AmigaVision 2024.08.18 Released with CD³² Support for MiSTer + Game Updates

[limi]

We are happy to announce that the latest release of AmigaVision is available!

AmigaVision is the ultimate Amiga games & demo scene setup for MiSTer & Pocket FPGAs, emulators, and real Amiga hardware. Open source, community driven.

CD³² Support

This release of AmigaVision adds support for booting CD³² disc images (in CHD or bin/cue formats) on MiSTer directly from the launcher.

If you are unfamiliar with the CD³², it was essentially an Amiga 1200 with a 2× speed CD drive, packaged with gamepads and in a console form factor. While the CD³² never really got its time to shine because of Commodore's bankruptcy soon after launch, there are some fun expansions of existing Amiga games with great CD audio and Full Motion Video intros, so some of its 149 games are worth checking out. Some of our favorites:

• Super Stardust — Fun and extremely polished Asteroids-type game with an incredible tunnel shooter sections and a great CD soundtrack. We recommend using code BZZZZZZZZZB to go straight to the first tunnel level.
• Superfrog — Amiga's answer to Sonic the Hedgehog, a great little platformer with a great sense of speed. The CD³² version has a Full Motion Video cartoon intro.
• Benefactor — Puzzle platformer with a great CD soundtrack.
• Beneath a Steel Sky — One of the best adventure games that isn't a LucasArts game. Great CD soundtrack.

When upgrading AmigaVision, you should always replace all files (except your Saves.hdf) and MiSTer.ini settings when upgrading, and this release is no exception. Back up your existing files if you have custom settings, and re-apply them once everything is working.

If you already have a clean install of AmigaVision 2024.06.06 installed with its config files, the changes to support this are in config/Amiga.cfg, so make sure you at least copy this new file over to have CD support defined as a Secondary Master drive.

Once that is in place, you just select the disc image file from the MiSTer "Drives" menu, and you can start any CD³² disc from the launcher. You will need to supply your own disc images — we recommend CHD files for space efficiency and ease of navigation, but it supports bin/cue formats too.

Operating the CD³² launcher does require a keyboard, a mouse or an analog controller connected to your MiSTer.

Do note that while the majority of CD³² games work (and, even a few CDTV games), this is using a shim combined with MiSTer's CD Audio support in the Amiga core, so not every game will work perfectly — but a good number of them do. Hopefully there will be a core with dedicated CD³² support available in the future.

We maintain a CD32 on MiSTer compatibility spreadsheet along with any special settings needed for games, do leave comments there or in the issue tracker if you have figured out how to get a non-working game working!

Also note that the Amiga core on Analogue Pocket does not have CD-ROM support (yet?), so this feature is only for MiSTer at the moment.

Game Highlights & Updates

• Dynablaster (aka. Bomberman) Battle Mode timed out after 3 seconds instead of 3 minutes, this has been fixed.
• Non-AGA version of Robocod added, since it has an entirely different set of levels.
• Alien Breed (non-Special Edition) added, has better gamepad controls.
• Parasol Stars was listed as an arcade game port — in fact, it is a PC Engine original, so has been removed from that list.
• Various offsets/scaling improved (Turrican 2, Switchblade II).
• Updated configurations to be current with WHDLoad as of 2024.08.14, games added/updated:
  • A320 Airbus
  • A320 Airbus: Edition Europa
  • Aladdin's Magic Lamp
  • Centerbase
  • Evil's Doom
  • Evolution Cryser
  • Fortress Underground
  • Galaga
  • Glubble
  • Grand National
  • Indian Mission (German only)
  • Magic Serpent
  • Pop-Up
  • Shadow Fighter (No-jump-on-start patched version)
  • The Final Trip
  • Tubular Worlds
  • Wrath of the Demon (Scoopex 2021 version that fixes many problems with the original version)

Stay Updated & Help Us Make AmigaVision Even Better

If you find any bugs or settings that need improvements, file a ticket on the AmigaVision web site.

