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31.10.-03.11.24 • Amiga-Meeting Nord • Neumünster (Germany)

07.Nov.2023



AmigaOS 4: CompareDirs V1.12
Using CompareDirs the directory structure of two directories can be compared, including all files. The result window shows the files with size and date. Alexandre Balaban's tool can be controlled either from the shell or via Reaction GUI. Version 1.12 was released at Micro Alchemie VII which took place last weekend. Changes:
  • Added NODATE command line switch to ignore file with same content but different date (cjwyche, Issue#871)
  • Fixed to compile with latest DOS SDK
  • Added horizontal scrollbar (Issue#903)
  • Added a proper title to the internal diff view window
  • Added diff navigation buttons to the internal diff view window
  • Added hint help to all gadgets
(dr)

[News message: 07. Nov. 2023, 16:12] [Comments: 0]
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07.Nov.2023
Andreas Magerl (ANF)


APC&TCP: Boxed version of Boxx 4 released
Press release: APC&TCP is pleased to announce that the boxed version of Boxx 4 online shop is available today.

About Boxx 4:

Once upon a time, in a distant land, there lived a little box-like creature named Cubo. Cubo was a happy-go-lucky creature who loved nothing more than exploring his world and find new areas.

One day, Cubo discovered that an evil robotic witch had slowly taken over his home area and was using her army of followers to torture the local inhabitants. Cubo knew he had to do something... to save everyone - and set out on a quest!

Certainly, getting the electronic monster eliminated wasn't easy. The way was blocked with checkpoints, but coins opened the doors magically. It seems even evil watchmen can be attracted by money. Supporters of Cyrce, the robotic witch, might still look after you and will crush you without mercy.

Can you survive and succeed in your mission?

Features:
  • Coded with Scorpion Engine
  • 14 finest Amiga chiptunes including Jukeboxx
  • Lots of old school pixels
  • 3 difficulty levels
  • Randomly generated screensavers
  • Cheats... for cheaters :)
  • Amiga OCS Floppy Disk (works on ECS/AGA too)
(cg) (Translation: dr)

[News message: 07. Nov. 2023, 02:59] [Comments: 0]
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07.Nov.2023
Michael Rupp (ANF)


Javascript: TAWS - The Amiga Workbench Simulation 0.36
TAWS ("The Amiga Workbench Simulation") is a Javascript simulation of the Amiga-Workbench 1.0 - 4.1 FE for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Apple-WebKit-Browser (including Odyssey). Any kind of feedback the author Michael Rupp would very appreciate. His work can be supported by a little donation from inside TAWS or via this link.

