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General Category => Other retro => Topic started by: mr_lou on 17:52, 30 November 17

Title: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 17:52, 30 November 17
Well, officially the release isn't till tomorrow, but I figure the CPC community deserves a headstart.  :)   Afterall, the CPC definitely plays the main role in 8-bit Memoirs.


(http://www.8bitmemoirs.com/8-bit-memoirs-ebook-blu-ray-disc.png)
8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!

8-bit Memoirs is intended to become a series of eBooks about how different authors experienced the computers and consoles back in the 8-bit era, written from the perspective of the kids we were at the time.

I'm proud to be able to present you with the first issue of 8-bit Memoirs, written by myself.  :)

The computers and consoles I experienced back in the 8-bit era includes the Philips Videopac G7000, the Amstrad CPC and the Amiga. So the stories in issue #1 describes how I experienced (some of) the games on those systems, and how I experienced creating my own BASIC stuff on the Amstrad CPC.

My stories contain supplemental illustrations, screenshots and videos - and there's a 5-hour long playlist to accompany you while you're reading, mainly consisting of the Amstrad CPC music I made back then, but also some tracks by various artists of IndieGameMusic.com


I have wrapped all the stories in a somewhat retrostyled diskmag-like GUI, because I've always found diskmags extremely cosy myself, and my biggest wish is that 8-bit Memoirs will give you the same nostalgic relaxation that diskmags has given me in the past. I also wanted to boost the retro-feeling while you're reading, and I think the diskmag-like GUI helps doing that.

https://vimeo.com/244872093


8-bit Memoirs is completely free!

Issue #1 is available as a 23 gb ISO file that you can download from www.8bitMemoirs.com
(If you don't want 23 gb taking up space on your harddisk, you can choose to put it on a USB stick instead).

You can play this ISO file on your PC with any software media player that supports BD-J. I strongly recommend Cyberlink PowerDVD for this. Otherwise VLC is your buddy. (Although VLC is still in its early stages of getting BD-J support, so it's not the best way to experience 8-bit Memoirs at the moment. Expect bugs!)

Other devices should also play the ISO file, either from harddisk or from a USB: Devices such as the Popcorn Hour, or Dune HD Smart D1. In the near future you can also expect various software media centers, such as Kodi, to be able to play it.


The recommended way of experiencing 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 is on a real Blu-ray player though. This includes the gaming consoles PlayStation 3 (and later) and Xbox One (and later).

But burning the ISO to a disc requires a Blu-ray burner, and not many people have one of those. You could buy one of course - they are exceptionally cheap nowadays - but that still only makes sense if you plan on using it for other things too.

If you don't want to buy a Blu-ray burner, but still prefers having a physical disc, then you can simply buy disc from me. It comes complete with printed label and cover for 17 Euro including shipping (regardless of your location). This disc can be bought from www.8bitMemoirs.com.

I can also send you a USB version for 23 Euro if you prefer, but you'll have to send me a PM about that.


Thank you for your interest!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: robcfg on 18:20, 30 November 17
Cool!


I'll try to give it a go during the weekend.


I'll be using VLC as I'm on OSX, will look for a better alternative.


Congratulations!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 18:27, 30 November 17
Quote from: robcfg on 18:20, 30 November 17
Cool!

I'll try to give it a go during the weekend.

I'll be using VLC as I'm on OSX, will look for a better alternative.

Congratulations!

Thanks!  :)
Very happy to be done with it. (Never starting up a project that size again  ;) )

VLC developers has been notified of the critical bug, so maybe they'll fix it in a nightly build in the near future.
I have worked around all other minor bugs in VLC, but I can't do anything about the one that makes the app disappear when the playlist goes to the next track.
Until they fix it, you can just press SPACE to pause the music. Then you can still browse and read the stories - just without background music.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: ervin on 00:27, 01 December 17
Holy cow I've been looking forward to this!
Thanks so much for all of your phenomenal efforts in getting this done.

I'll download it over the weekend and have a perusal!
8)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Shaun M. Neary on 16:58, 01 December 17
Looks good. Will have a gawk at this over the weekend. =)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: GUNHED on 17:08, 01 December 17
Great piece of work, just looked at the vid and so on. Great thing!  :) :) :)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 15:51, 02 December 17
Thank you for all the likes!  :)

I have been researching a bit, and have found a list of media players that should be able to play the ISO from harddisk and/or USB:

Egreat A5 / A10 / A11
Egreat S5A / A1080
Dune HD Base 3.0
Dune HD Prime 3.0
Dune HD MAX
Dune HD Duo
Dune HD Smart B1
Dune HD Smart D1
Dune HD Smart H1
Dune HD Solo Lite
Dune HD Solo 4k
Dune HD Duo 4k
HiMedia Q10 Pro
HDX-BD1
Netgear NeoTV 550
Popcorn Hour A-200 / A-210
Popcorn Hour A-300
Popcorn Hour C-200
Popcorn Hour C-300
QNAP NMP-1000P
VidOn.me AV200
Zidoo X9S / X10

So if you have yourself one of those devices, you should be able to enjoy 8-bit Memoirs on your TV from the sofa.  :)
Just remember to switch the setting to "Full BD Menus" instead of "Simple BD Menu".

(Some devices may need latest firmware).

