Monopoly by David Addison

[pixelmischief]

Did David Addison ever offer his Monopoly for the ST with packaging, a manual, or any kind of official media?

[Lynxpro]

Doubtful. Parker Bros. went after him back in the day.

 

Funny how he wrote that great game in Basic. The computer AI would cheat all of the time!

[pixelmischief]

I have to say, it's my version of all time. I still play it to this day when I want a little Monopoly.

[Lynxpro]

My dad was addicted to it. If I had my ST set up, he'd probably want to play it when he visited.

[lp060]

I found it here and of course had to play a few games.

 

http://www.emuparadise.me/Atari_ST_ROMs/Monopoly_%2819xx%29%28Addison,_David%29%28PD%29%5Ba%5D/117496

[Lynxpro]

I'd love to see his version ported to other systems. I know he ported his version over to the Amiga, but it would make a fine addition to the Lynx library. That and MIDI Maze!

[lp060]

A quote from the doc file:

"MONOPOLY.BAS is the GFA BASIC source code that was compiled into MONOPOLY.PRG It was written by David Addison in True BASIC on an Amiga, and converted by him into GFA BASIC for the Atari ST."

 

Anyway, the source code is contained in the *.ST file I linked to above. I had a look at the source code and it doesn't look like the original. It appears as if it was originally written with line numbers and then reworked for GFA, since GFA does not allow line numbers. I thought about tweaking it to run on more modern Atari hardware, but if Parker Brothers still actively goes after people, that could be a bad idea.

[Lynxpro]

A quote from the doc file:

 

"MONOPOLY.BAS is the GFA BASIC source code that was compiled into MONOPOLY.PRG It was written by David Addison in True BASIC on an Amiga, and converted by him into GFA BASIC for the Atari ST."

 

Anyway, the source code is contained in the *.ST file I linked to above. I had a look at the source code and it doesn't look like the original. It appears as if it was originally written with line numbers and then reworked for GFA, since GFA does not allow line numbers. I thought about tweaking it to run on more modern Atari hardware, but if Parker Brothers still actively goes after people, that could be a bad idea.

 

I don't think there's much worry. The ST platform is considered dead and Hasbro - the current owners of the IP - have bigger fish to fry.

 

Since it was originally written on the Amiga, it should be even easier to port to the Lynx regardless of the differences in CPUs...

[lp060]

I don't think its origins make it harder or easier to port. If you look at the source code (I did), its simply a background image and it draws and undraws (blits) blocks to simulate moving the pieces around the board. The cards that appear when you hit community chest and chance are just drawn with boxes and text commands. Its extremely simple how it works. Personally, I'd rather work with the GFA port as David has already freed it of the evil line numbers.

 

To get it to run on more modern Atari hardware would just be a matter of redoing the blits. Instead of saving all the image blocks in ST low as David did, they need to be converted to VDI device independent format. Perhaps getting it to run in a window would be cool to, but much more work.

[Lynxpro]

I don't think its origins make it harder or easier to port. If you look at the source code (I did), its simply a background image and it draws and undraws (blits) blocks to simulate moving the pieces around the board. The cards that appear when you hit community chest and chance are just drawn with boxes and text commands. Its extremely simple how it works. Personally, I'd rather work with the GFA port as David has already freed it of the evil line numbers.

 

To get it to run on more modern Atari hardware would just be a matter of redoing the blits. Instead of saving all the image blocks in ST low as David did, they need to be converted to VDI device independent format. Perhaps getting it to run in a window would be cool to, but much more work.

 

What do you consider "more modern Atari hardware"? Does it have problems running on anything above TOS 1.02?

 

I'm assuming you are advocating resolution independence as a GEM program, correct?

[lp060]

What do you consider "more modern Atari hardware"? Does it have problems running on anything above TOS 1.02?

 

I'm assuming you are advocating resolution independence as a GEM program, correct?

 

Correct. Its pretty much hard coded to 320x200 in 16 colors. It checks getrez() and refuses to run if some specific value is not returned and thus won't run on clones that use PCI video cards.

 

I consider the Hades, Milan, and Firebee more modern machines. It might run on the Firebee as is though since it tries to reproduce the Videl modes.

[Lynxpro]

 

Correct. Its pretty much hard coded to 320x200 in 16 colors. It checks getrez() and refuses to run if some specific value is not returned and thus won't run on clones that use PCI video cards.

 

I consider the Hades, Milan, and Firebee more modern machines. It might run on the Firebee as is though since it tries to reproduce the Videl modes.

 

Falcon/CT60 with that Radeon video card.

 

That's a great goal. I'm surprised it apparently runs on STs with TOS versions above 1.02!

