Midnight Resistance CPC Plus Patch?!

[TFM]

Well, honestly I'm all the time bitching at the 464, because my first CPC was a 6128 and everybody was making soft for the 464, which did sometimes not run on the 6128 and the additional 64 KB didn't get used much at all. 
But if one takes a serious look at the 464 then this computer provides all what you need: Excellent graphics, absolute stable hardware, 3 channel stereo(!) sound, a quick mass storage (compated to a c64 disc), and 40 kb of usable space (firmware still intact) is more than needed for regular games. 

[MacDeath]

I don't agree. The hardware was / is fine. Just the coding was crappy!

still, 64k and tapes quite killed it for most of those games.
was still better than nothing.

a quick mass storage (compated to a c64 disc)

speccies, C64 weren't supplied with in-built mass data storage... to begin with.

[TFM]

Right, and the CPCs tape loader is more quick as the c64 floppy disc (without speed load modules). And I refer here to loading games. Of course there may be exceptions which prove me wrong. But let it be. 

[dcdrac]

I remember it taking a longish time for stuff to load from my C64s disc drive and the run command was more cumbersome too not as simple as  run"disc

[Shaun M. Neary]

still, 64k and tapes quite killed it for most of those games.
was still better than nothing.

Perspective thing. Those who didn't have anything other than the 464 didn't miss out. Because you can't miss out on what you never had. :/

[MacDeath]

and the run command was more cumbersome too not as simple as  run"disc

I fell like you had to emulate assembler in basic to run a disk, WTF ?

[Bryce]

Load"*",8,1 isn't that complicated, it's just not the CPC way.

Bryce (awaiting the hate mail )

[Gryzor]

Regarding the c128: Its launch price was the same as the launch price of the 464, and a year later, when memory (and other components) were already cheaper. Plus, of course, the 464 came with the monitor. So upping the launch machine to 128k would go past targets by quite a margin...

[MaV]

Plus, of course, the 464 came with the monitor.

AND a built in tape drive. The C128 was the bare machine. You'd still have to buy a Datasette or a floppy drive to use it properly.

The C128's directory and loading commands are about as comfortable as the CPC's. F3 lists the disk directory; then you move the cursor to the directory entry that you'd like to load and press Shift+F1 (=F2) + Enter to load it (a bit like the Final Cartridge 3 for the C64). And the loading times are much faster in C128 mode. Shame it was never used, almost all c28 users immediately switched to the C64 mode.

Bryce (awaiting the hate mail )

Nah, you have to do better than this.

For example:
The C64 at least has a format disk command (as complicated as it is):
OPEN 15,8,15,"N0:BLAHBLUR,01":CLOSE 15

Really? REALLY, Sir Alan M. Sugar? 16k of disk rom, and you couldn't even include a simple |diskformat,type command? Instead we have to boot up CP/M and use a program? Never mind that you had to use 8k of it for crappy logo/turtle routines.

FAIL!

(THAT is going to invoke hate mail! )

[Bryce]

No I'm all with you on that one! No Format? Logo? It can only have been some weird and wonderful licensing agreement.

Bryce.

[TFM]

Load"*",8,1 isn't that complicated, it's just not the CPC way.

Bryce (awaiting the hate mail )

Half the way there    It shows you what's on the disc.... but nothing started yet 


Me as CAT person likes to hit Control-Enter and anything else is done by the CPC.


On the other hand the long loading times of the c64 kept us boys talking for a while before gaming all time long - back the day when I had no computer, but a friend hat Kaiser on the c64.

[fgbrain]

   we're gettin out of topic as usual..

[TMR]

[Wanders past... bites tongue, wanders off again =-]

[Sykobee (Briggsy)]

No I'm all with you on that one! No Format? Logo? It can only have been some weird and wonderful licensing agreement.

Bryce.

Ah, Logo was massive back then in the educational market (and actually, once you get past the turtle graphics stuff, the language itself is surprisingly capable).


But the ROMs should have come with more useful commands such as FORMAT and supporting folders (even if they were a shim over the disc's different users thing, I forget the details now which is lame).


