15 replies to this topic

[Dead1nside]

Hi, this is quite random but what are the possibilities of Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 and 2 being able to be played on the Pandora? Would somebody have to port them to use the ARM architecture, is there such thing as a PC emulator? Thanks.

[lulzfish]

Here's the general checklist:

1. Is it closed-source?
2. Does it depend on non-portable libraries such as DirectX or .NET?
3. Does it require more than a 486 to play?

If you answered "Yes" to all of the above, then odds are very bad that it will ever appear on the Pandora.
I'm pretty sure those were Windows + DirectX games, right? If they were on DOS, there's a chance that DOSbox can emulate them, but Windows 95 and up is, at least for now, impossible. Unless they're open-source. Then it's actually quite likely, if someone took the time to port it to OGLES.

[WizardStan]

Roller Coaster Tycoon is a Windows game.
Look at the top threads. It's stickied. It should be impossible to miss. Therein lies your answer. And then a lot of debate about hacks that could theoretically change the answer, but ignore them; the title of the thread is all you really need to know

[cb88]

no its pretty unlikely ... I think they used quite a bit of x86 assembly as well so probably are even less portable I don't think rollercoaster tycoon was opensource but transport tycoon was not sure if it works on arm

Port = extremely unlikely
Emu = maybe but extreme longshot since Dosbox/qemu are expected to run about mid 486 speed although it has been speculated that it could be improved to low end Pentium speed and iirc the min requirement for RollerCoaster Tycoon is a Pentuim 133

Edited by cb88, 09 June 2009 - 04:03 AM.

[Nightwheel]

Here's the general checklist:

1. Is it closed-source?
2. Does it depend on non-portable libraries such as DirectX or .NET?
3. Does it require more than a 486 to play?

If you answered "Yes" to all of the above, then odds are very bad that it will ever appear on the Pandora.
I'm pretty sure those were Windows + DirectX games, right?

You are correct on all accounts my friend

[Gruso]

Just went Googling to see if Zodttd ever did anything with RCT. Doesn't look like it. Although I did find a thread full of people crying about how illegal OpenTTD is.

[Megatog615]

How was the TTD source code obtained?

[Wojtek Kanalia]

How was the TTD source code obtained?

Actually, it wasn't obtained at all, as the original TT and TTD are closed-source games

From OpenTTD's homepage:
"OpenTTD is an open source clone of the Microprose game "Transport Tycoon Deluxe", a popular game originally written by Chris Sawyer. It attempts to mimic the original game as closely as possible while extending it with new features."

So there you have it, cloned/mimicked

2. Does it depend on non-portable libraries such as DirectX or .NET?

.NET? I don't see a big issue with .NET portability since MONO is around and quite well...


Back on topic. Nah, Rollercoaster Tycoon probably won't appear on the Pandora. At least not till a project similar to OpenTTD shows up

[ledow]

How was the TTD source code obtained?

The DOS binary was run through a primitive "assembly to C" disassembler and then heavily tidied up to form the code base for OpenTTD. This isn't widely advertised, but I was around when it was being done. The person who did it worked on ScummVM too. The code has been pretty much rewritten since (it's now C++), but it was still based on a reverse-engineering of the original binaries and, I believe, the work of the TTDPatch team.

That's why for many years the OpenTTD "AI" was the old DOS AI and was abandoned because pretty much nobody understood it and it couldn't take account of many of the new features (as well as being a terminally poor AI implementation because it was taken from an ancient DOS game).

[Dead1nside]

Thank-you for the clarification, sorry I didn't spot the stickied post. A friend was interested in getting a Pandora and asked the question, I did not believe it was possible myself due to the different architectures.

[EdCa22]

However, it would run OpenTTD I should think. So basically, you can play it, but it will be a little bit different!

[Wojtek Kanalia]

EdCa22:
I think his main interest was Rollercoaster Tycoon and not Transport Tycoon Deluxe The latter (as OpenTTD) for sure will be ported (if not already) and run.

[may88]

Whilst we're not on the topic. The game I'd most love so see ported is Total Annihilation. Needs a Pentium 100MHz.
There is the Spring project but this rather beefs up the graphics whilst using the same underlying structures.

Edited by may88, 09 June 2009 - 08:30 PM.

[God Ginrai]

Whilst we're not on the topic. The game I'd most love so see ported is Total Annihilation. Needs a Pentium 100MHz.
There is the Spring project but this rather beefs up the graphics whilst using the same underlying structures.

Is Total Annihilation Open Source? The benefit of the Spring Engine would be that it is open source.

-God Ginrai

[may88]

Whilst we're not on the topic. The game I'd most love so see ported is Total Annihilation. Needs a Pentium 100MHz.
There is the Spring project but this rather beefs up the graphics whilst using the same underlying structures.

Is Total Annihilation Open Source? The benefit of the Spring Engine would be that it is open source.

-God Ginrai

No of course it's not, more's the pity.
Indeed. There's hope for a port although Spring seem too demanding for our dear pandy's hardware.
Spotted this thread where the Spring comminity mentioned us in passing.


edit: must proof read. must proof read.

Edited by may88, 09 June 2009 - 08:56 PM.