Yes, it was not an April fool. :)
You can download here the first release of the Pac-Man emulator for Amstrad CPC with 128K of memory.
This emulator is based on the work by Simon Owen for SAM coupé and ZX Spectrum.
You need to provide your own ROM files to play Pac-Man and clones with it.
Please, read the readme.txt file for more informations.
EDIT: V1.1 https://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&onglet=dumps&num=7270 (https://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&onglet=dumps&num=7270)
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It's not autorized to ditribute ROM. Please, for you, remove your DSK.
The 4 files needs to be binary with AMSDOS header and properly renamed to work :)
So... is this April fool's or not? :)
.
Sure, looking the window I see you don't check the "Add AMSDOS header" before importing files.
So, they don't appear as "BINARY".
nice job!
are other romsets supported? puckman.. ms.pacman.. hanglyman?
Will someone spoil it for us at the office, not able to enjoy a nice prank? :)
Quote from: arnoldemu on 13:19, 02 April 12
nice job!
are other romsets supported? puckman.. ms.pacman.. hanglyman?
Thank you.
puckman (NAMCO) and pacman (MIDWAY) are fully supported.
hanglyman look to work nice too... May be, all clones using the same gfx bank.
ms.pacman don't, because it's not a puckman clone.
Thanks for all the positive comments!!! :D :D :D
We are happy to receive your feedback :)
Quote from: arnoldemu on 13:19, 02 April 12
are other romsets supported? puckman.. ms.pacman.. hanglyman?
Yes, the official list of Pac-Man clones/hacks that work are (using mame filenames):
ctrpllrp (has a little graphic corruption)
hangly
hangly2
hangly3
joyman
newpuc2
newpuc2b
newpuckx
pacheart
pacman (official Midway version)
pacmanf (fast pacman hack, very fun :P)
pacmod
piranha
piranhah
puckman (official Namco version)
puckmana
puckmanf (another fast pacman hack)
puckmanh
PD: Sorry by the delay in answer, but i'm offline since last week.
Wow, awesome!!! I thought that this is just an april fool :). Very cool!
Esto es una flipada muy grande XD
Awesome!
Impressive...
Noticed it uses double buffer screen.
Will you add sound ?
.
Quote from: fgbrain on 19:19, 02 April 12Noticed it uses double buffer screen.
Of course :)
Quote from: fgbrain on 19:19, 02 April 12Will you add sound ?
It has sound... Up the volume!!! ;D
I couldnt believe that, but its working fine.
I still cant believe, but hey i am running the real pacman here.
KUDOS!
are there other Z80 based old arcade that could be emulated like this ?
(beside Pacman clones/bootlegs)
Nice work guys......very nice 8)
Cheers,
Shane
awesome in real machine!! Pacmanf version rulez! thanks 4 u work :)
Who tried it on a real machine ? is it smooth and fast ?
are the slowdowns due to emulation only ?
Also : when will we have a video ?
8)
Macdeath, I tried in real hardware, and it plays exactly as in Winape. But obvioulsy looks a lot better in a real machine, with a nice use of vertical overscan.
The slowdown its depending on the version you use, but that's not really annoying. For example I'm using pacmanf rom, and the game goes really well and fast.
Quote from: MacDeath on 03:20, 03 April 12
are there other Z80 based old arcade that could be emulated like this ?
(beside Pacman clones/bootlegs)
Ms. Pacman and Pengo use the same or a very similar arcade hardware.
I have taken a look to both and the main problem is that i would need a more flexible ram paging system than the available in the CPC, even using the MegaFlash. It means that only would be possible in a PCW or in a CPC+ cartridge, machines that i lack :P
Quote from: MacDeath on 08:10, 03 April 12
Who tried it on a real machine ? is it smooth and fast ?
are the slowdowns due to emulation only ?
It has been tested in the real machine during its developing ;) The slowdonws are less noticeables and there is another few details that looks much better in the real machine as the dithering, the colour mix works very well and i can see the Pink ghost as pink, the same happen with the loading screen.
