chuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (01/23/87)
Okay, okay! Since I mentioned that I was working on a port of Hack to the Macintosh, I've had a number of people write and ask about the status, or to write and ask to be beta sites, or to write and ... [despite the fact that I asked people to NOT write and ask to be ...] So, rather than spend lots of time answering (or ignoring) mail individually, here is the status of Mac Hack Version 0. It is running. Mostly. The basic program is up and running. All termcap replacement functions are in and functional (clear to end of line is not exceptionally efficient, but that wasn't part of the original design). You can go down stairs. you can go up stairs. All of the basic movement, spell, drink, wand, and monster type thigns seem to be working. What ISN'T working is file I/O: save/restore, fortunes, ghosts, help files and etc. It dies horribly when you enter a shopkeeper. It hasn't been tested below about level 5. I haven't won (I've died numerous times, though...). so, in general, it is in pretty good shape. The hard part (especially the termcap stuff) is done, and what is needed now is cleanup. It is still definitely not in postable condition though. Schedules: When will it be done? Good question. There are a couple of snags in the port. First, I am doing this in my copious free time, when I'm not writing, publishing OtherRealms, working, sleeping, or trying to catch up on the rest of the world. I can go two months without touching it, and then (like recently) put in a couple of solid weeks firming it up. Second, it is essentially impossible to do real development on this program in 512K because of the requirments of Hack, LightSpeed C, and TMON. I'm simply blowing my machine out of the water, and serious development must wait until I get a megabyte (or four) -- a couple of months down the road, likely. So, the offer: I'm willing to hand the port off to someone else to finish. As I say, I think the hard part is done. I simply don't have time to finish it in a reasonable manner, and I would like to see this thing available for everyone to play with (and perhaps make better). There ARE a few strings attached, however. Of course: Before you get the program you must have: o At least a megabyte on your Mac o LightSpeed C 2.01 o A hard disk o A good debugger o Some knowledge of how to use above. This is for your own good. Trust me. Sources are currently ported to LightSpeed, and trying to report to another version of C is insane. The hard disk is because you simply won't fit Hack on anything else. Now, for the things that are to MY good: o The final version of hack must be distributed as Public Domain. Not shareware. No money. This is a program for the common good, nobody ought to make a profit on it. o The final version will have sources posted, so everyone can go in and make better and neater versions of Hack. Everyone has the ability to add things. Someone, perhaps me, can be in charge of merging in neat hacks to an official version for future, better versions. Now, if you've got the right machine, and you're willing to do this for the hell of it (as opposed to trying to make some money off of it) we can look at having you take over the project. If you're interested in joining in the venture under these conditions, let me know. As I say, I think I've done the first 90%. considering the traditional scope of computer programs, that leaves about 90% for you to do. Interested? If nobody is interested in taking it over, I'll keep on with it, and it'll be available (source and binary) whenever I get it done. No promises on when that will be, though. chuq Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM It's only a model...
hex@uop-wirth.UUCP (01/23/87)
> It dies horribly when you enter a shopkeeper. ^^^^^ ^ ^^^^^^^^^^ My god, wouldn't any self-respecting version of hack do the same?!?!?!! --hex ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | Allyn 'Hex' Wade --- {ucbvax,lll-lcc}!ucdavis!uop-wirth!hex | | | | "What, me hurry?" | ----------------------------------------------------------------------
tdn@spice.cs.cmu.edu (Thomas Newton) (01/25/87)
> o The final version of hack must be distributed as Public Domain. > Not shareware. No money. This is a program for the common good, > nobody ought to make a profit on it. It shouldn't be strictly "public domain", either. Aside from the fact that the original Hack sources are no doubt copyrighted, placing a program in the public domain means that one has given up all rights to it -- including the right to prevent other people from trying to make a profit on it. What you should do is to place a copyright notice on it and a statement saying it can be duplicated and used freely for noncommercial purposes. -- Thomas Newton