about 10 Great Games II

gorski

Hi all :)

we talking this time for ...
http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0011441 :)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9uk98wvfvj7zbq/10GGIITape1SideA.wav
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p5etqmse55w20qx/10GGIITape1SideB-bad.wav
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d3hlxxthqdu00x5/10GGIITape2SideA.wav
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rcyqdcle36z82uv/10GGIITape2SideB.wav

I found i have different version compared with listed to WOS archive
tape2sideb is same
tape2sidea we have different basic for "basel the great ... " and in my tape have one big block less than listed in WOS file 2822 bytes block miss in my tape ?
m.a.s.k. is identical
tape1sideb i have broken tape. In this side I have 2 dropouts at 19:44 and 13:41,186 this side is broken for this blocks but i think is same as WOS file
tape1sidea the great finding :)
deathwish is same
matrix is same
Rider! :) okey! Jose, Lfaria :) who will count dummy bytes after main block ? loader expect 30000 and not check after this :) but in name in good preservation we need accurate tzx here! :) We need to be happy because Mikie not touch this wav and we have a small case!: ) Rider have different size for main block (more dummyes?) compared with WOS tzx
samurai different basic and etc.. :)

Jose or Lfaria if you have time make and submit proper tzx's (for different 10 great games II) for archive please :) I think samples is good :)

basil and mask ? why refuse to load in emulators every time ? I need to read for their loading schemes :)

Greets,
Gorski
p.s.
barcode
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ikzeihsj5icakoa/barcode.jpg
box
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qdpic6vr71xzyus/box2.jpg

same as WOS :)

jlsoler

Hi gorski,

Your topic is very very familiar to me :-), and don't worry, it was solved yet. It is in its way to preservation, and I have to include for the next update.

I got two 10GG2 packs, each one containing a different version, which I called release 1 and 2, only for naming needs. Release 1 is the same as yours, it has an incomplete Basil, in which the last block (2822 as you said) is faulty. Moreover, its first four blocks, the standard loading ones, are not the same.

I made TZXs for both:
Release 1 TZXs
Release 2 TZXs

There you can see I signaled two areas with duplication errors, in tape 1 side B. You called 'audio dropouts' in your post, and I came to conclude there are real duplication errors, and not your tape is broken. This is a very odd topic. Here you can see a snapshot in which I compare my two tapes between. It is very easy to see both audio samples share their shape in dropouts. I can link WAV files if anyone interested.

First one of audio misses affect to the last block of Samurai Trilogy, so the game can't be finished. The other one break the first one of two screens (?) of Coconut Capers, but they seem as if they contain development graphics (?), so they are not needed for the game to run.

In my TZX files you can see I recreated the final tone for Convoy Raider. And yes, the original version of Convoy Raider is in need of this too. I guess it will be an identical tone as the one in 10GG2, but it should be good to check.

For last, Final Matrix is encoded with MultiLoad scheme, also fixed in my TZX files.


And now for Basil not loading on emulators. Do you remember ISO-Copy trouble to be loaded in Spectaculator and Spin at once? You should recall I made a running TZX for each one, inserting an additional pulse where needed (Spectaculator). Gremlin 2 scheme, which Basic uses, need the first pulse of each block were a high one, so if you insert a low signal pulse just before each block you will get a running TZX for Spin, while if you insert a high signal pulse instead, the TZX will work in Spectaculator (... or maybe it was the opposed?). I think it is a simple compatibility emulators issue, but sorry, I'm not an expert :-?

Have you check to stop tape playing when custom block starts refusing to load? Do that: in Spectaculator, when you see the block is not loading (stripes in green and black, not cyan), stop the tape, and then play again. The block will load OK. This can occur for each custom block. Simply make the test.

I think I left nothing to answer ...


Cheers,
Jose.

gorski

Ha! :) You say I have original in good health broken tape! this is good news :) this is my second bad original tape after st. dragon kixx release :)
aaa convoy rider! :) you lost me :) your dummy part of tzx look beautifully :) okey looks like no case here :)

Greets,
Gorski

jlsoler

gorsky wrote:

aaa convoy rider! :-) (...) okey looks like no case here :-)

Well, don't forget, if you want to improve that stand-alone Convoy Rider from the tape you own, you can ask for help :-)

Cheers,
Jose.

Jon Needle

gorski wrote: »

basil and mask ? why refuse to load in emulators every time ? I need to read for their loading schemes :)

The loaders are polarity sensitive. The only real way to have a 100% working TZX is to insert v1.20 set polarity blocks in the file where necessary.

The same problem exists with Dark Star and a few other games.

Jon.

jlsoler

Hi Jon,

Jon Needle wrote:

The loaders are polarity sensitive. The only real way to have a 100% working TZX is to insert v1.20 set polarity blocks in the file where necessary.

Thanks to post, your knowledge here is highly valued! :-) And let me please convey some impressions on this topic, and see what do you think about. Thanks in advance.

I've noticed Spectaculator and Spin seems to behave different when a low/high pulse block is encountered in a TZX file. I found this in a set of TZXs I recently made, for which these blocks are needed.

Having Basil as a good example, its custom blocks need their two sync pulses have "high,low" polarity, so, for a paired pilot, I think the block needed is a low pulse set block prior to the pilot, so the first sync pulse will be forced to be high. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

Spectaculator only loads Basil OK when high pulse blocks are inserted (just for the opposed), while Spin only loads it when using low pulse set blocks instead.

I found this opposite behavior in more conversions, all of them with tricky polarity-sensible loaders inside of course, like ISO-Copy 1 and 2, Quicksave II and Lerm Tape Utility C. Here you can have some files for these, in which 'A' versions run OK in Spectaculator, while 'B' files are for Spin.

If you try and make WAV files from Tapir, you will see only B version of Basil make a correct WAV. Here you can see what I try to explain. This snapshot shows sync pulses for the first custom block of Basil.


Cheers,
Jose.

gorski

Hi Ho :)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cm2ns6jas71ydrr/basil.tzx

is this good example of good maked tzx from Mikie represent this polarity ? this tzx loads in every emulators every time ? how ?:)

Greets,
Gorski

jlsoler

gorski wrote:

is this good example of good maked tzx from Mikie represent this polarity ? this tzx loads in every emulators every time ? how ?:-)

Yep, it seems you're right.

In Mikie's TZX nothing seem to indicate first pulse should be high or low. One can think interpretation emulators do of generalized data blocks could result in first pulse being always for a high one (?), though this hadn't been specifically indicated in any form. Once more, only emulators' coders can answer to this.

Cheers,
Jose.