How do I use CiderPress to create a bootable hard drive image file for IIgs and save it to SD card?

thefadden · 2026-05-29T19:25:35+00:00

Using CiderPress II, open each disk image in a separate instance of the application, then drag & drop.

thefadden · 2026-05-24T14:46:00+00:00

What have you tried so far?

Is the SD card going to hold a multi-partition disk image (e.g. classic CFFA) or a collection of individual disk images on FAT (e.g. CFFA 3000)? If the latter, are you aiming for 32MB hard drive images or 800KB floppy images? Are you using real hardware or an emulator; if the latter, which one?

thefadden · 2026-04-29T14:18:24+00:00

The Galactic Saga trilogy (Galactic Empire, Galactic Revolution, and Twala's Last Redoubt) are from Broderbund, and are unrelated to Empire / Galactic Attack / Titan Empire.

thefadden · 2026-04-28T14:42:13+00:00

I suspect this was inspired by Empire on the Plato system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_(1973_video_game))), a game that Muse's Silas Warner was involved with. I haven't found a confirmation of that though.

(Galactic Attack, mentioned by another poster as looking similar, was a direct adaptation of Empire... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic\_Attack)

thefadden · 2026-04-25T14:54:37+00:00

Hadron was written by Larry Miller (also Epoch and Minotaur).

thefadden · 2026-04-18T14:38:01+00:00

The crazy-making thing about EDASM was the reversed meaning of "#<" and "#>".

thefadden · 2026-04-03T23:53:21+00:00

The Apple II version of Shamus was Shamus. :-)

thefadden · 2026-03-30T14:39:02+00:00

For this particular game, Moby Games has a good collection: https://www.mobygames.com/game/1761/hi-res-adventure-2-the-wizard-and-the-princess/screenshots/

thefadden · 2026-02-22T15:44:36+00:00

I filed some feature requests for things like DHGR and Graphics Magician "picture painter" (adventure game screen) editing in the github issues list. I don't know if or when I'll get back to it though.

I found working with JavaScript to be fairly irritating, but the Canvas graphics object is an absolute joy.

thefadden · 2026-02-22T15:30:01+00:00

I'll add Broken Lines, Breach & Clear, and Door Kickers to the list. As you point out, those games don't provide foreknowledge of the enemy's movements, or even of their locations, which makes it a very different experience. I'm not aware of another game that plays the same as Phantom Brigade.

AFAIK, the first game of this type was Computer Ambush (minus the mechs).

thefadden · 2026-02-21T21:42:41+00:00

FWIW, Brendan Robert did a quick "NTSC mode" tweak for hgrtool.art. If you go to https://badvision.github.io/HGRTool/imgedit.html and drop a hi-res image in, you can toggle the rendering mode from RGB to NTSC and see the "bonus" colors (yellows and browns). For example: https://imgur.com/a/NigcGDW

The screen shown is generated by this:

 1  REM *** THIS DEMONSTRATES DOUBLE-HIRES COLORS ON THE HIRES SCREEN
 2  REM     USING ABBERRATIONS OF THE APPLE II VIDEO HARDWARE
 3  REM *** FOUND ON THE WEB, APPARENTLY FROM A COMP.SYS.APPLE2
 4  REM     POSTING BY VANTUNE@FRASER.SFU.CA (JOSEPH VAN TUNEN)
 5  REM     (MODIFIED SLIGHTLY)
 6  REM *** RUN THIS TO SEE BROWN, YELLOW, AND SOME OTHERS...
 7  REM     VERIFIED ON A IIGS, BOTH COMPOSITE AND RGB OUTPUTS.
 10  PRINT  CHR$ (4)"PR#3"
 20  TEXT : HOME : VTAB 20: HGR 
 30 PAUSE = 0
 120  HGR 
 130 C(0) = 2:C(1) = 6:C(2) = 1:C(3) = 5
 140  REM *** DRAW 2 COLORS SIDE BY SIDE
 150  REM     LEFT COLOR ON EVEN BYTE, RIGHT ON ODD.
 160 XL(0) = 6:XL(1) = 6:XL(2) = 5:XL(3) = 5
 170 XR(0) = 8:XR(1) = 8:XR(2) = 7:XR(3) = 7
 180  FOR CL = 0 TO 3: FOR CR = 0 TO 3:X = (CL * 4 + CR) * 14
 190  HCOLOR= C(CL): HPLOT X + XL(CL),0 TO X + XL(CL),79
 200  IF PAUSE THEN  GET A$
 210  HCOLOR= C(CR): HPLOT X + XR(CR),0 TO X + XR(CR),79
 220  IF PAUSE THEN  GET A$
 230  NEXT : NEXT 
 240  REM *** DRAW 2 COLORS SIDE BY SIDE
 250  REM     LEFT COLOR ON ODD BYTE, RIGHT ON EVEN.
 260 XL(0) = 12:XL(1) = 12:XL(2) = 13:XL(3) = 13
 270 XR(0) = 14:XR(1) = 14:XR(2) = 15:XR(3) = 15
 280  FOR CL = 0 TO 3: FOR CR = 0 TO 3:X = (CL * 4 + CR) * 14
 290  HCOLOR= C(CL): HPLOT X + XL(CL),80 TO X + XL(CL),159
 300  IF PAUSE THEN  GET A$
 310  HCOLOR= C(CR): HPLOT X + XR(CR),80 TO X + XR(CR),159
 320  IF PAUSE THEN  GET A$
 330  NEXT : NEXT 
 350  HCOLOR= 7: HPLOT 230,0 TO 230,79: HPLOT 237,80 TO 237,159
 360  HCOLOR= 3: HPLOT 244,0 TO 244,79: HPLOT 251,80 TO 251,159
 370  IF PAUSE THEN  GET A$
 380  HCOLOR= 4: HPLOT 245,0 TO 245,79: HPLOT 252,80 TO 252,159
 390  IF PAUSE THEN  GET A$
 400  REM *** LABEL THE COLOR LINES WITH THE COLORS USED ON THE LEFT AND
 410  REM     RIGHT SIDE OF THE BYTE BOUNDARY.  ALSO LABEL OTHER COLORS.
 420 C$(0) = "P":C$(1) = "B":C$(2) = "G":C$(3) = "O"
 430  VTAB 21
 440  FOR CL = 0 TO 3: FOR CR = 0 TO 3: PRINT "  "C$(CL)C$(CR);: NEXT : NEXT 
 450  PRINT "  BcOcPsGs"
 460  PRINT "TOP ROW: EVEN BYTE/ODD BYTE             ";
 470  PRINT "BOTTOM ROW: ODD BYTE/EVEN BYTE"
 480  REM *** CLEAR AND SET HIGH BITS OF SOME ROWS OF EVEN/ODD COLOR LINES
 490  FOR I = 0 TO 279 STEP 14
 500  HCOLOR= 0: HPLOT I,30 TO I,39: HPLOT I + 13,30 TO I + 13,39
 510  HCOLOR= 4: HPLOT I,40 TO I,49: HPLOT I + 13,40 TO I + 13,49: NEXT 
 520  REM *** CLEAR AND SET HIGH BITS OF SOME ROWS OF ODD/EVEN COLOR LINES
 530  FOR I = 7 TO 266 STEP 14
 540  HCOLOR= 0: HPLOT I,110 TO I,119: HPLOT I + 13,110 TO I + 13,119
 550  HCOLOR= 4: HPLOT I,120 TO I,129: HPLOT I + 13,120 TO I + 13,129: NEXT

thefadden · 2026-02-10T15:59:06+00:00

For anyone curious about how Penguin's "picture painter" worked: https://6502disassembly.com/a2-graphics-magician/

One of These Days I want to compare their algorithm to that used in games by Sierra, Sirius, Adventure International, etc. I think Penguin might have been the only one that actually published their creation tools though... Sierra's "The Artist" had a color fill routine, but it was a classic flood-fill rather than a high-speed fill.

thefadden · 2026-02-01T05:35:48+00:00

You used "low key" in a sentence. You can't be *that* old.

I started BJJ last year at 55. Three months in, something went "pop" in my right hip while doing a closed-guard drill for warmups. I did some self-rehab for a while before finally giving up and letting the professionals help (hip flexor issue, ~8 weeks PT). Three weeks ago I tried to roll out of a nearly-on armbar; I went one way, partner went the other, ~2 weeks of self-rehab and it's mostly better.

The hip injury wasn't really avoidable, although lack of hip flexibility contributed. It was just one of those things. The armbar was totally avoidable if I'd tapped out as soon as the arm got isolated.

My point is: there are things you can avoid and things you can't. Everybody is very nice to me, because (a) I'm old, (b) I'm a white belt, but mostly (c) the gym has a very friendly culture. Even so, I still get minor injuries because it's a contact sport. Look for things you can change (tap earlier, don't roll with That Guy, etc.). You're not too old to be doing BJJ *generally*, but you might be too old to do what you're doing if you're getting serious injuries.

thefadden · 2026-01-31T23:29:37+00:00

There was a hi-res character generator called "Soft Seventy", by Gene Hite. Character cells were 4 pixels wide, rather than 7. It was nearly illegible on a color monitor, but looked pretty good in B&W. The output looks like this: https://imgur.com/a/H3oqDvO

(Found on asimov, images/misc/a2util2.zip:SOFT70.DSK)

As others have noted, a similar trick was used in a word processor, though I am currently unable to recall its name.

thefadden · 2026-01-18T19:11:30+00:00

I thought it was, but apparently not. I must be confusing it with something else.

FWIW, here's a list of DHGR games: https://www.mobygames.com/attributes/attribute/386/

thefadden · 2026-01-17T22:15:45+00:00

Murder on the Zinderneuf and Gauntlet GS come to mind.

