DOS ain't dead - Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

Berlin, Germany,
02.09.2007, 19:32

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0 (Miscellaneous)

Does anyone remember the game "Galactic Conquest" made by J Squared Computing? Author Jason Sinclair is looking for serious beta testers. To give an appetite here's a screenshot.

[image]

Who wants to test it? :-)

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Japheth

Germany (South),
03.09.2007, 11:12

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> To give an appetite here's a screenshot.

I'm very sorry, but the screenshot doesn't increase my appetite. Possibly if you do some textual advertising and tell us why this game is so marvelous.

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MS-DOS forever!

Rugxulo

Usono,
03.09.2007, 20:43

@ Japheth

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> > To give an appetite here's a screenshot.
>
> I'm very sorry, but the screenshot doesn't increase my appetite.

What, never played any roguelikes? Plain ASCII can be very fun, too!

> Possibly if you do some textual advertising and tell us why this game is so
> marvelous.

More specifically, is this for real DOS or Windows console? Does it just need itself tested for playability / correctness or under various DOS environments with it running (or both)?

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Berlin, Germany,
03.09.2007, 22:28

@ Rugxulo

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> More specifically, is this for real DOS or Windows console? Does it just

GALCON is for real DOS, of course. ;-) Should work on any Intel 286+ and VGA card.

It's written in stock Turbo Pascal 7.0 plus a few lines of assembly language.

> need itself tested for playability / correctness or under various DOS
> environments with it running (or both)?

Both, but mainly for playability.

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Rugxulo

Usono,
04.09.2007, 01:55

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> GALCON is for real DOS, of course. ;-) Should work on any Intel 286+ and
> VGA card.

No FPU needed? *gasp*

> It's written in stock Turbo Pascal 7.0 plus a few lines of assembly
> language.

Hopefully without the dreaded "Runtime 200" bug (but I know you in particular are aware of that).

> > need itself tested for playability / correctness or under various DOS
> > environments with it running (or both)?
>
> Both, but mainly for playability.

Playability "balance" or just for correctness?

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Berlin, Germany,
04.09.2007, 09:42

@ Rugxulo

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

Post reply

> > GALCON is for real DOS, of course. ;-) Should work on any Intel 286+ and
> > VGA card.
>
> No FPU needed? *gasp*

I don't know. ;-) If it requires an FPU, I could recompile with FPU emulation.

> Hopefully without the dreaded "Runtime 200" bug (but I know you in
> particular are aware of that).

It didn't trigger that bug here.

> > Both, but mainly for playability.
>
> Playability "balance" or just for correctness?

Any comments are welcome! :-)

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DOS386

05.09.2007, 02:22

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> GALCON is for real DOS, of course. ;-)
> Should work on any Intel 286+ and VGA card.
> It's written in stock Turbo Pascal 7.0

:sleeping:

> > Hopefully without the dreaded "Runtime 200" bug
> It didn't trigger that bug here.

Don't worry: BOCHS is more than enough slow to "fix" this bug :lol3:

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Berlin, Germany,
05.09.2007, 14:03

@ DOS386

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> > > Hopefully without the dreaded "Runtime 200" bug
> > It didn't trigger that bug here.
>
> Don't worry: BOCHS is more than enough slow to "fix" this bug
> :lol3:

It also didn't trigger on a plain DOS AMD K6-2 with 550 MHz. Fast enough?

I'm currently using Bochs/Win32 for running DOS, because my new laptop still runs at full fan speed with FDAPM loaded. So it's quite noisy.

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Rugxulo

Usono,
05.09.2007, 14:40

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> It also didn't trigger on a plain DOS AMD K6-2 with 550 MHz. Fast enough?

The author must be using a replacement CRT unit (good) b/c I think it would show up for sure with such a machine.

> I'm currently using Bochs/Win32 for running DOS, because my new laptop
> still runs at full fan speed with FDAPM loaded. So it's quite noisy.

Make sure to use the latest FDAPM from Eric's page. Also, I guess you know that newer kernels have IDLEHALT, which may somewhat help too (but only a little?).

