Re: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
Simon Cooke wrote: That one basically ignored the track/sector addresses (wrote them out as weird values IIRC), so you'd need to manage all that manually to get the data off the disk. The one I have is 5x1024 per track, with the cylinder value as 128 in each header, except for the boot sector and first directory sector that need to be correct. The head value matches the physical location, though (unlike the PC) the WD1772 doesn't match the head value so it wouldn't have added to the protection anyway. Here's a dump of the start of the disk: [Parallax.dsk] 2 sides, 82 tracks: 250Kbps MFM, 5 sectors, 1024 bytes, cyl=128: 0:0 1[c0,n2] 4 2 5 3 1:0 1 4 2 5 3 2:0 1 4 2 5 3 3:0 1 4 2 5 3 4:0 1[c4] 4 2 5 3 5:0 1 4 2 5 3 Hackier still was the lemmings one - same idea, but stuffed a lot more data in there. Can't remember how, but I think it was 5.5k/track It was indeed 5.5K - 5x1024 + 1x512 per track, interleaved probably due to the small inter-sector gap, and skewed for a slight speed gain: [Lemmings.dsk] 2 sides, 82 tracks: 250Kbps MFM, 2 sectors, 512 bytes: 0:0 1 2 250Kbps MFM, 6 sectors, 1024 bytes: 1:0 5 3 6 4 1[n2] 2 2:0 3 6 4 1[n2] 2 5 3:0 6 4 1[n2] 2 5 3 4:0 4 1[n2] 2 5 3 6 5:0 1[n2] 2 5 3 6 4 Even hackier was one that I never used, but would put dupes of sectors on each track. Unless you synced up to the spindle marker, you'd have a 50/50 chance of getting bogus data. That trick is used by a few +3 disk titles, including Tomahawk. They only appear to be there to choke copiers though, as I couldn't see any sign of them being checked by the protection. Si
RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
Yes I am :) At least for now.. there's a small chance I might be moving to LA... not sure yet :) > -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of James R Curry > Sent: 04/30/2007 7:43 PM > To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no > Subject: RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax > > > > > > ---Original Message--- > > From: Simon Cooke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Subject: RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax > > Sent: 01 May '07 01:58 > > > > Hey, Simon, are you still in the Seattle area? I'm considering another > trip that way, later this year.
RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
> ---Original Message--- > From: Simon Cooke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax > Sent: 01 May '07 01:58 > Hey, Simon, are you still in the Seattle area? I'm considering another trip that way, later this year.
RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
Ah yes... nearly the very hackiest of the hacky disk protection systems I put together. The only hackier one was the Lemmings stuff which Chris expanded on, which stuffed a hell of a lot more data on the disk. That one basically ignored the track/sector addresses (wrote them out as weird values IIRC), so you'd need to manage all that manually to get the data off the disk. Hackier still was the lemmings one - same idea, but stuffed a lot more data in there. Can't remember how, but I think it was 5.5k/track Even hackier was one that I never used, but would put dupes of sectors on each track. Unless you synced up to the spindle marker, you'd have a 50/50 chance of getting bogus data. > -Original Message- > Cheers for looking into this - nice to know the game is patched, even > if > I probably won't get as far as the problem point! I only happened to > be > looking at the disk because the original isn't readable on the PC due > to > undersized gap4a. > > Si
RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
Haha... yeah... :) Colin was a little pissed when he found out... But there was a lot of room on the disk... ;-) > -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Simon Owen > Sent: 04/17/2007 11:52 AM > To: sam-users > Subject: Entrpoy demos in Parallax > > So, there I was browsing the Parallax disk image in a hex editor (don't > ask!), when I came across a message... > > Cookie: kept that a bit quiet, didn't you? ;-) > > Si
RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
IIRC, E,D,G,INV was the infinite lives cheat for Parallax. :) > -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Simon Owen > Sent: 04/18/2007 12:03 AM > To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no > Subject: Re: Entrpoy demos in Parallax > > Stefan Drissen wrote: > > And just viewing the parallax.fix file (on Fred 25) in SimCoupe shows > the following, hehe: > > > > HERE, USED TO BE SOME ENTROPY DEMOS - AND YOU CAN STILL GET TO THEM > IF YOU POKE THE JUMP JUST ABOVE WITH 16607... COOKIE! > > That's the one I ran into, so I guess the disk I acquired is probably > patched already. The demo menu still mentioned an E+D+G+Inv key combo > for doing something on the options screen, and since we're already in > the demo I guess it can't be to trigger it. Cheat mode maybe? > > Cheers for looking into this - nice to know the game is patched, even > if > I probably won't get as far as the problem point! I only happened to > be > looking at the disk because the original isn't readable on the PC due > to > undersized gap4a. > > Si