Version 0.36 includes the following changes:
  • Tribute to OS 3.2:
    • new preset «OS 3.2»
    • new patterns «AmigaOS 3.2» (for WB) and «Light Grey» (for windows)
    • new window layouts:
      • 3.2 18*14 (9:7)
      • 3.2 18*16 (9:8)
      • 3.2 18*18 (1:1)
    • MagicMenuPrefs: new entry «OS 3.2» for «Look» with option «Mark submenus» activated
    • new Kickstart image when cancelling «TAWS Early Preset Selection»
    • simulation of 3.2 specific details:
      • RAM fuelbar showing its real size and not always 100%.
      • Resistance when dragging a window out of the screen
      • Resize pointer on the Sizer gadget and while chaning the window's size
      • Displaying the release version in the Workbench titlebar.
      • Menu adjustments:
        • «Workbench / Open volume»
        • «Window / Update» is active even if no window is active and will therefor update the Workbench.
        • «Window / Sort order»
        • «Icons / Eject disk»
        • «Tools / Auto-arrange Icons»
        • «Tools / Help» (Funktion aber noch nicht implementiert)
      • Shell: icons can be dragged into the shell window to insert their paths at cursor position.
      • Iconifying of windows:
        • Prefs windows
        • Shell
        • MultiView
        • Clock
      • Behaviour of iconified window's appicons:
        • Menu «Icons»: all items disabled except «Open»
        • Message in screenbar if drag'n'dropped into a window.
        • Open if an icon is drag'n'dropped onto an appicon.
        • Open if an appicon is drag'n'dropped onto another icon on the Workbench.
      • AsyncWB activated
      • AsyncWB requester:
        • exclamation symbol
        • resizeable
        • center on screen
        • support for «Enter» and «Esc» to invoke first and last buttons
      • AmigaGuide:
        • Support for embedded images using @{img filepath}, even in IFF-ILBM format. Links to .info files are resolved to the according TAWS icon images, as well.
        • Support for the virtual assignment GUIDEDIR: being AmigaGuide file's the origin path.
        • new navigation layout, «Forward» button, page number, displaying buttons on two rows for small windows
        • displaying image resolutions in the «About» dialog
      • Palette:
        • 8 NewLook presets plus 1 additional classic («Magic»)
        • larger color wheel
      • Clock:
        • date font
        • menu item «Help / Show Guide» opens the corresponding help file in «MultiView», shortcut «Help» («Pause/Break» in TAWS)
      • Font, Palette, Workbench: shortcut «Help» («Pause/Break» in TAWS) the corresponding help file in «MultiView»
      • mouse wheel activated
      • maximize windows when clicking on the SizeChanger gadget while holding shift key
      • Icons blink if selected by entering their names.
    • Amiga Early Startup Control
      • customised layout
      • keyboard shortcuts
      • Expansion Board Diagnostic: more columns
      • Boot Options:
        • Enable System Log: creates the file «Ram:syslog»
        • Failsafe Boot: boots into a basic 4-color-MedRes-Workbench and disabled some features.
    • customised «Boot With No Startup-Sequence»
    Many thanks to Hyperion Entertainment and the AmigaOS 3.2 Development Team for continuing to develop the AmigaOS classic line. Link to their product webpage: AmigaOS 3.2
  • HippoPlayer: new features according to version 2.58 for 68k Amigas by K-P Koljonen:
    • support for lots and lots of additional module formats
    • support for playing audio files using HTML5 audio (if supported by the browser):
      • MP3
      • AAC/M4A
      • OGG
      • OGG
      • WAV
      • AIFF (Safari only)
    • internet search (based on the UHC-Tools server like in HiP 68k) for
      • AmigaRemix
      • Aminet
      • Modland
      • Radion stations
      • Remix.Kwed.org
      • Shared lists
      • Turran FTP
    • support for packed files in ZIP or LHA format
    • improved random playing like in HiP 68k
    • keyboard shortcuts like in HiP 68k 2.58
    • support for subsongs in favourites and playlists (#song parameter)
    • When playing SID files, displaying STIL informations (SID Tune Information List).
    • «Ctrl-G» downloads the currently selected file.
    • new Scopes:
      • HippoScope (with options for amount of points and if they should be connected by lines)
      • StereoScope (with options for points/line's width and if lines should be drawn)
      • Filled StereoScope
      • MultiScope (with options for dynamic or fixed width, points/line's width and if lines should be drawn)
      • Filled MultiScope (with options for dynamic or fixed width)
      • RuppScope (my own implementation for visualizing audio, or: «butterflies on speed»)
    • Preferences:
      • Grouped into tabs: «General», «Display-1», «Display-2» and «Play»
      • Deep link (direct URL to play a specific track or playlist)
      • UHC search limit
      • Auto save
      • Wake lock (if supported by the browser)
      • Show (type of text in the window's titlebar)
      • Main font
      • Other font
      • Skip module after x minutes (if the backend cannot detect an end)
      • Position slider
    • lazy-Loading of the backends (i.e. the classes are only loaded on first use, this increases TAWS' initial loading speed compared to v0.35 quite a bit)
    • miscellanious bug- and layout fixes
  • Complete dutch localization - many thanks to Peter Slootbeek
  • OS >= 1.2: requester shortcuts: left Alt-key+V for the first, linke Alt-key+B for the last button
  • OS > 3.1 (except 3.5): Amiga Early Startup Control will be shown if the Help key (in TAWS «Pause/Break») is being hold, as well.
  • OS 3.1.4: RAM fuelbar showing its real size and not always 100%.
  • OS 3.5: iconifying of Prefs windows
  • OS 3.9 / 4.0: iconifying of Prefs windows and «MultiView»
  • OS < 4.1 (except 3.2): Simulation of a ClickToFront bug: doubleclicking an icon also brings the icon's window to the front.
  • OS 4.1: iconifying of Prefs windows, «MultiView» and «Shell»
  • OS 4.x:
    • Requester: support for «Enter» and «Esc» to invoke first and last buttons
    • Icons blink if selected by entering their names.
    • «Window / Update» is active even if no window is active and will therefor update the Workbench.
  • MagicMenuPrefs: added images for «OS 4.1 Sultry» and link that setting for the «OS 4.1 FE» preset.
  • MultiView: support for FLAC audio files (if supported by the browser)
  • AmigaGuide: implemented a special case for @{LINDENT x} if used in the 1st line of a node.
  • added «WBStartup» icons for various iconsets
  • simulation of the files in Ram:ENV
  • removed compatibility for Origyn Web Browser, because it's incompatible with modern HTTPS.
  • Maiden-Demo: show a message if the browser doesn't support AudioContext.
  • Removed «MicroKnight» font and use «MicroKnightPlus» as «MicroKnight».
  • «About TAWS» no longer links to Software-Wiki but to Marjorie-Wiki, as this one is commercial free.
  • Bugfixes:
    • Odyssey: restored compatibility (broke with v0.35), various compatibility improvements compared to v0.34.
    • OS 4.x: no longer show a message in the WB titlebar when when overwriting a file and cancelling the corresponding requester.
    • OS 3.1.4 / 4.x: added missing shortcut «Amiga-D» for «Delete».
    • Firefox, Prefs windows: layout fix for the lower border if window being active
    • Amiga Early Startup Control / Kickstart: layout fix when changing the browser's window size
    • Boot with no Startup-Sequence:
      • Text got truncated after the © symbol.
      • text adjustments for OS 4.0
      • OS 4.x: fixed text clipping
    • menu width
    • Allow renaming an icon if only upper-/lowercase has changed.
(cg) (Translation: dr)

