A: RP9 (from
RetroPlatform, the technology used in Amiga Forever and
C64 Forever) is a packaging format largely compliant with the
format endorsed by the W3C for
web applications. It
was designed for long-term preservation and one-click download
and playback of "retrocomputing" content such as Amiga or C64 games and
demoscene productions. RP9-enabled applications like Amiga
Forever and C64 Forever support powerful
content curation features to create and edit
titles, which can be enjoyed "forever" in
both personal and public use scenarios.
In its simplest technical form, an RP9 file is a ZIP archive compressed using the "deflate" method and containing
an XML manifest (rp9-manifest.xml, as per
RP9 XML Schema) and one or more
preview (PNG) and
media image files (e.g. ADF, D64, etc.)
Benefits of RP9 include:
- All required media images are packed in a single RP9 container
- XML manifest includes title description and configuration information
- Title edits are applied to the title file itself (no external database
needed)
- Emulator-independent (configurations are described in terms of real
hardware, and even "tweaks" are abstracted)
- Titles are highly portable (separation between title-specific and
host-specific options, e.g. for game controllers)
- Offline support (links to online resources are possible, but not
required for content access or execution)
- No dependency on external databases (links to external
resources are possible, but not required for content access or execution)
- Natively compressed format (additional ZIP is not
necessary)
- Is recognizable as its own content type when downloading or opening (unlike the generic ZIP)
- Preserves and respects original image files and names
(original files can be extracted back from RP9)
- May include visual preview images (PNG), help documents (text or
PDF), box and media shots (PNG or JPEG), soundtrack and other related audio
files
- Supports streaming (titles can be played back in browser apps)
The MIME type of RP9 files is application/vnd.cloanto.rp9.
For the initial Amiga implementation, the preferred formats for disk images
stored in RP9 files are ADF and HDF, for which disk change undo and save state
is supported. ADZ, DMS and HDZ compressed disk images are converted to ADF or
HDF by RetroPlatform Player instances, both to simplify playback support by
simpler players, and because compressed formats carry an additional overhead which is redundant (RP9 is already
compressed). CD images may be simple ISO files, or CUE-referenced
ISO/BIN/WAV/MP3 file sets. Some other formats supported by the player may also
be used, however undo and save state functionality may vary, and compatibility
with third-party applications cannot be guaranteed.
To ease content grouping by authoring
tools, format-specific file extensions (e.g.
"example.mod", not "mod.example") are
required for all embedded files (media,
documents, images and audio, etc.)
Within the context of the RetroPlatform architecture,
the main goal of RP9 is to introduce unity between "application" and "file" (i.e. one application = one file) and to
simplify the download and organization of such applications
without having to deal with ZIP archives or multiple files. RP9 files contain applications (e.g. disk images),
optional application identifiers and configuration data and
ancillary document and multimedia content (manuals, audio tracks, box
shots, etc.)
The configuration data may contain a
reference to a given RetroPlatform
Library version, or other source of the
configuration. Manual user additions and changes are
also flagged as such. This makes it easier
to automatically "clean up" RP9 files,
applying new updates over old data, rather
than vice versa, and respecting individual
user changes, if so desired. If version data
were missing, old RP9 files could
contaminate the RP9 ecosystem, as emulation configuration
improvements would not be as easily recognizable as such.
RP9 files do not require installation, and are independent of
file name and location. We want users to be free to organize,
rename and play RP9 files just like they can do with MP3 music
and PDF documents. And,
why not, even peek inside the archives.
Full support for RP9 was introduced in C64 Forever 2009 and Amiga Forever
2009, which were released in the first half of 2009. Support for embedded
configuration data was introduced in the 2009.2 update. As of August 2009,
several third-party developers were already working on quality-certified tools
to support the RP9 format, and Cloanto's RetroPlatform team was working on
improving the content of RetroPlatform Library based on the
previously announced cataloging effort. The combination of RP9
authoring and conversion features (included in Amiga Forever and C64 Forever) and RetroPlatform Library,
and similar third-party tools, are working towards making the vision of "one
click to play, no configuration required" possible.
Here are some sample game files, ready for playback*:
-
Death Trap (Anco, 1990, Amiga).rp9
-
After the War (Dinamic, 1989, Amiga).rp9
-
Breathless (Fields of Vision, 1995, Amiga).rp9
-
The Persian Gulf Inferno (Innerprise Software, 1989, Amiga).rp9
-
Super Scramble Simulator (Magnetic Fields, 1989, Amiga).rp9
-
Wrangler (Magnetic Fields, 1989, Amiga).rp9
-
Aquanaut (Phil Ruston, 1995, Amiga).rp9
-
Giddy II - Hero in an Egg Shell (Phil Ruston, 1994, Amiga).rp9
-
Metal Warrior (Phil Ruston, 2004, Amiga).rp9
-
Operation Firestorm (Phil Ruston, 1993, Amiga).rp9
-
Christmas Demo (Commodore, 1983, C64).rp9
If you are interested in offering RP9 files for download from
your site, please contact us. Given
the simplicity of RP9 you could be up and running in less than a
day, at no cost. We mainly need to assign site-unique manifest
data to you, and understand whether you require special support,
for example by the Express Edition of Amiga Forever.
* After the War is
Copyright © 1989 Dinamic SA, distributed under license. Aquanaut
is Copyright © 1995 Phil Ruston, distributed under license.
Breathless is Copyright © 1995 Fields of Vision, distributed
under license. Death Trap is Copyright © 1990 Anco Software
Ltd., distributed under license. Giddy II: Hero in an Egg Shell
is Copyright © 1994 Phil Ruston, distributed under license.
Metal Warrior is Copyright © 1993-2004 Covert BitOps,
distributed under license. Operation Firestorm is Copyright ©
1993 Phil Ruston, distributed under license. Super Scramble
Simulator is Copyright © 1989 Magnetic Fields, distributed under
license. The Persian Gulf Inferno is Copyright © 1989 Innerprise
Software, Inc., distributed under license. Wrangler is Copyright
© 1989 Magnetic Fields, distributed under license.
RetroPlatform, RetroPlatform Player, RetroPlayer, Amiga Forever, the yellow
daisy logo, C64 Forever,
the blue daisy logo and Workbench are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Cloanto Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
RP9 is a registered trademark of Cloanto Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries, available for free licensing under a quality assurance
framework.
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