If you have success with media players not listed above, please let me know. I'm very curious!  :)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: ComSoft6128 on 08:20, 03 December 17
Blu-ray arrived yesterday, only managed to get a brief look.


Superb.


Very professional.


I can only imagine that your home has no furniture in it due to the amount of hardware you must have used!


Very much looking forward to having a more detailed and pleasurable look thru it over the next few days.


Cheers,


Peter
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 19:32, 03 December 17
Glad you like it Peter.  :)
Hope it'll bring you lots and lots of nostalgic relaxation!


Meanwhile, I have added an option to buy a "budget version" for 7 Euro. This is a plain disc with a white mat surface. No print and no case. For those who want to see the project but doesn't want the Collectors Edition and doesn't want to download.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: ||C|-|E|| on 21:20, 03 December 17
I am extremely happy you finished it, and I am really looking forward to have some time and going through it too  :) :)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Gryzor on 15:24, 06 December 17
Ah darn. I'd love the disc version because of the case and all, but I've got no drive to play it on :D (my laptop used to have one until I ripped it out in favor of a second HDD). Torn!


Maybe I'll just buy the disc and download the image; I think KODI can handle BR ISOs...
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 15:37, 06 December 17
Quote from: Gryzor on 15:24, 06 December 17Ah darn. I'd love the disc version because of the case and all, but I've got no drive to play it on :D (my laptop used to have one until I ripped it out in favor of a second HDD). Torn!

And no PlayStation 3? PlayStation 4? Xbox One?  :)
Popcorn Hour C200 or C300?

Quote from: Gryzor on 15:24, 06 December 17Maybe I'll just buy the disc and download the image; I think KODI can handle BR ISOs...

I have been doing a lot of researching these days, looking for devices that should be able to play Blu-ray ISO files. And Kodi has come up a lot indeed. But I think it matters on what platform it's running. There seems to be a lot of Android TV Boxes nowadays. Some run Kodi, others run somethings else, but they all seem to be able to play Blu-ray ISO files with full Java support. That is a positive surprise.

I've only tried once with Kodi a good while back, installing it on a Rasberry Pi, but I had no luck playing my ISO back then.

Let me know your results!  :)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Gryzor on 15:47, 06 December 17
Playstation 4? XBOXBOwhatever? What are you talking about? :D The newest console I have is a 360, sitting in a box somewhere...


We'll have to see. I've tried Kodi BR playbak on my Nvidia Shield TV and it was all fine, but it was just a disc's FS (IIRC) containing just a movie. Supposedly it can do ISOs too, but I haven't tried it yet.


Does PLEX do BR ISO transcoding? Maybe I could use that on my NAS...
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 15:51, 06 December 17
Quote from: Gryzor on 15:47, 06 December 17
We'll have to see. I've tried Kodi BR playbak on my Nvidia Shield TV and it was all fine, but it was just a disc's FS (IIRC) containing just a movie. Supposedly it can do ISOs too, but I haven't tried it yet.

Does PLEX do BR ISO transcoding? Maybe I could use that on my NAS...

Sadly neither Nvidia Shield nor Plex can handle the Java stuff. They'll just play the videos on the ISO.

https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/223248/can-i-stream-a-full-bluray-with-menu

But you can use VLC on your PC. It does have a few bugs at the moment, but I'm in close contact with one of the developers, so hopefully they'll be fixed soon.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Gryzor on 16:05, 06 December 17
Oh, bummer. I really didn't want to involve my PC/laptop, I wanted the full laid-back experience, but oh well I guess!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 07:21, 08 December 17
4 more device that should be able to play the ISO from USB or harddisk:

Egreat A5 / A10 / A11
HDX-BD1
QNAP NMP-1000P
VidOn.me AV200

My post on previous page with the full list updated.


Quote from: Gryzor on 15:47, 06 December 17I've tried Kodi BR playbak on my Nvidia Shield TV and it was all fine, but it was just a disc's FS (IIRC) containing just a movie. Supposedly it can do ISOs too, but I haven't tried it yet.

According to rumours, Kodi v18 (Leia) should have Blu-ray ISO supprt with full Blu-ray menus.
I've tried the nightly build briefly here on Ubuntu, but didn't have much luck.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Gryzor on 11:22, 08 December 17
Well v18 is far from ready of course, so there's hope!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: ivarf on 17:32, 09 December 17



I really liked what I saw in your preview. My newest console is a Xbox360 and I have no blue-ray player yet. I will probably get both in time. Downloading..


Thank you!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 17:39, 09 December 17
Quote from: ivarf on 17:32, 09 December 17I really liked what I saw in your preview. My newest console is a Xbox360 and I have no blue-ray player yet. I will probably get both in time. Downloading..

Thanks!
Well, as mentioned, you can always use a nightly build of VLC to view it on your computer, unless you have one of the hardware media players listed on the previous page, which would be a better choice because of the current bugs in VLC.

Otherwise you could consider buying a used Blu-ray player. They can sometimes be found for 7 Euro or so. (I've bought a lot of them for testing purposes).