I also got a new laptop recently (and suspect DOS386 did too after seeing that bear test thingy). But now I need/want a wireless router (b/c the wired one we have ain't gonna cut it). Also, I have yet to make a bootable USB jumpdrive (tried but failed, need to try again). QEMU is good, I guess, but real hardware is better. :-P

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Berlin, Germany,
06.09.2007, 16:22

@ Rugxulo

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> The author must be using a replacement CRT unit (good) b/c I think it
> would show up for sure with such a machine.

I don't remember exactly. Maybe I sent him TurboPower's patch a while ago. But it doesn't matter, because nobody seems to be interested in this game.

> Make sure to use the latest FDAPM from Eric's page. Also, I guess you know

I tried FDAPM and other idlers. No difference.

> that newer kernels have IDLEHALT, which may somewhat help too (but only
> a little?).

Yes. I'm a FreeDOS fan, but still use MS-DOS. :-D

> I also got a new laptop recently (and suspect DOS386 did too after

Which brand and model?

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Rugxulo

Usono,
07.09.2007, 04:19
(edited by Rugxulo, 07.09.2007, 05:21)

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> But it doesn't matter, because nobody seems to be interested in this game.

NOT true, just slightly busy with other things! I will indeed play with it a bit if no one else will. I'm quite a big fan of Dungeon Crawl, so games like this can indeed be fun. :-D (Sheesh, so sensitive!)

> I tried FDAPM and other idlers. No difference.

Maybe your environment (room temp.) is too high. Try adjusting the thermostat. Turn up the A/C. ;-)

> Yes. I'm a FreeDOS fan, but still use MS-DOS. :-D

Me too (486: MS-DOS 6.22, P166: DR-DOS 7.03, P4: WinXP Home SP2). And yet FreeDOS boot disks (and Metakern) can be very useful. :-)

> Which brand and model?

Compaq Presario F572US (1 GB RAM, 1.6 Ghz AMD64x2, NVIDIA, Broadcomm, Altec Lansing??)

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Rugxulo

Usono,
09.09.2007, 03:19

@ Rugxulo

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

Post reply

> > But it doesn't matter, because nobody seems to be interested in this
> game.
>
> NOT true, just slightly busy with other things!

So where is it? How can we test what doesn't exist? :-P (I blame the Klingons.)

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Berlin, Germany,
09.09.2007, 21:36

@ Rugxulo

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> So where is it? How can we test what doesn't exist? :-P (I blame the
> Klingons.)

I'll post it tomorrow, because I don't have any manual file here.

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Berlin, Germany,
10.09.2007, 17:54

@ rr

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> I'll post it tomorrow, because I don't have any manual file here.

This is version 8.0 beta 1 + "manual" from version 7.50: ~~GC8b1.zip~~

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Rugxulo

Usono,
11.09.2007, 01:04
(edited by Rugxulo, 11.09.2007, 01:22)

@ rr

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

Post reply

> > I'll post it tomorrow, because I don't have any manual file here.
>
> This is version 8.0 beta 1 + "manual" from version 7.50:
> ~~GC8b1.zip~~

>> ---REQUIREMENTS TO PLAY--
>>
>>
>> * DOS (v3.0 or higher), Win 3.1, Win 95, Win 98, Win NT v3.51 or
>> higher.

Check.

>> * Color display (VGA minimum)

Check.

>> * Somewhat decent processor recommended (At least a 486/25)
>> (Has worked on as slow as a 286/8mhz...)

:surprised: 486/25?? Really??? You're in luck! :-D :-D :-D
(P.S. Thanks for calling it "decent", but I'm afraid you're the only one!)

>> * Plenty of caffeinated drinks and high-sugar content snacks
>> (OPTIONAL but recommended)

:rotfl: Ate two cookies and had a Diet Pepsi right before reading this! :lol:

>> Q: How much memory do I need to play Galactic Conquest?
>> A: The beauty of this game is that, in all its complexity and with
>> all of its features and bells and whistles, it only takes conventional
>> memory.

Good! No need for gigs of RAM just to play a game! (Take that, EA.)

