Native Acorn Archimedes games on the Raspberry Pi!!!

[Vanfanel]

The Acorn Archimedes is an awesome computer, and, to my knowledge the second time an ARM processor powered a computer.
Think of it as an "Amiga on steroids, and with a british accent".

Now, thanks to the efforts of the Risc OS genius Jonathan Abbott, a man with an unusual perseverance and dedication, paired with the deepest possible knowledge of "THE ARM OPERATING SYSTEM", Risc OS, we have some of the Acorn Archimedes games "fixed" to work on the Raspberry Pi.... natively!!!

So:
-Download the latest available ready-to-use system image (http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads)

-Download the latest Risc OS OS ROM (https://www.riscosopen.org/content/down ... r-zipfiles) and install it on your FAT boot partition.

-Download ADFFS 2.39b (http://forums.jaspp.org.uk:9000/forum/viewforum.php?f=9) and while you're at Jon's home forum, say hello to him and pick some of the compatible games he has the rights to distribute.

-Uncompress ADFFS inside Risc OS (DON'T decompress ANYTHING Risc OS outside Risc OS or you'll lose the filetype data of the archives!!) and the ADF game you want.

-Double click the ADF image. Now the disk is "inserted" in the virtual floppy drive.

-Click with the middle button of your mouse on the ADFFS icon on the lower dock and select "boot floppy". If your mouse doesn't have a middle button, click using it's "wheel".

Have fun!!!

PD: The Risc OS installation with an updated ROM is tricky, I know. It will be corrected when the Risc OS version available for download is updated.
You can also buy a ready-to-use and updated Risc OS version at ROOL site:
https://www.riscosopen.org/content/sales
Risc OS, albeit free and open software, is worth every penny (now that it runs Acorn Archimedes games natively, that's it!)

[Vanfanel]

I find it rather strange that no one answered on this topic.
Do you guys realize how incredible is playing the BEST home computer version of PacMania on the Raspberry Pi with a perfect frame rate? Or Magic Pockets, Professor Mariarti...
This ADFFS isn't my work, but you guys in the "gaming" section of the Raspberry Pi forum should REALLY check this project out.

[Trixster]

Zarch?

[welshy]

Vanfanel
I have added to the Emulation on the Raspberry Pi Thread, hopefully this will provide more interest in Jonathan's excellent work! Also for anybody reading this Thread who read my comments on its performance and have no recollection/knowledge of the Archimedes (probably most users outside the UK), below is a Link to a Game comparison Video, Virus vs. Zarch (Atari ST version against Archimedes). Well I say comparison, it really isn't in the same League!

Here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjVeZ9c9fLM

[welshy]

Zarch?

Its on the compatibility List, getting hold of an Image is more problematic! (although Lander, the Demo) is easily available.

[AmigaGamer]

Vanfanel,

Thanks for posting this guide, its really interesting getting native RISC OS games running on the pi.
There's a new rc12 image on the download page since you posted this. Not sure if its the same kernel you recommended updating to? I've tested the rc12 image with latest adffs beta and magic pockets and it works great without manually updating anything

[Vanfanel]

@AmigaGamer: yes, things are way easier now, with RC12 image including an updated system ROM by default
I'm glad I found someone else who can understand the importance of this, the fine work John Abbott is doing and how cool is having these games on the Pi without lame emulators which don't do any justice to the games.
Please, take a minute and thank John on the JASPP forum. He's doing an awesome work, comparable to Whdload on our beloved Amigas, and it's being mostly ignored. That makes me very sad

[AmigaGamer]

ADFFS has been updated to 2.43

Time to try BattleChess!

[toxibunny]

I remember chatting about this on the irc chamnel years ago. the consensus was 'technically possible but unlikely to ever happen', so this is great to see!

[mrflange]

Hi! Just recieved my raspberry pi b+ and fired straight into RISC OS and found that the latest version of ADFFS (2.43?) was unavailable due to hardware failures at the host. I was wondering if someone has a zip of this they could share? I would be very grateful as the version i have just will not run any archimedes games whatsoever.

Thanks in anticipation!

[AmigaGamer]

With the new image of riscos RC14 released, im making a shameless BUMP of this post up the list.

But im asking myself, why isnt this one of the top threads in gaming/emulation already?

My first instinct is to post a /rant about how this threads been forgotten.. but my minds too consumed over whether to play Cannon fodder, magic pockets, lemmings, Heimdall or Gods NATIVELY on the Pi with no emulation bugs or nasty slowdowns....

Even if your not a gamer but you have an interest in systems/programming, take a look at vanfanels original post and links to the archemedies software preservation project. Some fantastic work has gone into porting this stuff to the PI

[Higgy]

Cheers for this. A friend had an Archimedes, I remember a car game with a Jag looking car, an Outrun style game.

We had them at school, but I was in the dunce group for computers (!!) so only had access to BBC Mircos (that is why I did my work at home on my AMIGA ).

