2024-10-06 05:57 CEST

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IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0006569Lotus3[All Projects] Generalpublic2024-09-25 14:42
Reportersviru 
Assigned ToDJ MikeProject InfoLotus 3 (Magnetic Fields/Gremlin)
http://www.whdload.de/games/Lotus3.html
 
PrioritynormalSeverityminorReproducibilityalways
StatusclosedResolutionwon't fix 
Summary0006569: Game is unplayable on A530 with WHD. It is like 5fps. Max. Super long loading
DescriptionGameVersion: english,pal,2 disks
SlaveVersion: 27.10.2017 14:51:34 - 7192 bytes

Game is unplayable on A530 with WHD. It is like 5fps. Max. Super long loading times.
TagsNo tags attached.
MachineA500
CPU68EC030
CPUSpeed40
ChipSetECS
GFXCardNone
ChipMem2 MB
FastMem8MB
WorkbenchOS 3.1
KickROM46 - Kick 3.1.4
KickSoftNone
WHDLoad18.9
importedyes
Attached Files

-Relationships
+Relationships

-Notes

note ~0013898

StingRay (developer)

Due to lack of A530 hardware, I can't do anything here and hence unassign this ticket, so someone else can take over.

note ~0013909

Torti the Smurf (reporter)

Yeah, the Floppy release is quiet slow.
A faster Cpu wont help here. The Blitterspeed/Routine is the Bottleneck/Cap.

There is a interview with Andrew Morris where he gets asked about the
slowdowns/ low framerate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM5yXZarVYM&t=306s

The "CD32/AGA" version is faster. (its still OCS tho)

Sadly the CD32 Version is not supported yet by a WHDLoad Slave.
(you would loose the music, because those are CDDA Tracks on the Cd32 version)

There is however a hacked CD32 version of Lotus 3 out there that tried to improve that speed even further and hacked all the Music from the Floppy back into the Cd32 release.

(can´t remember who did it .. maybe i find it later then i´ll post a link)

The JST version of Lotus 3 also runs better then the WHDload version. (slightly)

One thing you can try is to only play with the SFX. No Music !!
It WILL run smoother.
(that was the reason Lotus 2 had no music during gameplay)
(Lotus 1 had cut the screen in half to give you both)

One again, the Chip Speed is the bottleneck.
(check your Chip speed in Sysinfo)

But currently, only Chip Speed makes the game smoother.
(and becomes REALLY smooth with more and more of that)

Thats easy to do on FPGA or WinUAE. I dont know the A530, but by the sound of it, i think it only boosts the Dhrystones.

I play on FPGA, but if you want to have the smoothest Lotus3 possible right now
on your setup, hunt down the hacked Cd32 version or get at least the JST installed one. Turn OFF the Music for now ...
(i know that sucks , but you get better framerate, trust me)

Maybe one day support for that CD32 or the hacked CD32 version drops,
maybe with patched routines for Fast-Ram. But that would be a huge undertaking.

Dont know if that will ever happen, but one can hope ;)

PS: Sorry for the long Text Wall, but its a thing with Lotus 3 ... you know ;)

greetz, Torti

note ~0013910

Torti the Smurf (reporter)

Found it !!! The hacked Cd32 version is called.
LotusFix 1.0 by Thomas!/SP (17.04.94)
(sadly, the turran site gives me a 404 on that)

BUT the same is contained in a generic WHDload install by Aladin.
https://ftp2.grandis.nu/turran/FTP/Non%20TOSEC%20Games/WHDLoad/Aladin%20WHDLG/LotusTrilogyCD32-WHDL.lha

Run it native (without the generic WHDload slave)
Its the smoothest version of Lotus 3 so far. (maybe you need to assign CD0: "" .. cant remember. I use the JST version because it can quit, is a bit faster then the WHDLoad option and on FPGA Chip Speed is not a problem.

Hope that helps. Have a nice day.
Torti

note ~0013928

sviru (reporter)

Well the game is super slow on A530 it is much slower than normal version. It is one of the problems with A530 where CHIPRAM access is super slow. Half the speed of normal Amiga. There was a suggestion to rewrite slave so it will use only fastmem or something along those lines. That might help with a530.

note ~0013933

Torti the Smurf (reporter)

Hmmmmm,i see ... (T_T)

Well, to rewrite the slave would not only benefit A530 owners.
Support for the CD32/hacked version would be also really nice ;)

note ~0013954

sviru (reporter)

For sure. I would love to see the better version of this slave. And probably not only me.

note ~0013999

DJ Mike (developer)

After discussion on the EAB forum, it seems this is due to A530 slowing down (to less than half speed) access to chip memory compared to stock A500, which makes this not a WHDLoad problem. I'm therefore closing this.
+Notes

-Issue History
Date Modified Username Field Change
2024-09-04 22:21 administrator New Issue
2024-09-04 22:21 administrator Status new => assigned
2024-09-04 22:21 administrator Assigned To => StingRay
2024-09-04 23:36 StingRay Note Added: 0013898
2024-09-04 23:36 StingRay Assigned To StingRay =>
2024-09-09 23:19 Torti the Smurf Note Added: 0013909
2024-09-09 23:42 Torti the Smurf Note Added: 0013910
2024-09-13 23:37 sviru Note Added: 0013928
2024-09-15 13:03 Torti the Smurf Note Added: 0013933
2024-09-17 01:19 sviru Note Added: 0013954
2024-09-25 14:42 DJ Mike Assigned To => DJ Mike
2024-09-25 14:42 DJ Mike Status assigned => closed
2024-09-25 14:42 DJ Mike Resolution open => won't fix
2024-09-25 14:42 DJ Mike Note Added: 0013999
+Issue History