>> Q: Are you going to convert this to graphics?
>> A: Josh and I have been trying to do so for some time, but Pascal
>> and Graphics just do not get along too well. I might try it in C++
>> when I learn it. Until then, the new font, and any of its upgrades,
>> will be the best we can do for now...

First of all, that screenshot doesn't do it justice. Those green bars with light squares continually blink as does the clock at the bottom. The intro screen is fancy (better than average), so it's definitely well done. No need to make it fancier (would eat more RAM, especially with C++ ... but you can always make it optional, I guess, like NetHack.)

Anyways, like I previously said, it can still be very fun without true graphics (a la any roguelike, e.g. Dungeon Crawl, which I've played a fair amount of recently). Of course, there is a slight learning curve (doh), so I haven't quite figured it out yet. But it looks nice!!

P.S. rr, he sure sounds grateful to you, wonder what you did. ;-)

---
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Rugxulo

Usono,
11.09.2007, 03:54

@ Rugxulo

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> > > I'll post it tomorrow, because I don't have any manual file here.
> >
> > This is version 8.0 beta 1 + "manual" from version 7.50:
> > ~~GC8b1.zip~~

Okay, plays well enough, seems like a lot of nice aesthetic touches (flashing colors, progress indicator, etc.). Of course, XP suxorz re: OEM extended ASCII chars or whatever. Plus, XP seems to eventually exit (with no warning) upon successive F2 -> C presses (dunno why). Seems a lot simpler than I initially thought (unlike Dungeon Crawl, where you die A LOT and have to learn a billion weapons, spells, classes, strategies, etc). But I've only played as "test pilot" so far, so I'm not too far yet. ;-)

DOS386

11.09.2007, 06:17

@ Rugxulo

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> > > * DOS (v3.0 or higher), Win 3.1, Win 95, Win 98, Win NT v3.51 or
> > > higher.

NT 7.0 XP-64 :lol3:

> > > Q: Are you going to convert this to graphics?
> > > A: Josh and I have been trying to do so for some time, but Pascal
> > > and Graphics just do not get along too well.

Interesting. :confused:

> > > I might try it in C++ when I learn it.

+ .NET ?

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Berlin, Germany,
11.09.2007, 15:11

@ DOS386

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> > > > Q: Are you going to convert this to graphics?
> > > > A: Josh and I have been trying to do so for some time, but Pascal
> > > > and Graphics just do not get along too well.
>
> Interesting. :confused:

That's wrong, of course. Both programmers were/are not low-level programming.

> > > > I might try it in C++ when I learn it.
>
> + .NET ?

.NET in DOS? :-P

With a few changes it can be build using Free Pascal. :-D

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Berlin, Germany,
11.09.2007, 15:07

@ Rugxulo

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> P.S. rr, he sure sounds grateful to you, wonder what you did. ;-)

Who?

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Rugxulo

Usono,
13.09.2007, 22:35

@ rr

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> > P.S. rr, he sure sounds grateful to you, wonder what you did.
> ;-)
>
> Who?

Jason Sinclair! I mean, you're in the title screen and everything. :-P

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Berlin, Germany,
14.09.2007, 09:37

@ Rugxulo

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> > Who?
>
> Jason Sinclair! I mean, you're in the title screen and everything. :-P

I just helped him to bring GALCON a few steps further. :-)

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Andreas

12.09.2007, 14:26

@ Rugxulo

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> >> Q: Are you going to convert this to graphics?
> >> A: Josh and I have been trying to do so for some time, but Pascal
> >> and Graphics just do not get along too well. I might try it in C++
> >> when I learn it. Until then, the new font, and any of its upgrades,
> >> will be the best we can do for now...

If he wrote it in Turbo/Borland pascal, then it should be very easy to use FreePascal (FPC). From then on the graphics issues become easier.

Rugxulo

Usono,
12.09.2007, 16:36

@ Andreas

Galactic Conquest version 8.0 -- where??

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> If he wrote it in Turbo/Borland pascal, then it should be very easy to use
> FreePascal (FPC). From then on the graphics issues become easier.