I remember 'sneeking' into the classroom one lunchtime as seeing Top Banana, the Virus type game Zarch!? and a space game like Frontier 2.

I will try and get around to looking at running this Archimedes stuff, thanks for the info.

[Vanfanel]

With the new image of riscos RC14 released, im making a shameless BUMP of this post up the list.

But im asking myself, why isnt this one of the top threads in gaming/emulation already?

My first instinct is to post a /rant about how this threads been forgotten.. but my minds too consumed over whether to play Cannon fodder, magic pockets, lemmings, Heimdall or Gods NATIVELY on the Pi with no emulation bugs or nasty slowdowns....

Even if your not a gamer but you have an interest in systems/programming, take a look at vanfanels original post and links to the archemedies software preservation project. Some fantastic work has gone into porting this stuff to the PI

Why has people largely ignored this, is beyond me. I believe people simply prefer braindead gaming without much technical implications or do not understand why having Archimedes games running on the Pi natively is awesome from a technical point of view.

For me, this is the most awesome thing I've ever seen on the Pi.

[toxibunny]

what games are good then?

[dom]

Cheers for this. A friend had an Archimedes, I remember a car game with a Jag looking car, an Outrun style game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Type_%28video_game%29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdoXcwIFM4M

[ringdings]

I stumbled across this topic on Monday then immediately tried to get it working when I got home with RC12. No luck.
Then yesterday I saw RC14 came out and I gave it another try... again without luck.

I'm using ADFFS 2.47b
I can unzip it within RISC OS and I get the ADFFS icon on the bar at the bottom but whichever ADF I mount I get either a blank screen or an error when I boot floppy. (tried zarch, lander, pacmania so far)

I've set type on the ADFs to floppy.

I'm definitely a RISC OS beginner so I'm probably missing something.

[Higgy]

Cheers for this. A friend had an Archimedes, I remember a car game with a Jag looking car, an Outrun style game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Type_%28video_game%29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdoXcwIFM4M

Thanks, thats the one.

[strawberrytau]

This looks fantastic, but I'm struggling to get it to work. Can an expert please post a step by step guide to set this up with the latest RISCOS version (or perhaps the upcoming new RC for the RPi2)?

Thanks a lot!

Update: Hang on! The new and shiny RC14 has now been released!

I'll try and get this working on the new OS.

[strawberrytau]

I'm having the same problem on RC14.

I have installed ADFFS (I skipped the previous steps in the OP as I think that all the ROMS are included in RC14). I can run ADFFS but when I try to Boot from a floppy I get an "Internal error: abort on data transfer" and then the system crashes.

Any ideas?

I am also finding filetype corruption when I download files. They are almost always wrong and I have to edit them. Could these issues be related?

[Fidelius]

This looks fantastic, but I'm struggling to get it to work. Can an expert please post a step by step guide to set this up [..]

Yes, could some kind person please make the OP's guide how to use ADFFS more "idiot proof" ? It's some decades ago when we last used a real Archimedes. Today we need everything in small bites and slooowly explained. :-)

[Vanfanel]

Ok guys, some notes:

-This is *still* not compatible with Rpi2. More on it here:
http://forums.jaspp.org.uk:9000/forum/v ... ?f=8&t=194
It will be compatible with Pi2 eventually, according to the genious behind ADFFS.

-Use latest ADFFS version. It's here:
http://forums.jaspp.org.uk:9000/forum/v ... ?f=9&t=189
Check for new versions often!

-You need to use the JASPP project ADFs, not some random ADF you find around.
These are here:
http://forums.jaspp.org.uk:9000/forum/v ... 3ed4aa2238

-You must have Sparkfs loaded BEFORE you try to boot from floppy using ADDFs. It's in the Utilities folder of every Risc OS distribution!

-Use the latest Risc OS, don't use RC12. New system ROM is needed for audio to work as intended.

I will try to answer every question you guys have. So go on and ask. Jon, the talented ADFFS author, helped me to get this working and I will help others in the same way.

[ringdings]

Thanks for the help.

"You must have Sparkfs loaded BEFORE you try to boot from floppy using ADDFs"
If the Sparkfs icon is showing on the bar at the bottom does that indicate it is loaded?

[Vanfanel]

Thanks for the help.

"You must have Sparkfs loaded BEFORE you try to boot from floppy using ADDFs"
If the Sparkfs icon is showing on the bar at the bottom does that indicate it is loaded?

Yes

[ringdings]

OK I've got Pacmania working. It seems identical to the Amiga version.

So my ADFs work in an emulator only.
Most of the games on JASPP are on other platforms too. I'd like to get exclusives like Zarch (I know Virus was on Amiga too) but it looks like my Zarch ADF doesn't work

[strawberrytau]

Thanks for the tips Vanfanel. I was failing at the first hurdle. Trying to run this on my RPi2!