Quote from: MacDeath on 08:10, 03 April 12Also : when will we have a video ?
8)
I suppose the video experts are working in it already ;)
Now I had the chance to take a more closer look: Amazing work!!! Great job!!! Thanks' a whole lot!!!
Just tried pacmanf version, and it plays great (smooth and fast). :D
Long story short - AWESOME. How I wish they could pull something like it back then... it's really no small feat, congrats guys. I don't even like Pacman, and yet I soooo enjoyed this!!!
WOW! Absolutely remarkable!
I presume that pacman.bin contains "layer" or "driver" code to process/interpret the roms?
And it still runs really well!
It really puts other pacman games on the cpc to shame, especially considering that the others ran native cpc code.
Quote from: ervin on 00:49, 05 April 12
WOW! Absolutely remarkable!
I presume that pacman.bin contains "layer" or "driver" code to process/interpret the roms?
And it still runs really well!
It really puts other pacman games on the cpc to shame, especially considering that the others ran native cpc code.
I'd assume the driver patches all the calls to place sprites, queue sound etc, (some of which are normally done through RST instructions on the arcade hardware). Are you going to release the source code to the driver? I'd like to see how you emulate the Pacman sound chip.
I'm surprised that no news was made on the first page of CPC Wiki...
Quote from: Executioner on 01:07, 05 April 12Are you going to release the source code to the driver? I'd like to see how you emulate the Pacman sound chip.
Yes, i will publish the sources in a few weeks, if there is not bug reports or suggestions... but publishing now it will reveal the cheat mode too soon ;D
The sound chip emulation is exactly to the spectrum version (the sources are in the Simon Owen site (http://simonowen.com/)), i use an 8KBs table to convert from the sound generated in the arcade to the PSG, of course, the frequencies are calculated for the CPC AY clock.
Quote from: TotO on 09:12, 05 April 12
I'm surprised that no news was made on the first page of CPC Wiki...
DIY!
I have added it, i though that only Gryzor had permission to modify the main cpcwiki page.
As others have mentioned the PACMANF version is really nice and smooth...really cool on a real CPC.
Originally I had only tried the normal Namco version...which also run fine, but the Fast version really is good.
Just a quick question to TotO & SyX...how long were you guys working on this, it has turned out really well, you must be pleased with it.
Great work...
Cheers,
Shane
Quote from: 00WReX on 10:30, 06 April 12Just a quick question to TotO & SyX...how long were you guys working on this, it has turned out really well, you must be pleased with it.
Great work...
Thanks!!! :D
Well, the wonderful TotO game graphics were finished before i could write any line of code, i saw them in the thread about the speccy version and i love the arcade feel, i thought it would be a shame that don't make them alive. The next step was asking to Simon Owen permission to base it in his wonderful work with the sam and speccy versions... you can see the roots in the code, but a big part is changed because we need to optimize a lot to use our graphics (bigger and of course, slower to print :P ).
After that i began to code, he made a lovely loading screen (seeing in my CPC attached to TV by scart was one of the best moments for me), the main part of the cpc code was made after the first pair of weeks (middle of december)... and my war to optimize the sprites routines began, there was a lot of pauses in the last 3 months (life -my nephew stole all my free time :P -, another projects with more priority and well, i'm a lazy coder ;D ), lucky me TotO is a great person to work in a project and he always is giving a lot of WONDERFUL ideas. The last version of the sprite routines were made during the second half of march, and in the last week we added the raster setting menu, the cheat mode and a lot of micro-optimizations to reduce more the slowdowns.
An important thing, we made a lot of tests in real machine, not only for see that worked correctly; too, for testing ideas that worked better in the real machine attached to CRTs than emulators.
... and a crazy last minutes of the last sunday xDDDD
Thanks for the reply SyX, that's great :D
Cheers,
Shane
hehe it actually works!
:) Great!!!, but i have a problem, after wich i have made the disk (WORK PERFECTLY) i have tried to convert in a file .CDT.