Meanwhile I find myself stuck in bed with the flu. I don't suppose anyone has written issue #2 yet?  ;) I'm severely bored here....
(Is there ANYthing good on Netflix?)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: GUNHED on 15:40, 12 December 17
There is really lot's of stuff to explore. Great piece of work! Thank you very much!!!  :) :) :)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 20:17, 13 December 17
Quote from: GUNHED on 15:40, 12 December 17
There is really lot's of stuff to explore. Great piece of work! Thank you very much!!!  :) :) :)

I've mentioned a few times how much text there is and how many hours of music there is, but I actually didn't count the number of hours of video there is till after release: 9 hours!
I was a bit surprised by that amount myself.

Anyway, two more devices that'll play the ISO from USB/harddisk:

HiMedia Q10 Pro
Zidoo X9S / X10

The full list on page one has been updated.

I've been testing the ISO with the nightly builds of both VLC and Kodi, and the playlist issue seems to be present with both. This indicates that the bug is somewhere in libbluray.
I have mentioned the problem on their mailinglist, but I have a feeling it's of low priority to them. Time will tell. I can't do any more now.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: genesis8 on 21:09, 13 December 17
Quote from: robcfg on 18:20, 30 November 17
I'll try to give it a go during the weekend.


Well my next week-end will be busy it seems...


Damn, I want to be a celibate again, or not !  ;D
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 22:30, 13 December 17
I don't have an excellent internet connection, I simply can not download the 22gg. I never let my computer turned on long enough, and the Retry system doesn't always work. I've tried downloading the iso 4 or 5 times, never went through.


Is there a Torrent available? It would be very useful to me!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 02:18, 14 December 17
Quote from: Targhan on 22:30, 13 December 17
I don't have an excellent internet connection, I simply can not download the 22gg. I never let my computer turned on long enough, and the Retry system doesn't always work. I've tried downloading the iso 4 or 5 times, never went through.

Is there a Torrent available? It would be very useful to me!

There is one on the way. It was supposed to be ready at the time of release. SceneSat was going to handle it. But then had a major crash just after release, and I think they're still trying to get everything back online. Just bad timing.

If anyone else has created a torrent, feel free to share.

Otherwise I can snailmail you a USB for 20 Euro if you want. (Limited supply).
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 09:04, 14 December 17
It's all right, I can wait for the torrent. Thanks!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 09:08, 15 December 17
Quote from: Gryzor on 15:47, 06 December 17We'll have to see. I've tried Kodi BR playbak on my Nvidia Shield TV and it was all fine, but it was just a disc's FS (IIRC) containing just a movie. Supposedly it can do ISOs too, but I haven't tried it yet.

I've just found out, that apparently any Android TV box should be able to play the 8-bit Memoirs ISO from USB/harddisk. You simply install VidOn XBMC... Apparently this has been possible since 2015 or even earlier.
So you could try this on your Nvidia Shield, and please do report back. I'm very curious.  :)

EDIT: Just download it myself. It actually installs on Android phones. But the Blu-ray menu support appears to require subscription, which is $3,99. There's also a Free Trial though. But I can't sign up. The link just gives a blank page here. http://vidon.me/vidon_xbmc.htm (http://vidon.me/vidon_xbmc.htm)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 18:33, 16 December 17
Quote from: Targhan on 09:04, 14 December 17
It's all right, I can wait for the torrent. Thanks!

My webhost has been extremely kind and has created a torrent for me.

I've been given this link to spread:

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:6c45beed4abf12d5be119d3e61b503e988f77548&dn=8bitMemoirs-Issue1-English.iso&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80

EDIT: Better link (I think):

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:6c45beed4abf12d5be119d3e61b503e988f77548&dn=8bitMemoirs-Issue1-English.iso&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80&tr=http%3A%2F%2Fpow7.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=http%3A%2F%2Ftracker.bittor.pw%3A1337%2Fannounce&tr=http%3A%2F%2Fthetracker.org%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=http%3A%2F%2Ftracker.opentrackr.org%3A1337%2Fannounce&tr=http%3A%2F%2Ftracker.dutchtracking.nl%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Fopen.stealth.si%3A80%2Fannounce

Does this work for you?
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 00:03, 17 December 17
It seems to work, thanks. It may take a while, but I'm sure I'll get it before christmas :).
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 01:08, 31 December 17
Sorry to ruin the forthcoming 2018, but I can't read it :(. I have only PowerDVD 10, and it doesn't recognize the ISO I'm feeding it with. VLC starts loading, plays music, but no video appears... I can change the track and once again, music and sound effects can be heard but nothing to be seen. Any tips?
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 07:24, 31 December 17
Quote from: Targhan on 01:08, 31 December 17
Sorry to ruin the forthcoming 2018, but I can't read it :( . I have only PowerDVD 10, and it doesn't recognize the ISO I'm feeding it with. VLC starts loading, plays music, but no video appears... I can change the track and once again, music and sound effects can be heard but nothing to be seen. Any tips?

Hm, well I don't know if PowerDVD 10 supports Blu-ray Disc Java.

(EDIT: It should. According to this article (https://blog.jayway.com/2009/12/11/blu-ray-and-java/) (written in 2009), it recommends PowerDVD. And PowerDVD 10 was released in 2010).

Here are a few things you can try:

Some players (especially older ones (and PowerDVD is version 17 at this point)) will only play folders or drives for some reason. So you can try
1: to unpack the ISO to a folder and see if that helps.
2: Or better: Mount the ISO so it becomes a virtual drive. I think newer versions of Windows comes with this functionality built-in, so you should be able to just right-click the ISO and mount it.

