Re: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors
Hi Josh, Well, on the Linux side Orca doesn't always work perfectly with the interpreters, but something like yasr or brailletty can handle them just fine. For z machine style games the classic frotz works well. If you are looking for a Linux adrift interpreter I recommend a program called scare. If you want a tads interpreter for Linux my bet is on frobtads. As I said all of these are accessible if you use speakup, yasr, or brailletty and are a bit difficult with Orca, but I haven't tested against a recent build of Orca though. HTH Draconis Entertainment wrote: Hey all, What interactive fiction interpretors are you WIndows and Linux users using these days? For Linux, we're talking something that works well with Orca. With Windows, something that just works well. Something that works well with ZMachine games and their derived formats, like Z3, Z5, Glulx, and so on. Other formats are a bonus. The Mac has a spectacular interpretor, but I've been so far out of the loop with interactive fiction for so long, I'm wondering where Windows and Linux stand these days. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors
Hi, Yeah, that was my experience as well. Although I know there has been some improvements with terminal applications with Orca. I suppose it might be handy if one of us try frotz, frobtads, or scare out with a recent build of Orca and see if anything has improved on that end. Zachary Kline wrote: Hi there, I'm a Linux user myself, and can tell you that as far as I know, Orca is out of luck IF-wise. That being said, I do like good old Frotz for the Z-machine, and Glulxe or Git when compiled with ncurses support for Glulx. Frobtads works wonderfully for Tads 2 an 3 games. I am using Speakup at the console, if this helps. Best, Zack. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors
Windows users don't really have a satisfactory solution for playing those games at all. Some people play and use the Jaws cursor to review everything but I've never been happy doing that. It used to be so easy. However, with the modern crop of games written with Inform7, Winfrotztts is the only thing I've found which comes close. Using that system, however, you can't properly access a game's built in help and hints without having to memorise menus. Also, there's no way to review text written previously to the screen. The current version of Windowsfrotz doesn't work at all with Jaws or NVDA and the author has no time to work on it for us. I asked a while ago. He says that it has something to do with how text is printed to the screen so that sighted people can have various fonts. The old version of winfrotz53 won't work well with Malinche titles or other more modern games. Add to that the new Zblorb format and Glulx and we're in quite a mess. If somebody came out with an interpreter which either used Sappi speech and let you properly access these games, it would certainly be appreciated. Particularly if it could handle most formats of interactive fiction. Essentially, it would need to provide screen-reader like access to the games so that new text is read out and old text can be properly reviewed. With NVDA, I've managed to play some interactive fiction using Dosfrotz in fairly satisfactory fashion but that won't work with zblorb and Malinche games. Michael Feir Author of Personal Power: How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People 2006-2008 www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power A Life of Word and Sound 2003-2007 http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004 Check out my blog at: www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com - Original Message - From: Draconis Entertainment gene...@draconisentertainment.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 12:33 AM Subject: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors Hey all, What interactive fiction interpretors are you WIndows and Linux users using these days? For Linux, we're talking something that works well with Orca. With Windows, something that just works well. Something that works well with ZMachine games and their derived formats, like Z3, Z5, Glulx, and so on. Other formats are a bonus. The Mac has a spectacular interpretor, but I've been so far out of the loop with interactive fiction for so long, I'm wondering where Windows and Linux stand these days. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] a very! long! shot!
