Aminet 6/Aminet 6 - June 1995.iso/Aminet/docs/help/csag_faq.lha/csag.faq

Text File | 1995-03-09 | 17.8 KB | 471 lines

Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games,comp.answers,news.answers
Distribution: world
From: [e-mail] (Ken J. Powell)
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: comp.sys.amiga.games Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked
         Questions (and their answers) about Amiga games.  It
         should be read by anyone who wishes to post to the
         comp.sys.amiga.games newsgroup.
Keywords: commodore,cbm,c=,amiga,games
Expires: Fri, 24 March 1995 00:00:00 GMT
Approved: [e-mail]
Supersedes:
References:

Archive-name: amiga/games-FAQ
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 1995/01/05
Version: $VER: csag_faq 1.3 (9.3.95)

comp.sys.amiga.games FAQ $VER: csag_faq 1.3 (9.3.95)

New this version:
    added Dungeon Master II/Chaos Strikes Back section
    updated Doom section with new newsgrougs, TextDemo and AB3d info
    added HD installable games pointer

If you're new to this group, READ THIS. All of it. Please.

This FAQ provides the answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions
on this newsgroup; readers new to this group should read it before
posting.

It is posted every month to comp.sys.amiga.games, comp.answers and
news.answers. New users of Usenet news should be sure to read all of
the articles in news.announce.newusers to familiarize themselves with
the general etiquette of communicating on the net.

How to get this FAQ:
The latest version is available at the Usenet FAQ archive at
rtfm.mit.edu. It can be ftp'd as
/pub/usenet/comp.sys.amiga.games/games_FAQ. If you don't have ftp
access, send mail to [e-mail] with the line
"send usenet/news.answers/amiga/games-faq" in the body of the
message. You can also send email to [e-mail]; please include
"Games FAQ" in the subject line - this is not a bot answering so you
could also say hi :-)

WWW users can find it at the Games Domain site
http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain or by ftp from wcl-l.bham.ac.uk
as /pub/djh/faqs/C.S.Amiga.Games.faq

Corrections, suggestions, comments and cash bribes :-) are welcome,
please send them to Ken Powell at [e-mail].


Contents:

   0) A word about flaming.
   1) Where can I find Amiga games available for anonymous ftp?
   2) What does .dms mean? What about .lha and .lzh?
   3) Where else can I get Amiga games?
   4) What mags talk about games?
   5) Where can I find game walkthru's?
   6) "DOOM" for the Amiga.
   7) Programming games on the Amiga.
   8) How do I get my game out to the major ftp sites?
   9) Are there any freeware chess games for the Amiga?
   10) I always loved playing [Pacman, Star Wars, Frogger, etc.]
   at the arcade/on my 8-bit computer. Is there a Amiga version?
   11) What games will fail to run on my [accelerated Amiga, AGA
   Amiga, bizarrely configured Amiga]? How do I fix them?
   12) Is there a FAQ for [The Settlers, Sim City 2000, Civilization,
   Frontier, ...]
   13) Civilization AGA is very slow, is there a fix?
   14) Is M.U.L.E. avaliable?
   15) What about Lost Treasures of Infocom II?
   16) What about the CD32?
   17) Dungeon Master I and II
   18) What games are HD installable?

Credits


0) A word about flaming.

Every now and then some moron posts something along the lines of
"Amiga games suck!!!!! Get a real machine!!!!!" And immediately 30 or
40 people take the bait and post long, vitriolic replies and exhort
everyone to mail-bomb the perpetrator.

Please, please, please don't waste your time and our bandwidth
replying to this kind of idiocy. More often than not it was posted as
a practical joke from the account of some hapless user who left
themselves logged in in a public computer cluster. The owner of the
account then logs back in a day or two later to find several megs of
hate mail and uuencoded core dumps in their mail spool.

If you feel that you absolutely have to share your witty, concise
flame on the complete superiority of the Amiga above all other gaming
platforms, take it to comp.sys.amiga.advocacy, where it will be
appreciated.


1) Where can I find Amiga games available for anonymous ftp?

The major site for ftp'ing Amiga software is the Aminet chain. There
is the mother site at ftp.wustl.edu and mirror sites around the world.
(A mirror site is a site that contains an exact copy of the contents
of another site, in the hopes of diverting some traffic away from the
more popular site. The mirror sites are usually several hours behind
the "mother" site.)

It is usually faster to get files from the nearest mirror. A full list
of sites (correct at 1/11/94) is below - mirrors are being added all
the time so this is subject to change.