AmigaVision is an open source project, and we welcome contributions from the community. GitHub Pull Requests are very welcome!

You can follow us on Mastodon, Twitter or via RSS, and updates will be posted when new releases happen.

Enjoy the best of what the Amiga platform has to offer!

[niallquinn]

Get in! Many thanks to all involved.

[peke]

thank u so much, I want to play amiga cd 32, but never run the amiga core, where should I start before run update all on my mister?

[Insert Disk Two]

Will .chd images of games work?

[limi]

Will .chd images of games work?

Yes — I vastly prefer it, as it has no downside and saves a lot of space (usually 50% on CDDA games), and doesn’t require an extra step to enter a directory like bin/cue.

(also, literally the first sentence in the CD³² section)

[limi]

thank u so much, I want to play amiga cd 32, but never run the amiga core, where should I start before run update all on my mister?

https://amiga.vision/docs

[hitm4n]

AmigaVision is not in the "update all" ecosystem, but don't let that stop you.

So grab AmigaVision (very first link in Limis post), follow the download links to Archive and grab all the CHD files you need, or are allowed to legally download

AmigaVision comes with a very good readme to follow, very easy to set up and get going with Amiga games, demos, music disks, diskmags and even a full workbench with mod players, art programs and much more. Its ace.

Thanks Limi for this update. CD32 is something i've never ever tried, setting it up in WinUAE was too daunting and no-one else, until now supports it in packages such as this. Superb stuff.

/me watches download list ticking away in background...

[sergius]

It's brilliant!!!

I'm going to try it out as soon as possible.

My dream is coming true

Many thanks to all the devs who helped make this possible.

[sergius]

Is T-Zero includid with CDDA tracks??
If not, how can I install it please?
Maybe it's needed to create a CHD from cd CDROM, but how to do?

[limi]

Is T-Zero includid with CDDA tracks??
If not, how can I install it please?
Maybe it's needed to create a CHD from cd CDROM, but how to do?

There are no CD32 games “included”, this is the software and FPGA support to load CD32 discs.

Based on the info here, it’s unlikely to work:
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=29839

[Retro-Nerd]

T-Zer0 isn't a CD32 game, just an Amiga CD title. But i would assume all the autobooting HDFs, made by DamienD, are working via MiSTer core somehow.

https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t= ... =amiga+hdf

[limi]

We also don’t include configurations for “modern” games that are currently for sale, which I believe is the case for T-Zer0?

But yes, if it’s a CD-distributed game that isn’t using CD32 parts, it probably works with the core as-is, unrelated to AmigaVision.

[Retro-Nerd]

There might be a few copies left in some Amiga stores (it's 25 years now since it was released), but that's the case for some well known "new old stock" disk games from the 90s too (and they are problably included in AmigaVision anyway). Just reselling what's left.

[limi]

Maybe I was confusing it with another game? Didn’t know it was released in 1999

[neogeo81]

I can't run any CD32 games at all. I have them in CHD, load it into secondary Master as removable CD but when i press boot it says no medium in CD0. What am i doing wrong?

[rhester72]

Not sure, tbh - worked for me straight away (even some CDTV titles, despite the warning). Pretty impressive stuff!

[limi]

I can't run any CD32 games at all. I have them in CHD, load it into secondary Master as removable CD but when i press boot it says no medium in CD0. What am i doing wrong?

Did you do a clean install?

https://amiga.vision/docs#upgrading

[peke]

are there plans to make it a stand alone core?

[limi]

There doesn’t seem to be an appetite for a CDTV nor a CD32 core as far as I can tell, so this is what we have for now. You can of course configure the same setup using MGL files to boot directly into the CD32 setup, which is what I did before adding it to AmigaVision.

Currently, 31 games are not working, 105 games are working, and hopefully we can increase that number over time.