If none of those lets you play it, you can try starting PowerDVD from command line:
c:\path-to\cyberlink\pdvdlp.exe AUTOPLAY BD "c:\path-to\8bitmemoirs.iso"
or
c:\path-to\cyberlink\pdvdlp.exe AUTOPLAY BD "c:\path-to\8bitmemoirs-folder\"

("pdvdlp.exe" is named "PDVDLaunchPolicy.exe" in some versions).


As for VLC, you will need to download the latest nightly build from https://nightlies.videolan.org/ (https://nightlies.videolan.org/)
Older versions do not support Blu-ray Disc Java.
And as with PowerDVD, you can try unpacking the ISO to a folder, or mounting it as a virtual drive.
You also have command-line options available:
c:\path-to\VideoLAN\vlc.exe "c:\path-to\8bitmemoirs.iso" --bluray-menu --fullscreen
or
c:\path-to\VideoLAN\vlc.exe "bluray:///c:\path-to\8bitmemoirs-folder\" --bluray-menu --fullscreen
or
c:\path-to\VideoLAN\vlc.exe "bluray:///<virtual drive>\" --bluray-menu --fullscreen

(The "bluray:///" prefix might also be needed with the ISO example. Not sure).


You of course also need to have Java installed, but I assume that's a given.


When you mount the ISO you'll notice a "Play-on-Windows.bat" file. This won't help you with PowerDVD 10 though since it only checks for versions back to v11.

And remember, VLC is still buggy (afaik). So when the background music playlist goes from one track to the next, the BD-J app is killed. The only workaround so far is to simply pause the music (press SPACE).
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 12:37, 31 December 17
It's working with the latest VLC, thanks!! Just one problem (but I'm sure I'll find a trick), the player stops when a song finishes :).
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 12:48, 31 December 17
Quote from: Targhan on 12:37, 31 December 17
It's working with the latest VLC, thanks!! Just one problem (but I'm sure I'll find a trick), the player stops when a song finishes :) .

Yes, that is the bug that currently exists in libbluray, which both VLC and Kodi uses. (Kodi crashes completely when a song ends).
There's sadly nothing I can do about it.
The only work-around is to pause the music by pressing SPACE. That way you escape the bug - because the song never finishes. The downside of course is that you won't be listening to the music.
Alternatively, you can press N when it happens, then ENTER. Then the text will re-appear. But this has to be done every time a new song begins.

I have brought this bug to the attention of the developers (via multiple channels), but they honestly don't seem to care a whole lot. So it doesn't look like VLC and Kodi users will get rid of this bug any time soon sadly. At first I thought it had a low priority because maybe only 8-bit Memoirs used this kind of playlist, but then I was told by other developers that most Blu-ray use playlists that way. So I don't know why it isn't important for them to fix this. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Doesn't PowerDVD work at all? I think that would be a better option despite it being old.
Did you try mounting the ISO as a virtual drive, and then play with PowerDVD? That really should work - and better than VLC.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 13:20, 31 December 17
I did try PowerDVD, but it doesn't work at all. I have an old version, but I'm not going to pay for an upgrade, I almost never use it.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 14:47, 31 December 17
Quote from: Targhan on 13:20, 31 December 17
I did try PowerDVD, but it doesn't work at all. I have an old version, but I'm not going to pay for an upgrade, I almost never use it.

I did a search for it and found this page:
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/General-Discussion/PowerDVD-10-blu-ray-playback-issues/td-p/731063

It seems to apply mostly to Lenovo users though. You're not using a Lenovo, are you?
If so, that page states that apparently PowerDVD 10 needs an update before Blu-ray playback works, and this update can be downloaded from here (http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/update/v2/update.jsp?fileTypeId=0&PRODUCTNAME=PowerDVD&PRODUCTVERSION=10.0&VERSIONTYPE=BD+-+OEM+3D+2ch%2B6ch&CHANNEL=OEM&LANGUAGE=ENU&OSREGION=0xf4&SYSTEMLOCALE=0x0409&BU=CLT&MAJORVER=10&MINORVER=0&BUILDNO=3329&VENDORNAME=5138&SR=DVD101207-15&DEVICE=BD3D&PATTERNID=186800&BB_ID=58818&HWID=None&Model=None&APREGID=6eb9dc6e70f0756bb88e2da03ce6bf9f&UUID=None&affiliate=5138_720_572_DVD101207-15_58818_186800_1-1_None_6eb9dc6e70f0756bb88e2da03ce6bf9f_None_0&utm_campaign=BB_&utm_source=BB_PowerDVD_5138_&utm_medium=BB_PowerDVD_58818_Patch_Enhance_DVD101207-15_186800__).

At least users on that forum claims that update helped.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 16:20, 07 March 18
Small update:

VLC is improving. A few weeks ago (or so), I tried the latest nightly build on a Windows machine, and playback had improved. Might be worth a try now.

In other news, I learned about iboum.com; a site that contains a lot of info on various hardware media players, and lets you do a search specifically for players that supports full Blu-ray Java menus - and which therefor should be able to play 8-bit Memoirs from harddisk and/or USB.

Click here to see a list of (supposedly) supported hardware media players (http://www.iboum.com/net-media-players.php?bd=yesfull&ppp=40&pg=1).

If you own one of those players and decide to give it a go, please do share your results.

