Pandora Ohrrpgce On Pandora

[CyruzDraxs]

That link can't be accessed with out a password and user name.

It's an SVN link. Just put in anonymous for the username and password.

Verge has always required some amount of programming, it's not much more than a framework really.

 

[jdh2550]

I just grabbed the source for ohrrpgce (after going in circles for a while on the hamster wheel that is their wiki page) ...

I've never done a port nor a large scale conversion from one language to another. But a couple of thoughts spring to mind:

- I wonder if one could hack the FreeBasic compiler to take advantage of it's lexical analyzer and then spit out java code? The java code would undoubtedly be hellishly messy - but it might be a starting point? (so, hack the compiler on an x86 supported platform then run hacked compiler to spit out java code and then compile java code on the ARM / panda)

- Seeing as FreeBasic is open source, it might actually be easier to port FreeBasic?

- Are there other Beginner All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code interpreter implementations for the ARM? Then you'd be porting from one BASIC dialog to another - that might be easier.

Just some random thoughts...

 

[Exophase]

I responded to this on openpandora.org but I'll mention it here too. FreeBASIC can't be easily ported because it's a compiler that generates machine code, so code emitters to generate ARM will have to be written. There could be additional difficulties depending on how many assumptions they made that apply to x86 and not ARM (such as large immediates, memory alignment and so on).

The FreeBASIC team has been working on a backend to emit code to C instead of machine code, which would make it more portable. But this hasn't been completed. Going to something like Java instead of C would terribly impractical, no offense jdh2550.

... not that this is anything the same, but I can almost guarantee that MegaZeux will get a port to Pandora :B

 

[jdh2550]

I responded to this on openpandora.org but I'll mention it here too. FreeBASIC can't be easily ported because it's a compiler that generates machine code, so code emitters to generate ARM will have to be written. There could be additional difficulties depending on how many assumptions they made that apply to x86 and not ARM (such as large immediates, memory alignment and so on).

The FreeBASIC team has been working on a backend to emit code to C instead of machine code, which would make it more portable. But this hasn't been completed. Going to something like Java instead of C would terribly impractical, no offense jdh2550.

... not that this is anything the same, but I can almost guarantee that MegaZeux will get a port to Pandora :B

Thanks - no offense taken at all; my comments weren't well researched nor thought out. Thanks for not calling me an idiot - having looked at this in more detail I see that my thoughts were entirely too naive! (idiotic, almost... ) So thanks for setting the record straight.

 

[James Paige]

Hi! I am the lead developer for the OHRRPGCE. I would absolutely *love* to get the OHRRPGCE running on Pandora, but the FreeBasic compiler is a real problem. it only outputs x86 code. There is no arm support in sight right now, although the FreeBasic devs do have a long-term plan for switching to a gcc backend, which would then allow FreeBasic ports for other architectures.

The Java port of the OHR for Mobile Phones is progressing steadily, so maybe it will be the first to be runnable on pandora.

I updated our wiki to note the fact that the OHR++ port to C++ is currently dormant.

However, one of our devs is working on a FreeBasic to C++ translator, that might actually be finished sooner than FreeBasic's own gcc support, so that is another option for possible future porting.

And as for running the old DOS version in DosBox, I don't think that will work too well. The DOS version hasn't been updated since mid 2006, and it is missing a ton of features used in newer games. Also, even though it runs in DosBox, the antiquated method it uses to refresh the screen is terribly inefficient via DosBox's emulated VGA, and therefore it runs very slowly in DosBox on all but the most powerful hardware.

Anyway. Once a port to arm is possible, rest assured I will be checking back in here with you guys for help

EDIT: Oh, one other thought. Another of our devs has been doing some work that might make a python port possible. How well does python run on pandora?

 

[multiplex]

Python seems pretty popular in the community, so there'll certainly be the Python interpreter, which already runs happily on the Ångström Linux distro, and we'll probably see some popular Python game libraries ported pretty soon, too. I'm betting before we see a Python OHRRPGCE port, even.
Is there something more recent than Jormungand?

 

[James Paige]

Is there something more recent than Jormungand?

Yes, NeoTA (the same guy who was working on Jormungand) has almost finished a python+NumPy library that allows memmapped access to all current OHRRPGCE data formats. It would make a good base for any attempt to re-implement the OHRRPGCE game player in python. (although to the best of my knowledge nobody is currently doing that)