Is porting Xargon permitted?

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kilodude
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by kilodude »

Malvineous wrote:Just as well I got special permission from the guy who wrote Xargon then :-)
Yes he did!

Videogamer555, thanks for looking out for me.
-Allen, Game Designer/Programmer of "Kiloblaster" and "Xargon." Game Design for "Super ZZTs: Monster Zoo" and bonus levels of "Snarf."
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Lunick
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by Lunick »

Any progress updates?

Yes, I did sign up to post this message but mainly because the game was a standout compared to the many shareware games I played as a kid!
Malvineous
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by Malvineous »

Sorry not much yet - I haven't had much time to spend on this, and I still have a bunch of things outstanding on Kiloblaster. I did fix a few bugs though so hopefully some of the crashes have been fixed, but there are a few more to go.

At this point I don't have any plans to extend the game, I am mostly interested in getting it playable as per the original game. So beyond adding a full screen mode I probably won't be doing a whole lot more. I am of course happy to work with any other programmers who are interested in improving the game with high resolution image filters etc.
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kilodude
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by kilodude »

Malvineous wrote:At this point I don't have any plans to extend the game, I am mostly interested in getting it playable as per the original game. So beyond adding a full screen mode I probably won't be doing a whole lot more. I am of course happy to work with any other programmers who are interested in improving the game with high resolution image filters etc.
What might be cool is if I designed a new level or two but I would only do that if there was a successful port. Keep up the work on this and I think we all understand how busy life can be.
-Allen, Game Designer/Programmer of "Kiloblaster" and "Xargon." Game Design for "Super ZZTs: Monster Zoo" and bonus levels of "Snarf."
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Lunick
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by Lunick »

Malvineous wrote:Sorry not much yet - I haven't had much time to spend on this, and I still have a bunch of things outstanding on Kiloblaster. I did fix a few bugs though so hopefully some of the crashes have been fixed, but there are a few more to go.

At this point I don't have any plans to extend the game, I am mostly interested in getting it playable as per the original game. So beyond adding a full screen mode I probably won't be doing a whole lot more. I am of course happy to work with any other programmers who are interested in improving the game with high resolution image filters etc.
That's all good with me, I'm just interested in it running natively in Windows instead of using DOSBox.

Keep up the good work :)
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by DOSGuy »

kilodude wrote:What might be cool is if I designed a new level or two but I would only do that if there was a successful port.
That would be awesome! I would still want to add them to the DOS version so that they can be played in-browser.
Today entirely the maniac there is no excuse with the article.
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by spikey »

Or, y'know, for those who want to play an extended DOS version :)

Allen, awesome about you maybe making new content! Shows how cool old game-devs can be, especially compared to other platformer devs from the 90's era.. :X
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by Lunick »

I'd be all for new levels :D
developertn
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by developertn »

Jesus!hehe

Congratulations. Getting official permission from someone is a blessing. I usually take without asking permission thinking it is okay. However, you are better than me and look where it got you!!!!!!!!!!!! The official producer of Xargon replied directly to you. Wow#!! That is like a movie star emailing you directly. Cannot beat that.

I notice you got stuck, if you got that far so far keep going. A word of advice from a friend of mine. If you take it one day at a time and keep building on it one little function at a time it ends up the whole thing.

God bless you for putting in the efforts, even if you don't continue at least you could always say the producer is your friend now.
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by kilodude »

developertn wrote:Jesus!hehe

Congratulations. Getting official permission from someone is a blessing. I usually take without asking permission thinking it is okay. However, you are better than me and look where it got you!!!!!!!!!!!! The official producer of Xargon replied directly to you. Wow#!! That is like a movie star emailing you directly. Cannot beat that.

I notice you got stuck, if you got that far so far keep going. A word of advice from a friend of mine. If you take it one day at a time and keep building on it one little function at a time it ends up the whole thing.

God bless you for putting in the efforts, even if you don't continue at least you could always say the producer is your friend now.
Thanks for everyone's continued interest in "Xargon" and my other game "Kiloblaster." I have made the entire trilogy for each available at no cost.

Here is some new information: My son has a YouTube channel and this week he featured a partial play-through of "Xargon" as part of a new Retro series for Throwback Thursdays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOuidtYWsnU.

