Atom Software Archive

[Multiwizard]

I will load the file later today.

John

Oh joy...


Greetings, Wim...

[John Ferguson]

Here is the file for the programme UFO by P Vernon. Published in Popular Computing Weekly, 23 September 1982.

I have called it UFO2.

John

[Multiwizard]

Thanks John...


Greetings, Wim...

[hoglet]

Hi all,

A bit of a progress update on adding Econet support to the Atom Software Archive...

IanS very kindly sent me one of his small adaptor boards that allows you to connect a Master Econet module to an Atom. I built this up at the weekend, and setup a L3 file Server on a Master (using BeebMaster's quick start disk) with a PiTubeDirect 6502 Co Pro and a BeebSCSI.

I've updated the AtomSoftwareArchive build process to output a Zip file that's suitable for use on an Econet File Server.

Everything is under a user called ASA ("Atom Software Archive").

Code: Select all

$.ASA.MENU
$.ASA.HELP
$.ASA.MNUA.
$.ASA.MNUB.
$.ASA.MNUC.
$.ASA.MNUD.
$.ASA.MNUE.
$.ASA.MNUF.
$.ASA.<N1>.<N2>.<N3>.

The MNU directories contain the data files for menu system for each of the chapters. The contents looks like:

Code: Select all

$.ASA.MNUA.HELP
$.ASA.MNUA.MENUDAT1
$.ASA.MNUA.MENUDAT2
$.ASA.MNUA.SORTDAT0
$.ASA.MNUA.SORTDAT1
$.ASA.MNUA.SORTDAT2
$.ASA.MNUA.SORTDAT3
$.ASA.MNUA.SPLASH

The software titles are then stored in a three level directory structure. Here's Sphinx Adventure for example:

Code: Select all

$.ASA.0.1.0.BOOT
$.ASA.0.1.0.SPHINX
$.ASA.0.1.0.SPHINX1
$.ASA.0.1.0.SPHINX2
$.ASA.0.1.0.SPHINXIN

The directory path N1.N2.N3 is just the title's 10-bit index number (from the spreadsheet) in hex.

The Menu program needed a few tweaks to deal with this new directory structure. And also to deal with the fact the the *RUN command doesn't seem to be available from an Atom client. I've dealt with the cases where *RUN is used in the Menu system, but probably a few titles will use this directly, and so will fail.

The ZIP generation is done from Java, which means I've been able to add the Acorn specific header that allows the LOAD and EXEC address to be preserved. It should be possible, using a appropriate tool, to unzip this on RISCOS.

Here's a copy of the ZIP file if anyone wants to play:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5j1spdqyoeana ... T.zip?dl=0
(Edit: Link updated to fix a ZIP header bug that prevents unzipping on RISC OS)

In order to test this myself, I needed to inject the files into AFS Partition of the L3 File Server filesystem. This actually turned out to be the hardest part of the process, because the ZIP file is relatively large (7MB compressed, 40MB uncompressed, with ~2300 files). There doesn't seem to be a way of doing this on the L3 File Server itself, because the AFS partition is pretty well hidden. I would need a second Master as a client, and I expect unzipping would take some time.

Instead, I wrote some Java code to read the ZIP file and add the files/directories directly into the 64MB scsi.dat image that's used by BeebSCSI. Rather than build this completely from scratch, I started with the image after "WFS-IW" was run with some suitable geometry parameters.

There's some good documentation for the AFS File System format here:
- http://mdfs.net/Docs/Comp/Disk/Format/AFS0 (thanks Jonathan)
- http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org ... AN/075.txt
- https://www.heyrick.co.uk/econet/fs/afs0.html

The Java is checked in here:
https://github.com/hoglet67/AtomSoftwar ... m/afsutils

It takes about 5 second to run (in spite of the free space management being very inefficiently written).

The end result is a scsi0.dat image that contains everything you need, including the L3 File Server itself:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w3q8rcx2e8rkm ... t.zip?dl=0

Here's some screen shots:

I don't think there are that many Econet connected Atoms in the world. But if anyone does manage to try this out do let us know. There will undoubtedly be lots of bugs....

