DM2 in PC-9800/9821 and in WinUAE and general emulation also

[Lunever]

Never tried to use WinUAE before. I can use DM1 and CSB and I have run the DM2 installer. However, when I start DM2 from the harddisk, is tells me that it will only run in DOS 1.2, 1.3 or 2.04 (I am running kickstart 1.3 and Workbench 1.3, downloaded from the Encyclopaedia), tells me to klick left and then quits with an error message. I can't test other kickstarts or workbenches, since the WinUAE site seems to be down, which also means I can't search for help there.

Does anyone have a WinUAE that is working with DM2? What kickstart and workbench do you use? What CPU and RAM and similiar settings have you selected?
Does anyone have a broader range of kickstarts and workbenches available?

[beowuuf]

Do any of the downloads on the DME help? Or is that what you are using?
http://dmweb.free.fr/?q=node/330

[Lunever]

Yes, that is what I'm using. Works fine with DM1 and CSB. I can run the HD-installer for DM2 too. I just can't start it.

[Lunever]

Also, the x68000 emulator seems not not be available anymore and the DM2 for PC-9821 download on the anyclopaedia seems to be broken. Does anyone still have either?

EDIT: Hmm, seems to be me, guess I have some router or firewall problem with emule I'll have to sort out.

However, the download links to the x68000 and the sega mega cd emulators really seem to be broken. Before I blindly stumble through some japanese sites and catch some executable, can anyone provide them here?

EDIT2: The IBMPSV version of DM2 always crashes with a system error 41. No idea why though.

EDIT3: And the link to the ROM of the PC-Engine / TurboGrafix is broken.

EDIT4: The link to the SegaMegaCD emulator seems also to be broken.

[Antman]

I had DM2 working on WinUAE once, it was a painful experience to get it wokring as I remember and I could never get it running smoothly but part of that could have been the slow computer I was using at the time. I had to use two different version of WinUAE, one to install and one to play, that was when using the DME instructions. Probably best to use kickstart 3.1 or 2.0, I think that's what I used, they can be downloaded here http://www.kickoffworld.net/Download/Em ... ickOff.zip. It says just kickstart 1.3 but they are all in this package, so you can just get the kickstarts you want and delete all the other kick off stuff. I'm pretty sure it was workbenceh 1.3 I used, but later versions might be better.

This site also has DM2 already installed on a harddrive, also workbench 3.0, I haven't ever tried it though: http://planetemu.net/index.php?section=roms&dat=116
More workbenches here aswell: http://planetemu.net/index.php?section=roms&dat=375

Good luck getting it working, it took me ages as I remember.

[Lunever]

I'll try that. Still, if ayone has DM2 running in WinUAE, please let me know what settings (CPU, RAM etc..) you are running.

[Lunever]

Latenight confusion: The message about the kickstart and error I stated was accidentally that of the HD version of DM1.

Still confused though: When I've been using Kickstart 1.3 DM2 allowed me to install, but wouldn't start.

Now I use Kickstart 3.1 (the Kickstart v2 from the download doesn't start, initiates some hd-intense loop instead).

Now I can play DM2 - since I already had it installed previously, but I can't install it anymore, because the HD is supposed have "-351MB" free, which is less than the rewuired "+11MB". Now how can I make the HD have some proper Amiga size?

[Antman]

Ah yes, I had this problem also, except i had -900 megabytes or close to, so I woked around this by creating a harddrive that was 1000 megabytes, this gave me a 100+ harddrive to work with. Seems stupid but I could not figure outanother way around it so I ended up having a gigabyte sized harddrive file on my computer.

[Lunever]

Hmm, I would do that to, but how? I had added a directory as hard disk. In its properties there's no option to change its size. There is a size option in the menu to add a hardfile. However, I don't have such a file, and the button "create hard disk image file" is inactive. So how do I create a HD with a proper size?

EDIT: Found how to create a new fixed size-HD, I'll try now what sizes can be handled properly.

EDIT2: Hmm, I suppose I have to assign it a filsys. Any idea? For now ot only appears as df1:NDOS

EDIT3: I assigned it the FastFileSystem from the Workbench, but still it stays NDOS

EDIT4: You should think I neer had an Amiga when I was a kid. Figured how to format the hd generally - only winuae says it was write protected, although it is not supposed to be.

[Antman]

Did you get it all working? I be interested to know if you get it working well. I think I used a guide I found somewhere on the net for setting up the hard disk, might have been this one http://www.lemonamiga.com/?mainurl=http ... al_1/1.php but not sure, there's probably a few guides around.

