Helping us help you

[kafiend]

Hi, all,

Is there any chance that a forum post coud be made of systems/dats that are not being maintained at all so that myself and others could volunteer to work on them?

 

[TKaos]

If one really want to help he could just work on trying to find correct dates in the Atari ST DATs, there are tons of (19xx) marked files because it seems like the old renamer was too lazy to search for correct dates, it's one of the biggest unmaintained DATs in the project and could really need some nice people to help.

[PandMonium]

Hi there,

Like TKaos said, there are several ways people can help out, trying to improve the existent dats or helping one of the currently active maintainers. It also depends on what you want to do: spend some of your time checking existent datfiles to fix errors and add new sets can consume a lot of time and not be the ideal way for you to start. Other options consuming less time could be for spend some hours from time to time launching existent sets to find correct dates, scene groups names and abreviations and other info that is really valuable for us.

Anyway, if you really want a list of dats i could point out the ones with the older versions, there are a couple that are really old, back to 2004 and 2005. Many may be only small systems with few sets and so there is not much to change but i'm sure that a good number of them may use old TNC rules wrong or miss valuable information.

[kafiend]

Hi,

I'll have a go at the Atari ST dates as suggested.   I will do a few and show the changes to get some feedback.

[kafiend]

So...

Basket Manager (1990)(Simulmondo)[cr MCA].st
Basket Manager (1990)(Simulmondo)[cr MCA][a].st
Basket Manager (1990)(Simulmondo)[cr MCA][a2].st
Bill Palmer (1987)(-)(fr)[cr STCS].st
Cap'n'Carnage (1993)(Energize)[cr Awesome].st
Championship Run (1991)(Impulze)[cr Empire].st
Cricket Captain (1989)(D&H Games).st

etc.

If this is right let me know about your procedures for making wip dats and uploading them etc.

[TKaos]

Looks good so far and seems to be all correct, for WIP DATs you can contact PandMonium, he'll show you where to upload.

[PandMonium]

Seems good so far!
Looking at other sets using the same title in our dats (Basket Manager) i could find hits on C64 and Amiga:

Code: [Select]

Basket Manager, The (1990)(Simulmondo)(en-it)[cr F4CG]

Basket Manager, The (1990)(Simulmondo)(en-it)[cr Softwar]
Basket Manager, The (1990)(Simulmondo)(IT)[cr ACC - Defjam - CCS][no cracktro]
Basket Manager, The (1990)(Simulmondo)(IT)[cr PDX]

... knowing nothing about the sets, i guess the game was released for various systems. If that info is indeed correct i guess ", The" could also be missing from the title (if it appears on the atari st sets) and maybe the Italy country flag too. Obviously, other sets information should not be taken as correct because many times it is not (as you just discovered ). C64 sets have lots of mistakes and Duncan is currently taking care of it (although it is an huge job).

About the procedures, to create wip dats you use any method you find better. If you are careful enough you can make the changes in the dats with some text editor and save it with updated headers and name.
On the other hand i guess most of the renamers prefer to have the sets and rename the zipfiles (and in many sets the romfile inside the zipfile), when you feel you did a good amount of work, just create a datfile using dir2dat function of clrmame for example and upload it.
Your dats will be later checked by someone and included in the current wip ones, waiting to be released some day

There are other details or hints that other renamers might give you, that's all from me since i don't rename.

As a final note, if you like you can help in other ways too. Picking the sets you gave, most of the old renamers are not around anymore and i've no idea of what "MCA" represents. According to our info, it might be the abbreviation for a German scene group named "The Magic Cracking Association", or at least that's what happens with Amiga. For STCS i have no idea and so on for the others, you might want to help me out in this too by providing me the information (and a screenshot), just like TKaos and mai do, you can check one topic from mai named Amiga Scene Groups around here. I will give you more details about this part if you want to help with it too. If not, fixing existent sets is already a great contribution

Good luck and don't hesitate in contact me.

[TKaos]

Well "Simulmondo" seems to be a an Italian publisher so giving the game the flag (IT) would be correct, I gave kafiend a website in PM to check Atari ST images, the same website I use mainly for Atari8bit software, it's a very good site with country codes and everything else that you need to rename all correct, if he really like to work on it we can expect a huge change in Atari ST DATs.

[kafiend]

MCA is The Menacing Cracking Alliance - a child/split group of Elite

[PandMonium]

Great
I'm leaving now but hope i can add that in the weekend, if not i'll be back on monday. Keep up the good work

[kafiend]

Heres a list of ST scene crews from http://www.st.scene.free.fr/ - I made a doc of it just in case the site vanishes.

