• Doors on linux hosted BBSes

    From 2twisty@21:3/166 to All on Sat Apr 2 09:53:01 2022
    Looking to start setting up some doors on the new board.

    Of course, I want classics like TW2002 and LORD.

    Looks like TW will require DOSEmu. Are there any native versions of these games?

    Also, I see talk of TWGS rather than running locally. IS that "better" for users or should I go more "old skool" with local-only versions of these classic doors?

    I don't see an echo for BBS Doors in fsxNet, so I'm asking here. Since I've been out of the BBS/Sysop game for 30 years, where I can find the more modern doors?

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: The Ratrace Losers (21:3/166)
  • From paulie420@21:2/150 to 2twisty on Sun Apr 3 10:27:25 2022
    Looks like TW will require DOSEmu. Are there any native versions of
    these games?

    There are several options to run doors on all platforms - some of the easiest ways are to not run doors LOCALLY at all. There are door game networks; GOLD MINE, DoorParty, BBSLink, CombatNet and probably others that I'm missing. 2o runs GOLD MINE, DP & BBSLink.

    Since yer gearing towards LOCAL doors on Linux you're correct that DOSEmu is an option. Some sysOps use DOSBox...

    Also, I see talk of TWGS rather than running locally. IS that "better" for users or should I go more "old skool" with local-only versions of these classic doors?

    IMO, the quickest and easiest way to give your users MANY door options is just send Alpha a message and join GOLD MINE. He can have you up and running within days. DoorParty can be joined thru Throw Back BBS or throwbackbbs.com
    but response has been a bit slow for some users. BBSLink can be found at bbslink.net and is also a great network.

    I don't see an echo for BBS Doors in fsxNet, so I'm asking here. Since I've been out of the BBS/Sysop game for 30 years, where I can find the more modern doors?

    While there aren't Linux versions of TW, LORD, LORD II, etc - there are NEW Linux games that have been created;

    Legion
    Darkness II
    For Honour
    Galactic Dynasty

    You can absolutely get local door games running on Linux with DOSEmu, or other solutions - I use DOSBox..., but I actually find more benefit in joining one Door Game Server that is USED by others - heck, even help it grow by getting others to play on them w/ your users - and I'd suggest either GOLD MINE or DoorParty for the best ones. :P



    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/03/11 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)
  • From acn@21:3/127.1 to 2twisty on Sun Apr 3 19:24:00 2022
    Am 02.04.22 schrieb 2twisty@21:3/166 in FSX_BBS:

    Hallo 2twisty,

    Looking to start setting up some doors on the new board.

    Of course, I want classics like TW2002 and LORD.

    Looks like TW will require DOSEmu. Are there any native versions of these games?

    Synchronet includes JavaScript-based versions of LORD, LORD2 and
    "TradeWars 2".

    Alternatively, you can use a game server like BBSlink or DoorParty,
    which has the advantage that users of different BBSes also play games
    there.

    Regards,
    Anna

    --- OpenXP 5.0.51
    * Origin: Imzadi Box Point (21:3/127.1)
  • From McDoob@21:4/135 to 2twisty on Sun Apr 3 14:12:05 2022
    Looking to start setting up some doors on the new board.

    Of course, I want classics like TW2002 and LORD.

    Looks like TW will require DOSEmu. Are there any native versions of th games?

    Synchronet includes JavaScript-based versions of LORD, LORD2 and "TradeWars 2".

    Thanks Anna!

    But, 2fi---um, 2TWIsty (o_-) is running Mystic, not Synchro. Do you know if these java versions are available to the general public?

    Also, there is still the trouble of setting up a Java environment, but that won't be as difficult as setting up a DOS environment in Linux...

    Alternatively, you can use a game server like BBSlink or DoorParty, which has the advantage that users of different BBSes also play games there.

    Being a lazy son of a female dog, this is the route I took. PiBBS's games are hosted on GoldMine Arcade server. In case certain too-twisted individuals are interested, they should check out http://goldminebbs.com for step-by-step instructions on how to add GoldMine to their own BBS...

    The bottom line is, there aren't a lot of currently-developed door games, for reasons that should be obvious. There are exceptions, of course!

    I'm pretending to work on my own game releases right now! And, the guys over at Phenon Productions (https://www.phenomprod.com) are working hard(er than me) to create (and maintain) a whole bunch of new games and mods for Mystic. You'd be wise to check their site out...

    IMHO, it's not worth the hassle, if you're using Linux as the base. And it's still not really worth the hassle in Windows, but it *is* easier...

