amiga-news DEUTSCHE VERSION
.
Links| Forums| Comments| Report news
.
Chat| Polls| Newsticker| Archive
.

Amiga events
13.-15.06.25 • Flashback-Symposium #02 • Jößnitz (Germany)
01.-02.08.25 • Amiga/040 • Mountain View (USA)
11.-14.09.25 • Classic Computing 2025 • Hof (Germany)
17.-19.10.25 • Amiga40 • Mönchengladbach (Germany)
14.-16.11.25 • Flashback-Symposium #02 • Jößnitz (Germany)

16.Dec.2024



Game remake: Extreme Violence 2 V0.10
'pixelplop' is currently developing a successor to the shareware game Extreme Violence, released by Simon Green in 1993, for this year's AmiGameJam. The new game supports four instead of just two players (a-news.de bamiga-news.de reported). In the current version 0.10, several new features have been added and changes have been made since our last report.

A summary of the changes:
  • Fixed potential crash when in Frontend on some systems.
  • Fixed crash on exit.
  • Fixed Loading Screen and Frontend Menus running too fast.
  • Fixed big graphical glitches when the map preview scrolls on and off.
  • A lot of restructuring to try and make the game more system friendly
  • If a player gets several kills in quick succession an announcer will say "EXTREME"!
  • AI Bots should be able to correct themselves if they get stuck going around in circles for a while.
  • 1 line fix that stops the game crashing if there are no AI players!!!
  • AI will attempt to dodge incoming bullets.
  • Improvements to the AI path finding.
  • Players should no longer be able to get walled in when level generates.
  • Enabling the Extra Joysticks should not crash the game when temporarily re-enabling the system.
  • Radar dots are now the correct colours for all players in horizontal split.
  • Option to turn on/off permanent blood splats.
  • Option to turn on/off spectating other players until after all human players are out.
Extreme Violence 2 requires an Amiga with an OCS chipset and 1 MB Chip RAM and can be downloaded in return for a voluntary donation (longplay of v0.9 of the Author himself). (nba)

[News message: 16. Dec. 2024, 19:29] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
16.Dec.2024



Audio player: UADE-Plugin 0.12.3 for Audacious (Windows, Linux, macOS)
"audacious-uade" is a plugin for the audio player Audacious (Windows, Linux, macOS), which allows the use of the Unix Amiga Delitracker Emulator as an input filter. Numerous bugs have been fixed in the new version 0.12.3. (dr)

[News message: 16. Dec. 2024, 06:23] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
16.Dec.2024



MOD player: rePlayer v0.16.8 for Windows
The new version 0.16.8 of rePlayer, Arnaud Nenys' versatile audio player for Windows (amiga-news.de reported), offers Amiga fans and music enthusiasts a wealth of convenient features and some major updates. The tool, originally developed to play Amiga music modules without any problems, allows to play modern standards such as MP3 or OGG, and is now also able to handle the XMP format. (dr)

[News message: 16. Dec. 2024, 06:19] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
15.Dec.2024



Epsilon's World: Amiga games from 2024
For his blog, 'Epsilon' has set out to present Amiga games from all years, although this list will not and cannot necessarily be complete. Starting from the back, he first presents games from the year 2024 at the title link. All games were tested by him on real hardware - an Amiga 500 or 1200 - and under FS-UAE.

Presented are Dungeonette, Tiny Pixel Adventure, Roguecraft, Cecconoid, AMI H.E.R.O., Dr. Dangerous - Secrets of the Temple of Xol'Tan, Tale of Evil, Neon World, Riviera '79, Pooyan, Donkey Kong 500, Battle Squadron 2, Fast Food 2, Glubble, Spheroid, Ami Robbo 2 and The Lost Pixel. (snx)

[News message: 15. Dec. 2024, 18:22] [Comments: 1 - 16. Dec. 2024, 01:29]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
15.Dec.2024
Martina Hřebcová


Appraisal: Sam460 - PCIe pioneer (czech)
In her latest article, Martina 'sailor' Hřebcová pays tribute to the Sam460 mainboard at the title link as the first for Amiga operating systems that had a PCI Express slot. She goes on to describe in particular the use of AmigaOS 4, MorphOS and Linux on it. (snx)

[News message: 15. Dec. 2024, 18:22] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
15.Dec.2024
Roland Heyder (ANF)


Windows/Linux/Mac OS: AmigaBASIC Music demo adapted for QB64-PE
Roland 'RhoSigma' Heyder writes (translation): "Yesterday version 4.0.0 of the programming language QB64-PE (Phoenix Edition) was released [a QuickBASIC reimplementation for Windows, Linux and Mac OS; editor's note], on which, among others, I have been actively working for about three years.

In this new version, the typical Amiga sound capabilities have now been reproduced for the first time, such as multi-voice (4 channels), the possibility of synchronization with SOUND STOP and SOUND RESUME as well as the creation of own waveforms with WAVE.

To test these new possibilities, we ported the old AmigaBASIC demo "Music" (included on the Extras 1.3 disk for example) from 1985 to QB64-PE - or actually just took it and tried it out, the necessary changes were negligible. So this old Amiga demo shines in new splendor after 39 years." (snx)

[News message: 15. Dec. 2024, 18:22] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
14.Dec.2024



Programming Course: Amiga 500 Programming - Completing a Simple Game
In the ninth part of Michael Martin's course on hardware-related A500 programming, the sample project is completed: "Completing a Simple Game" covers topics such as joystick polling and display updates. (cg)

[News message: 14. Dec. 2024, 21:54] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
14.Dec.2024



Linux: Kernel 6.12.4 for X1000/X5000
Parallel to the release of the Linux kernel 6.12.4, Christian 'xeno74' Zigotzky has compiled a version for the AmigaOne X1000 and X5000. The new kernel fixes bugs around DRM. (cg)

[News message: 14. Dec. 2024, 21:48] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
14.Dec.2024
Look Behind You (ANF)


Developer documentation: "Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: AmigaDOS" available
Press release: Great news for Amiga fans and dedicated programmers: Thomas Richter's "Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: AmigaDOS" has been shipped from the printer earlier than planned and will be sent to all customers who pre-ordered it starting Tuesday, 17 December 2024.

The 400-page English-language reference book in US Letter format of the original reference manuals is the ultimate source of information for programmers who want to fully exploit the potential of the Amiga operating system. It covers the latest features of the AmigaDOS file system, the implementation of handlers, the productive use of the AmigaDOS shell and much more.

There are no plans to reprint the book, so if you order now you will get one of the last copies of the print edition. If you get your order in quickly, you should be able to have the book in time for Christmas.

Price: ¤29.90 (plus shipping)

Contents of this book: This volume provides a long missing addendum to the AMIGA ROM Kernel Reference Manual Series and adds a comprehensive description of the AmigaDOS system component. The AmigaDOS Reference Manual presents a detailed description of the central I/O and process subsystem of AmigaOS. This volume covers the latest version of Amiga's operating system. It includes:
  • An introduction into elementary components of AmigaDOS such as files and locks
  • AmigaDOS handlers and file systems, and how to interface them
  • Pattern matching and recursive directory scanning
  • A discussion of the AmigaDOS Process management
  • A complete breakdown of the Fast File System disk structure
  • Direct packet communication and a comprehensive documentation of DosPackets
  • A detailed description of the AmigaDOS executable and link file structure
  • The documentationof the AmigaDOS ROM Shell, including a tutorial and source code for implementing custom shells
  • The AmigaDOS startup mechanism
(cg)

[News message: 14. Dec. 2024, 21:45] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
14.Dec.2024
English Amiga Board (ANF)


AROS distribution: AROS One 2.7 (x86)
The "AROS One" distribution, based on the AROS binary interface ABI v0, is now available in version 2.7 for x86 computers. A DVD ISO file and a USB flash ("VHD") image are available for download. The VHD image can be used as a hard disk in virtual machines such as VMware, VirtualBox and QEmu. An archive to update existing installations of AROS One 2.6 to the latest edition is also provided.

AORS One 2.7, according to the publisher "undoubtedly the most stable version of AROS x86 ever released" includes the following changes:

Update AROS One Core
  • Camdusbmidi.class
  • IconDrawerList.mui
  • IconList.mui
  • IconVolumeList.mui
  • i8042.hidd
  • pc105_s
  • pcnet32.device
  • rtl8139.device
  • ahci.device
  • ram-handler
  • camd.library
  • crt.library
  • debug.library
  • muimaster.library
  • stdlib.library
  • workbench.library
  • Update Catalogs
  • Wanderer
  • WBRename (Wanderer)
  • DiskInfo (Wanderer)
Update AROS One Apps:
  • OWB v2.1
  • FastTracker2 Clone v1.66
  • Protrekkr 2.7.5
  • PixieView 1.10
  • Acuario Final Version
  • AmiTranslate v0.4
  • ThemeEdit v0.4
  • BeeBase v1.1
  • Image2PDF 2.7
  • SilkRAW v3.0
  • IconSplitter
  • Legadon v0.2
  • VAMP v3.10
  • AGet (Version UHC-Tools)
  • Unshield v1.51
  • GLFW v3.4
  • RayLib 5.0
  • Malibu.hwp v1.5
  • Rapagui.hwp v2.2
  • Sid.hwp v2.0
  • Neandertaler (Demo Scene)
  • Organica (Demo Scene)
Update AROS One OS System:
  • Python v3.3.7
  • SMB2 (Update Script)
  • Amiga-Games (Emulation Games)
  • Amiga-Games (Amibridge)
  • New Transparent Versions of Pointers
  • CAB-I (Descriptor Datatypes + Def_Icons)
  • CAB-M (Descriptor Datatypes + Def_Icons)
  • M4A (Descriptor Datatypes + Def_Icons)
  • MKV (Descriptor Datatypes + Def_Icons)
  • WEBM (Descriptor Datatypes + Def_Icons)
  • AmiStart (Update Config)
  • Aros One About (Update Theme)
  • InstallAROS (Update Theme)
  • ArosPDF (New Buttons)
  • DOpus4 (Update Config)
  • MPlayer (Update Theme)
  • ZuneARC (Update Config)
  • Set ScreenMode
  • Config-Apparence (Update)
  • Config-Wanderer (Update)
  • Config-Zune (Update)
  • Wanderer Themes (Update)
  • New Config Folders (Skins-Apps, Patterns-Skin)
  • WeatherBar (New Theme Prefs)
  • WGetGUI (New Theme)
  • DOSBox (Manual Multilanguage PDF version)
  • aMP3ToWAV (New Theme Prefs)
  • AROSAmp (New Theme Prefs)
  • AyPlayer (New Theme Prefs)
  • MeteMP3 (New Theme Prefs)
  • ModExplorerCE (New Theme Prefs)
  • ModExplorerNG (New Theme Prefs)
  • RNOTunes (New Theme Prefs)
  • ZAMP (New Theme Prefs)
  • ZuPaPlayer (New Theme Prefs)(New Theme Prefs)
  • VAMP (New Theme Prefs)
  • AmiFox (New Theme Prefs)
  • New Theme “Crystal”
  • New Theme “ArosOne BlueWave”
Update AROS One Games:
  • AmiFish
  • BlackIvan (Update anf KeyReg)
  • Blackjuan Poker (Update)
  • Sqrxz 1-2-3-4 (4 Games)
  • Soliton v2.2 (HQ PNG Graphics and Theme Prefs)
  • LBreakout2 2.6.3 (Work Fine)
UPDATE CORE:

Functionalities:
  • Implemented processing ARexx commands in Zune (deadwood)
  • Updated to new pthread library from BSzili (deadwood)
  • Simplify adding tethering in Prefs/Network (#115) (deadwood)
  • Speed up boot using ahci.device (deadwood)
  • Delete files with DEL key in Wanderer (#116) (deadwood)
Update:
  • Use standard C library function names in SDK (deadwood)
  • Sweedish keymap (Johan G)
Functional fixes:
  • Wanderer (bugs: #125, #140, #25, #26) (deadwood)
  • List.mui (bugs: memory leak) (deadwood)
  • crt.library (bugs: multithreaded opening fds not safe) (deadwood)
  • IconList.mui (bugs: #144) (deadwood)
  • String.mui (bugs: does not support MIUA_Text_Contents) (deadwood)
  • stdlib.library (bugs: wrong timezone in localtime_r()) (deadwood)
  • camd.library, camdusbmidi.class (hitchhikr)
  • ram-handler (bugs: #134) (deadwood)
  • ahci.device (bugs: #135, unnecessary 60MB memory allocation) (deadwood)
  • Wanderer (bugs: 105, offline volumes showing with "ghost" icons) (Kalamatee)
  • rtl8139.device (bugs: no support for wrapped buffer) (stegerg)
Stability fixes:
  • crt.library (bugs: calling atexit in CTOR set crashes program) (deadwood)
  • crt.library (bugs: crash in free()) (deadwood)
  • debug.library (bugs: buffer overrun) (deadwood)
  • stdlib.library (bugs: some fields left uninitialized in gmtime_r) (deadwood)
(cg)

[News message: 14. Dec. 2024, 21:42] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
14.Dec.2024



Mark Sibly (Blitz Basic) passes away
Acid Software (u.a. Skidmarks, Guardian) announced on Facebook that Mark Sibly, the father of the Blitz Basic programming language, passed away earlier this month. Apparently, the New Zealander had been struggling with a number of health problems in recent years. (cg)

[News message: 14. Dec. 2024, 21:25] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
14.Dec.2024
MorphZone


MorphOS: E-Mail client Iris 1.46
Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has released version 1.46 of his e-mail programme Iris for MorphOS, which fixes some bugs (changes). (dr)

[News message: 14. Dec. 2024, 07:44] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
13.Dec.2024
EntwicklerX


AmigaOS 4: Space shooter "Super Star Blast"
Press release: Super Star Blast has been available on PC and consoles for a while now. We are pleased to finally be able to release a version for AmigaOS 4 as well.


Super Star Blast is a space shooter with challenging levels of increasing difficulty. All enemies must be shot down in order to complete a level and move on to the next. A scanner around the player shows approximately where the enemies are located. The player's ship can fly forwards to attack and backwards to fight enemies while retreating. Once a level has been successfully mastered, equipment can then be purchased to improve the ship, as well as additional shields and firepower or more ships.

Features:
  • Massive challenging levels of increasing difficulty
  • Enemies with unique flying and fire characteristics
  • Upgrade center (agility, fire power, shield, ships)
  • Single player campaign
  • Simple and clean 3D space graphics
  • Quality and performance Settings
  • Warp3D Nova / OpenGLES Support (required!)
AmigaOS 4.1 F.E and a Warp3D Nova/OpenGLES compatible graphics card are required.

Notes: Due to the many different configurations, it is difficult to cover all problems. Just write us an e-mail and we will try to fix the bugs. Please try to use the various quality and performance settings to adapt the game to your hardware. The "FPS" setting shows you the current frame rate. You can also activate your own screen mode in the ToolTypes. If the setting is set in brackets, the Workbench resolution is used.

The game is available on AmiStore and on itch.io for about 19 euros and on Alinea for 19.95 euros. (dr)

[News message: 13. Dec. 2024, 22:15] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
13.Dec.2024



SCSI-SD adapter: ZuluSCSI firmware v2024.12.12
ZuluSCSI is a file-based SCSI hard disk and CD-ROM drive emulator, emulating an SCSI-I or SCSI-2 hard disk using an SD memory card (amiga-news.de reported). Version 2024.12.12 provides the following changes:
  • Fix ZuluSCSI v1.1plus firmware from not starting
  • Fix USB mass storage for the Pico, Pico2, and the W's
  • Remove 0x from the MAC string in the log
(dr)

[News message: 13. Dec. 2024, 06:00] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
13.Dec.2024



Event: Review of "Alkmaar Amiga Meetup"
Dave 'Skateman' Koelman, who among other things wrote the article Using two graphics cards in the AmigaOne X5000, describes in a current blog entry his impressions of the "Alkmaar Amiga Meetup" which took place at the end of November near Amsterdam (amiga-news.de reported). (dr)

[News message: 13. Dec. 2024, 05:56] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
13.Dec.2024
Balaton


Emulator: QEMU 9.2.0
QEMU is an open-source computer emulator and virtualizer. The emulation of complete computers also makes it possible to run operating systems such as AmigaOS 4 or MorphOS under QEMU that are tailored to a quite specific hardware platform. This support is provided by QEMU developer Zoltan Balaton, who gives information about this on a dedicated website.

As he writes, IRQs on the Pegasos2-PCI.0(AGP) bus have been fixed with the new version. (dr)

[News message: 13. Dec. 2024, 05:50] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
12.Dec.2024



Blog: Restoration of an Amiga 2000, part 3
Andrew 'LinuxJedi' Hutching recently bought an Amiga 2000 for 350 pounds and is now documenting his attempts to repair the considerably upgraded computer (amiga-news.de reported). The third part is to get the hard disc up and running. (cg)

[News message: 12. Dec. 2024, 11:36] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
12.Dec.2024



Top-down shooter: Revenge Of The Grinch
"Revenge Of The Grinch" (video) is a shooter with simultaneous mouse and joystick control. The game developed by "Electric Black Sheep" (e.g. Star Dust Wars, Project Quest) runs on any Amiga with 1 megabyte of RAM, an A1200 is recommended. (cg)

[News message: 12. Dec. 2024, 11:33] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
12.Dec.2024
spillhistorie.no (E-Mail)


Interview: Rob Anderson ("Moonstone")
The blog "Spillhistory" spoke to programmer Rob Anderson, the developer of the 1991 action adventure Moonstone. (cg)

[News message: 12. Dec. 2024, 11:24] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
11.Dec.2024



Development tool: Amiga GCC updated
Stefan 'bebbo' Franke's GNU-C compiler compilation for the Amiga was updated two days ago. The "lilzöö" version mainly fixes problems and integrates the Poseidon USB SDK. (snx)

[News message: 11. Dec. 2024, 09:50] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
11.Dec.2024



Winterland level for Mega Lo Mania
Back in November last year Dom Cresswell created a Winterland level for the game Mega Lo Mania by using "AI" for the graphics and a level editor he had started in 2008 and not completed until 2023. The new level can be downloaded at the title link. (snx)

[News message: 11. Dec. 2024, 09:50] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
11.Dec.2024



Video series: The Amiga 1000 as a Workstation, part 9
Yesterday Thomas Cherryhomes published the ninth part of his video series on the Workstation suitability of the Amiga 1000 at that time. In it, he compares how an IBM PC/AT would have been used for scientific and engineering purposes by writing a heatmap program with the IBM C compiler. (snx)

[News message: 11. Dec. 2024, 09:50] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
11.Dec.2024
Mastodon (ANF)


Video: The Best Amiga Christmas Games
If you want to get into the Christmas spirit with Amiga nostalgia, you will find an almost half-hour video at the title link with scenes from the fifteen best Christmas-related games according to the creator. (snx)

[News message: 11. Dec. 2024, 09:50] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
10.Dec.2024
Tino Mania


Print magazine: Amiga Germany, issue 13
"Amiga Germany" has its origins in a Facebook group of the same name. The magazine, which is in A5 format, focuses on the game and demo scene on the Amiga. The thirteenth edition, which is around 60 pages long, can now be ordered for Euro 4.22 (plus shipping) and should be delivered before the end of this year.

The new edition includes the following topics, among others:
  • Review of X-Out and facts and news about X-Out Resurfaced, including an interview with the developers
  • Report: Germany – no land of video games?
  • Reviews: puzzle and logic games, Lost Patrol, Payback, B.C. Kid, Dr. Dangerous and many more
  • Box art story: Agony
  • Christmas goodies
  • free surprise trading card
(nba)

[News message: 10. Dec. 2024, 12:17] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
10.Dec.2024
Amiga 40th Silicon Valley organizers team (ANF)


Announcement: Amiga 40th Anniversary Event in Silicon Valley
A major event will be held in Silicon Valley in July 2025 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Amiga. Organised by the team behind the Amiga30th event, the event invites Amiga fans from around the world to celebrate the history and legacy of the Amiga. The event will include exhibits, a banquet and a presentation of rare artefacts from the collection of Amiga legend Dale Luck. Interested parties can sign up for a newsletter to receive updates. (nba)

[News message: 10. Dec. 2024, 12:05] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
10.Dec.2024
Timo Paul (ANF)


AmigaGuide magazine: Issue 15 of "WhatIFF?", new forum and merchandise
‘WhatIFF?’ is an Amiga magazine in AmigaGuide format.The topics of the fifteenth issue include reviews of hardware (e.g. A600GS, RastPort PCMCIA and Electroware PSU) and software (e.g. IBrowse 3a and RogueCraft), tutorials (e.g. Basic Basic and setting up AmigaOS 3.2) and interviews (e.g. Grzegorz Kraszewsk (Untangle) and Krzysztof Donat (GoVD)). The new edition is expected to be available free of charge from Friday on the WhatIFF? website and on the Aminet.

The WhatIFF? makers are also offering a range of merchandise including t-shirts and stickers, which can be purchased from the website.

An English-language discussion forum has been set up for authors to exchange ideas, and is now also accessible to readers, to promote the exchange of ideas on topics in general and about WhatIFF? (nba)

[News message: 10. Dec. 2024, 11:53] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
10.Dec.2024



Reverse Engineering: Carmageddon for 68k-Amigas
A reverse engineering project brings the PC classic Carmageddon to the Classic Amiga. Thanks to Arcziii, who has already presented reverse engineerings of Red Alert and Wipeout, the martial racing game has been made executable on classic Amiga hardware. The adaptation is based on the original engine, has been engineered for the 68k architecture and requires the original Carmageddon game data, which can be obtained from the original game disc or from the gaming platform GOG (Good Old Games).

Carmageddon has been developed by Stainless Games and published by Interplay in 1997. The high-octane, controversial driving game, known for its uncompromising action and destruction, originally appeared for MS-DOS, Windows and Macintosh, and was later released for other platforms. (nba)

[News message: 10. Dec. 2024, 11:33] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
10.Dec.2024



SCSI-SD adapter: ZuluSCSI-Firmware 2024.12.09
ZuluSCSI is a file-based SCSI hard disk and CD-ROM drive emulator, emulating an SCSI-I or SCSI-2 hard disk using an SD memory card (amiga-news.de reported).

Version 2024.12.09 is a hotfix for ZuluSCSI V1.1/V1.2 only, which fixes a regression during firmware initialisation. (dr)

[News message: 10. Dec. 2024, 06:18] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
09.Dec.2024



Blog: Restoration of an Amiga 2000 (parts 1 and 2)
Andrew 'LinuxJedi' Hutching had recently purchased an Amiga 2000 for £350 which was in an unknown condition but contained many upgrades. The aim of his restoration is to get the motherboard working in the first part and to continue working on it in the second part. (dr)

[News message: 09. Dec. 2024, 06:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
09.Dec.2024



Internet radio: TuneFinder 1.3a (update)
Marcin Spoczynski's TuneFinder enables users to search internet radio stations with various filter options. Results are displayed in a list with detailed station information, and the app includes options to save selections as either a complete PLS playlist for playing them via AmigaAMP directly from within Tunefinder or as individual station files (amiga-news.de reported). Version 1.3 provides the following changes:
  • Users can now select a program (AmigaAMP) to launch together with TuneFinder
  • Added favorites management system
  • Added iconification support
  • Added list content preservation during iconification
  • Added window position persistence
  • Added functionality to save last used country and codec on exit
  • Added French translation (Eric 'Tarinz' LUCZYSZYN)
  • Bug fixes and UI improvements
Update: (10.12.2024, 06:04, dr)

Version 1.3a is now available, which adds Iconify AmigaAMP on start to automatically minimize AmigaAMP.

Download: TuneFinder.lha (79 KB) (dr)

[News message: 09. Dec. 2024, 05:58] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
09.Dec.2024



AROS: Sound editor ProTrekkr 2.7.5
ProTrekkr is a tracker program that combines a software synthesizer with a traditional sample tracker. It can mainly be used to create electronic music (such as psytrance, trance, goa, hard acid, IDM, chip, techno, jungle, etc.) for small intros, demos or games. Version 2.7.5 has now been released for AROS (and other systems). Changes:
  • Sample editor tries to keep loop information intact whenever possible.
  • Synth distortion can now have positive or negative values.
  • Synth ENV 1 & 2 can be directed to drive synth distortion.
  • Synth LVO 1 & 2 can be directed to drive synth distortion as well.
  • Removed broken instruments and presets from distribution.
  • Fixed a couple of bugs here and there.
  • Added replay routine support for AROS.
  • Added global stereo VU meters view for each channel.
Download: ptk_v2.7.5_aros_x86.zip (12 MB) (dr)

[News message: 09. Dec. 2024, 05:48] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024



Aminet uploads until 07.12.2024
The following files have been added until 07.12.2024 to Aminet:
eTIN.lha                 biz/misc   1K        German eTIN and Leitweg-ID en...
DiskCopier.lha           disk/bakup 13K   68k Simple 2024 floppy disk copier
anaiis.lha               driver/oth 250K  68k ANAIIS USB Stack Release 1.24
anaiis_boot.lha          driver/oth 271K  68k ANAIIS USB Boot disk Release ...
g17demo_68k_and_wos.lha  game/demo  355M  68k Demo version of Gorky 17
FlashMandelNG_OS4.lha    gfx/fract  35M   OS4 Mandelbrot & Julia fractals AOS4
AmiArcadia.lha           misc/emu   9.2M  68k Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadiaMOS.lha        misc/emu   9.5M  MOS Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadia-OS4.lha       misc/emu   10M   OS4 Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiVms.lha               misc/emu   3.8M  68k Simulates OpenVMS commands
DevilsTorture.lha        mods/misc  1.3M      16bit 4ch Amiga Doom Metal by...
Protrekkr_AROS_i386.zip  mus/edit   12M   x86 Tracker/Synth hybrid Program
IMP_GI.lha               pix/gicon  6K        GlowIcon for IMP
(snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:49] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024



OS4Depot uploads until 07.12.2024
The following files have been added until 07.12.2024 to OS4Depot:
amiarcadia.lha           emu/gam 10Mb  4.0 Signetics-based machines emulator
mgba.lha                 emu/gam 4Mb   4.1 GB/GBC/GBA Emulator
roguefootballcardgame... gam/car 6Mb   4.0 Card game by AmiGameJam
jfduke3d.lha             gam/fps 119Mb 4.1 JonoF's Duke Nukem 3D Port
prboom-plus.lha          gam/fps 15Mb  4.1 An improvement on id Software�...
processactionreply.lha   gam/uti 615kb 4.0 fun hack, works like action repl...
iff-converter.lha        gra/con 1Mb   4.0 Convert images into raw format.
flashmandelng.lha        gra/mis 35Mb  4.1 Mandelbrot & Julia fractals ...
litexl.lha               uti/tex 2Mb   4.1 A lightweight text editor writte...
(snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:49] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024



AROS Archives uploads until 07.12.2024
The following files have been added until 07.12.2024 to AROS Archives:
protrekkr.i386-aros.zip      aud/tra 12Mb  Tracker/Synth hybrid Program
(snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:49] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024



MorphOS-Storage uploads until 07.12.2024
The following files have been added until 07.12.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
AmiArcadia_33.70.lha      Emulation                 A Signetics-based machi...
PacMan-SDL_1.0.lha        Games/Action              Port of PacMan-SDL
NetPuzzleArena_1.0.lha    Games/Think               Port of NetPuzzleArena ...
SacrificioPagano_3.00.lha Misc                      A special app to people...
Iris_1.45.lha             MorphOS-update            Iris, the MorphOS email...
Lite-XL_2.1.6r1.lha       Text/Edit                 Lite XL is a lightweigh...
(snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:49] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024



WHDLoad: Version 19.1 and new installers until 07.12.2024
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.

Version 19.1, which has been released meanwhile, can check for code now that possibly triggers a hardware bug caused by accessing custom.copjmp1/2 while blitter is active.

The following installers have been added until 07.12.2024: (snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:49] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.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:
  • Xenophobe [feat. Necropolo] (Encore64 V2)
  • Echoing Genos Edition
  • Saman Kar Tanesii
(snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:49] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024
discord (ANF)


AMOS game with source code: Sybil - Halloween Defender
The game "Sybil: Halloween Defender" (video) is inspired by the classic game Defender. Here you control Sybil, a friendly witch who lives on the edge of the forest and is viewed with suspicion by the inhabitants of the nearby village. But every year on Halloween, when the barrier between the earthly and spirit worlds is at its thinnest and evil creatures emerge from the underworld, Sybil flies out on her enchanted broom with her spell book to keep them at bay.

The game is free and the available source code is intended as a learning aid for budding AMOS Basic Pro programmers to help them write more Amiga games.

Download: Sybil.adf (880 Kb) (snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:49] [Comments: 2 - 11. Dec. 2024, 06:21]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024
memo via discord (ANF)


Event: Video announcing Amiga40 (German)
As announced via a German video at the title link, the "Amiga40" event will take place from October 17 to 19, 2025, again at the "Kunstwerk" in Mönchengladbach (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). While the program is still being worked out, it is at least certain that the previous limit of a maximum of 850 visitors can be increased this time, so that around 1000 participants are envisaged. (snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:49] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024



Self-built disk archiver based on Raspberry Pi
The website "Tom's Hardware" reports at the title link about a project by Graham Tinkers. He was faced with the task of archiving his 800 Amiga disks and built a disk archiver from a Raspberry Pi 3B, an old disk duplicator, a camera and Greazeweasel, which saves them as an ADF file to a USB device with an accompanying photo of the disk (video). (snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:48] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024



Workbench 1.3: A list of enhancing software
Following his AmigaNOS tutorial, Hungarian software engineer 'neongod' has published a list of software at the title link to enhance Workbench 1.3. (snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:48] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
08.Dec.2024



Diskmag: Versus #10 (update)
Issue 10 of Versus, the diskmag of the demoscene groups Nukleus and Void, which contains the Amiga demoscene charts, has been published at the title link.

Update: (10.12.2024, 22:04, dr)

In the meantime, a version for AmigaOS 4 is also available on OS4Depot. (snx)

[News message: 08. Dec. 2024, 11:48] [Comments: 1 - 10. Dec. 2024, 02:37]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
07.Dec.2024



Commercial action RPG: Dungeonette - The New Adventure (AGA/CD32) available
Adrian Cummings' action RPG "Dungeonette - The New Adventure" (video) is now available. A boxed edition - a DVD case containing a CD32-compatible CD, printed manual, USB stick with ADF files and two disk labels - is being sold on ebay UK for just under 36 euros plus postage, while the purely digital edition is available from etsy.com for 18.80 euros.


Dungeonette - The New Adventure runs on any AGA-Amiga, compatibility with THEA500 Mini, A600GS and WinUAE has also been ensured by the developer. On faster systems there may be occasional speed problems, for these cases the Dungeonette WHDLoad patch is recommended. (cg)

[News message: 07. Dec. 2024, 23:13] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
07.Dec.2024



Coding workshop: A500 programming at hardware level - A Sprite Rendering Engine
The eighth part of Michael Martin's course on hardware-level A500 programming is about sprites again: "A Sprite Rendering Engine" explains the interaction of the sprites created in the last episode with other elements of the graphics hardware. (cg)

[News message: 07. Dec. 2024, 22:17] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
07.Dec.2024



Web tool: Worms DC Asset Editor
Alexander Groupe's Worms DC Asset Editor is a web-based replacement for the "WormPrefs" tool from Worms: Director's Cut. The tool was inspired by the announced update for Worms DC, which will soon celebrate it's 30th birthday.

The Asset Editor can now do everything that the original WormPrefs could do, including:
  • Import of existing Worms DC assets
  • Export of WRM16 (custom level), MNT (mountains) and DIY (landscape) files
  • Import of level/mountain/landscape images as IFFs
  • Interactive palette adjustments
  • Previews of everything
For his editor, the author first had to reverse engineer and document all custom file formats used in Worms. Talking to amiga-news.de, Grupe spoke of a "reverse engineering odyssey" in which his low-level assembler experience was very useful. Three bytes are still "unsolved", otherwise all questions about the file format have been answered - including problems such as "is this the height, only shifted 6 bits to the left?" and "this must be a BLTSIZE specification?". (cg)

[News message: 07. Dec. 2024, 22:08] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
07.Dec.2024



Text adventure: Morning Panic
Written in Amiga-E, "Morning Panic" is the first text adventure by Moya 'Cammy' Jackie. Described by the author as a " small and simple text adventure", the title requires at least Kickstart 2.0. (cg)

[News message: 07. Dec. 2024, 20:01] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
07.Dec.2024



Linux: Kernel 6.12.2 LTS for AmigaOne X1000/X5000
Parallel to the release of the Linux kernel 6.12.2, Christian 'xeno74' Zigotzky has finally compiled it for the AmigaOne X1000 and X5000. This release has been given "LTS" status ("Long Term Support") by the Linux team and will be provided with updates until at least the end of 2026. Compared to the previous version, two minor bugs have been fixed:
  • drm/radeon: Fix spurious unplug event on radeon HDMI
  • KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Fix kmv -> kvm typo
(cg)

[News message: 07. Dec. 2024, 19:56] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
06.Dec.2024
George 'walkero' Sokianos


Text editor: Lite XL 2.1.6r1 for AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS
George 'walkero' Sokianos has updated his port of the SDL-based text editor Lite XL. The update makes the changes from the official Lite XL 2.1.6 release available to Amiga users, and the OS4 implementation is now based on SDL 2.30.9.. (cg)

[News message: 06. Dec. 2024, 23:03] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
06.Dec.2024
hyperion-entertainment.com (ANF)


Gorky 17: WarpOS support, minor update of AmigaOS 3 version, new demo
Steffen Häuser has now also ported the RPG/strategy mix "Gorky 17" to WarpOS after AmigaOS 3. There is also a small update for the 68k edition: the wrong language file may have been installed during the installation process, this error has been fixed.

Registered existing customers can download the archive with the combined 68k/WarpOS version in the download area, for all others there is now an updated demo version that also supports the PowerPC. (cg)

[News message: 06. Dec. 2024, 22:54] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
06.Dec.2024
Michael Rupp (ANF)


Javascript: TAWS - The Amiga Workbench Simulation 0.38
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 0.38 includes a lot of changes regarding e.g. palette, menu or AmigaGuide. (dr)

[News message: 06. Dec. 2024, 22:11] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
06.Dec.2024



AmigaOS 4: MilkyTracker 1.05 Release Candidate 1
Juha 'capehill' Niemimaki has again cross-compiled the source code of MilkyTracker for AmigaOS 4 with GCC 11.3.0 and linked it with the last stable version of SDL 2.30.9..

Download: MilkyTracker-SDL2.lha (2,1 MB) (dr)

[News message: 06. Dec. 2024, 05:57] [Comments: 1 - 10. Dec. 2024, 02:38]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
05.Dec.2024
MorphZone (website)


MorphOS: E-mail client Iris 1.45 (update)
Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has released version 1.44 of his e-mail client Iris for MorphOS. New features of this version include faster downloading and displaying of e-mails, replying to and canceling of calendar entries, and the option of always sending e-mails as a blind copy to a preset address.

Update: (06.12.2024, 22:04, dr)

Version 1.45 is now available to fix a memtrash that could occur under certain conditions.

Download: iris.lha (27 MB) (snx)

[News message: 05. Dec. 2024, 22:25] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
04.Dec.2024



SCSI-SD adapter: ZuluSCSI firmware 2024.12.03
ZuluSCSI is a file-based SCSI hard disk and CD-ROM drive emulator, emulating an SCSI-I or SCSI-2 hard disk using an SD memory card (amiga-news.de reported).