 

Hard coded to run at 16 colors. The last time I compared the game - via Youtube - between the Amiga and the ST versions, I didn't see a difference. Maybe being cross-platform was Addison's goal all along and thus I guess he didn't go 32 colors for the Amiga version. I'm actually surprised to learn the Amiga version was first because I thought he was ST-exclusive back then.

[lp060]

Indeed I forgot the Falcon with an 060.

 

Seems to be some discrepancies regarding the original amiga version. I download it and the doc file says its written in AbasiC, not TRUE Basic. The source code was included and it for sure has line numbers as I suspected though. What a convoluted mess, makes the GFA version way easier to follow.

 

The GFA version is v2 which no one uses anymore, well no one in their right mind. I might try and rebuild it with GFA v3 which is considerably faster in some areas.

[Lynxpro]

Indeed I forgot the Falcon with an 060.

 

Seems to be some discrepancies regarding the original amiga version. I download it and the doc file says its written in AbasiC, not TRUE Basic. The source code was included and it for sure has line numbers as I suspected though. What a convoluted mess, makes the GFA version way easier to follow.

 

The GFA version is v2 which no one uses anymore, well no one in their right mind. I might try and rebuild it with GFA v3 which is considerably faster in some areas.

 

The ST version might be better anyway. As I said, I can't see a difference in the color graphics from the YouTube vids and believe it or not, the sound fx seems to be better on the ST version. But if you go resolution-independent, I bet the file size is going to greatly increase.

 

Was GFA Basic available in 1985? They must've shipped that right after the 520ST then.

[lp060]

 

The ST version might be better anyway. As I said, I can't see a difference in the color graphics from the YouTube vids and believe it or not, the sound fx seems to be better on the ST version. But if you go resolution-independent, I bet the file size is going to greatly increase.

 

Was GFA Basic available in 1985? They must've shipped that right after the 520ST then.

 

Its a little sketchy, but I think GFA v1 appeared at the end of 1985 and then literally a month or so later version 2 was released dated 1986. Then came 3.0, 3.5, and finally 3.6. GFA version 3.5 was ported to the amiga, but it was to little to late and rather buggy. It never caught on and GFA closed up shop, so the amiga never got the 3.6 update.

 

The file size should be about the same, its just a different way of organizing the bit plane info.

[Lynxpro]

 

Its a little sketchy, but I think GFA v1 appeared at the end of 1985 and then literally a month or so later version 2 was released dated 1986. Then came 3.0, 3.5, and finally 3.6. GFA version 3.5 was ported to the amiga, but it was to little to late and rather buggy. It never caught on and GFA closed up shop, so the amiga never got the 3.6 update.

 

The file size should be about the same, its just a different way of organizing the bit plane info.

Do you estimate it'll run about as well as the original version or possibly require more RAM due to GEM's involvement? I've never run the original on anything other than a stock 1040STf.

[lp060]

Can't really answer that. I'm trying to get it to run recompiled with GFA version 3.6, but that isn't going so well. It crashes after the background appears.

Edited June 11, 2014 by lp060

[lp060]

I sorted out the crash. The assembler routine changes some critical registers which kills GFA. I had to add compiler option $C+ which saves and restores these registers when calling assembler. The mouse was also stuck in the bee shape, had to add a line of code to force it back to the arrow. Now its running compiled with GFA version 3.6 on TOS 2.06 and the binary is about 10kb smaller. Fixed the routine that restores the desktop colors.

[pixelmischief]

Any chance of a download? Need some Beta test? =)

[lp060]

Sure. I'll place it at my public dropbox soon. I want to add another fix to the image loading. The first disk image I found, one of the *.put files was zero length and the game didn't complain or throw an error. Instead it ran and the image was not rendered. I then found another disk image at a completely different site that was intact. I'm going to add some sanity checks to detect short or missing images before I release it. I also want to comment all my changes, will include the updated source file as well.

[pixelmischief]

Really looking forward to this. If there is anything I can do, let me know. Deepst thanks for updating one of my favorite games of all time.

[lp060]

Ok, you can find it here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hk65mapqd3fmc04/AADvebw3xJOqpnxuTShbkGs1a/monopoly

 

I've played the rebuild for quite a while and it seems to work just as it did. Enjoy.

[pixelmischief]

Thanks for this! Question, though. Can you put up a text file with the source?

[lp060]

The source is in the archive along with a text file noting all my changes. My dropbox is a temporary location as I'll probably move it to my GFA pages later. I played the rebuild again last night and beat Andy, took an hour.

Edited June 13, 2014 by lp060

[pixelmischief]

So, I was thinking to maybe port this to Windows. To that end, I downloaded GFA BASIC 32, v2.3 for Windows. But it wants a ".G32", ".LST", or ".BAK" file. Am I chasing windmills on this one or is it possible?

Edited June 13, 2014 by pixelmischief