Well, that has some obvious advantages but some disadvantages too. For one, FPC is free/libre (unlike TP7). And it is (apparently) very powerful. But it would require a 386+ and would eat more RAM (although be able to use more RAM, too). As is, it runs supposedly runs on a 286 and only uses conventional memory. (Oh, and FPC will bloat up the .EXEs quite a bit more.) I mean, I know that's small potatoes to most people, just saying that it IS a tradeoff, even if slightly unimportant "these days".

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Rugxulo

Usono,
13.09.2007, 22:36

@ Rugxulo

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> Compaq Presario F572US (1 GB RAM, 1.6 Ghz AMD64x2, NVIDIA, Broadcomm,
> Altec Lansing??)

Using this online as we speak (for the first time, thanks to my bro). :-)

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DOS386

11.09.2007, 07:30

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> I'm a FreeDOS fan, but still use MS-DOS.

What is the most critical bug you wait to get fixed ? :-P

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Berlin, Germany,
11.09.2007, 15:03

@ DOS386

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> > I'm a FreeDOS fan, but still use MS-DOS.
>
> What is the most critical bug you wait to get fixed ? :-P

Those still not discovered. :-P

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Rugxulo

Usono,
23.04.2008, 03:53

@ rr

laptop fan + energy savings under pure DOS

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> > > I'm currently using Bochs/Win32 for running DOS, because my
> > > new laptop still runs at full fan speed with FDAPM loaded. So
> > > it's quite noisy.
>
> > Make sure to use the latest FDAPM from Eric's page. Also, I guess you
> know
>
> I tried FDAPM and other idlers. No difference.

There's now a Dec. 2007 version you could try. I think the resident option (APMDOS?) is suggested as best.

Also, you could try Throttle.

And finally, just for the record, I upgraded my BIOS on this laptop about two months ago, and it drastically changed the way the fan operates (intentionally). So, you may wish to try looking for such on your OEM's website, etc.

Berlin, Germany,
23.04.2008, 09:43

@ Rugxulo

laptop fan + energy savings under pure DOS

Post reply

> > I tried FDAPM and other idlers. No difference.
>
> There's now a
> Dec.
> 2007 version you could try. I think the resident option (APMDOS?) is
> suggested as best.
>
> Also, you could try
> Throttle.
>
> And finally, just for the record, I upgraded my BIOS on this laptop about
> two months ago, and it drastically changed the way the fan operates
> (intentionally). So, you may wish to try looking for such on your OEM's
> website, etc.

Thanks for caring, but it's useless to me. Sorry.
1) "fdapm apmdos" might cool down the CPU a bit, but it won't lower CPU speed, so fans always run at very conservative speeds. On Windows fans were also too loud, but I can use Notebook Hardware Control (NHC) to underclock the CPU to 600 MHz. Changing CPU clock requires an in-deep knowledge of ACPI. Eric showed some interest trying to implement such a DOS tool, but I was too busy to assist.
2) I already tried Throttle in the past.
3) Of course, I'm already using latest BIOS F.16 from 2005 for my Compaq Evo N620c.

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Berlin, Germany,
03.09.2007, 22:23

@ Japheth

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> > To give an appetite here's a screenshot.
>
> I'm very sorry, but the screenshot doesn't increase my appetite. Possibly
> if you do some textual advertising and tell us why this game is so
> marvelous.

I will tell you tomorrow. :-)

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Berlin, Germany,
04.09.2007, 09:59

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> I will tell you tomorrow. :-)

GALCON is a turn-based hot-seat multiplayer game, where you command a fleet of spaceships to conquere the universe by taking control over all planets. You send out a number of ships to planets. When your ships arrive there and if this particular planet is already under control by another player, there will be a short space battle. Planets have different environmental conditions, which influence how many ships will be produced per turn.

From the manual: Welcome to Galactic Conquest. If you have ever wanted to be what every super-villain worth his salt has wanted for millennia, then you've hit the right button. This program gives you the chance to conquer the entire galaxy, without leaving your chair. It is up to you to out-smart the opponent, whether computer or human. Send forth immense armadas to squash the enemy like the bugs they are, or do nothing and pray to God that mother nature hates them worse then she hates you (Face it, weathermen normally couldn't predict a 100% chance of photon-storms...). You start out with one planet, some production (number of ships made per year on each planet), and a one-year head start against the computer. Or...try a quick game, where everyone starts out with the same amount (more or less) of the galaxy... Any way you play this game, it is going to be one wild ride!

