Demos - Ready-To-Run VHDs

[RealLarry]

I'm starting with creating ready-2-run demo VHD images and made a first one with a new STE demo called The (Fucking) (Complex) Art of Profanity. This one works with EmuTOS and TOS 2.06 - for the latter I've installed HDDriver/Demo for which you have to press a key to continue. The AutoLoader (InsaneBoot) for the demo needs one second to continue (or just press Enter).

Download here

If you are happy with that and have favorite demo you'd love to see as a ready-2-run VHD, don't hesitate to ask here. Multi-Demo VHDs also possible.

[akeley]

I suppose a one big multi-demo vhd would be a nice thing to have. I'm not that interested in ST to download them one-by-one, I'd probably just grab some disk collection instead...

[RealLarry]

I suppose a one big multi-demo vhd would be a nice thing to have. I'm not that interested in ST to download them one-by-one, I'd probably just grab some disk collection instead...

I already thougt that Well, no problem...any favorites?

[akeley]

Nah, I know very little abou that scene. Amiga rulez OK here

The Best Of, or Best By Year would do me fine, something like on MegaAGS.

[RealLarry]

Hehe, I'll have a look at DemoZoo and try to test the best

[jca]

I suppose you are talking about vhd for demos only, not games but some years back a link had been posted (likely on the old forum on Atari forum) for an image which, if I remember correctly, was MegaAGS style. It is named Atari3gb.vhd. I will test it when I have some time.

[RealLarry]

I suppose you are talking about vhd for demos only, not games [...]

Correct, demos only. I already did some game VHDs for personal purpose (MIDI games, "50 best", ...) but am afraid of offering them here 'cause of copyright reasons.
I collected some hDD images in the past, namely 2009-FourGM, 2010-1GB, 2011-PPSD, 2013-SupHD, 2018-Petari, 202x-ParanoidLittleMan, Games_HDs, Juegos, Portes - maybe this helps one in finding them somewhere by name...

[jca]

It did a very quick test at lunch time. It is not like the MegaAGS as it does not have the menu system, it is just a bunch of disks on the desktop, mainly games, named A-F for example but there is also a disk named fun containing a Demo directory which itself contains directories like Oxygen and so. So there are quite a few demos.

[RealLarry]

Just uploaded a first demo compilation. Use the download link from post #1.
This is just a test to have an eye on my customers satisfaction. It if hits your benevolent attention, it will be extended. Most of the demos are compatible with TOS and EmuTOS - if not, it is marked as "(TOS)" or "(EMU)"

Set up the Atari ST core to STE with 4MB RAM, Screen Color, the downloaded harddisk as HDD0 and TOS or EmuTOS as TOS. Reset the Core if neccessary.

Have fun!

[breiztiger]

very good !!!

thanks for your work

edit : 14 - We Where (2015) doesn't start (lack of msa disk)

[RealLarry]

edit : 14 - We Where (2015) doesn't start (lack of msa disk)

Thanks for reporting, fixed now. Please re-download.

[pepito]

This is GREAT !
I hope to see a bigger VHD image including more and more best demos !

[RealLarry]

This is GREAT !
I hope to see a bigger VHD image including more and more best demos !

Thanks. I'll continue expanding this one and creating new ones when I see a more or less significant number of happy users. That's why I called this "Test"...to see what is possible with which tools and what effort. Result: Possible with low effort and useful tools available.

[NegSol]

I love it! Thank you!!!

[RealLarry]

Glad to hear that some of you are enjoying these little ones. I can already warn you that something really great is coming soon...: The (almost) complete Persistence Of Vision set of demos!
I'm in the half of the 2nd half of testing and fixing all 165 floppy images (= ~850 demos). Has to take some time to do the quick tests with the great Hatari emulator and the "real test" with the MiSTery core. There's also a bug in the used menu which causes a very long read time (~40 seconds) to create the complete quick-access list.

Have patience for a few more days.

https://demozoo.org/groups/31804/

[RascalUK]

Thanks for this RealLarry, currently have Bad Apple roaring out, which I am sure the neighbours love too.

