Skool Daze

Symoon · Post by **Symoon** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:00 pm

Chema wrote:If that works, Dbug, it is indeed evil

I wonder if it could be possible to use this and create a tap file which:
1 - Includes a loader with a small basic program such as yours, switches to hires and prints on hires something like Skool Daze is Loading..
2 - Includes the file generated by tap2cd at x10 speed.

Not sure how to include two programs in a wav file... any tool to do that?

Audacity should do this, wouldn't it?
Once you have produced the WAV files you want, just open them in Audacity, copy / paste, with a small silence between each program, save and it sould be fine?
I'm not a Audacity user but I can't imagine it wouldn't let you edit WAV files

EDIT: please note I sent another message which is stored at the bottom of the previous page of this thread

Chema · Post by **Chema** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:45 pm

Symoon wrote:Have you used the -11 switch with tap2wav, for the WAV file you wanted to load on the real machine ? For real machines, 11khz files are much more reliables than Euphoric's 8khz file (which is produced by default if you don't use any switch with tap2wav).

Ah... I forgot the -11 switch. Is it the same for tap2cd? Will test as soon as possible...

With Euphoric the wav loads perfectly (the slow version, not the x10), so it is not a problem of the generated file. Thanks Symoon.

And yes, audacity and other wav editors could paste two wavs together, but I was thinking on an easy way to do it and which could handle a multipart tap file, so I can generate the tap including the loader directly when compiling.

Mmmm... now that I think of it, probably tap2cd will fail with such a multipart tap file, and I am not willing to abandon such high speed loading

Symoon · Post by **Symoon** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:10 pm

No switch with Tap2CD as far as I know. Tap2CD requires a really perfect sound quality and will be more subject to loading errors than a usual file. I seem to recall Fabrice had loading errors when he used a compact disc to load Tap2CD files because of audio CD bruning mistakes.
And as you said it's ROM V1.1 only (tried to make a version for ROM 1.0, but the tape routines coding in ROM are too different and it was beyond my abilities at the time).

The WAV file should work fine on a real Atmos with the -11 switch. Let us know

I can't recall exactly how each of these tools manage multipart files, but you can easily try to append two TAP files (under DOS with: COPY /B A.TAP + B.TAP C.TAP), then try converting the resulting (multipart) TAP file.
But if you want to mix standard routines and TAP2CD, the only option is WAV editing

kenneth · Post by **kenneth** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 9:09 pm

In TAP2CD there is a small program of management of loading rate. Should be sure that he is not crushed by the main program.
Is the main program in CD mode loading works in several parts?

Chema · Post by **Chema** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 11:03 pm

Hi guys.

No success. I tried with the -11 option, with and without a silence at the end, at different volume settings...

The game still loads, but it does not auto-run. I think there are no loading errors (most of the times), as issuing a call #500 still makes the game run flawlessly.

Still the x10 version is the best option. Usually loads quickly and with no errors, but not auto-run.

So, I am not sure how to proceed. Probably the best way would be trying to add a small loader with Dbug's trick.

Symoon, and all those who have a working version of Skool Daze? Could anybody try and let me know if you have the same behaviour?

Post by **Dbug** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 9:57 am

You know what? The real solution would be to modify Tap2Wav and Tap2CD to add a switch to insert the 'blanks' before, between and after the data blocks.

Should not have to do that in an external tool, should just be able to give a list of TAP files and get a good/usable WAV file as a result

About the title picture, tomorrow I will try to work a bit on the picture, I will have to do manual tweaking because PictConv does not allow to specify where attributes are, so having the Defence Force logo not touch the color and ink attributes you want to keep is going to be interesting

Antiriad2097 · Post by **Antiriad2097** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 2:30 pm

With Chema's approval, I'll be showing a Skool Daze WIP to the public at Replay ( www.replayexpo.com ) tomorrow.

This is a sneak preview of the display I plan to use next to the Oric:

I also plan to display an 'Other games available at Defence Force' one showing 1337, Stormlord etc.