Thanks!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 08:22, 11 March 18
It was brought to my attention that 8-bit Memoirs was mentioned in issue 177 of RetroGamer magazine. Subsequently I found this sampler:
https://issuu.com/futurepublishing/docs/ret177.issuu

Page 10 does indeed mention the project.

While it's of course nice to be mentioned, I can't help finding it amusing how many people completely ignores all my reasons for choosing Blu-ray as the format. Instead, it's rejected as an "odd format". Well, sure, we can agree it's definitely not a mainstream format - it's much better!  :)  That's the whole point.

To my logic this confusion can only spawn from ignorance and quick-to-judge without looking into it. So, in an attempt to (hopefully) broaden your mind, here are all the reasons why I found Blu-ray to be the perfect format for 8-bit Memoirs:

I hope this clears up everything for anyone who's been confused about why I chose to go with Blu-ray. And hopefully, someone out there might even appreciate it too.

It's quite possible that I will create other versions of 8-bit Memoirs in the future. Like e.g. a light webversion, or Desktop Java version. But it will be without all the videos then, and the background music playlist will also be much shorter. And making such a version is in no way a priority for me at the moment.

If you do not appreciate my efforts, and the fact that I'm just giving it all away for free, then this project obviously isn't for you. But maybe issue #2 will be. Depends on what platform the next author chooses. You see, each author is free to pick his own platform, and it's up to the reader to acquire a player for this platform. Be it a certain emulator, or a certain eBook reader, or a certain media player. It'll be interesting to see what it'll be. (Assuming someone out there is up to it).
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: ComSoft6128 on 08:34, 11 March 18
HI mr_lou,

What about releasing 8-bit Memoirs as a Torrent, say 3 months after the initial Blu-ray release?
This may have some impact on initial sales of the Blu-ray version. Once it is out there for free not too many people will pay for it.

Cheers,

Peter
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 09:12, 11 March 18
Quote from: ComSoft6128 on 08:34, 11 March 18What about releasing 8-bit Memoirs as a Torrent, say 3 months after the initial Blu-ray release?
This may have some impact on initial sales of the Blu-ray version. Once it is out there for free not too many people will pay for it.

I'm not looking to make money on it. That's not why I made it.
I made it to give something back to the community. Hence why it's been free from day 1.
(Both Torrent and HTTP downloads are available for free from 8bitMemoirs.com).

However, as described in the "Guidelines for authors" within the project, authors of future issues is allowed to wait a whole year before releasing the free version of their issue. It's a choice the author is free to make.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 12:00, 11 March 18
I understand your reasons for using a BluRay, and I didn't give feedback on your 8-bit memoirs. So far I think it was great, really well done and well written. However, I really had trouble enjoying it because of the media. VLC does not work well, at least not well enough to make reading the whole a satisfying experience. The whole thing stops when the music ends. It's very hard to skip a video, it's very hard to precisely select a topic via the number, it's very very hard to use a link inside a page. Some after a few hours I gave up because I couldn't read and concentrate on the reading.


I guess a website would work, but what about an (cross-platform?) executable like any modern discmag? Of course you'd have to code it and it might not be what you want to do. But this is clear to me that BluRay is not a media I like. Heck, I even stopped buying BluRays, PowerDVD forces me to pay a 100 bucks upgrade to see them. So BluRay is a big no-no for me. Which is sad because your project was really interesting to me!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 13:03, 11 March 18
Quote from: Targhan on 12:00, 11 March 18
I understand your reasons for using a BluRay, and I didn't give feedback on your 8-bit memoirs. So far I think it was great, really well done and well written. However, I really had trouble enjoying it because of the media. VLC does not work well, at least not well enough to make reading the whole a satisfying experience. The whole thing stops when the music ends. It's very hard to skip a video, it's very hard to precisely select a topic via the number, it's very very hard to use a link inside a page. Some after a few hours I gave up because I couldn't read and concentrate on the reading.

Yea, VLC isn't optimal yet. Its only advantage is that it's free.
The bug regarding the playlist should be fixed now though, if you download the latest nightly build. At least it was last time I checked. But that's the problem with anything that is "alive": It constantly changes. (Which is exactly why I prefer "dead" platforms). VLC worked fine with the project for 2 years(!!) while testing!! And then just as I reached the release date, this annoying bug was introduced.

But it's almost there I think. If only the devs were more receptive to feedback, then it could become perfect. But sadly they've generally seemed rather rejective to most of my feedback, so I can't help much.
I still have hope though. I think it's a matter of time. And 8-bit Memoirs can't get too old. So hopefully VLC users will be able to enjoy it eventually.  ;)

Quote from: Targhan on 12:00, 11 March 18I guess a website would work, but what about an (cross-platform?) executable like any modern discmag? Of course you'd have to code it and it might not be what you want to do. But this is clear to me that BluRay is not a media I like. Heck, I even stopped buying BluRays, PowerDVD forces me to pay a 100 bucks upgrade to see them. So BluRay is a big no-no for me. Which is sad because your project was really interesting to me!