Hi Charles, It sounds to me by the description given hear you have the Phillips SGC-2909 PC game controller. It is a very fine controller, and you might want to read my review on it. It was sent to this list about a month back so it should be in the archives somewhere. It has some very valuable info that might solve many of your questions. First, as for software installation plug the unit into your PC. Windows will plug and play it and install a generic driver. the generic driver is ok, but if you want force feedback control you need the Phillips drivers off the minidisk. Now, install the drivers, and reboot. Second, you said the controller did not come with a USB chord. Actually, it does, and it is wrapped up inside the controller. The nice thing about this unit is you can pull the USB cable out of it plug it into your computer and use a lever next to the chord to wrap it back up into the unit when done using it. Only stipulation is be careful not to let it wind back into the controller too fast as it can break the cable. Charles Rivard wrote: Sorry for this being a somewhat lengthy post, but I'm hoping that my description of this unit will help in getting the assistance I'm looking for. Here goes: I just got a game controller, and haven't a clue as to how to use the darned thing. It is manufactured by Phillips. I bought it at Wal-Mart for roughly $16. It came with a mini CD, which I figure is software? Should this software be installed first, or should the game controller be installed first. There don't seem to be any instructions in the packaging. Here's what the unit looks like: There is a handle at each side that is facing me if the unit is sitting on the table. Inward from these, there are 2 knobs that feel sort of felt covered. To the left of the leftmost one, there is a cross, any of the four lengths can be depressed. Between the 2 knobs are 4 buttons in a diamond pattern, with the button on the right center pointing to the right and the other 3 buttons being sort of oblong shaped, but they are not toggles. Above this diamond pattern are 2 small round buttons, with sort of a bubble, possibly a small screen between them. To the right of the right-hand knob is another diamond pattern of 4 buttons which are larger than those near the left knob. These are round in shape. Now, along the forward edge of the unit, in front of the handles I mentioned at the top of this paragraph, there are 4 buttons, probably 2 for each of the joysticks. Also on this forward edge is a switch that is not a toggle. It can be pulled to the left as you hold the u nit in your hands. This switch will spring back to the right if you release it. The unit did not come with a USB cable, but I think I have one around here somewhere. I want to start using this little beast on games for the blind that can be operated by it, so any thoughts and suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks in advance. --- If guns cause crime, pencils cause misspelled words. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] retractable PC controller
Hi Charles, No, but look at the Audyssey list archives. I have a review up there on the controller. There is a mistake where I said it didn't have force feedback support, but that was before i found out the drivers has ff support that comes with the unit. Smile. Charles Rivard wrote: I asked how to use my game controller in a previous post, and have now found out that it a Phillips SGC2909 retractable PC controller. The manual that was loaded when I did the installation is in .pdf format, which, to say the least, I do not like. So far, I can find nothing about this game controller on The Net using Google. --- If guns cause crime, pencils cause misspelled words. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games
Dear Mani, I am responding to an email you send to the Audyssey list about accessible mainstream gaming. I am a researcher in this area at Loughborough University and would like to tell you about some of our work, which resulted in the first successful adaptation for blind gamers of a mainstream first-person-shooter game for the sighted. We -- myself and co-developer Sabahattin Gucukoglu -- started work on what is now known as AudioQuake in 2003 and by 2004 blind people could actually play the game Quake, by id Software. However, we were keen to prove that not only could blind people play the games, but that they could also be integrated into the gaming community. To this end, we began working on supporting Internet play (co-operative or competitive) and making the tools used to modify the game accessible as well. This started with modding tools that change the programming of the game to introduce new weapons, enemies, items and so on -- and a mod already exists for AudioQuake, called JediQuake. In 2008 we finally completed work on a prototype level description system that allows blind people to develop levels (new environments) for the game. This is a very popular passtime amongst sighted gamers, but the tools used are inherently visual so we have taken a different approach. All of the game and tools we have developed are available for free under an open-source licence (see http://www.agrip.org.uk/ ). AudioQuake has already received some media attention (Wired, InSight Radio) and been exhibited at Sight Village (2004, 2005). We also used it as the basis for a series of workshops at the 2005 International Camp on Communications and Computers, which is held every year to help prepare blind and vision-impaired college-leavers for university. Unfortunately we have had very little time to work on developing AudioQuake, or applying the principles to later games, due to my being involved in a serious road accident in 2006. I am currently working as a research associate on a project on improving accessibility to computers for older people to fund the remainder of my Ph.D. studies. We are always trying to recruit more people to our project and hope that because of its open-ness, people will be able to learn how to apply these techniques to newer games. There are now quite a few organisations campaigning for improved accessibility in mainstream games, such as the International Game Developers' Association (IGDA) Game Accessibility Special Interest Group and, though they have made some serious headway, there is a long way to go. I hope that this has been interesting and of use for your work. I would be happy to provide you with more information about any of the above if it will help with your research. best regards, Matthew -- Matthew Tylee Atkinson http://mta.agrip.org.uk/ --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
[Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games
Pranav Lal was wondering about games that could be used with Dragon Naturally Speaking. All 7-128 games that are accessibility rated MI can be operated using Dragon. Just set the GameBook control setting to voice control. That will draw a circle around the specific key to control the button you want to push. Just put Dragon in the command mode and speak that key name and you can play our games. Eleanor Robinson 7-128 Software www.7128.com --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
[Audyssey] Creating Who Wants To Be A Millionaire game
Hi Folks, Here is a how to create a game item from Fred's Head: Play An Audio Version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire At Your Next Party or Convention Posted: 04 Mar 2009 01:04 PM PST http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FredsHeadCompanion/~3/CpgUZTjjpbs/play-audio-version-of-who-wants-to-be.html It won't be long before the Kentucky School for the Blind's Alumni Association meets for another year of fun and memories. We have a reunion on campus every year, usually close to graduation. This gives us a chance to reconnect with old friends, and to make some new ones. This year I thought of doing a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire trivia game night. I really like doing these kinds of events, especially with the game show theme. I want to make the experience as real as possible, even using the music if I can find it. The first place I went to start putting the event together was Google. Every search starts with Google it seems. I was looking for three things, a basic guide and instructions for the game, audio files, and some way to play those files in the same way the TV show does. It wasn't too long before I came across Brendan Harris' website and discovered his How to make your own Who Wants to be a Millionaire TV show page. This is great, but a little too complicated for me. I don't need cameras and lighting and all that fancy stuff. I was able to find the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire sound effect files from his site. I bookmarked this page and continued my Google search. My search soon turned up James J. Cochran's paper on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: The Classroom Edition. This gave me some great ideas of how to modify the original gameplay so the maximum number of people could play the game. I wasn't interested in using his Power Point presentation, but it did look cool. Now, I have the rules and the sounds. All I need to complete this little project is some way to play the sounds. One thing that I love about the TV show is that the music is almost constant, and very coordinated with the gameplay. How could I pull this off? I sat around for most of an evening trying to figure this out. I soon remembered some very basic games for preschool children. I specifically remember a program that allowed the keyboard to play audio files with the press of a key. That's all it did. If I could find a program like that, I'd be in business. Well, it's back to Google again. This time, my search found something rather quickly from the Freeware World Team website. Scroll down the page and you'll find a program called Baseball Audio File Player. This program allows you to create banks of sound effects you can play by pressing a button with your mouse or just pressing one of the keys on your keyboard. Pressing a number key (0-9) will switch the soundbank, pressing a letter key (a-z) will play a sound. The program uses a config file in which the key-to-sound mapping is specified. I immediately downloaded this program, and loaded the audio files I had previously downloaded for the game. It worked great. Now, we will have the correct sound for whatever is going on. Now all I have to do is find some trivia questions, not a difficult job with all the websites out there that specialize in trivia. Wouldn't this be cool for playing Family Feud or Greed? --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] a very! long! shot!
Hi If you have no luck in locating the archive review I've also got it saved for the next issue. One thing I'm finding is I can't half the time recall which button is which. I'll have to work on that part. Ron - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Charles Rivard woofer...@sbcglobal.net; Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 7:16 AM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] a very! long! shot! Hi Charles, It sounds to me by the description given hear you have the Phillips SGC-2909 PC game controller. It is a very fine controller, and you might want to read my review on it. It was sent to this list about a month back so it should be in the archives somewhere. It has some very valuable info that might solve many of your questions. First, as for software installation plug the unit into your PC. Windows will plug and play it and install a generic driver. the generic driver is ok, but if you want force feedback control you need the Phillips drivers off the minidisk. Now, install the drivers, and reboot. Second, you said the controller did not come with a USB chord. Actually, it does, and it is wrapped up inside the controller. The nice thing about this unit is you can pull the USB cable out of it plug it into your computer and use a lever next to the chord to wrap it back up into the unit when done using it. Only stipulation is be careful not to let it wind back into the controller too fast as it can break the cable. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
[Audyssey] X-Sight Interactive news
