Over the last couple of years while using Linux, I've slowly become better at what could loosely be described as "hacking".
Now DON'T PANIC! - don't get me wrong - I'm not some Linux guru who can cut perl code with my toes blindfolded...just somebody who sometimes at a very low level likes taking someone else's code & modifying it for my own needs. Sometimes I might even improve on the original! *cough*.
I mainly focus on stuff that is Palm related, mainly trying to integrate some of the command line tools available for Linux->Palm connectivity with some well known Linux applications.
Tribute to "Thrust" & "HHGTTG". The best computer games ever written!
I claim no credit here! Just a tribute. Growing up I had a number of 8 bit computers. The two I used the most for gaming was the Atari 130XE, and until it blew up an Apple IIe. I have never been much of a gamer. Nowadays I like playing the odd first person shooter a la Quake III, Doom3 or Unreal Tournament (all of which run under Linux!).
But there were 2 games I played on those 8 bit relics that still hold strong interest today. Those games where Thrust & HHGTTG (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)!
|
|
|
|
The C64 version of Thrust!
|
The C64 version of HHGTTG!
|
Thrust
This game has extremely basic graphics. Minimal sound. On the surface not alot going for it...until you actually PLAY IT!
What really made this game so great was the gameplay. I played it on my Atari 130XE (game), although its generally accepted the Commodore 64 (game) had the best version. It was also originally available on the ZX Spectrum (game), BBC/Electron (game), Amstrad (game), and the C16/Plus4 (game). Best description of the game I can find is this taken from a Winblows port of the game called "Thrust Deluxe" below. There is also a wikipedia entry about the game.
"...In Thrust you must guide your spaceship through increasingly difficult caves to collect the valuable Klystron Pods. After locating the pod, you must attach it to your ship and make your way up again, all the time battling the planet's gravity and the Empire's defensive systems, while keeping track of your fuel supply. Once you have beaten all six levels, the game restarts but adds the extra challenge of reverse gravity and invisible levels..."
Thrust has also been ported to Linux! All packaged up & installs nicely on my Ubuntu Linux distribution. Thrust has even been ported to the old Atari 2600 gaming console! If you wanna have a wee play, the ZX Spectrum version can be played online. There is also this great flash version located here.
I never clocked the game back then, and still haven't! What is cool about all this is, thanks to the Frodo C64 emulator, you can play Thrust on your PalmOS 5.x Palm! It runs like a bomb on my Palm Tungsten T2 . All fits in very nicely to the Palm/Linux theme of PalmHeads! The best place to find C64 games is at C64.com. Have a look here for the C64 version of Thrust. Look below for screenshot of it running!
Palm Frodo running Thrust!
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG)
Now everybody knows about the books, the radio series, the TV series, and now the movie. Wikipedia sums up the HHGTTG phenom quite well! But not so well known is HHGTTG the game!
Infocom in the 80's used to make the most fiendishly difficult text adventure games. They perhaps are most famous for the Zork series. But they also in conjunction with Douglas Adams (author of HHGTTG) made a wonderful text adventure based on the series. This game has all the wit & cunning that Douglas Adams became famous for before his untimely death. I grew up around his humour, and was very sad when he died. I played this game ALOT on my Apple IIe & never finished it...still haven't! Hey there seems to be a trend developing here!...
By using a Z-Code application normally derived from an application called "Frotz", you can play all the old Infocom games on just about any platform you can imagine. Frotz is readily available for just about every Linux distribution imagineable, and there are a number of versions for the Palm as well. I use CliFrotz on my Palm Tungsten T2
Now to get a copy of the Z-Code version of HHGTTG is a problem. For understandable reasons, the HHGTTG "brand" is very valuable. The Douglas Adams site has a java version online, and the BBC has 2 great flash versions online also. Am torn about this. Out of respect for Douglas Adams, I shouldn't make available a version to download...but also its a shame you can't play this great game very readily seeing its no longer easily purchased (if at all?). Decided to make it available, but if anyone complains its coming straight off! Here is a zip file (6.7MB) with all the stuff you need, plus some extra goodies like maps etc. See screenshot below of it running!
CliFrotz running HHGTTG!
For more cool handheld gaming stuff, check out my Handheld Gaming Swicki.
Now remember...DON'T PANIC!
| Back |
Thats all folks at the moment! If I come up with anything else I'II post it here.
HHGTTG & Douglas Adams at his best! Very sage advice!