Version 2024.12.03 introduces support for Ultra-SCSI (Fast-20) on RP2040/RP2350-based platforms, currently still in beta. You can find more details on this and the other changes at the title link. (snx)

[News message: 04. Dec. 2024, 11:11] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
04.Dec.2024



AROS: Sound editor ProTrekkr 2.7.3 (update)
ProTrekkr is a tracker program that combines a software synthesizer with a traditional sample tracker. It can mainly be used to create electronic music (such as psytrance, trance, goa, hard acid, IDM, chip, techno, jungle, etc.) for small intros, demos or games. Version 2.7.1 has now been released for AROS.

New features, besides bug fixes, are OpenGL support, the ability to draw samples and saving parts of samples as waveform files.

Update: (06.12.2024, 22:04, dr)

Version 2.7.3 is now available, which fixes a cause of a crash. In addition, a more straightforward individual tracks zooming mechanism has been implemented. (snx)

[News message: 04. Dec. 2024, 11:11] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
04.Dec.2024



Programming competition: Voting opened for AmiGameJam 2024
Aim of AmiGameJam 2024 was to program a successor to an existing Amiga game. After the closing date, the winner can now be voted for until Christmas. To take part, you have to be registered on the website and can then submit your rating after clicking on the individual games. (snx)

[News message: 04. Dec. 2024, 11:11] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
04.Dec.2024
heckmeck-Blog (ANF)


Programming competition: Vintage Computing Christmas Challenge 2024
For the fourth time, the Logiker website is holding a Vintage Computing Christmas Challenge. Participation in this programming competition is open until Christmas Day, and prizes include issues of PDF magazines and a book. (snx)

[News message: 04. Dec. 2024, 11:11] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
04.Dec.2024
Puni (ANF)


AmigaOS 4: Blog summary for November 2024
For the past month 'Puni' has again published a news summary for AmigaOS 4 in his "Old School Game Blog" at the title link. (snx)

[News message: 04. Dec. 2024, 11:10] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
03.Dec.2024
Mastodon


Developer log: Writing an own dialogue scripting language
Developer Dan Salvato has presented the creation of his own dialogue scripting language for his under-development game "Magicore Anomala" in a detailed blog post (amiga-news.de reported). In "Writing My Own Dialogue Scripting Language", Salvato describes the motivation and development process behind the creation of a custom language for implementing dialogues in video games. He discusses technical challenges and describes the components script, parser, bytecode and renderer. With specific script examples, he explains how his solution makes it possible to efficiently implement complex dialogue structures. (nba)

[News message: 03. Dec. 2024, 12:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
03.Dec.2024



AmiGameJam candidate: Last Battle 2
Successors to Amiga games are to be created as part of the AmiGameJam 2024 contest. Under the title link, 'msmalik681' has published his interpretation of a successor to the Sega classic "Last Battle", which has also been ported to the Amiga: "Last Battle 2" is a classic beat'em up in the arcade style of the 80s.

According to the developer, the fight game should run on all Amigas with OCS and 1 MB of Chip RAM and make use of both joystick buttons. Currently, the first level of "Last Battle 2" (YouTube video) can be played. (nba)

[News message: 03. Dec. 2024, 11:56] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
03.Dec.2024



PDF magazine: Ami Tech-Gazette, Issue 11
"Ami Tech-Gazette" by Eric Schwartz and Michael Barclay is a 12-page retro newsletter with an Amiga focus. The current issue includes another episode of the "Graphics Workshop", reviews of Datastorm and Gigawatt, and a throwback to the US print magazine "COMPUTE!". (nba)

[News message: 03. Dec. 2024, 11:44] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
02.Dec.2024



AROS: Review of November 2024
In his blog, Andrzej 'retrofaza' Subocz has published a summary of AROS/x86 news for the month of November at the title link. (dr)

[News message: 02. Dec. 2024, 21:17] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
02.Dec.2024



Video: Installation of an Indivision AGA MK3 in the CD32
In part 1 of a two-part series, the YouTube channel "Amiga Retro" shows how an Indivision AGA MK3 is installed in a CD32. (dr)

[News message: 02. Dec. 2024, 18:08] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
02.Dec.2024



AmigaOS 4: Review of MediaVault
MediaVault is a program for AmigaOS 4 for streaming radio stations and playing podcasts, which was written by George 'walkereo' Sokianos and last updated at the end of 2021 (amiga-news.de reported). Kevin 'ktadd' Taddeucci takes a closer look at the application and its mediavault script, which can be used to save parts of streams and entire podcasts in a file on the hard drive. (dr)

[News message: 02. Dec. 2024, 17:56] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
02.Dec.2024



Game Construction Kit: RedPill 0.9.43
RedPill, developed by Carlos Peris, is a game construction kit written in Amiblitz 3.99, which allows the development of games from various genres (e.g. Agonman). RedPill (YouTube video) 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.

Detailed changes of version 0.9.43:
  • Game setup page now has a basic and advanced page. In advanced page the level loading strategy can be decided.
  • For final games now all levels files are stored in a single file, this will speed up loading levels.
  • In the Game Setup advanced page you can choose to store all levels in memory, load each one or have them all in memory.
  • Improvements in palette handling when slicing new spritesheets.
  • Added aid when setting a jump for an object.
  • Added a Condition trigger to check M8 mod tracker commands.
  • Added action trigger Angle from 8Dir to calculate angle from delta x and delta y movement.
  • Better editor representation of UI Bars.
  • Small optimization for objects with map collisions.
  • Instantiate helper in triggers screen now shows all instantiates instead of just one.
  • Fix in Map Speed for new projects as it was initially 0.
  • Change in collision boxes display to try to avoid them leave the screen dirty.
  • Change in requesters to avoid an issue when saving after working in a project for a long time.
  • Fix for shape exporting when using font sheets.
  • Fix for copper gradients being erased at runtime under some configurations.
  • Melter font is now being loaded and used in the editor anymore.
(dr)

[News message: 02. Dec. 2024, 06:09] [Comments: 1 - 10. Dec. 2024, 02:42]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
01.Dec.2024



Aminet uploads until 30.11.2024
The following files have been added until 30.11.2024 to Aminet:
TuneFinder.lha           comm/misc  70K   68k Search and play online radio ...
AmiSpeedTest.lha         comm/net   77K   68k Network speed test utility
curl-8.11.2.lha          comm/tcp   3.1M  68k File and data transfer tool a...
TWIR-Dave.zip            demo/aga   7.0M  68k animated demo with sound. AGA...
png2cMOS.lha             dev/c      67K   MOS convert png images to ANSI-C ...
zlib-1.3.1.lha           dev/lib    75K   68k Data compression library
REDPILLGameCreator.lha   dev/misc   5.9M  68k Game Creator with AGA support
x68k2amiga.zip           dev/misc   30K   68k Convert X68000 exec/data file...
DiskCopier11a.lha        disk/bakup 59K   68k Simple floppy disk copier
uaemidi.lha              driver/oth 14K   68k UAE MIDI driver for CAMD (wit...
AmiRobbo2_DEMO.adf       game/demo  880K      Ami Robbo 2 playable demo
HalloweenX_Demo.lha      game/demo  661K  68k HalloweenX AGA Game, Demo
MCE.lha                  game/edit  4.1M  68k Multi-game Character Editor
MCE-MOS.lha              game/edit  4.5M  MOS Multi-game Character Editor
MCE-OS4.lha              game/edit  4.8M  OS4 Multi-game Character Editor
level2silhouette.adf     game/jump  880K  68k Level 2 of AGA Game Silhouett...
silhouette-threat-AGA... game/jump  880K  68k Level 1 of AGA Game Silhouett...
FlashMandelNG_OS4.lha    gfx/fract  35M   OS4 Mandelbrot & Julia fractals AOS4
AmiVms.lha               misc/emu   3.8M  68k Simulates OpenVMS commands
sysvars.lha              util/boot  24K   68k Put system information in env...
Trinity.lha              util/misc  33K   68k Trinity Tools
UHCBatch.lha             util/misc  40K   68k UHCTools ReAction GUI w. source
VATestprogram.zip        util/misc  8.5M  68k Versatile Amiga Testprogram
AIBB_ManticoreV4.lha     util/moni  1K    68k AIBB Module: A600 - Apollo Ma...
CPU-A.lha                util/moni  472K  68k System Information Tool
Anno.lha                 util/time  367K  68k Reminder and calendar utility
(snx)

[News message: 01. Dec. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
01.Dec.2024



OS4Depot uploads until 30.11.2024
The following files have been added until 30.11.2024 to OS4Depot:
mce.lha                  gam/uti 5Mb   4.0 Multi-game Character Editor
iff-converter.lha        gra/con 1Mb   4.0 Convert images into raw format.
gif2abk.lha              gra/mis 4Mb   4.0 converting GIF animations to AMO...
mediavault_script.lha    net/mis 17kb  4.0 Choose player or download stream...
sacrificopagano.lha      uti/mis 6Mb   4.0 Magic Tool
(snx)

[News message: 01. Dec. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
01.Dec.2024



AROS Archives uploads until 30.11.2024
The following files have been added until 30.11.2024 to AROS Archives:
ft2clone166.i386-aros.zip    aud/tra 4Mb   FastTracker II Clone is a music ...
dosbox_manual_many_lang.zip  doc/man 114kb Dosbox Manual Many language
sacrificiopagano.lha         uti/mis 5Mb   Magic Tool
(snx)

[News message: 01. Dec. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
01.Dec.2024



MorphOS-Storage uploads until 30.11.2024
The following files have been added until 30.11.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
MilkyTracker_1.05.00.lha  Audio/Tracker             An XM/MOD tracker by th...
png2c_1.0.lha             Development/C             Convert png images to A...
AmiArcadia_33.60.lha      Emulation                 A Signetics-based machi...
SDDapple_0.14.lha         Emulation                 An Apple ][+ and //e em...
PacMan-SDL_1.0.lha        Games/Action              Port of PacMan-SDL
MCE_15.23.lha             Games/Editor              Multi-game Character Ed...
Woof_15.0.0.lha           Games/Shoot3D             Woof! is a continuation...
EgoBoo_2.22.lha           Games/Shoot3D             An old quick port of Eg...
fheroes2_1.1.4.lha        Games/Strategy            fheroes2 is a recreatio...
Rob-O-Tronic_1.0.lha      Games/Think               Port of Rob-O-Tronic by...
UHCTools_1.8.lha          Misc                      A collection of program...
(snx)

[News message: 01. Dec. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
01.Dec.2024



WHD-Load: New installers until 30.11.2024
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 30.11.2024: (snx)

[News message: 01. Dec. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
01.Dec.2024
Amiga Future (Webseite)


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:
  • Supremacy (Encore64 V2)
  • Rainbow Islands Christmas
  • Ethereal Void part 1 (nightwolf 2024 remix)
(snx)

[News message: 01. Dec. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
01.Dec.2024
Amiga.org (forum)


Amiga Advent Calendar
The Australian Moya 'Cammy' Jackie has started another Christmas campaign and presents an Amiga Advent Calendar at the title link. Behind each door is a game, mod, demo, artwork or piece of software contributed by the Amiga community. Further contributions to fill the calendar are welcome. (snx)

[News message: 01. Dec. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
01.Dec.2024



Game: Star Dust Wars - Director's Cut
As reported, the Electric Black Sheep team have reworked their game "Star Dust Wars". This "Director's Cut" has been published yesterday at the title link. (snx)

[News message: 01. Dec. 2024, 09:06] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
01.Dec.2024



Programming the Amiga 500: Spritework
Michael Martin's latest entry on his experimental programming projects on the Amiga 500 is dedicated to sprites, including a look at the continuity compared to the Atari. (snx)

[News message: 01. Dec. 2024, 09:05] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
30.Nov.2024



Dungeon crawler: Halloween X 1.10 (AGA)
Sami Vehmaa's dungeon crawler Halloween X (video) can be purchased for 5 USD at itch.io. The developer has released several updates since the initial release:
  • 1.10: Demo had a text bug !
  • 1.10: A general speed improvement !
  • 1.09: Vampire autodetect removed, looks like different cores makes autodetect useless ;)
  • 1.09: If music is not playing, hold L-SHIFT down and click game icon and hold it until menu is loaded.
  • 1.09: key V in menu also prints v1.09 Tracker <> MTplayer
  • 1.08: I have added kid/men difficulty mode , so men has added difficulty to prior version
  • 1.08: I have also made it run on Vampire, this is un-official.. I don't guarantee it to work, tested with core 10400
Halloween X requires a fast AGA Amiga, a free demo version is available. (cg)

