The Games

    To the Ancient Romans, the Games, or Ludi were occasions of intense visceral excitement; that is, they got showing the intense excitement and the performers got showing the viscera.  They also used the same word for School.  Odd bunch, the Ancient Romans.  My games come closer to the second definition in that, while there is a certain amount of hacking and slashing, they are not very entertaining.  But I can confidently state that they are not even slightly educational.

The demo game, Escape from Demon's Trandum, and the standard databases are here, and are rather big, 620k zipped, as they contain a lot of graphics which are used in my other games and can be used for creating more.  Here is a little bit about playing the demo.

    You will need a copy of the game engine to play any of the games, either the Linux or the djgpp version.  If you use Linux, you'll know which you need; if you use Windows, it's the djgpp version.  The Linux version also needs the standard libraries and Allegro.

If you want to show me up by making a better game or correct any bugs or misspellings you find in the games, you'll also need Hexaid, Dos or Linux.  Hexaid comes with a large but disorganised manual.  Hexplay and Hexaid should go in the same directory as the databases.

The source for Hexplay and Hexaid and the MAD library  they use. with a couple of barely functional Makefiles, is available here.  If you want to read it, Good Luck; if you want to improve it, my best wishes.

A Story About a Couple of Small Towns is the second game to be updated; it shows how more art can be added, and has one fairly serious fight; find out more here.  The plot is also the basis of this story.

Windy City Pains is an over-ambitious undertaking which uses the engine to emulate guns rather than magic (from the target's point of view, there's not much difference). There are a lot of fights, some of which are serious in their place, a few more bits of artwork, and a lot of wandering about to get things. I hope there's also enough gameplay to justify it. Read the Mykinda Town Guide.

 The Anchovy Trilogy is the obligatory trilogy, and cosists of Anoraks of Doom  The Towers of Saucisse-Notah and Pizza Reaction. They can be played consecutively with the same party, individually or not at all. I am particularly proud of the fact that, unlike certain popular printed works, when I say 'Trilogy', I do mean 'three parts'.

Picmake is the utility for those who have a refined taste in art, but still want to play with Hexaid (Are there any?).  It makes new pictures from png's or pcx's, which can be incorporated into your own game.  Again, Dos or Linux.

The main scenery is tortured into shapes by Shaper (Dos or Linux).  These files will help you get started.

Spritone makes the combat sprites for the battle scenes; Dos or Linux, and a collection of samples.

    The source code of the minor graphics tools is available for the asking, but I haven't any Makefiles for them yet.

    If you find the MAD library more interesting than the games, you can read more about it here, and download the Resource Editor which is an essential tool for anyone attempting to program in it.

Updated 20/1/2001