Muzz73 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 (edited) Hello, all... While there are hundreds of EAMON adventures for the Apple ][, I've noticed that there have only been one or two converted for use on the A8 and was wondering how difficult it'd be convert the rest of them over. Let me add that I have no programming knowledge whatsoever and don't have any clue how these games are structured and was wondering if, perhaps, they were simply ASCII text with a BASIC interpreter (like Zork). Is there anyone out there who might have an idea where/how I could get started (apart from learning Atari BASIC, which I already plan to do)? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance! Edited March 9, 2015 by Muzz73 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 http://www.eamonag.org/columns/mainpgmtour.htm contains the source code (actually a BASIC listing). Glossing over it does not seem to contain anything that couldn't be duplicated in ATARI BASIC or Turbo BASIC XL. It should be possible to do a rather straightforward conversion (though I have not looked at the actual game files yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Uhhg! I forgot how ugly BASIC can be. Better just learn 6502 Assembler. Much more straight forward. :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz73 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 I was thinking BASIC, because AFAIK, the Apple ][ files were done in BASIC, so I figured there might be minimal loss and minimal tweaking needed to get it done. Like I said, I have no programming knowledge at all and am just looking for a place to start. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz73 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 And yes, BASIC looked nightmarish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Might be easier to target *Microsoft* Atari Basic than the standard dialect as it's more similar to FPBASIC (e.g., in string handling, which I think is a major element of the Eamon stuff). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Glossing over the BASIC file I saw a lot of xx% variables I presumed to be integer variables, so Turbo BASIC XL might be a better choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farb Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I ported the Eamon master disk to the A8 back in the day (probably around 1989 or so): http://gury.atari8.info/details_source_code/3959.php I also ported the Dungeon Designer disk which allowed you to make new games. I don't see that anywhere online so I can try to dig through my old disks and see if I still have it. It was pretty rough but I believe it was reasonably functional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz73 Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Nice! Thanks for the pointers, folks! Does anyone know offhand which version of BASIC EAMON was originally done in? Applesoft? Integer? I'm wondering if knowing that would help us to find the version of BASIC on the A8 most suitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I think Applesoft. I also believe it was converted to ST Basic, and that might be an easier port. Check this out: http://www.lysator.liu.se/eamon/ BTW, pretty sure that conversion to Atari MS Basic would be quite easy. -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 It's Applesoft. The % sign after the variables is a dead giveaway. Integer BASIC doesn't need those because everything is already integer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farb Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 BTW, pretty sure that conversion to Atari MS Basic would be quite easy. I recall starting down that path but there was even less free program memory in Atari MS BASIC than in standard Atari BASIC. It was a challenge to get the Apple Eamon code to fit in Atari BASIC on a 48K machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farb Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Attached are the disk images I have. If I recall, Death Star was complete and Lair of the Minotaur was partially complete. Eamon_MasterDisk.ATR Eamon_DungeonDesigner.ATR Eamon_6_DeathStar.ATR Eamon_2_LairOfTheMinotaur.ATR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz73 Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Nice! I knew the engine was done years ago (thank you, Farb!), so I am hoping that converting the adventures themselves won't be as painful as I imagine it to be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Wow! This forum never ceases to amaze me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Does anyone have some general knowledge as to how these are put together? I.e. -- is every disk a completely separate entity (maybe with some amount of common code)? Or is there an "engine" and database that supplies the engine (if that makes any sense)? Looking through the Atari images (nice!), it looks like everything is pretty much a standalone entity. Is there someplace where the Apple and other versions are stored as text files? (I've looked, but found nothing yet other than disk images.) I'm curious about converting Applesoft, so I need a LISTed version of at least one Apple adventure. And I will keep looking... -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Does anyone have some general knowledge as to how these are put together? I.e. -- is every disk a completely separate entity (maybe with some amount of common code)? Or is there an "engine" and database that supplies the engine (if that makes any sense)? Looking through the Atari images (nice!), it looks like everything is pretty much a standalone entity. Is there someplace where the Apple and other versions are stored as text files? (I've looked, but found nothing yet other than disk images.) I'm curious about converting Applesoft, so I need a LISTed version of at least one Apple adventure. And I will keep looking... -Larry If you want to understand creating new games then try reading through the newsletters http://www.eamonag.org/columns/DD-columns.htm BTW, this page mentioned the Atari version: http://www.eamonag.org/pages/Play_today.htm 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Looks very useful! Thanks! -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farb Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) Does anyone have some general knowledge as to how these are put together? I.e. -- is every disk a completely separate entity (maybe with some amount of common code)? Or is there an "engine" and database that supplies the engine (if that makes any sense)? Looking through the Atari images (nice!), it looks like everything is pretty much a standalone entity. Is there someplace where the Apple and other versions are stored as text files? (I've looked, but found nothing yet other than disk images.) I'm curious about converting Applesoft, so I need a LISTed version of at least one Apple adventure. And I will keep looking... -Larry If I recall correctly, when the player left the main hall, they were prompted to insert the adventure disk. A "main program" was run from the adventure disk which drove the actual adventure. When the "main program" executed, it read data files from the adventure disk representing rooms, items, monsters, etc. The Dungeon Designer disk's primary function was to facilitate easy creation of those data files. When the author wanted to create a playable adventure disk, the Dungeon Designer would write the "main program" and all data files to a blank disk. The "main program" had the potential to be consistent across all adventures but it would lead to some pretty boring games. I believe individual adventure authors modified the "main program" to add more advanced, adventure-specific capabilities to their game. I also recall there being multiple versions of the "main program" based on the version of the Dungeon Designer disk used to author the adventure. Edited March 12, 2015 by Farb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Do you recall how you got the programs over from the A2 to the Atari years ago? I have downloaded some Apple II .DSK images, but am not aware of a good way to get them cross the "digital divide." The only thing that really comes to mind is to use an Apple emulator to load and then send the files in Ascii format over to the PC then over to the Atari using APE's PC Mirror. I'm not sure that is even doable, but probably some A2 emulator supports a serial transfer. (?) Any thoughts? -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Do you recall how you got the programs over from the A2 to the Atari years ago? I have downloaded some Apple II .DSK images, but am not aware of a good way to get them cross the "digital divide." The only thing that really comes to mind is to use an Apple emulator to load and then send the files in Ascii format over to the PC then over to the Atari using APE's PC Mirror. I'm not sure that is even doable, but probably some A2 emulator supports a serial transfer. (?) Any thoughts? -Larry You can extract files from Apple II disks with CiderPress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Thanks, again. That looks like it will make things much easier! (And should keep me busy for awhile!) -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farb Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Do you recall how you got the programs over from the A2 to the Atari years ago? I have downloaded some Apple II .DSK images, but am not aware of a good way to get them cross the "digital divide." The only thing that really comes to mind is to use an Apple emulator to load and then send the files in Ascii format over to the PC then over to the Atari using APE's PC Mirror. I'm not sure that is even doable, but probably some A2 emulator supports a serial transfer. (?) Any thoughts? -Larry I did it the old fashion way -- printing the Apple II code and typing it into the Atari :-) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Glossing over the BASIC file I saw a lot of xx% variables I presumed to be integer variables, so Turbo BASIC XL might be a better choice. Have to retract on this one, TB XL doesn't have INT after all. I just misread the manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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