The file .cdt work only for the screen of presentation, but the game don't load anymore, someone can help me for made a TAPE VERSION? Thank you. :)
[off-topic]No, it's open to everyone as you have seen :) It's just that, usually, it's me who does the update son the homepage, so I guess people assume I'm the only one who can do it. But, there are times where I don't have the time to do it so some things may lag behind...
When this is the case, btw, it's better to send me a PM or an email or something; "complaining" in a forum thread will probably not get much attention when I don't visit :D
Cheers
T
Quote from: SyX on 18:58, 05 April 12
I have added it, i though that only Gryzor had permission to modify the main cpcwiki page.
Quote from: DARKGATE on 09:01, 09 April 12
:) Great!!!, but i have a problem, after wich i have made the disk (WORK PERFECTLY) i have tried to convert in a file .CDT.
The file .cdt work only for the screen of presentation, but the game don't load anymore, someone can help me for made a TAPE VERSION? Thank you. :)
:( Please someone can help me?
I want play the game on my real CPC 464 with RAM, the .cdt file don't work me, a PM message if there are problems, thank you.
Tape version? Well, i never though about it. But you can use the files in the DSK that i have attached, you need to put the files in the following order PACMAN.BAS + ROM_FILES + PACMAN.BIN.
If you have any problem, tell me. Because it's a fast hack for an user with a Hard Disk & BonnyDOS. Is there an emulator that support an HD image and BonnyDOS, anybody??? I'm not able to make it work in WinAPE, or if somebody can send me an HD image that works in WinAPE, i'll be very grateful ;)
Ok, for people who don't know where to get the ROM images:
- Take the above DSK
- Read its DIRectory using FutureOS
- Mark the four files at user &E5
- Click REName icon and change the four files user number back to &00
- Reset CPC, start PacMan and have fun
Nice easter egg... ;D
:-X
:) Thank you, hope of make a tape version in this week, if i have problems write here, thank you again. :)
:D Thank you, now i have made the PACMAN.cdt file, work perfectly, i haven't tried on my real CPC 464 with RAM, but when made the real tape, put a photo here ;D .
However there are many slowdown when play it :( .
Quote from: DARKGATE on 16:59, 11 April 12
However there are many slowdown when play it :(
You overestimated the power of AMSTRAD CPC.
Quote from: DARKGATE on 16:59, 11 April 12
However there are many slowdown when play it :( .
That's the CAI[nb]CPC Artificial Intelligence (c) and (cpc) by SyX[/nb]. It analyzes the way the player moves the PacMan itself, and depending on the way the player plays it will adjust the speed to support players with delayed senses. It happens to me all the time ;) :laugh: . But there are the "f" versions of the ROMs in which the CAI variable is set to "f"alse, so they will run at full speed.
Quote from: DARKGATE on 16:59, 11 April 12
:D Thank you, now i have made the PACMAN.cdt file, work perfectly, i haven't tried on my real CPC 464 with RAM, but when made the real tape, put a photo here ;D .
Thanks!!! :D
Quote from: DARKGATE on 16:59, 11 April 12However there are many slowdown when play it :( .
It's strange, it could be related to the emu that you are using...
There is slowdowns, but nothing too bad for making the experience not enjoyable. It plays very well in real cpc and the emulators that i used to develop it (winape + caprice).
Hi
This is awesome, good work!!
One question, how can i play piranha?
the game has the 4kb roms split in 2kb roms, i assume that merge de 2kb files back to 4kb files is needed, but, what is the order 2kb+2kb and how rename correctly the resultant roms?.
Quote from: Joseman on 00:17, 16 April 12One question, how can i play piranha?
the game has the 4kb roms split in 2kb roms, i assume that merge de 2kb files back to 4kb files is needed, but, what is the order 2kb+2kb and how rename correctly the resultant roms?.
I think that you may search for another set with the good size files.
Quote from: Joseman on 00:17, 16 April 12
One question, how can i play piranha?
