Autoduel the PC Game

[Tom H.]

P.S.

Maybe you just want to run the game through an emulator. Otherwise, I'm not even sure reverse engineering the code would be all that helpful to a human programmer.

I'm sure that Origin Systems was very talented, but I'll bet even they would have been preferred to improve the programming rather than just restore it. You inevitably learn a lot once you finish a project.

It may be just as "easy" to "reverse engineer" the on-screen game with modern techniques.

[NORJustice]

Reverse engineering the code could be a great help for bringing out an updated version, especially if the goal is to have the original version, but just make it look better and run on current machines. Depending on how "modern" their coding techniques were, you would be able to get the entire structure of the code. Even if you have to rewrite it, you would still have a jumpstart on the different methods, functions, objects, and classes new code would require.

You would also be able to get all of the information that was used to balance the game. How much damage a MG does, how often you can fire it, etc. All of this gives a programmer a strong starting position.

[Tom H.]

Yes, I am by no means an expert when it comes to the task at hand.

However, it may have been unusual to even be using an object-oriented language to program the game at that time for microcomputers. The game was released in 1985.

There would have been a lot of code dealing with the constraints of such an old platform. I believe you had to manage tricks to deal with such small memories on disk and in the system. Of course, good structure would have insulated the lower level code from the more abstracted logic.

And the decompile wouldn't return any of the useful comments.

You make a good point about game balance and getting access to the data and statistics used to model the vehicles and the action. Of course, you do have the Car Wars boardgame to fall back on for the basics.

[Blue Ghost]

Originally Posted by 43Supporter

There's certainly enough driving-sim engines out there; just need to be able to strap a decent gunnery sim on top. (Fun Notion: Co-op Mode -- one player drives; everyone else guns.... :) )

*I should be sleeping*

X-Wing Alliance or an old MS space combat sim called Allegiance both have ships were one guy pilots and the rest gun. I can envision a CW computer game where you have a big rig with a q-trailer loaded up with gunners. It would be an interesting and fun experience.

Waaay back in middle school I contemplated going into computer game development (note; NOT video game, but games meant for the PC), and almost wish I had because of the Ogre port to PC or digital format. A CW game or even a GURPS online RPG would be really cool with today's graphics. Which is kind of what I thought I might aim for all those years ago.

Best of luck in your endeavors.

[Blue Ghost]

I think I've mentioned this on other threads, but back during the 80s warsim and RPG game boom, it was my thought that those games would eventually all see computer ports of some kind within ten years or so.

I'm just really shocked that it took … what … thirty to forty years to some of those (and only a handful) ported over to PC platform. And it's kind of why I'm so happy that Ogre got an extremely respectable port in spite of some buggyness, because it shows that there's people out there, young and old alike (those of us who remember Ogre, CW and other games when they first hit the market) who would like to experience those games and interact with those worlds.


I've mentioned this on other threads as well, but as fun as it is to think about a FPS version of CW, I'm more of the mind of a straight digital port of just the traditional top down classic game. Still, for all that, it would be kind of fun to ride shotgun with your friend as you slug it out in an arena or on a highway. But, given that CW games last only seconds of "real world game time", I'm thinking it wouldn't be a very satisfying experience from a pure gaming perspective.

[Tom H.]

I'm still waiting for "robots" with cameras, sensors, and laser pointers that can referee actual tactile board games.

They can remind you of rules, correct your mistakes, and provide accurate data such as line-of-sight, ranges, and probabilities.

[Parody]

Autoduel was likely written in assembly specifically for whichever 8-bit platform was Origin's first choice at the time (my guess would be the Apple II) and then adapted to the various others. What might be most beneficial is a printed copy of WIP source with annotations from the time, even though it won't match the final product.

One thing you can get from disassembling multiple versions, though, is comparing how things were implemented and being able to resolve the bugs between them (or pick the best/most accurate version) when looking at a rerelease. This is the sort of thing that they're doing with the Bard's Tale Trilogy remaster, and the developers posting about some of the weird differences between the versions has been some of the most fascinating things to me. It's a little different when you're looking at a computer game that was partially an adaptation of a physical game, but given the rules weirdnesses in Car Wars over the years it'd probably still useful.

Originally Posted by Tom H.

I'm still waiting for "robots" with cameras, sensors, and laser pointers that can referee actual tactile board games. ...

Like Golem Arcana?

If you have a program that determines the rules, why not turn it into a complete game? That opens it to a much wider audience (and monetization system) and reduces the massive overhead in producing physical items.

[Blue Ghost]

Originally Posted by Tom H.

I'm still waiting for "robots" with cameras, sensors, and laser pointers that can referee actual tactile board games.

They can remind you of rules, correct your mistakes, and provide accurate data such as line-of-sight, ranges, and probabilities.

I know this is tongue in cheek, as per Parody stated, there's helper software out there. I've not really gone hunting for any, but I've seen people with laptops and pads at cons doing stuff for table top sims.

[Tom H.]

Originally Posted by Parody

Autoduel was likely written in assembly specifically for whichever 8-bit platform was Origin's first choice at the time (my guess would be the Apple II) and then adapted to the various others.

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this, but I seem to recall hearing that Richard Garriott made early games like Ultima in compiled BASIC for the Apple II.

Originally Posted by Parody

If you have a program that determines the rules, why not turn it into a complete game? That opens it to a much wider audience (and monetization system) and reduces the massive overhead in producing physical items.

You could probably extend this logic to getting rid of all physical games, but they still have appeal.

Sometimes its hard to beat the experience of gaming with live people around a table with physical components.

[Tom H.]

Originally Posted by Blue Ghost

I know this is tongue in cheek, as per Parody stated, there's helper software out there. I've not really gone hunting for any, but I've seen people with laptops and pads at cons doing stuff for table top sims.

I'm actually being serious.