Paku Paku -- 1.6 released 9 November 2011

[jmetal88]

I can't wait to give it a shot! I won't have access to my PCjr until Friday evening though - I didn't think I'd have room for it here in my dorm, so I left it with my parents in Bartlesville.

[Vorticon]

Second version is absolutely faster, almost too fast for arrow keys play! Is it possible to implement joystick support? Once again, great work

[deathshadow60]

Second version is absolutely faster, almost too fast for arrow keys play! Is it possible to implement joystick support? Once again, great work

Joystick support is on my to-do list for 1.3, I'm also playing with the idea of supporting the PPJOY type parallel adapters directly. That will top off some tweaks to the audio subsytem, removal of legacy/unused code, and thanks to the vintage PC forums, proper support and detection of MCGA video on PS/2 model 25 and 30's.

I'm still trying to decide how much dead zone to implement, and how I'm going to interpret diagonal inputs.

[Vorticon]

I'm still trying to decide how much dead zone to implement, and how I'm going to interpret diagonal inputs.

In my experience, when only orthogonal directionality is needed, diagonal input occurs inadvertently when players attempt to move up or down, which is how I think you should implement it.

[jmetal88]

I wanted to try this today, but it seems both 5.25" floppy drives I've been using in my 'data movement' machine have failed.

Once I figure out some other way to move data to my PCjr, I'll let you know what I think.

[Vorticon]

I wanted to try this today, but it seems both 5.25" floppy drives I've been using in my 'data movement' machine have failed.

Once I figure out some other way to move data to my PCjr, I'll let you know what I think.

You should give Mike's FTP server a try Once configured, it's completely painless to transfer data to the Jr from any other computer on your home network. I use the free version of WS-FTP on the Windows side which has a nice GUI and easily allows you to manipulate files and folders on the Jr side.

[jmetal88]

I wanted to try this today, but it seems both 5.25" floppy drives I've been using in my 'data movement' machine have failed.

Once I figure out some other way to move data to my PCjr, I'll let you know what I think.

You should give Mike's FTP server a try Once configured, it's completely painless to transfer data to the Jr from any other computer on your home network. I use the free version of WS-FTP on the Windows side which has a nice GUI and easily allows you to manipulate files and folders on the Jr side.

That's not gonna work for an immediate solution, as I don't have a parallel port ethernet adapter yet.

Luckily, whatever blew up the two 5.25" floppies on my 'data movement' machine did not affect the 3.5" floppy on that machine, so I can still use that machine to copy stuff on to my ZIP drive, which can then be used on my PCjr.

[jmetal88]

Alright! Just played this sucker on my Jr, and man, is it fast! You did a great job, working the game into such a low-res space. It'd be great to see a higher-res PCjr/Tandy only version of the game, too, though.

EDIT: I have a question though. Did changing the sprite engine for version 1.2 change the look of the game? It's just that what I have on my PCjr doesn't quite match the screenshot you have on your site. I'm seeing vertical brown stripes in most of the yellow stuff, and when the on-screen items 'flash' it looks like an extra pixel gets added to the left of things.

I am tempted to try the game off floppy from DOS 3.3, though, to see if maybe my Jrconfig settings are causing any of these issues.

EDIT 2: Nah, it does the same thing from DOS 3.3. Still fun, though!

[Brutman]

The sound is good, the performance is fine, and the gameplay is good as well. But there is definitely something weird going on with the PCjr video. Here is a screen shot of the effect that JMetal88 is trying to describe:



It's not serious .. a little quality time in the code is probably all it needs. (It looks like every 4 or 8 bits highlighting is turned on.)

[Brutman]

Not to hijack the thread ... just some quick notes:

- I personally wouldn't run FTPSRV on a Jr unless it was for kicks. The FTP client is smaller so it loads quicker, it uses less memory, and the data transfer rates should be faster. Run a real FTP server on a Windows or Linux machine, and use the Jr as a client.

- I know somebody who has the Compex adapter now. We're waiting to hear test results. If they work, I'll pick up one for testing. While I like the Xircom, there are more reasonably priced Compex adapters on eBay at the moment than Xircoms. And if the performance and function are close, then it is a win.


Mike