************************************* * SofaRun v4.0 * * coded by Louthrax in March 2019 * ************************************* =================================================================== Introduction =================================================================== SofaRun is an MSX-DOS 2 tool that allows you to run disk (.DSK), cassette (.CAS) and cartridge (.ROM) images. Various settings can be set and stored for each game. It can also be used to launch normal MSX-DOS 2 and BASIC programs. It features a joystick controlled file browser, ZIP files support, options to map JoyMega buttons to keyboard and "soft reset", allowing you to play lying on your sofa just like a lazy penguin! =================================================================== License =================================================================== You are allowed to freely use and distribute SofaRun for any non- commercial usage. This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the author be held liable for any damages arising from the use of this software. =================================================================== Requirements =================================================================== SofaRun works on any MSX computer with MSX-DOS 2 and 32KB free mapped memory. MSX machines with a total of 128KB mapped memory are supported, assuming that you use COMMAND.COM version 2.31 or lower (versions above 2.31 are allocating an extra 16KB memory segment). That beeing said, if you want to launch a disk image containing a program using mapped memory (like Project Melancholia or cracked games from the 80's), you'll need more memory. Also, launching a ROM image may require more memory (when using the "Memory mapper" device) or a specific device. Supported ROM devices in SofaRun v4.0 are: * Memory mapper * turboR mapper * SD Snatcher * Snatcher * MegaRAM * ESE SCC * ESE RAM * MegaFlashROM SCC * GR8NET * MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD * Multi-MSXRAM * MegaFlashROM SCC+ * Carnivore 2 - Flash * Carnivore 2 - RAM The SRAM auto-save feature requires a Panasonic PAC or FM-PAC. =================================================================== Features =================================================================== * ZIP files support (see the "ZIP files support" section for details). * Disk access when running ROMs. You can save and load, for example, your King's Valley stages or Game Masters game states. * Option to edit text files on any MSX machine (even MSX 1), using the great & free VEDIT.COM tool. * Basic Copy, Paste and Delete operations on files and directories. * SofaSet tool to control all MSX2 RCT settings. * Writing back tape images (.CAS) to real tape, thanks to Martos' CAS2TAPE.COM tool. * SRAM auto-backup. * Game Master 1 and Game Master 2 support. Game Master 2 can be used only with a supported flash device, but Game Master 1 works without for small ROMs. * Soft reset: if you have selected JoyMega support, you can reset the game by pressing the [A] and [Start] button simultaneously. * Editable SR.INI file. You can specify your "saves" and "temporary" locations here, define your custom palettes, and even your own file-type associations. * Save of all settings for each game, so that you don't have to set them every time. * Support of external SCC or SCC+ sound cartridge,if you want to hear the "real thing". * PSC to SCC: you can redirect PSG sounds to an SCC cartridge, and define SCC waveform for each PSG channel. * Various settings, like other game loaders (video mode, language, CPU mode, MSX version). =================================================================== Installing SofaRun =================================================================== From your desktop computer, extract "sofarun.zip" somewhere to your MSX-DOS2 mass storage device (SD card or hard drive). Plug your mass storage device on you MSX, boot to MSX-DOS 2, go to the directory where you extracted "sofarun.zip" using the "cd" command, and type "SR" from the command line. You should see the SofaRun title screen. SofaRun takes no file arguments, only these two options can be specified: /S: Skip the display of the title screen. /I: Ignore last launched game, and start SofaRun from current directory. =================================================================== Supported file types =================================================================== All file types associations here can be changed in the SR.INI file (see "The SR.INI file" section below). * .ROM Cartridge images. Can be ROMs or MegaROMs. * .DSK Disk image files, as used by MSX emulators. Several disk images can be concatenated into a single .DSK file. You'll be able to swap disks during game (see section "Swapping disks"). * .CAS Cassette images, as used by MSX emulators. Those files are loaded using the "LOADCAS" tool from Martos. * .COM