Symoon · Post by **Symoon** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:46 pm

Tried to load the game but I keep having errors, because it's not my usual configuration and I didn't find the right settings I guess.
I should be able to load it with my reliable configuration in 8 days...

Antiriad2097 · Post by **Antiriad2097** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:04 pm

I'm having real problems loading this on my Atmos.

Using the doke trick above it loads, but the background graphics are all corrupt so the characters walk over random blobs instead of a school.

A WAV issue, an Atmos problem or possibly just a volume/audio issue with the playback device (I was playing in from Audacity on a laptop).

Any suggestions much appreciated, we're showing the game on a laptop for now. Still haven't got the signage printed, its been very busy with hundreds of systems to set up.

Edit...

Got it working now. Bizarrely, loading the wav file at full volume from my ipod worked!

Chema · Post by **Chema** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 4:14 pm

Antiriad2097 wrote: Got it working now. Bizarrely, loading the wav file at full volume from my ipod worked!

Great news! I am starting to think that I may have some real errors when loading the game in my real atmos too... After having my son playing for a long time, bugs appeared even when I thought the game had loaded perfectly.

Maybe some issue with the cable or something, but I have been able to load other programs and games even at x10 speed with no problems. In fact I get more reliability when using the ouptut of tap2cd...

Symoon · Post by **Symoon** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 4:53 pm

Finally managed to load the game fine here.
Just the main program, with -11 switch, and a 1,5s silence at the end (otherwise my mp3 player was eating the end, even with a 0.5s silence at the end !).

Another upgrade that could be fine: the volume level choice at the beginning. When it starts on the real machine, in a rather quiet room, it's loud

Symoon · Post by **Symoon** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 5:23 pm

Chema wrote:Great news! I am starting to think that I may have some real errors when loading the game in my real atmos too... After having my son playing for a long time, bugs appeared even when I thought the game had loaded perfectly.

Maybe some issue with the cable or something, but I have been able to load other programs and games even at x10 speed with no problems. In fact I get more reliability when using the ouptut of tap2cd...

Where are you loading the WAV from? Computer?
The fact that a short WAV requiring perfect sound works better than a longer WAV makes me think you could have noise interference while playing the WAV.
If you are playing the file from your computer, is there a microphone, or a sound for incoming email, or maybe a mobile phone close to the tape cable?

Chema · Post by **Chema** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 9:18 pm

Yeah I am using a laptop+audacity, but now I am thinking that my connection cable is not reliable enough.

I've used a 5 pin DIN to get sound output as well as tape in and out because my internal speaker (in the Oric) does not work (go and guess why). All the connections were made as a first test and I never built a better cable, so maybe there are interferences ruining the signal.

But as others are able to load the game (and auto-run I guess) then I am happy enough

About the volume, well as I am not using the Oric internal speaker I never noticed. I can make music sound at a lower volume, but can't do the same with sfx, as they are using the envelope generator... Are those also too loud?

(Before anybody asks for it, I have no memory left to make the user select the sound volume

)

Oh, and on the dev part I killed yet another bug, which was discovered by my 7 year old son. He is having a lot of fun playing with this game, entering his own names for the characters, and spends a lot of time playing it (I did not ask him to do it, I promise!). The thing was that, after playing enough time, the index to the current lesson in the main timetable went out of range, and everything went wrong from there.

I also made another change following Dbug's advice and now correctly erase the lesson box at each new game so it does not keep showing "DEMO - PRESS.." when the game starts.

Chema · Post by **Chema** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:00 pm

Antiriad2097 wrote:With Chema's approval, I'll be showing a Skool Daze WIP to the public at Replay ( www.replayexpo.com ) tomorrow.

How did the show go? Were you able to demonstrate the game on a real Atmos in the end? Any photos?

Post by **Dbug** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:26 pm

One things I had on my todo list for a while was to implement some kind of quick and dirty checksum validation system to check that the program are actually correctly loaded. As usual the issue is to make it small and efficient