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The "Run Prods on Emulators" Thread

category: general [glöplog]
I just thought I'd set up this thread so I and anyone else can get our emulation questions answered, so we can get those stubborn prods working on them.

Let me start with this prod: "Old Habits Die Hard" by Insane - I have tried and tried and just cannot get this prod to work on any Amiga config, and I don't think it's corrupt. Anyone know the exact config needed?
added on the 2015-10-20 22:23:26 by Foebane72 Foebane72
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Let me start with this prod: "Old Habits Die Hard" by Insane - I have tried and tried and just cannot get this prod to work on any Amiga config, and I don't think it's corrupt. Anyone know the exact config needed?


Works fine with a standard 1.3/512k chip/512k (fake) fast config. You just need to make sure there is no 2nd drive enabled as the demo will refuse to work then due to lack of memory!
added on the 2015-10-20 23:03:09 by StingRay StingRay
Thanks, StingRay, but I solved the problem by using another version of the prod that was an exe rather than an adf. With the adf, the main thing was that it kept saying that "the ocsfix.exe is not executable", but the new version I tried worked flawlessly on an A600. Turns out the adf was corrupt after all.

Another problem I've had is with the demo "Human Traffic" by Ghostown, released this year. I can run it on my A4000 WB setup, but in two places the audio crackles badly and then it goes away, and the music has "shifted forward by a second or so" each time. Could that be an emulator issue?
added on the 2015-10-20 23:08:24 by Foebane72 Foebane72
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Another problem I've had is with the demo "Human Traffic" by Ghostown, released this year.

It's not 2011 anymore ;)

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Could that be an emulator issue?

Nope, it's more likely an issue of not using a proper config for the demo, or your PC being too slow to keep up.
added on the 2015-10-21 06:13:57 by britelite britelite
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It's not 2011 anymore ;)


Oh, I do beg your pardon.

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Nope, it's more likely an issue of not using a proper config for the demo, or your PC being too slow to keep up.


I just use the Quickstart A4000 config with 68040 and hope that they all run fine.

I've noticed that other demos like Skarla's Massive flicker a lot as well, like bitplane flicker.

I've heard a lot about this WHDLoad, but I have no idea how to use it - does it do away with the need for multiple configs?
added on the 2015-10-21 07:01:00 by Foebane72 Foebane72
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I just use the Quickstart A4000 config with 68040 and hope that they all run fine.

Yeah, they mostly won't. I suggest you make your own 68040 based config with JIT enabled and with a working Workbench 3.1 (or higher) installation. Also make sure it has a lot of z3 FastRAM, and try to read up on preferred ways of running AGA-demos (ie. booting without startup sequence, only running setpatch and possibly some other necessary patches).

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I've heard a lot about this WHDLoad, but I have no idea how to use it - does it do away with the need for multiple configs?

WHDLoad is basically a way of providing patches for old software that didn't run well on accelerated systems. Doesn't really help you when it comes to running software aimed at the 060/AGA machines.
added on the 2015-10-21 07:20:08 by britelite britelite
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Another problem I've had is with the demo "Human Traffic" by Ghostown, released this year. I can run it on my A4000 WB setup, but in two places the audio crackles badly and then it goes away, and the music has "shifted forward by a second or so" each time. Could that be an emulator issue?

Are you starting the demo from an interlaced screen? The demo requires long frames for the music timing to be correct, but it doesn't enforce long frames itself. When run from an interlaced screen it will often end up running with short frames.

During development, I usually started the demo from an RTG screen, which apparently worked every time.
added on the 2015-10-21 07:41:45 by Blueberry Blueberry
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I suggest you make your own 68040 based config with JIT enabled and with a working Workbench 3.1 (or higher) installation. Also make sure it has a lot of z3 FastRAM.


Sorry, I was referring to the ADF stuff. Yes, I've already made my own custom config for A600, A1200 and A4000 when it comes to the HDD stuff.

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Are you starting the demo from an interlaced screen? The demo requires long frames for the music timing to be correct, but it doesn't enforce long frames itself. When run from an interlaced screen it will often end up running with short frames.


Thanks, it worked, no sound static! :)
added on the 2015-10-21 13:17:14 by Foebane72 Foebane72
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WHDLoad is basically a way of providing patches for old software that didn't run well on accelerated systems. Doesn't really help you when it comes to running software aimed at the 060/AGA machines.


That's not entirely correct. Technically it's of course no problem create WHDLoad patches for 060/AGA demos and it as been done a few times already. Even 060 demos can and do have certain problems (interrupt bugs, not working from RTG screens, wrong CPU checks, buggy OS calls etc.). It's true that the majority of WHDLoad patches are done for 68000/OCS demos/games though.
added on the 2015-10-21 18:55:06 by StingRay StingRay
Just one thing: The "?which=" numbers in the URL that identify each prod - are they totally unique and do they ever change?

