Hi there,

Just to let you all know that I have releasesd a newer developmental version of the Search for the Lost Football for feedback. You can download it via it's wiki page.

I can't believe that it's actually been about a year since I last looked at the code for this!

Anyway, I want to get a move on with this again and get it finished off soon.

Kind regards,

Francis

Hey, Francis.

Just took it for a whirl. As far as I can tell, there's not much change from the player's point of view within the game. Obviously, the new introductory screen is a nice touch, and the colour customisations you introduced in the last version probably deals with my complaint about too many colours.

As far as the game goes, I've only really managed to damage a wall and collect a brick, over and above your second dev version. I'm assuming at some point, I'm meant to break in the front door which can currently be opened, given the description about shards of glass in the hall. I make that assumption as another description says the ball apparently went into the house through an upstairs window.

I much prefer the new > command prompt. Most of my other feedback from last time still stands, I think, though.

Only other thing I'd drop in there, is that I think I've come round to preferring MODE 0 for text, rather than MODE 7 - which just doesn't feel like it holds much info per screen, but I expect you're not planning on changing that, given your stated preference in a previous topic, the extensive use of colour and the amount of additional memory it would eat up.

Looking good, though ... Glad to see you haven't abandoned development. Slow and steady wins the race!

Sam.

P.S. My offer of assistance still stands, if you need it at any point.

I had a good snoop round the house too ... picked everything up ... didn't realise you could smash walls and pick up bricks, though!

And I like some of the humour in there as well e.g. when you try to wear the coat.

Anyway, I think the engine is looking smart, especially the colours and it's just good to see the project moving again.

@Samwise

If you read the development diary since the previous release the majority of the changes are under the bonnet.

As I stated it's been about a year since I last looked at the code so there hasn't been much progress since then. I've just more or less tidied things up a little so that I could make the current pre-release.

As you say, Mode 0 eats up too much memory and I am aiming to run this on a standard BBC B machine. If I do develop my other adventure game (The Fortress) further then it will definitely be a Mode 0 affair, but will require a BBC Master.

And yes, I will still be knocking on your door to help me out with location descriptions and refining the gameplay.

@DaveM

I'm glad you like the humour. I've added a few things in to the location descriptions, but most are just place markers and need to be filled out (which is where Samwise will come in handy! ).

Kind regards,

Francis

Yep, appreciate it's all been work under the covers ... wasn't meant to be a jibe. More letting you know how far I'd gone so you can nudge me if I missed anything new ... !

Sam.