    Man, I gotta stop giving you advice. I had to learn *this* $#!T the hard way! (o_-)

    McDoob
    SysOp, PiBBS
    pibbs.sytes.net

    ... System halted - Press all keys at once to continue

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)
  • From acn@21:3/127.1 to McDoob on Mon Apr 4 10:40:00 2022
    Am 03.04.22 schrieb McDoob@21:4/135 in FSX_BBS:

    Hallo Mcdoob,

    Synchronet includes JavaScript-based versions of LORD, LORD2 and
    "TradeWars 2".

    But, 2fi---um, 2TWIsty (o_-) is running Mystic, not Synchro. Do you know if these java versions are available to the general public?

    The JS versions are available, just as everything else from
    Synchronet, as open source from the Git repository: https://gitlab.synchro.net/main/sbbs
    In the subdirectory xtrn, 'lord', 'lord2' and 'tw2' can be found.

    Also, there is still the trouble of setting up a Java environment, but that won't be as difficult as setting up a DOS environment in Linux...

    Just for clarification: It's JavaScript, not Java.
    And I don't know if Synchronet JavaScript scripts can be made running
    on Mystic or other BBS systems.

    IMHO, it's not worth the hassle, if you're using Linux as the base. And
    it's still not really worth the hassle in Windows, but it *is* easier...

    Well, if you get dosemu running, adding more DOS games to the system
    is quite easy :)
    I only found one game that refuses to run (Railroad Empires II).
    And some newer games I found (myrtle, pyrtle, hiq) are running
    reeeealy slowly, but my BBS is running on a VIA Nano U3100 system,
    which might be the problem :)

    Man, I gotta stop giving you advice. I had to learn *this* $#!T the hard way! (o_-)

    No problem :)

    Regards,
    Anna

    --- OpenXP 5.0.51
    * Origin: Imzadi Box Point (21:3/127.1)
  • From bbspat@21:4/163 to 2twisty on Sun Apr 10 08:25:44 2022
    I don't see an echo for BBS Doors in fsxNet, so I'm asking here. Since I've been out of the BBS/Sysop game for 30
    years, where I can find the more modern doors?

    I've authored a classic ANSI wordsearch game with over 100 puzzles and customizable color themes.

    It's available at https://github.com/jensenpat/wordsearch and requires Python to be installed. No other modules are needed. It runs perfectly as an SBBS door game. It's very easy to create your own puzzles as well.

    It's also available on FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD as a native package: pkg install wordsearch

    Pat
    --- SBBSecho 3.15-FreeBSD
    * Origin: Jensencloud BBS, Fresno, CA - bbs.jensencloud.net (21:4/163)
  • From Digital Man@21:1/183 to acn on Sun Oct 23 19:50:47 2022
    Re: Re: Doors on linux hosted BBSes
    By: acn to McDoob on Mon Apr 04 2022 10:40 am

    Am 03.04.22 schrieb McDoob@21:4/135 in FSX_BBS:

    Hallo Mcdoob,

    Synchronet includes JavaScript-based versions of LORD, LORD2 and
    "TradeWars 2".

    But, 2fi---um, 2TWIsty (o_-) is running Mystic, not Synchro. Do you know if these java versions are available to the general public?

    The JS versions are available, just as everything else from
    Synchronet, as open source from the Git repository: https://gitlab.synchro.net/main/sbbs
    In the subdirectory xtrn, 'lord', 'lord2' and 'tw2' can be found.

    Also, there is still the trouble of setting up a Java environment, but that won't be as difficult as setting up a DOS environment in Linux...

    Just for clarification: It's JavaScript, not Java.
    And I don't know if Synchronet JavaScript scripts can be made running
    on Mystic or other BBS systems.

    Yes, using jsdoor, written by Deuce, the same one that made those JS ports of those door games: http://doors.bbsdev.net/

    (sorry, I realize that's an old post)
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Sling Blade quote #26:
    Karl: kaiser blade, ax handle with long blade on it shaped kinda like a banana. Norco, CA WX: 60.3øF, 76.0% humidity, 8 mph SE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
    --- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (21:1/183)
  • From acn@21:3/127.1 to Digital Man on Mon Oct 24 10:57:00 2022
    Am 23.10.22 schrieb Digital Man@21:1/183 in FSX_BBS:

    Hallo Digital,

    Just for clarification: It's JavaScript, not Java.
    And I don't know if Synchronet JavaScript scripts can be made running ACN>> on Mystic or other BBS systems.

    Yes, using jsdoor, written by Deuce, the same one that made those JS ports of those door games: http://doors.bbsdev.net/

    Thank you! I didn't know that this exists :)

    (sorry, I realize that's an old post)

    No problem. I think it's good to have this piece of information here
    :)

    Regards,
    Anna

    --- OpenXP 5.0.56
    * Origin: Imzadi Box Point (21:3/127.1)
  • From esc@21:4/173 to Digital Man on Thu Oct 27 01:28:34 2022
    Re: Re: Doors on linux hosted BBSes

    Hey Rob, /very/ different topic but this thread was what spurred my memory into reaching out to you.

