Date   : Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:23:45 +0000
From   : samwise@... (samwise)
Subject: The Hobbit - BBC Graphical Disc Version

Excellent work, Kieran.

I'm sure DaveM will let me get this hosted in the StairwayToHell archives ...

On to the Lord of the Rings: Game One next?  :)

I remember that someone was having issues with saving a while back,
because the SSD floating around was only a hacked copy of the tape,
rather than an image of the original disc version.

Ah, yes, this is what I was thinking about:

http://www.stairwaytohell.com/sthforums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=596

Very good, tho - as buggy as it is, I always had a soft spot for The Hobbit ...

Peter.


On 6 March 2010 06:40, Kieran Mockford <kieran@...> wrote:
> Hello folks,
>
> I've been a lurker on the list for quite a while, but now I hope I have
> something small to contribute.
>
> Like must of us, I was a pretty dedicated Beeb user back in the 80s, and
> still have all of my Beeb kit. That said, my original kit is mostly in Essex
> in my parent's loft and I'm here on the other side of the pond in Seattle.
> However.. one of RetroClinic's splendid, tricked out, BBC Masters made its
> way across the Atlantic (thanks Mark!!) and has allowed me to get some
> lingering frustrations fixed.
>
> The first is the graphical disc version of The Hobbit for the Beeb:
>
> When originally released by Melbourne House back in the 80s it would only
> run on a BBC Model B with a 8271 FDC. Everything else simply would not work.
>
> A version has been adapted by me (far too many hours were spent on it - it
> meant replacing all the hard wired 8271 NMI based logic with OSWORD &7F
> based equivalents) to run on almost any BBC Micro model that has sideways
> RAM. It will work with 16K of SWR but will be much faster with 32K.
>
> Find it here: http://home.kindredintellect.com/beeb/Software/TheHobbit/
>
> I have also added the ability to save games as files to the drive that it is
> running from (this includes ADFS, CF etc.). Just use the normal save feature
> in-game and it will create the appropriate file.
>
> This version has also had a couple of bugs fixed that make the game possible
> to complete.
>
> It has been tested on:
>
> - A real BBC Master 128 (using DFS, ADFS, RetroClinic CF, RetroClinic
> DataCentre, IFEL's MMBeeb. Even with Vine's Master to B converter!)
> - A real BBC Model B ? ?(using DFS)
> - A real BBC Model B+ ? (using DFS and ADFS with Page at &1F00)
> - All the emulators I could lay my hands on for PC and OSX including BeebEm
>
> There are two versions here:
>
> 1. Hobbit_SSD.zip contains a bootable single sided 80 track disc image (it
> only just fits, no space to save games unfortunately!)
> 2. Hobbit_ADFS.zip contains a bootable 640k ADFS image that has enough space
> to save a number of games onto.
>
> For those who maintain archives, please feel free to grab it :)
>
> Happy dragon hunting! :)
>
> ..Kieran
>
>
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