Of course, you can :)
The correct order is:
pir1 +pir5 = pacman.6e
pir2 +pir6 = pacman.6f
pir3 +pir7 = pacman.6h
pir4 +pir8 = pacman.6j
If you have any problem with another clone, split the pacman roms in 2048 bytes and you will see the characteristic binary patterns (Enter the Matrix ;D )
Thanks!!!
When i have some time to play, i'll do the trick and see
Hello,
1st post! CPC-owner since 1984.
First I like to express my gratitude for everyone keeping the CPC alive and bringing all these great new achievements to the lurking public like me :)
At first I also thought about this being an April's Fool prank - but then I dared to check this in WinCPC first and it worked fine. Well actually, it lagged a bit here and there, but I thought it was some emulation issue.
So I copied the dsk to an old trusty 3" and loaded the game on real hardware (6128 classic) and watched it coming to live on a CTM 644. And what a wonderful experience that is: The overscan, the colours - this is the arcade look and feel that I remember from the late 70ies in some Italian arade. It's so much better than MAME on a PC with an LCD monitor!
But I have to pour a little water into the wine: The lagging I experienced with WinCPC reproduces exactly on the real hardware. It's everywhere, in the start screen, the demo mode, the real game, the interlevel animations (especially with the latter and big sprites). The speed just goes down a bit then after 2-3 seconds it goes back to full speed. This does not happen at fixed times or situations it's more or less unpredictable. So I checked with my CPC 464 (classic) - same story. It's still playable, it even adds another challenge: ghosts speed up all of a sudden! :D
Even though it remains a great achievement (I couldn't have lived with the Spectrum having this alone), thanks a lot!!! I don't know if there is a chance to fix this or of it's just the limits of the hardware - in any case: thanks for making me happy!
Greetings,
Folko
Hi Folko...welcome.
Have you tried the PACMANF version...this version has been considerably speed enhanced.
You shuld be able to find the files easily, but you can PM me with your email address if you want me to send you a .DSK of this version.
Cheers,
Shane
Wow thx! I don't have the F version. PM sent.
Email sent :)
Let us know what you think...
Cheers,
Shane
I have only tested the F version. While there's some slowdown, I really, clearly do not care. It's just amazing :D
Oh, and welcome mate!
Quote from: folkoh on 10:59, 18 April 12
Hello,
1st post! CPC-owner since 1984.
Very welcome here!
Yeehahh!
Thanks Shane, the F-Version totally solved the issue. Now running (almost, just very little lags at the startup music and the interlevel sequences but not during the game at all) flawlessly on the real hardware (and on WinCPC, too).
Me happy. :D
Thanks for the welcome, too TFM/FS.
Keep on doing great stuff, guys.
Cheers,
Folko
That's good, It's still putting a smile on my face too :)
SyX & TotO are the reason you (and I) are happy, their skills brought this to life on the good old CPC ;D
Cheers,
Shane
Thanks again for the amazing feedback!!! :D
Kukulcan, the webmaster of CPC Power, has added it (http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=7270) and made a great cover and sticker for the floppy :)
Wow, the tape jacket is great!!! I see no floppy sticker though? - ah yes, in Les Goodies section...
Quote from: SyX on 16:03, 16 April 12
Of course, you can :)
The correct order is:
pir1 +pir5 = pacman.6e
pir2 +pir6 = pacman.6f
pir3 +pir7 = pacman.6h
pir4 +pir8 = pacman.6j
I tryed this combination and didn't work :( , only blank screen, have you tested this?
and the remaining files pir9.bin pir10.bin pir11.bin pir12.bin are not needed?
Hade you added the AMSOFT header on files to make them "BINARY" compatible ?
Quote from: Joseman on 12:30, 21 April 12I tryed this combination and didn't work :( , only blank screen, have you tested this?
Are you sure is Pirahna? Piranhao doesn't work, because the roms are encrypted... but don't worry, take a look to the CPC Power link, because somebody has put there all the supported versions ready to use ;)
Quote from: Joseman on 12:30, 21 April 12and the remaining files pir9.bin pir10.bin pir11.bin pir12.bin are not needed?
