I tried some of the other games on FreeDOS 1.3 RC4, using VirtualBox on Linux. Starting point was VBoxVGA unless otherwise noted.
Short version: * runs fine: empong ewsnake fmines ivan (?) mistral nethack noudar qtetris sudoku86 vertigo (?) vitetris zmiy * has issues: gnu chess Kraptor Liquiwar magnetic mirror magic * remove: (license issues) beyond the titanic pakupaku [see suggestion] snova ww1 ----------------------------------------------------- Full notes: * Beyond the Titanic (text adventure game) says in the startup screen: >Please note that Beyond the Titanic is a SHAREWARE game. > >This game has been placed in the public domain for your enjoyment. ..and then it has some text about if you like the game, you should contribute $5 or $10 to the author. However, it's a problem that the game displays a "Shareware" notice and "Public domain" notice. It can't be both. The "send me $$" text suggests this is shareware. The README.TXT file says this: >This game was deleted from Apogee's product line a VERY long time ago, and >has been re-released as freeware in March of 2009. There are a few notes >you should be are of with the release: [..] >4) This game is released as freeware. That's not to be confused with > public domain, abandonware (which is illegal), or releasing something > under the GPL. This is a freeware release, which means we retain full > legal rights to the title and it's materials. You are free to play the > game as we've released it, but not free to "do whatever you want with > it", which includes selling it or otherwise using the materials for your > own gain. ..and point 5 says it was released as freeware in 1998, and re-released in 2009 with source code. [Interestingly, further down the Readme, it says the source code is released under the GNU GPL. But the text above it doesn't agree with that.] This doesn't seem very "open source" to me. I think we need to remove this game for the 1.3 Final. *EMPong (a "pong"-style game) plays well. GNU GPL. *EWSnake (a "nibbles"-like game) plays well. Entirely in Italian and I don't know how to change it to English. GNU GPL. * Fmines (a "minesweeper"-like game) has a very pretty startup screen, but it took so long to load that I thought the virtual machine had stopped responding. Otherwise a good "minesweeper" game. GNU GPL. * GNU Chess (a chess game) doesn't seem to work for me. When I ran GNUCHESS.EXE I got a bunch of ANSI esc codes printed with the text - which obviously just looks like a mess. Couldn't figure out how to exit the game. Trying GNUCHESSN.EXE gave the same results, and still couldn't figure out how to quit. I gave up after that. I'm wondering if we need this game, or can we find another game to replace it? * Ivan (some kind of adventure game) ran fine, but I don't understand how to play it. The game says to use the arrow keys to get around, but neither the up/down/left/right did anything, nor the arrow keys on the num pad. GNU GPL * Kraptor has weird graphics, like the palette isn't displaying properly. The palette was so weird that I didn't immediately notice that it had a menu. Started a new game, and the weird graphics on VirtualBox made the game unplayable. And I couldn't quit the game during the (very long) opening animatic, so I ended up rebooting the machine. I have no idea what this game is. * Liquiwar (some sort of strategy game?) has the same palette problem I mentioned earlier. I reset the virtual machine to use VBoxSVGA, thinking the game was trying to use SVGA capabilities that standard VGA couldn't handle, but got the same result. Hangs when I try to quit using the "Exit to DOS" button. * Magnetic says in the startup that it is an interpreter for Magnetic Scrolls games. but there aren't any Magnetic Scrolls games installed with it, so I can't play anything with it. GNU GPL, but the game doesn't seem useful without any Magnetic Scrolls games to play. I'm wondering if we need this game, or can we find another game to replace it? * Mirror Magic displays some graphics in black and white. I *think* there's some graphical text there, but I can't read it, so I can't figure out what to do. I can't exit with the Esc key. Not sure what to do here. Had to reboot the virtual machine. I'm wondering if we need this game, or can we find another game to replace it? * Mistral (some kind of intrigue-adventure interactive game) runs fine and displays graphics fine. Not really my kind of game, but probably appeals to others. GNU GPL * Nethack is the classic text-based adventure-exploration game. Works fine. * Noudar is a 3D adventure game. Runs fine. BSD license. * PakuPaku is a "PacMan"-like game. Worked fine. I didn't get sound, but I don't know that I have my VirtualBox set up to do sound correctly. The license is a little weird. The exit screen has a long paragraph that says: >Source code (C) Jason M Knight and released to the public domain. If you are >going to give something away, lands sake just GIVE IT AWAY!!! [..] [And then there's a rant about "open source" and "freedom" licenses.] So it seems like this is public domain. But above that, the exit screen also says: >This game is released as "Cardware". If you enjoy it please send a postcard to: I'm not entirely happy with "Cardware" licenses. These are similar to "Beerware" licenses (if you enjoy the game, buy me a beer sometime) in that it introduces a vague compliance. Are you required to send a postcard? On the surface, this seems like a trivial point, but it is generally problematic. There's also an additional issue that he provides a home address to send the postcard. Does he still live there? It's an actual house (you can look it up on Google Maps, and zoom in on it with Google Street View) instead of a PO box - so this software release gives out someone's physical home address. I'm not comfortable with PakuPaku's "Cardware." I think if the author had just used the "public domain" thing, that would have been okay. But the "Cardware" addition makes me uncomfortable. Instead of PakuPaku, what about some other "PacMan"-like game instead? For example, there's Double PacMan, at https://breadbingames.itch.io/double-pacman (source code at https://github.com/moonorongo/doublePalman .. GNU GPL in the 'src' directory) * QTetris is a Tetris-like game. Plays well, and I get sound. GNU GPL. * SNova ("Supernova") has some issues on the opening screen. It says: >This game is placed in the public domain for your enjoyment. Please do >not abuse this product or the author's rights. (Except that if you place something in the "public domain" you give up all rights.) But below that, the game also says: >If you enjoy this game the author asks that you contribute $10 (by check). [..] That looks like shareware to me. Same as Beyond the Titanic, it's a problem that the game displays a "Shareware" notice and "Public domain" notice. It can't be both. The "send me $$" text suggests this is shareware. [Interestingly, further down the Readme, it says the source code is released under the GNU GPL. But the text above it doesn't agree with that.] This doesn't seem very "open source" to me. I think we need to remove this game for the 1.3 Final. * Sudoku86 is a "sudoku" game in graphics mode. Runs well in VirtualBox. BSD license. * Vertigo is a flight sim game. Maybe I did something wrong at the controls, but it made a little "crash" noise, then the game became unresponsive. Not sure how to play this. GNU GPL * VItetris is a "tetris"-like game. Plays well. Don't use the TETRIS16 game, since that seems to rely on ANSI esc sequences. But regular TETRIS was fine. * WW1 ("Word Whiz") has a "shareware" statement when you start a new game: >WORD WHIZ - VOLUME I is a shareware program ..and it has a note about ordering the software by sending in $4 "appreciation and registration fee." There's a similar "shareware" statement when you exit the program. Same as Beyond the Titanic, the Readme indicates "freeware" but then point 4 limits you. [Interestingly, further down the Readme, it says the source code is released under the GNU GPL. But the text above it doesn't agree with that.] This doesn't seem very "open source" to me. I think we need to remove this game for the 1.3 Final. * Zmiy is a really fun "nibbles"-like game. I had a lot of fun with it. Jim _______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list Freedos-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