[News message: 30. Nov. 2024, 13:40] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
30.Nov.2024



Universal PCI driver system: OpenPCI 10.5 (Update)
Thomas 'Thor' Richter's universal PCI driver system "OpenPCI" supports all known PCI solutions for the Amiga without recourse to the software of the respective manufacturer. The current version 10.4 contains the following changes:
  • The algorithm for finding an address space window for the A1200 mediators has been changed. It no longer looks behind the last memory segment, but uses the largest hole from the 24bit limit up.
  • The installer script has been updated. It now checks whether the archive is corrupt, and also backs up the PCI-Configuration file if it existed.
  • PCIInit no longer checks whether the version of openpci is larger or equal than its own version. Version 3 of openpci is now sufficient since that version introduced the MMU initialization API.
Update: (01.12.2024, 16:00, cg)

Richter released version 10.5 today:
  • When tearing down the library due to an Expunge, the code trashed memory due to an incorrectly loaded memory.
  • When scanning for devices, the scan no longer stops after the first device of a multi-function device that claims not be of multi-function type.
(cg)

[News message: 30. Nov. 2024, 13:25] [Comments: 1 - 01. Dec. 2024, 16:10]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
30.Nov.2024



Amiga 500 keyboard as a USB device: Leonardo 1.2
"Amiga 500 Keyboard - Arduino Leonardo" is a further development of Amiga500-Keyboard, it transforms an Amiga 500 keyboard into a USB input device with the help of an Arduino Leonardo. Compared to its predecessor, it offers some new functions such as the recording of macros. The new version 1.2 also offers support for multimedia keys. (cg)

[News message: 30. Nov. 2024, 12:37] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
30.Nov.2024



AmiGameJam: Numerous new games introduced
The deadline for this year's edition of the AmiGameJam programming competition, which has the motto "The Sequel That Never Was", is just a few hours away: Participants are to develop a sequel to a classic Amiga game. A number of new titles have been presented in the last two days, and we are currently aware of a total of 15 games intended for the jam:


Tale of Evil (video) is the successor to Tower of Evil, which was also released this year. An ECS Amiga with one megabyte of RAM is required; additional graphics and music are integrated into the game when installed on a hard disk.


The vertically scrolling shooter Insanity Fight 2 (video) is described by the author as a "quick'n dirty prototype": development only started this month. Currently one level including the final boss has been implemented, the target platform is an Amiga with a 68000 (recommended: 68010) processor and one megabyte of RAM.


Peter Mackay's turn-based strategy game North And South Wars (video) is based on the US Civil War, but uses game mechanics inspired by Nintendo's Advance Wars. At least an A500 is required, the game is controlled entirely with the mouse.


Rintivoorh (video) is also still in the prototype stage, the only existing level does not yet have a final boss. The Hawkeye successor supports a second fire button and runs on any Amiga with at least one megabyte of RAM.


The puzzle game Master of Minefields (video) offers 10 different game modes and 350 levels. Originally developed for the CD32, the title currently runs on any PAL-AGA Amiga. Adaptations for NTSC and ECS/OCS computers are planned.


Unlike its predecessor, the arena shooter Extreme Violence 2 (video) supports four participants instead of just two. The programmer describes the development status as "fully playable but missing some polish, optimisation, and bug fixing.". The title, written in C, runs on any Amiga with one megabyte of RAM; if only 512 KB of chip RAM is available, the playing fields are slightly reduced in size. After several preview videos, the game is now also available for download.


The top-down racer Riviera '79 (video) is inspired by Sega's arcade classic Monaco GP. Two fire buttons are supported, the racer should run on any Amiga with 512 KB RAM, one megabyte is required when starting from the Workbench.

Previously known titles

The following competitors have already been presented in previous reports: (cg)

[News message: 30. Nov. 2024, 11:03] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
29.Nov.2024



Asteroids-style dogfights: Hyper Wings 1.5
Christian Geldmann's “Hyper Wings” (Video) is a shooter developed in Assembler, in which two human or computer-controlled combatants fight each other with a control system borrowed from Asteroids. Version 1.5 fixes some bugs and also features the following changes:
  • new ingame music
  • new background graphics + a second background image when playing best of 5 mode. More gfx will follow in the next releases.
  • new sprite gfx: different space ships can be chosen. More will follow.
  • weapons: Enemy missiles can now be destroyed with own missiles.
  • 2 disks: the game uses two disks now. This allows loading of data in the game. The additional 880k allows the usage of several background gfx, mod tunes and sprite gfx. The game supports using df0 or df1 for the 2nd disk.
Direct download link: hyperwings_v1.5.zip (539 KB) (cg)

[News message: 29. Nov. 2024, 16:17] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
29.Nov.2024
GitHub


CLI command: sysvars V0.15.1
sysvars is a small CLI tool that creates several environment variables holding valuable system information (e.g. CPU and FPU, the chipset or Kickstart version). These variables can be used, for example, in the startup-sequence to enable/disable certain patches, assigns etc.

Version 0.15.1 again fixes errors in Vampire V2 detection. (dr)

[News message: 29. Nov. 2024, 09:04] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
29.Nov.2024



AmiGameJam candidate: Anguish
Successors to Amiga games are to be created as part of the AmiGameJam 2024 contest. 'lionagony', who previously worked on Silhouette Threat, has released his idea of a sequel to Agony for AGA Amigas.

The first level of "Anguish" (YouTube video) can currently be played. (dr)

[News message: 29. Nov. 2024, 08:57] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
29.Nov.2024



Video tutorial: Using the AMOS command "SCREEN OFFSET"
In another video in his tutorial series on AMOS Pro, retro and Amiga fan 'Yawning Angel' shows another way to scroll a screen vertically by using the SCREEN OFFSET command. (dr)

[News message: 29. Nov. 2024, 08:48] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
28.Nov.2024
OSnews (ANF)


Linux PPC removes support for CHRP (e.g. Pegasos)
The maintainers of the PowerPC port of the Linux kernel are planning to remove support for CHRP ("Common Hardware Reference Platform") systems. The Pegasos/Pegasos 2 systems from bplan are among those affected. However, this change will have no effect on the PowerPC computers from Eyetech, ACube and A-EON: here the community has always been responsible for kernel adaptations. (cg)

[News message: 28. Nov. 2024, 21:58] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
28.Nov.2024



Preview videos: Beat'em up "Last Battle 2" , Shoot'em Up "Galactic Plague"
Two developers provide a first insight into the status of their projects developed with the Scorpion Engine by publishing videos showing some gameplay:

Last Battle 2 is to be a beat'em up which sees itself as an unofficial successor to the Sega classic "Last Battle", which was also ported to the Amiga.

Galactic Plague is a vertically scrolling shooter that the designer originally wanted to develop with the Shoot'em Up Construction Kit before deciding to use a more modern platform due to its limitations and instability. (cg)

[News message: 28. Nov. 2024, 21:46] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
28.Nov.2024
spillhistorie.no (ANF)


Interview: The story of Twintris
The blog “Spillhistory” spoke to programmer Svein Berge about his Tetris clone Twintris, which was first published by Digital Marketing in 1990 and then distributed on various magazine disks in 1991. (cg)

[News message: 28. Nov. 2024, 21:40] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
28.Nov.2024
Dimitris 'MiDWaN' Panokostas


Amiga emulator: Amiberry V7.0.0-RC1
Amiberry is an Amiga emulator for ARM-based single-chip systems such as the Raspberry Pi, the Odroid XU4 or the Tinkerboard from ASUS, which comes with some newly developed features such as a "WHDLoad-Booter" or support for controller configuration using RetroArch and is used, for example, in the AmiKit workbench distribution for the Raspberry Pi 4/400. A modified version of Amiberry is also the basis for the THEA500 Mini.

The current release candidate ("RC") of version 7.0.0 is not recommended for weaker systems, for which an update of "Amiberry-Lite" will be provided shortly. The changes in detail:
  • Amiberry is now delivered as a package, instead of just an archive with binaries. This also means that you don't have to manually install the dependencies, before you can run it (the package will take care of that for you automatically). For Debian or Ubuntu based systems there's a .DEB package, for Fedora there's RPM and for macOS users, there are DMG images that can be used. You can now install Amiberry by downloading the archive, extracting it, and doing something like sudo apt install ./amiberry-XYZ.deb (for DEB). Upgrading to a newer version becomes as simple as installing it on top again. Uninstalling it is simple as well (sudo apt remove amiberry) and it will clean up the dependencies after it. Check the main README for instructions per platform.
  • The directory structure handling has changed. Amiberry will not install itself into standard locations, placing shared libraries where they are expected in the system, and will use the user's HOME folder to create an Amiberry directory, if it doesn't exist. That will contain the user-configurable stuff, like directories for Floppy images, Harddrives, Configurations etc. Meanwhile, internal directories are placed elsewhere, to reduce clutter. Check the Wiki for more details: https://github.com/BlitterStudio/amiberry/wiki/Amiberry-directories
  • The MacOS binaries are finally signed with an Apple-recognized developer certificate, and they are notarized. This means you no longer have to manually bypass the system's security, to allow it to run. You can just drag and drop it to your Applications and start it up like any other downloaded App. You'll only get a warning that this was downloaded from the Internet, as expected.
  • Hi-DPI support has been added, so if you're running this on Linux with scaling enabled, or macOS Retina displays, things should look better now.Integer scaling has been added and improved. Check the wiki for more details on this as well.Serial port support has been fixed, as it was broken for some versions now.GUI Themes have been implemented, so you can now customize the color scheme.The whole list of Expansions from WinUAE have been implemented, including PPC, PCI, DSP, custom graphics cards, network cards, SCSI controllers, etc. The Expansion panel was refactored significantly, but the functionality is trying to match the same one from WinUAE, to make things easier between the two emulators. (cg)

    [News message: 28. Nov. 2024, 21:35] [Comments: 0]
    [Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
28.Nov.2024



Windows: py-guide-viewer displays AmigaGuide documents
py-guide-viewer is an extended AmigaGuide viewer written in Python. The program is compiled for Windows, it also offers some features that the Amiga originals do not offer: Images, sounds and pieces of music - in modern file formats - can be embedded in the text file using UUencode and displayed or played within the guide pages. The py-guide-viewer also supports emojis, the text-based original symbols are replaced by small graphics. (cg)

[News message: 28. Nov. 2024, 21:21] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
27.Nov.2024
Mastodon (ANF)


Ambermoon: How fingerprinting identified a press leak
On the occasion of the widest possible release of the Ambermoon source code last year, its lead programmer Jurie Horneman also wrote a text about how he managed to identify through fingerprinting a fairly well-known journalist who had passed on the game in 1993 - and forgot to publish this article.

Now he has made up for this at the title link. When he confronted the journalist at the time by a phone call, he would have been very apologetic. His new intern must have leaked it and so on. In any case, Jurie Horneman writes in his final sentence, the game received a good rating. (snx)

[News message: 27. Nov. 2024, 11:14] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
27.Nov.2024
Discord (ANF)


AmiGameJam candidate: Battle Squadron 2
Successors to Amiga games are to be created as part of the AmiGameJam 2024 contest. The 'Bitwise Brains' team have published their idea of a sequel to Battle Squadron at the title link. (snx)

[News message: 27. Nov. 2024, 11:14] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
27.Nov.2024



Videos: Quick clips from Amiga Alive on everyday questions
With his "Quick clips", 'Amiga Alive' has started a video series on YouTube, whose short films are dedicated to everyday problems when working on the Amiga - for example, how to get AmigaAMP 3 running on AmigaOS 3.0 or how to translate an AMOS program to C. (snx)

[News message: 27. Nov. 2024, 11:14] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
27.Nov.2024
Timo Kloss (ANF)


Music album with old OctaMED Soundstudio tracks released on Spotify
Timo Kloss, the developer of Ermentrud and Horny, among others, used an emulator to go through his old OctaMED Soundstudio projects, slightly reworked the best ones, exported them in higher quality and put them together as a new album.

