Attack of the PETSCII Robots | PortMaster | Page 1

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 12:28 AM

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Attack of the PETSCII Robots is a strategy and exploration game. Your goal is to infiltrate these settlements and destroy all of the robots. The trick is finding all of the right tools and learning how to use them to destroy all the robots.

Buy from The 8-Bit Guy

Be sure to purchase only the DIGITAL download copy to help the developer.

Place your .dsk or .po disk image inside the /petsciirobots/disks/ directory

[x] ArkOS
[] AmberELEC
[] ROCKNIX
[] muOS

[x] 480x320
[] 640x480
[] 720x720
[] Hi-Res (Anything above 640x480 & 720x70)

Using the map is not required to play the game and therefore can be played on stickless devices, too!

Controls

Button	Action
D-Pad/Left Analog	Move
A, B, X, Y/Right Analog	Shoot
L1	Search
R1	Move Object
L2	Change Weapon
R2	Change Inventory Item
Select	Toggle Map
L3/R3/Start	Use Item

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@Pork Navigators

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<@&1216123318122577972>

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 12:30 AM

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...Why the Apple version?

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 12:30 AM

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tall fossil ...Why the Apple version?

Since it's the only emulator not available on all CFWs

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 12:31 AM

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But this is not emulated?

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 12:32 AM

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It is. Nobody questioned it when I did Hallowe'en, so I guess it flies and this allows for all ppl to have some Apple II goodness 😛

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Furthermore, I had to do A LOT of work to get the controls set up, the sdl12-compat wrapper bundled, etc. so in a sense, it has been kinda ported in a way.

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I also know it's not exclusive so it won't bother me if this one doesn't "go thru".

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Since the Apple II emus don't have an OSK and each and every game needs controls set differently and requires the use of GPTOKEYB - each game needs it's own controls set and without gptokeyb you would need a physical keyboard - PortMaster is how I was able to do anything with linapple in the first place 😛 .
Anywho, I won't be upset if it's not acceptable enough.

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Not to mention how BADA$$ PETSCII Robots is! I grew up playing games on Apple II computers back in grade school and this has to be the best game I've ever played on an Apple II (Yes, I do actually have an Apple IIc and bought the floppy disk and manual from him), but I digress 😄

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@modest edge @warped surge Hey, guys. Let me know if this is going to be okay or not. If it isn't, I'll be more than happy to toss this into "file 13".

bold umbra Nov 11, 2024, 7:12 AM

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will need this for amberelec

📎 libssl.so.1.1

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 7:37 AM

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bold umbra will need this for amberelec

That's strange. It's running for me on AmberElec on my RG351P, but I've seen that happen before. I'll add it.

warped surge Nov 11, 2024, 7:43 AM

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amber depot <@449527391157485568> <@576856879586738206> Hey, guys. Let me know if this is g...

Good question, maybe only for games that need pita customization or paid games?

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I would not do retroarch for example

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 7:49 AM

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Not to try to stop this from progressing or anything, but the MSX version is free and I believe the MSX emulator is more available than the Apple 2 (for some reason).

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 7:51 AM

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tall fossil Not to try to stop this from progressing or anything, but the MSX version is fre...

The MSX version? I wasn't aware he made an MSX version.
I'm familiar with the releases for the C64, PSP, Amiga, Atari 7800, DOS, but I guess I missed this one.

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 7:51 AM

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https://www.msxdev.org/2023/09/19/msxdev23-18-attack-of-the-petscii-robots/

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 7:52 AM

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warped surge Good question, maybe only for games that need pita customization or paid games?

I do like the idea of bringing more attention to this game as it would help sales for David, but only if everyone sticks to the digital download of it.

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 7:52 AM

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The only thing I'm not sure of is if the handheld versions of the emulators can run the necessary hardware. The game requires an addon video cart and addon sound cart.

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 7:56 AM

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tall fossil The only thing I'm not sure of is if the handheld versions of the emulators can ...