[RealLarry]

This is a harddisk containing the complete set of demos from Persistence Of Vision. This set originally consists of 165 floppy disks = 859 menus, demos, intros and so on.
I've tested every one by using the Hatari emulator with TOS 2.06/4MB/Stereo as a ground start to ensure a proper run of the demos, the same run with the MiSTery core. My resulting recommendation is to generally use TOS 1.62/4MB/Stereo with this set. Demos that need a different system setup are marked with the needed settings. Also have a look at the begiining of the listing for a legend.

The harddisk image is driven by a demo version of the famous HDDRIVER by Uwe Seimet.

Due to the long loading time of the complete list (author of hdmenu is informed), I was forced to split the image into four partitions to reduce waiting period when menu starts. To change the partition you are booting from, just press the wanted drive letter (D to F, C is standard) right after "powering on" your Atari. You can hear a key click as a "confirmation". Fixed in v2, thanks to simonsunnyboy!

Because HDDRIVER is a demo version, you'll have to press a key to continue the boot process - you can use this as a chance to repeat entering the drive letter to speedup boot process.

From 859 demos I found 79 broken, meaning incompatible, won't run from harddisk or won't run at all. And this is where you can help!
I could "repair" some demos by replacing them from another source, but if you find other/working system settings or a working copy of the demo, feel free to contact me so we can complete this demo set to it's final glory.

To download the image see link in post #1. The image is named Demos-POV_v02.7z for "Version 02 - unfinished".

Have fun and gimme a thanks if you are satisfied

[kathleen]

From 859 demos I found 79 broken, meaning incompatible, won't run from harddisk or won't run at all. And this is where you can help!
I could "repair" some demos by replacing them from another source, but if you find other/working system settings or a working copy of the demo, feel free to contact me so we can complete this demo set to it's final glory.

Do you have a list of the ones which are incompatible to give a try on my side ?

EDIT, stupid girl I'm one more time, it is clearly written in the menu the demos which are broken
Sorry I was too fast with my stupid question

[RealLarry]

Do you have a list of the ones which are incompatible to give a try on my side ?

EDIT, stupid girl I'm one more time, it is clearly written in the menu the demos which are broken
Sorry I was too fast with my stupid question

Nonono, don't be shy, 'lil girl! Your question is correct and you aren't stupid. Maybe blind. But definitly not stupid.
Just in case someone (else) is looking for the list of broken demos, here it is:

[badvision]

I suppose a one big multi-demo vhd would be a nice thing to have. I'm not that interested in ST to download them one-by-one, I'd probably just grab some disk collection instead...

I already thougt that Well, no problem...any favorites?

Checkpoint: "Thunderdome" (their Second Reality 2013 is really nice too)
Synergy: "Megademo"
SMFX & DHS : "The F***** art of profanity"
Equinox: "Virtual Escape"
Sector One + Dune : "Odd Stuff"
TCB: "Cuddly Demos"
ULM: "Dark Side of the Spoon"

[RealLarry]

I suppose a one big multi-demo vhd would be a nice thing to have. I'm not that interested in ST to download them one-by-one, I'd probably just grab some disk collection instead...

I already thougt that Well, no problem...any favorites?

Checkpoint: "Thunderdome" (their Second Reality 2013 is really nice too)
Synergy: "Megademo"
SMFX & DHS : "The F***** art of profanity"
Equinox: "Virtual Escape"
Sector One + Dune : "Odd Stuff"
TCB: "Cuddly Demos"
ULM: "Dark Side of the Spoon"

Good initiative! Profanity, Spoon and Odd Stuff are ready to go, but I couldn't find HDD versions of Spoon, Megademo, Virtual Escape and Thunderdome - only "encrypted" MSA floppys, so I need other sources of them or extractable floppy images... Same goes to Second Reality 2013, sadly.

[niallquinn]

Sorry bit late to the party, but yes an "amigavision" style of release is welcome for the ST/STE. Has their been any more updates on this?

Many thanks!

[RealLarry]

Sorry bit late to the party, but yes an "amigavision" style of release is welcome for the ST/STE. Has their been any more updates on this?

An AmigaVision style requires a volunteer who is doing all the programming around this. And for lack of intentions, requests etc, there's unfortunately no progress here.

