QL Games

[Derek_Stewart]

What sort of games are popular on the QL?

What game would be wanted?

Are games not required?

[qbits]

Hi Derek
An interesting Question.

Are computer games a necessity depends on your view point. If you consider it as a workout for your mind disguised as fun you will accept that studies have shown that playing visual games regularly may increase gray matter in the brain and boost brain connectivity.

For the QL does this mean playing retro classics. while these games may not have the same level of advanced graphics or sound as modern games, they offer nostalgic experience for players who grew up with them.

Arcade and Platform style shoot them up Games suggest they act as a simple diversion, doing something different that might improve mental to physical reaction timing. Games that require more thought and tactical decision may expand one’s ability to innovate. They may also boost one’s confidence in a number of ways.

For those of us looking to maintain an interest in the QL and its derivatives ie QPC2, S/SuperBASIC etc. Computer Games are still an interest if only to dabble in getting to understanding codding of Text and Graphics to screen.

QBITS
[Expand Your Horizons with QL SuperBASIC] QL Tinkering [..28] QBITSProgs 2023 Review :Download

[martyn_hill]

Hi Derek!

To my (one-track!) mind, I'd love to see some games that leverage the QL Network effectively!

Turn-based, strategy games could be a 'low hanging fruit', but I'm sure there are other genres that could be developed around a multi-player model...

[t0nyt]

Tomb Raider please!

[dilwyn]

I've never really been much of a game player. The only games I've really played all my life are the likes of Space Invaders, maze games, some card games, the occasional chess or draughts (checkers) and a few word-games. Two of my favourite QL games were The Wall by Wolfgang Lenerz, and the Jewels game from ToFro.

I don't have the dexterity to play fast action games, nor the brain power to solve e.g. adventure games. (More that my game playing skills are low rather than anything against games as such.)

I think my favourite Spectrum game was Pssst, where you hunted the bugs around a garden. Easy to play, good fun and good graphics in its time.

Perversely, I've enjoyed coding some games, such as that Dinosaur game I wrote a couple of years ago.

I wrote a Backgammon game for ZX81 and Spectrum in BASIC many years ago. Sadly, I lost the sources or I'd have ported it to QL for some clever tinkerer to improve the standard of play and improve the text-character display to be more graphical. If anyone still has a copy of it, I'd love to recover the source and make it available. It appeared as a listing in one of the Interface Publications books for ZX81, I just don't fancy typing it all in again.

There were a few really good early arcade games on the QL, which is of course fairly impressive in that there is no graphics processor. Which makes those early action games all the more impressive, such as those by Janko Mrsc Flogel (sorry, can't remember the correct spelling of his name).

Is it fair to say it'd be easier to port games to the QL rather than write them anew? If so, any of the well known games on other computers being ported to the QL would be most welcome. As long as they're reasonably well written to run on most QL systems, I'd say it's a case of the more the merrier.

And of course I'd like to see a decent game sprites generator/game writer system for QL systems. I know we have some systems already, most only work on 512x256 QL displays.

[Andrew]

Yes!
Adventure games for me! Not text adventures, but adveture games with some sort of graphical interface and images, or better (animation like Monkey Island)
Maybe some puzzle games like Sokoban or Lemmings
Maybe some turn-based strategy like Lords of Midnight or the first Dune

[Andrew]

I know we have some systems already, most only work on 512x256 QL displays.

What do we have?
I only know of 2: Super Sprite Generator - which has a bug that cripples it (I posted a few years ago about that) and Franks's Sprite Generator which works but I was not able to comprehend the actual creation of the sprites and sprite libraries
Do we have anything else?

[qbits]

Hi,
Andrew I to had problems comprehending how to develop games from Franks's Sprite Generator. Hence the inspiration to recreate some of these early Games and go beyond with QBITS PIXEL Art, but that has some way to go and I am no way as good at programming as Frank.

QBITS
[Expand Your Horizons with QL SuperBASIC] QL Tinkering [..28] QBITSProgs 2023 Review :Download:

[dilwyn]

I think there was a sprites system from Herbert Zens somewhere on my pages, probably tucked away on the Sprites page IIRC.

I remember seeing another early system which I intended to put on my site, but lost the files. It was probably on a CGH Services PD disk, or probably on the QLPD CDR. I can't remember the name or I'd go looking for it - I still have an extensive collection of early freeware and PD disks tucked away on backup drives, one day I might actually get time to sort them all out. Maybe if it was on a CGH Services disc, Richard Alexander might remember if it was.

I agree with what you said about the Frank's Sprites package. I did get the supplied example files to run, but (a) it only worked on 512x256 and (b) was prone to the sprites flickering on some systems. I never had the sources to it, sadly. Maybe one of our Swedish members might have the sources, as Frank Linder was from Sweden.

[Tesla]

Hi everyone.
If we limit ourselves to the classic QL hardware, however enhanced with SGC and Qimsi, for example, I think you cannot see more than arcade style games 80s and 90s. Something like the excellent Firebirds. On more mature systems, such as QPC2 with GDI may be possible to make simple strategy games or war games in the Avalon Hill style if you understand what I mean.
At least I would like a lot
Marco