Re: Running old software that was made to only run on a specific machine?

Posted on 2019-01-28, 05:51

by

by Banjo

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I've attached a "patch" made with the help of John Elliot's information (thanks, John!). Use it with the original version of the PPC Organizer software attached to the first post of this thread. Tested and working on PCEm and DOSBox! Also posted (with some other Amstrad stuff) on my game mod blog …

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Re: Amstrad PC5268 bundled games (Prince of Persia and F-15 Strike Eagle II)

Posted on 2018-09-27, 14:56

by

by Banjo

in DOS

in DOS

Still working on getting my patch finished to upload, but it's been fun revisiting those old games and - more so - those nostalgic (for me) Amstrad installers! What parameters were problematic for Links? I'll tweak my patch to fix them on emulated machines. I have been trying to get another "needs a …

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Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 help (speech gadget + damaged install disk)

Posted on 2018-09-27, 14:52

by

by Banjo

in DOS

in DOS

I just found this game in an old storage box... all 17 (!) floppy disks and am wanting to play it. Ideally, I wanted to do so on one of my old retro DOS machines, however it appears that my floppy Disk 8 for the game is damaged. All the others install fine, but disk 8 gives me a CRC error during …

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Re: Running old software that was made to only run on a specific machine?

Posted on 2018-09-21, 07:52

by

by Banjo

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I'm wondering if it would be possible to alter the exe file to make the program run on other machines. Yes, and it's even fairly easy. Load it up into a disassembler, find the string, trace it back to where it is outputted, trace that back to the jump that occurs when running on the wrong machine, …

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Running old software that was made to only run on a specific machine?

Posted on 2018-09-20, 10:01

by

by Banjo

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I'm trying to get the "Organizer" software that came with the Amstrad PPC640 (a late 80's "luggable" XT) to run on another XT, 286 or 486 without success. I've been trying via emulation (DOSBox, PCem, etc.) too, however whenever I load the software, it fails to start, instead returning to the …

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Re: Amstrad PC5268 bundled games (Prince of Persia and F-15 Strike Eagle II)

Posted on 2018-09-14, 19:24

by

by Banjo

in DOS

in DOS

Yup, that's exactly what I found in PCem and DOSBox, too, so it seems PoP and F15SE2 are indeed wanting real Amstrads to run, I think. I've just finished my little patch and will post it tomorrow if you'd like to test it, but in the meantime, here's something interesting about that weird "glitchy" …

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Re: Amstrad PC5268 bundled games (Prince of Persia and F-15 Strike Eagle II)

Posted on 2018-09-13, 15:11

by

by Banjo

in DOS

in DOS

Until someone reports testing the Amstrad Games Pack on a real non-Amstrad machine vs an Amstrad, I am going to assume that the issue *was* that two of the three games was specifically tweaked not to work on non-Amstrad machines. For those who, like me, still have the Amstrad Games Pack as real …

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Re: Help with CJL graphics format files (from Amstrad PC setup disks)

Posted on 2018-09-13, 14:46

by

by Banjo

in Milliways

in Milliways

That's cool, mate... please don't think I was offended by the use of "trivial" either! :) I understood what you meant, but just wanted to point out that I feel way over my head with this :) I know what you mean though; probably 75% of things I've learned was to solve a problem or create something …

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Re: Amstrad PC5268 bundled games (Prince of Persia and F-15 Strike Eagle II)

Posted on 2018-09-09, 14:52

by

by Banjo

in DOS

in DOS

Thanks so much! That's the same Counterpoint disk I have (still prefer it to early Windows as a DOS shell) and those system disks look like the same ones in that Mega-PC bundle image, so excited about those! I agree about the proprietary parts being such an issue, and I remember Amstrad being a bit …

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Re: Amstrad PC5268 bundled games (Prince of Persia and F-15 Strike Eagle II)

Posted on 2018-09-09, 13:47

by

by Banjo

in DOS

in DOS

Thanks heaps! :) A quick test decompressing the Prince of Persia (LHA) archive found on disk one gives the exact same corrupt "gibberish" file I got from my identical disk. I am wondering now if this was on purpose to prevent non-Amstrad users from playing this copy of the game (if indeed prince.com …

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Re: Amstrad PC5268 bundled games (Prince of Persia and F-15 Strike Eagle II)

