Today I released a new version of ROMLOAD. New in this version are:

• Improved /0 implementation
• Minor tweak in support for MSX-DOS 2 Kernel in a Sound Cartridge
• Removed /C for Konami without SCC specification. Konami without SCC detection attempt when no conversion switches were given
• Fixed bug in command line switches parser, some switches could be lower case only
• Use low speed mode (Z80, 3.58 MHz) for compatibility, unless forced otherwise
• Fixed small bug in ASCII8 mapper init
• Added 50Hz/60Hz init /S[:<Hz>]

Today I released version 2.44 of COMMAND2.COM as a patch for version 2.20 or 2.31 as a TNI product.

Changes in version 2.44 are:

• Fixed a bug causing TAB completion to go into an infinite loop in a subdirectory with only the . and .. entries. In such a case a BEEP will occur indicating it couldn't find any name to complete.
• The COMPATCH is implemented natively. This is to display the free size of a FAT16 partition.
• Added SHIFT command for batch files. This allows to shift arguments 1 position to the left, including an option to specify from which argument the shift will take place.
• New external command: TYPEWW to type text with word-wrap.
• New external command: MORE piping command to pause output display per screen.
• Added BOOT command. Sets the boot drive for when leaving MSX-BASIC.
• Added HERTZ command. Sets VDP refresh frequency.
• SET PROMPT ON and SET PROMPT OFF are restored to their respective defaults. If PROMPT wasn't set, it defaults to %_CWD%>.
• Restored ERA, ERASE and RENAME commands for compatibility reasons.
• Added missing COMMAND2.COM version 2.41 features to the help files.
• Internal Variable _MSXVER now supports all MSX generations.
• Added @STRING Internal Variable Function. Returns a string of the specified length containing the first character of a string.

(November 18, 2010: it turns out the help files packaged weren't that up to date. The current archive contains the correct help files)
(November 29, 2010: there was a bug causing a "Wrong version of COMMAND" error appearing on MSX2 machines. The current archive contains the fixed version of COMMAND2.COM)

A few days ago I read about a bug in the tab completion of COMMAND2.COM version 2.41 causing it to loop infinitely when tabbing in an empty subdirectory and about a version 2.42 fixing this. After getting my hands on this version I started some comparisons:

1. the first downloadable version was infected by the ZAPP virus, both the unpatched and the patched version
2. it's not based on version 2.41, but more likely on 2.40 (although I did notice an unchanged 2.41 version string which is quite strange)
   (October 13, 2010: it's confirmed COMMAND2.COM version 2.42 is based on version 2.40)
   (October 31, 2010: a version 2.43 was released, fixing some simple textual bugs, no new features are added)
3. by examining the code at first I thought the tab completion bug was fixed by simply removing the feature, but it turned out it wasn't removed. This first assumption was because of the ZAPP virus.

The tab completion is fixed in a very strange way. It made me decide to look into things in the actual version 2.41 release and write a proper fix.

Right now I have a COMMAND2.COM with the bugfix and some new stuff. We're planning a release in the very near future with some very interesting features.

After more than 13 years since the last update of the Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake English translation, initially done by Maarten ter Huurne and Takamichi Suzukawa, I decided to continue doing updates. This update is done to fix some long standing issues. It contains many improvements. The two most visible ones are the level 2 and 3 kanji are translated and the plastic bomb graphics glitch is fixed.

Also the disk version is discontinued for several reasons:

• it would mean releasing a cracked version of a game that was originally released on cartridge
• it would mean releasing a full version of the game which is against copyrights and my personal policy
• recent development of flash cartridges

As an addition an updated translation for the demo version is also available. Both translations are released as IPS patches.

Info, screenshots and downloads are available on the brand new Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake English translation website.

Celebrating its 5th anniversary I've released a new version of Palette Editor today. Here's what's new:

• exchanging colors execution has moved to a more logical location
• added support to force MSX1 and non-japanese texts on MSXturboR
• many internal optimizations
• Shalom palette was made by Ramones in stead of Slotman
• massive update of preset palettes with static palette of all MSX1 VDP chips
• implemented a more elegant resident solution

Website updates:

• updated the program information section
• all presets screenshots are redone with the new presets