HDD Image for x68030 - v20210131

[Shoometsu]

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HDD Image for x68030 v20210131
by Shoometsu

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Well, my first contact with a x68000 was in 2016 when my x68030 arrived at home. Since then I found out that so many games weren't compatible with it, and those which are may run better/worse/faster than in a standard x68000 machine. So I searched everywhere about information on fix for those games, applying them in order to run games properly in a x68030 environment. That said, I believe this image might be better suited / targeted for actual x68030 machines rather than emulator users (we're already able to run x680x0 software in XM6 TypeG anyway).

Since I couldn't find much information for x68030 owners on the Internet, and as a result of a few months of tinkering, I decided to share this work in order to help and be helped by other x68030 users.

Me, like most newbies which got a x680x0 machine, started with the following:

•   nfggames HDD Disk Image V4 downloaded at https://nfggames.com/X68000;
•   GameSX wiki at https://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:x68000;
•   Some tools from x68000 Library at http://www.retropc.net/x68000.

From this point on, I got freedom to made some tweaks here and there, being the most noticeable the following:.

•     Forced system drive to be C:, floppy drives 0 and 1 to be A: and B:;
•     Increased available disk space while eliminating file redundancies, and storing standard drivers in folders which are listed in PATH environment (i.e. OPMDRV,PCM8,PCM8A,ZMSC, and ZMUSIC to name a few);
•     Applied fixes and game tweaks which - I inderstood that - improved compatibility and gaming experience;
•     Removed some games originally in nfggames V4 image (personal taste and/or compatibility issues);
•     Added vTwentyOne, FLOAT4, HIOCS030 and 030SysPatch software (you may need to change or disable some of them according to your hardware setup);
•     Added 30SPEED.R setting in some games which has speed issues in x68030.
•     Fixed Granada opening crash while running from HDD with 30SPEED (x68030 only);
•     Added English translations for games when available;
•     Added new games in "Games4" folder, more on that ahead in CHANGELOG section, keep reading.

MY SETUP

I'll list it here to give you an insight of the environment in which I've tested everything:

  ACTUAL HARDWARE:

•   Sharp x68030 (CZ-500C) with MC68030 (On-chip MMU) @ 25.0MHz;
•   MC68882 Floating Point Unit;
•   SH-5BE4-8M memory expansion board (total of 12MB RAM);
•   Compact Flash to SASI/SCSI/SCSI2 Changer CLPC-SxSI101 with 4GB CF Card;
•   System SACOM SX-68M II MIDI Board;
•   Sega Mega Drive/Genesis 6/2-button to x680x0 adapter.

  EMULATION ENVIRONMENT:

•   XM6 TypeG emulator v3.32 L30 (it saved me a lot of time with settings).

GAME BOOT PROCEDURE

First of all, I followed the directions pointed at GameSX wiki to make games work from hard drive:

https://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:installing_games_to_hard_drive

I've tried to make the environment setting as simple as possible for us to run games with the minimum effort, ensuring that any of the preferred method works without issues.

My choice priority on game boot method was the following:

•   Use SUBST A: and B: pointing to game folder, then run the game specific boot commands;
•   If it didn't work, use 2hdsim  (disk images will have liner.x applied);
•   If it didn't work, use 2hdboot (disk images will have liner.x applied);
•   If it didn't work, the game would be considered incompatible (until we may find other methods to make it work).

After choosing the ideal method, then the standard !Start.bat file will have the environment variable BOOT_MODE set between options "HDDBoot","2hdsim", and "2hdboot" (note that parameters are case sensitive in Human68k environment).

IMPORTANT: if you use "2hdsim" or "2hdboot" methods, you'll need to set the disk images in the following way:

[reserved RAM] [drive] [file name x] ... [drive] [file name x] 99

Where:

  [reserved RAM]: Exclusive for 2hdboot. Specifies the amount of RAM available to be used by the game (in megabytes) before starting to allocate disk images in it. Pay attention to the minimum requirements for each game versus how much RAM your x680x0 have available (most games will need 2MB);

  [drive]: 0 or 1 for "2hdsim", "a"/"A" or "b"/"B" for "2hdboot" (with "+" or "-" parameters);

  [file name]: Disk image file name. I strongly recommend you to use 8.3 naming format;

  99: MANDATORY, tells the script that the image files parameters have ended.

Practical examples are in any standard !Start.bat, simply change the line for the chosen method, set the BOOT_PARAMS accordingly to your image file names:

For 2hdsim:  SET BOOT_PARAMS=0 DISK_A 1 DISK_B 1 DISK_C 1 DISK_D 99
For 2hdboot: SET BOOT_PARAMS=2 +a DISK_A -B DISK_B +b DISK_C -b DISK_D 99
            (I mixed the A/a/B/b/+/- parameters for 2hdboot on purpose)

Last, the file BIN\GAME_ENV.BAT will set the environment before you can specify the game boot commands.

Doubts can be solved looking inside any !Start.bat files already made, I believe they are almost self-explanatory after reading everything above.

USING THIS IMAGE WITH x68000

Besides it's not intended, it doesn't mean it's forbidden. I suggest you to delete/comment (add "REM" to the beginning of each line) the following lines:

  In CONFIG.SYS

    DEVICE    = \BIN\030SYSpatch.x

  Also, in AUTOEXEC.BAT:

    Change this:
    HIOCS030.X

    To this:
    HIOCS.X

I believe this will avoid any error messages during boot with a x68000 machine.

USING THE PROPER FLOAT.X (FLOATING POINT UNIT) DRIVER

Depending on your machine, you must choose between 3 options:

  FLOAT2.X: Any x680x0 WITHOUT an actual FPU (it'll be emulated);
  FLOAT3.X: x68000 WITH an actual FPU;
  FLOAT4.X: x68030 WITH an actual FPU.

  Set the line "ADDDRV FLOAT4.X" in AUTOEXEC.BAT accordingly to your setup to avoid error messages ("Math package not installed") and boot fails in games which depend on FLOAT(x).

NEW GAMES

They are all being set in the Games4 folder. For details, read the CHANGELOG section of this document, they will be listed in each update of this image.

TODO

•   Increase game compatibility list (yeah Star Cruiser English patched, Syvalion, Gemini Wing and Super Hang-On, I'm talking about you);
•   Improve interface while booting games, I learned it's possible to even use text with colors, I'm currently playing around with this and may have something done for a next release;
•   Find a way to check hardware specs and set up the system environment by itself (FLOAT and IOCS drivers, CPU Speed, etc). This would make the image compatible with any x680x0 machine;
•   "ADD MOAR GAEMS", I just added what I thought to be interesting based in my own personal taste, but didn't check all x68000 game library yet;
•   Move games from Games4 folder to the canonical Games/Games2/Games3 folders (I will need feedback from the users to do that properly).

SPECIAL THANKS

•   nfggames and its members for HDD game image v4 which made us enjoy x68000's game library porperly;
•   GameSX for its x68000 wiki;
•   All developers involved with XM6 TypeG;
•   All people which created any of the programs/fixes/patches used in this environment;
•   Daniel Ladner for showing me 30SPEED.R;
•   Other "Sharp x68000 Club" Facebook group members for help, tips, and feedback given to this project.

FINAL NOTES

Consider this a work in progress project, I'll share updated disk images fromtime to time if the community consider that it's something useful for them.
   
Sorry if I forgot to thank someone, I was in a hurry while writing this file.

And forgive my for my bad English, it's not my native language.

CHANGELOG

  v20210131:

•     Improved readme file layout for better reading in LHES environment;
•     Changed PensanCD boot mode to HDDBoot after disabling DMATurbo (thanks, Marcelo Pires);

    New Games Added:

•     Dive On (2016 BEEP version);
•     Star Mobile.

  v20200917:

•     Improved 2hdboot usage allowing to use a parameter to set how much RAM memory will be available for each game;
•     Updated 2hdboot usage for all games in !Start.bat after implementing the extra parameters in v20200206 and v20200917;
•     Improved vTwentyOne driver usage in order to prevent crashes while running games;
•     Disabled both data and instruction cache when running Arcus Odissey, following tips from Taro Mouri's EXPERIENCE.TXT v1.17 file;
•     Deleted new redundant files from games added in previous updates.

    New Games Added:

•     Cave Crowds;
•     Star Cruiser Sol Will 2.

  v20200706:

•     Added a fancy x68030 logo in Human68k's shell background;
•     Fixed deactivation of vTwentyOne driver features before loading games;
•     Fixed SFX playback of Shooting Passion;
•     Changed Algarna boot mode from 2hdboot to HDDBoot;
•     Improved Geograph Seal compatibility using a proper patch for x68030.

    New Games Added:

•     Bodhidharma Mark 2 / Duel Fighter;
•     Larjis;
•     Y2 (with UD2's patch from nfggames, in Games2 folder).

  v20200227:

•     Changed button layout for Garou Densetsu Special to make it more Neo Geo CD like when using 6-button controllers.

