*** M E M O R U M ***

Just a demo I've been playing with to see what was possible and how difficult it would be.

Wow! That looks striking. Really impressive.

What is this based off? The Apple II version?

Hi,

does it support sound?

It is quiet (so far) in memu

It's a very playable demo though - great stuff!

regards
Dave

Just out of interest, I tried it on MFX . . . .

(In this case, an MTX500 with 32k, expanded to 512k using MFX's extra RAM, LSL FTP'd over from my PC, then loaded from the SD card and graphics output to VGA. Then a not so great iPhone photo with the sun behind the monitor, but you get the idea!)

It's based on the DOS version. It has more colors and the screenshots were easily available on the internet.

There's no sound at the moment, but sound is easily added. Sound effects are the least interesting part of writing games (for me at least).

Cool, so you did a 8086 to Z80 conversion? By hand, or did you write some tools to help? This is not a critical look at what you've done, just really interested in the technical aspects of your projects (which are all fantastic, BTW).

In game sounds for something like LSL are likely not really needed. The question was prompted by the lack of the expected music at the start, again, not really needed, I just wanted to check that it was as intended, particularly as I was trying it on real hardware.

As a proof of concept, it seems to work well. I guess that it's limited to the store and hotel locations at this point?

I used the screen shots from the DOS version and wrote my own engine from scratch. All the images are from the internet fans have ripped.
I don't use anything from the original. The engine is very simple compared to the original AGI engine.

There's no data files, it's all built using C structs storing the locations of objects and exits and their actions. The list of items contains it's position, the menu item that activates (or if position activates it), what you have to own to activate it, and what you get in return. e.g you have to Give the whiskey to the drunk, and you get the remote in return, and it shows this text.

Yes, just the store and hotel at the moment. That's what I could fit into 52K, and it wraps the first part of Larry's adventure nicely (ie you can get laid). That's why there's no music, that takes about 2.5K and takes me over the 54K limit. That and the conversion from midi didn't work very well, and many of the notes sound mis-timed.

I put the hotel and store next to each other, since that saves me from having to implement the taxi and money.

The original Lsl a surprisingly large game. There's a blackjack game in there, and that's a game on it's own. As well as all the cut scenes that are essentially little movies (ie the disco), which will be challenging to implement.

If I end up implementing more, I'll have to start using the disk to save and load images instead of storing everything in memory at once. I may even have to learn some CP/M.

I was actually thinking of having a play with Space Quest I. It's nicely segmented, more family friendly, and it would be something new to work on.

I appreciate thoughts and ideas on it. It inspires me to keep working on it.

I wrote a book(let?) that has a detailed article on Lsl:

https://www.amazon.com/Under4Mhz-Secret ... B09ZQFSGL1

Ok, cobbling together screenshots from the net and writing the logic from scratch - a properly challenging approach there, Paul!

I will buy your book, it looks interesting. I just need to get a decent basket size up to get free postage (no Amazon here in Denmark).

Edit - picked up the kindle version from Amazon UK - thanks to Dave for the link (should have checked there myself )

under4mhz wrote: ↑10 Aug 2022 04:06 If I end up implementing more, I'll have to start using the disk to save and load images instead of storing everything in memory at once. I may even have to learn some CP/M.

That would be a bonus. With the small number of "taster" locations, it probably doesn't matter too much, but as well as the disk interface being good for loading more data as needed, a save/restore facility is pretty much essential.

Other areas of LSL would be nice, but if the game is too risque, then something like SQ would be neat too.

Your technique for turning what was a command line driven adventure into a menu driven one is a neat trick!

regards
Dave