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Japheth

Germany (South),
04.09.2007, 18:34

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> GALCON is a turn-based hot-seat multiplayer game, where you command a
> fleet of spaceships to conquere the universe ...

Thanks a lot for explanation. Seems like GALCON is indeed a very unique game ... :ok:

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MS-DOS forever!

Berlin, Germany,
04.09.2007, 21:23

@ Japheth

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> > GALCON is a turn-based hot-seat multiplayer game, where you command a
> > fleet of spaceships to conquere the universe ...
>
> Thanks a lot for explanation. Seems like GALCON is indeed a very unique
> game ... :ok:

Indeed! :lol3:

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Jason Sinclair

USA,
12.09.2007, 02:33

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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Just wanted to say, first of all, thanks to BTTR and RR for the interest they've had in GC over the past few years, and for hounding me to finish it. :-)

The beta BTTR is hosting, GC8 beta 1, is the first update I've done to the code in 10 years, and the scary thing is that I remembered the crazy code I put into the thing from that long ago. Now that I know a few better practices, I cleaned up the code before sending it out.

The documentation is still from GC7.5 (1997), and I'm working on updating it. No, I'm not going to put it into C++...though I'd love to put it into .NET or even VB6, since I'm familiar with that. This code, though, is open to you to port to any language you all would like, if you're looking to try.

I will try to check into this forum as often as I can, and to answer any questions you have. Oh, and yes, my dev work was done on the "fixed" version of TP7 (no RT200 error), and it does not require a FPU. You can run in native DOS, or in DOSBox. I haven't tried other ways yet.

I know the game is old, and I know it's in DOS ASCII...but hey, this was a brainchild of mine in highschool to recreate a Commodore 64 game I loved to play, and it taught me about 95% of what I learned in Pascal along the way, so this truly is an integral part of my programming career. A foundational block. :-)

Thanks!

Jason Sinclair

Rugxulo

Usono,
13.09.2007, 22:33

@ Jason Sinclair

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

Post reply

> The documentation is still from GC7.5 (1997), and I'm working on updating
> it. No, I'm not going to put it into C++...though I'd love to put it into
> .NET or even VB6, since I'm familiar with that. This code, though, is open
> to you to port to any language you all would like, if you're looking to
> try.

Like I said, no major reason to port it unless the tradeoffs are worth it. I admire the fact that it works on 286s with only conventional memory.

> Oh, and yes, my dev work was done on the "fixed"
> version of TP7 (no RT200 error), and it does not require a FPU.

Yes, obviously, it doesn't need a FPU because I was playing it on my 486 Sx! :-D

> I know the game is old, and I know it's in DOS ASCII...

So? Fun is fun. Doom is older, BioMenace is older, Dungeon Crawl for DOS has "worse" graphics and higher requirements, yet they are all good!!

P.S. I played two more games last night: "TEST PILOT" (unlimited time) and "KAPITANO RUGXULO" (5 min. timer): won both, but that's no surprise, only played difficulty 1.

Everything plays fine except F2 -> C ("Runtime error 200 at 0000:1E29"). I have confirmed that such a keypress exits immediately under WinXP and MS-DOS 6.22.

I think I got the hang of it now, but it was a little confusing. Mainly, I only lately found out that "range" would show how far away other planets 5 years away are (I kept sending stuff from too far away, kept getting tons of ships way after having conquered the planet, heh, oops). Self destruct is indeed nice, and I'm sure Mother Nature is too (if I ever get enough courage for a harder level, heh).

