I completed my 7-year quest to play Thieves’ Guild!

[Kirkman]

 

Some of you have probably seen posts from me over the years trying to work out how to play Thieves' Guild using its graphical front-end client ... over telnet, inside an emulator, etc. So many failed attempts!

 

But at last I have done it. I finished the game! And I'd like to share with you the fruits of my seven-year labor.

 

Please check out my blog post: https://breakintochat.com/blog/2020/09/15/thieves-guild-memories/

 

It's a deep deep dive into the game, chock full of screenshots, videos, and more.

 

ALSO -- I have saved the source code for the game! Paul Witte has given me permission to share it with the community.

Edited September 15, 2020 by Kirkman

[myriadcs]

Interesting read. 

 

BTW. Link to your page is broken, it displays your blog address but links to this page

[Kirkman]

4 minutes ago, myriadcs said:

Interesting read. 

 

BTW. Link to your page is broken, it displays your blog address but links to this page

Thanks so much! Hopefully I have fixed it.

[Tillek]

Wow!  Saving the source code is a feat in itself.  Now I'm going to have to play it (and win it).

 

Of course I have to fix the games on my BBS first.

 

BTW... Did get your email.  I'm trying to get my games back online (which requires me getting it back working on the Mega STE).

 

[Kirkman]

37 minutes ago, Tillek said:

Wow!  Saving the source code is a feat in itself.  Now I'm going to have to play it (and win it).

 

Of course I have to fix the games on my BBS first.

 

BTW... Did get your email.  I'm trying to get my games back online (which requires me getting it back working on the Mega STE).

 

Yes, I'm so excited about that!

 

I even made a discovery in the source today that I hadn't noticed before -- Paul had a commented-out "insta-travel" feature that apparently was intended for use in a CompuServe demo, which corroborates what he told me about CS negotiating to license the game.

 

I hope the games fall into place. Having finally set up a barebones private BBS on my own Mega STe so I could play TG, I can appreciate the difficulty involved.

 

[Atari8guy]

Great blog post. Made me want to play it!!! I skipped the spoilers but I expect I’ll have to cheat at some point. Any thoughts on if you could play it with the graphical front end using a real ST and a wimodem? I already have the dark force account.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kirkman]

Yes, a real ST and a WiFi modem are the perfect way to do it. 

[Kirkman]

Also, check out my interview with Paul Witte, who wrote Thieves' Guild, and his friend Herb Flower, who made all the art for the graphical front-end:

 

https://breakintochat.com/blog/2020/09/15/paul-witte-and-herb-flower-creators-of-thieves-guild/

 

They met at a Utah Atari users group, where Witte was blown away by Flower's submission in a NEOchrome art contest. 

 

"It was these swirling purple clouds and stuff," Witte said. They later incorporated that image into the ending of Thieves' Guild.

 

[tuf]

Ok so who's going to host this so we can all play it? 

[Tillek]

10 hours ago, tuf said:

Ok so who's going to host this so we can all play it? 

Maybe one of the ST BBS's that currently has it running?

 

[MrMaddog]

So this also works using Hatari as well as a real ST?

[Kirkman]

On 9/17/2020 at 3:52 PM, MrMaddog said:

So this also works using Hatari as well as a real ST?

Yes, the “Thieves Guild emulator” can be run inside Hatari, but you’ll need a telnet->serial connection, either by hardware (WiFi modem or Lantronix) or software (tcpser). 

 

FWIW, I recently updated my tutorial on using tcpser and socat on a Mac. https://breakintochat.com/blog/2020/09/03/tutorial-telnet-to-a-bbs-using-a-terminal-program-in-the-hatari-emulator/

[tuf]

On 9/17/2020 at 12:03 PM, Tillek said:

Maybe one of the ST BBS's that currently has it running?

 

Which one might that be?

 

[+DarkLord]

I just want to congratulate Josh. I've conversed with him on several occasions

concerning the Thieves Guild and it's always been entertaining and enlightening.

 

I'm sincerely glad to see it all come together, well done!   

 

[Kirkman]

Thanks, DarkLord!

 

I submitted the story, interview, and source code repo to Slashdot -- and to my surprise, it made the front page. Pretty exciting! Hopefully it introduced many folks to the quirks and wonders of the Atari ST and BBSing worlds.

 

[Tillek]

Great work..... as always.  Thank you for helping keep the hobby in the minds of the "mundanes".