I'm looking for source code for the "original" classic Empire (ANSI console graphics, no sound). Is this available anywhere - on this site or in a DECUS archive somewhere, perhaps? Even though this game cost me an extra year of grad school back in the 1980s I still play a PC port, every now and then. OK, more often than that.

Thanks

John Goulden
Empire player since 198n where n is a small but unremembered integer

It's on the website www.classicempire.com.

"John Goulden" <John_member@pathlink.com> wrote in message news:dtfgne$273g$1@digitaldaemon.com...
> I'm looking for source code for the "original" classic Empire (ANSI
> console
> graphics, no sound). Is this available anywhere - on this site or in a
> DECUS
> archive somewhere, perhaps? Even though this game cost me an extra year of
> grad
> school back in the 1980s I still play a PC port, every now and then. OK,
> more
> often than that.
>
> Thanks
>
> John Goulden
> Empire player since 198n where n is a small but unremembered integer

In article <dtlst4$2fic$4@digitaldaemon.com>, Walter Bright says...
>
>It's on the website www.classicempire.com.

The current "official" version (which is 2.03 and not 2.01 as written on the
page - as of today, 20.7.06), as well as "Stewart's" version(smjg), are broken
for the current compiler version (missing std.c.string (& other) includes
(memset, strlen, ...), depreciated shadowing (some "microlocal" variables),...).

I made a working version
* avoiding 100% CPU load,
* reimplementing the "destrucive move warning/confirmation" as popup requester
* help window does not crash when noncursor keys are pressed
but exactly like Stewart's, it has a problem with the "Open..." function (can't
open before starting a first "New game...", "load game" incompatible with old
saved games, and even crashes for new ones under yet to be determined
conditions).

Also, I made much code cleanup (yet without being radical *enough*...) -
probably the best would be to rewrite (at least rethink) "display" and "text"
from scratch (even if I would be in favour of maintaining a 100% tty version
compilability through versioning).

It seems, several contributers were interested in improving the source.
I would be interested in sharing and improving it on a "common project" basis.
A few ideas which should be quite easy to implement:
o a "mouse-click" popup menu for giving/changing orders for a given unit/city
and/or switch to survey mode
o to customize many options (size & choice of map ; keyboard commands (make
cursor keys work - imagine you had an AZERTY keyboard...!))
o write a map generator, either "fully" automatic (e.g. looking at the source
code for the VMS version distributed with debian linux [which seems to need some
authorship/intellectual property clarification...]), or semi-automatic
(continent-growing function etc. like in ye olden days...), or both.

-- MFH

MFH wrote:
> In article <dtlst4$2fic$4@digitaldaemon.com>, Walter Bright says...
>> It's on the website www.classicempire.com.
> 
> The current "official" version (which is 2.03 and not 2.01 as written on the
> page - as of today, 20.7.06), as well as "Stewart's" version(smjg), are broken
> for the current compiler version (missing std.c.string (& other) includes
> (memset, strlen, ...), depreciated shadowing (some "microlocal" variables),...).
> 
> I made a working version

So have I.  Watch this space.

> * avoiding 100% CPU load,
> * reimplementing the "destrucive move warning/confirmation" as popup requester
> * help window does not crash when noncursor keys are pressed
> but exactly like Stewart's, it has a problem with the "Open..." function (can't
> open before starting a first "New game...", "load game" incompatible with old
> saved games, and even crashes for new ones under yet to be determined
> conditions).

My working version works in these respects.  However, at the moment, trying to start a demo first thing crashes it.  This is one thing I'm trying to fix before I release it.

> Also, I made much code cleanup (yet without being radical *enough*...) -
> probably the best would be to rewrite (at least rethink) "display" and "text"
> from scratch (even if I would be in favour of maintaining a 100% tty version
> compilability through versioning).

My version has a rewritten text display engine.  What's more, the text display is still purely textual, and so it can still be adapted to a tty.

> It seems, several contributers were interested in improving the source.
> I would be interested in sharing and improving it on a "common project" basis.
> A few ideas which should be quite easy to implement:
> o a "mouse-click" popup menu for giving/changing orders for a given unit/city
> and/or switch to survey mode

There already is a mouse-click popup menu, but it seems to be just a cut-down version of the menu bar.

> o to customize many options (size & choice of map ; keyboard commands (make
> cursor keys work - imagine you had an AZERTY keyboard...!))
> o write a map generator, either "fully" automatic (e.g. looking at the source
> code for the VMS version distributed with debian linux [which seems to need some
> authorship/intellectual property clarification...]), or semi-automatic
> (continent-growing function etc. like in ye olden days...), or both.

The map generator is already automatic.  Either that or I don't know what you mean.  "Or both" - meaning 150% automatic?  :-)

Stewart.