On a technical level, everything is cool, but here's a few ideas:

* it doesn't look like you turn the cursor off (but that's easy to do)
* two-keys stopping the timer? just use two one-keypresses in succession
* I dunno, interface could be somewhat more logical, IMO, maybe configurable keys? (configurable colors would be nice, too)
* instead of only "A" for send ALL, how about send ALL except 1? Or how about send ?? % of ships from ?? radius away to planet x?
* what, no save scores? ;-)

Overall, nice game, nice feel and screen effects, nice idea, a little weird but definitely cool. :-)

---
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Berlin, Germany,
14.09.2007, 09:45

@ Rugxulo

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> Like I said, no major reason to port it unless the tradeoffs are worth it.
> I admire the fact that it works on 286s with only conventional memory.

ACK

> P.S. I played two more games last night: "TEST PILOT" (unlimited time) and
> "KAPITANO RUGXULO" (5 min. timer): won both, but that's no surprise, only
> played difficulty 1.

I never won so far. Maybe I'm not patiently enough. ;-)

> Everything plays fine except F2 -> C ("Runtime error 200 at 0000:1E29"). I
> have confirmed that such a keypress exits immediately under WinXP and
> MS-DOS 6.22.

We'll investigate this.

> * it doesn't look like you turn the cursor off (but that's easy to do)

I think, he does, but it doesn't work always depending on your OS and graphics driver (in Win).

> * two-keys stopping the timer? just use two one-keypresses in succession

Are install a clock handler. I sent such snippet to Jason years ago. ;-)

> * I dunno, interface could be somewhat more logical, IMO, maybe
> configurable keys? (configurable colors would be nice, too)

Configurable colors? Colors currently depend on what you chose, when creating your fleet leader. Why do you want to change it?

> * what, no save scores? ;-)

I never missed this so far. ;-)

> Overall, nice game, nice feel and screen effects, nice idea, a little
> weird but definitely cool. :-)

:love:

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Rugxulo

Usono,
15.09.2007, 04:10

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

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> > I admire the fact that it works on 286s with only conventional memory.
>
> ACK

He's of course free to port it to anything (which might be easier if it compiles with FreePascal or Virtual Pascal). I'm not opposed to that, it'd be cool, but (also?) supporting old 286s isn't a crime! :-P

> I never won so far. Maybe I'm not patiently enough. ;-)

It does take a while to play a game. This is not arcade style, it's more intense planning (but not THAT bad, just not exactly a 5-min. game).

You have to F2 -> B a lot to see what's coming towards you. Then F2 -> F (distance?) to see how far away you want to go. Then F2 -> E to see what you have remaining on each planet. Unlimited time helps a lot (and "test pilot" is considered cheating, obviously) but is less exciting. ;-)

Oh, and planets with higher productions are worth a lot more (they make more ships per year). The manual says conquer "unreal" production planets immediately, but for "high" conquer everything else first. (Personally, I can't see why you wouldn't just attack "high" immediately too ... unless there was more than one).

> > Everything plays fine except F2 -> C ("Runtime error 200 at 0000:1E29").
> I
> > have confirmed that such a keypress exits immediately under WinXP and
> > MS-DOS 6.22.
>
> We'll investigate this.

It would be nice to have working, but like I said, you can play without it. ;-)

> > * it doesn't look like you turn the cursor off (but that's easy to do)
>
> I think, he does, but it doesn't work always depending on your OS and
> graphics driver (in Win).

Well, in pure MS-DOS 6.22 it seemed to flicker a little bit. Not really an issue, just something that could be minorly improved.

> > * two-keys stopping the timer? just use two one-keypresses in
> succession
>
> Are install a clock handler. I sent such snippet to Jason years ago. ;-)

Well, the manual hints that sitting on your duff when the timer can't catch you is cheating, so this should ideally be fixed (not that I care, though, playing alone anyways).

> Configurable colors? Colors currently depend on what you chose, when
> creating your fleet leader. Why do you want to change it?

I prefer configurable keys more, but both would be nice. However, I realize that won't be high priority, just saying "it would be nice", in theory. Not a big issue, just feels slightly odd the way it's set up.

> > * what, no save scores? ;-)
>
> I never missed this so far. ;-)

Well, most games do save scores so you can compare your latest efforts with earlier ones (Is my new strategy working as well as my old one? Have I improved?)