MSX-DOS executables. * .BAT MSX-DOS batch files. Those files can be launched but also edited (like described below for .INI and .TXT files). * .LDR BASIC files. ".BAS" files are not displayed to distinguish them from "loader" specific BASIC files. * .ZIP PKZIP compressed files. Contents of these files can be extracted and played with a single click. See the "ZIP files support" section for details. * .MIG MSX compressed images. Those are displayed using MIGVIEW.COM. * .VGM Video Game Music files. Those are played using Grauw's VGMPLAY.COM player. * .INI and .TXT Those are considered as text files. SofaRun allows you to edit them using an MSX patched version of the excellent VEDIT tool. Instructions for using VEDIT are displayed before launch. =================================================================== Controls =================================================================== Everything in SofaRun can be controlled with either the keyboard or the joystick in port 1. To validate something, press [Space] key, [Enter] key or joystick [Button A]. This is referred later in this document as [Validate]. To cancel something, press [ESC] key or joystick [Button B]. This is referred later in this document as [Cancel]. =================================================================== The game browser =================================================================== This is what you get when you launch SofaRun: a list of all supported files, and directories. You can move in the entries here using the keyboard arrows or the joystick. To open the "Game" menu in order to launch you game, or change to another directory, just [Validate]. [Cancel] to enter the "Quit" menu. =================================================================== The "Game" menu =================================================================== This menu is invoked by [Validating] a game in the game browser. Following is a description of each menu entry. ** Start ** Start the game! ** Settings ** Edit settings for the game (see "Settings" menu below). ** Erase SRAM ** Erases the SRAM for the current game if "PAC-SRAM auto-save" is enabled in its settings. ** Write to tape ** Write the current cassette image to tape (.CAS files only). ** Write to disk ** Write the current disk image to floppy (.DSK files only). Select the target drive and [Validate] to start writing. ** Back ** Go back to the game browser. =================================================================== The "Settings" menu =================================================================== This menu is invoked by selecting "Settings" in the "Game" menu. It displays available settings for the game. You can change a setting with the [Left] and [Right] cursor keys or with the joystick in port 1. At first, all settings are set to the default values. If you change a setting, it will be displayed with a star ("*"). This indicates that this setting is set and will be used instead of the default value. You can toggle a setting between the "set" and "default" states by [Validating]. Following is a description of each menu entry. ----------------------------- Actions ----------------------------- ** Apply ** Apply your settings choices and go back to the "Game" menu. ** Cancel ** Cancel the changes made in the settings and return to the "Game" menu. ** Reset to defaults ** Reset all settings to the default ones. ------------------------ Generic settings ------------------------- ** Video mode: ** (MSX 2 only) Choose between 50Hz or 60Hz video modes here. Most of the games are looking better in 60Hz mode. ** Erase VRAM: ** Erase the VRAM first 16KBs to 0 before launching the game. Can be useful for flawed games that expect the VRAM to be completely set to 0. ** Palette: ** (MSX 2 only) Choose between different color palettes for the game. Palettes can be defined in the SOFARUN.INI file. You can for example use the MSX1 palette to have the original look and feel of a game on an MSX2. The "CoolColors" palette by FRS also looks very well on lots of ROMs! See the "SOFARUN.INI" section below for more details. ** PAC-SRAM auto-save: ** If you have a PAC-SRAM cartridge, its content will be saved after each game's run, and saved when you go back to SofaRun. This allows to play several games using PAC with no danger of loosing saved data. The generated SRAM backup file has the same base name as the game file, with extension replaced by ".USR". ** Find Music-Module: ** Allow some games (mainly Compile ones) to find and use the Music- Module sound cartridge. -------------------------- Disk settings -------------------------- ** Start disk: ** SofaRun handles .DSK files with concatenated disk images. You can select which disk image to boot to here. ** Write enable disk: ** By default, the .DSK file you have selected is write-protected. Enable this to allow writing. Note that each time a .DSK image