Massive Savestate Update

[FOL]

Hi Horace

Some basic Amiga commands and scripting - No problem, i've been using Amigas since early 90s
WHDLoad (or any other HD installion, such as JST) -  Use WHDLoad to install some games in the past in my 1200
General HD use on an Amiga - I've installed and partitioned my Amiga HD several times. Last one to put OS3.9 on it.
LHA or any other Amiga archiver - Got lha on my Dopus to unpack just clicking source-dest lists
WinUAE -  Got real A1200 OS3.9, WinUAE OS3.9 on winbox, trying to get E-UAE on the iMac,  and PSPUAE 0.61 on fw 2.60
How it install (or already have) a bunch of HD games  - Done a few including some originals
( if you are really naughty,  and have downloaded all the CAPS images, you can install them fresh)

I'm very impress with the progress all you guys have made, so if I can be of any help, happy to do so.

Cheers
Amiguero

Hi, Amiguero, im curious, can you try a CAPS image with PSPUAE. I have seen it in the source, be nice to know if its compatable.

As for helping with Savestates, sure Horace would like that as I know it gets annoying, making state after state. As mistakes can happen, when doing alot.

[Firestar_Jes]

Hi Horace

Some basic Amiga commands and scripting - Not a problem, have had my amiga since 1990
WHDLoad (or any other HD installion, such as JST) -  Have used WHDload quite a bit, but mostly on WinUAE
General HD use on an Amiga - Installed quite a few harddrives and formated them for friends
LHA or any other Amiga archiver - No Problem
WinUAE - Been using it since i came out almost.
How it install (or already have) a bunch of HD games  - Installed quite a few HD Games, mostly Originals. as i still own quite a few original amiga games, but it's been a while since i've had them out of the box.


so if i can help in any way, i'll be happy to.
I've always been fond of the Amiga, and having a portable version is a dream come true.
I'm a programmer by proffession, so if you need help there, i might be able to help out too.

[Hungry Horace]

excellent ! 

you guys are nicely up to speed, so i can write a guide that doesnt involve me going over every fine detail.

here's an example of how i do it;


i boot my regualar Amiga HD setup in WinUAE. This has a nice workbench instlal and a games partition.

a good pre-installed WB setup can be found at http://classicwb.abime.net if required.


if needed, i install a new game with the WHDload or JST installer. I tend to do this using CAPS images if needed, although i have downloaded a bunch of pack with all the WHDload games pre-installed. (sadly the website with these is down at the moment) 

edit:  not any more....   www.whdownload.com   or www.guildserver.co.uk/kgwhd  should help here



when my WB boots, it creates an Assign called "ADF:" - this is just a folder which contains a template startup-sequence, and a C folder containing WHDload, LHA and the Assign command.... this comes in useful in a bit.

from CLI i get myself to my new game folder...

eg.  Games:ShootemUp/Xenon2/

have a look to see if its data files or disk images, and pack the files with LHA into multiple archives which will fit onto floppy disks. In some cases (larger disk images) the files will only pack down to a size which fits ontio a High Density Floppy disk. not a problem, PSPUAE supports this.

you should end up with something like this; (i've made this up from my head btw)

XII1.lha (contents; disk.1  xenon2.slave  size;723567) 
XII2.lha (contents; disk.2  size; 802623 )

now copy the contents of ADF: to a floppy disk.  i usually name my floppys from this simply  1:  , 2: , 3: etc  -  copy ADF:#? all to 1:

in cli, make the disk bootable with the "install" command (i usually use the wb 1.3 install command too, not really sure why, just seems more reliable) .... eg. Install DF0:

copy the achives to the disks.... copy xII1.lha 1:  copy xII2.lha 2:
 
edit the startup-sequence on 1: - this would look something like this....

assign ENV: RAM:
lha x 1:XII1.lha ram:
lha x 2:xII2.lha ram:
cd RAM:
whdload slave=xenon2.slave PRELOAD

as you see, all this script does is unpacks the achives to ram: and then loads the WHDLOad slave

now reset winUAE and boot the disks.

it should auto-unpack to ram: and run the game.... the taks now is to get this to run with the minimum amount of memory , but still with enough to Preload, to avoid "OS flashing" when it is reading from ram (i.e. black flicking screens)

once you've established the minimum memory required, reproduce this on PSPUAE with the ADFs you have created... if needed use HD floppies, and definately use Turbo speed and Max CPU speed.

innitially, savestate the game ON the whdload splash-screen, this way you can keep reloading it to make sure you can re-save the savestate exactly where the game begins.

make your final "fine cut" save, just before the first game screen kicks in, prefereably without the ADF inserted anymore. (although i dont think it really matters if the disk is there, it just looks better)

rename the savestate to the game name.... and thats it.



phew!


takes as long to write out as it does to do!  have fun guys! let me know if anything is unclear.

[FOL]

Right, I feel another Forum Group is needed. Will sort it now.

[Hungry Horace]

Right, I feel another Forum Group is needed. Will sort it now.

only if you start calling yourselves DEVS:

admin can be in SYS:

and this new one can be called .... er.... RAM:  hehe

[FOL]

Right, I feel another Forum Group is needed. Will sort it now.

only if you start calling yourselves DEVS:

admin can be in SYS:

and this new one can be called .... er.... RAM:  hehe

You`ve been rather funny the last 2 days,

[Amiguero]

Hi, Amiguero, im curious, can you try a CAPS image with PSPUAE. I have seen it in the source, be nice to know if its compatable.

As for helping with Savestates, sure Horace would like that as I know it gets annoying, making state after state. As mistakes can happen, when doing alot.

Hi FOL,

sure, no worries, I'll have go and let you know.

Amiguero

[FOL]

Hi, Amiguero, im curious, can you try a CAPS image with PSPUAE. I have seen it in the source, be nice to know if its compatable.

As for helping with Savestates, sure Horace would like that as I know it gets annoying, making state after state. As mistakes can happen, when doing alot.

Hi FOL,

sure, no worries, I'll have go and let you know.

Amiguero

Thanks

Also, once you both get some states done, give me a shout, Ill, give you ftp access to upload them.

[FOL]

whdload slave=xenon2.slave PRELOAD

Horace, just curious, why the slave=blah bit?
I have never used it that way before, does it do anything different than WHDLoad xenon2.slave PRELOAD?

[Hungry Horace]

Horace, just curious, why the slave=blah bit?
I have never used it that way before, does it do anything different than WHDLoad xenon2.slave PRELOAD?

some of the older versions of whdload require the slave= bit. although i've noticed it doesnt anymore.

what with the latest version being a bit buggy, i sometimes find myself switching to an older copy (i.e just copying an old one into the first ADF.)  By leaving the "slave=" bit in, i can guarentee it still works with both versions. it's not neccessity, but it saves having to mess around with the startup-sequence again if i do make a switch.

it also probably has something to do with the fact i've been using WHDload since it was new on the scene! (around 1998 i think?)


edit: lol... nice avatar mate!! the guy who painted the original pic (Chris Achillios) is probably most famous for his cover-art to Doctor Who novelisations published by Target!  a nice link between two of my faves there.

[Raventyr]

I'm getting a strange error from the Captive savestate :


It gets past the initial starting screens, but pops up that error just before the game starts.  Possibly a problem with the original rom, anyone else tried this savestate ?

[FOL]

I'm getting a strange error from the Captive savestate :


It gets past the initial starting screens, but pops up that error just before the game starts.  Possibly a problem with the original rom, anyone else tried this savestate ?

Did you load the config first, then the state?