GEM
CURIOS
This little article covers some of the strange proggies that turn up in a
GEM legal fashion. This time around, we cover anything from an up and coming
GEM legal version of the ancient ST classic, Dungeonmaster, to a program
that lets you mix the ultimate cocktail, in German...
D-GEM 0.10..
This is the earliest release of what looks like a fascinating reworking of
the classic first person perspective adventure 'Dungeon Master'. As you all
know, Dungeon Master was the 18 carat original, which launched a thousand
imitations, and some say, may have been the inspiration for the next
generation of world-beaters such as Wolfenstein and Doom?
Rajah Lone is presently converting the determinedly non-GEM based original,
by the miracle of GFA Basic, into a comfortably GEM legal, and rather modish
looking game engine. Presentation is interesting, with one smallish GEM
window showing the viewscreen for the game, and another GEM window
containing a mouse clickable control panel.
This is emphatically a game for the more modern Atari machines, or TOS/GEM
clones among us. It needs a minumum screen resolution of 640 x 400 in 16
colours, so that would start to include the likes of the TT onwards. A
modern VDI such as NVDI, or current O/S such as MagiC/Mint, are also
recommended.
There isn't too much just yet, the 'game' is a walk-around of the Dungeon
Master mazes, where you are perfectly alone. No monsters or bad guys right
now, but I'm sure the rest will follow presently.
Right now, prospects are interesting, and we might yet see a full GEM
compliant version of Dungeon Master? In the meantime, it is an interesting
GEM curio!
My Jester..
The splendidly Shakespearean sounding Pierre Tonthat is responsible for this
moments madness of a 'Shakespeare Insult generator'!
Remember a man called Karsmakers, remember an accessory (to the truth?)
called Wowbagger? Well Pierre has also decided to delve into the world of
great English literature, for his inspiration to an insult generator, only
he seems to hath gone back farthest than thou, about another four centuries
and a middling score of years away from Douglas Adams.
To be fair, he has kept a pathway open to the present day, with Calvin (of
Calvin and Hobbes fame) acting as the 'front end' of the insult generator.
Calvin appears, framed in a little GEM window, pulling faces at the viewer,
whenever a mouse click lands on him. Where's the insulting coming from?
Well, run Bubble GEM, and try again. Ah, what is this, the insolent youth
hath found his tongue, "Wayward Plume-plucked Valort", I'll give thee a
hiding thou won't forget!
Definitely needs a modern operating system, nothing still rooted in the dark
and superstitious closing years of the 16th century. So that is Mint or
MagiC then. The .RSC file can be edited, if you wanted something more to the
point, but that would steal the stylishness from My Jester, and replace it
with something altogether more boorish.
No real practical use, but quite literally, minutes of fun!
Cocktail..
Gunnar Grobel is responsible for something far more practical and GEM based.
This is his 'Cocktail' database, yet again brought to a waiting world, by
another workaday miracle of GFA Basic.
This is quite a substantial program, which allows you to make up any one of
dozens of famous cocktails, from Casablanca, to Butterfly. Best to have all
the ingredients handy, and an advance booking for Alcoholics Anonymous, just
in case eh!
The action takes place in two boxes alongside one another. Clicking on a
cocktail name on the right, produces a list of ingredients, their
proportions, and brief instructions on how to make the thing, on the left
hand side, and below. Clicking on the individual ingredients listed on the
left hand side, gives some brief information about these too.
This is a colourful program, representing the best of modern GEM programming
practices. Pretty icons abound, the overall design is good, I think there is
even an option to print out the recipes, if my very limited grasp of Deutsch
is correct?
That's right, the only downside, from a non-German point of view, is that
this program is strictly for those people who host good coding parties, but
are reluctant to go to other countries parties, and whose Autobahn system is
very interesting to drive down in the dead of night!
Maybe a future version with French and English language options will appear,
if so, then it will be a really useful program!
CiH, for Alive! - Oct '00
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