The result is now available on Spotify and other providers under the name “1997_99”. According to him, the musical style moves freely between medieval and techno. (snx)

[News message: 27. Nov. 2024, 11:13] [Comments: 1 - 27. Nov. 2024, 15:01]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
27.Nov.2024



Event: Announcement of date for Classic Computing 2025 (Germany)
Next year Classic Computing event will take place again in September, from 11th to 14th of that month. After Baden-Württemberg, it will then be held in Bavaria, in the Freiheitshalle Hof.

The annual "Classic Computing" is organized by the "Verein zum Erhalt klassischer Computer e.V." and is one of the largest retrocomputer events in Germany. (snx)

[News message: 27. Nov. 2024, 11:13] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
26.Nov.2024



Print/PDF magazine: Amiga Addict, issue 34
Issue 34 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 is looking for a suitable Christmas present and sheds light on current FPGA systems, including the Minimig and MISTer models.

This issue also contains reviews of the new games Holy Warrior, Sky Shapers and The Lost Pixel and the classic games Arcade Pool and Nick Faldo's Golf, an interview with Bitmap Brothers artist Dan Malone, a festive CD32 corner with AmigaJay's Christmas Crackers collection, Christmas HAM with Digi-Paint, a screenshot quiz 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)

[News message: 26. Nov. 2024, 11:18] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
26.Nov.2024



Print magazine: Passione Amiga, issue 22
The new issue 22 (November 2024) of the Italian magazine "Passione Amiga" comes in a new design, the cover was illustrated by Simon Phipps (Rick Dangerous, Wolfchild, among others). The magazine is available in print or digital editions. The main topic of the issue is video games.
  • Video-Games: 2 Tiny Cowboys, Absolute 0, Crysis, GoGoGo, Hammurabi, Phoenix 500, Pumpkin, Shadowmage, Squarez, Tale of Evil, The Lost Pixels, The Tower of Evil, Tiny Pixel.
  • Previews: Worms TDC 1.5, Deathrace.
  • Tech: Amiga and WLAN, BeeBase.
  • Report: Passione Amiga Day 2024
  • Exclusive interviews: Simon Phipps and Andy Davidson.
  • And also: Game- and Tech-News, Demoscene, readers' letters and much more
Passione Amiga 22 can be ordered from the publisher's webshop as a single issue or by subscription as of November 8, 2024. A Kindle version can be purchased from Amazon. (nba)

[News message: 26. Nov. 2024, 11:03] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
26.Nov.2024
Seiya (ANF)


PDF magazine: REV'n'GE! 164 (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 beat'em'up "Beastlord", the Arkanoid-clone "Crystal Dragon" and the platform-game "The Lost Pixel". (nba)

[News message: 26. Nov. 2024, 10:50] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
25.Nov.2024



MorphOS-Storage uploads until 23.11.2024
The following files have been added until 23.11.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
SDL_2.30.9_Libraries.lha  Dependencies/Library/SDL  All Libraries SDL : SDL...
MCE_15.22.lha             Games/Editor              Multi-game Character Ed...
OpenMoHAA_0.80.0-alpha... Games/Shoot3D             OpenMoHAA 0.80.0 for Mo...
Atomiks_1.0.4.1.lha       Games/Think               Port of Atomiks
(snx)

[News message: 25. Nov. 2024, 19:49] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
25.Nov.2024
itch.io


Puzzle game: Connect available for free
Frank from the LogicalByte team writes: "Hello everyone, it's been over 2 years since we released Connect (amiga-news.de reported). During this time, we have received a lot of praise, which has made us very happy. The gaming community has also sent us suggestions for improvements, which we have implemented as long as they fit into the concept and the game technically allowed it. As expected, the box version sold well and sales of the digital version were also satisfactory. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support!

Nevertheless, it is time to take the next step and we have decided to offer this game for free. With this we would like to offer the other players of this world the opportunity to spend great hours with this game on the Amiga. Remaining copies of the box version are still available at Alinea Computer." (dr)

[News message: 25. Nov. 2024, 09:32] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
25.Nov.2024



SCALA-MM game conversion: The Angel of Death
After Adventure 2 Remake and Beyond a Steel Sky, 'Quantum Code Monk', formerly 'grindercowboy', has released a third game project for Scala MM, which he has now submitted for the AmiGameJam 2024 instead of Beyond a Steel Sky: The Angel of Death is based on Police Quest: In Pursuit Of The Death Angel, a game published by Sierra in 1987, but with different roles. As Jessie Bains, you try to take control of the drug trade in the town of Lytton.

The game is still in development: sound and music are missing and the graphics are only placeholder graphics. The story is also only 20 to 30% complete. AmigaOS 3.x and the Scala-MM-Player are required. (dr)

[News message: 25. Nov. 2024, 06:53] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
25.Nov.2024
Christian 'TheoTheoderich' Wiegel


Turn-based strategy: November-2024-Update for "Settle the World"
Christian 'TheoTheoderich' Wiegel writes about his November update: "A new version of my Amiga game "Settle the World" is available.

The "Quality of Life and Pathfinding Update - November 2024" contains mostly bug fixes and a completely revised pathfinding.

n the last few months I've changed my real-life job, otherwise I would have lost my job. This job is very demanding and I can no longer manage to work four or more hours a day on "Settle the World". Development will definitely continue, but at a slower pace than last year. As always, you can download the latest version of the game free of charge from my project page. You can find a more detailed description of the changes in the corresponding developer diary for the update.

I would be very pleased to receive feedback and constructive criticism." (dr)

[News message: 25. Nov. 2024, 06:30] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
24.Nov.2024



Aminet uploads until 23.11.2024
The following files have been added until 23.11.2024 to Aminet:
AmiSpeedTest.lha         comm/net   77K   68k Network speed test utility
xdump.lha                dev/misc   538K  68k Four AmigaDOS binary file ana...
DiskCopier10a.lha        disk/bakup 60K   68k A 2024 floppy disk copier
adfblitzer.lha           disk/misc  33K   68k handle ADF files - English an...
MCE.lha                  game/edit  4.1M  68k Multi-game Character Editor
MCE-MOS.lha              game/edit  4.5M  MOS Multi-game Character Editor
MCE-OS4.lha              game/edit  4.8M  OS4 Multi-game Character Editor
ScummVM_RTG_060.lha      game/misc  55M   68k Amiga port of ScummVM 2.5.1 (...
AmiArcadia.lha           misc/emu   9.2M  68k Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadiaMOS.lha        misc/emu   9.5M  MOS Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadia-OS4.lha       misc/emu   10M   OS4 Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiVms.lha               misc/emu   3.8M  68k Simulates OpenVMS commands
IMP_GI.lha               pix/icon   4K        GlowIcon for IMP
NAFCYI1991S3-B02.zip     text/bfont 1.0M      NAFCYI Fall 1991 (BMP Fonts)
Trinity.lha              util/misc  33K   68k Trinity Tools
UHCTools.lha             util/misc  53K   ALL UHC Tools installer
(snx)

[News message: 24. Nov. 2024, 08:58] [Comments: 1 - 24. Nov. 2024, 09:12]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
24.Nov.2024



OS4Depot uploads until 23.11.2024
The following files have been added until 23.11.2024 to OS4Depot:
amiarcadia.lha           emu/gam 10Mb  4.0 Signetics-based machines emulator
mgba.lha                 emu/gam 4Mb   4.1 GB/GBC/GBA Emulator
iff-converter.lha        gra/con 1Mb   4.0 Convert images into raw format.
uhctools.lha             uti/mis 53kb  4.0 UHC Tools installer
(snx)

[News message: 24. Nov. 2024, 08:58] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
24.Nov.2024



AROS Archives uploads until 23.11.2024
The following files have been added until 23.11.2024 to AROS Archives:
uhctools.i386-aros.lha       uti/mis 53kb  A collection of programs and scr...
(snx)

[News message: 24. Nov. 2024, 08:58] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
24.Nov.2024



WHD-Load: New installers until 23.11.2024
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 23.11.2024:
  • 2024-11-20 improved: Predator 2 (Konami) second version supported, game bugs fixed, frame rate limiter, trainers, 68000 quit key (Info)
  • 2024-11-20 improved: Wonderdog (Core Design) adapted for WHDLoad 19 (Info)
  • 2024-11-20 improved: Oscar (Flair Software) adapted for WHDLoad 19 (Info)
  • 2024-11-20 fixed: Neuromancer (Interplay) SMC fix wasn't correct (Info)
  • 2024-11-20 improved: Moktar / Titus the Fox (Titus) adapted for WHDLoad 19 (Info)
  • 2024-11-20 improved: Mega-Typhoon (Bernhardt Braun/Nordlicht Edv.) adapted for WHDLoad 19 (Info)
  • 2024-11-20 improved: Liquid Kids (Ocean) adapted for WHDLoad 19 (Info)
  • 2024-11-20 improved: Jim Power (Loriciel) adapted for WHDLoad 19 (Info)
  • 2024-11-20 improved: The Immortal (Electronic Arts) adapted for WHDLoad 19 (Info, Image)
  • 2024-11-20 improved: Cedric (Neo/Alcatraz) adapted for WHDLoad 19 (Info)
  • 2024-11-18 improved: Zyconix (Accolade) fixed problems on 68040 (Info)
  • 2024-11-17 fixed: Neuromancer (Interplay) crash in self modifying code patch fixed (Info)
(snx)

[News message: 24. Nov. 2024, 08:58] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
24.Nov.2024
GitHub


Do it yourself: Amiga adapter RiskyKVM for keyboard-video-mouse switches
RiskyKVM is intended as an Amiga adapter for keyboard-video-mouse switches, but can also be used as a USB to DB9 and Amiga keyboard interface. (snx)

[News message: 24. Nov. 2024, 08:57] [Comments: 1 - 24. Nov. 2024, 22:27]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
24.Nov.2024



ADF-Blitzer 3.10
Andreas Gouder's program ADF-Blitzer for creating and writing back ADF images has been released in version 3.10. Besides smaller additions, it does now also support German language besides English. Further localizations are not intended.

Download: adfblitzer.lha (33 KB) (snx)

[News message: 24. Nov. 2024, 08:57] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
23.Nov.2024



Universal PCI driver system: OpenPCI 10.3
Thomas 'Thor' Richter's universal PCI driver system “OpenPCI” supports all known PCI solutions for the Amiga without recourse to the software of the respective manufacturer. The current version 10.3 eliminates problems when working with PCI bridges:
  • Bridge configuration was refactored again. Bridge and parent device are now passed already into the constructor of a PCI device, and not only when it is added.
  • Fixed a trashed register in the Mediator board scan.
  • The Mediator scan did not pass the parent device correctly into the device creator, thus giving devices behind bridges wrong bus IDs.
  • For some strange reason, the Mediator does not seem to decode the address bits for selecting a device behind a PCI bridge correctly; it seems to ignore them. Therefore, the Mediator currently supports only a single device behind a bridge.
  • Some bridges take apparently several milliseconds to accept a configuration. Now the library inserts a 50ms delay after having installed the target busses after setting up a PCI bridge.
  • The time delay function was broken and passed in the wrong command to the timer.device.
(cg)

[News message: 23. Nov. 2024, 00:22] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
22.Nov.2024



Operating system-compliant Pac-Man conversion: 5th-7th part of the video series
Thomas Cherryhomes is working on a conversion of the game Pac-Man that only uses operating system calls. Episodes five to seven are entitled "recreating a WSG sound", "the pac-man sprite" and "the clyde BOB". (cg)

[News message: 22. Nov. 2024, 22:07] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
22.Nov.2024
Scene World Podcast (ANF)


Scene World Podcast episode #202 - Making the fan-made Broken Sword 2.5
In the 202nd edition of the "Scene World" podcast, the team welcomes Marius Gosch, one of the founders of the Broken Sword 2.5 project, which also runs on AmigaOS thanks to ScummVM. The interview, in which Gosch talks about his work as a writer and puzzle designer on this fan-made sequel to Broken Sword 2, starts at timestamp 1:43:08 of the podcast. (cg)

[News message: 22. Nov. 2024, 22:03] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
22.Nov.2024



Tetris clone: "Tetra Zone"
Around eight years ago, Wei-ju Wu published a seven-part series (plus additional episodes) on Amiga hardware programming in C on his YouTube channel. Now he is in the process of writing a Tetris clone called "Tetra Zone" for the AmiGameJam 2024, which implements techniques from this tutorial series (YouTube video).

