AGS Wii Port?

[subspark]

Based on this thread I beleive scotch was going to begin on a Nintendo Wii port of AGS.
Am I correct in assuming this is an ongoing process?

I certainly do hope so!

Cheers,
Sparky.

[magintz]

I'd much rather see a DS port.

[SpacePaw]

I'd much rather see a DS port.

Yeah esspecially after playing ScummVM on DS

[Ghost]

Swing the nunchuck(tm) to wriggle the blue cup. Ugh.

[BOYD1981]

i recently got a DS and have absolutely no desire to use or play AGS games on it, and the same goes for my Wii.
you have a PC, what's wrong with using AGS on that?

[Nickydude]

I'd also love to see a DS port, nothing better than playing a point 'n' click on the move.

[Joseph DiPerla]

This was a PM I received from him back in august:

He wants me to do it, yes, but I haven't started yet because the source control system isn't up to date. I can't make any promises about alternatate OSes until I get going, but it seems quite probable the Linux and Mac versions could run from the same code because it'd be OpenGL based.

[subspark]

Why do people want a DS VERSION!!!!!! YUCK!! Did you not realize that the DS has a substandard display resolution and requires people running ScummVM to manually scroll the viewport because the DS resolution is a disgusting 256 x 192!!
Even the new DSi retains the same poor resolution I've seen so many Nintendo fans complain about.

On the other hand the Wii is a perfect fit for AGS. With regular support for homebrew and a great space to explore with the wiiMote I can't imagine a greater fit besides the PSP. But we all know that may not be as popular.

Just my thoughts and opinion...

Cheers, Sparky.

[magintz]

I disagree, despite the obviously poor screen resolution it worked perfectly on point and click ports with ScummVM and I managed to enjoy my way through BASS and FOTAQ recently. I love playing on my DS while at home and on the move and the touch screen interface is probably the best way to handle a P&C adventure game out of the handheld market. The only thing the PSP has going for it is the screen and I'd rather be able to play a game than just look at pretty colours or play EA Quest.

An AGS port to the DS might not be practical because of the resolution but the touch screen is just screaming for adventure games IMO much the same way you feel about the Wiimote, but I'm personally not a fan of the Wii.

[subspark]

Then it would seem the iPhone has the best of both worlds. Great widescreen resolution, unprecedented touch-screen capabilities, am I wrong?

Cheers,
Sparky.

[SpacePaw]

Then it would seem the iPhone has the best of both worlds. Great widescreen resolution, unprecedented touch-screen capabilities, am I wrong?

Cheers,
Sparky.

And costs hell lot of money and most people don't have it

[subspark]

LOL this is true. I really hope AGS is ported to Wii. I've got one, everybody's got one, and it all just makes a whole lot of darn sense.

Sparky.

[Cpt Ezz]

it would be sooooooo awesome if they made a port for any console but manly for ds and wii LOL 
if only though

[Trent R]

I think Handheld would be the best, specifically touchscreen ones (but if there were other buttons, you can play with a D-pad.*)

Like for ScummVM, I just recently put the (admittedly outdated, but still excellent) PalmOS version on my Treo. Finished MI2 last night after getting stuck on some of the puzzles I forgot.


~Trent
*Anyone played Shadowrun for the SNES? That has an interface that could translate easy to Adventure games on Handheld platforms.

[subspark]

Anyone played Shadowrun for the SNES?

OMG YES!!!

What a novel idea too!

Sparky.

[SpacePaw]

I agree with the hanheld beeing best option. It is MOBILE, you can take it with you! Wii would be more just like a geeky thingy more for show than functionality

[subspark]

But a Wii wouldn't require a premature recoding of the resolution system not to mention all of the other things that go with porting to DS. Such as incompatibility of standard PC/Mac AGS games.
Remember the lack of resolution on the DS is a significant design problem for most developers who have a backlog of games they want to see on their handhelds. Anything below 320x200 is a big problem which I'm sorry to say, the DS is the only handheld with such a silly drawback.
Sorry to put it directly but we have to be honest here - I for one did not enjoy ANY LucasArts/Sierra adventure on my DS. Having to scroll my viewport manually was just, inconceivably cumbersome and abrupt to my gameplay experience.

Sparky.

