Mission 3/Mission 3.zip/Mission 3.iso/divers/pacifist/dosass/assist.txt

Text File | 1998-06-06 | 12KB | 256 lines

AssiST 0.29a doc file.
Updated : 7.6.1998.

AssiST is completely free. If you want you can send me stuff but its up
to you. Even if it's just an email ;). You are using this program at your
own risk, so if something goes wrong don't flame/sue me out of it. That
said, the chances of this destroying anything ever are about as high as
your head spontaneously exploding.

Quite why I'm writing this escapes me. I mean AssiST is _supposed_ to be
completely self explanatory....but just in case ;)

* History of AssiST. <revisions>

v0.1   The first version of this program was much more basic. It had
       little or no error checking and only supported PaCifiST up to
       version 0.34. That said - if you entered reasonable values and
       did not purposely try to crash it, it performed its task
       adequatly.

v0.2   This was released about two weeks after the first version. It
       used a more user friendly file selector to choose the TOS image
       and the bootdisk. Unfortunatly before I could finish it properly
       my hard disk crashed and the code for it went bye-bye. It
       supported versions of PaCifiST up to v0.35.

v0.25  For this version, I have pretty much recoded the whole thing from
       scratch. The file selector is improved somewhat, and a few small
       bugs have hopefully been fixed. As far as I know all the options
       included in PaCifiST v0.41 have been supported except for the
       ability to have multiple hard drives (I'll have that done for
       the next version).

v0.25a This version is functionally the same as v0.25. There are a few
       small bug fixes (file selector now allows drives up to and including
       drive Z:) and the whole program has shifted into the high-res text
       mode so it no longer feels quite so cramped. Also the file selector
       has been spiced up a bit.

v0.26  No major changes from v0.25a except that PaCifiST v0.42 is now
       supported, a small bug which resulted in corruption of the 'assist.dat'
       file has been fixed and the hi-res screen mode has allowed for a bit
       more spacing out of the options. Multiple hard drives are unfortunatly
       not supported yet. I know I said I'd have it done for this version but
       I have had so little time of late that I haven't got round to it yet.
       Next version will have it..I promise :)

v0.26a This release is really just a bug fix for the above and nothing more.
       Thanks must go to Ben Fozard who pointed out the Colour/Monochrome bug.
       which resulted in the option not being saved properly.

v0.27  This version is, perhaps the largest update of AssiST so far. Several
       new options have been added and most of the old ones have been improved
       or completely redesigned. Some of the screen flicker has been gotton
       rid of (I'm working on the rest), 2 scrollers have been added (one of
       which has been generously donated by a certain disreputable xenomorph)
       and a new intro screen has been done (no more jerky starfields ;) ).
       For a complete description of the new options read the instructions
       below.

v0.27a Some minor changes in the way some things are displayed which I forgot
       or never thought about putting into v0.27. There is one small bugfix
       regarding the removal of a selected TOS rom ('d' key on the main menu
       still displayed the paths of removed TOS's). You can also mount up to
       six ST virtual hard disk now. Hmm..'a' versions are becoming a
       bit of a habit it seems ;).

v0.28  The last DOS release :) This one doesn't contains any serious changes
       from the last one except and new intro screen and a few minorish bug
       fixes. Thanks to Matthew Prest for mailing me about them :).

v0.28a The last DOS release? Famous last words... As far as I know this is
       definitly going to be the final version of DOS AssiST. Shortly after
       I released v0.28 I realised that the setting up of the ST disk images
       was umm...slightly incorrect. Anyway, not content with a bugged
       product I spent some time between working on AssiST 97 to fix up this
       DOS code and here is the result. There should now be absolutly no
       bugs whatsoever. If there is I'm going to go insane and delete the
       damn code once and for all :)

v0.29  So much for 'definitly the last version' ;). New features include the
       ability to 'ESCape' back through menus, the ability to run PaCifiST
       from AssiST, several small display fixes, support for PaCifiST's
       'midi' option, a few more validity checks, an option to read this file
       from within AssiST and an all new colour scheme system which lets you
       customise AssiST. There will be another version which will contain the
       last few things that I've been meaning to add/improve. Nothing serious
       though, so don't expect too much :).

v0.29a 3 months later and I find a bug so stupid I should never have let the
       last version release with it. Basically, it concerned the mounting
       of a disk image into either A: or B:, that is to say you couldn't.
       Yeah, I know, incredible...the bug only turned up in the last release
       because I added the ability to define what drive you wanted to assign
       an image to. How did I fix the bug? I added a single space. It should
       all work perfectly now, and with a bit of luck there won't be a 'b'
       release of DosAssiST.

v1.0   This is the newest version of AssiST. It's being coded for Windows 95
       by myself and a friend and is the nicest looking one yet ;). It has a
       completely graphical interface & supports sound (if you have a windows
       supported soundcard.). It won't be released until the .ini file options
       have been finalized (at least as finalized as they'll get!) and the
       code has been as bug tested as possible.

v1.1   The last version of AssiST 97. Contains several bug fixes and nicer
       layout compared to v1.0. Due to my losing the code (and Delphi) in a
       hard disk corruption myself and Gerard can't update it any more. That
       said, it is as bug free as possible and doesn't really need an update.