The thing about any other platform is the display refresh rates. Phones, tablets, PC monitors - all have a refresh rate of 60 hz. Some have 75hz, and some have 120hz - but the general problem is that 50 fps videos doesn't look that good. Scrolltexts and moving charaters become jerky.
I wanted my videos to give a much more accurate representation of the CPC - and Blu-ray gives me exactly that. No other platform can do that. Well, none that I have found during my research.
It's such a pleasure to watch a CPC scrolltext on the TV with this smoothness, just as we used to see it on the real machine back then. Nowadays only otherwise achieved when using a device like XRGB Mini Framemeister.

There's still a chance I'll make another version later though. Maybe a phone version, or a Desktop Java version - but it will be without all the videos then, and the music playlist will also be much shorter.
But we all know what it's like with lack of time and priorities etc, so currently it's not on the table...

I've heard that DVDFab Player 5 should also support Blu-ray playback - and there's a free trial available. Maybe worth a look?
https://www.dvdfab.cn/media-player.htm
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Shaun M. Neary on 13:36, 11 March 18
If I'm being honest, the format put me off it too.


Sorry, but blu-ray never took off as a standard format, and as a writable media its always been a niche market. BD writers also never took and only the odd person here and there had one. I understood the reasons for picking it, but it's a large sacrifice of user interest for media content which I'll never understand.


Even as a downloadable ISO, you're gonna find it difficult to push several gigs as an ISO file to users to read a nostalgia file. For me personally, I'd end up downloading it, then forgetting about it.


Between that and the time it took issue 1 to surface. I lost interest unfortunately.



Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 15:23, 11 March 18
Quote from: Shaun M. Neary on 13:36, 11 March 18If I'm being honest, the format put me off it too.
I understood the reasons for picking it, but it's a large sacrifice of user interest for media content which I'll never understand.

See, I look at it the other way around.
Picking any other format would be a sacrifice of quality.
I absolutely wanted the 50fps videos to be displayed in actual 50 frames per second. Still do.
And I absolutely wanted a format that'll last many many decades without me needing to do any maintenance etc, and without requiring Internet etc.
(I would love to hear about other options that offers all of this!)

And I gotta admit, even though I say the project is my way of giving back to the community - it is - but there are two other recipients ahead of that: My daughter and anyone who's directly or indirectly responsible for the stories existing in the first place. That's why the first track in the playlist is called "Ode to you". And to me it is just utterly important to give an accurate impression of what my creations looked like back then. I'll have none of that jerky movement that exists everywhere else. I can't accept a 50 fps scrolltext on a 60hz display. Just can't. Not for my project. Feel free to call me a purist, or whatever the label is.  ;)

The project is what it is: Something different from what everyone else is doing.
And that won't change. Should there be other versions in the future, it'll be without the videos. I don't know if that's something people prefer? To lose the videos and get a smaller filesize?

I made the project only for those interested enough to either download the ISO for free, or pay 7 Euro to have a budget disc mailed to their door, or pay 17 Euro to have a collectors edition disc mailed to their door. I even offered to mail USB sticks too.
Anyone who don't want to pick one of those 4 options obviously isn't interested enough. And I'm honestly fine with that.

My only problem is when people say stuff like: "I really don't wanna read a PDF on my TV"....  rejecting the whole project clearly based on a completely wrong idea of what the project is. Not knowing that it can run on a PC as well, and so forth. Then I of course gotta explain.

But rejecting the project once you really have a clear understanding of what it is - I'm fine with that. That's your choice. We can't all like the same things.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 14:49, 25 March 18
I have decided to create a version 1.1 of 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1, for 3 reasons:
I plan on having this version 1.1 ready in April.
Everyone who's bought a Collectors Edition will receive a new replacement disc by mail.

Since I'm going to make this v1.1 anyway, you might as well tell me any kind of feedback you have, and/or suggestions for changes and additions, so I can (consider to) include these too. That's why I'm posting about it here. So please lemme hear your thoughts and ideas.

Thanks!

(If you don't have any problems with v1.0, there's no need to get v1.1 since the content will be the same.)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: tjohnson on 17:21, 25 March 18
Hi Mr Lou what was the bug? 
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 17:26, 25 March 18
Quote from: tjohnson on 17:21, 25 March 18Hi Mr Lou what was the bug?

The bug is:
When you start a video, from within a story, by pressing Enter (because there is only 1 menuitem on the page - then that menuitem will get selected), and you let the video play to the end, then the menuitem will still be selected. It shouldn't be. (Had you stopped the video yourself, then it wouldn't be selected).
Because it's selected, you can't go anywhere - because it's the only menuitem in the whole text - so nowhere to go.

To escape, you can simply start the video again and exit it.
Or - if you have a remote control - you can press POPUP MENU to exit to main menu.
But it's still very annoying that it wasn't spotted. And it happens on all players, so there's no excuse. It should have been spotted by someone.  :)

The same will happen when starting a video from main menu, but here it's not so bad because there are many other menu items you can select afterwards.

Still, it annoys me, and it must be fixed.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: tjohnson on 17:34, 25 March 18

That does sound annoying, its possible I found it but put it down to me not being very good with PS3 video controls as I seem to re recall getting to a point of having to turn off the PS3 once as I got stuck but only once.  Sorry I missed it or failed to realise it was a bug.


I know you mentioned about creating other 8bit memoirs, did you release all the code, templates etc to allow others to create the content without having to go through the huge effort you did creating it all from scratch?
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 17:49, 25 March 18
Never underestimate yourself.  ;)
But let's say it was indeed "poor skills" - that counts too. If something is too difficult to figure out, then it must be made easier.