Re: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
Stefan Drissen wrote: And just viewing the parallax.fix file (on Fred 25) in SimCoupe shows the following, hehe: HERE, USED TO BE SOME ENTROPY DEMOS - AND YOU CAN STILL GET TO THEM IF YOU POKE THE JUMP JUST ABOVE WITH 16607... COOKIE! That's the one I ran into, so I guess the disk I acquired is probably patched already. The demo menu still mentioned an E+D+G+Inv key combo for doing something on the options screen, and since we're already in the demo I guess it can't be to trigger it. Cheat mode maybe? Cheers for looking into this - nice to know the game is patched, even if I probably won't get as far as the problem point! I only happened to be looking at the disk because the original isn't readable on the PC due to undersized gap4a. Si
RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
And just viewing the parallax.fix file (on Fred 25) in SimCoupe shows the following, hehe: HERE, USED TO BE SOME ENTROPY DEMOS - AND YOU CAN STILL GET TO THEM IF YOU POKE THE JUMP JUST ABOVE WITH 16607... COOKIE! Which saves me a trip to the basement... From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Stefan Drissen Sent: Tue 4/17/2007 23:49 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax An Entropy menu is started by holding down a certain set of keys while booting. When Colin found out about this he requested it removed - which is what the 'Parallax' fix on Fred 25 (in the 'Bits' section) ALSO does. I'd found it before (having run into the crash) and had created my own patcher (which does not destroy the hidden menu)... I'm bound to have it on one of my floppy disks somewhere in the basement. If I find it I'll let you know. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Simon Owen Sent: Tue 4/17/2007 22:24 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: Entrpoy demos in Parallax Stefan Drissen wrote: > Do you mean the hidden demo? It has Entro 1, Entro 2 and Hot Butter - not new demos, but access to them enabled by patching a jump address, as described in the on-disk instructions! There was also a mention of a key combo doing something else in the options, but I've not tried that yet. > Which in turn was nicely patched by the bug fix to fix the crash when > loading a certain higher level (interupts were not enabled after loading > it...). Hmmm, I didn't know about any of that! Is my disk likely to be affected then? Are there details of what to patch to fix it? Si <>
RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
An Entropy menu is started by holding down a certain set of keys while booting. When Colin found out about this he requested it removed - which is what the 'Parallax' fix on Fred 25 (in the 'Bits' section) ALSO does. I'd found it before (having run into the crash) and had created my own patcher (which does not destroy the hidden menu)... I'm bound to have it on one of my floppy disks somewhere in the basement. If I find it I'll let you know. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Simon Owen Sent: Tue 4/17/2007 22:24 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: Entrpoy demos in Parallax Stefan Drissen wrote: > Do you mean the hidden demo? It has Entro 1, Entro 2 and Hot Butter - not new demos, but access to them enabled by patching a jump address, as described in the on-disk instructions! There was also a mention of a key combo doing something else in the options, but I've not tried that yet. > Which in turn was nicely patched by the bug fix to fix the crash when > loading a certain higher level (interupts were not enabled after loading > it...). Hmmm, I didn't know about any of that! Is my disk likely to be affected then? Are there details of what to patch to fix it? Si <>
Re: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
Stefan Drissen wrote: Do you mean the hidden demo? It has Entro 1, Entro 2 and Hot Butter - not new demos, but access to them enabled by patching a jump address, as described in the on-disk instructions! There was also a mention of a key combo doing something else in the options, but I've not tried that yet. Which in turn was nicely patched by the bug fix to fix the crash when loading a certain higher level (interupts were not enabled after loading it...). Hmmm, I didn't know about any of that! Is my disk likely to be affected then? Are there details of what to patch to fix it? Si
RE: Entrpoy demos in Parallax
Do you mean the hidden demo? Which in turn was nicely patched by the bug fix to fix the crash when loading a certain higher level (interupts were not enabled after loading it...). > -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Simon Owen > Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 20:52 > To: sam-users > Subject: Entrpoy demos in Parallax > > So, there I was browsing the Parallax disk image in a hex > editor (don't > ask!), when I came across a message... > > Cookie: kept that a bit quiet, didn't you? ;-) > > Si >
