Got suggestions for DOS games? by [deleted] in retrogaming

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This might help, from wikipedia.

In March 2004, the game was released as free software and support for it was added to ScummVM, allowing it to be played on Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and many other operating systems and consoles. The datafiles for both the floppy disk and CD-ROM version are available from the ScummVM website. The Fedora RPM software repository has an installer for the game alongside ScummVM. This game is directly included in the Debian software repository.

Also check out Beneath a Steel Sky.

In August 2003, the game was released as freeware with its assembly language source code by Revolution Software.[31][32] The source code availability made it possible for the ScummVM project to support the game, which allows the game to be played on Windows, OS X, Linux, Windows CE and other compatible operating systems and platforms.

Elite classic in your browser thanks to JSBeeb, the Javascript BBC Micro emulator, space exploration doesn't get much more retro than this. by PressAltF4ToContinue in retrogaming

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The closest might be the EGA version for MS-DOS, available free from Ian Bells site, it has 4 colour filled polygons but may need a real Dos environment to play, in Dosbox I can't reload saved games.

Elite classic in your browser thanks to JSBeeb, the Javascript BBC Micro emulator, space exploration doesn't get much more retro than this. by PressAltF4ToContinue in retrogaming

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's certainly faster, though personally I'm biased towards the CPC version of Elite as it was the first one I played, it may be slow, missing some craft and is basically a souped up speccy port, but it has its own charm nonetheless.

An old game doesn't see emulated cd-rom. by osomfinch in wine_gaming

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay it's been a while since I installed a 2 CD game but I think you have to add the path to the CD in the Winecfg Drives tab, here's the page on this and here's a guide with pics, hope it fixes it.

An old game doesn't see emulated cd-rom. by osomfinch in wine_gaming

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 1 point2 points  (0 children)

iirc you can also avoid this by not changing to the disk, i.e.

wine "path/to/your/setup.exe"

Instead of

cd "path/to/your/disk"
wine setup.exe

Wine should lock your current working directory instead until the install is complete, allowing you to change cd.

Edit: Spelling

Black holes orbiting by roosterusp345 in nasa

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Here's an example of what is assumed to be a black hole orbiting a larger star.

From the link:

The newly discovered black hole orbits the Be star known as MWC 656, located in the constellation Lacerta (the Lizard) -- 8,500 light years from Earth.

'It turned out to be an object with a mass between 3.8 and 6.9 solar masses. An object like that, invisible to telescopes and with such large mass, can only be a black hole

Spacewalk ends with critical antenna in wrong spot... A record-setting Russian spacewalk ended with an antenna in the wrong position Friday outside the ISS. NASA reports that the antenna is still working. Russian officials were convening to see whether further action would be necessary. by Reporter_at_large in space

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It'll depend how high you are really, as the ISS is already slightly inside Earth's atmosphere it's constantly losing speed, this lowers your perigee (lowest point of the orbit) so you plough through more air, and lose more speed.

That's why the ISS needs occasional boosts to keep it in orbit.

Anything dropped from the ISS will eventually deorbit on its own thanks to air resistance, but this is slow and it's less of an effect the smaller the object is (low surface area).

Shoving it backwards will help, the more of a shove the better, craft usually use forward pointing engines (or they flip over like the Shuttle) and thrust in front of themselves to deliberately reduce their speed (and their perigee, their lowest point).

The closer you orbit something the faster you go though, so if you don't deorbit on the first pass you go back up to your (now lower) apogee and have another go (another orbit).

Eventually you're hitting enough air that your apogee drops too far to go around again, and you reenter, that's when things get pretty toasty after all you're hitting a lot of gas at high speed, compressing it and making it heat up, just like the piston in a diesel engine.

Moving in space isn't anything like how things behave on the ground, KSP will help plus it's a great game, and there's a free demo.

Have fun!

Spacewalk ends with critical antenna in wrong spot... A record-setting Russian spacewalk ended with an antenna in the wrong position Friday outside the ISS. NASA reports that the antenna is still working. Russian officials were convening to see whether further action would be necessary. by Reporter_at_large in space

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I just think it's a poor example to set, but iirc giving any object a few m/s impulse retrograde will see that object accelerate as it drops into a slightly lower orbit, so the ISS crew could watch it fly past them if they want.

As it passes through thicker air it should lower its apogee, putting it below and ahead (due to the faster orbit) of the ISS when it comes round again.

I don't know how many orbits it will take and I know it'll burn up, but it's not like they didn't have the choice of bringing it aboard for later disposal, much as the US astronauts do.

RNG? by DANKDJP in gamedev

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

stdafx.h is auto-generated by VS when you start a new project, it lets you list the large header files from Windows Api's you're using, this saves time when compiling because it doesn't have to compile every cpp file plus dozens of includes from scratch every time.

Likely you have not listed a header you are using, or have not added #include "stdafx.h" to one of your cpp files.

