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Take Part and Develop Software Amiga OS!page  1 2 

Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
23 Mar 2018 07:32


APOLLO 68080 and VAMPIRE offers new options for AMIGA.
We have the performance now to run programs now which were not possible before.
 
The RIVA video player and the NEO-GEO emulator are good examples for this.
 
More can be done for AMIGA.
There is are many programs which can be accelerated with AMMX.
Many programs not available today for AMIGA could be ported.
 
Take part and joins us in the Quest to create software for AMIGA.



Mr Niding

Posts 459
23 Mar 2018 08:09


Initial reaction;

Will she come and personally read out machinecode loudly for me?

Altho, unsure if that will help on the consentration.


A1200 Coder

Posts 74
23 Mar 2018 08:38


A lot more can already be done yes, but from a gamemaker's perspective the current Vampire looks like a Pentium 200 MHz MMX with SuperVGA screenmodes, which doesn't have sprites, blitter and copper. So you will have to use software sprites with AMMX, looks to me more like a PC than an Amiga. Maybe this is intentional, as e.g. realtime scaling and rotation of sprites is best done with chunky mode and AMMX? And is there some dualplayfield stuff and hardware scroll support coming in SAGA?

I just remember that earliest Atari ST models didn't have a blitter and horizontal HW-scroll support, and everything had to be done with the 68000. The result was that games which needed the above features ran in 10-12 FPS on Atari, while on Amiga you could have 50 FPS. Then, if you also needed dualplayfield, it wouldn't be doable at all with 68000 only in a reasonable frame rate. Sure, the 68080 CPU is much faster and capable than a 68000, but easing its workload would still be a good idea, especially in higher resolution modes, where copying whole screen memory around to achieve a scroll takes a lot of memory bandwidth.


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
23 Mar 2018 08:52


A1200 coder wrote:

A lot more can already be done yes,

Have you seen the Dragon Crown Demo?

And yes SAGA supports of course HW scrolling.



Edgar Fink

Posts 47
23 Mar 2018 13:46


Is it possible to partake without actually owning a Vampire (I have an A1200)?
 
  Have the vampire developers considered some kind of locked down Vampire emulation development environment? Of course I have no idea if this is even possible, although it would be very nice.


Gerardo G.

Posts 54
23 Mar 2018 15:30


When I will be able to buy a Vampire 600 V2-2.1 again? I couldn't buy it despite being on Kippa's list (since June 2016).

I think there are many people playing with it now and many coders that cannot create anything without the hardware.

As soon as I get one, I will code. It's my daily work! ;)

Best!


Tim Trepanier

Posts 132
23 Mar 2018 15:55


As a retired programmer that became a programmer due to the C64 and Amiga i would love to develop for the Vampire.

But, i can't until i can actually get one here in front of me. I'm having to wait for the stand alone models to be available before i can join the party.


Igor Majstorovic
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 406
23 Mar 2018 16:05


V600 are in production we will know more within next 10 days, for V500 we are doing very good lately. Waiting time is reduced a lot.



Vojin Vidanovic
(Needs Verification)
Posts 1916/ 1
23 Mar 2018 19:01


Edgar Fink wrote:

Is it possible to partake without actually owning a Vampire (I have an A1200)?

No. But it would be nice to create some bounty-loaner scheme for those that Gunnar designate that have a proven record and skills and are willing to contribute. Ideally, every one deserves a Vampire :-)



A1200 Coder

Posts 74
23 Mar 2018 19:34


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

A1200 coder wrote:

  A lot more can already be done yes,
 

  Have you seen the Dragon Crown Demo?
 
  And yes SAGA supports of course HW scrolling.
 

Yes I saw that demo, was done by Flype. Sure, it works. Just thinking that a developer could have some options to choose from, either hardware sprites for simpler things (which are very fast) and AMMX rendering for more complex stuff.

Does this HW scroll mean you've got a similar place in custom  chip address space ($dff000) that works with SAGA screenmodes, in the same way as in OCS/AGA with bplcon1 register? It's quite nice to use it for other effects as well, as you can change horizontal scroll value for each vertical line with copper.



Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
23 Mar 2018 20:02


A1200 coder wrote:

Does this HW scroll mean you've got a similar place in custom  chip address space ($dff000) that works with SAGA screenmodes, in the same way as in OCS/AGA ...

Yes all SAGA registers are in the DFF___ space, in real AMIGA fashion.
Yes you can control them in AMIGA way with the SAGA copper.


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
23 Mar 2018 22:32


Tim Trepanier wrote:

But, i can't until i can actually get one here in front of me. I'm having to wait for the stand alone models to be available before i can join the party.

You have no AMIGA anymore like A500?



Tim Trepanier

Posts 132
23 Mar 2018 23:59


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

  You have no AMIGA anymore like A500?

Just a lot of great memories. I've searched around to buy an Amiga locally but came up empty. I'm in Canada.

I did use emulation with WinUAE around 2004 - 2006. Perhaps i could at least reacquaint myself with that.


M Rickan

Posts 177
24 Mar 2018 03:24


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

  You have no AMIGA anymore like A500?

I think you'll find that many of us are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the standalone.


Gregthe Canuck

Posts 274
24 Mar 2018 07:59


Tim - where in Canada?


Samuel Crow

Posts 424
24 Mar 2018 10:48


@Gunnar von Boehn

I have done an easy hack in AmigaE that causes a 2 bitplane screen to share the same RAM as an AGA sprite.  I plan on using that as part of a library to replace Graphics.library so it's more streamlined overall.  Next step is the Copper support.  Shall we see where this all leads?


Tim Trepanier

Posts 132
24 Mar 2018 15:31


gregthe canuck wrote:

Tim - where in Canada?

Windsor, Ontario

You in Canada too?

I had tried to buy a non-working A500 in Michigan but was out bid.


David Wright

Posts 373
24 Mar 2018 17:00


Tim, I am in the Detroit area. I have an Amiga 500 without a few chips.
I could dig out to inspect.


Tim Trepanier

Posts 132
25 Mar 2018 03:46


David Wright wrote:

Tim, I am in the Detroit area. I have an Amiga 500 without a few chips.

When i struck out at finding a local Amiga to buy i resigned myself to waiting for a stand alone Vampire and i came to realize the long term advantages of that. By the time i bought an Amiga, recapped it, upgraded it, got a monitor solution, etc... it would cost at least as much as a stand alone Vampire. Then i'm left with a 30 year old system. How much longer would it function?

Altimately, if i'm going to develop something it's going to be for the Vampire. Not a classic Amiga. This is just my preference, i have nothing against classic development.

I retired 4 years ago and realized how rusty i was when i helped someone debug a Javascript game for a school project. It's true that you have to use it or lose it.

Right now my plan is to set up WinUAE on my PC, which will lead to several days of gaming ;) Then i'll start reading up to prepare for when the stand alone Vampires are released.

Once i have a Vampire i'm thinking my first project would be to port something to it. That should be an easy way into back into Amiga programming, plus i'm not the kind of person that can come up with original ideas.

I'm sure the Apollo team and other Vampire fans want to see as much development for it as possible. Right now i think the best way to do that is get Vampires' out into the wild as soon as possible.


Gregthe Canuck

Posts 274
25 Mar 2018 10:52


Tim - I am in the Vancouver area.
 
I have an A500 that I purchased as part of a lot a while ago. I could send it to you for the cost of shipping if you like. I have two and both are about the same condition.
 
However, it is in as-is condition with the following issues:
    - untested
    - Rev 5 motherboard (512K chip)
    - Looks like almost every screw is missing
    - Top case had a couple of small switches/buttons installed but they go nowhere
    - Floppy drive missing eject button
 
Good points:
    - no signs of motherboard damage from quick inspection
    - beside a little dirt case looks pretty good (no bad yellowing)
 
Looks like it was someone's unfinished project machine.
 
Let me know if this is something you are willing to take on.

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