Wow! That's neat. I didn't notice probably because it wasn't 8-Bit Guy that put this one together (I'm assuming)
That's a good point if it requires the additional hardware. The TI-99/4A emulator (ti99sim) does a great job at emulating all the software and games, but won't run the homebrew Super Mario for it since the emulator doesn't have support for the graphics card addon. Perhaps we'll have to fire up the MSX emulator with this one and see if it works.

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 7:58 AM

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warped surge I would not do retroarch for example

I agree with not doing stuff with RetroArch. I know we have about 7 ports that use it with libretro cores (tyrquake being one of 'em), but I personally would rather stick to the standalones.

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 8:06 AM

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amber depot 1) Wow! That's neat. I didn't notice probably because it wasn't 8-Bit Guy that...

Yeah, it's not looking like the V9990 nor the OPL4 are options for either MSX2 RA core

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 8:07 AM

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I just attempted and it looked like it wanted to start. I showed the first screen with the robots, played a sound effect, then started playing the main theme music, but never got to the main menu.

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 8:08 AM

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On real hardware, you'd plug the monitor into the cart at that point.

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 8:09 AM

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tall fossil On real hardware, you'd plug the monitor into the cart at that point.

Ahhhh... gotcha. Sounds like it goes beyond the scope of just emulating the system itself.

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I switched to the FMSX core and it did even less than BLUEMSX 😅

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 8:10 AM

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It depends on the hardware settings.

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OpenMSX emulates the hardware. But, it's not on ARM to my knowledge

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 8:11 AM

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I get what you're saying. It'll work on an x86_64 machine, ofc, but...

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Unless those cores or the standalone for MSX have been updated and it has yet to be compiled(?)

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 8:14 AM

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Derp. I didn't check for standalone. OpenMSX is on ArkOS, atleast

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 8:17 AM

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Yep. I use ArkOS mainly and that's what I tested with just now lol. I sometimes check to see what Christian has added or updated since Wayne and I had been working on the fork for the RG351P/M. I make sure to add or update what I have time to and especially if an update is critical, but haven't seen any activity regarding the MSX lately on what Christian keeps updated, but that doesn't mean that if I get some free time I could check into it at some point.

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 8:17 AM

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I'm poking throught the configs to see if the needed hardware is available

amber depot Nov 11, 2024, 8:20 AM

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@bold umbra Added libssl.so.1.1

📎 PETSCII_Robots_Apple_II.zip

tall fossil Nov 11, 2024, 8:48 AM

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amber depot Yep. I use ArkOS mainly and that's what I tested with just now lol. I sometime...

Aha, success! Although, I had to use a keyboard to set the carts from the console in the emulator. I'm not that familiar with OpenMSX console commands to create a config with the necessary settings.
These are the commands to enter into the console:
ext gfx9000
extb moonsound
set videosource gfx9000
reset

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Oh, the console is opened with F10

amber depot Nov 12, 2024, 1:26 AM

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tall fossil Aha, success! Although, I had to use a keyboard to set the carts from the consol...

You know, you got me thinkin'. Since the MSX version is free and the libretro cores aren't set to run it OOTB, if we can get a standalone OpenMSX compiled and a config file preset for it - that would indeed accomplish two things: A more enhanced version of the game and the ability to make it RTR, too!

tall fossil Nov 12, 2024, 1:31 AM

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Should be possible. Performance on ArkOS seems to be perfect even with the added emulation of the V9990 and the OPL4. I would assume it would be similar on other distros.

amber depot Jan 5, 2025, 4:12 PM

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tall fossil Should be possible. Performance on ArkOS seems to be perfect even with the added...

I went and built the standalone OpenMSX emulator and got all the necessary files and configuration done and it's working quite nicely. I'll leave it here if you want to check it out.

tall fossil Jan 5, 2025, 8:41 PM

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amber depot I went and built the standalone OpenMSX emulator and got all the necessary files...

