Amiga pMARS
-----------
This is an Amiga port of pMARS 0.8.5...
There are two copies of pMARS in this archive. The pMARS executable is the
simple, text-based version. This will run on pretty much any Amiga and is
a good deal (roughly 20 times!) faster than the graphical one. It includes
support for the 94 extensions. Requirements: Kickstart 1.3 or better, any
680x0 processor.
pMARSv is the graphical version. It has all of the features of the normal
one (including the debugger), but is pretty slow... This requires
Kickstart 2.0 or better, and some features probably need 3.0. It's only
been tried on my 3.0 machine though, so it might not work on 2.0/2.1. If
that's the case, let me know.
Why does the graphical version need OS2.0 - well, it *could* be done on
1.3, but on a 68000 1.3 machine it's going to be painfully sluggish, and
2.0 is much nicer to work with :) Mail me if you really need a 1.3 gfx
version. Requires Kick2.0 or better (Kick 3.0+ recommended), any 680x0
processor. 68020 or better (much better) recommended.
There aren't specific versions for 020/030/040 processors because there
didn't appear to be any significant speed gain from doing so. I'm happy to
provide one if people want it.
Amiga Options
-------------
-display <string>
The ModeID of the desired screen. Can be specified either as a decimal
number or in hex (as 0x1000, for example). You can also use ? as the
argument to get an ASL screen requester.
-public <name>
You can use a public screen instead of a custom one if you like ; just
specify it's name here. If you have Kickstart 3.0 or better it will
attempt to choose sensible colours - if not this may look strange. You
need OS2.0 or better to use public screens, preferably OS3.0. The support
isn't that great at the moment ; pMARS will happily use the window border
for plotting. Oops.
-width <number>
The width of a custom screen, or the width of the window if a public screen
is used.
-height <number>
See -width entry.
-ydebug <height>
This lets you change the vertical position of the debug area. Normally,
pMARS will resize the graphical display to be as big as possible and only
leave 1 or 2 lines for debugging. If you need more space use -ydebug ; a
value of about 3/4 the screen height is a good start. ydebug value must be
lower than the screen height.
Basic Commands
--------------
Most of this applies only to the graphics versions...
d Enter debug mode. Type help for a list of commands. c will
continue simulation.
< or > Slow down/Speed up simulation
SPACE BAR Clear core display.
q or ESC Quit. The program will of course automatically quit after
completion.
Misc Notes
----------
A few minor things aren't supported, namely the display/system commands in
the debugger. The graphical version is fairly basic - oh, please note that
it may seem a little unresponsive to keypresses on the higher speed
settings. You may need to press a key a few times to get it's attention
while plotting. Sorry about this; as you can imagine the simulation is
*very* processor intensive. If you slow the simulation down a little it
will react much better.
The Amiga source code is not included in this archive, but is freely
available upon request.
Future
------
Kickstart 1.3 support. Better (faster?) display. Proper console window
for debugging. Much nicer debugging support. PPC?!? I'm open to suggestions!
Other
-----
If you find a bug, or would like some additional features, mail me. It's
all fairly simple at the moment, but once we know it works I'll worry about
any enhancements. If you need to know how to do something in the debugger,
or want to know why a program won't compile properly, it's best to ask in
the rec.games.corewar newsgroup rather than ask me - I don't know much
about this sort of thing yet.
If I've left something out, or some feature doesn't work as you know it
should, then *please* let me know. It's likely to be ignorance on my part
rather than being a deliberate omission. I'm still a complete corewar
newbie :)
Mark Howson <Mark.Howson@nottingham.ac.uk>, Sunday 14-Jun-98 12:49:11
Amiga 1200T, 68040/25 603e/200, 32Mb RAM etc.
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