First post, by Banjo
- Rank
- Newbie
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-in games bundle that included Prince of Persia, F-15 Strike Eagle II and Links).
I have attached some example image files and the program to display them below (please feel free to remove it, mods, if that's not cool).
This has been a mystery to me for awhile and I just thought I'd ask here where lots of DOS/retro enthusiasts and old school computer experts reside. I'm not sure how many can help with this, but it never hurts to try. I suspect it's a proprietary Amstrad image format (or maybe related to the Counterpoint icon format described here), but if anyone knows or can find out, I'd appreciate another childhood mystery being solved!
Interestingly, you can use showmcga.com to add one or two numbers to the image displayed, with an optional "x/y" or ":x" or "-x" parameter, such as...
showmcga welcome.cjl
...or...
showmcga copying.cjl 1/2
...or...
showmcga disk.cjl :2
...or...
showmcga wrong.cjl -1
The "x/y" parameters are used with the "copying.cjl" image (numbers line up with blank spaces there), while the ":x" and "-x" parameters are used for the "disk.cjl" image and "wrong.cjl" image respectively, where they line up to show a disk number. It seems these parameters are functions of the showmcga program and nothing to do with the CJL files themselves (aside from "lining up" to place the numbers onscreen), though I can't be sure.
I'd love to be able to edit or create these CJL images myself but just knowing more about them would be cool.
ANY help or insight would be appreciated!