Regarding authoring your own issue, there's a somewhat extensive guide on the disc (article 018) that should help a lot.
It says, among other things, that each author is free to choose his own target platform.
And considering the amount of people who's been unhappy that I went with Blu-ray, you should consider if that's the platform you want for your own issue.

If so, I'll be available to help as much as I can. But you should consider other options too, such as a website (seems to be a favourite among most).

Depends what you want really. Here are my reasons for choosing Blu-ray (http://www.8bitmemoirs.com/why-bluray.html) for my own issue. Formed by my desire to make it a diskmag-like creation.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 09:10, 31 March 18
Some semi-related news somewhat interesting to this project. Or at least I find it pretty interesting myself.

It seems that it is in fact possible to view the whole project online. I.e. without needing to download the whole thing first.
The technique to use is a simple WebDAV (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebDAV) server. All I have to do is copy the project folder to my webhotel, and upload something like SabreDAV (http://sabre.io/) too.

I've done some successful tests with the nightly builds of Kodi v18, which has built-in WebDAV protocol. So you simply click "Add source" in Kodi and enter the values to the webdav server. Then you're all set to view 8-bit Memoirs remotely in Kodi. Works surprisingly well. I did not expect that.

@Gryzor (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1) This should mean that you're all set with your Shield. :-)

Of course, we're still months away from an official v18 release of Kodi, and at the moment the nightly builds still suffer from some bugs that ruins the experience. But let's see what happens in the future.

In theory, this approach also works with other media players like PowerDVD and VLC. You simply gotta mount the WebDAV server as a virtual drive first, because these players don't have their own built-in WebDAV protocol like Kodi does.
As always there are several ways this can be done. Here's one way for Windows:


net use m: http://path.to/mywebdav


And for Linux:


sudo mount -t davfs http://path.to/mywebdav /mnt/mywebdav/


Currently though, VLC times-out. Looks like the developers hasn't thought about the scenario of using a virtual web drive, and the time-out value to fetch a video is therefor set too low. Or that's my guess anyway. Changing a time-out value doesn't sound like a big deal though, so hopefully this will change.

My only problem is that I can't figure out how to make my WebDAV server read-only. Currently anyone can simply delete whatever files they want, which of course isn't optimal. I will of course need to figure out how to solve this before making any such service available.
I don't suppose anyone here knows anything about WebDAV / SabreDAV?  :)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 18:35, 29 May 18
Version 1.1 has now entered its final stage of testing before I'll start sending out discs to everyone who bought the deluxe version.If you're one of those persons - and you've had an address change since receiving version 1.0, then please send me a PM with your new address.
I know I said I was gonna release this in April, but as usual, stuff got in the way.
Also, I figured I might as well implement a bunch of those feature requests I received, since I was making a version 1.1 anyway.
Title: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 version 1.1 ready
Post by: mr_lou on 09:49, 02 June 18
Version 1.1 is ready now, and has been shipped today to all who bought the Collectors Edition.

An online version is also available, but I only know of one player that can play it: Kodi v18 - and it's still very buggy.
But if you're curious, then you can play it with Kodi v18 by adding the following HTTP source in your settings:
http://www.8bitmemoirs.com/online/Disc/

Or alternatively, add this WebDAV source:
http://www.8bitmemoirs.com/online/server.php

If you know of any other player apart from Kodi v18 that can play the project online, please let me know.

The download version isn't done uploading yet. It takes a day or so with my slow connection at home. I will update this thread again when it's ready.

A special thanks to Adolfo for helping out with this version 1.1 release.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 05:33, 13 June 18
New ISO version now downloadable via HTTP.

If anyone is into torrents and such and wanna help create one of those, please do.
I don't use torrents myself, and I don't have the servers available to create one. So the torrent link is still the old version.

Thanks.

I downloaded the new version at work to test if the download worked. And then I tried playing it with VLC 3.0.3 on Ubuntu. It seems the critical bugs are gone now. I left it running to see if it would crash upon track-change in the playlist, and it didn't. So those of you who experienced these problems might want to give it another go now.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 19:44, 13 June 18
And now a small wiki page has been created:

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/8-bit_Memoirs
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 19:39, 16 December 18
It's been a year already!  :o

I already posted about this in another thread, but thought I better update the "official" thread too:

I've created an eBook version of 8-bit Memoirs now. It contains the same content as the Blu-ray version, except for the 5 hours of background music and the 9 hours of supplemental videos.

So the downside of the eBook version, is of course the exclusion of all the audio and video.

The upside is that the eBook can be viewed on your cellphone and tablet. (Even the old dumb phones can view it using Albite Reader).

Here are the download links:

http://www.8bitmemoirs.com/dl/1/8bitMemoirs-Issue1.epub

http://www.8bitmemoirs.com/dl/1/8bitMemoirs-Issue1.pdf
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 21:45, 17 December 18
Now that's good news! Like I told you the BluRay format is really not working for me, even though I tried many versions of VLCs, this didn't make a comfortable reading. I'll upload the ePub to my ebook reader! Thanks!!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 22:14, 17 December 18
Well I hope you'll find it entertaining and worth your time.

One of the reasons I made 8-bit Memoirs was also to give something back to all of you who has created awesome CPC-related projects.