[News message: 07. Nov. 2023, 02:56] [Comments: 0]
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06.Nov.2023



Workbench distribution: AmiKit XE 12.3
AmiKit has released version 12.3 of the workbench distribution AmiKit XE. Among other things, handling of ADF files has been simplified and diverse software updated. Detailed change logs for Windows/Mac/Linux and for the Raspberry Pi 4/400. (dr)

[News message: 06. Nov. 2023, 20:55] [Comments: 0]
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06.Nov.2023



Do it yourself: Revision 4.0.1 of N2630 expansion board for Amiga 2000
Parallel to his project of a replica of the A2000 motherboard in ATX form factor, "Amiga-2000-ATX" (amiga-news.de reported), the developer Jason 'jasonsbeer' Neus has another one : the N2630 is a further development of the original Commodore A2630 expansion card, offering an Amiga 2000 a 50MHz Motorola 68030 CPU card with additional RAM and IDE device connector, and is installed in the CPU slot (amiga-news.de reported).

The now published documents of the new production revision 4.0.1a/b offer two interesting changes: on the one hand revision 4.0.1b supports the 68882 PGA footprint and revision 4.0.1a the PLCC footprint. On the other hand, the new revision supports the original German A2000 computer (the left side of the board should be marked with "Made In Germany" and "(C) 1986 Commodore"; then it is not a cost-reduced Amiga 2000 board), but this could not be tested yet.

New firmware has also been released. Some bugs have been fixed and the latest firmware is faster and more stable. The following hardware has been tested and works well with the latest firmware:
  • A2000 Rev 4.x
  • A2000 Rev. 6.x
  • A2000 EATX
  • A2088
  • A2286
  • A2091
  • RIPPEL
  • Oktagon SCSI
  • WordSync
  • GottaGoFastRam
  • Freeway Pro
  • XSurf 100
  • Ariadne
  • GBAPII+
  • Opal Vision
  • Picasso
  • ACE2b Chip-Erweiterung
(dr)

[News message: 06. Nov. 2023, 11:13] [Comments: 0]
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06.Nov.2023



Do it yourself: RGB to VGA adapter AMI-RGB2VGAULTIMATE
The RGB2VGAULTIMATE is an adapter for the RGB output of the Amiga 500 to 4000, which is designed to prevent vertical lines on LCD screens and take impedances into account, is double buffered and offers a choice of four filter settings. (snx)

[News message: 06. Nov. 2023, 08:50] [Comments: 0]
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06.Nov.2023
Simon Adolf (ANF)


Event: AmigaWinterTreffen 9.-11.02.2024 in Großensee (Germany)
Details about this event, taking place February 9-11 in Großensee, northern Germany (federal state Schleswig-Holstein), can be found in our german news-item. (snx)

[News message: 06. Nov. 2023, 08:44] [Comments: 0]
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06.Nov.2023
Sven Scheele (ANF)


Event: Interface XXXVI in Kiel, 25.11.2023
Details about this event, taking place November 25 in Schwentinental, near Kiel in northern Germany (federal state Schleswig-Holstein), can be found in our german news-item. (snx)

[News message: 06. Nov. 2023, 08:31] [Comments: 0]
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06.Nov.2023