Hey there to all, We are now pleased to announce the arrival, late though it might be, of our behind-the-scenes blog! This will be a replacement of the old Development Diary, as it will be a lot easier to post to. It will list any activity that is being carried out at X-Sight Interactive that may be of little to no importance, depending on the views of the reader, but it will at least give an idea of the progress of any new product or service that we are working on at the time. As we have near enough 100 projects on the go, we feel that it would only be fair to give updates more regularly than a company who may devote their time to one project before starting another. I hope you find it useful. You can access it either through our homepage, or directly at http://blog.x-sight-interactive.net. Regards, Damien C. Sadler. Head of X-Sight Interactive http://www.x-sight-interactive.net --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] [Spam] entomb question
If you're going to go that far, you might want to give some race or class the ability to cause enemy weapons to break or shatter. Still the question remains concerning the different types of leather. Does this have an effect on anythingg? That is, is deer any better or worse than, say, cave bear? Signed: Dakotah Rickard On 3/4/09, Jason Allen evildi...@gmail.com wrote: The footstep sounds. A step on stone is a correct movement. A sandy sound means you brushed up against a wall and can't go any more in that direction. There is no penalty for walking into a wall. Some audio games I played would blast this shrieking noise whenever you bumped into a wall. I thought that was ridiculous, so I tried to make it as inoffensive as possible. The stairways are announced when you enter a room with one. They currently don't have any audible sound outside that. I'll see about making the weapons and armor easier to distinquish. Copper is in-fact harder than bronze, but it depends on the alloy. I just took the average hardness for bronze. Making bronze weapons had advantages over copper because adding tin (or lead, or arsenic) lowered the melting temperature of the alloy. This isn't modeled in Entombed, so for now at least, copper is the better metal when compared to bronze. I might make copper edges duller in some future update to simulate some advantages bronze had over copper weapons. Glad you're enjoying it! It's in heavy development right now and probably will be for some time. Jason On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 2:21 AM, Allan Thompson allan1.thomp...@cox.netwrote: Hi Dark, I just read Jason's email about the heirarchy of metal armor and he said that it was bronze, copper then iron. An analyze spell would be very cool, but a character with the fighter job perhaps could judge value of weapons and armor as well, or perhaps a dwarf or blacksmith like race/class might have an innate ability to tell the exact numeric value of some materials, like maybe stone or metals for dwarves, wood types for an elf or druid or ranger type job/race, things of that nature. I am only guessing about all that, I have only found two cards playing the game. al --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors
Hi MIchael, With the recent resurgence of interactive fiction, which just seems to be getting started, it's too bad this is the case for WIndows users. Even the iPhone has a ZMachine interpretor now. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like Mac has the best option for visually impaired gamers. The Zoom interpretor works with a huge list of formats, ZMachine up to Z8, Glulx, TADS, and many many others. It speaks everything automatically via a setting that can be toggled, and everything is reviewable with VoiceOver. Once again, I'm glad I've ditched Windows except for game releases. :) For those interested, development is still slow and steady. We've brought on a second developer, and have several titles coming soon. It's been a long slow process, but it is going to pay off in a big way. On Mar 5, 2009, at 3:18 AM, Michael Feir wrote: Windows users don't really have a satisfactory solution for playing those games at all. Some people play and use the Jaws cursor to review everything but I've never been happy doing that. It used to be so easy. However, with the modern crop of games written with Inform7, Winfrotztts is the only thing I've found which comes close. Using that system, however, you can't properly access a game's built in help and hints without having to memorise menus. Also, there's no way to review text written previously to the screen. The current version of Windowsfrotz doesn't work at all with Jaws or NVDA and the author has no time to work on it for us. I asked a while ago. He says that it has something to do with how text is printed to the screen so that sighted people can have various fonts. The old version of winfrotz53 won't work well with Malinche titles or other more modern games. Add to that the new Zblorb format and Glulx and we're in quite a mess. If somebody came out with an interpreter which either used Sappi speech and let you properly access these games, it would certainly be appreciated. Particularly if it could handle most formats of interactive fiction. Essentially, it would need to provide screen-reader like access to the games so that new text is read out and old text can be properly reviewed. With NVDA, I've managed to play some interactive fiction using Dosfrotz in fairly satisfactory fashion but that won't work with zblorb and Malinche games. Michael Feir Author of Personal Power: How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People 2006-2008 www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power A Life of Word and Sound 2003-2007 http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004 Check out my blog at: www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com - Original Message - From: Draconis Entertainment gene...@draconisentertainment.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 12:33 AM Subject: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors Hey all, What interactive fiction interpretors are you WIndows and Linux users using these days? For Linux, we're talking something that works well with Orca. With Windows, something that just works well. Something that works well with ZMachine games and their derived formats, like Z3, Z5, Glulx, and so on. Other formats are a bonus. The Mac has a spectacular interpretor, but I've been so far out of the loop with interactive fiction for so long, I'm wondering where Windows and Linux stand these days. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org . You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org . You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please
[Audyssey] audioquake.
