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

[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.

[mrpyro.livejournal.com]

Same naming system as in the UK then.

I miss TIE Fighter: maybe when I get home from work I'll hunt around and see if I can find a free version. And then try and make it work with my joypad (my one bitch about TIE Fighter was the really bad joypad/stick support: I only ever found one joypad that it worked with, and that was borrowed from a friend who wasn't massively understanding about me wanting to borrow it for months at a time).

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

There was one particular model of $AU20 joystick that worked perfectly with TIE Fighter. I broke about three of them through excessive use.

[mrpyro.livejournal.com]

Dammit! I've found a couple of copies of the game, but now my DOS emulator has gone on the blink by deciding that the left-hand side of the screen is about an inch to the left of the end of the monitor.

*sobs into his keyboard*

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I might still have my original DOS version of TIE laying around, actually...

And I don't know what you mean, it worked beautifully with every joystick I used on it. Then again, they were the really basic no-drivers, no-bells-and-whistles 2 button joysticks, but they worked. And I loved that game so damn much.

[mrpyro.livejournal.com]

I used 4 button joypads: I tried 2 or 3 that didn't work, and then borrowed my friend's that did. I searched for another pad of the same model as my friend's, but couldn't find one. 'Twas most frustrating.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I tried to play TIE with a gamepad once. Can't do it, just can't.

Gamepad = Digital.
Digital = No fine control
No fine control = No accuracy

Can't do it.

Best controller I ever had for TIE was a cheap little joystick by some company I can't remember.
It was a totally generic 2 button analog gameport joystick by some no-name company.
I had a nice looking Thrustmaster Fighter-X that could only cover a circular area. Games recognize a square area of movement. The stick couldn't reach the corners, and that made some games, like Rebel Assault, nearly impossible on certain levels.

But yeah, 2 buttons (all you need), full range of motion, the springs in it aren't too strong (another complaint with the Fighter-X, it wore your arm out FAST. I could play for maybe half an hour with it and have a VERY sore arm, but 2 hours with this other stick didn't even leave a twinge), suction cups for stability, gameport connection (so it works in DOS) and best of all, the price. It cost about $8. That was it.

Ah ha! I found it!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000JD79/102-4950984-9563302?v=glance

Seriously, best joystick for TIE ever.

As for gamepads (for playing on my emulators!), hands down winner (to me) is the Thrustmaster Firestorm Digital 3.
http://us.thrustmaster.com/products/d_prd.php?p=T44&fam=5
USB, 8 buttons, dirt cheap (about $10), handles like a dream. No drivers needed (beyond USB capability) and it's durable. My first one lasted for almost 2 years, getting at least a couple hours playtime eevry day.

Yeah, I like my game controllers... and I find the cheapest ones work the best.

[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.