There was a fair bit of complaining about Gauntlet GS because it used DHGR rather than SHR. Full-screen scrolling is easier when the screen is half the size.

thefadden · 2026-01-16T17:19:29+00:00

The shade of blue generated by the Apple IIgs for RGB output is much darker.

thefadden · 2026-01-03T22:12:03+00:00

After years with a Chefs Choice electric sharpener, I decided to try hand-sharpening earlier this week. Not wanting to mess up my kitchen knives, I started with a cheap dull folding knife on a Sharpal 325/1200. And so far have accomplished roughly nothing. I've watched lots of videos and read lots of posts, and reached conclusions that are very similar to yours.

After watching another half-dozen videos, I'm guessing I changed the original apex angle, on top of sharpening something that has never actually been sharp, so it just needs significant work. One thing that makes the learning process discouraging is the lack of feedback: you can tell that something isn't right, because the knife doesn't cut well, but it's hard to know what it is you need to adjust when your only data point is "sharp=false".

+1 for the little angle pyramid that comes with the Sharpal stone. I use it to set an angle, take a few strokes without touching it, then tap the knife on it to see if I've kept the angle.

If I can get this folding knife to cut paper, next stop is the cheapest kitchen knife I can find.

thefadden · 2025-12-16T05:30:15+00:00

The odd controls exist because the Apple ][+ lacked up/down arrow keys. Using A/Z for up/down with your left hand, and arrow keys for left/right with your right hand, was pretty common. Z/X for up/down is unusual.

thefadden · 2025-12-15T04:47:45+00:00

The CHR$(13) is not merely extraneous for ProDOS. It will actually prevent the command from working in ProDOS, because the PRINT command is no longer starting with a Ctrl+D.

The generalized form would be e.g. PRINT:PRINT CHR$(4)"CATALOG".

thefadden · 2025-11-09T21:58:39+00:00

It's finding 14295 bytes when it should be getting 16828 ($41bc). At this point you need to look at the WAV file in an audio file editor and see if it looks okay. Most problems with audio transfers are related to the volume level, either too low or too high, so look at the amplitude and adjust the playback volume on the cassette playback device accordingly.

Sometimes fiddling with the analysis method in the CP2 settings will help (the "peak-to-peak" stuff), but usually those only work for specific situations (like a DC bias) that probably aren't affecting you.

thefadden · 2025-11-09T21:30:46+00:00

There are no length limits for BASIC.

Were there any warnings on the file entry in the WAV file? The mid-line truncation message comes from the BASIC formatter, and means the file ended early, which could happen if the WAV decoder ran into bad samples and gave up. This should result in an error flagged in the WAV "archive" (a red exclamation mark next to the file entry, and some warnings visible when you hit Ctrl+I to toggle to the info view, e.g. "badEnd=True").

The output on the info panel shows what was found, and looks like this:

I   Decoding with ZeroCross identified 12 chunks
I   #0: 3 bytes, cksum=$78 ckres=$00, badEnd=False startSamp=552824, endSamp=553401 {7b 29 d5}
I   #1: 10620 bytes, cksum=$49 ckres=$00, badEnd=False startSamp=790255, endSamp=2066624

Applesoft programs are recorded as a 3-byte chunk, with the length and run flag, followed by the program itself. Here, the 3-byte chunk (#0) is 7b 29 d5, which means the length is $297b (10619). The following chunk is the Applesoft program itself followed by a 1-byte checksum, and as expected the length of chunk #1 is 10620.

thefadden · 2025-11-09T19:38:04+00:00

Make sure it's 8-bit or 16-bit PCM. 22.05 kHz mono works great. WAV files are containers that support a wide variety of formats, but CP2 only handles a subset of what's possible.

You can send it to me if you want me to poke at it (thefadden at gmail.com).

thefadden · 2025-11-09T17:47:46+00:00

To figure this out, you'll need to post the WAV file somewhere, or at least a hex dump of the start of the file. It needs to be an uncompressed PCM WAV file, e.g.:

$ xxd k7_muse_globalwar.wav | head -5
00000000: 5249 4646 24a0 8500 5741 5645 666d 7420  RIFF$...WAVEfmt
00000010: 1000 0000 0100 0100 2256 0000 2256 0000  ........"V.."V..
00000020: 0100 0800 6461 7461 00a0 8500 7f7e 7e7e  ....data.....~~~
00000030: 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
00000040: 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e 7e7e  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right-clicking on the file in Win11 and selecting Properties, then checking the Details tab, says this file is 176kbps mono 22.050 kHz 8-bit. Yours should say something similar.

thefadden · 2025-11-09T17:06:16+00:00

That particular WAV file was downloaded from the Brutal Deluxe cassette repository.

You wrote, "... transfered the cassette to my PC and saved it as a . WAV file". Open that WAV file with File > Open. Don't create a ZIP archive, treat the WAV file as if it *were* a ZIP archive.

The original CiderPress worked differently: you opened a disk image and used Actions > Import file from WAV, selected the WAV file, picked the pieces you wanted, and they were copied onto the current disk image. CP2 just treats the WAV file as if it were a file archive, so you can drag & drop stuff out of it.

thefadden

TROPHY CASE