Now we just need someone to start authoring their own issues.  :)

Gotta say I was surprised how easy it was to create an ePub. Just get your hands on Calibre and get started.  :)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 23:39, 17 December 18
Yup, upload worked flawlessly, as is the reading. No damn buggy display or app killed whenever the music loops :). I'll start (re-)reading during my holidays :).
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 08:47, 18 December 18
Quote from: Targhan on 23:39, 17 December 18
Yup, upload worked flawlessly, as is the reading. No damn buggy display or app killed whenever the music loops :) . I'll start (re-)reading during my holidays :) .

Cool  8)

Few things are flawless though. I've already received feedback from someone saying it isn't working with Play Books on Android. "Can't open file".
I can't reproduce the error though, and other testers says it works fine with them too on Play Books.

I've also seen that some readers don't scale the images to fit the width of the screen. Classic buggy web tech.
It's possible there exists some other clever way of making sure images scale to screen width, and I just haven't found it. (And it's also possible that whatever clever technique works now, won't work in the next version of the reader).

But I hope all is fine with whatever reader it is you're using.  :)
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 23:51, 23 January 19
Ok! I've finished it from my ebook reader! I admit it was a very pleasant read. I especially liked the part about the CPC games and what you created on it. Reminded me of my own stories!


Having no without the videos or music was not a problem for me, though a few videos could have been nice to watch the games of other machines I didn't know. But then I can still grab VLC :).


So well done for your long and hard work! I hope there will be a second issue. I still believe you should maybe do it as a CPC or PC diskmag, but hey, it's your call :). Congrats!
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 05:38, 24 January 19
Quote from: Targhan on 23:51, 23 January 19Ok! I've finished it from my ebook reader! I admit it was a very pleasant read. I especially liked the part about the CPC games and what you created on it. Reminded me of my own stories!

Wow, that was fast! I'm reading it (again) myself too these days on my Sony Ericsson W995 using Albeite Reader - and still finding small spelling errors and grammatical errors here and there!!!  :o I can't believe it. How's it possible to have read it so many times, and still missing these typos here and there? Crazy.

Glad to hear it reminded you of your own stories! That was exactly the idea.  :)

Quote from: Targhan on 23:51, 23 January 19So well done for your long and hard work! I hope there will be a second issue.

You're free to get started any time you want to.  ;)
(On any platform you want to ;) )

Quote from: Targhan on 23:51, 23 January 19I still believe you should maybe do it as a CPC or PC diskmag, but hey, it's your call :) . Congrats!

Thanks a lot for the positive feedback!

I wouldn't mind a CPC or PC version at all.

Porting the Java engine from the Blu-ray version to a PC version wouldn't be a big problem. I actually already looked into it. The only reason I didn't proceed with it was because it would still be a 23 gb download, and more than one person has complained about the filesize being so big.
That's why I figured that a disc will be best. Unless of course the PC version should also exclude video and (most of) the audio. But then you might as well just read the ePub or PDF.

As for a CPC version, that would be awesome of course. But someone else will have to code the engine then. TFM actually wanted to do this very early in the process, but then stepped down with the excuse that he was sure no one would be interested in it if he was the one coding it - because he felt rather alienated by most of the community at that time.
But it would of course be awesome if there was a CPC port that could read the text files from issue #1 (with little to no conversion needed). Then future issues could be made for multiple platforms relatively easy too.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Targhan on 19:49, 24 January 19
I don't think I've been so fast, it's quite easy to read :). Yeah, I saw about a dozen of typos, but nothing to be ashamed of!



Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: mr_lou on 06:12, 01 July 19
So it's been 6 months, and I have some interesting news to everyone using something like LibreElec or CoreElec on a Rasberry Pi, or Kodi on some other device that doesn't come with a Java Runtime, like e.g. the Nvidia Shield (looks at @Gryzor (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1) ), or something like WeTek Player.

Apparently it's a ridiculous simple process to get things running on those devices. We can only wonder why no one did it long ago. It's a simple matter of copying a JRE along with libbluray, and then set two variables to let the system know where these are located.

Download from here: http://vpeter.libreelec.tv/BD-J/ (http://vpeter.libreelec.tv/BD-J/)
You can see several versions. This is because the guy is experimenting with different JRE's, and different architectures. Not that any of them are giving trouble. It's more related to license issues. You should be able to guess which version you need.

And then set variables:
JAVA_HOME=/path.to.folder.with.jre
LIBBLURAY_CP=/path.to.folder.with.libbluray-*.jar.file

EDIT: Variables are set by the install - no need to set them yourself. Just download the zip - and "Install addon from zip" in the menu.

Using Kodi (v18 "Leia") then lets you stream the whole project without downloading the whole thing first. Just add this HTTPS source: https://www.8bitmemoirs.com/online/Disc (https://www.8bitmemoirs.com/online/Disc)

The guy who assembled this has no special interest in Blu-ray Java. He just got tired of people complaining how difficult it was to get going, so he decided to prove them wrong.
Title: Re: 8-bit Memoirs Issue #1 released!!!
Post by: Gryzor on 12:05, 03 July 19
Damn I had missed the last several posts here and so was unaware of the ebook!


Just sent it to my Kindle, thanks so much :)


In the meantime, thanks for the streaming solution, if and when the new family member lets me, I'll try it!
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