BOH updated

I published BOH in 2009, and in the (more than) 10 years that passed since then, I released 19 free updates, because I just couldn't resist making it better and bettter. The physical edition I produced in 2018 was supposed to close the game's development cycle, but I felt that I just had to backport to BOH the video system features/improvements that I came up with for Blastaway. The result is that now I have made the 20th update available (again for free, of course)!

CHANGELOG
* Simplified and optimized CRT pixel modes.
* Made 4x LCD pixel mode slightly brighter.
* Added 6x pixel modes.
* Added hardware-accelerated zooming for solid pixel modes to AmigaOS version.
* Added Italian brief to mission "Faces".
* Made a few minor fixes.
* Updated manual.

BOH page: https://www.retream.com/BOH
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j39yyZKJo0 (very old, so it doesn't show all the improvements that happened since it was made, but instead of spending time on making another trailer, I prefer making more games!)
Gameplay video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snpKPbTzSpA (more recent, but still it misses something)

To update an installed copy of BOH, simply install the new version over the old installation by means of the supplied installer.

Even more good news for the owners of the physical edition: due to the very limited production runs, the CDs were duplicated (i.e. burned), not replicated (i.e. glass mastered), and the factory was asked to leave the CDs open to make them updateable in case of future updates! The CDs can updated by burning a new session/track that contains the files included in the new CD ISO image.

*** WARNING ***
Updating a CD is a delicate process that might damage the CD, so it is necessary to have specific skills and tools. If you are not completely sure, do not attempt the update. IN ANY CASE, UPDATE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

@saimo

WoW bravo Simone that’s great news 👌

Lately work has been done in parallel on all the RETREAM games. It began with the objective of aligning the technically similar ones for PC so that they would handle data saving the same way, but it soon went out of control and brought uniformity and improvements to the installers, the documentation, the web pages and even to code and internal files - and, just as importantly, it brought new features as well!

After Blastaway, Huenison and KOG, BOH got updated as well.

Download: https://retream.itch.io/boh / https://www.retream.com/BOH

CHANGELOG
* Re-added joypad thumbsticks support, as at times Windows treats D-pads as thumbsticks.
* Added internal graphics screenshot function (assigned to [F1]; the visible graphics are now captured with [F2] and themes are cycled with [F3]).
* Reworked assignments of the kind *p++ = ... *p ... (as they are miscompiled by some versions of gcc).
* Worked on (registration for) records submission to the online standings: fixed server side issues and added SITE.PORT configuration option for future use; improved information/instructions for the registration procedure; disabled registration procedure when SDL_net is not initialized.
* Optimized static strings definitions.
* Simplified data files access code.
* Moved configuration and missions directory to the program's.
* Replaced version string with an AmigaOS-style one.
* Updated/improved user's manual, developer's manual and soundtrack booklet.
* Made various other minor changes.
* Made installers preserve the submission status of records, so that those that had already been submitted will not be submitted again after a re-installation/update.
* Added to Windows installers code to clean up leftovers.
* Added portable version for Windows.
* Dropped support for Linux and MacOS (maintaining those version can no longer be afforded; moreover, MacOS dropped 32-bit applications support a long time ago; anyway, the Windows version of BOH, since the very beginning, has always been working perfectly under Wine, and now it is even easier to run BOH thanks to the portable version).

@saimo

wow thanks yet again! will update my hard copy today and this gives me inspiration to get back to work on my new mission that I started a few years ago