[MiSTer Consoles]

There doesn’t seem to be an appetite for a CDTV nor a CD32 core as far as I can tell, so this is what we have for now. You can of course configure the same setup using MGL files to boot directly into the CD32 setup, which is what I did before adding it to AmigaVision.

Currently, 31 games are not working, 105 games are working, and hopefully we can increase that number over time.

I was actually hoping to create a new "core" in my _console folder for the CD32. Would I just need to make a new MGL file with the information below or would I also need to create some configs similar to the ones for Amiga and Amiga500?

Code: Select all

<mistergamedescription>
    <rbf>_computer/minimig</rbf>
    <setname>CD32</setname>
</mistergamedescription>

[neogeo81]

I can't run any CD32 games at all. I have them in CHD, load it into secondary Master as removable CD but when i press boot it says no medium in CD0. What am i doing wrong?

Did you do a clean install?

https://amiga.vision/docs#upgrading

Solved. I have my config files as minimig and forgot to rename the new ones.

[limi]

to create a new "core" in my _console folder for the CD32. Would I just need to make a new MGL file with the information below or would I also need to create some configs similar to the ones for Amiga and Amiga500?

Yes, that was the approach until we integrated it into AmigaVision, so that works. You can also make a dedicated HDF that boots directly into the CD32 launcher + has a separate directory for the games.

If people like that approach, I could certainly include it in the next version of AmigaVision too.

[neogeo81]

to create a new "core" in my _console folder for the CD32. Would I just need to make a new MGL file with the information below or would I also need to create some configs similar to the ones for Amiga and Amiga500?

Yes, that was the approach until we integrated it into AmigaVision, so that works. You can also make a dedicated HDF that boots directly into the CD32 launcher + has a separate directory for the games.

If people like that approach, I could certainly include it in the next version of AmigaVision too.

A dedicated CD32 launch mgl with hdf would be a cool bonus, yes.

[breiztiger]

with config files are not name amiga vision (.mgl and .cfg) ?

and i get and "internel hardware error " with microcosm ...

[neogeo81]

with config files are not name amiga vision (.mgl and .cfg) ?

and i get and "internel hardware error " with microcosm ...

as i start the core the old way (minimig.rbf) i don't use the MGL Amiga.mgl and Amiga500.mgl files. So for the config files to work with the standard minimig core it needs to have the minimig name and not amiga.cfg.

[MiSTer Consoles]

to create a new "core" in my _console folder for the CD32. Would I just need to make a new MGL file with the information below or would I also need to create some configs similar to the ones for Amiga and Amiga500?

Yes, that was the approach until we integrated it into AmigaVision, so that works. You can also make a dedicated HDF that boots directly into the CD32 launcher + has a separate directory for the games.

If people like that approach, I could certainly include it in the next version of AmigaVision too.

That would be awesome. Thanks!

[limi]

Here’s the MGL I have been using before the AmigaVision integration:

_Consoles/Amiga CD32.mgl

Code: Select all

<mistergamedescription>
    <rbf>_computer/minimig</rbf>
    <setname>AmigaCD32</setname>
</mistergamedescription>

This will look for files in games/AmigaCD32. You will have to point it to an HDF and Kickstart, configure it as an 020 CPU etc.

[limi]

In other news, we are up to 123 out of 151 CD32 games working now!

https://amiga.vision/cd32

[clarkkent]

Any news because of the missing games?
https://github.com/amigavision/AmigaVision/issues/180

[Chris23235]

Many many thanks Limi, so many great additions in this version.

Operating the CD³² launcher does require a mouse or an analog controller connected to your MiSTer.

Note, that you can also use the keyboard if you don't have a mouse or analog controller at hand. The CD32 launcher also has keyboard shortcuts for every action. Just press the WINDOWS key and the underscored letter for the command (WIN+B to boot or WIN+F for NoFastMem, etc.).

I found this much more comfortable then an analog controller.