This is an archive of CompuServe forum messages from 1985 to 1995, as saved in transcripts by John Foust.
Search Results (56 messages)
The quiet last 6 weeks probably just indicate Christmas holidays. Mal Binary Dreams
Craig Seems like Jim & Peter got in there before me! I'd go along with everything they say. Only consider Assembler if you need very high speed (like in an arcade game). If you stick with the standard ANSI C functions, and avoid the Amiga specific stuff, you will have…
Shraddhan, Somehow my reply yesterday seems to have got lost! The problem is not with dice, but with your declaration of ValDPFloat. You have defined it as struct DoubleFloat ValDPFloat; whereas you should use union DoubleFloat ValDPFloat; Dice was taking your specification of DoubleFloat, and turning it into a struct,…
I'd be interested to know the results! I have a 1200 – I could really do with a 1Gb drive instead of the 40Mb it has at the moment! Mal Binary Dreams
One word of caution:- the normal IDE standard allowed for HD sizes up to 540Mb. Any drive up to this size will definitely work in your Amiga. IDE drives larger than 540Mb use an extended standard, and you should be careful to check whether these drives can in fact be…
Henry, See my reply to Theo's response for another explanation. Mal Binary Dreams
Theo, There is no bug in the while loop (apart from the last printf when n==0). Struct record *array is treated in the program as an array of record structs. Therefore array[n].name is the correct notation to use. Henry's code works fine if you compile it, as long as you…
>> C-64 syndrome Thats also how the CD32 did so well in the short time it was on sale. C= UK managed to get it into all manner of stores in the UK. I've heard figures of 100,000 units in 4 months. If thats true, its a shame the bankruptcy…
Sounds like you'd have been better off building one from scratch! I've actually found it better to buy PCs from dealers who assemble their own – you get a better machine for a lower price, and when something goes wrong, they fix it – it doesn't have to go off…
#CEI/CBM Status
Message #173744
Actually, C= UK is far more than a bunch of former C= UK execs! Whatever they decide to call themselves, they are still very much in business. In fact, they are still suporting CD32 developers (such as myself). They are currently producing a gold disk for me, which I expect…
#Bitplanes and such II
Message #44051
The problem is that your Amiga will try to load your program into fast RAM if you have it (which you probably do). The Amiga custom hardware can only access data stored in Chip RAM. Using ds.l to create space for your bitplanes will result in the bitplane data being…
Try downloading howto.lha – its in Amiga Tech, Programmers Utils(lib 10). Although aimed more at assembler programmers, it does cover a lot of Amiga related topics, including AGA hardware and HAM-8 mode. Mal Binary Dreams
Commodore Liquidation
Message #43758
PMFJI, but I fail to see how the sale of a few A4000s is supposed to support the new Amiga owners (whoever they turn out to be). Most of C='s money has always come from the European games market, and thats where the new owners will have to concentrate initially…
I'm not so sure its courage or inside oformation. Its more likely an attempt to persuade potential customers who may be thinking of switching to PCs that all is well, so they will invest more money in software for their Amigas! Mal "Not at all cynical really…" Binary Dreams
Sorry – his reference to reseting the battery back clock first led me astray! Mal
Martin, The following is from the Amiga developer update, and outlines a battery-backed clock resource. It is available from V36 onwards. I haven't tried setting the clock myself, so if there are any other files you think you need but don't have, e-mail me and I'll see what I can…
I don't know about actual rules, but the online world seems pretty much against having people use the system for advertising. Imagine if we all had a huge stack of junk e-mail to sift through each time we logged on… Mal
Yes it was! In the UK, where there is a much greater following of all things Amiga, there was a TV campaign using a well made advert which was just as good as Nintendo's. They also managed to get the CD32 onto the shelves of more than just computer retailers…
One file eh? If nothing else works, and you have an assembler, you could turn the file into a linkable object by using a file such as this: XDEF _stringname _stringname incbin "string_file_path_&_name" end Assembling this will produce a linkable file that you can combine with your main program. Make…
Alex Why not just alloc some memory and load it in at run-time? You can use a pointer of type char to point to the string, and can use this variable as you would an array, or string in all the C string functions. This approach allows you to change…
Ok. I'm replying to myself in case anyone else has had the same problems I have. The answers can be found in a superb file called howto.lha in one of the libraries around here. Thankyou Comrade J! It describes all the features of AGA, the fmode register, PAL/NTSC etc, copper…
HAM-8 problem
Message #42038
I have a program that converts windows bitmaps into ham-8 images. The results display fine in Dpaint, but when I try to display them using my own Amiga software, I just get a big mess on the screen. This software worked fine with ham-6 images. (I am definitely drawing all…
Ham-8 problems…
Message #42011
I have a program that converts windows bitmaps into ham-8 images. The results display fine in Dpaint, but when I try to display them using my own Amiga software, I just get a big mess on the screen. This software worked fine with ham-6 images. (I am definitely drawing all…
Martin, That makes sense. I should have been more wary of what Dave Pleasance says! I've noticed in the past a tendency to phrase things to sound more optimistic than perhaps they really are. "Our bid has been accepted" could be interpreted in a couple of interesting ways! Mal
#And the winner is…
Message #157171
Dan, The story comes from C= UK themselves. I do CD32 development for a UK company, and they spoke to C= UK yesterday. They were told that the C= UK management bid had been successful. Today C= UK are saying that an official announcement will be made in about 3…
CD32 pinout diag.
Message #156199
Mike, Sorry for not replying – I went to the UK for a week & didn't get a chance to log on. You seem to have enough replies though! Mal
Mike, I don't exactly have the joypad pinout but what I do have is the pin-out of the joystick port, and the fact that it is the same on the CD32 as on the A500. The connections are as follows: Pin 1: Mouse V Pin 2: Mouse H Pin 3:…
See my post from the 25th!
Plug an Amiga mouse into the second joypad socket and hold down both buttons while booting the machine. You will get a screen allowing you to change the boot & display options. (this trick also works on an A1200). Select display options, and change the mode to PAL. You may…
I hope this will be of some use: >> 1) After opening a Custom Screen, is it advisable to use a Backdrop Window to render the game graphics into, or better to render the game graphics right to the screens memory? There are several methods you could use on the…
I certainly don't take too much notice to what C= UK actually says! My post was based on my experiences. I spoke to Dave Pleasance around Christmas time, and although he said good things about the future of C=, I could see from his face it was all bulls**t. I'm…
I think Grant meant "still operating" when he talked about CBM not being in business. Still, as long as I get my hard drive back… Mal
#150791-
#Cringely Rumors Again…
Message #151219
Dale I know they are full of crap most of the time, but the point I was trying to make was that they are definitely still operating. I didn't just ring them and ask them if they were – they are have actually made a physical object (ie a CD32…
Grant, Yeah, some of us do have better contacts than others. I do business directly with Commodore UK and they ARE still operating, and don't expect that to change. Mal
Kevin, The Amiga as it stands is good enough to win over the people you mention – it just needs proper marketing Mal
Kevin, Commodore UK are still trading – they did not go bust two weeks ago as you say. How do I know? They have just (this week) put together a CD32 gold disk for me. The people there are also very upbeat about the future. I hope this is a…
#Amiga not dead!
Message #147158
Yeah, and just think, for the price just two of their state of the art (NOT!) PC soundblaster boards with stunning 1 channel sound, they could have bought an A1200! Mal
If the article did exist, it didn't find its way into any other papers as far as I can tell. If a story is true, it usually makes it into everyone elses paper the next day. Mal de Montreal (Time for French lessons, je pense)
The Japanese and Koreans may be very different, but they sure as hell know what most people want to buy! Mal
Wayne If you want to use QuickTime, AVI, etc you may as well buy a PC/MAC and forget about the Amiga. There is no point in the Amigas existance if it is to run the same programs as the other machines. All these multimedia formats you mention have been designed…
Gary, Sony seem to be concentrating their efforts in the announcement division of the company these days. Every month it seems they've done a deal with someone or other to produce a games console – I've yet to see any of them actually make it past the announcement stage! I…
David, I see from your post that you live in Montreal. This may be a shot in the dark, but do you happen to know of anywhere in Montreal I could get a one off CD ROM made? I tried 3M but they wanted $800! TIA Mal
Charles, But it seems they still havent learned anything! I hired a car from Avis last week – a Buick Century, I think – but it looked like a 1970's pimps car with a horrible maroon velour interior! Its no surprise that the Japanese are still making massive inroads into…
Wayne, I agree the Amiga makes a superb all round computer, but the PC is well established now, and the size of the Amiga operation is on a par with just one of the well known PC builders – there will never be the resources to take over the business…
Richard I hope I'm right too – my income depends entirely on CD32 at the moment! I'm not one for deliberate rumourmongering, but this did come from Commodore UK (who must be active because they're making a CD for me now!). Mal
Chas, I here rumours from Gatesworld (sorry – the land of the PC) that Philips and others are planning to introduce internal CD-i drives for PCs. CD-i has been a complete failure, as your figures show, but a PC add-on would boost their market share considerably. The CD-i machine deserves…
Steve, Don't worry, I'm not knocking the good ol' US of A, but when it comes to selling Amigas and actually making some money, I don't think Commodore US would get many awards! Mal
Paul, The Amiga was originally designed to play games – It just happens that high quality graphics and sound are also useful (understatement) in the video world. Anyhow, its the third party developers that have exploited the Amiga's potential in these other areas – Commodore could never take any credit…
#Amiga not dead!
Message #146031
I think our troubles may be coming to an end. This from a UK contact who met with Commodore UK today… "Expect an official announcement at the end of this week, but a buyer has definitely been found. Commodore UK are definitely still in business, are extremely upbeat about the…
Bob, My plans are certainly to support the Amiga and CD32 in more than just the immediate future – I have projects to keep me going on Amigas for at least 2 years. I'm sure we'll all know for certain the state of play after a few months – I…
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