Breakout/Middle Kingdom

[admin]

Don't worry... temp glitch... I have them now..

Middle Kingdom is converting as I type.

[admin]

MIddle Kingdom done...
Breakout done...

Thanks for supplying them - I will upload them to the download section shortly.

[admin]

The actual URL's are:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZO2758S7
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RWO38U64

I downloaded the Wave files, but the recordings are not suitable. DC reports "?IO Error: Block checksum failure".

Regards,
Steve

Steve,

DC is very fussy about the samples it works with.... I use XROAR with its "tapemangle" option.... This allows XROAR to load from WAV files, and output the bits processed by the Dragon BIOS to a CAS file...

[zephyr]

Just tried the CAS files, but they don't work. They load in OK, but crash the computer when running.

Regards,
Steve

[sixxie]

Interestingly, neither seem to work with the Dragon 64, but both are fine on a 32 (former tested in reality, latter only under emulation).

[zephyr]

Thanks for the info, Ciaran. I did test them under Dragon 64 emulation.

The reason they don't work on a Dragon 64 is because both games select the D64's 64K mode ROM during initialisation. I have modified the initialisation routines of both games to make them Dragon 64 compatible. The modified versions are attached. They have 'zm' (Zephyr Modified) added to the end of the filename to distinguish them from the originals.

[zephyr]

Full step-by-step instructions are listed below for anyone who has these games at home, and would like to make them Dragon 64 compatible.

Breakout
(1) POKE144,2:POKE145,0:PCLEAR1
(2) Load from the original cassette with CLOADM"BREAKOUT"
(3) POKE7720,248:POKE7725,55
(4) Save to a good quality backup cassette with CSAVEM"BREAKOUT",7680,11265,7680

Middle Kingdom
(1) POKE144,2:POKE145,0:PCLEAR1
(2) Load from the original cassette with CLOADM"KINGDOM"
(3) POKE7693,248:POKE7698,55:POKE24075,248:POKE24080,55
(4) Save to a good quality backup cassette with CSAVEM"KINGDOM",7680,24577,24064

[zephyr]

Simon,

Thanks for letting me know about DC. I had no idea it was so fussy.

Regards,
Steve

[zephyr]

Mike,

Thanks for taking the time to record, and upload these games.

Regards,
Steve

A request. Can someone please scan in the cassette cover, and upload it here.

Some questions about Middle Kingdom:
(1) Is there an instruction sheet?
(2) Does it mention on the cassette cover, or in the instructions (if any) that its Dragon 32 only?
(3) Are there any special keys used that are not obvious from the screen display?
(4) Was this game ever reviewed in Dragon User?

[zephyr]

I have taken the conversion one step further by modifying both games for use with the Tandy CoCo. The attached versions are compatible with Dragon 32, Dragon 64, and Tandy Color Computer models 1, 2, and 3. Both PAL and NTSC machines are supported. Audio Wave (.wav) files are included for easy transfer of the games to a real audio cassette.