Amiga Tool Jam: AmiAuthenticator V1.1.0
AmiAuthenticator was also written for the Amiga Tool Jam and is a 2FA (two-factor authentication) code generator for the Amiga that is compatible with many websites that use 2FA. It generates TOTP (Time based one time passwords) codes with SHA1 or SHA256. Similar (non-Amiga) applications are Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator and FreeOTP. These codes can be used to secure access to various websites, e.g. GitHub, LastPass, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram (amiga-news.de reported). Changes of version 1.1.0:
  • Added 'Copy' menu item to copy the current values to the Clipboard (05-Nov-2023)
  • Added clarification of the SHA type (SHA1 is the standard default option used by 2FA TOTP)
  • Allow spaces in the secret
  • Internet time not always read correctly
  • Minor UI bug fixes
Direct download: AmiAuthenticator-1.1.0.lha (79 KB) (dr)

[News message: 06. Nov. 2023, 06:28] [Comments: 0]
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06.Nov.2023



Game Construction Kit: RedPill 0.9.28
RedPill, developed by Carlos Peris, is a game construction kit written in Amiblitz 3.98, which allows the development of games from various genres (see short tests of two Redpill games). RedPill is compatible with AGA and ECS, the "player" for playing the finished creations requires a total of 1.5 MB RAM. Jens 'Farbfinsternis' Henschel has written a tutorial. Changes of version 0.9.28:
  • Fix for levels always black after changing level introduced in previous version.
  • Fix for Is AGA condition trigger.
  • Fix for condition parameters not taking into account decimals.
  • Fix for Overwrite color and Overwrite Gradient action triggers.
  • Refactor in the checks of the runing machine.
  • Fix in both the editor and player not calling the right loaders.
  • Internal: debug memory improvements.
  • Some old code has been removed.
  • Some internal tracking code has been removed.
(dr)

[News message: 06. Nov. 2023, 06:21] [Comments: 0]
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06.Nov.2023



Programming language: Amiga C/C++ Visual Studio Code Extension 1.7.5
Bartman', member of the demo group 'Abyss', provides with 'amiga-debug' a 'Visual Studio Code' extension for "compiling, debugging and profiling Amiga C/C++ programs compiled by the bundled gcc 13.1 with the bundled WinUAE/FS-UAE and GDB." (YouTube video). Changes of version 1.7.5:
  • FIX: fixed missing obj and out directories in template project
  • FIX: __attribute__((always_inline)) in gcc8_c_support.h for -Ofast
(dr)

[News message: 06. Nov. 2023, 06:13] [Comments: 0]
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05.Nov.2023
David Brunet (ANF)


New articles on Obligement website
The articles below have been added to the website of the French Amiga/MorphOS magazine Obligement in the last two months. Readers willing to help out with translating articles into other languages are asked to contact David 'Daff' Brunet.
  • News from September/October 2023
  • Old articles from Génération 4 to 6:
    • File: role-playing games and computing - strength in numbers
    • Review of Fantavision
    • Review of Action Service
    • Review of Mafdet And The Book Of The Dead
    • Hardware: Freeze Frame Video Recorder
    • Review of The Armageddon Man
    • Review of Arkanoid: Revenge Of Doh
    • File: digitising images
    • Interview: Sandy Petersen
    • Review of Ultima IV
    • Review of Star Wars
  • Interview with Adrian Wallett (Arcade Attack)
  • Interview with Allister Brimble (musicien)
  • Review of Neon Noir
  • Review of DGen 1.24
  • Hardware: PiStorm32-lite
  • The best of Byte from November to December 1985
  • File: Idea Software
  • File: AmigaDOS error messages
  • File: Where does Vim come from?
  • Tutorial: configuring Emu68 on PiStorm
  • Tutorial: connection and use of GitHub from MorphOS
  • Programming: Copper, part 2 - rasters
  • Special quiz about Andy Warhol and the Amiga
(snx)

[News message: 05. Nov. 2023, 08:55] [Comments: 0]
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05.Nov.2023
Andreas Magerl (ANF)


Print magazine: Amiga Future, issue 165
The English and German issue 165 (November/December 2023) of the print magazine Amiga Future has been distributed. It can be ordered directly from its editorial office and from Amiga dealers that stock the magazine.