[Snarky]

But wouldn't the point of AGS running on the DS be to develop new adventure games, not to port old ones? And in that case, it shouldn't be a problem to just develop the game in this slightly lower resolution in the first place.

Being able to play AGS games on a handheld would be extremely cool (whenever I travel I always get to play some Phoenix Wright  or Dr Layton or one of the other good DS adventure titles), and now that the upcoming version is going to have a memory card slot, it should get much easier to put non-Nintendo certified titles onto the machine.

[subspark]

But wouldn't the point of AGS running on the DS be to develop new adventure games, not to port old ones? And in that case, it shouldn't be a problem to just develop the game in this slightly lower resolution in the first place.

Your definately right Snarky. I am convinced that new games at a lower resolution would be a dream come true for us!
Admittedly if we could run older games too I guess I could bare the thought of manual scrolling until new games are made.
In fact, I had a play of DOTT on my DS to lift the spirits yesterday and I realized how much I enjoyed it this time round.

Well if there is to be no Wii port, I'm ALL-IN for the DS.
[motivational voice]Lets make this happen folks!!![/motivational voice]

Cheers,
Sparky.

[SpacePaw]

Anyways. What would you have to do to get into development team? Is there a team at all or is it just a simple disscussion?

I tried developing for DS some time ago. Quite funny thing the way it works...

[magintz]

Windows Mobile?

It's windows, .NET based like AGS already is. It's more available than iPhones, touch screen as well and most devices have the res to support as well as a stylus (which the iPhone doesn't have)

[subspark]

I guess it all depends on what the demand is. We've asked for Windows mobile before and it was a clear "no time soon".

Cheers,
Sparky.

[Bulbapuck]

Is there a team at all or is it just a simple disscussion?

I want to know this too.
Being a proud DS owner myself I would love to see something like this actually happen

[RickJ]

I don't believe there is any kind of team.   The Linux and Mac ports exist because of a couple of dedicated individuals.   

If there were a "run-time team" to work on ports perhaps more people would be willing/able to volunteer?  I think a lot of folks would be willing to help out but few have the time or skill to take on the whole thing.

There are perhaps some things that can be done to make the process of porting and maintaining ports to other platforms easier but that is another discussion. 

[edit]
Also I would add that perhaps other platforms should be considered that would potential reach a larger audience such as the Nokia Internet tablet and linux based netbooks

http://www.pcworld.com/article/162376/three_reasons_why_androidpowered_netbooks_could_kill_microsoft_windows.html

[mozartsgokart]

Going forward I believe a Wii port would be of the most benefit to the group of developers. The Wii sure sells a lot of units. It also has an input device that works nearly perfectly for adventure games and is not hindered by the resolution issue of the DS.

A year ago I would have been for a DS port. Considering I use my DS exclusively for SCUMM. But, after purchasing a Wii, I find it may be the perfect solution for bringing back this genre to mainstream.

Instead of working backwards, using hardware and software that limit the developer and player. Moving forward effort to port this to the Wii will undoubtedly benefit the developer community and player experience.

Additional knowledge of game play may be gained by installing the Homebrew Channel on the Wii and running SCUMM. Plays some adventure games on the Wii and report back. How is the playing experience. Does the interface work and does the Wii controller lend it self towards the game play interaction.

[subspark]

Well while I'm still decided on the Wii, being the most logical platform in my mind to port to, I still wouldn't mind living through a shift to an entire generation of 'lower rez' DS ports.

Cheers,
Sparky. 

[Snarky]

Going forward I believe a Wii port would be of the most benefit to the group of developers. The Wii sure sells a lot of units. It also has an input device that works nearly perfectly for adventure games and is not hindered by the resolution issue of the DS.

It should be pointed out that the DS/DS Lite has sold more than twice as many units as the Wii. Of course, the much bigger issue is how many people can put the games onto the console, so a method that only works on chipped or otherwise hacked units has significantly reduced impact.

[Stee]

Whilst the iphone is quite expensive, it has an sdk which is a big appeal to developers. Im starting to look forward to my contract upgrade, where im considering an lg renoir kc910. LG have recently stated that they are working on releasing an sdk, it would be nice to be able to do this, and if my programming skills improve enough in the next 6-12months I would consider contributing to a LG port, and if its possible a J2ME port (im programming in java mainly so this would be an advantage).