is launched, a "virtual" user disk is added in last position. It has the same base name as the .DSK file with extension replaced by ".USR". This virtual disk is only created if accessed. ** Disk delay: ** Some games do not like the fact that disk accesses are quite faster on an SD card or hard disk compared to original floppies. This leads to graphical glitches or even crashes. Increase the value here until the problem is solved. ** Simulate [CTRL] pressed: ** Free up some memory by allowing only one drive instead of two, just like when you press the [CTRL] key at boot time. ** No memory mapper ** Simplifies memory handling by assuming that the game is not using memory-mapped memory. Increases speed but might cause crashes for games that do use the memory-mapped memory. ------------------------- turboR settings ------------------------- ** CPU mode: ** If you're the happy owner of a turboR, you can define which CPU mode to use here. ** Disable FM-PAC: ** Prevent games from using the integrated FM-PAC on turboR, so you'll get standard PSG sounds. This allows to run games in R800 mode without FM-PAC sound glitches. -------------------------- ROM settings --------------------------- ** Pref. device ** Selects the prefered ROM device used to launch a .ROM file. If that device does not exist or does not fit the requirements to launch a ROM, another device will be selected instead if possible. ** Flash speed: ** (MegaFlashROM SCC+ (SD) and Carnivore 2 devices only) Sets flashing speed for the flash memory devices. Default speed for MegaFlashROM SCC+ is 1x, default speed for MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD and Carnivore 2 is 4x. MegaFlashROM SCC only supports 1x. ** ROM type ** By default, SofaRun tries to guess the type of the ROM file when flashing it. If this does not work, you can specify a type here. ** No subslots: ** Disables subslots for the ROM device when launching ROM. ** Disable disk driver: ** Disable the disk driver when launching ROM. Required for Iligks Episode IV. ** Interruption mode: ** Change this to improve game speed or fix freezings and crashes. ** A.I. level: ** Increase value to fix glitches or crashes. ** Page switch optimization: ** ("Memory mapper" ROM device only) Increase value to reduce disk accesses. Warning: might cause crashes if too high. ** Game Master: ** You can select to launch a game with Konami's Game Masters here. "Memory mapper" ROM device only supports Game Master 1 for small ROMs. ** MSX version: ** You can lie about the version of your MSX here. This allows to play Gradius 3 in MSX1 mode for example. Well, there's little interest in that, but if you are playing a game with the Game Master 2 and want to use a custom palette, this might be useful: the Game Master 2 in MSX2 mode sets its own palette, and erases the custom palette before launching the ROM. This won't happen if you set the MSX version to MSX1! ** Language: ** Set this to "International" to play the ROM in English instead of Japanese. ** JoyMega: ** If you have a JoyMega adapter and a Megadrive joypad, you can choose between different configurations here. Some "generic" configurations are provided in the default SOFARUN.INI file, but you can add as many configurations as you want in this file. See the "SR.INI" section below for more details. The 3 buttons configurations will be a bit faster compared to the 6 buttons one, but only [A] and [Start] buttons are available. ** Disable keyboard: ** If you enable this, the keyboard will not be read and be inactive. As reading the JoyMega and converting buttons to keys takes a while, this might speeds things up a bit. Use this if you experience slowdowns when JoyMega is enabled. ----------------------- ROM sound settings ------------------------ ** Use external SCC: ** Flash devices usually emulate SCC and SCC+ very well, but if you are a "vintage fanatic", set this to "Yes" to use a real SCC or SCC+ cartridge instead. You have to set which SCC slot to use with the "SCC slot" setting below. ** PSG port: ** You can redirect the default PSG port to another one here. Use "MFR SCC+" to use the MegaFlashROM SCC+ ports. Use "Disabled" to mute the PSG. ** PSG channel #x: ** You can filter the 3 PSG ports here. "Noise only" will only allow noise on the x channel. "Music only" will only allow music on the x channel. "On" allows everything and "Off" disable everything. ** PSG to SCC: ** Set this to "Yes" to also play PSG sounds on an SCC cartridge. You can select which SCC waveform is associated to each PSG channel with the next settings. You have to set which SCC slot to use with the "SCC slot" setting below. ** SCC Waveform x: ** Select which SCC waveform is associated to PSG channel x when the "PSG to SCC" setting is enabled. You can add and edit SCC waveforms in the SROM.INI file. ** SCC slot: ** Select which SCC slot to use when "Use external SCC" or "PSG to