I have spent a couple of hours typing these numbers directly into the filenames of the demo files I've downloaded so I can find more information out about them easily, or relatively easily at least. Yes, I created a separate HTML file days ago with all the URLs directly, but it was difficult to manage the files and have to alter the HTML file as well, so I thought I'd combine them into one.
added on the 2015-10-24 14:30:08 by Foebane72 Foebane72
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are they totally unique and do they ever change?

No, the numbers are shared by a couple of prods and rotated on a weekly basis.
Seriously, do you know how a database works? ;) Of course they are unique. They may "change" if a dupe prod is found on the database and one of the two prods is killed, making its ID unavailable - but an ID is never retaken by another newly uploaded prod.
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are they totally unique and do they ever change?

No, the numbers are shared by a couple of prods and rotated on a weekly basis.
Seriously, do you know how a database works? ;)


Just making sure, no need to be sarky.

This is an example of how I've named my files now:

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2008 UNIQUE multicolor - 51737.exe
2009 DA JORMAS megane rellu - 54136.exe
2009 LNS luminagia AGA - 52965.exe
2009 NRL retro intro - 52878.exe
2010 ELUDE we come in peace AGA WB - 54648.zip
2010 GTN + RNO metropolice AGA WB - 54649.zip
2010 HJB prototype 1 AGA WB - 54617.exe
2010 OZONE fetish 2 AGA WB - 54577.exe
2010 SUPERGROUP superoriginal - 54388.exe
2011 ELUDE shake off the dust AGA WB - 56884.zip
2011 GTN + LNS human traffic AGA WB - 56883.zip
2011 SKARLA massive AGA WB - 56885.zip
2011 SPB norwegian kindness AGA WB - 56651.zip
2011 SPB you are lucy AGA WB - 58002.exe
2011 UL 8-bit jungle (1) - 57727.adf
2011 UL 8-bit jungle (2) - 57727.adf
2011 UL 8-bit jungle (3) - 57727.adf
2012 GTN + RNO boogietown - 59144.exe
2012 TRCT past is prologue AGA WB - 59278.exe


These names, along with a program I've got to snapshot the file and folder names, means that I have a Pouet reference for the prods if I lose my copy of the files.

Just an idea :)
added on the 2015-10-24 15:28:36 by Foebane72 Foebane72
does thread related to Amiga as I understand?
added on the 2015-10-24 16:16:42 by g0blinish g0blinish
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does thread related to Amiga as I understand?


Those are Amiga demos, if that's what you mean.
added on the 2015-10-24 16:45:29 by Foebane72 Foebane72
lollerskates, you don't come across illogical autism every day!
The reason I put the year at the beginning of the filenames was that I figured the older Amiga demos would work easily (A500 spec) but all the later ones would be AGA or require Workbench or something, but how wrong I was.

This is the problem with the platform that bridged the generations between retro computing (8-bits) and modern-day computing (PC), there's so many different models of Amiga around compared to the A8 or the C64.

So I guess the best thing I can do is to strip the years from the filenames (the Pouet.net reference will still be there) and then try out each file and put the model number in the filename that it works best with.
added on the 2015-10-25 10:20:16 by Foebane72 Foebane72
Gahhh, changed my mind AGAIN! I can't decide what to do!
added on the 2015-10-25 15:10:58 by Foebane72 Foebane72
Maybe this is the point to realize that trying to find The One naming scheme is never going to work and that if you want to catalogue demos, the best option to do so would be a ... database?
I spent over an hour trying out OpenOffice's Base for creating a database, but then I realised I've got my own program for cataloguing files and folders and it works just fine. I really should share it with people here someday.
added on the 2015-10-25 21:53:59 by Foebane72 Foebane72
I think we're good.
added on the 2015-10-25 22:07:13 by Tomoya Tomoya
So you want to miss out on a potentially useful utility, something no-one else has done?
added on the 2015-10-25 23:24:59 by Foebane72 Foebane72
Highlighting a file then pressing F2 is not a useful utility.
added on the 2015-10-26 00:14:22 by spiny spiny
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Highlighting a file then pressing F2 is not a useful utility.


Wow, thanks for the tip, I didn't know I could do that! I've always tentatively double-clicked on it to activate the renaming process. I only found out about the Tab thing a couple of years ago!

In any case, my program isn't like that. In technical terms, it used the Object Pascal "FindFirst" and "FindNext" commands recursively to gather all the files and folder names on a specified path, and then store them in an integrity-protected file. Sure you're not interested?
added on the 2015-10-26 00:58:58 by Foebane72 Foebane72
Holy shit that sounds amazing! How much are you going to charge for it?
added on the 2015-10-26 08:03:05 by xeron xeron
I think £20 was what I set it at back in the day, not sure. There are shareware restrictions on the program, like nag screens, etc.

I tried to sell it officially a few years ago, even joined some Shareware organisation to do so, but didn't get anywhere as they wouldn't even look at the program until I'd gotten a suitable website in place, but I couldn't afford the costs. I thought it was ridiculous; it's the program I'm trying to sell, not the website.

Mind you, I did make £20 off a similar program I wrote on the Amiga back in the 90s.
added on the 2015-10-26 08:45:22 by Foebane72 Foebane72

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