, this is the domain of Hyperion Entertainment.
AN: Is the "LibreOffice" project still being pursued in principle?
ML: This is still an active project and has not been cancelled.
AN: Thank you very much, Matthew! We will continue to follow the various projects with interest. (dr)
Preview video: Platformer "Robot Jet Action 2"
Tomasz 'Carrion' Mielnik is in the process of porting his platformer "Robot Jet Action", originally released for the C64, to the Amiga as "Robot Jet Action 2" (amiga-news.de reported). In a new preview video #3 under the title link as well as the corresponding developer diary (Polish), the author explains that he has now switched from the programming language Blitz Basic 2 to the game construction kit Scorpion Engine. (dr)
Hollywood: Malibu 1.5 published Andreas Falkenhahn writes (translated): "Version 1.5 of Malibu, the Hollywood plugin that can display Scala scripts, has now been released. This version contains some bug fixes that were necessary to make the recently released iconic Scala games Beyond a Steel Sky and Adventure 2 by Quantum Code Monk work.
With Hollywood and Malibu you can now play these games comfortably on your nextgen Amiga, Windows, Mac OS, Linux etc. In addition, Malibu now also supports the Mac OS ARM64 platform. Malibu is now available for free download from the official Hollywood portal." (snx)
AVX instructions: An Amiga fan at Intel?
Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) are an instruction set extension for x86 processors introduced by Intel. Arnaud Carré's blog article at the title link is specifically about the AVX-512 instruction set published in 2013. The vpternlogd instruction it contains immediately reminded him of the Amiga's Blitter.
A frequently used minterm value for it is 0xE2, because it is suitable for masked 2D sprites: If the middle bit of three bitmaps (here: used for the mask) is set, the output value of the first bitmap is used (here: the sprite); if the middle bit is not set, the output value of the third bitmap is used (here: the background). And - coincidentally or not - in the official Intel documentation for the vpternlogd instruction, interestingly, from the 256 possible values also 0xE2 was chosen as an example. (snx)