Content of the current issue includes, besides various reviews, a preview of Roguecraft and a show report about Amiga38. (snx)

[News message: 05. Nov. 2023, 08:46] [Comments: 0]
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05.Nov.2023



Aminet uploads until 04.11.2023
The following files have been added until 04.11.2023 to Aminet:
SteMarRegAMOSSources.lha dev/amos   398K  68k 10 AMOS sources+exes by Stefa...
makedepend_AmiMod.lha    dev/c      248K  68k makedepend bugfixed + modifie...
AMIGA-SCARTRGBcable.jpg  docs/hard  26K       Schematic for generic Amiga S...
anaiis_massive.lha       driver/oth 46K   68k Massive release 1.23
Untangle.lha             game/think 28K   MOS Amiga port of a popular logic...
Passcodes.lha            game/wb    5.8M  68k Passcodes network word guessi...
BackdPattGener.lha       gfx/edit   51K   68k Create your own backdrop patt...
AmiArcadia.lha           misc/emu   5.0M  68k Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadia-OS4.lha       misc/emu   5.5M  OS4 Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiVms.lha               misc/emu   3.7M  68k Simulates OpenVMS commands
Freaks.lha               mods/misc  2.4M      16bit 4ch Up-Tempo Techno by ...
AmySequencer.lha         mus/midi   659K  68k MIDI sequencer for the AMIGA ...
file.driver.lha          mus/misc   8K    68k CyberSound driver for file ou...
AmiWeatherForecasts1.... util/app   35K   68k Weather forecasting application
Albatros.lha             util/boot  34K   68k Lock your AMIGA by a keyword
sysvars.lha              util/boot  11K   68k Put system information in env...
IdentifyDev.lha          util/libs  67K   68k Identify hardware and more
IdentifyUsr.lha          util/libs  100K  68k Identify hardware and more
iGame.lha                util/misc  437K  68k Front-end for WHDLoad
Mnemosyne.lha            util/misc  78K   68k Disk usage statistics+file/fo...
VATestprogram.zip        util/misc  15M   68k Versatile Amiga Testprogram
VisualGuide_de.lha       util/misc  1K        German catalog for VisualGuid...
AmiAuthenticator.lha     util/wb    75K   68k 2FA (TOTP) code generator
DrawerGenie.lha          util/wb    158K  68k Toolbar for Workbench Drawers
SteMarRegDOSScripts.lha  util/wb    13K       12 AmigaDOS scripts by Stefan...
(snx)

[News message: 05. Nov. 2023, 07:48] [Comments: 0]
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05.Nov.2023



OS4Depot uploads until 04.11.2023
The following files have been added until 04.11.2023 to OS4Depot:
nallepuh.lha             aud/mis 431kb 4.1 Nalle Puh (Paula,CIAA,CIAB emula...
pt2_clone.lha            aud/tra 13Mb  4.1 Ported clone of Protracker II
openjpeg.lha             dev/lib 3Mb   4.1 Open-source JPEG 2000 codec
amiarcadia.lha           emu/gam 5Mb   4.0 Signetics-based machines emulator
astromenace.lha          gam/shm 72Mb  4.1 Hardcore 3D space scroll-shooter
igame.lha                uti/mis 437kb 4.0 Front-end for WHDLoad
sacrificiopagano.lha     uti/mis 5Mb   4.0 Magic Tool
(snx)

[News message: 05. Nov. 2023, 07:48] [Comments: 0]
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05.Nov.2023



AROS Archives uploads until 04.11.2023
The following files have been added until 04.11.2023 to AROS Archives:
passcodes.i386-aros.lha      gam/mis 6Mb   network word guessing game
sacrificopagano.lha          uti/mis 5Mb   Magic Tool
(snx)

[News message: 05. Nov. 2023, 07:48] [Comments: 0]
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05.Nov.2023



MorphOS-Storage uploads until 04.11.2023
The following files have been added until 04.11.2023 to MorphOS-Storage:
CRABUM_1.7.lha            Ambient/Utilities         A MUI GUI for creating ...
pt2-clone_1.65.0.lha      Audio/Tracker             ProTracker 2 clone - po...
iGame_2.4.5.lha           Games/Launcher            A frontend to launching...
Untangle_0.1.lha          Games/Misc                A logic puzzle, where t...
SacrificioPagano_2.00.lha Misc                      A special app to people...
AmiSSL_5.12.lha           Network/SSL               OpenSSL as an Amiga sha...
WitchCleaner_3.00.lha     Network/Web               A little and easy progr...
Meltium_1.60.lha          System/Monitoring         A small graphical CPU-u...
Neatvi_12.lha             Text/Edit                 Neat vi clone
(snx)

[News message: 05. Nov. 2023, 07:48] [Comments: 0]
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05.Nov.2023



Racing game: Rally Cross V1.0
Developer and Resistance member Alessio 'OzzyBoshi' Garzi released his Amiga version of Fabio Antoniazzi's PC shareware racing game Rally Cross at Flashparty 2023 and has now made it available to the general public.