Works pretty good. I prefer using set horizontal_stretch 320 and set scanline 10 to get at more accurate 4:3 aspect ratio and sharp pixels. According to the docs, that stretch should be 272 to approximate the original aspect ratio (although on real hardware, it's not that wide...)

ripe hemlock Jan 26, 2025, 6:47 AM

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amber depot I went and built the standalone OpenMSX emulator and got all the necessary files...

So is this going to be ready2run?

amber depot Jan 26, 2025, 6:51 AM

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ripe hemlock So is this going to be ready2run?

That already is, but I'm afraid to PR it due to a few files that might be questionable to distribute. I hope someone can confirm that there's no worry, but I'm not 100% confident that it's okay to put it up.

ripe hemlock Jan 26, 2025, 6:55 AM

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So which zip? The openmsx one?

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That's a ready to run port?

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So just place it in Ports folder and the .sh where it needs to be and vuah-la?

amber depot Jan 26, 2025, 6:58 AM

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The Apple II one requires the purchase of the game from the developer.
The OpenMSX one is ready to run with a few files I'm not confident that they don't still have some copyrights despite they're old as dirt and might not have those copyrights anymore. Someone will have to help me find out if they're clear of this.

amber depot Jan 26, 2025, 6:59 AM

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ripe hemlock So just place it in Ports folder and the .sh where it needs to be and vuah-la?

You'll only have to move the shell script if you're on muOS.

ripe hemlock Jan 26, 2025, 7:00 AM

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yeh i know thx

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this hsoukd be prrof enough

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https://www.myabandonware.com/game/attack-of-the-petscii-robots-tp7

My Abandonware

Attack of the Petscii Robots

Remember Attack of the Petscii Robots, an old video game from 2023? Download it and play again on MyAbandonware.

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its abandonware on dos and im sure its the same for msx.... well not SURE bit i doubt theres nayting to worry about

amber depot Jan 26, 2025, 7:03 AM

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We already know the MSX release is free. That's not the issue.

ripe hemlock Jan 26, 2025, 7:04 AM

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well what files are you worried of?

amber depot Jan 26, 2025, 7:04 AM

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The three bios files that support the hardware that the game relies on for the MSX - the OPL4 sound system and the V9990 graphics are two of them.

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The Apple II doesn't have copyrights on anything anymore with the possible exception of PETSCII Robots and NOX Archaist since those are fresh and it has been confirmed that the Apple II and all its software are free for the taking. It isn't clear that the same applies to the MSX even though the game and emulator are free, the bios files might not be as I can't find that information despite that they're 30+ years old and copyrights usually only last about 20 years. Even though this might be the case, I can't find anywhere that states that these haven't been renewed or something like that.

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While I'm fairly certain that no company is going to go after the MSX hardware older-than-molasses bios files, I still want to be doubly sure before putting it up. I suppose another thing I could do is put it up on multiverse instead and that might be an acceptable option since I'm so worried about it 😛

amber depot Sep 9, 2025, 10:25 PM

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📎 PETSCII_Robots_MSX.zip

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<@&1216123318122577972>
<@&1229421030007771229>
I think I've finally decided to go ahead and port this. I've reworked the MSX version. When assisting @wintry sand with the xroar emulator and how he (we) didn't include the BIOS files - this gave me an idea. Now this will get shipped, but the end user will simply have to provide the three BIOS files that complete the emulated system to run PETSCII Robots on the MSX - graphics and all. While this means that it still won't be Ready-to-Run, it will be the easiest version of this game to be "ported" and it won't be a shabby one, either. I have also added x86_64 support, too!
@tall fossil I know it's been a hot minute, but I'd like to thank you again for suggesting this MSX version of the game!

amber depot Sep 9, 2025, 10:32 PM

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amber depot

bold umbra Sep 9, 2025, 10:45 PM

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✅ rg351v amberelec
toggle map is select (not l3?)

wintry sand Sep 9, 2025, 10:53 PM

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Hopefully you get more than the 53 downloads that xroar has had 🙂

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RG35xxH on muOS worked, but first run I saw a firmware warning it looked like and then it loaded and played fine, here's the log.