Those are the arcade graphics, we don't need those, we are using the wonderful graphics made by TotO ;)
Well, two months after the launch and as i promise, the sources (https://sites.google.com/site/retrocpc/) are available, enjoy them and if somebody have any doubt, only need to ask ;)
Hehehehe ! ;D
(http://www.cpc-power.com/archives/fiches/7270_cheat_level.png) (http://www.cpc-power.com/archives/fiches/7270_cheat_level.png)
(http://www.cpc-power.com/archives/fiches/7270_level256_bugs.png) (http://www.cpc-power.com/archives/fiches/7270_level256_bugs.png)
I'm surprised that there was no video of this game on Youtube...
Xyphoe and Metr are not enough good for it ? :P
Quote from: SyX on 23:04, 31 May 12
Well, two months after the launch and as i promise, the sources (https://sites.google.com/site/retrocpc/) are available, enjoy them and if somebody have any doubt, only need to ask ;)
Just had a look at it, which assembler do you use? Err.... is it possible to convert it for MAXAM? I'm just curious... ;) :) :)
Quote from: TFM/FS on 20:52, 18 September 12Just had a look at it, which assembler do you use? Err.... is it possible to convert it for MAXAM? I'm just curious... ;) :) :)
I use VASM (http://sun.hasenbraten.de/vasm/), remember that i don't code only for cpc... although i don't like maxam at all (never liked its awkard syntax :P), i was more in devpac (i bought the cpc and amiga versions) or the Amstrad Personal assembler. Also, maxam requires a cpc or winape, and the 99% of my computing free time is in my linux desktop.
But sure, the pac-man sources can be changed to maxam syntax.
Well, you know my friend, I always try to make everything available on CPC. Just waiting for the day when no PC will run anylonger - but the CPCs will :)
Quote from: TFM/FS on 22:24, 18 September 12
Well, you know my friend, I always try to make everything available on CPC. Just waiting for the day when no PC will run anylonger - but the CPCs will :)
May be the time to get a new powerfull ASM on CPC/FutureOS, using the same syntax as VASM so ? :)
Add to the list an editor with syntax highlighting (but mode 1 is not enough colour and mode 0 is not enough resolution), a python shell (instead of basic :P ) and a lovely keyboard like this (you can put a pair of nice Amstrad keys :P ):
(http://www.akihabaranews.com/wp-content/uploads//images/2/62/46562/1.jpg) (http://www.akihabaranews.com/wp-content/uploads//images/2/62/46562/1.jpg)
Extra points for getting the cpc in a nice case as the Mac Mini, Amiga 1000, CDTV, C128D or the MSX2 8280 from philips :P
Quote from: TotO on 08:34, 19 September 12
May be the time to get a new powerfull ASM on CPC/FutureOS, using the same syntax as VASM so ? :)
If you like to do it - that would be great.
I must admit that - at this time - I'm deeply into chicken, I mean cyber chicken. Err, no, it's a game I'm working on. For example yesterday... I thought about how to make the collision detection (up to 21 bullets on screen, and up to 64 chicken) the best... so I stranded in a bar. Well, as you see, I do work not efficient enough ;) :laugh:
Quote from: TFM/FS on 16:44, 19 September 12
If you like to do it - that would be great.
I must admit that - at this time - I'm deeply into chicken, I mean cyber chicken. Err, no, it's a game I'm working on. For example yesterday... I thought about how to make the collision detection (up to 21 bullets on screen, and up to 64 chicken) the best... so I stranded in a bar. Well, as you see, I do work not efficient enough ;) :laugh:
2d sweep and prune?
or use a grid... or...
... or sort by coordY for skipping collisions fast (bucket sort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket_sort) is your friend)
Thank's for the offered ideas :) :) :)
But, naaaaaaaa.... all tooo slow (at least the way I understand them, if I understood at all :laugh: ).
What I do now is to ...
