Just a short one, today.

[active_apathy]

And this is because there wasn't a lot to talk about from my Monday. Sad but true.

So, what is there? Firstly, there was a Dianetics ad on TV earlier. I was amused by this, since they're selling it as a self-help book. A self-help book by an author who famously claimed that the easiest way to make money is to start a religion. I'm considering offering an alternate title - maybe Jumping On Couches For Dummies.

But! That's of secondary importance. I've started playing NetHack again, and it's more fun than ever. Not that it ever wasn't fun, but every time I start playing it again I realise how much I've missed it. Just need to get out of the Gnomish Mines intact, one of these days. And maybe even Ascend, but that's not for ages and ages yet.

I've got a notion to play Rogue again. If you have a link for a win32-friendly Rogue binary, or for the Rogue source (how hard can it be to find a C compiler?), then please, please post it here.

And that's it for the moment. Off to go and set foot in the Dungeons of Doom all over again.

Comments

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

yay for [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]-ness. :)

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Whee! Though it looks a shade unloved at the moment.

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

It's early.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

That's not quite what I meant. Still, whee!

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

Oh. Hm. Did you mean the "rolls eyes" comment?

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Pretty much, yes. Which is a grand example of missing the point, in my opinion.

[tajessa.livejournal.com]

Well, I thought it was funny. But apparently it's not PC to pay out Scientologists anymore* - although any other religion's still fair game. I got metaquoted (yay!) a few days back for some non-PC Scientology quote and it ended in some big brawl.

* Typical - just as those wacky Scientologists start giving us more fodder than ever - thankyou, Tom "I'm totally fucking nuts but I KNOW ALL SO LISTEN GODDAMNIT" Cruise - we're not allowed to mock on them anymore! Bah. Sod that. :)

[mrpyro.livejournal.com]

This page has Linux source code and an MS-DOS binary: you could try the DOS binary under compatibility mode (if you're on XP) or by using DOSBox; or if you feel really adventurous you could try and compile the Linux source in Cygwin

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I'm using 2k, but there's a fun little hack from NT4 that convinces things they're running under 9x. DOS emulation is certainly another fun possibility. Thanks!

[mrpyro.livejournal.com]

DOSBox is my favouritest DOS emulator ever: mostly because it works properly on AMD64, unlike certain other systems (like DOSEMU). Mostly I use it to play UFO: Enemy Unknown (aka XCOM: UFO Defence).

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I only know it as UFO: Enemy Unknown, from before even Terror From the Deep. They were fun, then Apocalypse came along and made a right mess of things.

[mrpyro.livejournal.com]

XCOM: UFO Defence was the US title: I wasn't sure what they released it as in Australia.

Yeah, Apocalypse was bad, and Interceptor was worse: it wasn't even a good space-combat sim, because the controls were too jerky. Give me TIE Fighter any day.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

UFO: Enemy Unknown was the title here; the XCOM name only popped up starting with TFTD.

I <3 TIE Fighter, and Xwing vs TIE Fighter. Needless to say, I never played Interceptor.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I have the Windows versions of the first 2 X-COM games laying around here, actually...

[mrpyro.livejournal.com]

I've got the CD version of UFO.

Was never as big a fan of TFTD: it was a good game mostly, up until the first ship-based terror mission, which I just found intensely dull. You'd get to the point where there were only one or two aliens left, and they'd hide in wardrobes, forcing you to go back through every room you'd been through and double check them for cowering Lobstermen. You'd finally find him and stab him with a vibro-drill on about turn 38... at which point the lower deck mission starts. It just sapped my enthusiasm for the game.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

The CD had the Windows versions I believe. I didn't keep track of all the versions.

TFTD did suffer from the "missions too long" problem. Especially if you started running short of ammo.
The difficulty level was also insane compared to UFO. Plus the fact that 90% of missions were in the bloody dark as well, simply because of deep water. TFTD = annoyance.

Apocalypse could have been a good game... if it didn't try to be X-COM.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I don't know of any Win32 versions of Rogue, but the source is out there, and there are numerous ports, including online playable Java and Z-Machine versions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_%28computer_game%29

Knock yourself out.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I found a large-ish assortment of them (well... three) last night, thanks. And then, satisfied with my experiment, I went back to my trusty copy of NetHack.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Well, you found more than I did, but admittedly I didn't look very hard.

Call me ungeeky, but I was never able to get into Roguelikes, including NetHack. Or Text Adventures, really. For all that I'm liable to be the first person to say "You are likely to be eaten by a Grue", I've never even STARTED Zork. I own it, I know of the AIM bots Infocombot1 (and 2 and 3) that let you play Infocom games (including the Zorks) through AIM... I just never have.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I quite like NetHack, and I'm fond of IF.

I have a vague idea of how to write IF in Inform. I need to get copies of Zork 1-3 again, and a large set of other IF titles I rather like. I haven't actually played Zork (since mazes (and guess-the-verb games) are irksome), but I have an appropriate fondness for brass lanterns and elvish swords.

I also feel a little tempted to see if the Discworld MUD is still about, but that means finding a decent telnet client all over again.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I have the Lost Treaures of Infocom CD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Treasures_of_Infocom

All those games are less than 4 megs together, if you want me to zip them up for you.

AB10.exe from here: http://ifarchive.flavorplex.com/if-archive/starters/
A good starter kit IMO.

More stuff here: http://www.microheaven.com/IFGuide/IFGuide.pl?step=6&c=0

You probably liked Maniac Mansion, didn't you?

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Forgot to mention that all the Infocom ones are for DOS, but you may be able to use the DAT files in a Windows interpreter...

*tests*

Indeed you can! I just opened Zork 1 inside WinFrotz 2.32

Yay.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Hrmm... maybe I could interest you in...

http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=315
http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=316
and
http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=1505

Underdogs is old game love.

[rwh.livejournal.com]

My first experience with rogue-like games was Legend of the Red Dragon 2. Mmm... ansi art. It was some years later when I discovered the real original ones. My sheltered BBS life had kept me from discovering them.

I still yearn for a multiplayable rogue-like game that really works (didn't really enjoy crossfire or mangband).

Mmm... text-mode fun...

[rwh.livejournal.com]

... oh, and (/me breaks his own rules about not responding to comments twice) in the realm of IF: try Adam Cadre's stuff (www.adamcadre.ac), if you haven't tried it already. Easy to get into, very creative, won many awards, et cetera.