Direct download: rc.adf (880 KB) (dr)

[News message: 05. Nov. 2023, 06:40] [Comments: 0]
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05.Nov.2023



Weather data: AmiWeatherForecast V1.2
AmiWeatherForecasts is a weather forecasting application that provides the latest weather information for any location. It was written in the C programming language under Amiga OS 3.2 and uses data from OpenWeather (amiga-news.de reported). Changes in version 1.2:
  • According to SnoopDos, continuous querying of the TZ variable is blocked.
  • Added set date and time manually menu
  • Added sync system time using sntp menu
  • It synchronizes the system time using sntp if avaliable an internet connection when executing firstly
(dr)

[News message: 05. Nov. 2023, 06:02] [Comments: 0]
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04.Nov.2023



Chat software: AmigaGPT V1.2.1
Cameron Armstrong has written AmigaGPT, a chat program for AmigaOS 3.2 that uses the power of the chatbot ChatGPT (amiga-news.de reported). Version 1.2.0 added backwards compatibility to AmigaOS 3.9 and the new version 1.2.1 adds this for Cloanto's Workbench 3.X shipped with Amiga Forever.

Direct download: AmigaGPT.lha (206 KB) (dr)

[News message: 04. Nov. 2023, 14:40] [Comments: 0]
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04.Nov.2023
Facebook


THEA500 Maxi: Release planned in the 4th quarter of 2024
In a YouTube video under the title link, Retro Games Ltd. not only summarises the past development phase 1, which also included the release of the THEA500 Mini 2022 (amiga-news.de reported), but also announces the release of the "New Full Size Amiga Console" for the second phase in the fourth quarter of 2024. (dr)

[News message: 04. Nov. 2023, 08:08] [Comments: 0]
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04.Nov.2023
Dietmar Planitzer (Mail)


Operating system for Amiga 3000/4000: Status update of "Apollo"
About a year ago, we reported on the start of Dietmar Planitzer's project to write "Apollo", an experimental operating system for the Amiga 3000/4000. We asked the developer what the current status of the work is, and he kindly summarised the following for us:

"Apollo is at the beginning of a (long) journey. At the moment the basics of an operating system exist, which can run in an Amiga with a 68030 processor and at least 256 KB of main memory. However, the operating system must be stored in a ROM chip that replaces the standard ROM found in an Amiga.

What can you do with Apollo at the moment?

As a user, not very much. You can enter text interactively like in a text editor and enjoy how the machine reacts to every keystroke with the output of a beautiful letter :)

As a developer/hobby programmer, there are more interesting things to discover: Apollo is a preemptive multi-tasking operating system that, like POSIX, supports a process hierarchy and makes resources accessible using a general "file descriptor" model. As in typical POSIX systems, there is a clear separation between kernel and user space (where programmes are executed).

However, multi-tasking works differently than in the original Amiga OS or a typical POSIX system: Apps create and manage so-called threads in these systems in order to achieve multi-tasking. Threads allow a programme to execute things in parallel. The problem with this traditional model is that programs typically (directly or indirectly) create many of these threads and most of them spend most of their time sleeping.

Apollo has no threads. Instead, it has "virtual processors" and "dispatch queues". A virtual processor is similar to a thread, but it does not belong to a specific application. Virtual processors can be moved between applications by Apollo as required. Applications use dispatch queues to tell Apollo what they want to execute in parallel. Dispatch queues are similar to the dispatch queues found in macOS, but unlike macOS, Apollo is built entirely from the ground up around dispatch queues.

What else does Apollo offer?

There is a console that supports keyboard and mouse input as well as the widest possible VT100-compatible output to the screen. There are the beginnings of a general "device driver manager", i.e. a component that recognises hardware and manages it. Hardware such as the keyboard, mouse, joystick, memory expansions, floppy drives, etc. can be recognised and managed.

There is also the beginning of a standard library for the C programming language to write (small) programmes for Apollo.

Next steps

The most important next step is the implementation of a file system for floppies and then hard discs. Also the implementation of a (simple) shell to be able to execute programmes. These components should make Apollo a little more interesting for users.

Further plans include things like "protected memory" and "pagging/swapping" and support for other 68030 systems like Atari TT & Falcon." (dr)

[News message: 04. Nov. 2023, 07:52] [Comments: 0]
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04.Nov.2023
George Sokianos (ANF)


Event: AmiCamp 2024 on April 13/14 2024 (Athens)
We are delighted to inform you that we are organizing the next AmiCamp for 2024, the biggest Amiga event in Greece, which will take place on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th of April 2024. Over the weekend, friends and fans of the Amiga computers are going to get together in a great place to celebrate the best computer in the world, its next generation and its alternative systems.