How can I get a demo of audioquake? --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] X-Sight Interactive news
Hey Damien, is the site pacmate.x-sight-interactive.net up? It makes it easier for me to keep the X-Sight games running on PM'S updated, as well as to continue releasing other ported games from X-sight. Also, Acefire will be done this year. Sorry I am so far behind. HTH. - Original Message - From: Damien Sadler dam...@x-sight-interactive.net To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 7:38 AM Subject: [Audyssey] X-Sight Interactive news Hey there to all, We are now pleased to announce the arrival, late though it might be, of our behind-the-scenes blog! This will be a replacement of the old Development Diary, as it will be a lot easier to post to. It will list any activity that is being carried out at X-Sight Interactive that may be of little to no importance, depending on the views of the reader, but it will at least give an idea of the progress of any new product or service that we are working on at the time. As we have near enough 100 projects on the go, we feel that it would only be fair to give updates more regularly than a company who may devote their time to one project before starting another. I hope you find it useful. You can access it either through our homepage, or directly at http://blog.x-sight-interactive.net. Regards, Damien C. Sadler. Head of X-Sight Interactive http://www.x-sight-interactive.net --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors
Hi. In Linux I'm using frotz and/or zfrob (name not sure) for zcode machine games and frob for tads games. I'm using scare for Adrift games as well. Hope this helps. Draconis Entertainment wrote the following on 3/5/2009 12:33 AM: Hey all, What interactive fiction interpretors are you WIndows and Linux users using these days? For Linux, we're talking something that works well with Orca. With Windows, something that just works well. Something that works well with ZMachine games and their derived formats, like Z3, Z5, Glulx, and so on. Other formats are a bonus. The Mac has a spectacular interpretor, but I've been so far out of the loop with interactive fiction for so long, I'm wondering where Windows and Linux stand these days. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. -- Raul A. Gallegos -- http://www.asmodean.net --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] X-Sight Interactive news
Louis, As far as I know that site is still up. I haven't touched any of the sites except to make the blog site. Thanks. Regards, Damien. - Original Message - From: Louis Bryant lo...@braillesoft.net To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 6:13 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] X-Sight Interactive news Hey Damien, is the site pacmate.x-sight-interactive.net up? It makes it easier for me to keep the X-Sight games running on PM'S updated, as well as to continue releasing other ported games from X-sight. Also, Acefire will be done this year. Sorry I am so far behind. HTH. - Original Message - From: Damien Sadler dam...@x-sight-interactive.net To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 7:38 AM Subject: [Audyssey] X-Sight Interactive news Hey there to all, We are now pleased to announce the arrival, late though it might be, of our behind-the-scenes blog! This will be a replacement of the old Development Diary, as it will be a lot easier to post to. It will list any activity that is being carried out at X-Sight Interactive that may be of little to no importance, depending on the views of the reader, but it will at least give an idea of the progress of any new product or service that we are working on at the time. As we have near enough 100 projects on the go, we feel that it would only be fair to give updates more regularly than a company who may devote their time to one project before starting another. I hope you find it useful. You can access it either through our homepage, or directly at http://blog.x-sight-interactive.net. Regards, Damien C. Sadler. Head of X-Sight Interactive http://www.x-sight-interactive.net --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors
Hi, It sounds that way to me too. I don't mind using frob, scare, etc on linux for if games, but it is a bit of a drag switching screen readers just to play games. On Windows the winfrotz project has totally gone down hill, and the tts version isn't perfect. So it sounds like Zoom for you Mac users have the best software for if gaming. Grin. Draconis Entertainment wrote: Hi MIchael, With the recent resurgence of interactive fiction, which just seems to be getting started, it's too bad this is the case for WIndows users. Even the iPhone has a ZMachine interpretor now. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like Mac has the best option for visually impaired gamers. The Zoom interpretor works with a huge list of formats, ZMachine up to Z8, Glulx, TADS, and many many others. It speaks everything automatically via a setting that can be toggled, and everything is reviewable with VoiceOver. Once again, I'm glad I've ditched Windows except for game releases. :) For those interested, development is still slow and steady. We've brought on a second developer, and have several titles coming soon. It's been a long slow process, but it is going to pay off in a big way. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
[Audyssey] Mysteries of the Ancients
how long are you coming with the full version of Mysteries of the Ancients? For you have probably done all 10 levels done? --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
[Audyssey] [Entombed] Reattach Spell Crashes Game
Greetings Jason et al. When playing as a healer in the latest Entombed download, my reattach spell always crashes the game. Is it just an incomplete feature? Kai --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors
HiTom, It'd have to be you I'm afraid. I don't have Gnome on this machine, truth be told, and don't plan on getting it. I'm curious to know what you find, if anything. Best, Zack. Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com writes: Hi, Yeah, that was my experience as well. Although I know there has been some improvements with terminal applications with Orca. I suppose it might be handy if one of us try frotz, frobtads, or scare out with a recent build of Orca and see if anything has improved on that end. Zachary Kline wrote: Hi there, I'm a Linux user myself, and can tell you that as far as I know, Orca is out of luck IF-wise. That being said, I do like good old Frotz for the Z-machine, and Glulxe or Git when compiled with ncurses support for Glulx. Frobtads works wonderfully for Tads 2 an 3 games. I am using Speakup at the console, if this helps. Best, Zack. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. -- Hope is as necessary to a living person as oxygen or water. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors
well with the glulkx format I use git which comes with lacuna. However there is probably a memmory leak either with the game file or the git system as I get frequent lockups while playing, I have not as yet found any other glulks stuff I enjoy. My main game doodle right now is the game books at ffproject.com At 12:18 a.m. 6/03/2009, you wrote: Windows users don't really have a satisfactory solution for playing those games at all. Some people play and use the Jaws cursor to review everything but I've never been happy doing that. It used to be so easy. However, with the modern crop of games written with Inform7, Winfrotztts is the only thing I've found which comes close. Using that system, however, you can't properly access a game's built in help and hints without having to memorise menus. Also, there's no way to review text written previously to the screen. The current version of Windowsfrotz doesn't work at all with Jaws or NVDA and the author has no time to work on it for us. I asked a while ago. He says that it has something to do with how text is printed to the screen so that sighted people can have various fonts. The old version of winfrotz53 won't work well with Malinche titles or other more modern games. Add to that the new Zblorb format and Glulx and we're in quite a mess. If somebody came out with an interprete r which either used Sappi speech and let you properly access these games, it would certainly be appreciated. Particularly if it could handle most formats of interactive fiction. Essentially, it would need to provide screen-reader like access to the games so that new text is read out and old text can be properly reviewed. With NVDA, I've managed to play some interactive fiction using Dosfrotz in fairly satisfactory fashion but that won't work with zblorb and Malinche games. Michael Feir Author of Personal Power: How Accessible Computers Can Enhance Personal Life For Blind People 2006-2008 www.blind-planet.com/content/personal-power A Life of Word and Sound 2003-2007 http://www.blind-planet.com/content/life-word-and-sound Creator and former editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004 Check out my blog at: www.michaelfeir.blogspot.com - Original Message - From: Draconis Entertainment gene...@draconisentertainment.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 12:33 AM Subject: [Audyssey] Windows/Linux Interactive Fiction Interpretors Hey all, What interactive fiction interpretors are you WIndows and Linux users using these days? For Linux, we're talking something that works well with Orca. With Windows, something that just works well. Something that works well with ZMachine games and their derived formats, like Z3, Z5, Glulx, and so on. Other formats are a bonus. The Mac has a spectacular interpretor, but I've been so far out of the loop with interactive fiction for so long, I'm wondering where Windows and Linux stand these days. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Accessible Mainstream Games
Hi Eleanor, This is most interesting. I will now have to take a second look at your games. smile Pushing keys though does not go far enough. If I do play a game adapted for dragon, I would rather use natural language commands like pick up item etc. Pranav --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
[Audyssey] Bug in MOTA.
Hi Tom, This one is going to be hard to reproduce, but when you encounter an enemy at the top of the first staircase you always die. You can not kill him like normal enemies. Hope you can fix it. Ryan C. Click here to get you high school diploma (GED) in days http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/fc/BLSrjnsC5USBtUfy9H0YyGdC4ybFjwG3qqvNC4IiApJ8eyYAwMgXhGZml6A/ --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Bug in MOTA.
That's never happened to me, so it's definitely going to be hard to reproduce if not impossible. - Original Message - From: Ryan Conroy staindadd...@juno.com To: Gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 6:00 PM Subject: [Audyssey] Bug in MOTA. Hi Tom, This one is going to be hard to reproduce, but when you encounter an enemy at the top of the first staircase you always die. You can not kill him like normal enemies. Hope you can fix it. Ryan C. Click here to get you high school diploma (GED) in days http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/fc/BLSrjnsC5USBtUfy9H0YyGdC4ybFjwG3qqvNC4IiApJ8eyYAwMgXhGZml6A/ --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] Bug in MOTA.
hmmm I can't reproduce this, its true though that I have to jump loads around to find then kill the enemy. At 02:00 p.m. 6/03/2009, you wrote: Hi Tom, This one is going to be hard to reproduce, but when you encounter an enemy at the top of the first staircase you always die. You can not kill him like normal enemies. Hope you can fix it. Ryan C. Click here to get you high school diploma (GED) in days http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/fc/BLSrjnsC5USBtUfy9H0YyGdC4ybFjwG3qqvNC4IiApJ8eyYAwMgXhGZml6A/ --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
