The Return of Viking Chess (Hnefatafl)

[coco.oric]

Hi !

I've test HNEFATAFL on my real oric this day, after the conversion in dsk and hfe (HxC processus)
It's fun. Thanks for it

Didier

[barnsey123]

Hi Didier...that's great...I was worried that it would not work on a real oric as it was untested.

I'm hoping to release 1.2 in next week or two...this should fix some quirks and make it more of a challenge. I need to update the instructions...I didn't mention that the turn line changes color depending on how many turns are left...

If more people can play the game and provide feedback I'm happy to make any necessary changes (if I can!).

Thanks for all the kind comments.

[coco.oric]

Hello, i've an idea of improvement.
When you're playing with oricutron, moving the lightning bloc is easy with the arrows.
It's a bit harder with a real oric.
I think (but other advices are necessary) that it will be easier if we can change the keyboard definitions or if you're using something more usual for the oric like A/Z </>

Didier

[barnsey123]

Hello, i've an idea of improvement.
When you're playing with oricutron, moving the lightning bloc is easy with the arrows.
It's a bit harder with a real oric.
I think (but other advices are necessary) that it will be easier if we can change the keyboard definitions or if you're using something more usual for the oric like A/Z </>

Didier

Agreed. In v1.2 I've added a key translation feature that automatically translates certain keys to their "arrow key" equivalents (so A/Z is up/down and </> is left/right as you suggested)
I've also made the SPACE BAR and RETURN key functionally equivalent to pressing "X". You don't have to select which keyboard layout you want to use (it'll just work). I might also make the DEL key equivalent to "R" for reset (what do you think?)

This way, you can just use whatever feels natural. I think these changes should make the game compatible with some oric joysticks. So the "fire" button will pick a piece up and also drop it...

I also found a couple of variables which were surplus to requirements so I've removed those.

v1.2 will be released in a week or two with - hopefully - some changes to the AI.

[Chema]

Great! Alternatives in keyboard is a good idea, because I also feel it is more natural to use AZ-like layout in the real machine, but it depends on your taste.

[Antiriad2097]

The option for a user to redefine the keys should be a standard in all modern games, not least for accessibility. Likewise, joystick control should be available.

[barnsey123]

v1.2

Includes alternative cursor control keys: A/Z and </>
SPACE bar and RETURN key can be used for selecting a piece (same as X)

hnefatafl.tap

v1.2

(42.19 KiB) Downloaded 586 times

Hnefatafl.pdf

Instructions for v1.0 to v1.2 inclusive

(352.89 KiB) Downloaded 1151 times

As Antiriad mentioned it would be nice to have the control keys completely user-configurable (30 year old oric keyboards may have keys that don't work properly) so I might include this facility in a future version. For the moment I'm holding some memory in reserve for improved AI. I've updated the user instructions and corrected a few typos. I've added some links in the document so you can explore alternative rules, online play and take a look at the world championships...

[Symoon]

Barnsey - about the loading problems reported on Oric.org... I'm repeating myself but this might be the problem source: beware in your TAP file, you have to either remove one of the first four $16 values, either add one at the beginnings of the following parts holding only three $16.
If you don't you'll have trouble loading your file with (at least !) Euphoric latest versions, which work in two different loading modes according to the amount of $16 at the beginning of the TAP file.

If the first part of your file starts by 1616161624 (or more 16), then all the following parts must start at least by 1616161624 (or more 16).

EDIT: other possible problem for "Paulfiction": his WAV player, as many, "eats" (understand: doesn't play) the very end of his wav file. Which is not a problem for music, but is a problem indeed for finishing loading a game on Oric.

[barnsey123]

Barnsey - about the loading problems reported on Oric.org... I'm repeating myself but this might be the problem source: beware in your TAP file, you have to either remove one of the first four $16 values, either add one at the beginnings of the following parts holding only three $16.
If you don't you'll have trouble loading your file with (at least !) Euphoric latest versions, which work in two different loading modes according to the amount of $16 at the beginning of the TAP file.

If the first part of your file starts by 1616161624 (or more 16), then all the following parts must start at least by 1616161624 (or more 16).

