[Audyssey] browser games
Hi folks, Are there any games where i have to complete a storyline with quests and such. I've found the Estiah game, but that are seperate storylines. Matteo. --- 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/gamers@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] Question Regarding Level 2 of Awesome Homer
Hi John. the best stratogy I've found with the planes is to track the position of each in my mind and jump when they are close together, but not absolutely identical. I believe Homer's jump distance is a little precise, but as you said it's possible to get theknack. Beware the grue! Dark. - Original Message - From: Kelly Sapergia ksaper...@gmail.com To: gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 2:40 AM Subject: [Audyssey] Question Regarding Level 2 of Awesome Homer Hi, After playing Awesome Homer by Jim Kitchen for some time now, I finally managed to get to level 2, where you have to jump to various planes and a helicopter. That's fine, but I'm a bit confused. Are you supposed to jump when the next plane is in the center position, or when the plane you just jumped to gets to where the other one is in terms of stereo positioning? I do fine for the most part, but usually end up missing the jump from plane 4 to 5. Thanks. Yours Sincerely, Kelly John Sapergia Show Host and Production Director The Global Voice Internet Radio www.theglobalvoice.info Personal Website: www.ksapergia.net Business Website (KJS Productions): www.kjsproductions.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/gamers@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/gamers@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] browser games
Hi matteo. I'm amazed you ever got to sign up to estia.n I first tried, I never got the mail from them, then more recently they've got one of those blasted captures (and not an audio one), on the page, and I can't contact the developer because of yet another capture. Anyway, There are many browser games that might fill your request, indeed if you want to explore them try www.whitestick.co.uk's page of games to play online. on that list Sryth has many separate quests, although I personally fell out with that game due to the fact it seemed the gm was getting greedy for money. Then there are metroplexities and Twilight heroes. These both have a continuous story that you play through, and then reset should you finish to play through another way. There is also Kingdom of loathing though there the story is far more commical although the game itself is a good one. Hth. Beware the grue! dark. - Original Message - From: Matteo Hapta matteo.ha...@hotmail.com To: gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 10:24 AM Subject: [Audyssey] browser games Hi folks, Are there any games where i have to complete a storyline with quests and such. I've found the Estiah game, but that are seperate storylines. Matteo. --- 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/gamers@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/gamers@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] Question Regarding Level 2 of Awesome Homer
Hi Kelly, You want to jump when the planes are lined up. That is you jump as the planes are passing each other thus you jump from the plane that you are on to the new plane as it passes. HTH BFN Jim Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! j...@kitchensinc.net http://www.kitchensinc.net (440) 286-6920 Chardon Ohio USA --- 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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
Hi Tom, Cara, and all, One funny thing about this conversation, and I don’t mean “ha ha” funny, is that we see on this list on an ongoing basis, people struggling to find ways to play older games on newer machines with newer operating systems. We hear their frustrations, their hacks, and so on. In fact, this is one of the chief reasons Dark and others give for refusing to upgrade. And then these same folks who don’t want to upgrade say that we should keep making games for XP, pointing out that many of our customers are still running it. They ignore the consequences that would negatively impact both themselves and the developers if that course of action was taken. They are exacerbating the problem, by demanding games be developed with obsolete technologies that they will, sooner or later, be complaining won’t work properly when they are forced to get a new system. Developers would be adding to the number of games that need hacks and workarounds to run. They are putting an incredibly short lifespan on new titles created with these technologies, meaning that the developer’s work is unlikely to be fully compensated. Pointing out that many users still run XP is a shortsighted view of the problem, and it is not how good business is done in any industry. In fact, it is that kind of shortsightedness that have put whole industries on the brink of disaster, like we saw with the record industry in the early 2000’s. They wanted to hang on to the old model, but the world was moving forward with or without them. They had to adapt. The way I see it, expending lots of energy supporting XP at this point may indeed reap short-term benefits for the developer where regards sales, but it comes at the price of the long term health of their business. You can eat out at fast-food restaurants everyday. It might be delicious at the moment while you’re doing it. But sooner or later, the health ramifications will catch up with you, and when they do, you will realize that that Big Mac really wasn’t worth the ultimate cost. On Dec 24, 2013, at 12:39 AM, Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Cara, My thoughts exactly. I have heard lots of reasons why or why not to upgrade to Windows 7, Windows 8, switch to Mac OS,etc, but I haven't heard anything constructive from those people how this situation could be resolved. Particularly by the audio game developers who are caught in the middle of Microsoft's decision to move forward with technologies and their customer's decisions not to upgrade for one reason or another. It is not an easy decision to make, and not an easy one with a quick and simple answer. To give an example I think a lot of gamers are aware that DirectX, the primary Windows API for creating games, has undergone a major change over the last few years. DirectSound has been phased out in favor of XAudio2, DirectInput is slowly being replaced by XInput, DirectMusic and DirectPlay were dropped altogether, and so on. Clearly a game developer is being forced to make a choice to use older no longer supported components to support Windows XP and earlier, or they will have to bite the bullet and just use the new DirectX components for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and beyond. We are reaching a point where it is one way or the other, and its not as simple as support both which frankly speaking isn't that easy to do. So I, for one, would like to here the XP users' answers to these and other problems created by this situation. There are really only a small handful of options, and all have negative consequences. 1. Either all of the blind users realize XP and its components are no longer supported and upgrade. While this will certainly make it easier for developers to support their new operating system I am fully aware that for many this option is unpleasant because it will cost money, they will lose the familiarity and ease of use of their current OS., and as Dark has pointed out may have little over all benefit for that person. 2. The developers can attempt to support both, but at added cost and extra time. Since two completely different APIs and platforms will need to be supported a developer is looking at nearly twice the time to upgrade, maintain, and release products at a loss to the developer. Therefore in order to insure backwards compatibility he or she will probably have to consider raising prices for the added inconvenience which I am certain nobody really wants. 3. The developers can choose what he or she thinks is best, and forget about compatibility with certain versions of Windows. Obviously this is a win/lose situation because whichever group is supported will buy the games and the excluded group won't. This will probably end up as a loss for the developer, and I don't need to remind people if developers do not have money for sounds, music, and perhaps a bit of his/her time they probably won't stick around unless they do it
Re: [Audyssey] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
