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Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:53 pm
by tofro
If you want to play the game on a modern platform, with all the full glory of the graphics that were unfortunately not in the QL version, it is available from Strand Games (staffed by ex Magnetic Scrolls personnel) for all major platforms in a re-mastered version for GBP 1.49.

https://strandgames.itch.io/the-pawn-by ... ic-scrolls

Tobias

Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 6:45 pm
by georgeo
QL Pawn is a brilliant game for QL, though I'm far from completing it. Only complaint is that saving your progress requires a blank microdrive cartridge, even for the floppy version. I have a trusty cartridge that I use for this, though it feels a bit of a waste–plus slightly risky!

Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 9:02 pm
by RWAP
Stefan Meier (of the if-legends website) has also responded to me:
The remastering of the [Magnetic Scrolls] games, that is absolutely cool. I am working with Hugh [Steers] on the remastering. Originally we intended to remaster from the binary release versions (The Pawn Remastered is done that way), but then Hugh found a box with old backup tapes in the attic and with the help from a DEC/Vax genius he managed to recover the game sources and build tools. So, Guild of Thieves is remastered from sources, and at the moment we are working on Jinxter.

Unfortunately, so far there were neither binary releases recovered nor system depended stuff (e.g we don't have sources for the various interpreters or the original pictures)
QL-Pawn was written before [Magnetic Scrolls] invented their tool chain, so I guess we don't have anything of the original QL version, only the sources of the last versions.

Quite some time ago, I built a web-runnable version of QL-Pawn, which I fiddled together ... and made them run in QLAY running inside a javascript version of DOSBox ( finds at http://msmemorial.if-legends.org/games.htm/qlpawn.php , but does not work on mobiles, because they are normally missing some necessary keys ). I must confess that I do not even remember how I built it, only that it was a long session of trial and error, but if this is of any help, I can dig out the files and send them. ( I somehow seem to remember that the files you sent me had mdv for the game, but my memory might be failing me )
I will ask him to share the files - it might be good to see if q-emulator would run inside this for a quicker start-up speed - if so that might make it easier to play QL games online.

Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 9:58 pm
by dilwyn
That would be a great move!

Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 10:32 pm
by XorA
RWAP wrote:
I will ask him to share the files - it might be good to see if q-emulator would run inside this for a quicker start-up speed - if so that might make it easier to play QL games online.
The MAME QL Emulator can be built to run directly from web pages without involving DOSbox.

Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 10:40 pm
by Derek_Stewart
Hi,

Could the source code be released, as I had downgrade to JS Rom to run the game under Q-Emulator.

If the source was released a more enhanced version could written.

Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 7:45 am
by RWAP
Derek_Stewart wrote:Hi,

Could the source code be released, as I had downgrade to JS Rom to run the game under Q-Emulator.

If the source was released a more enhanced version could written.

If the source code was available it could be released - see my earlier post and what Hugh Steers said - https://www.qlforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=24519#p24518

Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 7:47 am
by RWAP
XorA wrote:
The MAME QL Emulator can be built to run directly from web pages without involving DOSbox.
OK great - go on then with some QL games to load - the Pawn to start, then maybe the demo of Fleet Tactical Command to show what the QL is capable of....

Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 9:29 am
by XorA
For anyone interested in playing with MAME web version.

http://docs.mamedev.org/initialsetup/compilingmame.html

Scroll down to the Emscripten instructions.

Re: QL Pawn

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 1:24 pm
by RalfR
Link is in the QL Wiki since 09.08.2018.

https://qlwiki.qlforum.co.uk/doku.php?id=qlwiki:ql_pawn