SCC" settings are enabled (there's not auto-detection of SCC cartridges yet in SofaRun). Note that you might receive "SCC slot conflict" errors or warnings when launching ROM depending of your slot layout. Basically, the SCC slot specified here can't be in the same "main slot" as the RAM or flash device slot used for the game. =================================================================== The "Write to tape" menu =================================================================== This menu is invoked by selecting [Write to tape] from the "Game" menu. ** Write game to tape: ** Select the desired baud rate (1200, 1800, 2400 or 3600) and [Validate] to start writing the game to tape. ** Write silence: ** Select the silence duration and validate to start writing silence to tape. ** Back ** Go back to the "Game" menu. =================================================================== The "Quit" menu =================================================================== This menu is invoked by [Canceling] in the game browser. Following is a description of each menu entry. ** Parent directory ** Change current directory to the parent one. If browsing a ZIP file, exit to the containing directory. ** Quick launch: ** Allows to quickly launch any application without browsing to it. These applications can be added in the SR.INI file (see "The SR.INI file" section below). Default Quick launch applications are: * SofaSet Launches SOFASET.COM which allows you to customize all MSX2 RTC chip settings. * JoyTest Launches FRS JOYTEST.COM tool to test your joystick, joymega, paddle, mouse or lightgun. * BLOAD"CAS:",r Goes to BASIC then load and run a binary file from tape. * CLOAD Goes to BASIC then load and run a BASIC file from tape. * RUN"CAS:" Goes to BASIC then load and run ASCII BASIC file from tape. ** Quit SofaRun ** Returns to MSX-DOS 2. ** ZIP filter ** You can specifiy here a filter used when displaying ZIP files content. That can be specially useful if your ROMs are named based on the TOSEC naming convention. Keyboard input is allowed. The filter is using a classic wildcard system with "*" and "?": * "?" matches any single character. * "*" matches any sequence of characters. Here are some examples: * "Z*" display all files starting with letter Z. * "*.ROM" display all ROM files. * "*(KONAMI)*" display all files released by Konami. * "*(199?)*" display all files released in the nineties. ** SofaRun settings ** This will invoke another menu allowing you to edit the default settings inherited by all games. There are also some extra "UI settings" in this menu (see section below). ** Clean temporary files ** This deletes all temporary files generated by SofaRun from in the "TMPPATH" directory, including *.UNZ directories. Use this if you run out of disk space or to solve corrupted files issues. * .UNZ files are individual files extracted from ZIP files. * .UNZ directories are generated when using the [Extract all] command on ZIP files. ** Forget last flashed ROM ** Tells SofaROM to forget about ROMs flashed on non-volatile ROM devices. This forces a reflash on next game launch. ** Copy ** Copy the current file or directory for later pasting. ** Paste ** Paste the previously copied file or directory in current directory. Directories are copied recursively. ** Delete ** Delete the current file or directory. Directories are completely and recursively deleted. ** Back ** Returns to the game or ZIP browser. =================================================================== UI settings =================================================================== Those settings are only available in the "Quit" menu "SofaRun settings". ** Show all files: ** Toggles display of all files or only supported ones. You can use this to check your hard disk or SDCard for other files. Note that nothing happens if you select a non-supported file in the game browser. ** Show command line: ** Display the command line created when SofaRun launches an external application. ** Quiet launch: ** Do not display any text or ask for launch confirmation when launching a .DSK or .ROM image. ** UI video mode: ** (MSX 2 only) Choose between 50Hz or 60Hz video modes for SofaRun's UI display. ** UI text color: ** Choose the text color SofaRun's UI display. ** UI background color: ** Choose the background color SofaRun's UI display. ** UI force 40 columns: ** (MSX 2 only) Force UI display in 40 columns mode instead of 80 on MSX 2 machines. =================================================================== The SR.INI file =================================================================== You can setup different things in this file. Each section is documented, just have a look at the file. You can edit it directly from SofaRun. Below is the default SR.INI file bundled with SofaRun: #################################################################### [SYSTEM] #################################################################### # Path