Hi Josh, Well said. It is precisely for that reason that once I complete MOTA and Raceway all future games will specifically be designed using newer APIs with Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 in mind. I fully realize that designing for XP may satisfy a lot of customers for the short term, but they won't be thanking me when they finally do have to upgrade because the technologies used don't work properly on Windows 8. To give an example I think a lot of gamers here realize I am really into FPS type games. Therefore 3d audio is pretty much a given requirement for that genre of audio game, and it so happens DirectSound is broken big time on Vista, Win 7, and Win 8. The only way I can add decent 3d audio support to my future titles is by using XAudio2 or perhaps OpenAL. If I choose to use XAudio2, the new API for newer Windows platforms, sooner or later it will break compatibility with XP, but will resolve 3d audio problems for Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 users there by making it easier for me to support newer Windows releases as they come out since I can reasonably assume XAudio2 will be the defacto audio API for games in any new Windows releases while DirectSound such as it is will only be shipped for legacy support and will not get any new updates or bug fixes. That is a pretty serious problem, because although XAudio2 has some bugs that need fixed we can pretty much bet that Microsoft will fix those bugs in newer releases of XAudio2 for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and beyond, but not for XP. Meaning users are not doing themselves any favors by hanging onto their older buggy software, and developers aren't doing them any favors by supporting it at the cost of excluding newer Windows releases. Cheers! On 12/24/13, Draconis i...@dracoent.com wrote: Hi Tom, Cara, and all, One funny thing about this conversation, and I don’t mean “ha ha” funny, is that we see on this list on an ongoing basis, people struggling to find ways to play older games on newer machines with newer operating systems. We hear their frustrations, their hacks, and so on. In fact, this is one of the chief reasons Dark and others give for refusing to upgrade. And then these same folks who don’t want to upgrade say that we should keep making games for XP, pointing out that many of our customers are still running it. They ignore the consequences that would negatively impact both themselves and the developers if that course of action was taken. They are exacerbating the problem, by demanding games be developed with obsolete technologies that they will, sooner or later, be complaining won’t work properly when they are forced to get a new system. Developers would be adding to the number of games that need hacks and workarounds to run. They are putting an incredibly short lifespan on new titles created with these technologies, meaning that the developer’s work is unlikely to be fully compensated. Pointing out that many users still run XP is a shortsighted view of the problem, and it is not how good business is done in any industry. In fact, it is that kind of shortsightedness that have put whole industries on the brink of disaster, like we saw with the record industry in the early 2000’s. They wanted to hang on to the old model, but the world was moving forward with or without them. They had to adapt. The way I see it, expending lots of energy supporting XP at this point may indeed reap short-term benefits for the developer where regards sales, but it comes at the price of the long term health of their business. You can eat out at fast-food restaurants everyday. It might be delicious at the moment while you’re doing it. But sooner or later, the health ramifications will catch up with you, and when they do, you will realize that that Big Mac really wasn’t worth the ultimate cost. --- 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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
I totally agree with the devs on this one. I have a Windows 7 laptop, a mac desktop, an iPod touch, and soon, tomorrow in fact, a new android phone, running, unfortunately, android 4.0, the latest being 4.4. Anyway, I seriously don't see much need in sticking with XP anymore. Windows 7 is good, windows 8 is cool, so my goodness, why not leave Microsoft Sam and his depression behind? Sent from my iPod On Dec 24, 2013, at 10:49, Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Josh, Well said. It is precisely for that reason that once I complete MOTA and Raceway all future games will specifically be designed using newer APIs with Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 in mind. I fully realize that designing for XP may satisfy a lot of customers for the short term, but they won't be thanking me when they finally do have to upgrade because the technologies used don't work properly on Windows 8. To give an example I think a lot of gamers here realize I am really into FPS type games. Therefore 3d audio is pretty much a given requirement for that genre of audio game, and it so happens DirectSound is broken big time on Vista, Win 7, and Win 8. The only way I can add decent 3d audio support to my future titles is by using XAudio2 or perhaps OpenAL. If I choose to use XAudio2, the new API for newer Windows platforms, sooner or later it will break compatibility with XP, but will resolve 3d audio problems for Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 users there by making it easier for me to support newer Windows releases as they come out since I can reasonably assume XAudio2 will be the defacto audio API for games in any new Windows releases while DirectSound such as it is will only be shipped for legacy support and will not get any new updates or bug fixes. That is a pretty serious problem, because although XAudio2 has some bugs that need fixed we can pretty much bet that Microsoft will fix those bugs in newer releases of XAudio2 for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and beyond, but not for XP. Meaning users are not doing themselves any favors by hanging onto their older buggy software, and developers aren't doing them any favors by supporting it at the cost of excluding newer Windows releases. Cheers! On 12/24/13, Draconis i...@dracoent.com wrote: Hi Tom, Cara, and all, One funny thing about this conversation, and I don’t mean “ha ha” funny, is that we see on this list on an ongoing basis, people struggling to find ways to play older games on newer machines with newer operating systems. We hear their frustrations, their hacks, and so on. In fact, this is one of the chief reasons Dark and others give for refusing to upgrade. And then these same folks who don’t want to upgrade say that we should keep making games for XP, pointing out that many of our customers are still running it. They ignore the consequences that would negatively impact both themselves and the developers if that course of action was taken. They are exacerbating the problem, by demanding games be developed with obsolete technologies that they will, sooner or later, be complaining won’t work properly when they are forced to get a new system. Developers would be adding to the number of games that need hacks and workarounds to run. They are putting an incredibly short lifespan on new titles created with these technologies, meaning that the developer’s work is unlikely to be fully compensated. Pointing out that many users still run XP is a shortsighted view of the problem, and it is not how good business is done in any industry. In fact, it is that kind of shortsightedness that have put whole industries on the brink of disaster, like we saw with the record industry in the early 2000’s. They wanted to hang on to the old model, but the world was moving forward with or without them. They had to adapt. The way I see it, expending lots of energy supporting XP at this point may indeed reap short-term benefits for the developer where regards sales, but it comes at the price of the long term health of their business. You can eat out at fast-food restaurants everyday. It might be delicious at the moment while you’re doing it. But sooner or later, the health ramifications will catch up with you, and when they do, you will realize that that Big Mac really wasn’t worth the ultimate cost. --- 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/gamers@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
Re: [Audyssey] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
