Bomb Bloke on 8/10/2006 at 23:27
No. I'm saying that I didn't bother trying it in DosBox, because a less demanding program brought it to it's knees.
But I can try booting SS1 up tonight if you'd like.
MrTrip on 8/10/2006 at 23:31
Quote Posted by Bomb Bloke
No. I'm saying that I didn't
bother trying it in DosBox, because a less demanding program brought it to it's knees.
But I can try booting SS1 up tonight if you'd like.
That would be sexy...
I don't understand why SS1 would bring it down if the xbox is 700 mhz... :weird:
Bomb Bloke on 9/10/2006 at 02:25
The X-Box doesn't run SS1. It runs DosBox. DosBox then emulates SS1.
For example, a 486 PC has trouble emulating GameBoy games, despite being much, much more powerful then the GameBoy itself. This is because emulation involves translating the code to something the system understands, while at the same time running it.
Porting a program removes this translation step, meaning the system has a lot less work to do at run time. This is why console games tend to run better then on the PC these days - X-Boxes all have the same components, so programmers don't have to take into account all the different video cards and chipsets you find in PCs. This has the drawback of making the quality settings less dynamic, however.
MrTrip on 9/10/2006 at 03:50
So then how would you go about making it into an xbox game?
Shadowcat on 9/10/2006 at 10:08
Quote Posted by MrTrip
So then how would you go about making it into an xbox game?
Step 1. Extract the missing source code from the orifice of your choice.
Step 2. to be determined upon the successful completion of Step 1.
That said, one does wonder whether FreeDos might be compiled to run on an XBox. If the right drivers were written for the video and audio, it might not be out of the question to have SS running at speed on such a system. I'm guessing that this is not an option at present, however.
polytourist97 on 10/10/2006 at 06:12
The real question is why would you want to go about making it into an xbox game.:confused:
Mercurius on 10/10/2006 at 07:34
Oh wow, great idea. I'd be totally stoked to see SS1 on xbox. I already have all my other favorite classic FPS on mine (ever since Halo, I have more fun controlling FPS with analog controllers oddly enough) and as PC SS1's controls are just too weird for me to get used to, it'd be great to get a port so I could finally beat it . Best of luck with the project :)
cosmicnut on 10/10/2006 at 07:50
Apperently Micro$oft are relasing an xbox360 dev kit to the public. You can't release games but you can share them.
SS1/Xbox360 graphics :eek:
you'd probably get shot down by EA in a heartbeat, either that or hired :laff:
Bomb Bloke on 10/10/2006 at 13:16
Ok, beside me is a TV with the initial cryo area displayed on it. This is about as far as I can be bothered getting. Although the cursor was moving at a reasonable pace, I had to enable a heavy frame skip to get the music to play correctly (or at least, recognisably). That also fixed the life meter animation as well as the sound effects, but nothing's helping the world display - I'm getting less then a frame per second there.
I tried changing the resolution to 640x480, and it was well over half a minute before I got anything to come up in the 3D area at all. Other then the massive speed problems, though, everything seems to be working perfectly.
So that's SS1 under DosXBox. I reckon Commander Keen might just work ok, though.
In regards to practical ways of doing this, Shadowcat's shows the most promise, as it requires the least work. Furthermore, if FreeDos can be made to run on the X-Box, it opens up an entire library of other games that'll then run smoothly on the system as well. Which means that there might be a few non-Shockers who'd be interested in porting it.
The tricky bit, as mentioned, is the drivers - They have to be designed to operate under Dos. Along with video, sound and the DVD drive, you also need to take into account that the console doesn't use FAT for its HDD, and requires a USB keyboard/mouse. All that stuff eats conventional memory, but perhaps FreeDos has a way of extending things?
Using FreeDos, however, you might as well be running the game on a computer, but with worse graphics. Let's face it, your standard TV screen sucks, SS1's controls don't map readily to a control pad, and a computer capable of running the game costs much less then an X-Box console.
As has also been mentioned, a port would produce a better game, but it relies on someone doing a whole lotta work. Best method would be for someone to do a remake of the game for the PC (either using an existing or new engine, so long as it's open source), and then port that. Given all the open source code that's already running on the X-Box, it can't be that hard to do.
That isn't an offer on my part to do any work, of course. This is just a summary as to what the options are. :thumb:
MrTrip on 10/10/2006 at 16:27
Quote Posted by Bomb Bloke
Ok, beside me is a TV with the initial cryo area displayed on it. This is about as far as I can be bothered getting. Although the cursor was moving at a reasonable pace, I had to enable a heavy frame skip to get the music to play correctly (or at least, recognisably). That also fixed the life meter animation as well as the sound effects, but nothing's helping the world display - I'm getting less then a frame per second there.
I tried changing the resolution to 640x480, and it was well over half a minute before I got anything to come up in the 3D area at all. Other then the massive speed problems, though, everything seems to be working perfectly.
So that's SS1 under DosXBox. I reckon Commander Keen might just work ok, though.
In regards to practical ways of doing this, Shadowcat's shows the most promise, as it requires the least work. Furthermore, if FreeDos can be made to run on the X-Box, it opens up an entire library of other games that'll then run smoothly on the system as well. Which means that there might be a few non-Shockers who'd be interested in porting it.
The tricky bit, as mentioned, is the drivers - They have to be designed to operate under Dos. Along with video, sound and the DVD drive, you also need to take into account that the console doesn't use FAT for its HDD, and requires a USB keyboard/mouse. All that stuff eats conventional memory, but perhaps FreeDos has a way of extending things?
Using FreeDos, however, you might as well be running the game on a computer, but with worse graphics. Let's face it, your standard TV screen sucks, SS1's controls don't map readily to a control pad, and a computer capable of running the game costs much less then an X-Box console.
As has also been mentioned, a port would produce a better game, but it relies on someone doing a whole lotta work. Best method would be for someone to do a remake of the game for the PC (either using an existing or new engine, so long as it's open source), and then port that. Given all the open source code that's already running on the X-Box, it can't be that hard to do.
That isn't an offer on my part to do any work, of course. This is just a summary as to what the options are. :thumb:
Well at least you got to the point, and told me exactly what would happen..
Well merf....I guess its back to working on my FM for Shock 2 :sweat:
