RP9 files (Cloanto) - does Pouet.net use them?
category: general [glöplog]
These are the RetroPlatform files that Amiga Forever and C64 Forever use, but I'm just wondering if Pouet.net has links to ready-made ones just so we don't have to spend ages making them up ourselves?
no
Amiga forever emulation really sucks, unless you run in fullscreen the resolution of the window is constantly changing and breaking the flow of demos, not so much of a problem with games. C64 Forever doesnt have this issue.
The rp9 format is ok, its nice to have the meta data, but its only really useful in amiga forever itself, why would you need to have that extra data on pouet when its all already provided on the page itself.
The rp9 format is ok, its nice to have the meta data, but its only really useful in amiga forever itself, why would you need to have that extra data on pouet when its all already provided on the page itself.
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Amiga forever emulation really sucks, unless you run in fullscreen the resolution of the window is constantly changing and breaking the flow of demos, not so much of a problem with games. C64 Forever doesnt have this issue.
That's because the screen resizing is a WinUAE issue, not an AF one. It's the "Automatic Resize" option in Filter which is causing the resizing, but I worked out a long time ago that making WinUAE run full-screen eliminates the problem.
However, I can't find any .cfg files on AF for WinUAE configurations, I'm not able to choose configurations, only what's in the RP9 files which are only limited options. My only reasonable option is to run AF's version of WinUAE outside of the AF front-end because the ROM files work fine with it. There's absolutely no other way to get the ROMs otherwise.
you can config winuae yourself if you have the roms, it's not exacly rocket science. i recently even managed to install winuae + config it so we could dev with asm one etc on my old laptop after drinking 7 beers! ;)
It seems pointless to me to use AF unless you're not so well versed in using WinUAE. As you pointed out it strips away all the useful options of WinUAE for the sake of some garish GUI and a proprietary format that nearly nobody except Cloanto themselves have bothered to utilize.
Most Amiga fans here will probably be able to work WinUAE or *UAE to run their environments. I'm not totally knocking AF but I can see it only being helpful for the less skilled amiga emulation user.
As for the RP9 format itself, its ok, I like that you can attach all kinds of metadata, but again it seems to have a really limited audience so far.
Most Amiga fans here will probably be able to work WinUAE or *UAE to run their environments. I'm not totally knocking AF but I can see it only being helpful for the less skilled amiga emulation user.
As for the RP9 format itself, its ok, I like that you can attach all kinds of metadata, but again it seems to have a really limited audience so far.
I did have C64 Forever as well for a time, but I was frustrated that I could never get into the VICE options, it was all the frontend and the RP9 files. In the end I ditched it and just went straight back to WinVICE and full control for myself.
The problem is, the attractive part of AF is the front end and selection of games, demos and systems already configured, as well as the extra information and videos provided on the DVDs. The downside of it is lack of control, even though at least WinUAE's console is accessible, unlike VICE on C64F.
I've tinkered with vanilla WinUAE and WinFellow in the past, but I think AF appealed to me because of the video content like the "Launch of the Amiga" and the "Deathbed Vigil" and interviews with the various Amiga people involved - I mean, who would pass up such an opportunity? But really, the AF frontend is really for the computer novices.
The problem is, the attractive part of AF is the front end and selection of games, demos and systems already configured, as well as the extra information and videos provided on the DVDs. The downside of it is lack of control, even though at least WinUAE's console is accessible, unlike VICE on C64F.
I've tinkered with vanilla WinUAE and WinFellow in the past, but I think AF appealed to me because of the video content like the "Launch of the Amiga" and the "Deathbed Vigil" and interviews with the various Amiga people involved - I mean, who would pass up such an opportunity? But really, the AF frontend is really for the computer novices.
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"Launch of the Amiga" and the "Deathbed Vigil" and interviews with the various Amiga people involved
How does that have anything to do with the choice of emulator your use for actually running demos, though? You can still watch those videos when using WinUAE.
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How does that have anything to do with the choice of emulator your use for actually running demos, though? You can still watch those videos when using WinUAE.
Yes, the videos are on ordinary DVDs, but at the time they were (it seemed to me) only available on the "deluxe" version of AF.
I've decided, I'm going to ditch Amiga Forever like I threw away C64 Forever a long time ago.
It may be a "legal" way to own the Kickstart ROMs and so forth, but frankly, I don't like the restrictions imposed on WinUAE under it - apart from anything else, you're restricted to old 2012 versions of the emulator (at least in my version of AF)!
The RP9 files also are hopelessly restricted, it's not even as if they're .cfg files for WinUAE plus the ADFs - in fact, I cannot find .cfg files anywhere for this version of the emulator, it's like it's been modified specially for AF.
What also worried me is that it seems as if Cloanto now OWNS WinUAE, which makes things harder - when I installed the latest version earlier, the name cropped up.
No, I'm going to get rid of the AF main disk and just keep the DVD videos from them. It's just been a nuisance, and all I really use the Amiga for these days is for watching demos, and YouTube and other sites these days (including MindCandy) are excellent alternative sources for viewing them.
Good-fucking-bye, Amiga "Forever" by Cloanto! You won't be missed.
It may be a "legal" way to own the Kickstart ROMs and so forth, but frankly, I don't like the restrictions imposed on WinUAE under it - apart from anything else, you're restricted to old 2012 versions of the emulator (at least in my version of AF)!
The RP9 files also are hopelessly restricted, it's not even as if they're .cfg files for WinUAE plus the ADFs - in fact, I cannot find .cfg files anywhere for this version of the emulator, it's like it's been modified specially for AF.
What also worried me is that it seems as if Cloanto now OWNS WinUAE, which makes things harder - when I installed the latest version earlier, the name cropped up.
No, I'm going to get rid of the AF main disk and just keep the DVD videos from them. It's just been a nuisance, and all I really use the Amiga for these days is for watching demos, and YouTube and other sites these days (including MindCandy) are excellent alternative sources for viewing them.
Good-fucking-bye, Amiga "Forever" by Cloanto! You won't be missed.
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it seems as if Cloanto now OWNS WinUAE
no, it's GPL isnt it?
actually they are more of a scam that tries to make everyone believe they own the rights on the amiga and cbm 8bit ROMs. DONT
WinUAE is developed by Toni Wilen, it's not owned by Cloanto.
I should hope not, and I hope they never decide to "acquire" it, neither.
They can't acquire it. Again, it's GPL'ed software and they cannot un-GPL it. Any changes they make to its code must be published. Anything else would be a blantantly obvious violation of the license for which they could be sued.
You seem to get very emotional about such simple things very quickly, did you ever have the impression that this could be a bad thing?
There's no need to say Fuck You to Cloanto just because their software doesn't suit your needs, what they do can be beneficial for many less experienced users who just want to play old games and such, but clearly the package is not meant for power users wanting maximum control over their emulator. It's exactly the opposite. I for one was rather happy about the simple setup of a high-end Amiga machine to try out things in DigiBooster, which would have been quite a hassle in WinUAE (create hard disk, install OS, ...) - but I'd also never use it for watching demos because of the lack of control.
You seem to get very emotional about such simple things very quickly, did you ever have the impression that this could be a bad thing?
There's no need to say Fuck You to Cloanto just because their software doesn't suit your needs, what they do can be beneficial for many less experienced users who just want to play old games and such, but clearly the package is not meant for power users wanting maximum control over their emulator. It's exactly the opposite. I for one was rather happy about the simple setup of a high-end Amiga machine to try out things in DigiBooster, which would have been quite a hassle in WinUAE (create hard disk, install OS, ...) - but I'd also never use it for watching demos because of the lack of control.
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There's no need to say Fuck You to Cloanto just because their software doesn't suit your needs
indeed. there are much better reasons to tell them to fuck off :o)
I plan to setup my own WinUAE installation as it is, but I have no idea how to go about setting up an HDD installation which is needed for many of the Amiga demos on pouet.net (no ADFs, see?). Also, I'm having to find the ROMs "elsewhere", and I daren't bring that up here lest I be banned, and the problems will just stem from there... unless there are a whole mass of tips I can get from setting up a raw Amiga emulator setup from scratch with absolutely no original hardware or disks whatsoever...?
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Quote:Also, I'm having to find the ROMs "elsewhere"
Err, why?
google knows better
Good point, I'll just rip out the ROMs from the AF disc, but won't bother with any of that RP9 crap.
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I plan to setup my own WinUAE installation as it is, but I have no idea how to go about setting up an HDD installation which is needed for many of the Amiga demos on pouet.net (no ADFs, see?).
HD install is quite simple. Make a config with a chosen directory/file as a hard drive, install Workbench on it, boot to hard drive. Not sure what is the hard part.
Hint: If the demo you want to run 1) is a single exe file, 2) takes up less than the space of a floppy and 3) does not come with any other requirements such as setpatch or external libraries, just drag'n'drop the floppy into WinUAE when the kickstart screen is showing. WinUAE will automatically mount the exe as a booting floppy in DF0 and boot it. No need for hard drives. Again, this feature has been there since forever (but not necessarily Amiga Forever, heh heh)
As for this insane talk about Cloanto owning WinUAE, just let go. And preferrably let go of any AF garbage while you're at it.
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And preferrably let go of any AF garbage while you're at it.
I've got AF uninstalled at the moment and have the disc in my DVD drive. I'm trying to get the ROMs, but they're buried somewhere I can't easily see. I might have to install it one more time just to extract them.
And, just wondering, how many demos not in ADFs are single exes? I've found one I'm looking forward to trying, BTW.
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And, just wondering, how many demos not in ADFs are single exes? I've found one I'm looking forward to trying, BTW.
Well, at this moment I seem to have 11324 Amiga scene prods as single .exe files on my PC, so I'd say "many" :)
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Quote:And, just wondering, how many demos not in ADFs are single exes? I've found one I'm looking forward to trying, BTW.
Well, at this moment I seem to have 11324 Amiga scene prods as single .exe files on my PC, so I'd say "many" :)
COOL! Sorry, I didn't know much about this stuff concerning WinUAE. I still need practice.
I found the ROMs on the AF DVD, thanks to software I developed a while back to look for files by their extensions, so that's that. AF can run from the disc anyway without installing, so it would be easily accessible.
I also tried a random Amiga .exe on WinUAE, and it worked perfectly! Thanks!
Lastly, I have decided not to use the AF software, but I will keep the disc around for the ROMs and ADFs, so that's fine. I have downloaded the zip-archive of the latest WinUAE, and will use it in that form with a shortcut to the desktop. At least then I can use the very latest version of WinUAE and not be constrained by AF at all. :D
I also tried a random Amiga .exe on WinUAE, and it worked perfectly! Thanks!
Lastly, I have decided not to use the AF software, but I will keep the disc around for the ROMs and ADFs, so that's fine. I have downloaded the zip-archive of the latest WinUAE, and will use it in that form with a shortcut to the desktop. At least then I can use the very latest version of WinUAE and not be constrained by AF at all. :D
Just set up a nice little WinUAE installation with everything being vanilla except for some modified host configs, and it's run everything I've dragged and dropped into it since!
Glad to hear it's working out for you, happy demoing :)