As for the Wii and most modern phones although there is no AGS engine, there are (hard to find albeit) tutorials on developing games in flash for these consoles (not that im a fan of flash either im afraid, but actionscript 3 is a whole world better than 2).

So J2ME port. Is it possible? Its going to be a mammoth task at least converting all the c++ into java.

I think it would be a good idea, since the mobile phone is steadily becoming a popular platform for games (casual ones at least), this being proven with engines already out there for 2d and 3d iphone development and the release of new arm cpu/gpus, in particular the new arm mali 200 and 400 which is supposedly being incorporated into phones this year and next (they apparently support opengl 2)

[subspark]

Yeah it's really up to Chris whether he feels like tackling another platform or finding someone else with the time to do it for him.  Releasing two engines, one C++ and the other Java, is definitely a mammoth task; double CJ's current work load. But if someone with a passion for such an undertaking steps up, I sure would like to welcome them.

Cheers,
Sparky.

[Stee]

I've been reading up a bit more on sdks, and it seems that symbian s60 supports quite a few languages

The S60 platform SDKs enable you to build applications using Symbian C++, Open C/C++, Javaâ,,¢ technology, and Web Runtime (WRT). In addition, several of the SDKs support development with Python for S60 using an SDK plug-in. When used with your favourite development tools, the SDKs provide you with access to all the APIs implemented in a particular edition and feature pack. Once you’ve coded your application, the SDKs include tools to compile that application for testing in the S60 emulator. In the emulator, your application can be tested without the need for an S60 device, which improves development time. Once the application is tested, tools to compile and package the application for installation on an S60 device are provided.

The SDKs include comprehensive documentation and example applications to enable you to make the most of the S60 platform and SDK tools.

Makes you wonder if it could be implemented as a plugin in AGS so you could just build a mobile version.

Anyway who am i kidding I can't c++ to save my life. I barely struggled through C. Don't make me program silly robots again!

[subspark]

Now that DOES sound interesting! :o

Sparky.

[edmundito]

So I'm assuming we're talking about a homebrew DS/Wii port. To do it the legit way, here's what the deal is:

1. Anyone working on these versions must first be a licensed Nintendo developer. This means that you must have a registered company and prove that you're running a legit operation (even if you're one dude)
2. Chris Q. Jones has to somehow be involved in this process. Once someone becomes a licensed Nintendo developer, then CJ has to contact Nintendo to make sure that you're a licensed developer and have signed the non-disclosure agreements. Then and only then he can allow you to build Wii versions of AGS games.
3. You have to buy a devkit to run the game.

I could honestly see a better investment in the following things:

1. Making the AGS runtime more cross-platform. This means an easier way to make Linux and Mac ports that are up to date. From everyone I've talked to who's interested in making commercial adventures, this is pretty much one of the big points that puts a maybe on their heads about using AGS.
2. For portables, I could see a legit iPhone port happening, but it probably requires quite a bit of work first (like step 1 mentioned above) and also it would pose an interesting challenge: How do you reinvent an adventure game for a phone with accelerometers and multitouch?

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Has anyone tried running the Linux build of AGS on one of the Gamepark handhelds?

[subspark]

You have to buy a devkit to run the game.

Thats not true. CJ would need to buy a dev kit to compile the engine for the platform but once we have a windows editor that can compile a Wii game then all we have to do is copy it to our memcard. The only problem might be that Nintendo may kick a fuss with everybody having access to a Wii compiler. We can't exactly ask CJ to compile all our games for us.

How do you reinvent an adventure game for a phone with accelerometers and multitouch?

This would make for a great opportunity to add new gameplay mechanics to our adventures.

Cheers,
Sparky.

[Stee]

Now that DOES sound interesting! :o

Sparky.

If you're referring to my post, then no it wasn't interesting in the slightest. We had to make the universities diy kit of some sort of roomba (i think that was what they were called, basically some sort of dome on wheels) follow a trail of light using its sensors, then we had to implement analogue control schemes (ie the further you push the stick the faster it goes etc) which is a nightmare in C, amongst some other things I've since forgotten. I think its fair to say i failed miserably, but a learnt a valuable lesson to never use C ever again. I would like to learn c++ at some point though

Back on topic.

If there was some magical way of exporting AGS Games as flash, they could be incorporated into the Wii as the wii apparently allows flash games (I hate the things so I wouldn't really know). This would also make it possible to run games on most the modern phones (the ones with flash included) too.

