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Re: Toy Shop

sicklittlemonkey wrote:

On Jan 21, 10:42 pm, "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:


Yes, I meant keeping the partial (and whole) tracks properly
time-aligned so that protection code would find the right things.



I've thought about this a bit. The main problems are that (a) sync is
difficult to calculate on an Apple II, and (b) no emulator that I know
of simulates adjacent track positioning, primarily because NIB doesn't
store the length.


Actually, it's pretty easy to get on an Apple.  You read track 0,
sector 0 address mark, then seek to the track you want to read and
start storing nibbles.

This allows a precise cycle count from address mark of T0S0 and
every other track--with the only uncertainty being any fluctuation
in rotational speed (which a protection scheme would have to
tolerate in any case).


It should be possible to have ADTPro send each track image and process
it server-side (length, sync marks) then send that analysis back to
read the next track with sync.


It's an easy analysis on an Apple II, we don't need no stinkin'
servers.  ;-)


I know there are some collectors who prize preserving the protections
themselves, but just keeping an archive of deprotection of them would
preserve the technology.  Copying the copy-protections themselves is
just perverse.  ;-)



I'd like to be able to have (and _use_) images that are as close to
the original as possible, but are easily created by anyone with an
Apple II. They can still be partially deprotected but in their
original format - like a firearm made inoperable. ;-) This could be a
NIB-like format.


It is possible to recreate everything about a game's behavior--
except perhaps the nibble count seeking sounds ;-)--from a completely
deprotected game.

All games began life deprotected, then the protection was added
just before going into production.  The protection adds *nothing*
to the game play.


There's value in preserving everything - including the protection -
but that's for a different purpose, and it looks like the specialised
tools to do that are almost here. That format won't be NIB-like, but I
wonder if it could serve both purposes: use and preservation.


I agree, but only for protection fans, not for people who want to use
the program.  (I was one of those fans, finding deprotection much more
fun than playing the game!)

-michael

NadaNet 3.1 for Apple II parallel computing!
Home page:  http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."