- Check all (maximum 21) Shots for a Z-Koordinate which can cat a chicken.
(Chicken can be hit only at some Z coordinates, that makes it more easy).
- If a Shot/Bullet can hit, then ckeck the X-coordinate of all chicken, see if it is close the X of shot.
- ... then check Y
Using a nice lookuptable I can project the 3D on a 2D grid (originally it was made for positionating sprites). That may be what you suggested to me :)
That's running nicely so far... I worked around that 3d problems... I just have to do the fine tuning (size of bullet and sprite must be taken in account, all that small crap ;) )
EDIT: Sorry, back to topic !!! :) :) :)
(http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/6182835_700b_v1.jpg) (http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/6182835_700b_v1.jpg)
Waiting a CPC Pac-Man emulator video on Youtube... :P
Hee-hee :)
Old... yet still amusing. :)
I'm ashamed to admit it's taken me exactly 8 months to track down everything I needed to try it...
... but I can definitely say this is the most awesome thing so far this year as well as last year. ;)
Quote from: ralferoo on 19:01, 01 January 13
I'm ashamed to admit it's taken me exactly 8 months to track down everything I needed to try it...
Sure, you have bought a old Pac-Man arcade machine in Aultralia, ship it to UK "by boat", extracted the PCB and unsolder all the ROM chips to make a backup off their content to your PC using a brand new Willem programmer, ordered in China. Then renamed and stripped to the good size to inject them to a CPC floppy and play legally to the emulator.
Congratulations !!! ;D
Do you believe a decent Moon Patrol emulator would be possible on 6128? This is the very first ever arcade game I saw as a kid...
Specs seem equal to pacman board.
The main problem is to emulate the display.
Moonpatrol get 3 paralax panes with some sprites on screens. So, I think that will be not easy to get a descent result.
Well, obviously you forget about parallax scrolling. But even with a single plance it needs some really good scrolling routines to be playable...
Slightly off-topic, but not completely ;) : Norbert Kehrer recently released an Asteroids-emulator for C64/C128.
Follow this link: Norbert's Emulators (http://web.utanet.at/nkehrer/)
So is there a CPC verison planned, or why do you mention it?
Quote from: fgbrain on 14:40, 01 March 13
Do you believe a decent Moon Patrol emulator would be possible on 6128? This is the very first ever arcade game I saw as a kid...
Specs seem equal to pacman board.
With respect to Moon Patrol, it's a two years later hardware with respect to Pac-Man and two years in arcade was a big difference, maybe no emulation, but a decent port would be a nice project for the rom competition ;)
Quote from: villain on 20:38, 11 March 13
Slightly off-topic, but not completely ;) : Norbert Kehrer recently released an Asteroids-emulator for C64/C128.
Follow this link: Norbert's Emulators (http://web.utanet.at/nkehrer/)
Yes, it's not off-topic, they use the same technique that us with Pac-Man, only they have choosen an arcade based in a 6502 cpu, of course ;)
Looks like a 512 * 256 Mode 2 screen ;-)
Speccy users got jealous (http://simonowen.com/spectrum/pacemuzx/)... :D
As wrote on the first page of this topic, it's the original project by the great Simon Owen.
The CPC version came from his work! :-\
Ohhh right. Apologies then :) Looks pretty impressive though, bar the colour clashing (which is not much).
SyX made an amazing work to make it possible to run on CPC with the 1:1 Arcade ratio display! 8)
Quote from: Gryzor on 10:38, 21 August 14
Ohhh right. Apologies then :) Looks pretty impressive though, bar the colour clashing (which is not much).
Yeah it don't look too bad though the colour clashing still looks to me like a children's colouring book where they just can't keep within the lines.
Yeah, I definitely think the CPC's emulator is better, simply because the CPC supports the arcade screen resolution. Still, the Spectrum version did well to scale it down effectively, even though the attribute clash is terrible.
I think it's one of those cases where if you don't know about the differences of the hardware you'll say "oh, that's nice but simple". But of course it's anything but!