hi. wow, what a mix of systems you have! haha. good way to go though, as that way you have the best of all worlds. and yes, i agree, leave poor, depressed, out of sorts, slow, and otherwise painful arthritic sam behind. rofl. dallas On 25/12/2013, Devin Prater r.d.t.pra...@gmail.com wrote: I totally agree with the devs on this one. I have a Windows 7 laptop, a mac desktop, an iPod touch, and soon, tomorrow in fact, a new android phone, running, unfortunately, android 4.0, the latest being 4.4. Anyway, I seriously don't see much need in sticking with XP anymore. Windows 7 is good, windows 8 is cool, so my goodness, why not leave Microsoft Sam and his depression behind? Sent from my iPod On Dec 24, 2013, at 10:49, Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Josh, Well said. It is precisely for that reason that once I complete MOTA and Raceway all future games will specifically be designed using newer APIs with Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 in mind. I fully realize that designing for XP may satisfy a lot of customers for the short term, but they won't be thanking me when they finally do have to upgrade because the technologies used don't work properly on Windows 8. To give an example I think a lot of gamers here realize I am really into FPS type games. Therefore 3d audio is pretty much a given requirement for that genre of audio game, and it so happens DirectSound is broken big time on Vista, Win 7, and Win 8. The only way I can add decent 3d audio support to my future titles is by using XAudio2 or perhaps OpenAL. If I choose to use XAudio2, the new API for newer Windows platforms, sooner or later it will break compatibility with XP, but will resolve 3d audio problems for Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 users there by making it easier for me to support newer Windows releases as they come out since I can reasonably assume XAudio2 will be the defacto audio API for games in any new Windows releases while DirectSound such as it is will only be shipped for legacy support and will not get any new updates or bug fixes. That is a pretty serious problem, because although XAudio2 has some bugs that need fixed we can pretty much bet that Microsoft will fix those bugs in newer releases of XAudio2 for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and beyond, but not for XP. Meaning users are not doing themselves any favors by hanging onto their older buggy software, and developers aren't doing them any favors by supporting it at the cost of excluding newer Windows releases. Cheers! On 12/24/13, Draconis i...@dracoent.com wrote: Hi Tom, Cara, and all, One funny thing about this conversation, and I don’t mean “ha ha” funny, is that we see on this list on an ongoing basis, people struggling to find ways to play older games on newer machines with newer operating systems. We hear their frustrations, their hacks, and so on. In fact, this is one of the chief reasons Dark and others give for refusing to upgrade. And then these same folks who don’t want to upgrade say that we should keep making games for XP, pointing out that many of our customers are still running it. They ignore the consequences that would negatively impact both themselves and the developers if that course of action was taken. They are exacerbating the problem, by demanding games be developed with obsolete technologies that they will, sooner or later, be complaining won’t work properly when they are forced to get a new system. Developers would be adding to the number of games that need hacks and workarounds to run. They are putting an incredibly short lifespan on new titles created with these technologies, meaning that the developer’s work is unlikely to be fully compensated. Pointing out that many users still run XP is a shortsighted view of the problem, and it is not how good business is done in any industry. In fact, it is that kind of shortsightedness that have put whole industries on the brink of disaster, like we saw with the record industry in the early 2000’s. They wanted to hang on to the old model, but the world was moving forward with or without them. They had to adapt. The way I see it, expending lots of energy supporting XP at this point may indeed reap short-term benefits for the developer where regards sales, but it comes at the price of the long term health of their business. You can eat out at fast-food restaurants everyday. It might be delicious at the moment while you’re doing it. But sooner or later, the health ramifications will catch up with you, and when they do, you will realize that that Big Mac really wasn’t worth the ultimate cost. --- 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
Re: [Audyssey] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
Hi Devin, Interesting enough you have hit upon one issue that should convince people to upgrade if nothing else. The Sapi voices for XP such as Microsoft Sam, Mary, and Mike were absolutely terrible. The newer Sapi 5.5 voices that come with Windows 8 are much better , and are certainly decent for games and other TTS enabled applications. If nothing else better Sapi voices should be one thing that would interest XP users in upgrading to Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. Cheers! On 12/24/13, Devin Prater r.d.t.pra...@gmail.com wrote: I totally agree with the devs on this one. I have a Windows 7 laptop, a mac desktop, an iPod touch, and soon, tomorrow in fact, a new android phone, running, unfortunately, android 4.0, the latest being 4.4. Anyway, I seriously don't see much need in sticking with XP anymore. Windows 7 is good, windows 8 is cool, so my goodness, why not leave Microsoft Sam and his depression behind? Sent from my iPod --- 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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
Hi Shaun: Well, I can't share any actual figures, but what I can say is I have been told by other accessible game developers that none of them actually made much money off the games they wrote. I have heard roomers that some games only averaged around $10,000 USD, and that was for a game that was relatively popular. Other games were lucky if they only grossed about $5,000 which is pretty much nothing considering the time, effort, and work that goes into an audio game of any complexity. The thing is the blind community is quite a minority market in general, and it is even worse for an audio game developer because it is usually only a small fraction of the over all blind community as a whole who have computers and regularly buy games. So no the gaming industry is not a huge money maker in terms of audio games. Cheers! On 12/24/13, shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com wrote: I agree. The reason I still use xp apart from liking the find features and the sound recorder plus the simple interface are all the games that still use direct sound and vb6 code. Oh would I like to say Look I will go full time to 7. I have 7 I even have 8 if I want it. But there are just some things like some older games excluding bsc and others that are now no longer round anymore that use old outdated code. I guess its the gaming industry is just really not a huge money maker. I'd really like to know the status of some of the devs. Some stuff is concreet, some is rumours. Now I know it may cost and I know it is hard I do know since I am in the business designing sfx for a small team, and I do know vb6 has been a bench mark for a lot of the origional and current titles but that really needs to change. As a user I wouldn't mind to get concrete info from each dev. I know lworks is moving towards using non vb6 code. now if only liam can make superliam1 and judgement day have automatic registeration codes. --- 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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
Hi Shaun, Although I basically agree with your sentiments next time you should try and word your opinions using less profanity and not be so harsh. The way you worded your message below could be very offensive to some developers and I'd prefer we not do that while expressing a point of view. That said, the points you raised do need to be openly discussed. As for your first point I agree Visual Basic 6 has passed its prime and game developers do need to move on with something else. It has been unsupported since 2008, a good five years ago, and a lot of Visual Basic 6 components are broken on newer Windows platforms. I strongly feel that developers would be better served if they stopped developing games and other software in VB 6 and started using something else better suited to newer Windows releases. As to your second point about language I'm not really sure about Pure Basic as a replacement for Visual Basic 6. I do not know it well so can't really judge it accurately. What I do know is that Visual Basic .NET would be a very decent replacement for Visual Basic 6. Combined with SlimDX VB .NET would be modern, offer VB developers more features, and still have the familiarity of Visual Basic they have come to like. As for your third point I disagree. Switching over to 64-bit exclusively right now would be a huge mistake for any developer. The reason is that there are plenty of computers out there running Vista, Windows 7, etc on older 32-bit hardware. I see no need to drop those users and their computers just because they don't have a modern processor. I myself have a handful of 32-bit computers that have been refurbished and upgraded to Windows 7 and I'd be blowing my own foot off by dropping support for 32-bit Windows machines not to mention not being able to sell to anyone else who was running similarly upgraded machines for no real gain. As for your fourth point I agree that game developers need to begin supporting something other than DirectSound. Especially, if 3d audio etc is involved. DirectSound is OK for basic 2d stereo panning but beyond that it is seriously problematic on Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, and is a poor choice for audio gaming now days. I think right now OpenAL is the best all around choice for audio game developers, and should be seriously considered for future audio games. As for your final point about supported hardware that all depends on the type of game and of course the platform involved. While supporting joysticks, mice, and keyboards is a good idea as a general rule of thumb there are cases where such support is unnecessary. To give you an example STFC was by and large a menu driven game. I could not see adding joystick support or mouse support would improve that game in any specific way. On the other hand a game like GMA's Tank Commander would be awesome with joystick and mouse support. So it all depends on the type of game being considered. Cheers! On 12/21/13, shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com wrote: Well I don't know exactly how this would need to change in practical terms but there needs to be some serious canges. I won't mince words, and I am going to be blunt. I am not saying that any of this is easy in fact it may be darn hard but it needs to happen. 