Amiga compatible computers, including the AmigaOne 500, PowerMac, Vampire, and Pi Storm, will be available among the finest Classic Amiga models, and will be readily available for use and testing.

Younger and older children can enjoy many old and new Amiga games, but the star of the show is Sensible World of Soccer with its Sensible Days competition, which is going to happen on the second day.

People from the Greek Amiga community will present their creations and their love for Amiga computers.

AmiCamp is an inclusive event that provides free fun and free celebrations for everyone.

More information you can find at the official website at the title link as well as on Facebook and Twitter. (dr)

[News message: 04. Nov. 2023, 06:55] [Comments: 0]
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04.Nov.2023



WHDLoad: Graphical user-interface iGame 2.4.5
iGame is a MUI-based frontend for starting WHDLoad games (amiga-news.de reported). George 'walkero' Sokianos has released version 2.4.5 for AmigaOS 2.04 and higher, AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS. Changes:
  • Fixed the opening of the properties window for some users, by reverting some changes from v2.4.1
  • Fixed the item (demo/game) renaming from the properties window
  • Fixed the addition of an item (demo/game) from the "Add game..." window. This was saved in a wrong way and was breaking the list
  • Fixed the title change of the items in the list
  • Code cleanup
  • Speedup the slavesListAddTail()
  • Fixes on renaming and single item addition
  • Fixed the opening of the properties window for some users
  • Use SDI to define the hooks
  • Fixing the issue 215 and make the scan better on changes
  • fixes in the changelog
Direct download: iGame-v2.4.5-20231103.lha (437 Kb) (dr)

[News message: 04. Nov. 2023, 06:39] [Comments: 0]
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03.Nov.2023



Rogue-like game: Rogue Declan V1.2.0
After winning AmiGameJam 2022, Nivrig Games continues working on its twin-stick shooter (YouTube video). Changes of version 1.2.0:
  • Added an in-game options menu accessed with ESC or CD32 PAUSE
  • Fixed all shots disappearing when the Quit key was pressed
  • Fixed graphical glitches when a chest spawned beside a pit
  • Fixed rare generation of floor tiles connected only at the diagonal corners
  • Other map generation refinements
  • Shot system optimisation
  • Rebuilt game with the latest compiler for more optimisatios
(dr)

[News message: 03. Nov. 2023, 06:44] [Comments: 0]
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03.Nov.2023



CLI command: sysvars V0.10
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) as well as whether the emulator UAE is used - and if so, in which version.

Version 0.10 provides the following changes:
  • Added $KickVer and $KickEnv that provide kickstart version and revision
  • $UAE is now split in $UAEMajor, $UAEMinor and $UAERev for more convenient scripting
  • Added detection of bsdsocket.library ($BSDSockLib contains the id string, $BSDSockLibVer the version, and $BSDSockRev the revision)
  • Refactoring and code improvements (still learning though)
    • Easy way to disable certain variables/features at the beginning of the file using constants (Adapt to your need and make the tool as tiny as possible)
    • Unified SetVar approach using macros
    • Easier integration of new features via consistent scheme
    • Better comments
  • added test script for startup-sequence
Direct download: sysvars.lha (11 KB) (dr)

[News message: 03. Nov. 2023, 06:07] [Comments: 0]
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03.Nov.2023



Tool: Mnemosyne V1.1.1
Mnemosyne is a tool for AmigaOS 3.x that shows how much space files and folders take up on the hard disk. It is supposed to help manage the space on the hard disk better. Mnemosyne is written in C and uses ReAction. ClassAct is required under AmigaOS 3.1 and 3.1.4.

Version 1.1.1 (Aminet link) provides the following changes:
  • Fixed Damaged MungWall on scans bug
  • New Guide images updated to fit the version
  • Current version moving to 1.0.2 -> 1.1.1
  • Made Mnemosyne program from: 32.504B to 32.492B
(dr)

[News message: 03. Nov. 2023, 06:02] [Comments: 0]
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03.Nov.2023



AmigaOS 4: Status update of WebKit port
George 'walkero' Sokianos describes the current status of the Webkit port in a forum post on Amigans (amiga-news.de reported):

"For some time now, the port was around 54% of the WebCore library compilation. At that point, I was getting around 10K of errors, and I was trying to figure out why this was happening and where exactly was the problem. Just last week, with the help of Kas1e who discovered what was wrong, he found that the problem was a missing curly bracket I stupidly removed a year ago accidentally. By fixing that, I managed to have WebCore library compiling up to 99%.

Actually, I already started working on a minimal window with a web view that will be able to show just one website. That's the next goal."