[Lunever]

Well I have a file based dh0 now, ffs and booting wb1.3, and made the directory-based hd dh1. Still have to figure out what size it is supposed to be. Unfortunately you can't change the size afterwards. You have to delete it and create a new one. Maybe some other day.

Also, I'd like to start with the proper keymap I downloaded. I suppose I should insert setmap=d into the startup-sequence. Yet if I try to "ed dh0:s/startup-sequence", the amiga crashes (2waiting for disk activity".

[Bit]

glummelmumpf... that was - after a lot of tries........ pretty easy...

you take 68020 as cpu, set floppies df0...df3 as requested
maybe it helps to set RAM to 8mb. (optionally)
then go to harddrive: there's an option: add pc drives at startup - click this and press the start button
there. when launched, your harddrive should appear now as disc symbol.
now you should be able to install it on your normal harddrive (will not crash this ) - takes a while!!!
(maybe something with DH0/DH1, but is adjustable now!).
if that works, then later on you must replace df1...df3 as requested with the files 4...6 by pressing F12 again and setting this.
if the installation was successful, you should have a folder dm2 on your harddisc, and two additional files outside.

to play the game it is needed that you edit the dm2-configuration-file, but just the paths to kickrom and floppy0. then start winuae, go to configurations and 'load' that one, give then 'start' from here.
normal workbench should appear, open the harddrive, game should be there - launch and enjoy!

*dances* - maybe i can make a mirror now and grab it...
(if all fails for you with the hd-install, i will upload the hd-folder to my ftp and you can grab it, just tell me)

[Lunever]

Well, I have everything running now properly. Just the HD has 2 GB and is pretty oversized.
And I don't know how to edit batch files without "ed" causing a crash, so I can't set my keymap in the startup.
Any idea how to fix this?

[Lunever]

Several hours with my provider down in my region prevented me from looking up winuae help, but at least during that time I got the games running.
DM1 and CSB will run fine with most kinds of CPU or RAM settings, as long as I'm using kickstart 1.3, and DM2 will accept most settings as long as I'm using kickstart 3.1

Still I can't use "ed" to edit the startup, which is pretty annoying. Also, DM1 and CSB I'm running as disk version. Didn't manage to run them from HD.

Ah yes, the HD. Any small HD will considered to have a negative capacity by the DM2 installer, unless I create a 1421+ MB hd-image. Of course, if I want the space back I can create a smaller one and copy the files from the huge one.

So, any idea how I can "ed dh0:s/Startup-Sequence" to insert "setmap=d" there without having the amiga crash with a red software error box?

[Lunever]

Hmm I don't get it. Anex 86 is running fine. DM1,CSB and DM2 for 9801 run fine too.
I emuled the 9821 cd image linked to at the encyclopaedia and mounted the image with demon tools.
It seems though, that anex requires *.fdi fils. So how can dm2 for 9821 be run under windows/anex?

[Lunever]

Since I'd like to have access to every officially published version of DM, I've been trying to set up all the emulations described at the Encyclopaedia.

However, not everything is working as it is supposed to be, some Encyclopaedia links are broken, etc. so I'll be glad for any help.

I'm asking about a couple of ressources here because I would like to avoid downloading executables from sites that consist mainly of japanese gibberish I don't comprehend. My guess is that a couple of regulars might still have them on their machines, i.e. stuff for Theron's Quest and Nexus.

Working suffiently:

DM1 on Apple II GS and Atari ST Steem seems to work suffiently. Didn't manage to run it harddisk-image-based though.
CSB on Atari Steems runs fine, floppydisk-image-based too.

DM1 on MSDOS-PC runs fine, soundless in the CMD or with proper sound in DosBox.
DM2 in DosBox runs fine. Didn't succeed in running the Beta version. The demo version runs fine though.

DM1 on Amiga WinUAE runs fine, though I don't get the harddisk version running, no matter the kickstart version.
CSB on Amiga WinUAE runs fine, floppydisk-image-based.
DM2 on Amiga runs fine once installed. The installer has trouble recognizing the disc space though, which forced me to enlarge the amiga hd-image to 1421MB.

DM1, CSB and DM2 run fine on PC9801 and on FM-Towns.

DM1 on SNES runs fine, though I don't really now how to control the characters efficiently. Guess I'd need some joypad.




