Greetings Starfighters

[DrewFX]

Hi,

I'm Andy Hawkins of DrewFX.  I used to run a company called GeoSync Media, and with that company I wrote StarFighter:D'Yammen's Reign.  Recently I noticed a lot of people still selling it, which is illegal because I own the copyright.  So for everyone to enjoy, free of charge - that's right - don't pay money for StarFighter anymore - visit my site and start downloading now...

http://www.drewfx.com/

[DrewFX]

I am still supporting it, so please email if you get stuck. Getting setpatch and the RAD working can be tricky.

[DrewFX]

In 1999.

[DrewFX]

I only have a 500 and an A1200.  I guess maybe I'll write something, but it's so old.  I'm writing games on the PC now.  I will be doing a PC version of Starfighter.

[DrewFX]

Hey does anyone know who this guy is?  He claims to be sourcing Starfighter from a wholesaler.  I'm not sure that Starfighter stock even exists anymore and I'm guessing it doesn't.  So I would like to investigate this one thoroughly to make sure they are selling Starfighter legally - which means I have already been paid for their stock they are holding.
Starfighter on Ebay

[DrewFX]

If you have a really fast computer and the game becomes unplayable try this...

Press 'C' in the main menu to add an artificial frame pause to slow things down a bit.  Press 'L' ingame to cycle through level of detail to get the highest one.  Experiment with these values to get the right speed.

If you have a slow computer go to the options panel and reduce the screen size, then in game press 'L' to cycle through level of detail to get to Low LOD / Fast Stars.

For all users press the HELP key (i think) for key commands.

[DrewFX]

First of all thanks to the guys/gals that donated some money - very cool of you  I'll keep a note of that and see if I can organise a discount for you on future software

Regarding the link to Amiga Game Database - I can't find the link to the instructions - can you find it please and post it here?

Regarding the ebay dude(s) - what can I do?  No the original game came out on cd - in a jewel case, with semi-pro printing for the cover, and an average label (not my art by the way).  It never came in a DVD case so I'd suspect that guy has copied it.

Manually running the game:
==========================
Regarding the DH0: issue - I will have to look for a way around that - but first - try just copy the entire contents of the cd to the hard drive (not in a folder called Star - call it SpaceGame or something) and then take the cd away - that's basically an install.  Then try running the game from there.  It should be "StarFighter/executable" I think - I'll have to dig out the miggy to check so that one is going to take me some time to troubleshoot for you - please be patient and email me if you want for progress.

Regarding the instructions - there should be instructions in a guide and text form on the cd. - I will look for the exact location, but I have a copy here so I will probably post it to the website soon.
EDIT - Yes I found them in the root of the cd (meaning the iso you downloaded)  Grab WinGuide from this dude...
Amiga to Win -Winguide
 and read the Instructions for the gameplay, Tech Readme for the RAD stuff - there's a file in the root called GoForLaunch which should install on most people's computer.


Regarding developing new software for the Amiga - I will have to look into that - If I can get open source c++, opengl sdk and a decent IDE, plus whitepapers on the chips and specs, then maybe.  So any advice would be cool if you guys know where to get that stuff - making a game that worked on Amiga and PC at the same time would be cool.

Starfighter for the PC will be written after I have completed BRAVE found here ...http://drewfx.blogspot.com/

Again thanks for the donations, and thanks for trying my game

[DrewFX]

So here's the relevant fix he mentions...

My first problems came with the installation procedure. It's possible
to play directly from CD, but that didn't work too well for me. The hard
disk installation comes to around 130 MB, though it took me a while to
figure that out because the install script...er, crashed. Not too
professional. Fortunately, it turned out to be just as easy to drag all
the drawers over to my hard drive.

    The next problem was launching the game. It uses up lots of Chip
RAM - you need 2 MB as a matter of fact. The procedure to get as much free
Chip RAM as possible involves running from a RAD: drive, but I had
problems with SetPatch and software resets and so on, so that didn't work
at all. Once again my PicassoIV saved the day: Normally I have almost all
my Chip RAM free anyway. So I did away with the included game-launching
programs, and just made a script that switches to the "Starfighter"
directory and runs the "executeable" program. Presto, the game finally
worked.

[DrewFX]

@Angus - Hey sorry for sniping your text - I was only trying to consolidate advice for my game to help others.  Do you want me to remove it?

I will get on the Amiga on the weekend and see if I can come up with a solution for you guys how are having troubles.  Please let me know your configs and drive mappings (where you installed it to - exact folder names please) so I can debug it.

[DrewFX]

I think the best way to describe the graphics requirements is that if you had 2 meg chip ram and 4 meg fast ram on an A500 (with a math co-pro) it would also run.

It doesn't use AGA, it uses ECS, but it uses dpaint anims to show the animations, and streams iff's as well.

I need more people to write in and tell me their setup and how they installed it because I can only test it on my A1200.

Obviously it runs on my computer, so I will have to guess how you set it up.  I can however - while waiting for people to write in - try a few things on my 1200 and give you an accurate description of how it starts up.  I think I have a setpatch mod on disk as well, so I will research that and upload anything of use.

[DrewFX]

@ Amiduffer The download failing is probably that the service provider may not always be online.  I have noticed some outtages from time to time.  
Regarding your download issue, it becomes an ISO which must then be mounted to become a virtual CD.  I think I might just unpack it and repack it so you can save it any way you like on an Amiga.  You will probably have to us a PC at the moment I am thinking to read the ISO format.

At the time of responding to this, my provider is down.  Try again soon.

[DrewFX]

So I've been doing a bit of research and found my source code for the RAD: device.  I will post that as soon as I can get it off the Amiga and onto PC.  I have also found a bunch of Boot Loaders.  There are several "GoForLaunch" exe which set up a RAD: device and then reboot the Amiga to load just the game.  Some don't use Setpatch, others do, and there is one to use yours.

I have also found the latest patches.  I will upload all of these in one package, with instructions on how to use it.

[DrewFX]

Hmmm...  It's been zipped up using RAR on a Windows platform.  I assume the format is cross-platform.  However I can attempt to repack it using LHA.  

I have an archive (RAR) uploading now that has been unpacked and removed from the ISO format (which is a virtual cdrom format) into just Amiga files.  I've repacked it and it will be available shortly.

I will then pack using LHA for straight Amiga users.

Which is favourite format for people? LHA, LZH, ZIP or RAR?

[DrewFX]

Hmm not sure how you got it that way.  Have you got Daemon Tools or Nero Image drive?  You will need them to connect to the ISO to read the contents.  If you can wait about 10mins I'm uploading the LHA archive which is easier to use.

[DrewFX]

Okay here's the new LHA file - which should work natively on the Amiga.  At any rate, it unpacks to folders, not an ISO

Star.lha

I'll upload all the patches in about 8 hours.