And, err, ontopic - someone should patch the Midnight resistance disk with Jonah's Tasteful Ship of Mister's Amiga conversion screenshot from the other thread.

[MaV]

[Wanders past... bites tongue, wanders off again =-]

It's partially a Commodore discussion. You can contribute.

[MaV]

Regarding the c128: Its launch price was the same as the launch price of the 464, and a year later, when memory (and other components) were already cheaper. Plus, of course, the 464 came with the monitor. So upping the launch machine to 128k would go past targets by quite a margin...

Hm, giving it a second thought, I'd really like to see your sources on this.

Schneider CPC 464
CPC 464 (+monitor + built in tape) - 1198.- DM (~1984)

CCOM - Commodore 128
C128 - ca. 900.- DM

Commodore 128 D CR
C128DCR - 1200.- DM (1985)


Something doesn't add up. For the price of the 464 you could have bought a C128CDF a year later (with built-in floppy instead of a tape drive). You'd still be missing a monitor, though. (And datasettes for the Commodores were dirt cheap.)

Anyway, interestingly enough, searching for prices of old tech on the net is almost futile. Most prices are for launch dates, so any comparison between computers launched in different years is dodgy at best.

[Bryce]

Something doesn't add up. For the price of the 464 you could have bought a C128CDF a year later (with built-in floppy instead of a tape drive). You'd still be missing a monitor, though. (And datasettes for the Commodores were dirt cheap.)

Yes, but after I bought my 464 I was then broke for the next 5 years and had no intentions of swapping computer for a long time

Bryce.

[Gryzor]

Hm, giving it a second thought, I'd really like to see your sources on this.

Schneider CPC 464
CPC 464 (+monitor + built in tape) - 1198.- DM (~1984)

CCOM - Commodore 128
C128 - ca. 900.- DM

Commodore 128 D CR
C128DCR - 1200.- DM (1985)


Something doesn't add up. For the price of the 464 you could have bought a C128CDF a year later (with built-in floppy instead of a tape drive). You'd still be missing a monitor, though. (And datasettes for the Commodores were dirt cheap.)

Anyway, interestingly enough, searching for prices of old tech on the net is almost futile. Most prices are for launch dates, so any comparison between computers launched in different years is dodgy at best.

Don't know about Germany, the prices I found were for UK and I just googled around for the launching price. But the way to go would be, I guess, by looking at ads of the era. Not that futile, but I can't get bothered

[TFM]

@MaV: For investigating old prices of some particular time you can refer to old Quelle Kataloge or similar sources. Now, you just need somebody who collected them... 






And.... What's about Midnight Resistance on the 6128 Plus?

[MaV]

@Bryce: Yeah, you tell them kids these days, they won't believe you.

@Gryzor: True, but a comparison will fail until we get the facts right. OTOH, there's more interesting stuff out there. :/

@TFM: Good idea. Although I'm not sure, I'd like to know people who collect Otto Kataloge.

Back to topic now! (seriously!)

[fgbrain]

Well the news is that the actual Ocean coder admitted that the Amstrad had a poor version.
He hopes to make a proper conversion for CPC sometime..

[TFM]

That's right! Just checked it out at youtube. The CPC uses slow and jerky softscroll. However, I think that the CPC could do something like the Amiga Version even without Plus features.


When using hardware scrolling, then you can move that big car (located at the left end on screen) to the right just be painting it new, but without the need of background preservation. Could fit in one frame actually.

[arnoldemu]

No I'm all with you on that one! No Format? Logo? It can only have been some weird and wonderful licensing agreement.

Bryce.

Ok, yes that is annoying and god knows why they did that. Perhaps it's because CPM2.1 doesn't have enough TPA space to host Logo fully so some of it has to go into ROM.

But the annoying thing? There is actually space still in the ROM where they could have implemented FORMAT too!
I am sure there is a bit of space after their AMSDOS functions.

[TFM]

Yes there is space enough! They saved it for 'future expansions' (not for FutureOS though  )

[Puresox]

Well the news is that the actual Ocean coder admitted that the Amstrad had a poor version.
He hopes to make a proper conversion for CPC sometime..

Is this to be taken with a pinch of salt?