Problems and missing ressources:

The WinUAE Amiga crashes when I try to "Ed dh0:s/Startup-Sequence", which I'd like to do in order to insert "setmap=d"

IBM-PS/V: Generally runs in DosBox. DM2 crashes after the intro, System error 41. No idea why.

DM2 on PC-9821. The recommended anex emulator seems to require *.fdi files. The ed2k-linked download is an image containing the dm2 files. I can mount the image in demon tools of course, but how do I get anex access the demon image or how do I make a proper fdi file from that image?

So far no DM1 or CSB on X68000.
The Encyclopaedia link to the emulator is half-broken. The site still exists, but the download doesn't seem to be availble anymore. The front page is english, but further links are japanese, so if the X68000 emulator is there somewhere, I don't comprehend it. Sophia, can you maybe have a look?

Mac: The Encyclopaedia link to the Mac emulator recommended is broken. Surely there could be some Mac emu found, but since the Encyclopaedia mentions a specific JIT problem, I'd rather have the version recommended for DM2. Does anyone still have it?

The Encyclopaedia link to the recommended Sega MegaCD emulator is broken. Any recommendations about an alternative?

Theron's Quest on PC-Engine / TurboGrafx. The emulator generally runs. However, the Encyclopaedia link to its ROM is broken. Does anyone still have it at hand?

Nexus: The Encyclopaedia link to the Girigiri emulator seems to be broken - at least it brings me to a site with french gibberish. That's almost as bad as japanese. Other source recommendations?

[Sophia]

The Encyclopaedia link to the emulator is half-broken. The site still exists, but the download doesn't seem to be availble anymore. The front page is english, but further links are japanese, so if the X68000 emulator is there somewhere, I don't comprehend it. Sophia, can you maybe have a look?

I'm assuming you mean the Java emulator, because that's the only link that seems to actually work anymore. You can click the "Japanese to English by Excite" thing in the corner to get kind of a rough English translation, if you want to use that. Anyway, it seems like you have to download the files that are in the list near the bottom (X68000.jar, etc.), or you can click the links to run certain programs live in your web browser, like "Human68K", "Jongu" (じょんぐ) etc. I have never actually used an X68000 computer so I have absolutely no idea what to do with any of that.

[ChristopheF]

Thank you for reporting the broken links and issues. I'll try to fix all of them, but for now:
- MegaCD: I updated the link to Gens: http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/genesis/gens.html
- For Theron's Quest, I suggest you use ootake: http://www.ouma.jp/ootake/ It is freeware and worked fine for me last time I checked. I have also updated the link for the system card: http://www.gametronik.com/site/emulation/pcenginecd/
- Nexus: use SSF emulator. girigiri is old and not as good as latest versions of SSF. I'll remove girigiri from my page I think.

[Lunever]

Firstly, great many thanks for updating stuff so far.

Argh! I'd really like to try Theron's quest first and foremost.

I've downloaded it from the Encyclopaedia's ed2k-link.

But demon tools (V3.47) says the TQ.cue file was corrupt "Unable to mount image. Cue sheet: line 1 - File not accessible".
opening the cue with the editor makes me guess, that it's not finding the *.wav files there, since the image only contains *.ogg files. Any idea how to convert ogg to wav? Maybe I can try changing the list to *.ogg (I'll try so later this day).

[sucinum]

- For Theron's Quest, I suggest you use ootake: http://www.ouma.jp/ootake/ It is freeware and worked fine for me last time I checked.

That isn't the emulator which stops every 5 minutes? I tried that one and it got annoying quickly.

[ChristopheF]

@sucinum: ootake is freeware. Magic Engine is not, and the trial version stops every 5 minutes.

@Lunever: in your Theron's Quest package, you should have a decode.bat file that will decode ogg files back to .wav.

[Lunever]

Ah, yes. Actually this is in the instructions on the Encyclopaedia. I guess in the course of a long emulator installation marrathon, I somehow just missed it, after the long time the emule download took.

[Lunever]

Riight, now Theron's Quest does run. And its good to don't have to pay for magic engine. Ootake seems to have a better user interface anyway.

Speaking of interfaces. Asides from that I never had a genuine PCE and don't know what keys its controls are supposed to have and how the windows keyboard is keyed to them - I would very much like to really play Theron's Quest, however since the PCE doesn't have a mouse and the emulation doesn't feature some indirect mouse support, I have to control the party with the keyboard for now. At a first try this seemed very awkward.