He and I are working on an FPS for Xargon 4 using the Unreal engine. This is his project and he's leading the direction of it. I'm just there to help in any way I can. Also, this was his idea and for that I am grateful. He has already written out the story and has a title for the game but we're keeping that secret for now. It will be a modified open-world map with plenty of the things you loved about the original but with far better graphics: dungeons, hidden areas, special powers, enhanced enemies and a full body for Xargon. There will be an improved sound track and sound effects. Most importantly Malvineous will no longer shoot bullets out of his belly button. Instead he will be wielding a sword and there will be Zelda overtones. That's all I'm saying for now.

New level: I would like to do this. I just need to pull out my tools and see if I remember how to design a level. Maybe my son would be interested in doing one. I'll put it on my calendar so I don't forget. Take care everyone.
-Allen, Game Designer/Programmer of "Kiloblaster" and "Xargon." Game Design for "Super ZZTs: Monster Zoo" and bonus levels of "Snarf."
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kilodude
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by kilodude »

I will make sure that my son adds links to this site and specifically for the downloads.
-Allen, Game Designer/Programmer of "Kiloblaster" and "Xargon." Game Design for "Super ZZTs: Monster Zoo" and bonus levels of "Snarf."
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God, Jesus Christ, is number one!hehe

Post by developertn »

Jesus Christ!hehe

@kilodude: Great work! My sprites currently blink however your's seem stable. I don't want to take your secrets away however I just wanted to say that really impresses me. Also, the speed at which the screen scrolls is impressive. I was wondering if it is a full DOS game or is it a Windows version? So far I have messed with mixed C and assembly. It seems you might have done is all in assembly? Anyways, great work again!!!!!!!!!!!! Your son really did a great job showcasing the game too. It was very entertaining. Is there a freeware version available?

[Edit]
By the way, the sound blaster is also impressive. I never got around to doing any real sounds in my games.
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kilodude
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Re: God, Jesus Christ, is number one!hehe

Post by kilodude »

developertn wrote:
@kilodude: Great work! My sprites currently blink however your's seem stable. I don't want to take your secrets away however I just wanted to say that really impresses me. Also, the speed at which the screen scrolls is impressive. I was wondering if it is a full DOS game or is it a Windows version? So far I have messed with mixed C and assembly. It seems you might have done is all in assembly? Anyways, great work again!!!!!!!!!!!! Your son really did a great job showcasing the game too. It was very entertaining. Is there a freeware version available?

[Edit]
By the way, the sound blaster is also impressive. I never got around to doing any real sounds in my games.
Thanks. I appreciate the kind words. You can download the entire game here: https://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Xargon.html. It is totally FREE. I wrote this in Borland Turbo C with some Assembly code provided by Tim Sweeney to make the graphics and sound work better. In order to get the sound to work on a modern Windows computer such as Windows 7, 8 or 10 you will need something like D-Fend Reloaded which used DOSBox but is much easier to configure. With that you can play full screen and all music and sound effects work as originally designed. Have fun.
-Allen, Game Designer/Programmer of "Kiloblaster" and "Xargon." Game Design for "Super ZZTs: Monster Zoo" and bonus levels of "Snarf."
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kilodude
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Re: God, Jesus Christ, is number one!hehe

Post by kilodude »

developertn wrote:Your son really did a great job showcasing the game too. It was very entertaining.
My son says, "Thank you!"
-Allen, Game Designer/Programmer of "Kiloblaster" and "Xargon." Game Design for "Super ZZTs: Monster Zoo" and bonus levels of "Snarf."
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Re: Is porting Xargon permitted?

Post by developertn »

One last words for now, maybe you could have one of those donation buttons. Please please please don't make there a minimum since some people like me cannot afford more than maybe some pennies. An example is IMGBURN. That is an impressive burning program yet it is completely free.
Thank you ahead of time for the free game. I am sure someone will pay you for it. I have been known to give to a good cause from time to time. I do not have much however if a program is worth it I will do it.

I have not purchased many games in my life however one of the "games" that I have purchased and never regretted because of the quality of the work is "WinRAR 3.93". I love that program. It blows zip out of the way except you have to puy for it.

Cheers and hope to see you have a webpage with a donation button up one day.
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