[niallquinn]

@reallarry, is what way is the list of "broken" ones, well broken? I mean the ones you've listed work fine for me in emulators. What format do they need to be in MRA, ST, PRG, STS, etc. Whichever format you need them in, let me know, and I'll sort something out.

Or do you mean they're broken in Mister?

[RealLarry]

@reallarry, is what way is the list of "broken" ones, well broken? I mean the ones you've listed work fine for me in emulators. What format do they need to be in MRA, ST, PRG, STS, etc. Whichever format you need them in, let me know, and I'll sort something out.

Or do you mean they're broken in Mister?

"broken" means that the specific demo doesn't work either on Hatari and/or MiSTer. I've tested almost all demos on both systems, with different TOS versions, system defaults (ST/STE, 1 or 4MB RAM) and if the demo still doesn't work, it is considered broken.
But "broken" doesn't mean that it is really broken. It could be because of the used menu program, a missed setting or any other borked screw I hadn't on the radar.
Especially the POV demos were exhausting. Many of them aren't simple .tos or .prg files so I had to fumble out what and how to get them running.

[niallquinn]

Ah, but Hatari is a good emulator, but it's like not really for demos that may try tricks and push the hardware.
SSSteam still gets regular updates. PAcifiST was another one, that aimed to be cycle exact but never requite made it.
The most complete St emulator, which sadly hasn't been updated for years, was SAint because it's "cycle exact". Last version was in 2015, mainly because it's totally done, ran everything.
I'd try messing around with them in Saint, if it works in that, wel, it's eitherr Misters core not up to it yet. Or it's just a messing around with TOS versions etc.

Good luck!!

[niallquinn]

Thanks for the POV image.

What I'd like to see is, 86 to 2024. So you get all the early good stuff, Big Demo, Union Demo, Carebears stuff, intros from LSD/Automation compact, intros from the pompey pireates compacts and everything else in between, a bit like the amigavision

I've got thousands and thousands of them in st format, just not the skills to convert them into a bootable VHD desktop. I bet a lot have to be directly booted as well, and won't work from the desktop?

[RealLarry]

Thanks for the POV image.

What I'd like to see is, 86 to 2024. So you get all the early good stuff, Big Demo, Union Demo, Carebears stuff, intros from LSD/Automation compact, intros from the pompey pireates compacts and everything else in between, a bit like the amigavision

I've got thousands and thousands of them in st format, just not the skills to convert them into a bootable VHD desktop.

Thanks for your initiative! Name them and if they're still available at demozoo or pouet, I'll take them into account. But, please, don't send a list of dozens of thousands

I bet a lot have to be directly booted as well, and won't work from the desktop?

That depends and we'll see if the disk is having a very special format or can be accessed as normal and then copied and started by the hdmenu.

[niallquinn]

@Larry, you mentioned you used HDdriver, but the demo only goes up to 2meg partitions.

I've got every release by every group, 1986 to 2024, a lot have been "WHD", some are still MRA. So the question is, how do I created a 10gig VHD that boots to the desktop, is manageable, and can run MRA files as well?

I'm uploading them all at the moment, got all those demos, every release for the falcon, and every game released in a "WHD" format also. If I knew how to do it, I could create 2 mega VHDs, one with all the demos, and one with all game releases.

[RealLarry]

@Larry, you mentioned you used HDdriver, but the demo only goes up to 2meg partitions.

Is that so?? I'm preparing my VHDs up to 500MB with a registered HDDriver and when finished, I'm installing the demo version of it to make it publishable. Never had an issue - see the POV demos.

I've got every release by every group, 1986 to 2024, a lot have been "WHD", some are still MRA. So the question is, how do I created a 10gig VHD that boots to the desktop, is manageable, and can run MRA files as well?

I'm using Linux and mtools to create and assemble a VHD. The menu is driven by hdmenu. Quick tests are made with the Hatari emulator, then with a real STE, finally with MiSTery. If a demo doesn't work properly, the same procedure is made again with different parameters, like TOS, available RAM, machine setting...

I'm uploading them all at the moment, got all those demos, every release for the falcon, and every game released in a "WHD" format also. If I knew how to do it, I could create 2 mega VHDs, one with all the demos, and one with all game releases.

That would another way: One VHD for every demo. The only advantage here would be the faster loading times imho.