[PandMonium]

Thanks again, i didn't know the link and it is useful indeed. Nonetheless, it helps but does not solve all our problems
This all started with Amiga groups, to discover what so many abbreviations meant (like "MCA"), over the years renamers used abbreviations that were not used by the groups, created some new ones or used the same one to different groups. We wanted to catalog and use only the ones that were shown by the groups ingame, like your images for MCA.

The same idea was extended to other flags content in order to improve our information, getting a picture, information and so on that confirms groups, sceners and all that

Enough talk, i used your link to check some groups but i still have lots of questions, for A:

I still miss pictures for most, like 007, 42-Crew, and all

Some fast unformated list of groups/sceners/errors that show on Atari ST, groups used in these sets (the ones starting with A) can not be find on that site

Code: [Select]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]
Leavin' Teramis (1990)(Thalion)[cr 16-bit Crew]
Rocket Ranger (1989)(Cinemaware)[cr 16-bit Crew]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]
221B Baker Street (1987)(Datasoft)[cr A-HA]
Time Runner (1988)(Red Rat Software)[cr A-HA]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]
Crash Garrett (1987)(ERE)(fr)[cr A.C.B.S.][one disk]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]
International Ninja Rabbits (19xx)(Micro Value)[cr Cynix][h Absu]

Ace = scener - The Ace ??  http://www.st.scene.free.fr/member.php3?Scener=The+Ace+!&GroupID=&GroupName= ?
Atari ST - Games - [ST]
Space Quest - The Serien Encounter v1.1a (1986)(Sierra)[cr Ace]


confirm: ACF = abbreviation = http://www.st.scene.free.fr/main.php3?Groupe=ACF+Design+Team
Atari ST - Games - [ST]
Action Service (1988)(Cobra Soft)[cr ACF]
Kid Gloves (19xx)(Millennium)[cr ACF][t]
North Sea Inferno, The (19xx)(Magic Bytes)[cr ACF]

Atari ST - Demos - [ST]:
Mathematica (1992)(Aura)[m Aeon]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]
Star Trap (1988)(Loriciel)(fr)[cr Aldo][one disk]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Armour-Geddon (1991)(Psygnosis)[cr Alien][t][one disk]
Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (1988)(U.S. Gold)[cr Alien][t +2][one disk]
Hero Quest Extension Pack - Court of the Witchlord (19xx)(Gremlin)(M5)[cr Alien]
Mr. Heli (1987)(Irem)[cr Alien][t +2]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
No Buddies Land (1991)(Expose)[cr Alone Cracker]

http://www.st.scene.free.fr/main.php3?Groupe=Alpha+Flight is the same as C64 and Amiga alpha flight?

Atari ST - Applications - [ST]:
Aladin v1.3 (1987-05-31)(ProficomP)(de)[cr Alyssa]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Duck Tales - The Quest for Gold (1990)(Disney Software)(en-fr)[cr Empire][m A.C.S.][t]


Angels of Darkness or "Angel of Darkness"? Abreviation = AOD? http://www.st.scene.free.fr/main.php3?Groupe=Angel+Of+Darkness
Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Gunship (1987)(MicroProse)[cr Angels of Darkness][one disk]
Power Struggle (19xx)(-)(de)[cr AOD]
Tetris (1987)(MirrorSoft)[cr AOD]

Animal Mine picture - lots of demos, 4 cracks

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Arkanoid (1987)(Imagine)[cr Anit-Satanist]
Typo? Anti-Satanist?

Atari ST - Applications - [ST]:
STraight Fax v2.10 (1993)(NewSTar Technology)[cr Anti-IAAD Group]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Troubadours (1988)(Lankhor)(fr)[cr Arcadian]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Wild Streets (1990)(Titus)[cr Arnaud]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Borrowed Time (1986)(Interplay)[cr Arthur Dent]
Space Quest - The Sarien Encounter v1.1a (1986)(Sierra)[cr Arthur Dent][m Blue Soft]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Planet of Lust (19xx)(Free Spirit Software)[cr Artis of Nasty]

Atari ST - Educational - [ST]:
Petit Lecteur, Le (19xx)(Carraz Editions)(fr)[cr Atari Legend - MJJ-Prod]
Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Scoop Junior (19xx)(Generation 5)(fr)[cr Atari Legend - MJJ-Prod]

Atari ST - Applications - [ST]:
Atari Works v1.207 (1993-07-22)(STP Electronics Ltd.)(fr)[h AtariCD][needs GDOS]
Fastcopy III (1990-01-13)(Backschat, Martin)(FW)[m AtariCD]
Loader Construction Kit v1.93F (1993-07-05)(Pixel Boys)(fr)[m AtariCD]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
1943 (1987)(Probe Software)[cr Replicants][m Atariforce]
20000 Lieues Sous Les Mers (1988)(Coktel Vision)(fr)[m Atariforce]
Advanced Rugby Simulator (1988)(Codemasters)[cr X-Factor][m Atariforce]
Asterix (1987)(Coktel Vision)(es)[m Atariforce]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Great Giana Sisters, The (1988)(Time Warp)[cr Atariking][50-60 hz]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Ange de Cristal, L' - Get Dexter 2 (1988)(ERE)(M4)[cr Atarilegend]
Antago (1990)(Art of Dreams)[cr Atarilegend]
Batman - The Movie (1989)(Ocean)[cr Atarilegend][t]

