Short: Dark Forces / TFE on ZZ9000 Author: Xanxi (ZZ9000/XACP port), The Force Engine team Uploader: Xanxi - hassani hakim gmail Com Type: game/shoot Version: 1.0 Requires: 68020+; MNT ZZ9000; XACP v1.7; Picasso96; AHI Architecture: m68k-amigaos ZZDarkForcesNEXT 1.0 ==================== ZZDarkForcesNEXT brings The Force Engine / STAR WARS: Dark Forces to classic Amiga systems equipped with an MNT ZZ9000. The game engine and classic software renderer run natively on the ZZ9000 Zynq-7020 Cortex-A9 Core1 through XACP. AmigaOS remains the host environment and handles Workbench integration, Picasso96 display, keyboard/mouse input, AHI audio, filesystem access and optional CAMD MIDI output. A legally obtained copy of STAR WARS: Dark Forces is required. Original commercial game data is NOT included. FEATURES -------- - Native The Force Engine execution on ZZ9000 Core1 - Workbench launch and ToolTypes - Picasso96 asynchronous triple buffering - 320x200, 320x240, 640x400, 640x480 and 800x600 - AHI sound effects - internal Roland SC-55 SoundFont music - internal TimGM6mb SoundFont music - external MIDI through camd.library - TFE save/load and quicksave/quickload - pilot progression - persistent in-game configuration - Smooth VUE - Autorun - Crouch Toggle - secret-found messages - automap key colors and secret display - cooperative Core1 stop and return REQUIREMENTS ------------ - Classic Amiga with MNT ZZ9000 - 68020 or better - XACP firmware XX19b or later - Picasso96 - AHI - a legally owned copy of STAR WARS: Dark Forces - camd.library and a MIDI interface/synth only if using CAMD Development was performed on a real Amiga 4000 / 68060 + ZZ9000. The release has also been confirmed on an independent Amiga/ZZ9000 setup. XACP / REQUIRED FIRMWARE ------------------------ ZZDarkForcesNEXT requires an XACP firmware (XX19b or later) The reference public firmware package is: Firmware XX19b / XACP v1.7 https://github.com/Xanxi-Amiga/XACP-ZZ9000/releases/tag/XX19b The package contains the firmware image, the reference zz9000.card Picasso96 driver and the associated XACP v1.7 files and documentation. After installing or changing the ZZ9000 firmware, perform a complete power-off / power-on before running ZZDarkForcesNEXT. WHAT IS XACP? ------------- XACP is the coprocessor framework that allows Amiga software to use the ARM Cortex-A9 processors and DDR memory inside the ZZ9000 while AmigaOS remains in control of the machine. In ZZDarkForcesNEXT, The Force Engine runs on ZZ9000 Core1 while the Amiga handles Workbench, Picasso96 display, input, AHI audio, filesystem access and optional CAMD MIDI. For the origins, architecture and goals of XACP: https://github.com/Xanxi-Amiga/XACP-ZZ9000/blob/main/docs/WHY_XACP.md INSTALLATION ------------ Extract the archive to your hard disk. Keep the supplied TFE support files in the Data drawer: weapons.json projectiles.json effects.json pickups.json TfeMessages.txt Then copy the original STAR WARS: Dark Forces game data from your legally owned installation into the same Data drawer. Typical original files include: DARK.GOB SOUNDS.GOB SPRITES.GOB TEXTURES.GOB *.LFD If in doubt, copy all original Dark Forces game data files from your PC/DOS installation into Data/. Commercial Dark Forces data is not supplied with this archive. STARTUP / LOADING TIME ---------------------- At startup, ZZDarkForcesNEXT preloads the game data into the 248 MiB XACP Core1 DDR arena before gameplay begins. This is intentional: once the engine starts, it can run from the ZZ9000-side memory instead of depending on repeated Amiga-side disk transfers. Typical measured loading times: Amiga 4000 / 68060: about 30 seconds Amiga 4000 / 68030 @ 25 MHz using motherboard IDE: more than one minute can be normal A long initial loading delay therefore does not by itself mean that the program has crashed. WORKBENCH TOOLTYPES ------------------- Video - choose one: 320x200 320x240 640x400 640x480 800x600 Default: 320x200. Music - choose one: SC55 Roland SC-55 SoundFont synthesized on the ZZ9000. TIMGM6MB TimGM6mb SoundFont synthesized on the ZZ9000. CAMD MIDI sent through camd.library to an external synthesizer. Default: CAMD. If you own a physical Roland SC-55 connected to the Amiga MIDI interface, use CAMD. The SC55 ToolType means the internal SoundFont, not the physical Roland module. The launcher scans SoundFonts/ for .sf2 files: SC55 matches a filename containing "55" TIMGM6MB matches a filename containing "TIM" or "GM6" Matching is case-insensitive. THE "NEXT" PART --------------- This port is not limited to reproducing the original 320x200 DOS experience. It uses a recent The Force Engine codebase and includes selected modern TFE features on the classic Amiga: - resolutions up to 800x600 - Smooth VUE interpolation - Autorun - Crouch Toggle - secret-found messages - automap key colors - automap secret display - persistent configuration - TFE save/load, quicksave/quickload and pilot progression XACP ---- XACP is the coprocessor framework that allows Amiga software to use the ARM Cortex-A9 processors and DDR memory inside the ZZ9000 while AmigaOS remains in control of the machine. More about XACP: https://github.com/Xanxi-Amiga/XACP-ZZ9000/blob/main/docs/WHY_XACP.md SOURCE AND LICENSING -------------------- zSOURCE ------ The GPL-covered Core1 component (zzdf.bin) is derived from The Force Engine and is distributed under GNU GPL-2.0. The complete corresponding source/build material is available from: https://github.com/Xanxi-Amiga/XACP-ZZ9000/tree/main/applications/games/ZZDarkForcesNEXT Release page: https://github.com/Xanxi-Amiga/XACP-ZZ9000/releases/tag/ZZDarkForcesNEXT-1.0 The Amiga 68k launcher ZZDarkForces is a separate closed-source binary. The two supplied SoundFonts are separate data files with their own licenses: - Roland SC-55 SoundFont: GNU GPL v3 or later - TimGM6mb: GNU GPL v2 Copyright and GPL license texts are included in the archive. STAR WARS: Dark Forces and related names, trademarks and commercial game assets belong to their respective rights holders. PROJECT / RELEASE PAGE ---------------------- https://github.com/Xanxi-Amiga/XACP-ZZ9000/releases/tag/ZZDarkForcesNEXT-1.0