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Re: Backing up Larry
sicklittlemonkey wrote:
Hi Michael.
.NIB is *way* out of date
Agreed. But SST stores the track data and extra info into the packed
disks, so I'm still wondering what's possible here.
It only stores the nibble stream--not the bit stream--and relative
track timing is, IIRC, lost. And it only stores the stream for full
tracks, and some games used info recorded on *quarter* tracks. And
there is no indication of "soft" (not reliably readable) nibbles, etc.,
etc. So I'd say that .nib has so far to go that it would be a mistake
to call any capable replacement by the same name!
Apparently, .fdi format has all the required information, but it's a
lot more complex than .dsk and .nib formats--maybe a little too much
for an Apple II.
... so anyone can use it easily.
For an emulator, the image format is practically irrelevant in terms of
ease of use, wouldn't you agree? Perhaps for writing back to floppy you
have a point, though.
Not being a big emulator fan, I was thinking of convertibility.
The *only* difference would be the noises that the drive makes ...
Well, I'm re-imaging Borg because it's not the only difference. And
what about hidden messages like that on Cannonball Blitz. (Wasn't it
"Bet you can't crack this one"?) I doubt that's in the cracked file.
Tidbits of history being lost every day ...
No, I'll bet that the message is still there--along with the rest
of the code.
Although early pirates may have done occasional violence to some
part of a game, most did not--the play of the game depends on it,
and it's just more work to change things that don't need changing.
The two (related) things that many did was: change the boot process,
and add a crack screen. Changing the boot process is the change I was
referring to (disk noises), but the crack screen is gratuitous and need
not be added. (In some cases of cracks, it can be removed, but many
replaced the original game's splash screen.)
Still, I know you're ever the practical type, Michael, so your reality
checks are always appreciated. ;-)
Thanks. ;-)
-michael
Music synthesis for 8-bit Apple II's!
Home page: http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/
"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it is seriously underused."