    I have a number of roguelikes on my BBS computer. I would really like to serve those up as games on the BBS. A number of these work relatively well out of the box or with a handful of changes to function in cp437 with standard dos colors. However, a number of these games use true unicode and the xterm-256color palette.

    I saw in the syncterm repo that there are evidently plans to implement unicode at some point. It also seems to have been a pretty stale feature plan that hasn't moved much in a few years.

    Any chance to inject a little interest in enabling this?

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/11 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: m O N T E R E Y b B S . c O M (21:4/173)
  • From Tracker1@21:3/149 to esc on Thu Oct 27 22:34:55 2022
    On 10/27/22 01:28, esc wrote:

    However, a number of these games use true unicode and the xterm-256color palette.

    The issue will be translating the character codes and colors for
    16-color CP437 client users... which may well work badly to very badly
    for them... or detecting upscale clients and only letting those
    connected users use said games.

    luit does a pretty good job for character set conversion, but won't
    really work for the color code filters/adjustments.
    --
    Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
    --- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
    * Origin: Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com (21:3/149)
  • From esc@21:4/173 to Tracker1 on Fri Oct 28 08:56:06 2022
    The issue will be translating the character codes and colors for
    16-color CP437 client users... which may well work badly to very badly for them... or detecting upscale clients and only letting those
    connected users use said games.

    What I use for this typically is here: https://github.com/bostelk/cp437

    I also set LANG=en_US for most games, and TERM=ansi or ansi-bbs (which I snagged from the Synchronet wiki and works pretty well).

    The problem is that some games still look off, with incorrect characters or color schemes hardcoded in the games themselves which makes them basically unplayable.

    luit does a pretty good job for character set conversion, but won't really work for the color code filters/adjustments.

    Interesting, hadn't looked at this, but I will give it a look now. Thanks for the recommendation!

    But yeah, my goal is to have a games selection menu for traditional 80x25 cp437 (i.e., dos doors) and a separate menu for unicode 256color games. Naturally there could be logic baked in to gate some of these menus behind a theme or some detection thing.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/11 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: m O N T E R E Y b B S . c O M (21:4/173)
  • From Digital Man@21:1/183 to esc on Sun Oct 30 15:14:48 2022
    Re: Re: Doors on linux hosted BBSes
    By: esc to Digital Man on Thu Oct 27 2022 01:28 am

    Re: Re: Doors on linux hosted BBSes

    Hey Rob, /very/ different topic but this thread was what spurred my memory into reaching out to you.

    I have a number of roguelikes on my BBS computer. I would really like to serve those up as games on the BBS. A number of these work relatively well out of the box or with a handful of changes to function in cp437 with standard dos colors. However, a number of these games use true unicode and the xterm-256color palette.

    I think the latest SyncTERM already supports the xterm-256color palette. https://gitlab.synchro.net/main/sbbs/-/raw/master/src/conio/cterm.txt

    If by "unicode" you're refering to UTF-8 support in SyncTERM, yeah, that's on Deuce's todo list.

    I saw in the syncterm repo that there are evidently plans to implement unicode at some point. It also seems to have been a pretty stale feature plan that hasn't moved much in a few years.

    Any chance to inject a little interest in enabling this?

    Sure, but I'm not likely the one to do most of that work (in SyncTERM), that'd be Deuce. I think the *only* place that Decue accepts SyncTERM feature requests/discussion these days is https://sourceforge.net/p/syncterm/feature-requests/
    so I'd bring it up or chime-in there.
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Sling Blade quote #26:
    Karl: kaiser blade, ax handle with long blade on it shaped kinda like a banana. Norco, CA WX: 84.2øF, 19.0% humidity, 2 mph E wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
    --- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (21:1/183)
  • From Tracker1@21:3/149 to esc on Tue Feb 14 08:11:51 2023
    But yeah, my goal is to have a games selection menu for traditional 80x25 cp437 (i.e., dos doors) and a separate menu for unicode 256color games. Naturally there could be logic baked in to gate some of these menus behind a theme or some detection thing.

    Yeah, I finally got around to setting the colors in my terminal application (Tabby) to match original DOS/CGA colors...

    Not sure on detection, I know there is some stuff in terminal responses, and telnet interaction for that matter, but been a very long time since I looked into it... not to mention unicode detection, etc.


    --
    Michael J. Ryan
    +o roughneckbbs.com
    tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
    --- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
    * Origin: Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com (21:3/149)