Wesnoth Gameplay Experience

[Mr Rob]

Hello all:


I'm a big Wesnoth player (meaning Wesnoth has stolen many hours from my life) since version 1.6. I'm also a second batcher; fell in love with the concept of the Pandora pretty quick.


Compared to a netbook or a 17 inch monitor, does the smaller screen/resolution hurt Wesnoth game play a lot, to the point where it isn't nearly as satisfying? The reason I ask is that I'm also currently back-ordered on an Open Source ARM tablet type thing and was hoping to play Wesnoth on that + eBooks + web browsing; I actually was back-ordered on that about a year before I even heard of the Pandora. I think Wesnoth on a tablet that isn't an iPad would be killer, though that's just me. It would be even better on a Microsoft Surface, if anyone remembers those.


Ultimately, if Wesnoth is pretty good on the Pandora, I might just use the Pandora for games and browsing and get a cheap e-reader or whatever for the eBook habit; thus canceling the tablet thing.


So, Wesnoth players, is Wesnoth on the Pandora comparable to a netbook when it comes to gameplay? See enough of the map and the like?

 

[Nintendo]

Awesome game, but a little on the hard side for a turn-based RTS newbie such as myself.

 

[FaeMinx]

Why not use your Pandora as an ebook reader as well? Works great for me.

 

[Mr Rob]

Why not use your Pandora as an ebook reader as well? Works great for me.

Really? I always figured the screen would be a tad on the small side for that, especially when reading for a few hours from a novel or whatnot. People have talked about reading books on their smartphone before, but I'd think that would get awkward given smartphone screen size.

 

[FaeMinx]

I've been using the free eBook reader. the gaming buttons really come in handy - dpad and the ABXY. I use to use my smart phone to read, and yes it was painful. Not so with my Pandy.


I love how I can close the program, do something else open up again and it's exactly where I left it. Plus, you can snap the lid shut and slip it in your pocket - easy and quick. I would have to say *EVEN MORE* convenient then lugging an actual paperback around with you.


Yes, you may get more screen real-estate with a tablet - but is it pocketable, and how many devices do you want to carry around with you?


Besides - you always have the option to change the font size and cram more on the screen. (but with the dpad you can scroll as you read)


It's perfectly comfortable for me though - I've plowed through a number of books already. In fact, I haven't picked up an actual book since I got my Pandora.


Of course, don't take my word for it - test this out yourself... But don't buy a tablet or ebook reader until you've tried out your Panda. Then, if the experience is not up to your requirements and you're not satisfied, by all means spend more cash.

 

[ZXDunny]

It plays well, but the rather poor "touchscreen as a mouse" interface on the Pandora makes it less than it could be - the desktop version plays better because of this, but if you were to attach a mouse and USB hub to the panda then you'll play it like it should be played.


D.

 

[Bosbeetle]

I love how it plays on the pandora, I use the dpad to navigate the screen, the stylus to select hexagons and do the rest with hotkeys, and I think its marvelous. The only thing is that the very large levels tend to take quite some compute time.


This is hands down my favorite game on the pandora

It plays well, but the rather poor "touchscreen as a mouse" interface on the Pandora makes it less than it could be

How so I think pointing at something directly is faster than mousing towards it.. for scrolling I use the dpad that combination is very quick!

 

[Granitehead]

I love how it plays on the pandora, I use the dpad to navigate the screen, the stylus to select hexagons and do the rest with hotkeys, and I think its marvelous.

That's how I do it.


But it could be improved: If you want do attack a unit you seldom want to do it just on any random side, you want to choose from which side to attack. But to do this I need to touch my unit, then the field from where it should, /then wait until it moved/ and attack.


I would like to be able to: Click my unit, click the field where I want it to attack from, then drag onto the unit I want to attack. Is it clear what I mean?


Then the part of the map which is displayed is a little small, you have to scroll around /a lot/.

 

[WizardStan]

It plays well, but the rather poor "touchscreen as a mouse" interface on the Pandora makes it less than it could be

How so I think pointing at something directly is faster than mousing towards it.. for scrolling I use the dpad that combination is very quick!