And Roman 'kas1e' Kargin has added: "the whole webcore is more or less cross-platform, while remain 1% is platform specific: an actual thing to render in, open a window, blit things in, gui, etc, etc. All should be written for OS4. That is harder part and real programming.
Once, George will have a window to which sites render, then - in worse case, even without gui - one can make a binary to which you spend a url and it opens window and render to it. It will be not a browser, but something as a start. At least we can test if core works , how fast, what need to fix, deal with crashes (i am sure there will). The fact that core compiles, doesnt mean all works as expected, it is unknown by now".

In this context, George suggests that another team take over the development of this part of the browser if there are interested parties. The current team could then continue to take care of WebKit, fix problems and keep it up to date.

The main repository can now be found on GitHub under "AmigaLabs". (dr)

[News message: 03. Nov. 2023, 05:51] [Comments: 0]
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03.Nov.2023



Programming: Web based m68k assembler editor v3.0.0
Under the title link you can find a webapp to write, run and learn M68K assembly code based on the framework SvelteKit and the programming language Rust (amiga-news.de reported).

Version 3.0.0 provides performance improvements and bug fixes:
  • Improved performance by 3x, now runs at +-30mhz
  • Bug fixes during compilation and execution
  • Improved UI on mobile for the interactive documentation
  • Improved UI on the editor
(dr)

[News message: 03. Nov. 2023, 05:32] [Comments: 0]
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02.Nov.2023



Tool: SpriteSplitter V0.4
The basic idea of a spritesheet is to pack a series of images together into a single image. Dan 'zooperdan' Thoresen's "SpriteSplitter" reverses this: it is a simple tool for splitting a spritesheet image into separate images that can be used in the Scorpion Engine. This allows the user to save time when updating spritesheets by automating this process.<

In version 0.4 a -file parameter was added which let you specify a text file which contains a list of command operations. This is much faster than calling SpriteSplitter multiple times. (dr)

[News message: 02. Nov. 2023, 06:15] [Comments: 0]
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02.Nov.2023



Dungeon Crawler: Shadowmage - The Cursed Village
"Shadowmage - The Cursed Village" is set in a medieval world where the player is hired by some villagers to find a sacred stone that has been stolen by an evil mage. In search of it, you have to face giant wasps, skeletons and evil spirits. Main features of the game:
  • Rules are somewhat based on Microlite20.
  • 3 difficulty levels
  • Many spells available
  • 3 playable characters
  • Save system
  • Auto-map
  • 12 levels to explore
  • HD Installable
  • Written in AMOS Pro
At least 2 MB RAM, harddrive and a 68030 processor are required, but recommended are faster Amiga systems like a Vampire or a 68060 processor. (dr)

[News message: 02. Nov. 2023, 06:08] [Comments: 0]
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01.Nov.2023



Competition: Deadline for "Amiga Tool Jam" extended by one week
At the beginning of May indie game developer Dan 'zooperdan' Thoresen started the "Amiga Tool Jam", which was originally supposed to end yesterday (amiga-news.de reported). Because of the continuing interest - we already presented some submissions - it was decided to extend the competition. Now tools written for the Amiga can be submitted in the categories "Utility", "Tool", "Commodity", "GUI interface", "Most Useless Tool" and "Other" until 08 November.

Submissions must be written explicitly for the competition, updated or modified versions of an existing utility or tool are excluded. More detailed conditions under the title link. (dr)

[News message: 01. Nov. 2023, 19:23] [Comments: 0]
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01.Nov.2023



Amiga Tool Jam: Wallpapers
'grindercowboy' has published special wallpapers for the Amiga Tool Jam: famous pictures such as the Marilyn Monroe portrait by Andy Warhol are "hulkified", that is, given a green coat of paint. (dr)

[News message: 01. Nov. 2023, 06:02] [Comments: 0]
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01.Nov.2023



Amiga Tool Jam: Aurora Mystica
'Amiga Cammy' has written "Aurora Mystica" in E for the Amiga Tool Jam: after starting it, a picture opens and random quotes are displayed. MUI is required. (dr)

[News message: 01. Nov. 2023, 05:56] [Comments: 0]
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01.Nov.2023



Amiga Tool Jam: Colour Mapper
'LateBit' has written "Colour Mapper" for the Amiga Tool Jam: a tool for the Workbench that can reduce the number of colours in an image. It is aimed at programmers who create their graphics for Amiga games under Windows, for example with software like Pro Motion NG, and then export them. Currently, only iff images with 256 colours can be exported here. (dr)

[News message: 01. Nov. 2023, 05:54] [Comments: 0]
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