Re: Apple II version of Activision's H.E.R.O.

[Andy McFadden <fadden@fadden.com>]

Mike OMalley <m.SPAMNOomalleyNOSPAM@cqu.edu.auspammenot> wrote:
> What about getting the SHKs / SDKs onto a real Apple ][ ??  Null modem
> cables, ADT, a working Apple 2, some spare desk space, etc are all required.
> So, like I said to work with SDKs and SHK's on a real Apple 2 can be a real
> pain.

I don't understand why a .DSK or .NIB is better here.  .NIB files can't
be converted back for use on a real Apple II, and .DSK requires exactly
what you describe above.  With .SDK you can copy the files with a null
modem, a CF card, a floppy disk, or an AppleTalk network and then unpack
them with ShrinkIt.  (In fact, I've done all of the above *except* ADT.)

> Errr, what about extracting SHK's / SDKs when they are on a disk with
> limited space ?

Disk images generally get small enough that they'll fit on a disk of the
appropriate size.  If you have two 5.25" drives on a //e, you can put
the .SDK file on one drive and unpack it to the other.  This was a big
deal when downloading disk images from a BBS, less important if you're
wired up to a serial port and can use ADT.

> What about extracting a SHK of ProDOS files onto a DOS 3.3 disk ?  What
> about extracting a SHK of DOS programs on a ProDOS disk ?  Some DOS programs
> don't like running on ProDOS disks.  It's not always easy to tell what OS to
> use before extracting the files.
> 
> This all makes SHKs / SDK's a pain to use, imho.

I don't understand this part.  Shrinkit archives hold ProDOS files or
disk images.  They don't hold DOS 3.3 files.  If you have a DOS 3.3 disk,
you have to make a disk image.  There is no ambiguity.

If you're arguing that disk archives are better than file archives, there
are arguments to be made either way.  File archives used to be much better,
but as emulators became more popular, disk images became the better choice.
My current medium of choice is 20MB ProDOS hard drive images, because I
can shift them between CF cards, hard drives, and flopticals (though the
latter are starting to fail), and they'll boot up in KEGS.

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