Dave

[oss003]

Dave, Jonathan fixed some Atom econet commands at the January ABUG: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=13886

@Jonathan, did you upload these utils somewhere?

PS would be nice to get econet working in HTemulator to connect to eg a server running in Beebem...

Greetings
Kees

[IanB]

The Menu program needed a few tweaks to deal with this new directory structure. And also to deal with the fact the the *RUN command doesn't seem to be available from an Atom client. I've dealt with the cases where *RUN is used in the Menu system, but probably a few titles will use this directly, and so will fail.

Perhaps creating a "RUN" executable that passes the rest of the command line to the CLI would work?
That could be placed in the library and would be run each time *RUN xyz was called.
You would have to choose a suitable load address so it wasn't likely to trash any other preloaded data.

I haven't been able to get very far with testing on RISCOS as the relative path handling for Atoms and probably Systems in jgharston's !SoftMDFS seems to be broken (!SoftMDFS is the only RISCOS file server that supports the older econet api calls used by the Atom and Systems)

e.g.
When I log in I get the error:
ADFS::4.$.ASA.$.ATOMLIB not found.

When I try to run MENU I get a not found error as it can't find the SPLASH screen:
Here's the log from !SoftMDFS:
Tue,21 May 2019.21:31:03 002.235 ASA *MENU
Tue,21 May 2019.21:31:04 002.235 ASA Function 5 LOAD command MENU
Tue,21 May 2019.21:31:04 002.235 ASA *DIR $.ASA
Tue,21 May 2019.21:31:04 002.235 ASA *LOAD MNUA.SPLASH
Tue,21 May 2019.21:31:04 002.235 ASA Function 2 LOAD SPLASH|MNot found|M

If I put a copy of SPLASH in $.ASA it works so it's trying to load SPLASH from the current directory instead of the MNUA directory.

[PhilYoung]

The end result is a scsi0.dat image that contains everything you need, including the L3 File Server itself:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w3q8rcx2e8rkm ... t.zip?dl=0

Hi,

I don't think I'll ever be in a position to use this, but out of interest for a BeebSCSI(mini) doesn't a scsix.dat file need an associated scsix.dsc file to describe the disk geometry that the dat file is an image of ? Or is it now implicit (I haven't used my BeebScsi mini in a while so I could be behind the latest version)

Cheers,

Phil Young

[hoglet]

I don't think I'll ever be in a position to use this, but out of interest for a BeebSCSI(mini) doesn't a scsix.dat file need an associated scsix.dsc file to describe the disk geometry that the dat file is an image of ? Or is it now implicit (I haven't used my BeebScsi mini in a while so I could be behind the latest version)

It seem's that BeebSCSI is quite happy to create a .dsc file on the fly if it is missing.

But I will include a matching one in the next release.

Dave

[PhilYoung]

I don't think I'll ever be in a position to use this, but out of interest for a BeebSCSI(mini) doesn't a scsix.dat file need an associated scsix.dsc file to describe the disk geometry that the dat file is an image of ? Or is it now implicit (I haven't used my BeebScsi mini in a while so I could be behind the latest version)

It seem's that BeebSCSI is quite happy to create a .dsc file on the fly if it is missing.

But I will include a matching one in the next release.

Dave

Thanks for the reply, I'll see if that happens with mine, not that I have the Atom Econet side of the equation of course,

Cheers,

Phil Young

[jgharston]

Dave, Jonathan fixed some Atom econet commands at the January ABUG: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=13886
@Jonathan, did you upload these utils somewhere?

I bundled them up for upload, but I set the access string wrong, so my auto-uploader skipped them. I'm currently sorting things for the Euro Election count tomorrow night, so I'll have a look when I've woken up afterwards.

[hoglet]

Dave, Jonathan fixed some Atom econet commands at the January ABUG: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=13886
@Jonathan, did you upload these utils somewhere?

I bundled them up for upload, but I set the access string wrong, so my auto-uploader skipped them. I'm currently sorting things for the Euro Election count tomorrow night, so I'll have a look when I've woken up afterwards.