Indeed, I've personally found the touchscreen to be better than the mouse, gives a more immersive feeling, like "*poke* hey you! Go over there!"

 

[Bosbeetle]

It plays well, but the rather poor "touchscreen as a mouse" interface on the Pandora makes it less than it could be

How so I think pointing at something directly is faster than mousing towards it.. for scrolling I use the dpad that combination is very quick!

Indeed, I've personally found the touchscreen to be better than the mouse, gives a more immersive feeling, like "*poke* hey you! Go over there!"

Indeed, as for the directon problem for those I just drag the charecter to the correct spot.

 

[keek]

The only thing is that the very large levels tend to take quite some compute time.

For some large levels I get slow downs, but adding a swap file fixed it.

 

[FaeMinx]

For some large levels I get slow downs, but adding a swap file fixed it.

How do I do this? :mellow:

 

[freamon]

For some large levels I get slow downs, but adding a swap file fixed it.

How do I do this? :mellow:

sacrifice a thumb drive:


http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/54394-guide-using-a-usb-thumb-drive-as-swap/page__gopid__875241&#entry875241

 

[FaeMinx]

That's great! I'll search for a cheap Thumb drive after easter. What size do you think is optimum - and what's excessive? 2GB, 4GB?

 

[WizardStan]

That's great! I'll search for a cheap Thumb drive after easter. What size do you think is optimum - and what's excessive? 2GB, 4GB?

It's generally recommended that swap not exceed twice physical RAM. 512MB would be enough.

 

[FaeMinx]

It's generally recommended that swap not exceed twice physical RAM. 512MB would be enough.

If I can't find a 512MB thumb drive... what would be so bad about using 1GB? :unsure:

 

[DaMummy]

you should be able to partition a drive, should also work with the SD card in your slots so you dont have excess stuff hanging out of your pandora, dont ask me how to do this though

 

[koomi]

Using 1GB isn't bad, the "twice the RAM" mark is more of a guideline for partition size on normal PCs. It's just that a big part of the 1GB will be wasted since they won't be used.


I can explain how to partition a drive if someone wants to know (I'm sure a 2 min google search will bring some usable results as well).

 

[Bosbeetle]

Using 1GB isn't bad, the "twice the RAM" mark is more of a guideline for partition size on normal PCs. It's just that a big part of the 1GB will be wasted since they won't be used.


I can explain how to partition a drive if someone wants to know (I'm sure a 2 min google search will bring some usable results as well).

Gparted is ported to the pandora, easy as one to three (four)

 

[Mr Rob]

you should be able to partition a drive, should also work with the SD card in your slots so you dont have excess stuff hanging out of your pandora, dont ask me how to do this though

As I geek out.....Ever since the start of the Linux 2.6.x kernel, a swap file will give you equivalent performance as a swap partition, but with 200% less hassle (partition editing, etc. It's just a file).


Ha, to make a swap file, fire open a terminal and do the following.... (this assumes your SD Card is named 'SDCardName' -- modify as necessary. It also makes a swap file of size 512MB. In the first line, 'bs' is block size and count is how many times to repeat, so we're making a file 1MB at a time for 512 times, a 512MB file. This also assumes Angstrom behaves like most Linuxes I've used).

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/media/SDCardName/swapfile.swap bs=1M count=512

sudo chmod 600 /media/SDCardName/swapfile.swap

sudo mkswap /media/SDCardName/swapfile.swap

sudo swapon /media/SDCardName/swapfile.swap

Now typing in 'free' at a console should show you information about your memory, and swap should have a value other than zero.



Obviously this is something that could be scripted, run on boot (could even make it fancy to see if the swap file already exists), or even built it into the run script of Wesnoth itself.



Also, a warning. Don't rip out the SD Card while the swap is on. It would be equivalent to ripping out computer memory of a running computer, perhaps even a lobotomy. The following turns off swap.

sudo swapoff /media/SDCardName/swapfile.swap

Let me know if there are any questions.