QOMBI

[pjw]

According to the limited web stats available to me, as many as.. wait for it.. 0.33% of our 600+
subscribers here, went to the trouble of viewing details of a spanking new, 21st century, game
for the QL universe! And of those 0.33%, all of 50% decided to give it a try. This post is just an
attempt to eliminate the possibility that its merely a question of the message not having got
through..

I dont expect everyone to like to play games (I normally dont), and of those who do, not
everyone to like solitaire-type games, and of those who do, not everyone to like this particular
game. But considering the regular grumbles one hears, of the lack of software for the QL, I
somehow expected at least some interest in the fact that a new piece of software (that wasnt
30+ years old) had arrived on the scene in a given month..

Some people were actually willing to beta test it for me prior to release. This is what they said:

"I have been playing QOMBI most days, looks a nice slick game.. I tried QOMBI on a Q68 running
SMSQ/E v3.34, which works well in 384x256 Mode 33.."

Another wrote:

"Now that I understand the rules of the game, I'm enjoying myself! I also play my wife ...
obviously we are not very good if you need two brains to play a single game .. I'm playing
every night !!"

A famous QL luminary wrote:

"Once again, a level of GUI that is purely astonishing. I'm probably
too dumb to actually play the game to completion [yeah, right! Ed], but I
found at least a few "tricks" and the gameplay was flawless so far. Except
the default setting of a green/blue border, which causes eye-cancer. But
then this can also be changed, so kudos."

Three other people were approached at the time, two of them wrote:

"" and ""

and one friend wrote:

"*%@$$@X!$ @@X%$##!.."

or words to that effect, although Im not sure that it was about QOMBI in particular, but more about
being politely asked to test my software, (as I had willingly done for him)

So give it a spin! If you dont like the game itself, you may still enjoy the fact that theres been
some more movement on the scene, and perhaps find the inspiration to have a go at producing
something yourself?

It works best on QPC2 (youre reading this on some PC, presumably). Alternatively, it works fine on
SMSQmulator, although it doesnt sound as good. Fundamentalists will be happy to know that it
also runs on Q68, although I doubt itll run on anything else, due to the 384x256x8 restriction.

Have fun!

[Derek_Stewart]

Hi Per,

QOMBI runs on all Q68 High Colour modes, SMSQmulator, QPC2. Or basically any High Colour SMSQ/E system.

I have to try it on Q-emulator with SMSQ/E running, QXL.

[Peter]

But considering the regular grumbles one hears, of the lack of software for the QL, I somehow expected at least some interest in the fact that a new piece of software (that wasnt 30+ years old) had arrived on the scene in a given month..

I read it with interest and many thanks for your efforts! Staying silent was just because I don't like card games at all (on a computer). But highcolor games in general are a good idea!

[pjw]

I read it with interest and many thanks for your efforts! Staying silent was just because I don't like card games at all (on a computer). But highcolor games in general are a good idea!

Ill take that as a compliment, Peter Thank you!
Out of interest, what sort of games would you like to see?
Im sort of stuck at "card games", as I dont think fast moving, highcolour graphics are really feasible on any QL platform. Now, with a graphics card of some sort, that might be different.. Ive followed the AMP/SMP discussion while I was away, as it has been of interest to me since the late eighties (starting with Leon Heller and the Transputer. Remember that?) Anyway, thats for a different thread.

[Pr0f]

I remember a highly addictive game called Kye on the PC - a puzzle game with many levels - the last ones quite devious.

Boxworld was another fun but pointless game too

[NormanDunbar]

+1 for Kye, brilliant game which I "lost" many hours playing, and I don't tend to play many games. If I remember correctly, Kye was named after the author's dog which had a tendency to run amok at any time!

More here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kye_(video_game).


Cheers,
Norm

[martyn_hill]

My own first experience of PC gaming was a terrific puzzle game called The Incredible Machine - see here on ''My Abandonware":

https://www.myabandonware.com/game/the- ... achine-1mg

I'd love to see something like this on the QL!

[Peter]

Out of interest, what sort of games would you like to see?

I would love some realtime action on the screen.

Im sort of stuck at "card games", as I dont think fast moving, highcolour graphics are really feasible on any QL platform.

If we remember what was possible on a 8 MHz 68008, I'm sure it is doable. Of course going from 4 bit colour to 16 bit colour costs bandwidth, and going from 256x256 to e.g. 512x384 costs more.
But on the other hand, the 16-bit modes make bit manipulation much easier, and even the slowest highcolour hardware Q68 can be considered roughly 16 times faster than a QL.

For example, games like "Cuthbert in Space" would certainly get enough hardware speed and look great in highcolour - it is just that sources or expertise for such games are hard to find these days.

What I considered for a long time, is partially porting a classic version of the "Simple DirectMedia Layer" (SDL) so we can benefit from open sources games written in C language.
Unfortunately that would further scatter my short QL sparetime - needed for other projects.

[mk79]

As usual this is a highly professional, downright over-engineered piece of software from you. I already played a preview and besides the fact that I'm too dumb for it it works and plays very well

[pjw]

I remember a highly addictive game called Kye on the PC - a puzzle game with many levels - the last ones quite devious.

Boxworld was another fun but pointless game too

Ive never played these kinds of games (I guess Tetris is the closest Ive come to an "action game" ;D ) so I wouldnt know where to start. Basically, what starts me off some some small problem that, in an inspirational flash, I feel I have the solution to. With D-Miner, for example, it was the unravelling of empty spaces adjacent to mines that set me off. That was the 1% fun bit. Producing a working game was the 95% (mainly) boring bit (with another 4% left unfinished).