His game extends the original with three preview stones, a hold function, a "ghost stone" and support for "wall kicks". Another goal was to achieve a stable frame rate of 50/60 fps on a 5-bitplane screen. He has now released a first pre-release version (without sound). (dr)

[News message: 22. Nov. 2024, 18:27] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
22.Nov.2024



Developer log: Shattering the Magicore 8-color limit
In a recent blog entry on his game "Magicore Anomala" (amiga-news.de reported), which is currently in development, developer Dan Salvato explains why the background in the game uses eight colours or less - and how it is still possible to use Copper to change the colour palette to create an even more colourful image while displaying different areas of the background. (dr)

[News message: 22. Nov. 2024, 17:59] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
20.Nov.2024



Event: Videos from 25th Amiga-Meeting Nord in Neumünster (Germany)
At the turn of the month the 25th Amiga Meeting North took place in Neumünster, Germany. Two videos now show the presentations of Michal Schulz about PiStorm and Emu68 and Simon Neumann from Alinea Computer about new hardware developments. (snx)

[News message: 20. Nov. 2024, 10:16] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
20.Nov.2024
Mastodon (ANF)


Picture collection: Update of the Amiga Graphics Archive
Four images from Island Graphics from 1985 have now been added to the collection of early Amiga graphics. Three of them show ballerinas. They were based on paintings by the French painter Edgar Degas, which were transferred to the Amiga as a background image using a Genlock and then traced using a painting program. (snx)

[News message: 20. Nov. 2024, 10:16] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
19.Nov.2024
fellow event finder (ANF)


Event: World of Commodore 2024 in Mississauga (Canada)
On 30 November and 1 December 2024, the World of Commodore 2024 Amiga convention will be held in Mississauga, Canada (near Toronto). A variety of Commodore devices, from the Amiga and the C64 to the PET, will be on display at the event. Visitors will also be able to purchase new and old hardware from various dealers.

Once again this year, there will be presentations by personalities from the C64 and Amiga scene. Ján Zahurančík will present his Workbench distribution AmiKit. Brian P. Dougherty (founder of Berkeley Softworks and developer of GEOS), Gregorio Naçu (developer of the online-capable C64 OS) and many other speakers are also expected. (nba)

[News message: 19. Nov. 2024, 11:26] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
19.Nov.2024



Linux: Kernel 6.12.0 for AmigaOne X1000/X5000
Christian ‘xeno74’ Zigotzky has compiled the Linux kernel 6.12.0 for the AmigaOne X1000 and X5000 to coincide with its release. The new version makes the Linux kernel real-time capable and also provides more flexibility for the scheduler.

Download: linux-image-6.12.0-X1000_X5000.tar.gz (62,1 MB) (nba)

[News message: 19. Nov. 2024, 11:13] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
19.Nov.2024
Andreas Gouders via A1K


ADF-Tool: ADF-Blitzer 3.0 has been published
More than two decades after the last version 2.20, Andreas Gouders has released version 3.0 of his ‘ADF Blitzer’. The tool can be used to convert floppy disks in drives DF0: to DF3: into an ADF file or to write ADF files back to floppy disks.





The software developed in Blitz Basic was largely rewritten for the new version and now has a modernised user interface. It also requires less memory because the loaded ADF file is not stored in the entire RAM – only 512 KB of free RAM is now required (in addition to Kick-ROM 2.0 or higher). A conversion abort function and a progress bar have also been added. Furthermore, only drives that are actually connected are displayed, and the drive menu is now only displayed when more than one drive is present. (nba)

[News message: 19. Nov. 2024, 10:59] [Comments: 1 - 24. Nov. 2024, 22:25]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
18.Nov.2024
deadwood


AROS: Odyssey browser 2.1 (64-bit) released
Following the release of version 2.0 of the Odyssey browser for AROS 32-bit (amiga-news.de reported) and a preview of the 64-bit version, Krzysztof 'deadwood' Śmiechowicz has now released version 2.1 of the browser for AROS (64-bit), Windows and Linux (YouTube video).

As the developer writes, this version builds on the updated WebKit engine and media player in Odyssey 2.0 (see above) and also offers JavaScript acceleration via a JIT compiler for increased performance and the ability to utilise multiple CPU cores when running under AxRuntime.

To try out Odyssey on the various platforms, the following tutorials are offered: (dr)

[News message: 18. Nov. 2024, 10:29] [Comments: 1 - 18. Nov. 2024, 15:43]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
18.Nov.2024



Reimplementation of 'Frontier: Elite II'-Intros with browser playback v0.4
In mid-2021, we already reported on Mark Watson's project to recreate the graphics and music of the Frontier: Elite II intro in C and, in the process, to implement improved 3D models (e.g. planetary sky added to the intro) or support for 2 and 4 times the original screen resolution.

The new version 0.4 provides the following changes:
  • Clipping fixes
  • Graphical updates to intro so it looks better at 640x360+
  • Slight speedups for Amiga
  • WASM directly (without using Emscripten)
  • IMGUI inspector / debugger
For all those who no longer own an Amiga and do not want to install an emulator, the developer has also realised the result of his work for playback in the browser. (dr)

[News message: 18. Nov. 2024, 09:19] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
17.Nov.2024



Aminet uploads until 16.11.2024
The following files have been added until 16.11.2024 to Aminet:
TuneFinder.lha           comm/misc  57K   68k Search and display online rad...
less-mos.lha             dev/gg     1.1M  68k Viewer program similar to "more"
xlink.lha                dev/misc   310K  68k Virtual linking of AmigaDOS m...
FileSystemStressTest.lha disk/misc  21K   68k Stress tests disks and file s...
ham_convert.zip          gfx/conv   7.0M      HAM graphic converter
SilkRAW_AROS.lha         gfx/misc   3.3M  x86 GUI for Dave Coffin's program...
SilkRAW_MorphOS.lha      gfx/misc   3.1M  MOS GUI for Dave Coffin's program...
SilkRAW_OS4.lha          gfx/misc   4.4M  OS4 GUI for Dave Coffin's program...
BrokenSystem.lha         mods/misc  1.9M      16bit 4ch Amiga Metal Rock by...
GoVD_GI.lha              pix/icon   6K        GlowIcon for GoVD
sysvars.lha              util/boot  24K   68k Put system information in env...
rtGetModeID.lha          util/cli   8K    68k get screenmode information in...
ReportPlus.lha           util/misc  687K  68k Multipurpose utility
ReportPlusMOS.lha        util/misc  797K  MOS Multipurpose utility
ReportPlus-OS4.lha       util/misc  867K  OS4 Multipurpose utility
VATestprogram.zip        util/misc  17M   68k Versatile Amiga Testprogram
A1200-PiStorm32-Pi4.lha  util/moni  3K    68k SysSpeed Module: A1200 - PiSt...
A1200-PiStorm32-Pi4AI... util/moni  3K    68k AIBB 6.x Module: A1200 - PiSt...
CPU-A.lha                util/moni  472K  68k System Information Tool
GoVD.lha                 util/wb    22K   68k Virtual Desktops for Workbench
(snx)

[News message: 17. Nov. 2024, 08:09] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
17.Nov.2024



OS4Depot uploads until 16.11.2024
The following files have been added until 16.11.2024 to OS4Depot:
mce.lha                  gam/uti 5Mb   4.0 Multi-game Character Editor
silkraw.lha              gra/mis 4Mb   4.1 GUI for Dave Coffin's progr...
sdl2.lha                 lib/mis 7Mb   4.1 Simple DirectMedia Layer 2
reportplus.lha           uti/mis 867kb 4.0 Multipurpose utility
(snx)

[News message: 17. Nov. 2024, 08:09] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
17.Nov.2024



AROS Archives uploads until 16.11.2024
The following files have been added until 16.11.2024 to AROS Archives:
silkraw_aros.lha             gra/mis 3Mb   GUI for Dave Coffin's progr...
owb-2.1.x86_64-aros-v11.zip  net/bro 54Mb  Odyssey Web Browser
(snx)

[News message: 17. Nov. 2024, 08:09] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
17.Nov.2024



MorphOS-Storage uploads until 16.11.2024
The following files have been added until 16.11.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
WebRadio_3.1.lha          Ambient/Screenbar         A sbar plugin to listen...
SDL_2.30.9_Libraries.lha  Dependencies/Library/SDL  All Libraries SDL : SDL...
getopt-long.lha           Development/C             getopt-long.lha
less-668.lha              Development/GeekGadgets   A paginator similar to ...
sz81_2.1.7.lha            Emulation                 a ZX81 and ZX80 emulato...
OpenFodder_1.9.2.lha      Games/Action              Open Fodder: An open so...
PANG_1.0.lha              Games/Action              Port of PANG
PipeWalker_1.1.lha        Games/Think               Port of PipeWalker by P...
BoulderDash_1.1.lha       Games/Think               Port of a BoulderDash c...
SilkRAW_3.0.lha           Graphics/Misc             GUI for Dave Coffin's p...
ReportPlus_8.61.lha       Misc                      A Multipurpose utility ...
Iris_1.40.lha             MorphOS-update            Iris, the MorphOS email...
(snx)

[News message: 17. Nov. 2024, 08:09] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
17.Nov.2024
Amiga Future (website)


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:
  • Ghouls n Ghosts (redubbed)
  • The Amiga Never Dies (Entity Remix)
(snx)

[News message: 17. Nov. 2024, 08:09] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
17.Nov.2024



Do it yourself: Ripple IDE update
Matt 'LIV2' Harlum's Ripple IDE is an IDE interface for Zorro II based Amiga models (Amiga 2000/3000/4000; amiga-news.de reported). Revision A3 adds a protection circuitry to resist damage when the card is installed the wrong way around. (snx)

[News message: 17. Nov. 2024, 08:08] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
17.Nov.2024



Video: Installing a DoohicKEY keyboard controller into Checkmate keyboard case
DoohicKEY is a keyboard controller replacement for the keyboards that have been most often used for the Amiga 500, those by Mitsumi (amiga-news.de reported). In the video at the title link 'Proteque-CBN' shows its installation into the Checkmate keyboard case. (snx)

[News message: 17. Nov. 2024, 08:08] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
17.Nov.2024
Commodore News Page (website)


Event: Alkmaar Amiga Meetup (The Netherlands)
On November 30, 2024 the Alkmaar Amiga Meetup takes place near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Aiming at all kinds of Amiga systems, the main topic will be "Amiga Next-Gen" this time. Information about registration and table fee can be found at the title link. (snx)

[News message: 17. Nov. 2024, 08:08] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
16.Nov.2024



Amiga emulator for the web: New features in vAmigaWeb
vAmigaWeb is an Amiga emulator for web browsers or as a progressive web app. The vAmiga-based emulator now offers the following new features:
  • supports run ahead, which is an effective technique to reduce input lag. run ahead is an emulation technique that essentially pre-computes the emulation a few frames ahead. When the user makes an input, the emulation can immediately respond by adjusting the pre-computed frames accordingly, thus reducing the perceived input delay.
  • For a smoother video output, consider enabling the new vSync option. vSync synchronizes the emulation with your display’s refresh rate, resulting in smoother visuals by adjusting the Amiga's emulation speed to match the monitor’s refresh rate. When selected a new speed icon appears next to the fast forward symbol, functioning as both a speed indicator and a button to go back to the original refresh rate of an Amiga.
  • Slow motion gaming. The new speed setting also offers speeds below 100%. They are ideal to kick in a slow motion effect on fast paced games. From now on no AI enemy can beat your hero when playing at 50% the speed ;-). matrix effect.
  • for wider screens the activity monitor switch has been added to the top icon bar
  • vAmigaWeb is now based on the latest vAmigaCore v3.0
  • a new css grid based navbar has been implemented. It offers a much better responsive behaviour compared to the old one.
(cg)

