« What's your development setup?
I couldn't sleep
Who would've thought? »

Nao

  • Dadman with a boy
  • Posts: 16,082
Re: I couldn't sleep
« Reply #30, on December 11th, 2011, 10:16 PM »
Oh... even back in 1997, I didn't play it much!
The thing was that I played it from time to time, but not much, but my girlfriend of the time was addicted to Taipei, which I loathed, so I made a bet that I could do better than this in less than a week... After 4 days I had a much better clone and she switched to it. I just... didn't know *when* to stop working on it. ("A week" would have been a good suggestion.)

The only mahjongg games I played a LOT were the Shanghai family from Activision. Shanghai Dynasty, I loved these, mostly because they had the *proper* Mahjongg game as well (not the puzzle game.) The game's producer asked me if I was interested in hiring him after Activision pulled the plug on Shanghai. (That was sad.)

Arantor

  • As powerful as possible, as complex as necessary.
  • Posts: 14,278
Re: I couldn't sleep
« Reply #31, on December 11th, 2011, 10:42 PM »
Hmm, I've never played the proper Mahjongg game, though I've heard about it.

Seems like if you found a game you'd love to write and play you'd be well away!
Re: I couldn't sleep
« Reply #32, on December 12th, 2011, 02:59 AM »
In other news, I felt a pang of nostalgia this evening so I fired up a Spectrum emulator and typed in a listing from a book written before I was born.

And you know what? I discovered two things.

Firstly, the Spectrum is awesome. If you never came across its keyboard, you will either love or hate it. It's a 40 key device, where each key had anything up to 7 different uses, depending on which key it was and what the circumstances are. There is something quite invigorating about using an editor that forcibly checks your syntax as you enter a line, and an editor that essentially wires *every* language construct to a keyboard macro. I do mean that literally. You want a common keyword? In keyword mode it's a single keypress. Want a more complex function, it's probably a symbol-shift + keypress away, or maybe extended mode (caps shift + symbol shift, puts you in extended mode)

I find that sort of imagination and ingenuity quite intriguing, because there's nothing like it today. I'll attach a screenshot of the result of what I typed in with a screenshot of the virtual keyboard in a minute. (Yes, the *real* thing had that printed on the metal faceplate around the rubber keys)

Secondly, there is actually something really rather nice about typing a listing in from a book. I don't know why there is, but in the course of ~80 lines of code maybe, I was able to play a working if simple game with graphics and sound, and see it be constructed as I went. I think we've lost that today, even with all the code samples out there, where you can copy/paste in a jiffy.

(By the way, the game's called Nightfall, the plot is that you're an aircraft flying along and you'll crash into the buildings unless you can bomb them all out the way. Interestingly, there is no 'win' condition written into the game, because such a thing is actually impossible in the game's design. Never mind.)

Also interestingly, the book this listing came out of, was the one that I learned to program from, years and years ago. The 20+ years I have since have taught me how many problems there are with the program structurally but the language doesn't allow for anything nicer. (No multi-line if statements. No separate functions, everything's with global variables etc. Heck, there's even DATA statements.)

But it reminds me of a simpler time, and I think we've kind of lost that a bit lately, you know?
Posted: December 12th, 2011, 02:47 AM

Also: posted on Facebook. I may actually have to start re-entering other stuff and posting it there too. I feel really nostalgic at the moment, and have done so for a little while.

📎 nightfall_a.png - 71.89 kB, 567x640, viewed 136 times.

