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VIC 20 Launcher


greatflash

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This is a launcher to handle the launching of Vic-20 games etc and supports all formats.

The 'read me' is included in the archive and replicated here -

XVicLauncher V1.0 By Michael Ware (GreatFlash)

What is it?
This is a launcher to enable the launching of Vic-20 roms more easily through XVIC (Vice).
The Vic-20 is a funny old beast and has several quirks that make the launching of roms automatically a bit of a pain. The problem is that as memory is added to a Vic-20, several adresses change. For example, when unexpanded the screen memory is at $1e00 and the colour memory is at $9600. Shove in 8k or more of expansion, and things change. screen is now $1000 and colour is at $9400. Also, the user basic area changes within the initial 8192 bytes.
That's just part of the problem. The next one is cartidge roms. These can come in several formats and contain one or two files.
So, What does it do?
Pass a zipped rom to XVicLauncher and it will extract and interrogate the files. Memory will then be set and cartidges will be mounted in the correct memory areas for execution. Or, that is the hope. There is one stumbling block.... Disk files.
Disk files can contain a single little 3.5k game or 100k of game. There is no way to know. XVicLauncher will set the emu to 16k in the hope (as it usually the case) that the title on the disk is one that requires memory expansion.
So, What if a game does not work?
Everytime a game is launched, XVicLauncher writes a little log file for you. So, if something is amiss, send me the log file and I can fix it. The log contains a checksum that can be used to identify a game and this can be added to a database that will later (in an updated launcher) enable the game to run... hurrah!
Note: It is best, both for me and for roms linking to the databases, to use a known collection like NoIntro/Tosec/GoodName. This also means that the checksums in the log file will link to the collections better when a non-loading rom is rectified.
Ok, enough chat - how do i use it? (Manual Install)
Simple... download Vice and unzip it into your typical choice of emulator path. ie.
C:/Emulators/Vice
Grab XVicLauncher and unzip the contents into the same directory.
Using the setup wizard, either add the Vic20 VICE config, or modify your existing one (or, just be clever and do it all manually).
The main points of note needed are as follows :-
Working Path: The path you unzipped the emu to
Command Line: XVicLauncher.exe "[rompath]/[romfile]"
Advanced Config:[Mapping Off] Exit (ALT+F4)
Important, the launcher only works with 'ZIPPED' roms and needs to take charge of the unzipping.. so, turn GX's internal unzipping off -
Zip/7-Zip/Goodmerge/RAR: No
The launcher does it's own unzipping for two reasons. It needs control of the zipping process, and, if the archive contains disks, all disks are mounted in order to up to 4 virtual Vic-20 drives. (This feature may be added to a C64 launcher later as well).
Set up Xvic.exe to your preferences. Set it to run full screen and once you have it all to your liking, save the settings in the emulator.
Automatic Install
If you are running the latest GX, then you don't need to manually download and extract. Using the set-up wizard, add the VIC 20 WinVice emulator and the launcher is included as part of the install. But.. this may not always be the latest version (though currently it is), so check here also.
Anyway...
Any problems - just give me a shout!

XVicLauncher10.zip

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