Now, what keys and functions does PCE-TQ have, what windows keys are used for them, and can they be remapped to a custom setting?

How do I save the game?

And finally - i suppose some joypad can be used. Any recommendations?

[Lunever]

Sega Mega CD. Got gens.exe running, selected the rom and opened the skulkeep.iso.
What then? Some screen showing some planet in space appears and neither pressing various keys nor waiting seems to change that state. What is supposed to happen normally or what keys do you need to press normally to start the game? I did check the gens.txt and pressed every key mentioned there, but still, no result.

EDIT: Just tried the japanese version instead, that is running fine. Got to figure out why the English one isn't. The rom should be matching.

[Lunever]

Right, got the English one running too.

It does NOT run with the bios recommended on the Encyclopaedia: "American Sega CD model 2 BIOS Version 2.00, June 1993"

However, it DOES rund with a v1.1 or v2.0 bios that is NOT model 2.

EDIT: PS: OMG! That intro !!! If you have seen that, you don't really have to play the game anymore. It is practically a complete spoiler for the major riddle in the game, how to get the zo-link going!! And it shows you all creatures, including unique ones, l.e. Dru Tan.

[Lunever]

Christophe: Do you still have the self-contained X68000 emulator? Or do I need to get it runnung somehow in that java program?

[Gambit37]

Glad you're making progress, I'm afraid I just don't have the time to help out.

[Lunever]

Tryning the Mac emulator from http://gwenole.beauchesne.online.fr/bas ... loads.html now.

Glade/GTK+ for Windows: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gladewin32/

[Lunever]

Right, the Encyclopaedia instructions for gale-gdk don't match the current version anymore, still I got the mac emulator running to the point that I can play dm2.

One thing is odd though: I worked through all steps of the instructions, installed the apple system etc.. However, if I remove the starter disk from the gui options, as the Encyclopaedia instructs me to do, the emulator cannot be started. Usually it just doesn't start without any error message, only once it reported that the rom couldn't be read (although I didn't change anything in regard to the rom). If I leave the starter disk, I can start the mac. That probably meams that the mac does not boot the full system from the hd (as it is supposed to), but instead only boots a minimal system from the floppy, probably because there is some incompatibility between the recommended performa rom and the recommended apple system 7.5.3 . Never having used a mac before doesn't help either. I'm reinstalling the system now to verify whether that changes anything.

EDIT: Resinstalling over the install creates boot errors. After deleting the hd and creating it anew, I noticed the bug goes both ways: If I remove either, starter disk or harddisk, the program just doesn't run at all.

EDIT2: Ignore the floppy comment, probably the starterdisk is considered a hd too. Still, can't remove a disk without disabling the prog completely.

EDIT4: Whisdains bones, finally got it. When I made a custom install on the HD and cleaned the starting disk and still got the crash upon removing the empty disk, I figured that the hd properly boots and that current version of glade 3 somehow just screwed the config of basilisk. Manually editing the config brought the same, guess I made the same mistake as glade 3 did. Of course I couldn't find the exact version the Encyclopaedia had been using anymore, so I gradually downgraded glade to earlier versions. With glade 2.6 the basilisk gui can be modified properly and without crashes.

[Lunever]

I don't get the java x68 do anything useful.

Instead I downloaded now the xm6 v2.06 from
http://www.emunews24.de/sharpx68000emus.html

The emu starts, and once the I got the dm starting screen, but even with the mouse captured I couldn't click the buttons. After restarting the emu somhow the game doesn't load anymore. Might take me a while to figure out what's going on.

EDIT: After restarting and reinstalling everything still the same. I can boot DM1. I cannot operate it. Once somehow I managed to have the resume button pressed with a long delay. Couldn't proceed further though. So my guess is, either something with the mouse interface is wrong, or the engine has some extreme lag. CSB doesn't even boot. No idea why though. Anyone around who ever actually had it working?

EDIT2: Ohmy, found by conicidence the cause: The actual mouse position is a couple of inches up and left of where the mouse pointer is displayed. The game actually is running. Saving and loading is a bit slow, but the game works. Still no idea how to fix the mouse position, and CSB still doesn't load.

EDIT3: I give up on the x68, unless someone has a good idea to fix it.

Intersting bit - when I once inserted the savegamedisk in drive 0 and the dm1 gamedisk in drive 1 instead of vice versa, there was a "System Error 41". Since that is the same error the IBM-PSV reports in dosbox, that might mean that the ibmpsv too has some disc access problem.