User avatar
Shot97
Detroit, MI, USA

Posted Thu Oct 29, 2020 4:01 am

I played the kryofluxed NTSC version and do believe it had been adjusted graphically to look correct in a 4:3 aspect ratio in NTSC 320x200 from the original PAL 4:3 aspect ratio at 320x256. - Also, for whatever reason, I actually preferred it in NTSC, I felt the way it had been done lead me to getting higher scores... Could be wrong though, but I was racking up the points like never before with the NTSC version.

My attempts to get this version onto a real floppy to play it on my machine have failed thus far. You can use WinUAE to not only play kryofluxed files of various types, but indeed put them to an .adf from the emulator (when you know how, anyway). That's not the problem, I put the kryofluxed image into an .adf, as I've done before... But because this one has built in copy protection, the .adf had to be created in a custom format. It thinks the .adf is 2mb, when a normal floppy is 880kb.

This type of adf will run fine in WinUAE, but I've yet to find a way to copy it successfully to an actual disk. The other fluxed images I've dealt with in the past were not copy protected, and thus copied over to a real disk just fine. I've been trying to use X-Copy in various ways in WinUAE to copy the thing to a normal sized .adf, but no use of yet. I'm sure MarauderII is too old for it, but I should try that as well. - I bet I could get disk one to work on my machine in an awful way by copying the 2mb custom .adf to my hard drive. As in DH0: is now Pinball Dreams disk 1. It sounds horrifying but I know someone who mistakenly did this. That would be a major pain and just to play half the game on a real machine.

Sigh, I might just end up buying it because I'd really like to show it off, but making sure what you buy is the NTSC version is going to be a pain. Anyway, I'm still on it.

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Thu Oct 29, 2020 7:57 am

This type of adf will run fine in WinUAE, but I've yet to find a way to copy it successfully to an actual disk.
I wonder if this could be run via an external GoTek? I could give it a try.

User avatar
Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Tue Nov 03, 2020 9:20 am

Good tries. Just for clarification sake the images I flux copied were from SuperCard Pro, not from Kryoflux. They are 2 different devices and although they are both flux imagers, they save in different formats.

There is also the IPF format image which is in use by the SPS. That would also work.

That said without a SuperCard Pro I don't think you can write a floppy back with the copy protection and get a usable floppy. I haven't yet tried my copies from the SuperCard other then through emulation. @Shot, @intric8, If you guys want to try it send me a PM and we can arrange something.

Know any crackers? LOL.

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Tue Nov 03, 2020 1:27 pm

That said without a SuperCard Pro I don't think you can write a floppy back with the copy protection and get a usable floppy.
Oh, that's interesting. I actually just bought a SuperCardPro from Jim Drew early last month. I've yet to try and learn how to use it, but it sounded like a very cool thing to have for the long-term.

FWIW I took the ADFs which Shot created (which were massive) and could not load them with my GoTek. Probably the conversion process you're talking about, ZZ.

User avatar
Shot97
Detroit, MI, USA

Posted Tue Nov 03, 2020 2:50 pm

Yeah, the problem is they need to be cracked. If it came from America it would surely have gotten cracked and one of the many images online would work in NTSC I'm sure. Sometimes you have issues there because the cracking groups might put in a PAL intro which messes up an NTSC game, but inevitably someone didn't break the game.

But if it came from a PAL territory originally, was copy protected and cracked, well why waste your time with a separate NTSC version when you've already cracked the original? That being said, American's, be they pirates or strong willed individuals who wanted to punch anyone who dared attempt to strip their backup copy rights given to them by law, they had copy programs which would copy the disk.

Kyrofluxed images, I don't care what you've been told, can be copied to actual floppies. Be that actual kyro or from this Supercard thing. I might have to make a video on this because it's starting to anger me how many people assume they can't without having ever attempted it, obviously. When someone says it can't be done, I assume they're full of it, and I'm usually right.

A simple install to WinUAE, and a well placed .dll file will make WinUAE support Kyro images, multiple ones, including the ones I received. From there, with a good copy program, you can turn those fluxed images into .adfs, which I have done, and are fully usable inside of WinUAE at least. As Intric8 said, they are massive at 2mb, but they work in the emulator. That's just the copy protection. Beyond that, if a fluxed image is not copy protected, it couldn't be more simple to put that to an actual floppy disk, which I have done.

It has nothing to do with them being fluxed, find a copy program that will copy those disks in real life from the actual floppies to another floppy, and I guarantee you I can use that program to copy the fluxed images to a real floppy. The problem is... what program can do that? X-Copy has not worked for me.

User avatar
Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:15 am

Yeah that is the problem. It is super easy to make copies with the SuperCard or the KryoFlux and write them back to floppy. I tried every copy program that I have, and I have a lot, and I could not copy any of those disks on the Amiga. As you said it is the copy protection not the flux. The flux is just the raw flux data on the disk. It doesn't really care about copy protection. If it can be flux imaged, it can usually be written back to disk.

I say usually because there are some instances were a dang stubborn disk can not even be written back to disk with a flux copier with certain PC drives. Because with a flux copier, you are using PC drives, either 5.25" 1.2MB or 3.5" 1.44MB and, especially the 5.25 drives, they vary in abilities. I have had better success with 3.5" disks being backed up. Some of my early EA C64 games could not be copied back to disk with my PC drive and a KryoFlux/SuperCard Pro although they worked fine in an emulator.

I wish Jim Drew would comment on this because he understands all these intricacies better then anyone I know. And since he created the SuperCard line including an Amiga version, he would probably know how to back it up on the Amiga.

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Wed Nov 04, 2020 9:49 am

I wish Jim Drew would comment on this because
Could always email him. He always responds. He might not have the specific answer to this in particular (and sometimes the responses can be brief) but he'd likely have something to say if asked directly.

User avatar
Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Wed Nov 04, 2020 1:16 pm

Yeah, good idea. I might send him a message to see if he knows anything in regards to the copy protection on these titles or send him a link to this thread.

User avatar
Crispy
Sunhillow

Posted Fri Dec 04, 2020 5:23 pm

Zippy Zapp wrote:
Wed Sep 09, 2020 9:30 am
Notice how the score is cut off at the top. I don't remember if this is the case with real hardware but I think it will be close to the same.
I just acquired Pinball Dreams NTSC through an Ebay find, and I managed to take some photos of the game running on my A1000 attached to a 1080 monitor.

The first splash screen.
Image

The table selection screen.
Image

The high score screen.
Image

The game screen.
Image

The bottom of the image goes into the overscan area, and reaches all the way to the CRT bezel, but the top of the image is properly positioned and is not cut off. So it looks like the game displays as it should on real hardware.

User avatar
Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Sat Dec 05, 2020 8:16 am

Awesome, @Crispy! Thanks for showing it works correctly on real hardware vs emulation. I am glad it is not the same because the emulation is obviously off or perhaps I had my screen set to the wrong settings in WinUAE.





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