Do you need typing game special support?

[skeezix]

I could add some special support for typing oriented games (like Hitchhikers Guide, Kings Quest series, MAgnetic Scrolls series like The Pawn, etc), but it depends..

Will *you* actually *play* these games on your GP32? Or are they just not needed for the GP32 Atari ST experience? (ie: The GP32 is *not* suited to typing oriented games, and you can play these games on any OS in the planet, thanks to the many ZMachine emulators and such out there..)

For instance..

I could add configure commands so you could bind words to buttons (so pressing d-pad up sends "north<return>" type text to the system). I could add configuration system to let you create your own bindable menus, so you could make it so hitting "b" pops up a menu of words like "search" "look" "go up", etc.

So you could then define your own menus on a per-game basis or whatever, and might be able to get around not too bad. It'd take some doing though..

IS it worth doing?

ie: I'm not interested in doign it for laughs (well, maybe I am , but I'd do it if a few people want to play these games...

jeff

 

[angrypants]

are you creating an emulator to play these games and thinking of a way to handle the comands or are you going to try to add this to the saren emulator? I don't compleatly understand what you are trying to do.

 

[skeezix]

are you creating an emulator to play these games and thinking of a way to handle the comands or are you going to try to add this to the saren emulator? I don't compleatly understand what you are trying to do.

This is the Castaway/GP forum, so you know what its about

There is more than just Sierra games as I said.. MAgnetic Scrtolls (The Pawn, Guild of Thieves, Jaxter, etc), all the Infocom games, and a slew of specialized ones just for the ST (Breakers for one).

So this is a set of specialized config commands to let people create menus of words so that they can avoid typing things in.. just pick a movement menu and hit "open trapdoor" from the menu, instead of having to write it all out.

Its a fair amount of work to build into Castaway/GP, but I'll do it if people want to play those games. If they are content without them in Castaway, fine by me

jeff

 

[Tobriand]

I'm *content* without them, although I do like the idea of a menu of words.
I've no idea how text games and a system like that would work for GP32 - if it worked well, I'd almost certainly be playing Quest for Glory 1 in a matter of minutes. If not, then it'd probably be just something else to add to the huge pile of features you've already put in place - which might be less worth it.
Basically, my take on things is that I'd play the gams if they played well as a result of adding it. If they wouldn't be likely to (clutter, still needing to type onject names etc. still making it awkward) then it'd be less worthwhile...

 

[thebluenewt]

Although I'm a big Kings Quest fan you'd need the patience of a Saint to play them on GP32, I certainly ain't no Saint!

I reckon spending the time trying to sort out Sensible Soccer's wierdness is a better idea, but maybe that's just me...

 

[ZiUL]

I think that it's a good idea support typing games... as, maybe, soon we'll have a gp/ericson keyboard...

 

[A600]

In keyboard mode would be handy to assign space, enter, tab or esc ST keys to the GP32 buttons.

 

[stickofjoy]

I reckon spending the time trying to sort out Sensible Soccer's wierdness is a better idea, but maybe that's just me...

Amen!

Although I think the bind-series functioanlity would enable the creation of key-press macros. So that with one button push you could start a game from a certain compact menu disc. eg. to start Pang you press 1,SPACE,N or something similar.

matt

 

[Arutha]

I would play graphic adventure games, possibly some old text games as well with the additional options. With the mouse problem sorted out, most Sierra games are more playable now, typing things like "look" still sucks though.

On the other hand, I wouldn't play them constantly and don't mind if they aren't any more playable then they are right now, so don't take the time until you're bored and wanting to do it.

 

[Rico]

Since a dosemu is a long way away, and ScummVM only supports a small subset of games, I suggest it. Would be cool. However at first I strongly advise you forego the customisation and hardcode a menu or two in, unless you -want- to spend tons of extra time making a dynamic menu class hierarchy etc. etc

 

[Avigrace]

I have enough stress in my life without trying to play text games on my GP, even with special support.

 

[skeezix]

Since a dosemu is a long way away, and ScummVM only supports a small subset of games, I suggest it. Would be cool. However at first I strongly advise you forego the customisation and hardcode a menu or two in, unless you -want- to spend tons of extra time making a dynamic menu class hierarchy etc. etc

*g* Rather than build menus that woudl get tossed out for cusotm ones, I'd make cudtom ones. The quesiton is.. is it worth doing at all?

As Avigrace says.;. it coudl be annoying as hell to play. But maybe it wouldn't?

ie: I the infocom games, you spend a lot of tim ewalking around and looking, so that'd be easy.. d-pad for n,s, e, w etc, easy. Sierra is different, since you use a mouse to move round.. that'd work okay.

It'd be nice if we could pick up text the game recently spit out, and then put words longer than a few letters into a dynamic list, but we can't.. the ST doesn't work like that.

So the very best we coudl do would be to have wordlists that you coudl define in a config file, and pop them up. I'd go one step further and make it so you could bind any normal bindable action to the menu, so that you coudl make your own menus (ie: Pick "gfoo" to pop up the config list dialog, etc), since it wouldnt' be hard to go that extra step..

But how playable woudl they be?

ie: Given the current config situation, you'd be able to cycle through a few config files.. maybe half 3 for a text adventure mode.. one for movement, one for dialog, one for actions, or something. So you'd have select go to the next control set, and left shoudler to show one menu of commands and right shoudler to show another perhaps.. each enu have say 10 or 15 options in it. So you'd have 20-30 words handy at any given time.

Would that work?

Or do you spend most of your time typign on the virtual keyboard characters names :/

(ie: We'd then need to have game-specific configs). Might be a drag.

*shrug*

The Lucas games woudl be fine now, since they aerw mostly mouse/click based and no text entry?

jeff

 

[Bonks]

I was about to say yes, it would be worth it, cause i loved these games back in the day, but the more i think about it, the more i know theres no way on earth id actually be arsed to play them, cause it would be annoying.

Anyway, we have Goblins

Fantastic games, but i wouldnt be bothered on the handheld, just my view

 

[abbibi]

Skeezix, I think that a lot of the text-heavy games (Zork, Hitchhicker's Guide, etc) are a little much to depend on a keyboard app. If a program is made to read the EXT ericsson keyboard mod, I think it would be nice to make a separate version of castaway/gp that incorporated the coding (separate, in case you haven't built the mod for yourself).

 

[skeezix]

Skeezix, I think that a lot of the text-heavy games (Zork, Hitchhicker's Guide, etc) are a little much to depend on a keyboard app. If a program is made to read the EXT ericsson keyboard mod, I think it would be nice to make a separate version of castaway/gp that incorporated the coding (separate, in case you haven't built the mod for yourself).

I dont' expect many to do the external keyboard mod at all; if someone has code to read it, I coudl add it into Castaway/GP, but since I have no such extyernal keyboard and don't intend on getting one, I'll not wrtite the main code to talk to the keyboard myself

jeff