I've included some code in the build process automatically patch the v2.40 originals as well:
https://github.com/hoglet67/AtomSoftwar ... a3af5ca427

I did this in case any other such programs turn up, and because this is mostly an exercise in learning for me.

The utilities I've tried (DISCS, USERS, INF) seem to work now.

It will be interesting to check whether my patches are the same as Jonathan's.

There are a few other changes today:

Code: Select all

5db943487 Econet: Added ATOMLIB dir and null *NOMON command
b5355a469 Econet: Added ^ as a directory back link
90e9e2931 Econet: Added *RUN command
5563dca8d Econet: Fix a memory conflict between the menu and the Econet ROM
3af5ca427 Econet: Added ATOMLIB Utils (inc. patching for 350)
d9a1892a4 Econet: Changed library dir from ATOMLIB to LIBRARY

https://github.com/hoglet67/AtomSoftwar ... its/master

Having the directory back links (^) kind-of working in L3 File Server 0.92 is rather fun.

If anyone wants an updated disk image snapshot, please just ask.

Dave

[hoglet]

There's now a V11Beta 6 available that adds AGD packs 29-41 bringing us up to date.
https://github.com/hoglet67/AtomSoftwar ... e/releases

Dave

[hoglet]

TODO reminder:

Add Aardvark Invaders, kindly submitted by David Wallis.

See this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=18158

Add AGD packs 42...

Dave

[Multiwizard]

And here it is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTg8xnMfwOo


Greetings, Wim...

[oss003]

Nice job guys, one MIA game less on the list....

Greetings
Kees

[iamaran]

Hi.
Could anyone please advise how to get Space Adventure by DP Saville/Atomic Software to run.
Thanks in advance.

[hoglet]

Could anyone please advise how to get Space Adventure by DP Saville/Atomic Software to run.

The program is in Chapter A of the Menu.

Once launched, the following commands are recognised:
- T - Thrust
- ST - Status Report
- F - Fire
- N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, S, NW - Move

Each command needs to be followed by Return

The program is in BASIC, so you might be able to work out if there are any other commands:

Code: Select all

   10REM SPACE ADVENTURE
   20REM COPYRIGHT D.P.SAVILLE
   30DIMX22,Y22,S27,D2
   40aCLEAR4;C.1;P.$21;E=0;T=0;G=0;H=0;A=#3F8A0;!S=#A1EB978;K=0
   50S?5=185;GOS.c;F.N=0TO22;X?N=A.R.%126;Y?N=A.R.%176
   60IFX?N<2X?N=2
   70IFY?N<2Y?N=2
   80IF?X>70IF?Y>99N=-1
   90IFN<8IFN>0GOS.d
  100IFN>17GOS.e
  110N.
  120bT=T+1;IFS?2<11G.y
  130IFS?2<13G.u
  140Q=A.R.%150;IFQ<5GOS.z
  150IFT>5IFQ>147G.1410
  160C.1;IN.$D;IF$D="T"GOS.s
  170IF$D="ST"E=1;GOS.x
  180S?4=?S;S?5=S?1;?S=?S+30;S?1=S?1+30;W=(S?2-11)*7/10
  190IF$D="NE"?S=?S+W;S?1=S?1+W
  200IF$D="NW"?S=?S-W;S?1=S?1+W
  210IF$D="SE"?S=?S+W;S?1=S?1-W
  220IF$D="SW"?S=?S-W;S?1=S?1-W
  230IF$D="S"S?1=S?1-S?2+11
  240IF$D="N"S?1=S?1+S?2-11
  250IF$D="W"?S=?S-S?2+11
  260IF$D="E"?S=?S+S?2-11
  270?S=?S-30;S?1=S?1-30;PLOT14,(S?4),(S?5)
  280C.0;PLOT9,-1,1;PLOT9,2,0;C.1;GOS.c
  290IF?S<5OR?S>123G.i
  300IFS?1<5ORS?1>186G.i
  310P=?S;Q=S?1;B=A.(P-?X);C=A.(Q-?Y);N=1
  320IFB<25IFC<25C.2;PLOT13,?X,?Y;PLOT9,-1,1;PLOT9,2,0;C.1
  330PLOT13,P,Q;IFB<9IFC<9G.k
  340qB=A.(P-X?N);C=A.(Q-Y?N)
  350IF$D="F"IFN>7IFB<25IFC<25G.o
  360IFB<15IFC<15G.o
  370N=N+1;IFN=23G.b
  380G.q
  390oIF$D="F"GOS.f
  400IFN<8GOS.l;G.b
  410IFN<18GOS.m;G.b
  420IFN<23GOS.n;G.b
  430G.b
  440dPLOT13,(X?N),(Y?N);PLOT9,1,0;PLOT9,0,1;PLOT9,-1,0;R.
  450eM=(N-17)*4+4;S?M=X?N;S?(M+1)=Y?N;S?(M+3)=12;R.
  460fIFS?3<6ORN=0R.
  470S?3=S?3-1;PLOT5,(X?N),(Y?N);J=50;GOS.v
  480IFN<8G.g
  490IFN<18GOS.h;R.
  500R=A.R.%2;IFR=0R.
  510S?((N-17)*4+7)=5;G=G+1
  520GOS.n;X?N=255;N=23;R.
  530gCLEAR0;P.$6'"FIRING INTO THE SUN"'"MAKES IT GO NOVA!"
  540J=99;S?2=0;GOS.v;G.y
  550hPLOT14,(X?N),(Y?N);PLOT10,-1,0;PLOT10,1,-1;H=H+1
  560PLOT10,1,1;PLOT10,-1,1;X?N=255;Z=260256;N=23;R.
  570iCLEAR0;R=A.R.%2
  580P.$6'"YOU HAVE FLOWN OFF INTO"'"UNCHARTED SPACE WHERE"
  590IFR=0P.'"A FIERCE SPACE SERPENT LIVES"
  600IFR=1P.'"A BLACK HOLE EXERTS ITS"'"BALEFUL INFLUENCE"
  610R=A.R.%5;IFR=0P.'"YOUR SHIP IS LOST";G.x
  620P.'"LUCKILY YOU MANAGE TO ESCAPE"
  630J=350;GOS.v;P.$21;?#B000=#D0;GOS.r;G.b
  640kCLEAR0;P.$6'"WELL DONE CAPTAIN!"
  650IFT>30P.'"BUT WHAT KEPT YOU?"
  660G.x
  665lIFB<9IFC<9G.p
  670R=A.R.%9;S?2=S?2-R;GOS.t;IFS?2>13R.
  680CLEAR0;P.$6'"IT'S NOT WISE TO FLY SO CLOSE"
  690P.'"TO THE SUN IN YOUR CONDITION";J=150;GOS.v;G.y
  700pGOS.w;CLEAR0;P.$6'"YOU FLEW TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN"
  710P.'"AND YOUR TANTHALLIUM HULL"'"HAS MELTED"
  720P.'"..........OH...DEAR..!"'"THE DREADED XXIK HAS WON"
  730P.'"MANKIND MAY BE DESTROYED.....!";G.x
  740mC.2;PLOT13,(X?N),(Y?N);PLOT9,0,1;PLOT9,0,-2
  750PLOT9,-1,1;PLOT9,2,0;C.1;IFB>9A.C>9X?N=255;R.