    USA (MO)     ftp.wustl.edu            128.252.135.4   pub/aminet/
    USA (CA)     ftp.cdrom.com            192.216.222.5   pub/aminet/
    USA (TX)     ftp.etsu.edu             192.43.199.20   pub/aminet/
    USA (WI)     ftp.netnet.net           198.70.64.3     pub/aminet/
    Scandinavia  ftp.luth.se              130.240.18.2    pub/aminet/
    Switzerland  ftp.eunet.ch             146.228.10.16   pub/aminet/
    Switzerland  ftp.math.ethz.ch         129.132.104.6   pub/aminet/
    Switzerland  litamiga.epfl.ch         128.178.151.32  pub/aminet/ (*)
    Germany      ftp.uni-paderborn.de     131.234.2.32    pub/aminet/
    Germany      ftp.uni-erlangen.de      131.188.3.2     pub/aminet/
    Germany      ftp.uni-bielefeld.de     129.70.4.55     pub/aminet/
    Germany      ftp.uni-oldenburg.de     134.106.40.9    pub/aminet/
    Germany      ftp.uni-kl.de            131.246.9.95    pub/aminet/
    Germany      ftp.uni-stuttgart.de     129.96.8.13     pub/aminet/
    Germany      ftp.uni-siegen.de        141.99.128.1    pub/aminet/
    Germany      ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de      130.149.17.7    pub/aminet/
    Germany      ftp.stud.fh-heilbronn.de 141.7.1.41      pub/aminet/
    Germany      ftp.tu-chemnitz.de       192.108.33.193  pub/aminet/
    UK           ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk         146.169.2.1     pub/aminet/
    UK           micros.hensa.ac.uk       148.88.8.84     pub/aminet/
    Australia    ftp.archie.au                            pub/aminet/

   (*) closed 6:30am to 4pm weekdays

People with only e-mail access can use ftpmail from ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk
and ftp.luth.se. Send e-mail to [e-mail] or
[e-mail] with HELP in the body.


2) What does .dms mean? What about .lha and .lzh?

DMS files are packed with the DiskMasher. This packs whole disks and
is the main way to distribute Non-DOS disks over the internet.  A copy
of DMS can be found on Aminet as /util/arc/dms111.run. To undms to a
disk in df0: type "dms WRITE file.dms TO df0:" without the quotes.

LHA and LZH files are packed with an LHA compatible packer. The main
one is LHA which is shareware. A freeware alternative is LZ. Both of
these are on Aminet as /util/arc/LhA_e138.run and
/util/arc/lz_1.92.lzh (this needs LHA to unpack it however so you'll
have to get LHA...). To unlha to a formatted disk in df0: type
"lha -a x file.lha df0:" without the quotes.

The dms and lha archives are self-extracting files so executing them
will leave you with the appropriate files. Some .dms archives are
packed with DMS II which does not seem to be on Aminet anymore. [I
think it's a commercial project - any further details welcome]


3) Where else can I get Amiga games?

If you want commercial games then several companies will sell them to
you cheap. National chains in the UK, including Future Zone and HMV,
have special offers on at various times (including new releases).
Mail order companies also offer good discounts on new and old games
National firms that may ship orders abroad are:
        UK
            Premier Mail Order :            [phone]
            Special Reserve (joining fee) :    [phone]

        AUSTRALIA
            Sigmacom :                        [phone]
            Solutions Rendered :            [phone]


4) What mags talk about games?

    UK Mags
        Amiga Action    3.95UKP (2 disks)
        Amiga Computing    3.95UKP    (2 disks)
        Amiga Format    3.95UKP    (2 disks)
        Amiga Power        3.95UKP    (2 disks)
        CU Amiga        3.95UKP    (2 disks)
        The One            3.95UKP (2 disks)

        CVG                2.75UKP (multi-format)
        GamesMaster        ?.??UKP (multi-format)

    Australian Mags
        The Australian Commodore and Amiga Review A$4.95


5) Where can I find game walkthru's?

Solutions and hints for many popular games are available via anonymous
ftp at risc.ua.edu in /pub/games/solutions and at ftp.uu.net in
/pub/games/solutions. There's also a large solution site at
nic.funet.fi in /pub/doc/games/solutions, but you will need unzip or
gzip to uncompress these files. (Avaliable on Aminet as
/util/arc/unzip51x.lha and /util/pack/gzip124x2.lha)

Aminet has hints in the /game/hint directory.

There is also the Games Domain site which has walkthroughs for several
popular games at http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain

Most Amiga magazines publish walkthru's for new games. Try any of
those listed in section (4)

If you can't find an answer there, post your question--chances are
*somebody* on comp.sys.amiga.games has gotten farther than you!