Posted on 2018-09-09, 13:09

by

by Banjo

in DOS

in DOS

Yes!!! Those are the same floppies and the same red/yellow (thick!) manual! I'd love images of them to compare with mine! I thought I was the only one with surviving disks and even then wondered if mine were damaged! I'd also be forever indebted to you for images of your other disks, as those things …

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Re: Amstrad PC5268 bundled games (Prince of Persia and F-15 Strike Eagle II)

Posted on 2018-09-09, 12:48

by

by Banjo

in DOS

in DOS

Sounds like exact same bundle I got with my 4386SX. Can't remember trying to get them working on another machine so I can't vouch for compatibility with other systems. If you like I could dig them out and image them if you want to have a look (assuming that is ok with forum rules about posting disk …

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Re: Help with CJL graphics format files (from Amstrad PC setup disks)

Posted on 2018-09-09, 12:34

by

by Banjo

in Milliways

in Milliways

Thanks for the reply, VileRancour! Just the sort of thing I was hoping someone could discover! I'd love a BMP converter ("trivial" for some, maybe, but way outside of my expertise, I suspect) for this format, as I have great nostalgia for those install images and to be honest have been messing …

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Amstrad PC5268 bundled games (Prince of Persia and F-15 Strike Eagle II)

Posted on 2018-09-09, 08:24

by

by Banjo

in DOS

in DOS

I've recently imaged my old Amstrad system and bundled "game pack" (Prince of Persia, F-15 Strike Eagle II, Links) floppy disks from my PC5286 and am trying to get the software to run on emulators (PCEm, DOSBox, etc.). The system utilities and OS stuff still works as I remember it (well, within …

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Emulating an Amstrad PC5286

Posted on 2018-09-09, 08:03

by

by Banjo

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

For the sake of nostalgia (it was my second computer ever), I'm really wanting to emulate an Amstrad PC5286 (1mb memory, 3.5" floppy, 40mb HDD, AdLib card). Using PCEm, I'm having an absolute blast emulating an old Amstrad PC1512 (my first computer!) but that emulator seems only able to recreate …

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Help with CJL graphics format files (from Amstrad PC setup disks)

Posted on 2018-09-09, 07:51

by

by Banjo

in Milliways

in Milliways

I don't know if this is the right place to ask, but I'm trying to find out more about an image format from an old DOS installer disk. The disk included a program called "showmcga.com" that displays the images, and the images themselves are ".cjl" files. The disks were for an Amstrad PC5286 (a pack- …

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Re: Spycraft for MS-DOS

Posted on 2010-01-14, 11:21

by

by Banjo

in DOSBox Games/Apps

in DOSBox Games/Apps

Absolutely fascinating post, mate... thanks for the interesting info which taught me a lot today! Reconfigured Spycraft, and MPU-401 sounds much better than Sound Blaster (of course), and I was so intent on trying to fix GUS that I didn't think to try alternatives. I've set it to Roland Sound Canvas …

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Re: Spycraft for MS-DOS

Posted on 2010-01-14, 07:41

by

by Banjo

in DOSBox Games/Apps

in DOSBox Games/Apps

Spycraft's installer doesn't allow you to choose "General MIDI", only the various Sound Blasters, Gravis, MT-32, MSS, etc. It sounds okay with MIDI set to Sound Blaster 16, but it's bugging me that so far its the only Ultrasound game I've not been able to use Ultrasound for music in without the …

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Re: Critical Path: Help needed.

Posted on 2010-01-14, 07:37

by

by Banjo

in Windows

in Windows

I've been trying to get the same game working in 3.11 and having the same MCI error. I believe it's partly to do with the game installing its own little "qtw" subfolder in "critpath" (version 1.1 or something) and wanting to always use that, even if you install 2.12 over and over to Windows. I'd …

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Spycraft for MS-DOS

Posted on 2010-01-05, 12:43

by

by Banjo

in DOSBox Games/Apps

in DOSBox Games/Apps

Several years back, I bought a (new, sealed, store-bought) copy of this game, and today I dug it out and decided it was high time I gave it a shot. Given my other choice was Win95 and I run XP, I felt the DOS version under DOSBox would be a safer bet for this old game. The thing is, although the …

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