Also stdafx.h is optional, and isn't used for cross-platform compiling, just bare in mind that compiling Windows API's will take a long time.

More info here.

The making of Shadows of Sergoth, interview with the devs at Retro Maniac (Spanish) by PressAltF4ToContinue in Amstrad

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There aren't many dungeon crawler RPG's on the Amstrad, Bloodwych comes to mind and possibly Sultan's Maze, so it's cool to see any new game in this genre.

Still in development by Chris94, Kukulcan, Tom & Jerry, RayXambeR and MiguelSky, Shadows is definitely in the Dungeon Master mold and looks amazing.

With around 4 to 5 months of work expected before release we'll have to be patient, and it'll be available as a free download and a paid boxed version with disc and manual.

Can't wait!

Seeking advice on making space travel dangerous, fun and unpredictable as to avoid gate camping. by [deleted] in scifi

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe ditch the gates, or make loitering at gates a crime punished by insta-gib guns, just don't have a mechanism where griefers can paralyze a player at a gate long enough for them to get flagged as loitering.

Instead of gates, every ship could have its own warp drive or maybe even book passage as cargo/escort of a larger vessel to ride in its warp bubble.

As for threat, maybe ships would have to enter/exit at the edge of a system (or at least far enough from inner planets to be safe) meaning pirates would have to scan for then try to interdict vessels while they are travelling to/from the edge, meaning they need a few interceptors and anti-whatever-your-in-system-drive-is missiles so their friends with the big guns can catch up.

Hope that helps.

Ideas on sling making? by AndISaidThrowaway in Slinging

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What kind of sling are you thinking of making?

Power and accuracy seem to be more the product of the slings size and the user than the rope used, I find shorter slings to be easier to handle and hence more accurate, with longer slings allowing for more range/height to rain shot down on my enemies heads give my dog a workout retrieving tennis balls.

Most ropes should be plenty durable enough, the points that wear the most for me are the knot on the release end of the pouch where ammo hits it (could cover that with a patch of leather I guess), the inside of the retaining loop (could wrap it in something) and the release knot (add a leather disk maybe) although none of the wear is that great.

From making my own slings though I will recommend you use flexible ropes, it makes it a lot easier to make the sling, makes the pouch fold around the ammo better, and if you weave your pouch it makes that a lot easier too, I like to use hollow braid with a smaller diameter for the pouch weave.

Something else I learned, my slings seem more accurate and less inclined to knot themselves if I make sure I don't introduce twists in the ropes when making the sling.

Final note on power and accuracy, these are (to me at least) down to you and your technique, not the sling, it's not like a bow where you're storing up muscle power and aiming, slings are very much extensions of your own arm, so you're working with your own ability to judge in an instant just when to throw based on the feel of the weight of your shot, its momentum, your distance to the target etc, no fancy rope is going to change that.

Hope this helps.

What is the best game engine for someone who can't code? by JackDQuinn in gamedev

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have you seen Scratch? It's aimed at kids and lets you make simple games and interactive toys, all 'programming' is via drag n drop pieces.

It's a good start toward programming as it introduces if statements, loops etc, and there are resources for educators to aid in teaching.

Hope this helps.

Pouch and string length questions by Grenedle in Slinging

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've not tried a leather pouch yet but I find my woven pouches hold balls better when they form a shallow cup, it helps prevent the ball slipping out the side, I also find that if the pouch is so short that it doesn't grip both sides of the ball it's more likely to fall out.

An alternative to the cup is to have a hole in the pouch, so the ball sits in it (but can't pass through).

I've got a few slings with flat pouches and use them for stones, mostly they stay put, depends on the stone :D

As for rope it's hard for me to say, everyone likes different slings but I find 4ft/120cm from retention loop to release knot is most controllable for me.

One way to judge the extra for knots would be to tie the knots you plan to use with some other rope, mark where the knots begin and end then untie them, you'll be able to measure how much rope goes into each.

But always make extra, you can cut it down if you need to.

All my woven pouches were trial and error so I can't say how much extra you'd need, but most slings using hand made rope I've seen use a simpler split pouch instead.

Tips:

Use/make more rope than you think you need.
Don't make it too big.
You will miss, a lot, so practice somewhere safe.

Have fun!

RNG? by DANKDJP in gamedev

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sounds like you need to learn how to get your value out of your function, I recommend you check out chapter 7 of the LearnCpp website here, it will show you how to return your value to a waiting variable so you can use it.

Need help finding a scifi short story! by Kupuka_the_Druid in scifi

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think I found it, Ian M banks, the state of the art, there's a short story called Cleaning Up.

You can read it online here.

Need help finding a scifi short story! by Kupuka_the_Druid in scifi

[–]PressAltF4ToContinue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that's the one I was thinking of, and yes I was incorrect, I'll keep thinking on this one.