* Instructions for using the options in AssiST.

1. Set TOS image.

This sets up the TOS image that PaCifiST needs to run. Since version 0.27 you
can now specify several TOS roms. Frederic has added a TOS switching option
to PaCifiST which allows you to change between the TOS version specified in
AssiST. You MUST have at least one of these.
First, select a slot for the TOS to be added to.
Then select the version that you have and finally specify its filename by
using the file selector and by pressing <return> when the TOS rom file is
hightlighted. To change drive press the letter of it (ie : 'd' would switch
you to drive D: ). Page Down and Page Up will help you skip through larger
directories.

2. Mount Hard Disk.

This option lets you specify a directory on your hard disk which PaCifiST will
use as an ST hard disk. Use the file selector to navigate through your hard
disk until you find a suitable directory to use as the ST's hard drive. You
can press '+' to create a directory, but please note - this must be given a
sensible value or you may end up with a very bizarre directory name. This
feature will be fully error checked for the next release. At present you can
specify up to 3 ST hard drives.
When you enter the emulator the ST's C:\ drive might not be setup.
You'll have to do this from the GEM toolbar. Remember use a capital 'C'!.

3. Set Floppy-disk (A & B)

This lets you specify which '*.ST' disk images to use when PaCifiST first
loads up. The file selector only shows '*.ST' files so make sure that the
image you want to use has this extension.
If you select the 'Use PC drive A:' PaCifiST will attempt to use you pc's
floppy drive as an ST drive. This will appear as an option in PaCifiST's
file selector, or, if you haven't set up an A: drive *.ST image PaCifiST
will start up looking for an ST disk in the A: drive. Try to avoid using
this for now, as it is still quite unstable.

4. Autoboot from A: ?

If this is turned on, the initial PaCifiST screen is bypassed and the disk in
drive A: is loaded straight away.

5. Set ST memory

Lets you specify how much ST memory you want to have emulated. A word of
advice - do not specify more than you have on your PC!

6. Sound Emulation

This lets you setup up the sound options for PaCifiST. It should be easy
enough to understand for practically anyone. (Yes..you do need a soundcard
to take advantage of this... ;) ). A new feature is the ability to turn on
midi emulation. This will not work in conjunction with chip music so you'll
have to turn those off first,

7. Enable Serial Port

Enable or disable emulation of the ST's serial port via the PC's one. Its not
very stable yet so it's probably a good idea to leave it off.

8. Set up Mouse

Only try this if your mouse driver does not work with PaCifiST. When turned on
PaCifiST tries to use it driver on your mouse. You have to specify a com port
if you turn this feature on. The sensitivity option allows you to specify how
responsive you want the mouse to be. It's not advisable to try this under
Windows 95 by the way.

9. Set Display Options

* Set Refreshrate

Basically sets the framerate. The lower it is the nicer the emulator will look
but you'll need a fast machine (P75 or >). If you are using a 486 raise it
until the emulator runs at an acceptable rate.

* Set Fastvideo

If you have a fast graphics card this feature does nice things (don't ask me
what - I don't have a fast graphics card ;) ).

* Colour/Monochrome

Umm..let me see..Could this change between monochrome and colour mode? Nah..
it couldn't be ;).

* Set Truecolour

Enable the use of truecolour I suppose.

* Set Graphics Mode

Select a type of graphics mode for the emulator to start in. Once in the
emulator you can change it again (unless you chose the CUSTOM mode in which
case you'll have to exit the emulator and choose a different mode from AssiST.

10. Set Joystick Emulation.

If this is turned on, PaCifiST uses the keyboard to emulate an ST joystick, if
not, then whatever joystick you have connected to your PC will be used.

11. Set STe/STf emulation

This isn't implemented in the current release of PaCifiST. The final release
of 0.47 should support this option.

12. Set LED emulation.

This enables the use of the keyboard LEDs to display disk activity. On some
machines this can the emulator to crash. Try turning it off if PaCifiST
doesn't run properly or crashes frequently.

13. Set CPU emulation.

This isn't implemented in the current release of PaCifiST.

14. Set Keyboard Delay.

Some games may seem too responsive/unresponsive, if this is the case then
change the value of this setting.

Phew. Thats that over and done with. Make sure you read the PaCifiST doc file
if you have any more questions.

Thanks and Greetings go to the following people :

Frederic Gidouin  (for his great emulator and all the patient emails :) )
Alien             (for the top scroller!)
Arnaud Carre      (for writing STSound - a great ST soundchip music player!)
Damien Burke      (for his tolerance of my incessant lame mails ;) )
Zippy             (for getting in touch with me :) & sending that CD!)
Ben Fozard        (for all the email, support and bug reports!)
Matthew Prest     (for the email, webspace & bug reports!)
Rich Davey        (for more things that I could possibly mention. Check out
                  his wepage now! (http://lgd.fatal-design.com).
Gerard Butterly   (insanity, AssiST 97 v1.0, flaming without a cause)
MUG UK            (For reviving the ST scene even more with his new Regression
                  Therapy crew :) )
Darren Birks      (for the prolonged beer debates we've had via ICQ :) )

And everyone else who is/was supporting the ST scene!

Aengus Jankowsky 31.8.97 ([e-mail]).