📎 log.txt

amber depot Sep 9, 2025, 11:29 PM

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bold umbra ✅ rg351v amberelec toggle map is select (not l3?)

Cool. Did i screw that up in the readme?

amber depot Sep 9, 2025, 11:31 PM

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wintry sand RG35xxH on muOS worked, but first run I saw a firmware warning it looked like an...

Gotcha. Did the music and everything work still?

wintry sand Sep 9, 2025, 11:49 PM

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Seems ok same warning on steam deck but only first time and sound and game work fine on retrodeck too!

bold umbra Sep 9, 2025, 11:59 PM

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amber depot Cool. Did i screw that up in the readme?

oh, right -- readme looks correct. i was using the instructions at the top of this thread.

wintry sand Sep 10, 2025, 12:02 AM

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a lot has changed in 10 months

amber depot Sep 10, 2025, 12:03 AM

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wintry sand a lot has changed in 10 months

Sure has

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Now even if that error only shows on first run, does the game at least launch and work on first run?

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I'm wondering if I'll just add that file to the instructions, but probably won't add a check for it in the shell script if it's necessary.

amber depot Sep 10, 2025, 12:07 AM

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bold umbra oh, right -- readme looks correct. i was using the instructions at the top of th...

S'all gravy. I'll probably edit my original post up top just for consistency.

wintry sand Sep 10, 2025, 12:07 AM

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yeah it plays first time too, just a little block that made me think oh i don't have firmware, but i have the 3 files mentioned and it did run fine

amber depot Sep 10, 2025, 12:09 AM

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As long as that's working I'm wondering if it's safe just to ignore it. Honestly, I wasn't even aware it was even spitting that error until you mentioned it.

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Oh, yeah! Almost forgot...

wintry sand Sep 10, 2025, 12:12 AM

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hey that's what testers are for, to share lots of info that may or may not be useful, but is always confusing

amber depot Sep 10, 2025, 12:12 AM

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CFW Tests:
[x] AmberELEC
[x] ArkOS
[x] MuOS
[x] ROCKNIX
-> [ ] Panfrost
-> [x] Libmali
-> [ ] Adreno (Optional)
[ ] Knulli (Optional)
[ ] Crossmix (Optional)
[x] RetroDeck

Resolutions:
[x] 480x320 (Optional) - excluded
[x] 640x480
[x] 720x480 (RG34XX-SP)
[x] 720x720 (RGB30) (Optional)
[x] Higher resolutions (e.g., 1280 x 720)

wintry sand Sep 10, 2025, 12:13 AM

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1280x800 was good

amber depot Sep 10, 2025, 12:14 AM

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amber depot CFW Tests: [x] AmberELEC [x] ArkOS [x] MuOS [x] ROCKNIX -> [ ] Panfrost -> [x] ...

amber depot Sep 10, 2025, 12:31 AM

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✅ RG351P/ArkOS wuMMLe (480x320)
✅ RG34XX-SP/muOS (720x480)
✅ RG351P/ROCKNIX libMali (480x320)

tall fossil Sep 10, 2025, 12:35 AM

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✅ RGB30/ArkOS (720x720)

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Isn't the directory layout suppost to have the launch script in ports, and have a single subdirectory with everything in it?

amber depot Sep 10, 2025, 12:37 AM

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That is indeed how the zips are when downloaded from PM, but I have a habit of leaving them outside the folder for when I put them up for PR. I can change this rq.

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📎 PETSCII_Robots_MSX.zip

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What makes this interesting is that PortMaster's autoinstall feature moves these files automatically where they're supposed to go whether they're in the subfolder or not when I install from ArkOS, but they just get slopped into the ports folder on ROCKNIX and KNULLI for some reason. Eh.

#Attack of the PETSCII Robots

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