    New Games Added:

•     Battle Unit II;
•     BM68 The Real-time Music Game System;
•     Clear Lap;
•     Hard Battle;
•     Kaizoku;
•     Level Point v1.1;
•     Luster Squash;
•     Lyrical Party;
•     Nemesis '95 (replacing Nemesis '94);
•     Pole to Win;
•     Shooting Passion (no SFX though).

  v20200208:

•     Changed all references to MIAPIE.X to a copy in \BIN folder;
•     Improved path environment settings for True Ys Prototype.

    New Games Added:

•     [Double X] Files R.

  v20200206:

•     Implemented the use of "A", "B" and the possibility of choice between "+" and "-" parameters when using 2hdboot method;
•     Changed all references to AJOY.X to a copy in \BIN folder;
•     Added a section explaining how to set this image for using with a x68000 machine;
•     Added a section explaining how to set the Floating Point Unit driver accordingly to your setup;
•     Fixed error with System/User disk images and 2hdboot parameters for Lagoon;
•     Fixed error with path environment setting for Asuka120% Burning Fest. and Mad Stalker.

    New Games Added:

•     Arcus II - Silent Symphony;
•     Arsia no Ki;
•     Cannon Sight;
•     Choutouryuu Retsuden Dino Land;
•     Cosmic Psycho;
•     Devil Chain;
•     Devil Chain II;
•     Ganbare Paichan (no sound, it seems to be this way, though);
•     Moon Soldier S.M.S.X.;
•     Niko^2;
•     Olteus II (in Games folder);
•     Racing Champ;
•     Reinforcement.

  v20200101:

•     Forced system drive to be C:, floppy drives 0 and 1 to be A: and B:;
•     Increased available disk space while eliminating file redundancies, and storing standard drivers in folders which are listed in PATH environment (i.e. OPMDRV,PCM8,PCM8A,ZMSC, and ZMUSIC to name a few);
•     Applied fixes and game tweaks which - I inderstood that - improved compatibility and gaming experience;
•     Removed some games originally in nfggames V4 image (personal taste and/or compatibility issues);
•     Added vTwentyOne, FLOAT4, HIOCS030 and 030SysPatch software (you may need to change or disable some of them according to your hardware setup);
•     Added 30SPEED.R setting in some games which has speed issues in x68030.
•     Fixed Granada opening crash while running from HDD with 30SPEED;
•     Added English translations for the following games: Akazukin ChaChaCha, Die BahnWelt, Lagoon, Lunatic Fantasy, Undeadline - Genjuuki, and Zugya;
•     Added new games in "Games4" folder, more on that ahead, keep reading.

    New Games Added:

•     A-Jine;
•     Arianshuu;
•     Armored Troopers Votoms - Dead Ash;
•     Artemis;
•     Asuka120% BURNING Fest.;
•     Baruusa no Fukushuu;
•     Bomberman;
•     Buster (Enable line "PROCESS = 10 1 10 " line in CONFIG.SYS and reboot to make it work. Keep it disabled otherwise);
•     Chitei Senki;
•     Crystal Tower;
•     Death Brade;
•     Direct-X Release 2;
•     Flame Wing;
•     FZ Senki Axis;
•     Gaiarm;
•     Galseed;
•     GJ;
•     Goddess Blazon X;
•     Hellhound;
•     Lagoon (English Patch v0.9b);
•     Last Tempest;
•     Lunatic Fantasy 2 (English Patch v1.01);
•     Mid-Garts Gold;
•     Moon Cresta / Terra Cresta;
•     Moon Crystal;
•     Prote Pruste;
•     Rayer Shoot;
•     Road Blaster;
•     Silk Road;
•     Space Soldier;
•     Super Tiny Phalanx;
•     Tail Chaser;
•     Thunder Storm;
•     True Ys Prototype 1;
•     Valist Leznalt.

[BabaJeanmel]

Just wanted to thank you for all your hard work and dedication. This is awesome beyond words !

[caius]

All the "new" games in this HDD image were already present in my MiniV2 image where likely they have been taken.so, at the hend, nothing really "new"


https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5821.0

[kendrick]

Everyone, I'm locking this topic. I'd like to refer everybody please to the moderation reminder post here:

https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=6442.0

I also want to point you to my response (message number 11) in this thread linked here:

https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5214.msg34879#msg34879

In a nutshell, nobody owns anything when it comes to Abandonware. If you source someone else's work it's polite to acknowledge it. If you don't want someone using your work in ways you don't want, then you're free not to release it.

I want to remind everybody that sharing x68000 software flies under the radar because there's no legitimate way to buy the games, and no real level of demand outside of the JPN-region market. However, the more noise we make the more attention we draw, and intramural conflict increases the risk that copyright holders notice us and make requests related to asserting their ownership. I'd appreciate it if you work out any conflicts privately, and that you credit one another appropriately whenever possible.