1. Visual basic 6 is a pile of crap, its shit and needs to die. Yes vb6 is good and simple but we all know that its support is unsertain and thats the big deal. I realise that 90% of all audiogames are still in vb6. Firstly we need to stop developing anything new in vb6. Next we need to convert over to something that is not vb6. that may mean python, vb dotnet or something. We need to start supporting 64 bit exclusively as this is probably going to be the future. We need to find either an 32 bit extender to run 16 bit programs like eamon in dos or find a way to run this stuff in a windows console or something same with dos games that can not be run by other means. 3. direct sound is als a pile of crap. Direct sound is good, but in later windows its broken and frankly its not even supported. So we need to move away from that. Using open al support or fsl is a good thing though there are some all direction echos that are part of the way it handles effects and it appears that its author can not fix those right now if ever. 3. game devices. Its probably not as important as the other 2 but more games need to start supporting mice, joysticks, etc as well as keyboard maybe even touch screens. We need things to support the latest tech if not gaming grade sertainly the basic tech. That was the keyboard, joystick and gamepad, now the mouse, touch tablet and stuff like that need to be added to that. In practice. I realise in the short term we are probably stuck with direct sound and probably vb6. It would be nice to get games that use more than the keyboard and or to get some that use the stick run a bit better but thats probably not going to happen, most use the
[Audyssey] Holiday Bash
Holiday Bash by Mad Games Inc. Your name is Ted Wilson, and it is Christmas Eve again. Once again, you are under enormous pressure to find the perfect Christmas gift for your wife, your two kids, and everyone else on your holiday shopping list. The consequences for failure could mean the end of your marriage, your parents refusing to speak to you ever again, and your entire family will turn against you for being such a scrooge. So finding the perfect Christmas gift at the absolute last minute is your one and only chance to save face. However, your task will not be an easy one. In this fast action brawler you must hurry through several department stores looking for the items on your Christmas list as untold numbers of last minute Christmas shoppers block the isles, steel items from your shopping cart for themselves, and physically attack you for getting in their way. In order to accomplish your task you will have to use your skills as a boxer to knock out and beat up shoppers who are standing in your way, wrestle items away from other shoppers who are carrying what items you need, and will have to fight to the death to defend the items in your shopping cart from unscrupulous holiday shoppers who will try and steel items from your cart while you are occupied with something else. As time runs out the holiday shoppers will become more determined to steel your items and you will have to resort to gathering up weapons in around the store such as knives, guns, ball bats, or anything else you can lay your hands on to stop the hoards of crazy holiday shoppers from steeling your Christmas gifts. So don't delay buy the game today. Now, for a one-time offer you can buy Holiday Bash today for 75% off of the retail price for PC, iOS, or Mac. Plus with this offer you can get a Mad Games Inc. t-shirt, and a holiday coupon to save on your next Mad Games purchase. Offer valid until January 1, 2014. --- 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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
I agree with you draconis. You devs all of you should be looking at upgrading if you are not allready. I like old xp but I'd prefur to play games in 7 and 8. More games for xp? Well maybe that was when there was vista but seriously, I don't think people should keep making games in vb6 anymore or other stuff that can handle only the tech on xp. More games sure, but they need to be kept updated. At 04:50 AM 12/25/2013, you wrote: Hi Tom, Cara, and all, One funny thing about this conversation, and I don't mean ha ha funny, is that we see on this list on an ongoing basis, people struggling to find ways to play older games on newer machines with newer operating systems. We hear their frustrations, their hacks, and so on. In fact, this is one of the chief reasons Dark and others give for refusing to upgrade. And then these same folks who don't want to upgrade say that we should keep making games for XP, pointing out that many of our customers are still running it. They ignore the consequences that would negatively impact both themselves and the developers if that course of action was taken. They are exacerbating the problem, by demanding games be developed with obsolete technologies that they will, sooner or later, be complaining won't work properly when they are forced to get a new system. Developers would be adding to the number of games that need hacks and workarounds to run. They are putting an incredibly short lifespan on new titles created with these technologies, meaning that the developer's work is unlikely to be fully compensated. Pointing out that many users still run XP is a shortsighted view of the problem, and it is not how good business is done in any industry. In fact, it is that kind of shortsightedness that have put whole industries on the brink of disaster, like we saw with the record industry in the early 2000's. They wanted to hang on to the old model, but the world was moving forward with or without them. They had to adapt. The way I see it, expending lots of energy supporting XP at this point may indeed reap short-term benefits for the developer where regards sales, but it comes at the price of the long term health of their business. You can eat out at fast-food restaurants everyday. It might be delicious at the moment while you're doing it. But sooner or later, the health ramifications will catch up with you, and when they do, you will realize that that Big Mac really wasn't worth the ultimate cost. On Dec 24, 2013, at 12:39 AM, Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Cara, My thoughts exactly. I have heard lots of reasons why or why not to upgrade to Windows 7, Windows 8, switch to Mac OS,etc, but I haven't heard anything constructive from those people how this situation could be resolved. Particularly by the audio game developers who are caught in the middle of Microsoft's decision to move forward with technologies and their customer's decisions not to upgrade for one reason or another. It is not an easy decision to make, and not an easy one with a quick and simple answer. To give an example I think a lot of gamers are aware that DirectX, the primary Windows API for creating games, has undergone a major change over the last few years. DirectSound has been phased out in favor of XAudio2, DirectInput is slowly being replaced by XInput, DirectMusic and DirectPlay were dropped altogether, and so on. Clearly a game developer is being forced to make a choice to use older no longer supported components to support Windows XP and earlier, or they will have to bite the bullet and just use the new DirectX components for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and beyond. We are reaching a point where it is one way or the other, and its not as simple as support both which frankly speaking isn't that easy to do. So I, for one, would like to here the XP users' answers to these and other problems created by this situation. There are really only a small handful of options, and all have negative consequences. 1. Either all of the blind users realize XP and its components are no longer supported and upgrade. While this will certainly make it easier for developers to support their new operating system I am fully aware that for many this option is unpleasant because it will cost money, they will lose the familiarity and ease of use of their current OS., and as Dark has pointed out may have little over all benefit for that person. 2. The developers can attempt to support both, but at added cost and extra time. Since two completely different APIs and platforms will need to be supported a developer is looking at nearly twice the time to upgrade, maintain, and release products at a loss to the developer. Therefore in order to insure backwards compatibility he or she will probably have to consider raising prices for the added inconvenience which I am certain nobody really wants. 3. The developers can choose what he or she
