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roundhead
Member
What a fantastic remake of this game but why are the controls so difficult?
I can just about get the robot to spin on the spot and then trundle it into the closest piece of scenery!
As for avoiding other beasties or jumping on to anything - no chance!
It's probably me being cack-handed but it's so frustrating.
Regards.
Ignacio
Member
You can allways redefine the keys, or use a jpypad :)
roundhead
Member
Thanks for the reply.
I've changed the layout and used a profiler to set up a joystick.
Is the apparent difficulty as basic as the keys being set to move the robot diagonally on the isometric grid and I'm trying to play it as if it is supposed to move on the x\y axes?
Gnoop
Member
I use the good old Q/A/O/P/M for up/down/left/right/jump, plus Z for pick up and N for jump + pick up.
You do have to get used to the fact that 'up' isn't a conventional up, as it's really up/right, but once you tune your perception of the directions into diagonal movement, it becomes fairly natural and automatic.
If all else fails, balance your screen on it's bottom-left corner and everything will move in the normal directions!
roundhead
Member
Thanks for the input advice - I'll try that.
I also tried the trick with the screen but the monitor kept falling off the table!!!!
Thanks again.
Quickshank
Member
I recall the original speccy game to be just as difficult as this to control in as much as precision in moving and positioning was vital. I preferred Knight Lore with which I managed to progress much further. This rendition of Alien 8 is beautiful however.
payres
Member
Just tried installing this and got a Malware warning from AVG. I'm assuming it's a false one ???
beercritch
Member
A great conversion of a great spectrum game. I havn't progresses quite as far on this as the excellent knight lore conversion, (it was always the more difficult of the 2 games to play IIRC), and I can not pick fault with this at all. It plays just as I remember the original. All the geometery, platforms and puzzle solving is true to the original and the updated graphics and sound lift it to a great modern game.
I guess it will never happen because of liscencing but I would love to see both this and knight lore as an Ipod app so I could play them on the go.
Anonymous
Hi, I haven't progressed too far into this yet as I needed to port it to compile under Linux first.
Here is how to get it to compile under Linux (prerequisites: CURL, FMODEX, Allegro):
Extract the source archive.
In that directory, apply these patches:
internet.diff:
--- a/internet.c 2008-03-23 14:47:52.000000000 +1030
+++ b/internet.c 2011-07-14 17:34:26.000000000 +0930
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
#include "stdio.h"
// USE HERE THE PROPER DEFINITION FOR THE OS YOU ARE COMPILING DEFLEKTOR ON
-#define INTT_WIN // Windows
+//#define INTT_WIN // Windows
//#define INTT_MAC // Macintosh
-//#define INTT_LNX // Linux
+#define INTT_LNX // Linux
//#define INTT_OTR // Other
#ifdef INTT_WIN
(this adjusts what platform it thinks we are compiling on)
juego.diff:
--- a/juego.c 2008-05-22 17:48:22.000000000 +0930
+++ b/juego.c 2011-07-14 17:30:26.000000000 +0930
@@ -2782,7 +2782,15 @@
i=ism_cambiar_dato_objeto(movs[f].id,dato,dif,SUMAR);
}
else
- (dato==D_X?movs[f].m0:movs[f].m1)=(dif<0?-1:1);
+ {
+ int tmp = 1;
+ if (dif < 0) tmp = -1;
+ if (dato==D_X)
+ movs[f].m0 = tmp;
+ else
+ movs[f].m1 = tmp;
+// (dato==D_X?movs[f].m0:movs[f].m1)=(dif<0?-1:1);
+ }
if(!i && mover_n)
for(i=0;i<3;i++)
if(movs[f].id==movs[i].anclado)
@@ -2806,7 +2814,17 @@
i=ism_cambiar_dato_objeto(movs[f].id,dato,dif,SUMAR);
}
else
- (dato==D_X?movs[f].m0:movs[f].m1)=dif;
+ {
+ int tmp = 1;
+ if (dif < 0) tmp = -1;
+ if (dato==D_X)
+ movs[f].m0 = tmp;
+ else
+ movs[f].m1 = tmp;
+// (dato==D_X?movs[f].m0:movs[f].m1)=(dif<0?-1:1);
+ }
+
+// (dato==D_X?movs[f].m0:movs[f].m1)=dif;
if(!i)
for(i=1;i<num_movs;i++)
if(movs[f].id==movs[i].anclado)
(which fixes some bizarre misuse of lvalues which more recent GCCs will not accept)
Then, you can compile it like:
gcc *.c -lalleg -lfmodex -lcurl -I /usr/include/fmodex/ -o alien8
You'll also need to copy the *.dat files from the Windows or Mac archives, into the source directory, because they are not included with the source and are needed.
Compiled on Arch Linux, x86_64.
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