  760R=4;R=R+A.R.%8;S?2=S?2-R;GOS.t;IFS?2<10G.y
  780X?N=255;R.
  790nC.3;GOS.j;M=(N-17)*4+7;IFS?M<10R.
  800R=A.R.%9;S?2=S?2-R;GOS.t
  810S?M=S?M-1;IFS?2<11G.y
  820IFS?M<11X?N=255;R.
  830C.0;GOS.j;M=R.%15;X?N=X?N+M;Y?N=Y?N+M
  840IFX?N>126X?N=126
  850IFY?N>190Y?N=190
  860R.
  870xJ=(S?2-10)*5;IFJ<3J=0
  880V=S?3-5;IFV<0V=0
  890IFE CLEAR0;P.$6'"STATUS REPORT"
  900P.''"ENGINE POWER  = "J"%"
  910P.'"MISSILES LEFT = "V'"TIME TAKEN    = "T;Z=260256
  920P.'"XXIK KILLED   = "G'"!ZYL KILLED   = "H
  930IFE IN.''"HIT RETURN KEY TO CONTINUE"'$D;P.$21;?#B000=#D0
  935IFE GOS.r;E=0;R.
  940IN.'"ANOTHER GAME PERHAPS"$D
  950IF?D=89;G.a
  960P.'"......SOB..SOB";END
  970yGOS.w;CLEAR0
  980P.$6'"YOU HAVE JUST BEEN"'"VAPORISED INTO A CLOUD OF"
  990P.'"SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES"'"SOME CAPTAIN YOU ARE....!";G.x
 1000wCLEAR 0;P.$6,$7';S?2=0;S?3=0
 1010P."      ###"'
 1020P."    #######"'
 1030P."   #########"'
 1040P."   #########"'
 1050P."      ###"'
 1060P."      ###"'
 1070P."      ###"'
 1080P."  ############"';J=30;GOS.v;R.
 1100tF.I=1TO4;GOS.c;J=9;GOS.v;C.1;GOS.c;GOS.v;N.;R.
 1110uCLEAR0;P.$6'"YOUR SHIP IS CRIPPLED"
 1120P.'"AND DRIFTING HELPLESSLY"'"IN SPACE";J=150;GOS.v
 1130P.''"OOPS....SHIELDS LOOSING POWER";J=99;GOS.v;G.y
 1140vF.U=1TOJ;WAIT;N.;R.
 1150zCLEAR0;Q=A.R.%4;P.$6'"OH..DEAR!A "
 1160IFQ=0P."FEROCIOUS"'"SCALY GRUNCHER"
 1170IFQ=1P."GHASTLY"'"SLIME MONSTER"
 1180IFQ=2P."DEADLY"'"BETAN SGRAAAL"
 1190IFQ=3P."COLD-HEARTED"'"TAX MAN"
 1200Q=A.R.%2;IFQ=0P." HAS APPEARED AND"'"IS CHASING YOU!"'
 1210IFQ=1P." LIES RIGHT"'"IN YOUR PATH"'
 1220J=150;GOS.v;Q=A.R.%8;IFQ=7P."LUCKILY IT'S JUST EATEN!"
 1230IFQ=6P."IT ATTACKS AND DESTROYS YOU";G.x
 1240IFQ=5P."HOWEVER YOU SCARE"'"IT OFF WITH SOME EXPLOSIVES"
 1250IFQ=4P."BUT IT IS FEELING SLEEPY"'"AND YOU ESCAPE"
 1260IFQ=3P."BUT IT CANNOT PENETRATE"'"YOUR SHIELDS"
 1270IFQ<3P."THANKFULLY YOU OUTDISTANCE IT"'"BUT YOUR "
 1280IFQ<3P."ENGINES ARE DAMAGED";S?2=S?2-4
 1290IFS?2<13P.'"SO MUCH THAT YOU ARE"'"PROBABLY DOOMED!"
 1300P.$21;GOS.v;?#B000=#D0;GOS.r;R.
 1310cPLOT13,(?S),(S?1);PLOT9,-1,1;PLOT9,2,0;R.
 1320jPLOT13,(X?N),(Y?N);PLOT9-1,1;PLOT9,2,0;PLOT9,0,-2
 1330PLOT9,-2,0;R.
 1340rC.0;F.N=176TO191;MOVE0,N;DRAW127,N;N.;C.1;R.
 1350sCLEAR0;P.$6'"ENGINEERING TO CAPTAIN";V=S?2+(S?3-5)*3
 1360IFS?3<6P.'"NO POWER LEFT TO TRANSFER"
 1370IFV>30P.'"THE ENGINES WILNA TAK IT"
 1380IFV<31IFS?3>5P.'"AYE AYE SIR!"'"ENGINES NOW ="(V-10)*5"%"
 1390P.$21;J=250;GOS.v;IFV>30G.y
 1400S?2=V;S?3=4;CLEAR0;?#B000=#D0;GOS.r;R.
 1410CLEAR0;P.$6'"THE DREADED XXIK HAS FOUND"'"THE AMYTHEST"
 1420P.''"YOU HAVE FAILED!";G.x
 1430 "COPYRIGHT D.P.SAVILLE"