Re: [Audyssey] usagames down
Yeah its back now to. I got your other messages this morning explaining things. At 06:08 PM 12/24/2013, you wrote: Hello Shaun, The website should be up now. The reason it was down is because I was late in paying my domain renewal and my domain expired. I just paid earlier today to have the website domain renewed and it comes up fine here. If you have any more issues do let me know. Cheers! On 12/23/13, shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com wrote: Hi. havn't heard messages from the list for ages, checked the blog and found that usagamesinteractive.org has no dns entry, went to usagamesinteractive.com and have no dns. pinged usagamesinteractive.com and no host. I need to know if its my isp or are you having some issues. shaun --- 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/gamers@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/gamers@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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
I agree. The only reason I hang on to this old xp machine is to really play games that will only run on xp propperly. I do actually have a brand new i5 with win7 and an 8 upgrade I got this year and I have not really gamed on it much. At 05:49 AM 12/25/2013, you wrote: Hi Josh, Well said. It is precisely for that reason that once I complete MOTA and Raceway all future games will specifically be designed using newer APIs with Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 in mind. I fully realize that designing for XP may satisfy a lot of customers for the short term, but they won't be thanking me when they finally do have to upgrade because the technologies used don't work properly on Windows 8. To give an example I think a lot of gamers here realize I am really into FPS type games. Therefore 3d audio is pretty much a given requirement for that genre of audio game, and it so happens DirectSound is broken big time on Vista, Win 7, and Win 8. The only way I can add decent 3d audio support to my future titles is by using XAudio2 or perhaps OpenAL. If I choose to use XAudio2, the new API for newer Windows platforms, sooner or later it will break compatibility with XP, but will resolve 3d audio problems for Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 users there by making it easier for me to support newer Windows releases as they come out since I can reasonably assume XAudio2 will be the defacto audio API for games in any new Windows releases while DirectSound such as it is will only be shipped for legacy support and will not get any new updates or bug fixes. That is a pretty serious problem, because although XAudio2 has some bugs that need fixed we can pretty much bet that Microsoft will fix those bugs in newer releases of XAudio2 for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and beyond, but not for XP. Meaning users are not doing themselves any favors by hanging onto their older buggy software, and developers aren't doing them any favors by supporting it at the cost of excluding newer Windows releases. Cheers! On 12/24/13, Draconis i...@dracoent.com wrote: Hi Tom, Cara, and all, One funny thing about this conversation, and I don't mean ha ha funny, is that we see on this list on an ongoing basis, people struggling to find ways to play older games on newer machines with newer operating systems. We hear their frustrations, their hacks, and so on. In fact, this is one of the chief reasons Dark and others give for refusing to upgrade. And then these same folks who don't want to upgrade say that we should keep making games for XP, pointing out that many of our customers are still running it. They ignore the consequences that would negatively impact both themselves and the developers if that course of action was taken. They are exacerbating the problem, by demanding games be developed with obsolete technologies that they will, sooner or later, be complaining won't work properly when they are forced to get a new system. Developers would be adding to the number of games that need hacks and workarounds to run. They are putting an incredibly short lifespan on new titles created with these technologies, meaning that the developer's work is unlikely to be fully compensated. Pointing out that many users still run XP is a shortsighted view of the problem, and it is not how good business is done in any industry. In fact, it is that kind of shortsightedness that have put whole industries on the brink of disaster, like we saw with the record industry in the early 2000's. They wanted to hang on to the old model, but the world was moving forward with or without them. They had to adapt. The way I see it, expending lots of energy supporting XP at this point may indeed reap short-term benefits for the developer where regards sales, but it comes at the price of the long term health of their business. You can eat out at fast-food restaurants everyday. It might be delicious at the moment while you're doing it. But sooner or later, the health ramifications will catch up with you, and when they do, you will realize that that Big Mac really wasn't worth the ultimate cost. --- 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/gamers@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/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or
Re: [Audyssey] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
I agree. The reason I still use xp apart from liking the find features and the sound recorder plus the simple interface are all the games that still use direct sound and vb6 code. Oh would I like to say Look I will go full time to 7. I have 7 I even have 8 if I want it. But there are just some things like some older games excluding bsc and others that are now no longer round anymore that use old outdated code. I guess its the gaming industry is just really not a huge money maker. I'd really like to know the status of some of the devs. Some stuff is concreet, some is rumours. Now I know it may cost and I know it is hard I do know since I am in the business designing sfx for a small team, and I do know vb6 has been a bench mark for a lot of the origional and current titles but that really needs to change. As a user I wouldn't mind to get concrete info from each dev. I know lworks is moving towards using non vb6 code. now if only liam can make superliam1 and judgement day have automatic registeration codes. At 06:39 PM 12/24/2013, you wrote: Hi Cara, My thoughts exactly. I have heard lots of reasons why or why not to upgrade to Windows 7, Windows 8, switch to Mac OS,etc, but I haven't heard anything constructive from those people how this situation could be resolved. Particularly by the audio game developers who are caught in the middle of Microsoft's decision to move forward with technologies and their customer's decisions not to upgrade for one reason or another. It is not an easy decision to make, and not an easy one with a quick and simple answer. To give an example I think a lot of gamers are aware that DirectX, the primary Windows API for creating games, has undergone a major change over the last few years. DirectSound has been phased out in favor of XAudio2, DirectInput is slowly being replaced by XInput, DirectMusic and DirectPlay were dropped altogether, and so on. Clearly a game developer is being forced to make a choice to use older no longer supported components to support Windows XP and earlier, or they will have to bite the bullet and just use the new DirectX components for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and beyond. We are reaching a point where it is one way or the other, and its not as simple as support both which frankly speaking isn't that easy to do. So I, for one, would like to here the XP users' answers to these and other problems created by this situation. There are really only a small handful of options, and all have negative consequences. 1. Either all of the blind users realize XP and its components are no longer supported and upgrade. While this will certainly make it easier for developers to support their new operating system I am fully aware that for many this option is unpleasant because it will cost money, they will lose the familiarity and ease of use of their current OS., and as Dark has pointed out may have little over all benefit for that person. 2. The developers can attempt to support both, but at added cost and extra time. Since two completely different APIs and platforms will need to be supported a developer is looking at nearly twice the time to upgrade, maintain, and release products at a loss to the developer. Therefore in order to insure backwards compatibility he or she will probably have to consider raising prices for the added inconvenience which I am certain nobody really wants. 