> > Overall, nice game, nice feel and screen effects, nice idea, a little
> > weird but definitely cool. :-)
>
> :love:

I have a feeling that anyone who likes Dungeon Crawl (or Nethack or ADOM or ...) will like this game, too.

---
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DOS386

16.09.2007, 00:41

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

Post reply

> Who wants to test it?

Done (minimal test):

- "Number of players" -> "N" -> CRASH

- No ERROR 200 bug so far - fixed or moved to a "sufficiently" high frequency

- It's bloated - 220 KiB and 6 files sort of "linked" via .BAT - my opinion on TP was never very good :-(

- When it crashes it destroys the environment (see shot)

[image]

- What about porting to FreePASCAL ? 1 FP overhead = (?) 6 * TP overhead , at least one would have one EXE instead of 6 and get rid of the silly BAT file :hungry: ... my famous 32-bit PandaGea again :rotfl:

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Rugxulo

Usono,
16.09.2007, 21:26

@ DOS386

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

Post reply

> Done (minimal test):
>
> - "Number of players" -> "N" -> CRASH

I think it always assumes valid answers (numbers instead of letters, etc.)

Other minor comments:

* when asking "y/n", it shouldn't require Enter afterwards
* some text (for "fleet encounter"?) overlaps, seems to put some random text somewhere unwanted ... maybe same issue that causes screen to accidentally change color (e.g. all green) temporarily on occasion
* I wish I didn't have to press Enter a billion times after every battle, etc. (5 sec. delay or keypress would be optimal)
* tested on Vista, works but only in window (not full screen) plus font isn't allowed, so it's extended ASCII instead (plus, maybe specific to my PC, maybe not, maybe Windows timing issue, but PC speaker doesn't sound right)
* probably due to my inexperience, but neither speeding up battles nor showing cpu intel seems to do anything noticeable
* fleet encounter seemed to always lose 3 (lame RNG under Windows?), did that like five times, at least
* would a default auto-load game be out of the question?
* is SWAP.DAT always needed? (same size as saved game)

Oh well, don't take any of this too seriously, I'm just rambling. ;-)

---
Know your limits.h

Berlin, Germany,
16.09.2007, 21:55

@ Rugxulo

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

Post reply

> > - "Number of players" -> "N" -> CRASH
>
> I think it always assumes valid answers (numbers instead of letters,
> etc.)

Yeah, that's a very stupid bug.
Jason: It can be avoided be reading input to a string and converting it to a number by using Val(). Loop until Val's return code is 0 and number is between 1 to 4.

> * I wish I didn't have to press Enter a billion times after every battle,
> etc. (5 sec. delay or keypress would be optimal)

??

> * tested on Vista, works but only in window (not full screen) plus font

Does Vista have full screen support at all?

> * fleet encounter seemed to always lose 3 (lame RNG under Windows?), did
> that like five times, at least

??

> * is SWAP.DAT always needed? (same size as saved game)

Yes, it's needed to transfer game between the different .EXEs.

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Rugxulo

Usono,
16.09.2007, 22:44

@ rr

Call for beta testers: Galactic Conquest version 8.0

Post reply

> > * I wish I didn't have to press Enter a billion times after every
> battle,
> > etc. (5 sec. delay or keypress would be optimal)
>
> ??

"ASSASSIN DOOFUS DEFENDS!" (Press Enter)

"5 SHIPS ARRIVED AT PLANET Q" (Press Enter)

etc. etc. etc.

I would rather press a key OR just wait a few seconds (e.g. 5) to advance to the next screen.

> Does Vista have full screen support at all?

Not for the CMD.EXE prompt, no (but can maximize to 80x50, which still isn't full screen, though). In other words, no DOS graphical apps seem to work. Supposedly, you can maybe use an old video driver from XP, but I haven't looked / tried yet. (I may have to use DOSBox instead.) Kinda strange, if you ask me, breaks a lot of compatibility, but whatever.

Also, I initially heard that Win64 didn't support DOS stuff (or Win16) at all, but I eventually learned that it was a lack of V86 compatibility in long mode (so, don't blame MS, blame the chip designers). Luckily, I have a 32-bit Vista, but having poor DOS compatibility is little better than none. :-(