If someone posts a question for which you also want the answer,
instead of posting "Send me the answer too!" send email to the
original poster and ask him or her to relay the answer to you.


6) "DOOM" on the Amiga.

It's not avaliable. ID Software have stated that there will not be
port of DOOM to the Amiga for technical reasons. There are usually one
or two threads on comp.sys.amiga.games and comp.sys.amiga.programmer
discussing the validity of these reasons.

Several demos on Aminet show DOOM-type engines that might be built
into proper games and at least one commercial release is being worked
on. The Aminet demos include:

        demo/aga/dentects.lha (updated version of dentwolf)
        demo/euro/Pearl.Doomed.lha
        dev/misc/wolf3d.lha
        game/demo/walls.lha
        gfx/aga/poom_02.lha
        gfx/misc/TextDemo57.lha
        gfx/misc/wolf.lha
        gfx/misc/wolf3.lha

        gfx/misc/bsp1.0.lha (this shows DOOM .wad files - walls only)
        gfx/misc/dog3d.lha (this shows DOOM .wad files with effects)


Several commercial games are in the offing:
    Dentects is being made into a commercial game - contact
        [e-mail] for info
    TextDemo will be released as "Shades" - info from
        [e-mail]
    Team17 are releasing AlienBreed 3D - a demo should appear
        Aminet soon (after the next Amiga Format is released)
    Poom is also apparently being turned into a game (reported
        by Rowan Crawford)

Discussion of the Amiga clones of DOOM, and comparisons of DOOM to
similar Amiga games and demos are appropriate in csa.games. Discussion
of DOOM gameplay does not belong in csa.games. Try rec.games.computer.
doom.playing or comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action instead.


7) Programming games on the Amiga.

The programmer FAQ posted in comp.sys.amiga.programmer is a good place
to start. You'll need a compiler/assembler/programming language which
can cost from a few pounds to over one hundred. You'll also need lots
of time and a good idea (or two). Good luck!


8) How do I get my game out to the major ftp sites?

Do *not* post binaries to comp.sys.amiga.games. The best way to
release your game to the csa.gamers is to make it available at an
Aminet site and then post an announcement about it to
comp.sys.amiga.games and comp.sys.amiga.announce with a discription
and the path. People without ftp can email it from an Aminet ftp-mail
server such as src.doc.ic.ac.uk. If you are unfamiliar with FTP then
see the FTP FAQ posted in csa.introduction every 2 weeks.

A plea - unless your game does not use AmigaDOS directory structures
then pack it with an lha type packer. Please only use dms for those
files that really need it (and you don't need dms to keep the
directory structure intact...)


9) Is there a freeware chess games for the Amiga?

GNUChess has been ported to the Amiga (on Aminet it is stored as
game/think/GNUChess4.0.58.lha). There is also UChess which seems to be
updated regularly and comes in several versions for different specced
machines. You really need at least a 68020 and a few megabytes of RAM
though. Aminet has the latest version as game/think/UChess289.lha.


10) I always loved playing [Pacman, Star Wars, Frogger, etc.] at the
arcade/on my 8-bit computer. Is there an Amiga version?

Probably. Aminet is a good place to start (the games directory
obviously).

You can also use a Spectrum emulator (Spectrum 1.7
/misc/emu/spectrum-1.7.lha and ZXAM misc/emu/zxam-1.3.lha are the best
ZXAM is AGA only) and play the originals of these programs. There is
an FTP site in Norway with freely distributable Spectrum games (ftp to
ftp.nvg.unit.no or use WWW to http://www.nvg.unit.no/spectrum). An
A1200+FastRAM will be needed to approach Spectrum speeds though.


11) What games will fail to run on my [accelerated Amiga, AGA Amiga,
bizarrely configured Amiga]? How do I fix them?

Many games have not been coded to follow Commodore's guidelines, a lot
of these break on Amigas with accelerators (especially 68040s),
FastRAM and the AGA chipset. If a new game fails to run, people will
usually mention it on csa.games.

The main ways to try and get such programs to run are:

    Use the boot-menu (KS 3) and turn off caches, hard disks and the
    AGA chipset. This will work with a lot of games.

    Only start games from a PAL or NTSC workbench with mode promotion
    turned off. Some games assume a PAL/NTSC WB and get confused if
    there isn't one.

    Use Degrader (/util/misc/Degrader.lha on Aminet) or similar
    programs such as KillAGA (/util/misc/killaga2.lha) to turn your
    A4000 into an A500 - ain't progress wonderful :-)

    Ask the publisher if there is a patch avaliable - sadly, most
    software houses only make patches for the PC versions of their
    games.