where your save files (PAC-SRAM (.SRM), ROM or Game Master # files, user disks (.USR)) will be placed (current directory if # not defined). SAVEPATH=A:\SAVES # Path where ZIP-extracted files (.UNZ) and patched ROMs (.PRM) will # be placed (current directory if not defined). TMPPATH=A:\TMP # Path where game (.GST) and SofaRun (SR.SST) settings files will be # placed (current directory if not defined). SETTINGSPATH=A:\SETTINGS #################################################################### [QUICKLAUNCH] #################################################################### # %s: SofaRun directory path (e.g. A:\SOFARUN\) # %c: COMMAND2.COM path (e.g. A:\COMMAND2.COM) SofaSet=%sSS.COM JoyTest=%sJOYTEST.COM BLOAD"CAS:",r=%c BASIC %sCASBLOAD.LDR CLOAD=%c BASIC %sCASCLOAD.LDR RUN"CAS:"=%c BASIC %sCASRUN.LDR #################################################################### [EXTS] #################################################################### # *1: internal ROM (ROM image) handling # *2: internal CAS (tape image) handling # *3: internal DSK (disk image) handling # *4: internal COM (MSX-DOS executable) handling # *5: internal COM (MSX-DOS batch file) handling # *6: internal BAS (MSX-BASIC file) handling # *7: internal ZIP (zipped file) handling # %s: SofaRun directory path (e.g. A:\SOFARUN\) # %f: Selected file path (e.g. MYGAME.ROM) # %c: COMMAND2.COM path (e.g. A:\COMMAND2.COM) ROM=*1 DSK=*3 CAS=*2 COM=*4 BAT=*5 BAS=*6 LDR=*6 ZIP=*7 MIG=%sMIGVIEW.COM %f VGM=%sVGMPLAY.COM %f TXT=%sAKID.COM %f INI=%sAKID.COM %f #MID=A:\BIN\SZMMP.COM /U1 %f #MID=A:\BIN\MIDIPAC\MIDIPLAY.COM %f #################################################################### [PALETTES] #################################################################### # Palette configurations # # Format is =*16 # # is the name displayed in SofaRun. # # is composed of 3 digits between 0 and 7, in RGB # order. For example 700 is red, 070 is green, 007 is blue, and 777 # is white. CoolColors= 000 000 253 364 125 236 521 357 632 742 762 774 142 524 555 777 MSX1= 000 000 051 263 237 347 632 167 732 743 552 663 041 635 666 777 Gray scales= 000 000 444 555 222 333 222 555 333 444 555 666 333 444 666 777 Green scales=000 000 040 050 020 030 020 050 030 040 050 060 030 040 060 070 C64= 000 000 444 474 214 336 220 355 411 421 533 563 252 414 555 777 NES= 000 000 262 575 007 437 501 077 710 732 750 775 050 606 555 777 APPLE2= 000 000 160 160 147 147 730 727 730 730 777 777 160 727 777 777 SPECTRUM= 000 000 070 077 005 007 500 055 700 707 550 770 050 505 555 777 CGAMONO= 000 000 060 060 040 040 040 060 040 070 070 070 060 040 070 070 FM-X-RGB= 000 000 070 070 007 007 700 077 700 700 770 770 070 707 777 777 PCJR= 000 000 272 277 005 227 500 055 722 727 520 772 050 505 555 777 =================================================================== ZIP files support =================================================================== Selecting a ZIP file from the game browser displays its contents in a way quite similar to the game browser. "Game" and "Quit" menus are available and work the same way. When a game file is selected, it is extracted to a "cache" file with extenstion replaced with ".UNZ". Those .UNZ files are not displayed by default by SofaRun. You can delete them using "Clean temporary files" from the "Quit" menu. The [Extract all] command allows to extract the whole content of the ZIP file (including sub-directories) to a directory. This directory is made of the ZIP file base name (file name without extension), and placed in the "TMPPATH" (that you can define in SR.INI). =================================================================== Error messages =================================================================== * "Bad signature in " seems corrupted. * "Unable to open " does not exist or can't be opened for some reasons. * "Unable to create " can't be created for some reasons. * "Out of TPA memory" The current directory or ZIP file is too big. Try to split your games in several smaller directories or ZIP files. * "Out of segments" You need more available segmented memory. See the "Requirements" section for details. * MSX-DOS 2 errors When an MSX-DOS 2 error happens (disk write protected for example), you'll get a menu in which you can choose to Retry, Ignore or Abort the current operation. =================================================================== Thanks =================================================================== Thanks are flying to (no special order): * FRS for JOYTEST.COM, his help on JoyMega and the CoolColors palette. * Grauw for his awesome VGMPLAY.COM tool. * Lars the 18th for v2.4 title GFX. * Martos for LOADCAS.COM and TAPE2CAS.COM. * NearDark for providing sources of they RunIt tool. * Nestor Soriano for Nextor. * The openMSX & BlueMSX teams for their awesome emulators.