Convert multiple files into one (X68000)

Libretro
#1

Hey guys … I have two doubts regarding the Sharp-X68000 system. Could you help me please?

1º) I was researching the internet and I came across information that said it was possible to convert the multiple diskettes of the x68000 system games into a single file. But I did not understand the process well. Do you know if this is possible? And if possible, could you tell me how to do that?

2º) I recently unzipped my roms to work right in the core of this emulator and I came across several different types of files.

.dim .xdf .hdf .xm6 .x68

in some cases the compressed game file has more than one extension shown above. I am in doubt of what to keep and what I can disregard and delete.Could you tell me if there is more than one file with the same name but different extensions, which one should I keep? Is there a reason why there are so many different extensions for a single system?

For example: The game “Angel Dive” has the following files:

  • Angel Dive (1996) (Yamada Kikaku).dim … (1.20 mb)
  • Angel Dive (1996) (Yamada Kikaku).hdf … (9.95 mb)
  • Angel Dive (y) [xdf].xdf … (1.20 mb)

Are they independent files?

From now on, I would like to thank anyone who can clarify something for me. Thank you very much.

2 Likes
#2

Hi again!

These questions are answered many times on Google, I encourage you to try to find answers yourself.

you need to create blank hard drive image, then mount the discs and copy the contents across. You can do this from X68 “DOS” or some other file manager.

Google took me here: https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5526.0

Which has this linked guide: https://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:installing_games_to_hard_drive

BUT…

I would question if you really need to do this? This platform is old and the needs of gamers are the same for years. What I mean is: somebody has probably already done this work.

As we can see:

they are alternative formats with effectively the same content:

  • .dim is floppy disk image
  • .xdf is a different floppy disk image

We can see their size is a floppy disk, 1.20 MB

  • .hdf is a hard disk file (hard disk image)

This contains the installed game, expanded from the floppy disk.

Take your pick.

Why do they have multiple? Some people prefer different things. Some like floppy images to write to disk to use with real machines. Others prefer less hassle (no need to install, just load and play) and quicker operation (no disk swapping, faster loading) of playing from hard drive.

#3

Thanks a lot for the help. and also for the explanations. I’ll take a look at the links you showed. :grin:

#4

basically, you create and add a blank harddrive and either install from the floppy or copy the files provided. Dunno how well versed you are running from a DOS promp (or whatever the OS in x6800 is called), but this would still be a waste of time in anycase, just find a game that is already in .hdf format and run it, OR just leave the disks as disk1, disk2, etc and just use .m3u playlist format to load them.

#5

In fact, for games with up to 2 diskettes I use the .m3u file.

I would like to find roms with the .hdf extension for games that have 3 or more diskettes. I have been looking for but the links that I find are always invalid.

#6

I found the x68000 system games in .hdf format. However, the games were merged into groups.

A
A1920×1020 145 KB

For example, the file “GAMES_001.hdf” contains the games:

  • A_Jax
  • AfterBurner2
  • AlienSyndrome
  • ArcusOdyssey
  • ArgosNoSenshi
  • Arkanoid
  • AtomicRoboKid
  • Babel
  • BakuretsuKukeidan
  • Baraduke
  • BleedOutSakuretsu
  • BluePhoenix
  • Bodhidharma
  • Bosconian
  • BubbleBobble
  • Cameltry
  • Chelnov
  • ChukaTaisen
  • CodeZero
  • CrazyClimber

Is there a way to separate each game into a single file?