WHDLoad is a tool that allows disk based games/demos to be installed and run
from the hard drive, even if they were never designed to do so. It also fixes
incompatibility problems between different kickstarts and Amiga models. Just as
with Workbench disks, kickstart images required for WHDLoad are unfortunately
still sold commercially and therefore illegal to distribute.
In order to obtain the required images, refer to the instructions
provided.
READ HERE
Once you have these images and installed the titles you want to use, two
launchers are available in order to run the games and demos quickly:
A customized LazyBench brings up lists of games, demos and "other" programs
to allow quick access. To update the lists, open the drawer icon left out on
the desktop in the lower left corner of the screen, next to the "Run" icon. Then,
click the "Add Files" option. This will open a window where you'll find scripts
that can be double clicked - they will automatically add installed WHDLoad games
and demos to the lists. An "Other" text file is also included, where you can
manually add non-WHDLoad programs and sort them alphabetically.
iGame (not included in the GAAE and LITE) is more resource hungry, but has
advanced features such as a search filter and screenshot capabilities. Use the
"scan repositories" menu option in order to detect installed titles.
Due to the extra eye candy and higher resolution, the ADV/SP versions may
not have enough chipram available to run certain AGA specific games. Users with
only 2MB RAM and no fast will often face problems with certain WHDLoad titles
too. If this is the case, then reset the Amiga and hold either the right or left
mouse button. The right will take you to a bootmenu with various options, including
a Workbench with limited functionality but maximum memory. The left will activate
the maxmem requesters. From here you can launch games with full resources either
from a command prompt or running a RAD: boot. If using the prompt and a game
requires an icon to launch, use the command "WBRun" before
the games executable. This method can also be used for launching WHDLoad games.
Other options apart from those provided above are various RAD utilities from
Aminet. These can be
used to create a RAD: drive in Workbench then reset the Amiga and run the game.
Examples are "Max_Reset_V1.5.lha", "ResetRun2.lha", "ResRun_V1.0.lha" and
"ResRunV1_1.lha"
Some of the following comments may not be applicable to LITE users
For those running the ClassicWB ADV in laced mode on PAL/NTSC TVsets or
monitors, "MagicTV" is included in the C directory but not run by default.
MagicTV is a utility that greatly reduces flicker in 16-colour interlaced
screenmodes - therefore it's not compatible with Copper Backgrounds or the
64-colour ADVSP. The AGA chipset is also required. In order to run it, add
the line "MagicTV" after "Setpatch" in the "S/startup-sequence" file.
The drawer "MyFiles" contains extra install options such as SFS, CDROM,
mousewheel/clicktofront and compressed volume support. Be sure to check
this drawer for any extra features you may require. If you install CDROM
support, be sure to call the device either the default CD0, CD or CDROM and you
will end up with a nice Workbench icon. Also, when asked to choose a CDDA
program, select "SongPlayer" in the program's directory.
Dopus does not automatically detect volumes on your system. Instead it
requires configuration by the user to tailor it for their specific needs. In
order to do this, go to the "Project" menu and select "Configure".
The current setup has commonly used devices and volumes (DF0, DH0, Temp, Games
etc) as well as those paths suggested for CDROM and PC access. The reason for
using CD0: and PC: respectively is given above - special Workbench icons are
present for certain device names. For instance, when I add a PC directory in
WinUAE or mount a network like "Ami-PC" on a real Amiga, I make sure in both
cases the device is called PC: This automatically ensures that the ClassicWB
will use a pre-determined Workbench disk icon relevant to the device in
question.
You can choose any icon or name for your devices by modifying those included
in the "Expansion/Scalos/Icons" drawer. Simply rename or replace those present.
Under the popup menu, the option "Ami-PC" exists. This is a network solution
for transferring files from the Amiga-PC and back. It works with either a serial
or 4-way laplink cable, the settings setup to the latter. You'll need the
package "PC2Am308.lha" from
Aminet in order to
obtain the required PC software. The readme explains how this software works.
At the start of the "S/User-Startup" file, assigns were added so common
folders can be accessed and referred to easily in file requesters, programs, CLI
and Scalos scripts. They're in the format "A-x", where "x" is the folder name.
The prefix "A-" was added so they appear at the top of file requesters. If any
of these folders differ in location (eg games folder is on DH1: not DH0:) then
feel free to edit these assigns. Once edited, popup menus, Dopus and file
requesters will all automatically be updated with the folders new location.
If you prefer boarderless/frameless icons, you can fully disable boarders
easily in the Scalos prefs (topleft menubar Settings->Scalos->Prefs).
Help files, hardware details, shortcuts and preferences can be found under the
bar menu by right clicking in the top left hand corner of the screen. More help
files can be found in the actual program folders. Together, these will tell
you exactly what each program does.
Under the top left hand corner tools menu exists an option to "Enable FDC".
FDC stands for Floppy Disk Cache. Once selected, the program "CachIt" is
silently run and all floppy disk activity from that moment on will be cached in
RAM. Another option is "FBlit FText", which can be enabled or disabled. These
hand blitter functions to the CPU, increasing performance and reducing chipram
usage. Both are enabled by default, but can be disabled easily using this option
if compatibility problems arise. Read the help files provided for further
details.
Several convenient methods exist for handling archives: Double click support
of the actual files in Workbench windows using MiraWizarc; direct browsing of
archives in Dopus treating them just like a directory; Dopus "Arc Ext"
button, which has been linked to extract many file formats through Shell.
Combined with XAD and XFD libraries, such methods support decompression of a
huge range of formats, including disk archives like DMS and ADF.
Double clicking on common files without icons such as mods, html's, adf's,
dms's, IFF's, text docs (startup-sequence, readme files) etc will automatically
open the relevant program.
When dealing with ADF's in Workbench windows, double clicking the file will
open TSgui. You'll notice the file isn't automatically selected - simply drag
the file over to the TSgui window and it will be recognized. Many program
windows and actual icons display this ability of "drag and drop" with files.
You can also create a virtual floppy disk that can be used in conjunction with
TSgui. Select "New-FF0" from the popup menu in order to mount the device first.
Right clicking on highlighted Windows, DiskIcons and Files will bring up
different popup menus, each one tailored for the selected item.
Depending on the ClassicWB version, there can be either one or two programs
under the icons popup menu to convert images. Once selected, an icon will appear on
the Workbench. Simply drag a picture or screencap of the game in question over to
the icon and it will be converted! A good place to get images is the
HOL database. Differences
between the two programs are as follows:
Pic->Oldicon: This produces old (standard) icon data and as default is
setup for low colour (fixed magicicon palette, max 8) high performance icons. It
can, however, be setup to use whatever screenmode colours are available at the time
of conversion - the max number of colours used and quality settings can be changed
in the tools prefs. Problem is, unless the colours used are fixed in place using
Scalos palette prefs (like the fixed magicicon palette currently setup), the icons
may change when you swap screenmodes due to the way the Amiga works. Pic->Newicon: Best method for high colour game icons as the most fitting
colours out of those available in a given screenmode are automatically selected.
This will produce the NewIcons shown in the pics, but you will obviously need higher
screen mode colours when converting and displaying and performance will be slower.
Best to have the icons in separate drawers as displaying one perfectly may require
32 colours, two 64 etc, so the more icons on display, the less available for each
individual icon and quality will suffer.