Atari ST - Compilations - Games - [ST]:
Macadam Bumper (1986)(ERE)(M4)[cr ATOR] & Psion Chess (1986)(Psion)(M6)

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Cap'n'Carnage (19xx)(Energize)[cr Awesome]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
BMX Simulator (1988)(ECS Distribution)[cr Axel Follet]
Buggy Boy (1988)(Elite)[cr Axel Follet][no title screen]
Eco (1987)(Ocean)[cr Axel Follet]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Mad Show (19xx)(Silmarils)(fr)[cr Axxess]

Atari ST - Games - [ST]:
Technoball 2 (1991)(TLK Games)[cr Sunset - Ayoros]


[kafiend]

Taking just one of those titles (2 versions same game) that had previously caught my eye and which had raised questions I wanted clarification on.

Mad Show (19xx)(Silmarils)(fr)[cr Axxess]

Its unstated if he cracked it personally, the name Bladerunners is on the trashcan.  Is that an insult? or an indicator of membership?
I did have a quick look at the amiga dats and theres a few in there from Axxess - maybe the same group.

However, in the naming convention its not really clear what flag should be used for "spread" - take note of the screenies  - is it p for pirated by? or is there something else that covers distributed by?

The second version of mad show Mad Show

(19xx)(Silmarils)(fr)[cr Bladerunners]

The crack is by MCA see screenie, though Bladerunners "present" it.

Note: MCA and Bladerunners were both part of Elite

The same point comes up tho.  is it [cr MCA p Bladerunners] ??

Also both contain (fr), the game was released in France and I have been switching (fr) for (FR) where I know what country a game was released in on the basis that Country trumps language. This is correct?

currently these images are named

Mad Show (1988)(Silmarils)(FR)[cr Axxess]
Mad Show (1988)(Silmarils)(FR)[cr MCA]

Until i get clarification on extra flags for games "spread by" etc.

 Anyway, until now I was focused on removing (19xx) from games and tidying up the names as I went through those.  From your comments on list of groups I guess you want me provide you screenies of all the groups and clarification of abbreviation as I work through the dats in more detail?

  

[PandMonium]

Good post,
I don't want to force you to work on something you don't like. You should find what you like most (or is less boring ), if you find it easy to provide infos about groups while doing your renaming, great!
About your question, there is no flag for spread and i don't know what renamers use to do. There are already a lot of flags and you can use more than one group (eg [cr Group1 - Group2]) or leave that info out. Maybe other renamers can give you some hints on what they do in those cases.

IMHO, (an inexperienced opinion), one of the reasons for not having a "spread" flag is that, most of the times that info is not something that identifies the image itself (i guess). Many times sets were hacked and the name of the other group appears ingame saying "spread by", so i suppose an [h], [m], or other flag might be used. On the other hand, me and you could both pick a set hacked by TBT for example and spread it on 2 different places/zones (some PT community for me and other for you). In these cases, the set was spread by both of us but it was exactly the same, just with an extra nfo added for instance, the set hashs would collide and the spread information would be something related with the release/distribution and not the setfile/romfile itself. Is this possible?

Just my 2 cents

[kafiend]

I think little is boring as far as TOSEC is concerned.  

In fact I think that TOSEC as an "IDEA" can only gain plaudits as time rolls on because its intention is just the preservation of snapshotting a largely unregulated and undocumented segment of computing history.  

It's implementation as far as making sure the information provided in the file name says "ALL" that can be said about the actual file will always be problematic but still worthy of the attempt.

So don't worry about asking me to do stuff I might not like.  It's stuff that I am interested in and I like people to come up with questions I might not have thought of and also projects that should be done.

For a newcomer like myself, TOSEC has been going for years so new people like myself are joining a "conversation" in the middle.  It enables us newcomers to help you better when we can enter into dialogue like this

Anyway.

I temporarily seperated the files in the ST and STX game dirs with a quick search for (19xx) and have almost finished what I would call a cursory look at fixing dates and other resulting stuff as It came up.  Now my interest is raised (curse you tosec!) I want to look at the whole Atari ST dats and work through them.


If theres specific tasks that you want me to do while looking at the files ie. documenting the groups via screenshots then just tell me to do it and let me know where to upload the resultant files.