EDIT: other possible problem for "Paulfiction": his WAV player, as many, "eats" (understand: doesn't play) the very end of his wav file. Which is not a problem for music, but is a problem indeed for finishing loading a game on Oric.

Hi Symoon, what I think is happening is this: in oricutron/euphoric the tap file stops playing at the relevant parts and continues again at the next cload (like a tape player with remote functionality). However when playing a wav file from say a PC there would be no facility to pause the playback. So the loading screen loads ok and displays the text and anims but the wav file keeps on playing...by the time the cload kicks in the wav file is past the start of the second tap. Does this sound right?

Two things I don't know (among thousands of other things):
How do I check how many 16's there are (and how to edit them) and how would I insert a "gap" to account for a non-paused player? Would appreciate any pointers...seems to work ok in euphoric.

BTW I've created a one-part tap file that should load in one pass (but no cool skulls/credits) which I'll load up here over the weekend...sort of Hnefatafl-LITE...

I get my hands on my new Cumulus tomorrow so the atmos is all setup and ready to roll

[Symoon]

Hi Symoon, what I think is happening is this: in oricutron/euphoric the tap file stops playing at the relevant parts and continues again at the next cload (like a tape player with remote functionality). However when playing a wav file from say a PC there would be no facility to pause the playback. So the loading screen loads ok and displays the text and anims but the wav file keeps on playing...by the time the cload kicks in the wav file is past the start of the second tap. Does this sound right?

Ah, that's a possibility if your 1st part (forgetting the small loader here) does more than just loading a Hires screen. But I hope the user would be able to realize this and stop the tape!

How do I check how many 16's there are (and how to edit them) and how would I insert a "gap" to account for a non-paused player? Would appreciate any pointers...seems to work ok in euphoric.

You have to hex-edit the TAP file. HxD is a free and good hex editor for Windows (maybe more).
From memory, the file will work with Euphoric up to version 1.013. It doesn't with the 1.016!
See http://forum.defence-force.org/viewtopi ... 9&start=15 ("it's Christmas")
What would be interesting to investigate is how you ended with a difference in the amount of synchro bytes between the small loader, and the two large parts.

About the pause, there are instructions to control the tape remote but on the one hand most of tape player don't have it plugged, and on the other hand mp3 players or computers playing a wav file won't care at all. You'd either have to insert an ugly "stop the tape" warning, or maybe make the wav file yourself with the correct pause (silence) between the two parts. This can be done with a program like Audacity. Problem: if the experienced user stopped the tape, when starting it again he will have to wait for that silennce before the program starts loading again.
Ah, those humans are making things difficult

But don't underestimate the power of the dark-player-that-actually-doesn't-play-the-whole-file
It happened quite a lot in the WAV files loading problems. Solution is to insert 2 seconds of silence at the end of the WAV file, hence the player cutting the end cuts silence, not the last program bytes.

[barnsey123]

Simpler Program (no fancy loading graphics) should be easier to load on a tape-based Atmos

HNEFATAFL-LITE.tap

v1.2B (same as v1.2 AI-wise but loads the font in main prog and no checkerboard wipes)

(36.57 KiB) Downloaded 584 times

[coco.oric]

I have updated ceo.oric.org with this new file.
Thanks

Didier

[ibisum]

Is it possible to get a .DSK file?

[coco.oric]

Ok, i've put it on the oric.org archive.
Note that's the one which serve on the pictures (i've converted my dsk to hfe for hxc) and it's version 1.1 of Hnefatafl.

Now, on CEO base you've hnefatl :
- tap version for wav compliance
- tap version 1.2
and at the bottom :
- dsk version 1.1
- hfe version 1.1
- docs

Here is the link : http://www.oric.org/software/hnefatafl-2243.html

[barnsey123]

Ok, i've put it on the oric.org archive.
Note that's the one which serve on the pictures (i've converted my dsk to hfe for hxc) and it's version 1.1 of Hnefatafl.

Now, on CEO base you've hnefatl :
- tap version for wav compliance
- tap version 1.2
and at the bottom :
- dsk version 1.1
- hfe version 1.1
- docs

Here is the link : http://www.oric.org/software/hnefatafl-2243.html

Hi Didier, could you publish a disk version for 1.2? (this has the more flexible keyboard input)

Will be a while before 1.3 hits the streets...