3. The developers can choose what he or she thinks is best, and forget about compatibility with certain versions of Windows. Obviously this is a win/lose situation because whichever group is supported will buy the games and the excluded group won't. This will probably end up as a loss for the developer, and I don't need to remind people if developers do not have money for sounds, music, and perhaps a bit of his/her time they probably won't stick around unless they do it specifically as a hobby like some game developers do. 4. the last option is to design a game using open source libraries and APIs that are known to work on both equally well. While this works it has it sown pros and cons which may impact a certain project and not be a feasible option in every single case. So unless there is an API available that supports each and every platform equally, has everything a developer needs, they are truly stuck. Bottom line, I'd like to here the communities answers to these problems. I am growing tired of people saying they won't upgrade, but have no advice for me as a developer how I am expected to support them and my customers running new computers too. Cheers! On 12/20/13, Cara Quinn caraqu...@caraquinn.com wrote: Hi Charles and all, So moving forward then, how do we address this situation for people so this song does not need to keep getting played over and over and over again? What steps might this community start taking now so that the situation can improve and continue to do so? Obviously this is not only a game-related topic or one only related to
[Audyssey] Sara help please.
Hi All, I can't open a lot of the doors on the ground floor on Sara. I also got past the caretaker once using the broom and the stunning spell. I also got the map and the extendable ears, but I can't seem to get any further, please help. Lindsay Cowell. --- 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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
I would not upgrade to get better voices than those I already have, which are good enough. Nobody in their right mind would use Microsoft Sam unless they absolutely had to, so that's a very poor comparison. I would not use Narrator unless I had to, either, but I would not upgrade from a platform with which I can access all of my previously purchased software to one with which I cannot, just for a better Narrator. Can I play text adventure games using Windows 8.1? How about Lone Wolf and Tenpin Alley? Jim Kitchen's games? If these cannot be played, why upgrade? I cannot see spending more money to get less access. --- Be positive! When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished, you! really! are! finished! - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 8:51 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question Hi Devin, Interesting enough you have hit upon one issue that should convince people to upgrade if nothing else. The Sapi voices for XP such as Microsoft Sam, Mary, and Mike were absolutely terrible. The newer Sapi 5.5 voices that come with Windows 8 are much better , and are certainly decent for games and other TTS enabled applications. If nothing else better Sapi voices should be one thing that would interest XP users in upgrading to Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. Cheers! On 12/24/13, Devin Prater r.d.t.pra...@gmail.com wrote: I totally agree with the devs on this one. I have a Windows 7 laptop, a mac desktop, an iPod touch, and soon, tomorrow in fact, a new android phone, running, unfortunately, android 4.0, the latest being 4.4. Anyway, I seriously don't see much need in sticking with XP anymore. Windows 7 is good, windows 8 is cool, so my goodness, why not leave Microsoft Sam and his depression behind? Sent from my iPod --- 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/gamers@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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
Many people in the blind gaming community still use XP, yet you push us to switch tu 7 or above. So much for the third point. As to the second, should Jim Kitchen stop using what he is comfortable using to create games, cutting those with older systems out as far as being able to access his games? Should he learn a newer language in order to cater to the new while losing the old? I don't think so. --- Be positive! When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished, you! really! are! finished! - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 9:04 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question Hi Shaun, Although I basically agree with your sentiments next time you should try and word your opinions using less profanity and not be so harsh. The way you worded your message below could be very offensive to some developers and I'd prefer we not do that while expressing a point of view. That said, the points you raised do need to be openly discussed. As for your first point I agree Visual Basic 6 has passed its prime and game developers do need to move on with something else. It has been unsupported since 2008, a good five years ago, and a lot of Visual Basic 6 components are broken on newer Windows platforms. I strongly feel that developers would be better served if they stopped developing games and other software in VB 6 and started using something else better suited to newer Windows releases. As to your second point about language I'm not really sure about Pure Basic as a replacement for Visual Basic 6. I do not know it well so can't really judge it accurately. What I do know is that Visual Basic .NET would be a very decent replacement for Visual Basic 6. Combined with SlimDX VB .NET would be modern, offer VB developers more features, and still have the familiarity of Visual Basic they have come to like. As for your third point I disagree. Switching over to 64-bit exclusively right now would be a huge mistake for any developer. The reason is that there are plenty of computers out there running Vista, Windows 7, etc on older 32-bit hardware. I see no need to drop those users and their computers just because they don't have a modern processor. I myself have a handful of 32-bit computers that have been refurbished and upgraded to Windows 7 and I'd be blowing my own foot off by dropping support for 32-bit Windows machines not to mention not being able to sell to anyone else who was running similarly upgraded machines for no real gain. As for your fourth point I agree that game developers need to begin supporting something other than DirectSound. Especially, if 3d audio etc is involved. DirectSound is OK for basic 2d stereo panning but beyond that it is seriously problematic on Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, and is a poor choice for audio gaming now days. I think right now OpenAL is the best all around choice for audio game developers, and should be seriously considered for future audio games. As for your final point about supported hardware that all depends on the type of game and of course the platform involved. While supporting joysticks, mice, and keyboards is a good idea as a general rule of thumb there are cases where such support is unnecessary. To give you an example STFC was by and large a menu driven game. I could not see adding joystick support or mouse support would improve that game in any specific way. On the other hand a game like GMA's Tank Commander would be awesome with joystick and mouse support. So it all depends on the type of game being considered. Cheers! On 12/21/13, shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com wrote: Well I don't know exactly how this would need to change in practical terms but there needs to be some serious canges. I won't mince words, and I am going to be blunt. I am not saying that any of this is easy in fact it may be darn hard but it needs to happen. 1. Visual basic 6 is a pile of crap, its shit and needs to die. Yes vb6 is good and simple but we all know that its support is unsertain and thats the big deal. I realise that 90% of all audiogames are still in vb6. Firstly we need to stop developing anything new in vb6. Next we need to convert over to something that is not vb6. that may mean python, vb dotnet or something. We need to start supporting 64 bit exclusively as this is probably going to be the future. We need to find either an 32 bit extender to run 16 bit programs like eamon in dos or find a way to run this stuff in a windows console or something same with dos games that can not be run by other means. 3. direct sound is als a pile of crap. Direct sound is good, but in later windows its broken and frankly its not even supported. So we need to move away from that. Using open al support or fsl is a good thing though there are some all direction echos that are part of the way it handles effects
Re: [Audyssey] Sara help please.
