Bzone1 on windows rt

[windowsrt]

Hello All
Bzone1 is my favorite game.Its the first 3D game I played.The 1.5 patch runs very well on my win7 x64 PC with 1960*1025.
From google,I know that this site is built by the game developers.So I want to know whether its possible to port this game to windows rt(arm version of windows8).windows rt comes with full directx11 and win32.and doom2 has been ported on it.it would be awesome if bzone1 is ported to windows rt.So would you please have a look at windows rt.is it possible you will release a bzone1 demo on windows rt?

[Apollo]

What happens if you try to run 1.5 on windows rt now?
Does software mode run on windows rt? (use the /sw in the target line of the shortcut)

[windowsrt]

it doesnt work at all.patch 1.5 is X86 but windows rt is arm.So it need to be recompiled by the game developer.

[jack775544]

The thing is I don't think that either of our tame devs (well sometimes tame ) have any experience with Windows RT so it that would be some trouble there. Also there will probably be some more things to do than just recompile the software, but also fix all the bugs that would undoubtedly pop up when doing the conversion.

[Ded10c]

Developers wishing to target WOA do so by writing applications for the WinRT (Windows APIs for building Metro style apps) using the new Visual Studio 11 tools in a variety of languages, including C#/VB/XAML and Jscript/ HTML5. Native code targeting WinRT is also supported using C and C++, which can be targeted across architectures and distributed through the Windows Store. WOA does not support running, emulating, or porting existing x86/64 desktop apps. Code that uses only system or OS services from WinRT can be used within an app and distributed through the Windows Store for both WOA and x86/64. Consumers obtain all software, including device drivers, through the Windows Store and Microsoft Update or Windows Update.

If we enabled the broad porting of existing code we would fail to deliver on our commitment to longer battery life, predictable performance, and especially a reliable experience over time. The conventions used by today’s Windows apps do not necessarily provide this, whether it is background processes, polling loops, timers, system hooks, startup programs, registry changes, kernel mode code, admin rights, unsigned drivers, add-ins, or a host of other common techniques. By avoiding these constructs, WOA can deliver on a new level of customer satisfaction: your WOA PC will continue to perform well over time as apps are isolated from the system and each other, and you will remain in control of what additional software is running on your behalf, all while letting the capabilities of diverse hardware shine through.

Making an ARM-compatible BZ game would be akin to creating an entirely new game.

[windowsrt]

No
now its able to use complete win32 on windows rt.If the source code does not contain any x86 asm code and is able to compile by vs2012,thats all.just recompile it for arm.
you can see this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthr ... ?t=2096820
many win32 open souce project like dosbox and doom2 has been ported to windows rt

[Ded10c]

Doom is completely different to Battlezone. Doom is a very simple game and its source code is publicly available and worked on by dozens of people. Battlezone 1 and 2 do not have public source codes and are worked on by one person each. Considering both developers are occupied working on 1.5 and 1.3 respectively, they are not going to have time to work on an ARM port, for which there is very little demand. Furthermore, not all ARM devices have keyboards, and, well, you try playing Battlezone without a keyboard. It's near impossible with a gamepad (see RotBD), let alone a touchscreen.

[GSH]

According to this review, a Windows Surface w/ Windows RT is $500-700. Plus sales tax. Plus upgrading Microsoft Developer Studio to be able to write an app for that.

BZ1/2 patches are a hobby we're doing in our spare time, on our own dime. It's got to be interesting enough to get out of the minus 100 points any feature starts at. And, I remain unconvinced that Windows RT is the future of tablets. Or even has a future. Maybe when they're in a fire sale for $50 I'd pick one up.

-- GSH

[Ded10c]

I don't even believe Windows 8 has a future; the operating system is utterly terrible and I have yet to find any point of superiority to Windows 7. Want BZ, play it on a computer.

If you have a tablet you'd be far better running it on Android than you would Windows. I wonder how long it will take the hackers to fix that particular problem, and what kinda legal trouble MS will fail to get them into.

[GSH]

Windows 8 has some nice improvements to the OS side of things. More and better security. More optimizations. Nice improvements to underlying libraries and feature discoverability. Microsoft has some top-notch guys doing the underlying technology, keeping applications running despite bugs, etc. I have no beef -- and a lot of respect -- for guys who go through major code surgery to keep things running.

It's Windows 8's UI that everyone gripes about. Other than pride, it wouldn't be that hard to slap Win7's explorer and taskbar into Win8 as an optional mode -- and an option that you could check a box saying "remember this choice, and never ask me again to see the other mode" -- and it would be great. The "[x] Do not ask me again" option is one of the greatest advancements in UI design of the last 20+ years.

Either MS will backtrack and make it possible for Win8 to get a Win7-like UI by default, or maybe Win9 will be good. In any case, Windows 7 is supported through 2020, so I've got 7 years until I need to care.

-- GSH

[Apollo]

Bz code has a bit of asm for the renderer and 1.5 doesn't currently compile in VS2010. ( due to the sound code changes )
Good to know win7 is supported through 2020, i plan on sticking with XP Pro SP3 as long as i can before making win7 my main system. Also plan on giving Cent OS 6 a try, hope i can get Bz working well on it.

[SnakeEye]

So your cpu can't run a normal OS?

[Ded10c]

WindowsRT uses ARM, the same processor architecture Androids use.

[Sporkinator]

Well, if you expect BZ to run on Windows RT, maybe we should also expect it to run on my Nintendo DS!

[Ded10c]

Well, if you expect BZ to run on Windows RT, maybe we should also expect it to run on my Nintendo DS!

That's fair, probably better than any analogy I was about to come up with.