Short:        Raptor: Call of the Shadows
Author:       Marcin Bednarczyk "Raybeez"
Uploader:     Marcin Bednarczyk <cichy cichy com pl>
Type:         game/shoot
Version:      0.9.9-rc.2
Replaces:     game/shoot/raptor-0.9.9-rc.1.lha
Requires:     ahi.device, RTG (Picasso96 or CyberGraphX) or AGA
Architecture: m68k-amigaos >= 3.1
Distribution: Aminet

AmigaOS 3.x port of Raptor: Call of the Shadows, a classic 2D vertical
scrolling shooter. This port is based on the open-source reverse-engineered
codebase by skynettx/raptor and targets 68030/68060-class Amiga systems
with RTG graphics (Picasso96 / CyberGraphX) or native AGA.

This release replaces 0.9.9-rc.1. The archive is now distributed as
raptor.lha so future Aminet updates can replace the same archive name.

What's new in 0.9.9-rc.2:

- AGA: VIDEO=NTSC is now honored by the native display path, allowing the
  game to use the native NTSC mode where requested.
- MHI: restored 8 x 32 KB streaming buffers (256 KB total) for improved
  compatibility and playback stability.
- MHI: improved shutdown safety so stream buffers are not freed while the
  feeder task is still running.
- MHI: the 4-second playback watchdog now applies only to non-looping songs,
  preventing looping tracks from being stopped on drivers that do not
  generate regular traffic signals.
- MHI: real IoErr() values are preserved when opening MP3 files fails,
  improving diagnostics.
- MHI: ID3v2.3, ID3v2.4 and trailing ID3v1 metadata are skipped before MP3
  data is sent to the hardware decoder.
- MHI: expanded driver discovery with an explicit mhiamiblaster.library
  candidate and clearer classification/logging of the driver actually opened.
  Prisma MegaMix has been verified on real hardware; other MHI driver
  families still require hardware-specific validation.
- Startup: Raptor now requests a minimum 65536-byte main-process stack via
  the native libnix startup mechanism before main(). CLI users no longer
  need to enter "Stack 65536" manually. Larger Shell/Workbench stacks are
  preserved unchanged.

The game renders in a fixed 320x200, 8-bit paletted mode on a dedicated
screen. Four native m68k binaries are provided:

- raptor         : 68060 with FPU (recommended)
- raptor_nofpu   : 68060/68EC060/68LC060 soft-float
- raptor_030_fpu : 68030 with external 68881/68882 FPU
- raptor_030     : 68030 soft-float

Sound effects are played through AHI (ahi.device) at the native 11025 Hz
16-bit stereo rate. Music can be played via several backends:

- ADLIB  : lightweight OPL3 emulation (mixed into the AHI stream)
- CAMD   : General MIDI via camd.library (external synth / software synth)
- MHI    : MP3 music via hardware decoder
- WAVE   : pre-decoded WAV files mixed into the AHI stream

For MHI, Raptor first tries its explicit driver candidates (including Prisma
MegaMix, Amiblaster, Prelude/MPEG-it!, MAS Player, ArmedWarp and the
mpeg.device bridge), while preserving the MHIDRIVER= override and fallback
scan of LIBS:MHI/#?.library.

No music backend is enabled by default; enable explicitly with MUSIC=ADLIB,
MUSIC=CAMD, MUSIC=MHI or MUSIC=WAVE.

Graphics can be selected with GFX=AUTO|RTG|AGA. The RTG path uses either
Picasso96 or CyberGraphX, trying P96 first, then CGX, then a fallback
320x240x8 mode with letterbox on cards lacking 320x200. The AGA path uses
a custom chunky-to-planar converter. VIDEO=NTSC can be used with the native
AGA path to request the NTSC display mode.

Keyboard, mouse and joystick/CD32 pad input work simultaneously. Workbench
icon ToolTypes are supported (GFX, VIDEO, MUSIC, MOUSE, JOYSTICK, etc.).
Persistent audio volumes are stored in amiga.cfg in the game directory.

This is release candidate 0.9.9-rc.2. The current RC2 build has been tested
on real Amiga hardware with Prisma MegaMix MHI playback, including intro,
menu, attract demo, gameplay, level changes and song changes. The automatic
65536-byte stack path was also verified on real hardware, and a pre-existing
131072-byte Shell stack was preserved unchanged.

Full gameplay has also been tested on real hardware including A2000 with
CyberVision 64/3D, A1200 with PiStorm/Emu68 and A4000 with Picasso IV, as
well as in WinUAE.

This project is an AI collaboration: development and documentation were
assisted by AI tools, with final decisions, testing and integration done
by the author.

Original game data files (full v1.2) are required and not included.
See README_AMIGA.md inside the archive for detailed setup, controls,
parameters and troubleshooting.

Project homepage and sources:
https://github.com/RaybeezPL/raptor-amiga-port

Upstream project (reverse-engineered Raptor engine):
https://github.com/skynettx/raptor

License (GPL v2):
https://github.com/RaybeezPL/raptor-amiga-port/blob/main/LICENSE