A lot of help can be found in the documentation. How to navigate the castle, how to use spells, and how to find objects, plus how to battle Hogwarts staff and menaces. --- Be positive! When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished, you! really! are! finished! - Original Message - From: Lindsay Cowell lindsay.cow...@virginmedia.com To: gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 11:44 PM Subject: [Audyssey] Sara help please. Hi All, I can't open a lot of the doors on the ground floor on Sara. I also got past the caretaker once using the broom and the stunning spell. I also got the map and the extendable ears, but I can't seem to get any further, please help. Lindsay Cowell. --- 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/gamers@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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
In a message I just deleted from my inbox, you said that you still like XP because of the features for recording and you like the fact that you can still play the games that were written long ago. Now I see this one, and I have to ask, are you straddling the fence? Which should be used--XP or 7 and higher? --- Be positive! When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished, you! really! are! finished! - Original Message - From: shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 11:32 AM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question I agree with you draconis. You devs all of you should be looking at upgrading if you are not allready. I like old xp but I'd prefur to play games in 7 and 8. More games for xp? Well maybe that was when there was vista but seriously, I don't think people should keep making games in vb6 anymore or other stuff that can handle only the tech on xp. More games sure, but they need to be kept updated. At 04:50 AM 12/25/2013, you wrote: Hi Tom, Cara, and all, One funny thing about this conversation, and I don't mean ha ha funny, is that we see on this list on an ongoing basis, people struggling to find ways to play older games on newer machines with newer operating systems. We hear their frustrations, their hacks, and so on. In fact, this is one of the chief reasons Dark and others give for refusing to upgrade. And then these same folks who don't want to upgrade say that we should keep making games for XP, pointing out that many of our customers are still running it. They ignore the consequences that would negatively impact both themselves and the developers if that course of action was taken. They are exacerbating the problem, by demanding games be developed with obsolete technologies that they will, sooner or later, be complaining won't work properly when they are forced to get a new system. Developers would be adding to the number of games that need hacks and workarounds to run. They are putting an incredibly short lifespan on new titles created with these technologies, meaning that the developer's work is unlikely to be fully compensated. Pointing out that many users still run XP is a shortsighted view of the problem, and it is not how good business is done in any industry. In fact, it is that kind of shortsightedness that have put whole industries on the brink of disaster, like we saw with the record industry in the early 2000's. They wanted to hang on to the old model, but the world was moving forward with or without them. They had to adapt. The way I see it, expending lots of energy supporting XP at this point may indeed reap short-term benefits for the developer where regards sales, but it comes at the price of the long term health of their business. You can eat out at fast-food restaurants everyday. It might be delicious at the moment while you're doing it. But sooner or later, the health ramifications will catch up with you, and when they do, you will realize that that Big Mac really wasn't worth the ultimate cost. On Dec 24, 2013, at 12:39 AM, Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Cara, My thoughts exactly. I have heard lots of reasons why or why not to upgrade to Windows 7, Windows 8, switch to Mac OS,etc, but I haven't heard anything constructive from those people how this situation could be resolved. Particularly by the audio game developers who are caught in the middle of Microsoft's decision to move forward with technologies and their customer's decisions not to upgrade for one reason or another. It is not an easy decision to make, and not an easy one with a quick and simple answer. To give an example I think a lot of gamers are aware that DirectX, the primary Windows API for creating games, has undergone a major change over the last few years. DirectSound has been phased out in favor of XAudio2, DirectInput is slowly being replaced by XInput, DirectMusic and DirectPlay were dropped altogether, and so on. Clearly a game developer is being forced to make a choice to use older no longer supported components to support Windows XP and earlier, or they will have to bite the bullet and just use the new DirectX components for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and beyond. We are reaching a point where it is one way or the other, and its not as simple as support both which frankly speaking isn't that easy to do. So I, for one, would like to here the XP users' answers to these and other problems created by this situation. There are really only a small handful of options, and all have negative consequences. 1. Either all of the blind users realize XP and its components are no longer supported and upgrade. While this will certainly make it easier for developers to support their new operating system I am fully aware that for many this option is unpleasant because it will cost money,
Re: [Audyssey] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
Hi Charles: First, I think we should make a distinction between commercial and non-commercial game developers here. Jim Kitchen is a non-commercial game developer and does not take any money for the games he creates. Therefore he is not obligated to any customers to continue supporting new operating systems, new APIs, or offer customer support in any way, shape, or form. His games are offered for free, as is, with no warranty or guarantees of compatibility. So he can pretty much do whatever he wants because he is giving the games away for free and has not taken any money for his software. As such should not be held to the same standard as someone who is selling his games. A commercial game developer like myself comes with a whole bunch of extra responsibilities that does not apply to a non-commercial developer. I believe one of those responsibilities is to make the software as stable and error free as possible, to support my products, and to insure that they work on the latest hardware and software available at the time of purchase. Sometimes in order to do that I have to choose to go with whatever happens to be the latest technology to best support the new operating system, and if it isn't compatible with an older operating system like XP that is just the way things are and no amount of arguing about it will change the facts of the matter which brings me to your other point. You said, Many people in the blind gaming community still use XP, yet you push us to switch to 7 or above. So much for the third point. Well, it is obvious to me you still don't understand the technical issues involved, and perhaps you just don't care to hear them. However, my third point was that a game developer does not have to sell 64-bit software and games exclusively because there are plenty of 32-bit computers running Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 out there. That is a totally different issue from supporting an older operating system like XP, because there is a huge difference in difficulty involved here. To support 32-bit and 64-bit all that is involved is simply recompiling the program and changing the target flags in the Visual Studio project file from x86 to x64, perhaps select the 64-bit libraries, and voila. A developer can make a brand new build in less than 10 minutes and support both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions with very little difficulty. Supporting XP and Windows 7 can in some cases be far more extensive requiring a major rewrite of the game or software depending on which APIs and libraries are used, and how dependent the game or software is on the newer libraries. Instead of a matter of minutes we are looking a job that could take hours perhaps a few days to make a special XP build if the software wasn't designed with XP specifically in mind. So in response to your comment no I have not invalided my point about upgrading to Windows 7 and above by stating that developers don't need to make 64-bit specific builds exclusively yet. I do think a game developer might be wise to make both a 32-bit and 64-bit version available, but it would be unwise to make only 64-bit Windows software right now given the ratio of 32-bit systems to 64-bit systems and it is not difficult to support both. Cheers! On 12/24/13, Charles Rivard wee1s...