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Posted By

xahmol
on 2023-03-02
11:36:40

Re: Release: GeoLudo (supporting GEOS 3.5 for Plus/4)

Seperate entry is also fine of course

Up to you (and the inout of others here).

On distribution:
I chose a disk image as that is by far the easiest way to get the game working in GEOS,
Alternative is to:
- distribute a GEOS .cvt file, but downside is that you the first have to convert it to a GEOS file on a GEOS disk with either DirMaster or Convert in GEOS. And of course distributing the .cvt file will not solve the problem of a person completely obliviois of what a .cvt file is trying to run that .cvt
- distribute as a file on a working GEOS boot disk. But that probably will give licensing issues as I do not have GEOS distribution rights. Also, it would then not be possible tio make the same image run on all platforms as the underlying GEOS of course is different per platform.
- place instructions in dirart. Problem is that GEOS does not handle dirart very well as it ignores C64 filetypes and just shows DEL files as a non-GEOS file with corresponding file icon. Gives a messy desktop view in GEOS
- place a dummy .PRG file that just outputs 'USR file should be run in GEOS'. Issue only is that I use the same disk image for C64, C128 and Plus/4, and that PRG file can not be multi platform I think.
- Do not link to the D64 image but to the ZIP file on my GitHub containing both the .d64 as .d81 images, plus a PDF manual with instructons stating GEOS as prerequisite. I personally think this is probably the best option, so changed the link to that. There wiill probably still be people not reading the manual and just trying to run the USR file, but hopefully they will read the manual if that does not work.

Posted By

Csabo
on 2023-03-02
08:45:59

Re: Release: GeoLudo (supporting GEOS 3.5 for Plus/4)

In the 20-something years of Plus/4 World's existence, this has never come up

That is, a new program which requires GEOS.

I've only thought about this a tiny bit, but I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be a program entry in it own right. What does everyone else think?

Side note; probably due to how GEOS works, it's not possible to distribute this as a program file. However, I was wondering if it would be possible to change the D64 so that if some unfortunately individual who is unfamiliar with GEOS were to try and load it, it would gracefully fail with some kind of informative message. Not a huge concern, obviously

Posted By

xahmol
on 2023-03-02
11:26:33

Release: GeoLudo (supporting GEOS 3.5 for Plus/4)

I just released my latest GEOS project:

GeoLudo
Splash screen

GeoLudo is based on a Ludo variant that I programmed in BASIC for the Commodore 128 80 column mode in 1992.
The game uses the LUDO rules from the Dutch 'Mens Erger je Niet' variant as played by my family 30 years ago, so probably there are some 'house rules' interpretations that are not the same as the present official game manual, like what is allowed after a six is thrown depending on how many pawns are already on the board.

Supports GEOS3.5 on a Plus/4. A 1551 drive is needed on a real machine, or use YAPE with 1551 CPU exact drive emulation.
Known issue: alas the application on (only) Plus/4 crashes on exit. No clue what causes this, so presented as known issue instead.

Multiplatform:
- the same executable works on GEOS variants on Commodore 128, Commodore 64 and Commodore Plus/4
Interface:
- Color suppport: the game works in color on all platforms and modes apart from the VDC 80 column mode on a C128 with only 16 Kb VDC memory. On 64 Kb VDC memory color is supported. If color is supported is detected by the game itself.
- Option to play in monochrome as in game option
- Option to switch between 40 and 80 column mode on a C128.
Save game support:
- Saving and loading of a game is supported
- Autosave option can be enabled (default off as the downside is notable extra delay due to disk access before every human turn)

Game screen

Download and source code:
https://github.com/xahmol/ludo/tree/main/GEOS

ZIP file with .D64 image to use (next to a .D81 image and the manual)

@csabo: I have also entered this as a solution on the GEOS 3.5 page, but not sure if I did so correctly, so please checlk and adjust/delete if needed.
GEOS 3.5