This is the easiest way of doing things as you wouldn't need to create a seperate version of AGS (one for symbian,one for android one for i(mnotareal)phone, one for LG, one for motorola etc). However Im not even sure thats physically possible.

Nintendo wouldn't license a compiler that everyone can use to make wii games. I'd rule out Wii as a viable option (if any are viable)

Android if im right in thinking so is a linux variant.

I think we'd be better off  sticking with the current platforms for AGS Editor and just having different export options for compiled games.

[subspark]

If there was some magical way of exporting AGS Games as flash, they could be incorporated into the Wii

You can. You can compile C & C++ in flash thanks to Alchemy.
http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/2321230&from=rss

There's a video floating around of somebody playing Quake 3 Arena in Flash CS4.
Im actually rather embarrassed I overlooked this. Alchemy could be the most flexible way of getting our games onto virtually every platform.

Sparky.

[SSH]

Isn't Wii port just another name for urethra?

[subspark]

It is! Someone should change the thread title before everyone gets confused. QUICK!

[Thaurin]

Since I saw mention of the iPhone in this thread, I wanted to mention that I had the idea of a AGS player for the iPhone some time earlier. I think this would be amazing, like a graphical point-and-click version of Frotz. Unlimited mobile adventure gaming with direct download from the app. Since ScummVM is already such a joy to play with, I'd think this would be like a dream come true.

Not that trivial to do, I would presume. But then, I don't know much about AGS in the first place. Anybody up for such a project? I could help!

[QuestingHero]

Now that Dosbox Wii has been released for the Wii, and ScummVM has been working for a while, I have had Lots of enjoyment re-remembering all the Lucas Arts and Sierra games I grew up on. Now all that is left are the great remakes by "AGD Interactive" (KQ 1 and 2, QfG2) and "Infamous Adventures" (KQ3 and SQ2).

I noticed that scotch, the guy who volunteered to port AGS to the wii had not been active since September of last year, so I was wondering if there had been/was any progress on the Wii port, or if it is dead in the water?

EDIT: added Links

Thanks in Advance,
--The Ratt

[NsMn]

I can tell you that scotch is still active in the Chat. So why don't asking him by yourself? 

[QuestingHero]

I can tell you that scotch is still active in the Chat. So why don't asking him by yourself? 

I thought about that first, but then I figured that a response would be good for everyone interested in this port, not just me.

Edit: sent scotch a PM, I will post when he responds

[Layabout]

Actually, compiling ags games as Flash kind of brings up one of those ideas in my head. Why wouldn't it be possible to create a browser-playable ags game? Compiling for flash would cause issues with the well used right-mouse button in ags games, since it brings up the flash settings thingmabob. If you had an independant plugin that could read ags game files, you may have a way around this. I am not at all terribly familiar with what it would take to build a browser plug-in for AGS, but it would increase the available audience of your game.

Then again, thinking about it, it brings up many a problem. Not only would you have to write the plug-in for 3 os varieties, you'd also have to adapt it for the multitudes of browsers out there. Too big a job.

Wii sounds like a good idea, but the commercial problems, devkit, etc, as people have previously stated could be an issue.

iPhone is interesting. Yeah it could be an interesting platform. Only problem is you are competing against 10k+ apps. Many devs have stated the sheer number of apps available has made it almost impossible to make it a commercially viable platform.

[QuestingHero]

Depending on how they plan on releasing AGS would determine whether or not they would need the official SDK or not. ScummVM as well as many other Homebrew apps are using open source or community tools (a list can be found here) to develop and compile. If AGS was going to just add Wii as an option, and not allow people to charge for the Wii portion, then using these tools would be just fine (I believe).

[Joseph DiPerla]

Iphone, Wii and DS are far shots in porting. I think Linux, Mac and Windows Mobile are the best ways to port AGS. Especially WM. It has a compact version of .NET and should be the easiest to port as far as handheld systems go. But I think the only way AGS can truly become portable is by replacing Allegro with SDL or by coming up with a custom graphics library alltogether.

[QuestingHero]

I agree about Windows Mobile being the best bet due to compact .Net framework. The only reason I started this thread back up was because Chris told scotch (who volunteered to port it to Wii, and maintain a Linux and Mac OSX port) that he would be in talks with him about getting the source code. the link to that discussion is on the first page. discution is on the first page.

