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Protovision Update 31.07.2007

RR-NET AVAILABLE AGAIN RR-Net, the network interface card for MMC64 and Retro Replay, is again available from the Protovision Online Shop! Online Shop Direct link to RR-Net Despite the rise in German value added tax, the selling price of 50 Euro has been held. The new RR-Net is 100% software compatible, but the mechanical appearance has changed. Unlike with the old RR-Net, the socket for the network cable now faces to the right rather than upwards. This update fits perfectly with the MMC64 but with Retro Replay it results in a conflict with the buttons - it -does- fit, but it isn't very elegant. The following image shows the collision of the LAN cable with the buttons of RR: SINGULAR BROWSER CUSTOM DOWNLOAD SYSTEM BACK ONLINE Singular Browser by Soci/Singular is a graphical web browser for C64/C128. If you own the network interface card RR-Net or (E)TFE, you can go online with Singular Browser on your Commodore. The custom download system for Singular Browser was offline for a quite some time due to the server moving. Since a while it can be reached again at the usual address. Thus it is again possible to download a version fitting your hardware setup. The disk version can still be found at CSDb. NTSC VERSION OF TURBO ACTION ROM V1 FOR RETRO REPLAY Last time we introduced Turbo Action ROM V1 for Retro Replay by SounDemoN. Previously, SounDemoN has spiced up the good old Action Replay ROM with an improved Turbo Assembler that runs entirely out of Retro Replay ROM and utilizes RR RAM for the source, thus leaving the entire $0801-$ffff area available for code. SounDemoN has now released an NTSC version of the ROM. Retrohackers.com Forum topic Download NTSC version Download PAL version C64 JOYSTICK TO PLUS/4 ADAPTER Now available in our Online Shop: C64 Joystick to Plus/4 Adapter. This adapter is for those who want to use their C64 joystick on Plus/4. Online Shop Direct link to C64 Joystick to Plus/4 Adapter ULTIMATE NEWCOMER NEWS It is time to give you all news on our progress with the project. We are glad to inform all of you uber-patient fellows about the following: The 12th beta build of Ultimate Newcomer was deemed fit to be a Release Candidate and was assigned that status. Both main language versions and the most relevant hardware versions have been in testing for six weeks now. Release is only a matter of months away, depending on play- and hardware compatibility test results, and things that might need further changes or fixing. We are committed to release a BUG FREE game as a fitting end to the 16 years of development of this project. On Monday, the 2nd of July, one of our play-testers, Leon\SGR\CHR, made the first successful playthrough of the RC version, in "Solo mode". - Only a single, harmless logic flaw was discovered during this particular playthrough. Hardware compatibility and tech features took final shape as well. Almost every planned feature was successfully implemented: - 1541 version: 11 disk sides, improved fastloader, data layout optimized for less disk swapping, the formerly separate Boot and Save disk sides are on the same disk side now - 1581 version: three 3.5" DD floppy disks, loading and de-packing a complete area is 4-5 seconds - CMD FD-2000 version: two 3.5" HD floppy disks, disk swapping is only necessary for Loading and Saving - CMD FD-4000 version on a single 3.5" ED floppy disk - IDE64 version: the game can work entirely from HDD or CF card, or it can work from a CD or DVD and Load/Save game positions to HDD or CF card - An English and a Hungarian language version of all versions listed above; German language version is delayed, but hopefully it will continue in the near future - PAL/NTSC auto-detection and support - 6581/8580 SID chip auto-detection and support - C128 Auto-boot support with all floppy disk versions; works both with the internal drives of C128D and C128DCr and externally attached 1541/1571/1581/CMD FD floppy drives - C128 directly supported: de-packing is accelerated by switching the CPU to 2MHz mode while the VIC is drawing the screen borders, providing about 30% extra speed over the C64 - SuperCPU directly supported: practically INSTANT de-packing, when coupled with the IDE64 version, almost a magnitude faster disk I/O The server for newcomer.hu is currently offline. It is currently moving to a new location and hopefully be back online soon. The last news item is about a friend, a former project participant and colleague. - Hereby we publicly express our wishes of ENDURING LOVE AND A LIFETIME OF HAPPINESS to Andras Lay, the coder for the original and the Enhanced Newcomer, on the occasion of his wedding in early July! POLL: 4 PLAYER GAMES COLLECTION? Since 1997 Protovision has been developing games for the C64. Up until today, a lot of games were released as a single offer, including many games with Protovision 4 Player Interface support. For quite a while we have been considering whether it is worth compiling a 4 player games collection to give new life into the titles with a box and cover. The following games are going to be in that box: Bomb Mania, Team Patrol, Quadris, Quadtron, Snacks 4 Snakes, Hockey Mania and Tanks 3000. It will be a nice party game collection, won't it? However, we are not sure if there is enough interest in the older titles to make a collection like this worth releasing. That is why we would like to start a little poll to see if there is general interest in such a partybox. The poll is taking place in the Protovision section at the Forums of Lemon64 (English) and Forum64 (German). Lemon64 thread Forum64 thread Your opinion is wanted! Thank you. HARDWARE SECTION HAS BEEN UPDATED Our hardware section (German users click here) has been updated once again. We have added utilities and other software and links concerning the upgrades and add-ons that we stock such as the MMC64, RR-Net and Retro Replay. For instance, there is now a list of software that will work directly from the MMC64, including Copycat by Fairlight, a new demo released at the recent Big Floppy People party last weekend. Enjoy! PRICELIST UPDATED There is also a new pricelist (07/07) available, including the new C64 Joystick to Plus/4 Adapter. As usual, you can find the pricelist here.

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