Re: Dark Crystal and Time Zone

[Kieron Wilkinson <kieron.wilkinson@gmail.com>]

Hi all,

Thanks for the kind words on KryoFlux. I thought I might just chip in
a few comments if that is okay. Sorry this is all lumped into one
post...

> only the writing once the NIB has been pre-edited. In fine, let's hope
> KryoFlux gets disk write support soon, that should be the beginning of
> the end of this kind of trouble, at least for those people who own one

Writing is very much in development now. However, we will be starting
small and the first version will likely write IPF files only. Why?
Because they are like a master disk, and contain not only what to
write, but also how to write it (exactly what we need for reliable
writing). Once we have that out there and working, we're hoping to
move on to supporting other types of images. Simple sector-images
(.dsk, etc.) would probably be next on the list for support. Note that
writing "raw" data like flux transition files is a bit like copying a
VHS tape, the quality degrades, and your mileage will vary on how well
it works.

Just didn't want to get your hopes up too soon...

> as Asimov etc. What doesn't work is reading your copy protected disk
> into an image and having it work in an emulator right away without going
> through SPS; they say it's because it takes some human analysis, but I
> guess it's also because they want to add the images to their own archive.

That is indeed a difficult one to explain to people. It's certainly
not about accumulating our own archive, we don't get much time to play
the stuff anyway, sadly. But yes, it does require some human analysis
in order to create IPF files. As I say above, it's about describing
the data that is on a disk, as well as the actual content. Only that
way can we ensure that the disk is good, and authentic - and that's
our prime motivation. Coming from the Amiga, we got rather fed up with
mainly cracks being available for long-term storage.

I can understand that some people don't like our strict stance on what
copies we will produce IPF's for. One problem is that if you have a hi-
score save on a disk, we just see that disk as modified. Is it just hi-
scores? Or perhaps it is virus damage? User hacking? We can't easily
tell. Also, if we accept a non-mint copy, people may assume it is
mint, and that may very well make it harder to get people to help us
find a really mint version. We have gone to great lengths for various
games that were incredibly hard to find. For example, we spent years
and many 100's EUR buying multiple copies of Giana Sisters (pulled a
few weeks after release) on the Amiga until we found a mint version.

Of course, this strategy is not always appropriate on other systems.
For example, in Japan, it was unusual to use commercial-grade
duplicators for writing disks. That is a problem for us, and we are
currently thinking about what we are going to do about it. Maybe the
Apple2 is a similar case.

> personally find the software license a bit restrictive, it's a "no
> commercial use, no reverse engineering" license with lots of legalese
> mumbo-jumbo.

Agreed. We came up with that one about 10 years ago, which was a very
different time. Things have changed a lot since then. We've used it
now just as a stop-gap license until we sort out something better, but
I admit it may not exactly give a good impression in the interim.

> a real Disk ][, for that matter.  And nobody can actually _do_
> anything with the raw output yet besides submit it to them, with which
> they will do... what, exactly?  I guess I just need to keep quiet and
> wait for write capability.

Feel free not to keep quiet :)

The raw output is really a communication protocol from the hardware to
the host system, and is optimised for bandwidth and processing
efficiency. It's not really a format, and it's not exactly an ideal
representation for long-term storage. What's really needed is a
properly specified flux-reversal file format, and that is what we
intend to do - a fully documented and open one (called DRAFT). We're
working on writing first though :)

That said, we're currently in the process of documenting the stream
format anyway. Both to put people's minds to rest, and for those that
want to play with it and don't want to wait for DRAFT. It's in a early
stage right now, but we have some contractual obligations to produce
it, so it needs to be done sooner rather than later.

> The irony of "copy-protecting" their techniques is interesting...  ;-)

I'd say it was more "unintentional obfuscation" or simply "lack of
documentation". We're just starting out after all :)

If it's the same situation a year from now, then we really do need a
bit of a kick...!

Kieron Wilkinson
(KryoFlux + SPS)