Dave

[iamaran]

Thanks Hoglet.

[iamaran]

Scans of Christmas Adventure from Acorn User, January and February 1984.

[hoglet]

Scans of Christmas Adventure from Acorn User, January and February 1984.

Thanks for this.

It was mentioned earlier in this thread:
viewtopic.php?p=68664#p68664

But we seem to have missed actually typing it in!

Dave

[MarkMoxon]

Hi all.

I'm having problems running the Ballistics game from Acornsoft's Games Pack 7 in the Atom Software Archive. I've tried various emulators and disk images, but they all hang on load, showing nothing other than a flashing cursor. Here's what I've tried:

• The latest Atom Software Archive on Atomulator

• The online Acorn Atom Software Archive

• JSAtom

• hoglet's online Atom emulator

On all of the above, loading Ballistics (or Balistics as it's shown in the menu) fails - all I get is a cursor and a hung machine. Pressing F12 and doing OLD also crashes the machine.

I've also tried downloading the .dsk file from the Acorn Atom Software Archive and loading it into Atomulator without using the main archive menu, and although the disk CATs without a problem, doing a Shift-F12 and LOAD "BALLIST" both hang the machine in the same way.

Is anyone else having this problem? Sorry if it's me, but I thought I'd mention it in case there's a problem with the version in the archive.

Mark

[Multiwizard]

Hi all.

I'm having problems running the Ballistics game from Acornsoft's Games Pack 7 in the Atom Software Archive. I've tried various emulators and disk images, but they all hang on load, showing nothing other than a flashing cursor. Here's what I've tried:

• The latest Atom Software Archive on Atomulator

• The online Acorn Atom Software Archive

• JSAtom

• hoglet's online Atom emulator

On all of the above, loading Ballistics (or Balistics as it's shown in the menu) fails - all I get is a cursor and a hung machine. Pressing F12 and doing OLD also crashes the machine.

I've also tried downloading the .dsk file from the Acorn Atom Software Archive and loading it into Atomulator without using the main archive menu, and although the disk CATs without a problem, doing a Shift-F12 and LOAD "BALLIST" both hang the machine in the same way.

Is anyone else having this problem? Sorry if it's me, but I thought I'd mention it in case there's a problem with the version in the archive.

Mark

I've just checked, yep it hangs by several Atoms not even a flashing cursor...


Greetings, Wim...

[hoglet]

Is anyone else having this problem? Sorry if it's me, but I thought I'd mention it in case there's a problem with the version in the archive.

Yes, it looks like the copy in the archive is corrupt; it's missing the end-of-basic-program terminator.

I'll update this now.

[hoglet]

Here's a fixed version (from Acl1-09):

ballistics.zip

(1.84 KiB) Downloaded 86 times

There is a bit of a pause before the game starts.

I'll update the version in the archive with this one.

[MarkMoxon]

Here's a fixed version (from Acl1-09):
ballistics.zip

There is a bit of a pause before the game starts.

I'll update the version in the archive with this one.

Brilliant - thanks for the super-quick fix!

Mark

[hoglet]

While we're on the subject of the Atom Software Archive, the V11 final release has been ready to go for some months now.

Shall I just release it, or does anyone have any final submissions?

[Multiwizard]

Here's a fixed version (from Acl1-09):
ballistics.zip

There is a bit of a pause before the game starts.

I'll update the version in the archive with this one.

Hi Dave many thanks...


Greetings, Wim...

[oss003]

The problem was the end of Basic terminator and can be solved by doing this:

- Manual load ...\AS\GAMES07\BALLISTI
- Type ?#32DE=#FF
- Type OLD
- Type RUN.

You can save the game by typing SAVE"BALLISTI"

Greetings
Kees

[oss003]

I don't have any additions ...... yet ..
So you can publish v11.

Is the AGD titlescreen carousel in yet?

Greetings
Kees

[highfell]

The programs load OK but the ROMs don’t load at all. You get an error message that they can’t be found,