Why can't we...

TheFraix

TheFraix

Vice Admiral
I'm quite an Ultima fan, and I was much delighted to see some fans came up with a patch for some older Ultima games, like Ultima IV and Ultima VII which enable those two ancient games able to be launched from Windows 9x Operating System.

My question is this:

Why can't we make such a patch for the older WC games like Armada or Privateer?

Or is this related to that Source Code Release Project Problem?

Sincerely,
TheFraix
 
I don't think that they've released the source code to any Ultima either. What I've seen done in Exult for example (I think so at least!), is that they figured out just about all the file formats U7 uses, and basically wrote a whole new engine that runs on the original U7 files.

Now, I'm not a programmer, and I've never messed with the WC1/2/Priv engine files myself, but I think that no matter how much somebody knew about all its file formats, writing an engine to use these files (with an updated way of rendering the original graphics, a more precise way of using the original interface, and etc.) must be a pretty hard task.

--Eder
 
He's not talking about updating the games... just making those that are unplayable in Windows (which would be Armada and Privateer) playable. It's possible, but it would take a lot of work. One would have to either modify the JEMM versions the games use, or find away to emulate their functions with a different program.

TC
 
There's an Ultima 7 patch which intercepts the memory calls and passes them through a DLL instead which somehow fixes things. All I know is it works and the source code is available (I think it's ASM). Whether it could be modified to work with any WCs or not I don't know.
 
Wow... Ultima 7 uses JEMM? I could install it and look... but I don't think it does.

TC
 
While we're wishing, how about a high-res remake of WC1 + Secret Missions, with all the same gameplay and storyline, just modern technology instead of bitmap sprites? :)

That would make my year.

-The Gneech
 
Originally posted by The_Gneech
While we're wishing, how about a high-res remake of WC1 + Secret Missions, with all the same gameplay and storyline, just modern technology instead of bitmap sprites? :)

That would make my year.

-The Gneech
Click to expand...

That would make my *decade.*
 
Originally posted by TC
He's not talking about updating the games... just making those that are unplayable in Windows (which would be Armada and Privateer) playable.
Click to expand...

Yes, there's a huge difference between re-writing the game's engine and re-writing its memory manager... But wouldn't you need the source code in either case?

--Eder
 
Need the source code? Yes and no. Yes in that it'd make it easier, but no in that any time now someone's going to decide to make a fan project out of this and, true to form, won't think of whether or not this would be possible without the source code.
 
Originally posted by Iceberg
Originally posted by The_Gneech
While we're wishing, how about a high-res remake of WC1 + Secret Missions, with all the same gameplay and storyline, just modern technology instead of bitmap sprites? :)

That would make my year.

-The Gneech
Click to expand...

That would make my *decade.*
Click to expand...

Maybe someone should port it to the Vega Strike engine when its done. :)
 
I don't want to see WC ported to sixty-million new engines. Its charm and style and what-not are included in the old graphics, the low resolution and what not... I mean, just compare SWC to WC -- there's a definate lack in the former.

Let the fan engines do something new.
 
Charm and style (and what-not ;)) are all relative, of course...but for the most part I agree with LOAF. To capture the essense of Wing Commander you'd practically have to copy everything down to the smallest detail...A gestalt is such where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
 
Even the Kilrathi Saga Took Some of the charm and style out of Wing Commander by changing the music and sfx in the first two games(don't get me wrong, I like the kilrathi saga for its convenience). I played the wc1 kilrathi saga version so long that I forgot how cool the original sound effects were. When I finally played the original version again I was surprised. I didn't remember that in wc1 a Kilrathi Fighter's engines sound feline when they pass you. That was a cool thing to rediscover.
 
Oh yeah for sure...

I still don't see the reason why they had to change the noises the guns made in WC1... :(

I liked the original "bop bop bop" sound ofthe Mass Drivers a lot... more than the "frit frit" type at any rate... :)
 
Originally posted by mpanty

I liked the original "bop bop bop" sound ofthe Mass Drivers a lot... more than the "frit frit" type at any rate... :)
Click to expand...

Excellent ! thanks to you, I can hear them in my head... Wait a minute: I think it is a "blop blop blop" and not a "bop bop bop"... but I may be wrong because of my translated version of WC... lol :)
(moreover, my WC1 version is an american one)
 
Know what I miss? The sound of flack cannons in Armada. There was something incredibly terror inducing about that sound. :(
 
Aww, I must really convince myself to play WC1 and WC2 again. I burned myself out of them waiting for a chance to play the others. I haven't got KS, but I really enjoy the MP3s, so I don't know how the original MIDI will affect me.
 
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