[FA] NDS port

[Donald Jonker]

Just curious as to how the nds port of faangband is coming along. Are there any jobs that a non-coder can do to lighten the load (playtesting... or something)? I just beat mario for the 58941th time and need something new to play while the lady watches gossip girl .

[Nick]

It is being actively worked on (though not by me). Already the keyboard is a decent colour, and there's the capacity to switch the top and bottom screens (which makes a huge difference). I'll try to get a new binary up soon.

[Donald Jonker]

Cool. Thanks for the update!

[Nick]

There is now a new, vastly improved, version of the DS port at http://angband.oook.cz/faangband/Downloads.html - many thanks to Michael Smith. Both the binary and the faangband directory should be recopied, but make sure to keep your save file (faangband/lib/save/PLAYER) if you value it.

The left shoulder button now switches the map between the top and bottom screens, enabling full use of the mouse controls; this and the enlarged font make the game now really playable. Also using help doesn't crash the game any more, and the keyboard has a sensible colour scheme. And the 'A' button acts as Enter, the 'X' button as Escape.

Note that the DS port now uses small screen mode; the most obvious side effect of this is that monster names are abbreviated to initials. To see the monster's full name, tap on it.

[Nick]

This is now updated again, and Michael has given it a version number; if the interested observer looks and notes that the version number has increased, that means there's been another update (but I'm not going to report them all).

I haven't actually had a chance to look at this one; I think the screens are used better and ... the shoulder buttons do stuff... I swear, I used to have a memory.

[Donald Jonker]

This is coming along great. My only request is to increase the font size slightly: my hand isn't steady enough to hit the right tile with the stylus consistently. That quibble aside, fantastic work. Thanks Michael and Nick!

[Nick]

my hand isn't steady enough to hit the right tile with the stylus consistently.

I think there are ideas in the works to compensate for that.

[Nick]

OK, more detail on what the current update does:

• 'B' button attacks the nearest monster
• When the map is on the bottom screen, the top screen is term-1 - so you can put messages, overhead map or whatever there. This is a massive improvement.
• (less excitingly for players) 'R' button brings up an error console

[Nick]

Latest version (2.25) is up - new keypad overlay for that "Hey, I went in the right direction" feeling.

I'll try to get an update of O to the latest DS version done on the weekend, too.

[Nick]

Version 2.33 is now up, and it's a cracker. There are now proper buttons, both the standard ones and user configurable ones, that appear as an overlay on the right of the screen. Anyone who has a DS should be looking at this - even if you don't want to play FA (as if anyone wouldn't), there should be vanilla port at some point, and you should start getting excited.

[andrewdoull]

Version 2.33 is now up, and it's a cracker. There are now proper buttons, both the standard ones and user configurable ones, that appear as an overlay on the right of the screen. Anyone who has a DS should be looking at this - even if you don't want to play FA (as if anyone wouldn't), there should be vanilla port at some point, and you should start getting excited.

Mmm... screenshots?

Andrew

[Nick]

Mmm... screenshots?

Um, yes, good point. I'll put some up later.

[Donald Jonker]

Version 2.33 is now up, and it's a cracker. There are now proper buttons, both the standard ones and user configurable ones, that appear as an overlay on the right of the screen.

A cracker indeed it is. This is a real achievement - bravo!

I can't figure out, though, how to configure the buttons in-game. I tried messing around with the buttons files in the faangband/nds folder, but I'm too obtuse to make it work right (it keeps on putting a "/r" command at the end of each button). The documentation says something about 'scrubbing' the button, which I assume means swiping it with the stylus, but I can't get it to work. I think I'm almost certainly missing something obvious...

Again, I have to give congratulations. This is turning out better than NethackDS or POWDER - indeed better than commercial offerings on the system.

[Nick]

I can't figure out, though, how to configure the buttons in-game. I tried messing around with the buttons files in the faangband/nds folder, but I'm too obtuse to make it work right (it keeps on putting a "/r" command at the end of each button).

This is all Michael's work - I haven't actually looked at how he's done it yet.

The documentation says something about 'scrubbing' the button, which I assume means swiping it with the stylus, but I can't get it to work. I think I'm almost certainly missing something obvious...

I have got the scrubbing to work once, after a few failed attempts. Basically I just rubbed the stylus back and forth across the button, and I got a prompt for the key sequence I wanted the button to be linked to, followed by what I wanted as it's text.

[Nick]

Mmm... screenshots?

My camera and the DS don't play very nicely, but here is an idea:





I really should try to get an emulator running so that I can do screenshots from that.