[News message: 16. Nov. 2024, 20:57] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
16.Nov.2024



Feasibility study: Image display without working memory
With his feasibility study “Amiga CPU Blit Read-Only”, 'nicodex' shows how to display an image on the Amiga without write access to the main memory. The latest version shows a four-color BoingBall animation in front of a rainbow background that changes its color in every screen line. The ROM requires a PAL Amiga with a 68000 or 68010 processor clocked at 7 MHz. (cg)

[News message: 16. Nov. 2024, 20:18] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
16.Nov.2024



Hardware hack: ODROID Linux/Android system in an A500 case
In a detailed article, the author of the Amiga 500 USB Keyboard - Leonardo adapter describes how he installed an Android/Linux computer of the ODROID type in his old A500 case. (cg)

[News message: 16. Nov. 2024, 20:05] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
16.Nov.2024



Case modding: Amiga 500 USB Keyboard - Leonardo
"Amiga 500 Keyboard - Arduino Leonardo&" is an improved version of Amiga500-Keyboard, it transforms an Amiga 500 keyboard into an USB input device with the help of an Arduino Leonardo. Compared to its predecessor, it offers some new functions such as the recording of macros. Code, wiring instructions and a complete tutorial on how to build it can be found on Github. (cg)

[News message: 16. Nov. 2024, 19:59] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
16.Nov.2024



Report: My Experiences with the Amiga A1222+
Francis G. Loch develops tools such as PowerReboot for AmigaOS 4 in the C programming language. 20 years after purchasing a MicroA1 and after a long break from OS4, Loch bought an A1222+. In his experience report, he describes his impressions of the hardware and operating systems, as well as the applications that are important to him:

My Experiences with the Amiga A1222+

Introduction

In this article, I share some of my general experiences of building and using the Amiga A1222+ computer. With the official pre-built systems lacking an optical drive, I opted to purchase just the motherboard and assemble the system myself. For me, the process of selecting components and putting everything together is half the fun!

AmigaOS 4.1 Installation

I started by building the system to a point where I could begin installing AmigaOS 4.1. It was here that I encountered my first issue, and I confess that I must take full responsibility for this one. The AmigaOS 4.1 installer comes on a recovery USB drive. I must have missed a step as the installer started overwriting files on the USB drive leading to corruption and preventing me from fully installing the OS. Fortunately, I had created an image of the recovery USB drive beforehand allowing me to restore it to its original state.

The next issue I faced was that the system would not boot from the USB drive. The A1222+ must be a bit fussy about which USB port is used for boot devices as switching to a different port resolved the issue and I was able to install the OS without any further hitches.

Screen Modes

My main monitor has a resolution of 3440 x 1440. I have had issues with some other systems not being able to handle this resolution, and I am happy to report that the A1222+ booted to Workbench using the monitor’s native resolution automatically with no problems. However, I did notice that the Workbench’s screen preferences tool did not automatically recognise all available screen modes (e.g. 1920 x 1080). I suspect this may be an issue with my monitor not communicating these options with the A1222+. I can manually configure the other screen modes, but I have not been able to successfully configure the monitor’s native resolution manually.

Optical Drive SATA Issue

While building my A1222+ system, I connected a DVD drive to one of the onboard SATA ports. Initially, this seemed to work fine, but I soon experienced frequent disconnections of the DVD drive during copy operations, leading to a dreaded Grim Reaper error from the “Mounter Task.”



After discussing the issue on one of the Amiga forums, I learned that early versions of the SATA driver did not support removable media, and this limitation still appears to exist. To remedy the situation, I purchased a USB to SATA adapter which allowed me to connect the DVD drive via USB. Since doing this, I have not encountered any further issues with the DVD drive.

Lack of HDMI Audio Output

Currently, the A1222+ does not support audio output via HDMI. While this may not be a problem for most users, it posed a challenge for me since my soundbar lacks a 3.5mm audio jack and only supports optical, HDMI or Bluetooth connections. I experimented with several HDMI audio inserter devices (example in the photo below) to find one compatible with my setup. Some devices did not support my monitor’s resolution, and in one case, did not output a compatible audio stream for my soundbar; however, I eventually found a working solution.

USB Ports Underpowered

The USB ports on the A1222+ are somewhat underpowered. They work fine for low-power devices like USB drives, but even the most energy-efficient USB optical drive I found failed to operate reliably, with AmigaOS indicating that too much power was being drawn. The system also struggled with my keyboard, which admittedly falls into the higher-powered category as it has a lot of smart features and lighting. I resolved these power issues by installing a powered internal USB hub connected to a SATA power connector, as shown in the image below. An added benefit of using this type of hub is that it provides additional USB ports.

Photograph showing inside of computer case with NZXT USB hub.

A1222+ Freezes During Copy Operations

I occasionally experienced freezes when copying files using Workbench, although copying files using the Shell worked fine. Copying more than the RAM: drive could handle would also cause the system to freeze. After discussing this on an Amiga forum, I learned that there is a bug with ASyncWB. Disabling the ExtMem feature with the command "SYS:Kickstart/ram-handler.kmod ExtMem=NO" provided a workaround and I have not had this issue since.

Enhancer Software Issues

I encountered problems with the Enhancer version of the sound preferences tool. For some reason, the gain setting goes astronomically high, as shown in the image below. Before I had the system hooked up to my soundbar, I was using headphones – and that was a painful moment for my ears when the sound came through!

Screenshot of A-EON's Sound Prefs on AmigaOS 4.1 showing abnormally high gain value.

I also experienced another issue with the sound where I think, as part of the adaptive volume settings, it would set the DAC mixer level to minimum, resulting in the sound no longer being audible. Restoring the original version of the sound preferences tool supplied with AmigaOS 4.1 resolved these issues.

Similarly, I found that the Enhancer version of the time preferences tool causes issues, particularly with daylight saving adjustments. Again, reverting to version supplied with AmigaOS 4.1 fixed these problems.

Updater and AMIStore Issues

Not to be confused with the AmiUpdate tool, I found that A-EON’s Updater has some issues. When I originally built my A1222+ system, I was unable to download some of the updates, but this issue appears to have partly sorted itself recently. There also appears to be some confusion with version numbers, as shown in the image below, which indicates the latest version as being 2.2, while the downloaded version is incorrectly reported as 7.3c.

Screenshot showing AMIStore purchase information for A-EON's Enhancer Software Release 2 with incorrect download version.

I also discovered that some updates I was able to download, such as AmiPDF, are incompatible with the A1222+, so I had to revert to the originally installed versions. Similarly to the Updater tool, AMIStore also has issues with some of the reported version numbers being incorrect, as shown in the image below.

Screenshot of A-EON's Updater tool showing incorrect version details of ImageFX Studio.

Software

Odyssey is a very good web browser that has a high compatibility with many modern websites, even to the point of being able to watch YouTube videos. My main gripes with it, however, are the time it takes to start the application as it spends a long time loading the fonts. Additionally, if I click on something that wants to open a webpage, it opens another instance of the browser, again taking a long time to load up.

CubicIDE was my main C programming IDE and text editor when I had my first AmigaOS 4 system. Sadly, I have been unsuccessful getting this to work with the A1222+. For my C programming needs, CodeBench has been a top-notch replacement.

Other Things

I believe this is already a known problem which also affects some of the other AmigaOS 4 systems – pressing CTRL-AMIGA-AMIGA to reset the system does not work very well as the computer will just boot with a blank screen. CTRL-ALT-ALT will work though.

I find that there is a bit of a lag when keypresses are registered by the system. This results in some characters being missed when I’m typing at my normal speed, which has led to some frustration.

The mouse I use has a left/right scroll-wheel in addition to the up/down one. It’s a minor inconvenience, but the system does not appear to recognise this.

I quite like the default A1222+ wallpaper and it would have been nice if it came in other resolutions or aspect ratios.

Final Words

In my usage of the A1222+, I have tended to stick with what I mainly bought it for, so I have perhaps not been as adventurous as some others in trying out everything that it has to offer.

The more minor issues that I have come across I have left in the hope that things will improve with future software updates. Other issues I have found that the Amiga forums are invaluable for advice on how to resolve them.

Despite its shortfalls, I am very pleased with the A1222+. There are niggles with software compatibility and software bugs, but I am hopeful that these will eventually be addressed over time.

(cg)

[News message: 16. Nov. 2024, 19:45] [Comments: 1 - 17. Nov. 2024, 12:45]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
15.Nov.2024



Internet radio: TuneFinder 1.1b (update)
Marcin Spoczynski's TuneFinder enables users to search internet radio stations with various filter options. Results are displayed in a list with detailed station information, and the app includes options to save selections as either a complete PLS playlist for playing them via AmigaAMP directly from within Tunefinder or as individual station files (amiga-news.de reported). Version 1.1 provides the following changes:
  • Redefined GUI to single screen layout
  • Added configurable result limit in settings
  • Improved save settings functionality
  • Enhanced GUI highlighting and visibility
  • Improved REXX communications
  • Added German translation (Thomas Blatt)
  • Added Polish translation
  • Added Amigaguide doc
Update: (06:24, 20.11.24, dr)
Version 1.1b is now available, which provides a fixed list of countries and an Italian language catalog.

Download: TuneFinder.lha (60 KB) (dr)

[News message: 15. Nov. 2024, 22:41] [Comments: 0]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
15.Nov.2024



Universal PCI driver system: OpenPCI 10.2 (Update)
Thomas 'Thor' Richter's universal PCI driver system "OpenPCI" supports all known PCI solutions for the Amiga without recourse to the software of the respective manufacturer. The current version 9.3 fixes two minor bugs:
  • the PCI config area parser skipped over Type 1 PCI headers and hence could have never supported bridges
  • the library now only enables the IO and Memory BARs after the final BAR configuration has been written, hopefully avoiding trouble for devices that react strange if BARs contain invalid values.
Update: (17.11.24, 15:00, cg)

By now, Richter has released version 10.2, which includes the following changes:
  • Preferences are now parsed before BAR registers are sized. This has the effect that the IGNORE command for BARs will also prevent that the ignored BARs are even written to.
  • Matching a PCI by class code in PCI-configuration could have trashed memory.
  • The SetInterrupt command in PCI-Configuration failed to reroute interrupts and thus was mostly useless.
  • SetInterrupt and SetPri may have failed to configure PCI devices correctly on the A1200 mediator.
  • In PCI-Configuration, the device function is now separated by a dot from the device ID to mirror the syntax of lspci.
  • Added a new SLOT keyword to most commands for PCI-Configuration to identify a device by its bus number, slot number and (optionally) function number.
(cg)

[News message: 15. Nov. 2024, 22:15] [Comments: 1 - 17. Nov. 2024, 15:06]
[Send via e-mail]  [Print version]  [ASCII version]
<- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -> ... 15 130 251 [Archive]
 
 Recent Discussions
.
Amiga 4000(T)ower for sale
Calvin Harris - Amiga A1200
Amiga basic rewritten for Apple
Volker Wertich interview
Commodore Amiga MYSTYLE
.
 Latest Top-News
.
7-bit: Bluetooth adapter for control pads (25. Apr.)
First stable version of a native 64-bit AROS (24. Apr.)
Print magazine: Amiga Future 174 - Preview and reading samples (24. Apr.)
Emulation: QEMU 10.0 / bboot 0.8 (23. Apr.)
Announcement and pre-order campaign: AmiGUS sound card (19. Apr.)
ACube Systems: UBoot 2015.d for Sam440ep flex and mini-itx (15. Apr.)
Paint program: PolarPaint for all Amiga systems (11. Apr.)
ACube Systems: UBoot 2015.d for Sam460EX, Sam460CR and Sam460LE boards (09. Apr.)
Mining strategy game: The history of "Aminer" (07. Apr.)
Event: Start for ticket sales for "Amiga40" (05. Apr.)
.
 amiga-news.de
.
Configure main page

 
 
.
Masthead | Privacy policy | Netiquette | Advertising | Contact
Copyright © 1998-2025 by amiga-news.de - all rights reserved.
.