Dylan Dog 04: Ombre WHDLoad Pack

README
Short : HD Installer for Dylan Dog 04: Ombre
Author: DJ Mike (djmike@crystalmike.com)
Version: 1.0
Type: game/patch
Requires: WHDLoad 19, 472k chip mem, 188k any mem

This patch applies to "Dylan Dog 04: Ombre" © 1993 Simulmondo.

Supports the original release (SPS #2697).

REQUIREMENTS

- Original disk or compatible disk image
- Slave requires WHDLoad 19+
- Game requires 472k chip memory, plus 188k any memory
  (+ approx 630k other memory for preload option)

FEATURES

- Game loads fully from HD
- Final cutscene restored: complete the game on Amiga for first time ever!
- Quit game at any time (default key F10), including on 68000 machines
- Progress can be saved and loaded (press S to save, L to load)
  - Can copy existing disk save from "DYLAN4/FIL/lzr" to "data/FIL/lzr"
- Manual protection removed
- OS calls removed (no Kickstart ROM required)
- CPU-dependent loops fixed
- Empty copperlist fixed
- Fixed byte write to audXvol register (missing notes in music)
- Trainers added - set CUSTOM1 with any of the following:
  + 1 for infinite ammo
  + 2 for infinite falls through gaps
- Color/New/Rom Icons included
- Source code included

HISTORY

Version 1.0 (2025-07-12)
- Initial release

WORDS FROM THE AUTHOR

This episode has gone through some very extensive work indeed!

The final cutscene was completely broken, causing a flashing screen and
crashing the game - verified to happen even on the original disk! The cause
was the cutscene file being corrupted - and unfortunately irretrievable.

However, the PC version of the game works just fine. With a great deal of
dissecting of the game code and its scripting system, I have been able to
convert the missing file from PC to Amiga, and for the first time ever you
can actually watch the last cutscene, and complete the game!

This was not a straightforward conversion - there were many things I had to
check and fix that differed, including:
- Reducing bitplane counts when setting up each screen, as PC uses 256
  colors on screen which instantly crashes the Amiga if not fixed
- Converting 10 bit colours in palettes to 8 bit
- Realigning plot positions of graphics, as Amiga must be on blit-friendly
  word boundaries
- Adjusting animation timings to run at the correct speed
- Setting extra variables needed for the game to complete on Amiga

But it made for an incredibly interesting mini project and I am really
satisfied that the end result turned out as successful as it has.

This episode also introduces a save game system, and that too needed some
attention! The developer unfortunately chose to bake allocated memory
addresses into the save, meaning a file produced on one machine would not
necessarily work on another. Luckily, the data needed to remap the addresses
is in the file, just not used - but now it is. So now you can port your disk
saves or copy saves between machines and they should work just fine.

Besides all that (as if I needed more work!) the rest of the game was the
same to patch as previous episodes, to my relief.

Greetings and thanks to Torti for providing the save that allowed me to
check the final cutscene, and for testing my reconstructed version!
Also thanks to Denis and Don Adan for our discussions about the game.

Enjoy! :-)

--- DJ Mike (12th July 2025)

         Bug report form, full WHDLoad package and other installs:
                          http://www.whdload.de

THIS PACKAGE COMES WITH ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO USE, RESULTS AND
PERFORMANCE OF THE PACKAGE IS ASSUMED BY YOU AND IF THE PACKAGE SHOULD PROVE
TO BE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,
REPAIR OR OTHER REMEDIATION.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, CAN THE AUTHOR BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE
CAUSED IN ANY USUAL, SPECIAL, OR ACCIDENTAL WAY, ALSO IF THE OWNER OR A
THIRD PARTY HAS BEEN POINTED AT SUCH POSSIBILITIES OF DAMAGE.