@fidnet.com wrote: Many people in the blind gaming community still use XP, yet you push us to switch tu 7 or above. So much for the third point. As to the second, should Jim Kitchen stop using what he is comfortable using to create games, cutting those with older systems out as far as being able to access his games? Should he learn a newer language in order to cater to the new while losing the old? I don't think so. --- Be positive! When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished, you! really! are! finished! --- 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/gamers@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] Swamp Questions
Greetings All! Just updated my Swamp to 3.0c I think it is, it's the latest on the site any way. Well When I click on multiplayer it tells me who is the sponser for the day and then nothing, it goes silent. I thoght at this point I was to be taken to the safe zone to chose what type of game I wanted to play. When I escape out of this silence the option for multiplayer is gone and it has a option for player list. Not sure what is going on but if any one could shed any light on what I am missing I would be Greatful. Thanks for reading, Sly --- 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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
Hi Charles: You can certainly play several text adventure games on Windows 8.1. If you have Winfrotz you can play pretty much every game written in Inform and ZCode that was ever written with your screen reader or Sapi speech output. If you have Agility for Windows you can play old text adventures written in AGT, and Tads32 will allow you to play various games written in Tads. So when it comes to text adventures you can pretty much play everything available for XP accept for those Dos games compiled for 16-bit systems such as Eamon Deluxe. As for Jim Kitchen's games I have gotten them to work on Windows 8.1 as well. I admit it takes a bit of fiddling to get them to work, but it can certainly be done. What I do is install the Winkit file to get the Visual Basic 6 runtime libraries installed, and then I install his games to a directory like c:\Users\Thomas\Kitchensinc where they will work without having issues with User Account Control. As long as you know how to set up the Kitchen's Inc. games you won't have a problem with them. I haven't tried Ten Pin Alley, but I have tried Lone Wolf 3.5 on Windows 8.1 and it works alright. Again, it just basically requires you install the proper libraries and make sure it is in a local directory rather than in c:\Program Files or c:\Program Files (x86). As to the issue of upgrading I have repeatedly gave reasons why I think people should upgrade. I'm not going to repeat it here as I'd just be wasting both my time and energy rewriting what I have said. All I will say in response is since those games can still be played your excuse not to upgrade is not valid based on compatibility alone. Cheers! On 12/24/13, Charles Rivard wee1s...@fidnet.com wrote: I would not upgrade to get better voices than those I already have, which are good enough. Nobody in their right mind would use Microsoft Sam unless they absolutely had to, so that's a very poor comparison. I would not use Narrator unless I had to, either, but I would not upgrade from a platform with which I can access all of my previously purchased software to one with which I cannot, just for a better Narrator. Can I play text adventure games using Windows 8.1? How about Lone Wolf and Tenpin Alley? Jim Kitchen's games? If these cannot be played, why upgrade? I cannot see spending more money to get less access. --- Be positive! When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished, you! really! are! finished! --- 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/gamers@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] Sara help please.
Hi Lindsay: As for the locked doors there are a couple of things you can do. If you have the pen knife found somewhere in the basement, I want to say the kitchen, you can use it to pick the locks on various doors. If you don't have it you can always cast a spell to unlock the doors with your wand. Cheers! On 12/25/13, Lindsay Cowell lindsay.cow...@virginmedia.com wrote: Hi All, I can't open a lot of the doors on the ground floor on Sara. I also got past the caretaker once using the broom and the stunning spell. I also got the map and the extendable ears, but I can't seem to get any further, please help. Lindsay Cowell. --- 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/gamers@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/gamers@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] mac versus windows sales plus iOS question
Yes. I would even compare them with the mac's speech. I converted a novel using Zira with Balabolka and enjoyed it thourghly. I do have a mac, and would love to have windows 8 in a vm, and would need vm player and all. I have also a windows 7 laptop, but isn't at all good for gaming, being a cheap laptop. sent from the braille plus Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Devin, Interesting enough you have hit upon one issue that should convince people to upgrade if nothing else. The Sapi voices for XP such as Microsoft Sam, Mary, and Mike were absolutely terrible. The newer Sapi 5.5 voices that come with Windows 8 are much better , and are certainly decent for games and other TTS enabled applications. If nothing else better Sapi voices should be one thing that would interest XP users in upgrading to Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. Cheers! On 12/24/13, Devin Prater r.d.t.pra...@gmail.com wrote: I totally agree with the devs on this one. I have a Windows 7 laptop, a mac desktop, an iPod touch, and soon, tomorrow in fact, a new android phone, running, unfortunately, android 4.0, the latest being 4.4. Anyway, I seriously don't see much need in sticking with XP anymore. Windows 7 is good, windows 8 is cool, so my goodness, why not leave Microsoft Sam and his depression behind? Sent from my iPod --- 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/gamers@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/gamers@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] Swamp Multiplayer Question
Greetings All! Just updated my Swamp to 3.0c I think it is, it's the latest on the site any way. Well When I click on multiplayer it tells me who is the sponser for the day and then nothing, it goes silent. I thoght at this point I was to be taken to the safe zone to chose what type of game I wanted to play. When I escape out of this silence the option for multiplayer is gone and it has a option for player list. Not sure what is going on but if any one could shed any light on what I am missing I would be Greatful. Thanks for reading, Sly --- 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/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