[SuperDre]

Going forward I believe a Wii port would be of the most benefit to the group of developers.
Additional knowledge of game play may be gained by installing the Homebrew Channel on the Wii and running SCUMM. Plays some adventure games on the Wii and report back. How is the playing experience. Does the interface work and does the Wii controller lend it self towards the game play interaction.

Even though there are a lot of Wii's out there, you will never get aproval from Nintendo, so the only way would be to use the Homebrew channel, which means you have to mod/hack your Wii... And we all know that it's illegal to do that.

1. Making the AGS runtime more cross-platform. This means an easier way to make Linux and Mac ports that are up to date. From everyone I've talked to who's interested in making commercial adventures, this is pretty much one of the big points that puts a maybe on their heads about using AGS.

I agree with that.. the biggest problem with AGS now for cross-platform is that Chris didn't really split the actual engine and the data/logic, even thought the data as far as I know is just 'pasted' to the executable (as I gather from how you need to get the linux version running)..
Also the plugin system will need to be made crossplatformfriendly which ofcourse will also be a bitch to do (unless the most popular plugin get integrated into the engine itself), the current plugin-system as I know it is too windows-specific (that's why they also don't work on the linux/mac versions of the engine)..

It's a shame someone burned Chris on another project which is the reason (as I understand) he's a bit more protective about his current project, and I'd propably would do exactly the same.. it's his baby and it's hard to let/see others work on it.. Also there are enough people who will say they will continue/port it to another platform but in the end will do nothing, and it's difficult to judge people unless they already proved they are committed to doing it, and that takes a lot of time before you can prove that..

Maybe with communities like ScummVM would give him a bit more confident that he doesn't get burned.. One of the things I and a lot from the ScummVM community would love is for ScummVM to incorporate the AGS engine (at least for playing the older AGS engines) so a group of REAL enthousiasts are able to work on it.. But then Chris would need to provide the sources for his old engines so ScummVM developers don't have to reverse-engineer everthing..  Once support is added for the old engine, it wouldn't be a problem for the new version(s)..

[Trent R]

Also the plugin system will need to be made crossplatformfriendly which ofcourse will also be a bitch to do (unless the most popular plugin get integrated into the engine itself), the current plugin-system as I know it is too windows-specific (that's why they also don't work on the linux/mac versions of the engine)..

Luckily, most all of the plugins have been modularized. Sure, there are some that can't be, including new ones, but AGS scripting can do a ton of things.

~Trent

[subspark]

I still think AGS needs to evolve enough to be completely cross-platform.

Cheers,
Sparky.

[Blackthorne]

I know this is some thread necromancy, but I didn't want to start another AGS port to Wii thread when there was this one already.


I would love to see an AGS port for the Wii - I think many of us here have some fantastic games and the Wii market would be a great place for a lot of people, both new gamers and old ones alike, to play some fantastic games.

Did anything ever come of Scotch's attempt?


Bt

[Snake]

I would like to know as well.

[subspark]

Yeah what ever did Scotch get up to on that? Did he ever organize the 3x source with CJ?

Cheers,
Sparky.

[PuNKKoMmANDO77]

ia a great project  :o

[QuestingHero]

ok, so I know this thread is VERY old, but now that the source has been released I think it is a great time to bring this back up. I would STILL love to play some of the AGS games on my TV using a wii remote. I know JJS has done some great things with the android, PSP and iOS ports, would it be posible to bring some of that love to the Wii?

Thanks,

UPDATE: Thanks to the Mods for moving this to Engine Development

[Icey]

AGS would be much better on the wii cause you it would be free.

AGS on the DS - 3DS would cost money cause you need a R4.

[JJS]

The Wii seems easy to program for. From what I saw the graphic API is very OpenGL like. An issue is that it is a bigendian PowerPC architecture which is basically unsupported since the PowerPC Mac port.

I was concerned about the available memory which is low with only 64 MiB. But due to recent changes (see the PSP thread), I think the platform could still be viable for a port. I won't promise anything, but I will look into trying to cross-compile the libraries and doing a basic Allegro port. Getting everything working might take some time due to the bigendian issues.

[QuestingHero]

JJS, you have just made my day! I will not hold you to it, but the fact that you are even looking at it, makes me smile.