When we unite against a common enemy that attacks our ethos, it nurtures group solidarity. Trolls are sensational, yes, but we keep everyone honest. | Game Memorial

PantsManUK

  • [me=PantsManUK]would dearly love to dump SMF 1.X at this juncture...[/me]
  • Posts: 174
Re: I couldn't sleep
« Reply #33, on December 12th, 2011, 12:06 PM »
Ah, the Speccy... Machine I learned to program on (ooh! That gives away my age...). Didn't really like the rubber keyboard on them, and still dislike short-throw keyboards to this day. Can honestly say I looped JetPac though  :eheh:
« What is this thing you hoomans call "Facebook"? »

Nao

  • Dadman with a boy
  • Posts: 16,082
Re: I couldn't sleep
« Reply #34, on December 12th, 2011, 01:54 PM »
Quote from Arantor on December 11th, 2011, 10:42 PM
Hmm, I've never played the proper Mahjongg game, though I've heard about it.
It's like a mix between (a bit of) poker and (a lot of) gin rummy, only much more complex and, thus, more interesting. Only problem is, every country (or even region...) has their own custom rules, so it's hard to say what you like etc. I know for a fact that I like the official Chinese rules best, but the Hong Kong and Japan variants are interesting, too!
Quote
Seems like if you found a game you'd love to write and play you'd be well away!
I loved writing it... I just didn't love playing it as much as in the early 90's.
Perhaps because I couldn't help but think of WORK when playing these games? :P

Probably will be the same with any other game, really...

Arantor

  • As powerful as possible, as complex as necessary.
  • Posts: 14,278
Re: I couldn't sleep
« Reply #35, on December 12th, 2011, 03:05 PM »
Quote from PantsManUK on December 12th, 2011, 12:06 PM
Ah, the Speccy... Machine I learned to program on (ooh! That gives away my age...). Didn't really like the rubber keyboard on them, and still dislike short-throw keyboards to this day. Can honestly say I looped JetPac though  :eheh:
I'm probably a shade younger than you by the sounds of things but it's what I learned to program on too; it wouldn't be until 1990 that we were able to afford something more powerful than a Spectrum... then I discovered the joys of Amigas.

I have to admit, though, the Sinclair machines all demonstrated a certain elegance and ingenuity that I just haven't seen anywhere else - true, everything built in the early 1980s *had* to be efficient because of the shortness of memory etc. but to cram an entire functional BASIC inside 16K is pretty impressive. Sure, other machines did similar things, like the BBC Micro (another British piece of technology) but there's something impressively imaginative about the way the Sinclair boxes worked. A complete computer in the size of a small paperback book, just plug in a TV and a power supply.
Quote
It's like a mix between (a bit of) poker and (a lot of) gin rummy, only much more complex and, thus, more interesting. Only problem is, every country (or even region...) has their own custom rules, so it's hard to say what you like etc. I know for a fact that I like the official Chinese rules best, but the Hong Kong and Japan variants are interesting, too!
Interesting. It's something I've heard about but just never had the time or enough motivation to really explore. Perhaps you could write a version of it for the web? (Or at least provide enough information on the rules or where I can go to find out more, because it could be an interesting plugin for Wedge, no?)
Quote
Perhaps because I couldn't help but think of WORK when playing these games?
Ah, that's a problem. I found it relatively easy to separate writing 'proper' code, i.e. Wedge, or any of my professional engagements, from writing Meteor Storm, simply because it didn't feel like work.

PantsManUK

  • [me=PantsManUK]would dearly love to dump SMF 1.X at this juncture...[/me]
  • Posts: 174
Re: I couldn't sleep
« Reply #36, on December 13th, 2011, 10:59 AM »
Quote from Arantor on December 12th, 2011, 03:05 PM
I'm probably a shade younger than you by the sounds of things but it's what I learned to program on too; it wouldn't be until 1990 that we were able to afford something more powerful than a Spectrum... then I discovered the joys of Amigas.
Now that's freaky... Same here! A500 then I got an A1200 when they came out (and I loved them both dearly).

Nao

  • Dadman with a boy
  • Posts: 16,082
Re: I couldn't sleep
« Reply #37, on December 13th, 2011, 11:44 AM »
I went through Thomson TO7/70 (2 years) -> Atari 520 STF (3 years) -> Amiga 500 (a few months) -> Macintosh 68k (a few weeks) -> PC (a few decades), myself...

My favorite is still the Atari so I'm gonna kill y'all in good spirit :P
« What's your development setup?
Who would've thought? »