Purely FYI, most pirated versions of games work with more machines
than the originals and are HD installable when the shop bought copies
are not. Sad :-(


12) Is there a FAQ for [The Settlers, Sim City 2000, Civilization,
Frontier, ...]

There are FAQ's for some popular Amiga games, especially if they are
multi-platform. A good place to look if you have WWW access is Dave
Stanworth's Games Domain, at http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain
and by ftp at ftp.wcl-l.bham.ac.uk in /pub/djh/faqs.

Another good bet is the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.[strategic|action|misc|
adventure] if there is a PC version of the game.

Some are available directly from the maintainers:

Civilization FAQ:
   Available via anonymous ftp from wcl-l.bham.ac.uk in
   /pub/djh/faqs/civilization.faq, by sending email to
   [e-mail] with the subject "Civ FAQ please", or by
   WWW at http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain/civfaq1.html.

Sim City 2000 FAQ:
   Send email to Kevin Endo at [e-mail] with the subject
   "SC2K FAQ please" or anon ftp it from netcom.com in /pub/thx.

Frontier (Elite II) Hints and Tips:
    Avaliable from Aminet as /game/hint/frontier.lzh

13) Civilization AGA is very slow, is there a fix?

Yes. There are three speed ups, the first moves the game into FastRAM
(so you must have FastRAM for this to work), the second stops the
pointer being changed and the third removes the screen fades; these
work on all Amigas. To perform these patches you need a binary file
editor (like AZap, FileX - there are lots avaliable on Aminet) and a
program to decrunch PowerPacker 4 files (either PP4 or DLD which is
in the VirusZ distribution on Aminet /util/virus/virsz307.lha).

Unpack the main program and load it into the file editor and change
the following:

Move to FastRAM:

    At offset &14    change &40    to &00
    At offset &1C    change &40    to &00
    At offset &20    change &40    to &00

Stop the pointer changing:

    At offset &2D17C    change 4EAEFEF2    to &4E714E71

Remove the screen fades:

    At offset &2CCF2    change &6728        to &66B0
    At offset &2CE60    change &59466002    to &4E714E71

Resave the file (and recrunch if you want) and start as normal.


14) Is M.U.L.E. avaliable?

No but Subtrade (a M.U.L.E. clone with changed graphics) is.  It
takes place on the ocean ground of Irata with near identical
gameplay.  [Is this commercial, shareware - anybody know?]


15) What about Lost Treasures of Infocom II?

Not aviable I'm afraid although you can use the PC version.  You have
to transfer the datafiles over to the Amiga (using CrossDOS or
similar) and then use a PD interpreter to run the datafiles - Dave
Kinder's itf is reported to be good (on Aminet as
/game/role/itf160.lha)


16) What about the CD32?

CD32 games are talked about in csa.games and there are also two CD32
specific newsgroups which are ideal for talking about technical
aspects of the CD32 versions.

These groups are comp.sys.amiga.cd32 and rec.games.video.cd32, the
latter is most appropriate for games related talk.


17) Dungeon Master I and II

A sequel to the original Dungeon Master WAS released some years ago -
this was called "Chaos Strikes Back" and was an expansion for DM I.
DM II is scheduled for release in March '95 and has a, supposedly,
much better game engine.

If you want to play the originals (DM and CSB), Psygnosis released a
double budget pack in 1992 which should still be avaliable.  These
versions have been patched to run under OS 2.04+ and can be installed
on a hard-drive using game/patch/csbhd.lzh from Aminet.


18) What games are HD installable?

There is a list of games on the WWW that shows what is needed to
install various games on HD.  Thanks to dEN for providing this.
Point your browser at http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma3dhcy/hd.txt and
have a look.


Credits:

Thanks to Christina Schulman ([e-mail]) for letting me use
her comp.sys.mac.games FAQ as the basis for this FAQ.

Nick Ridley ([e-mail]) for the CivAGA patches.

Suggestions and additions to this FAQ have been contributed by:

ML Hewitt ([e-mail])
Rowan Crawford ([e-mail])
Mikali ([e-mail])
Geoffrey Newman ([e-mail])
Nicholas Fisher ([e-mail])
Elliott Mitchell ([e-mail])
Bill Bennett ([e-mail])
dEN ([e-mail])

Thanks!

This document copyright 1995 by Ken Powell.

It may be placed on Aminet (including Aminet CD) and Fred Fish
(any format he wants).  Mail me for permission to use in any
other material.