Gapporin
04-02-2008, 05:11 PM
OpenTyrian is "a port of the classic DOS game Tyrian to C using SDL, so it can run cross-platform without DOSBox. The developers have been given a copy of the original Turbo Pascal source to look at but not redistribute. The 'Classic' port is a direct port with minimal changes and will serve as a freely-distributable reference implementation thereafter."
For those who don't know, Tyrian was an iconic DOS shoot-'em-up that's been one of the landmarks of mid-90's computer gaming. The game has been freeware since 2004, and just recently the graphics from the game were available for use in an open license. Wiki article is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_%28computer_game%29
OpenTyrian has been ported to the following systems and consoles: Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, plus the PSP, DS, GP2X, Gizmondo, GameCube, Amiga, Dreamcast, and Nokia Internet Tablets. I've finally put some time into the DS port, and I've gotta say it's pretty amazing. Everything has been faithfully ported and even includes the in-game ads for other Epic products during that time! And no more messing with AUTOEXEC.BAT, either. ;)
I've only noticed two things about the DS port in particular: First, the text is way too small to be legible, which makes reading datacubes a hassle. Secondly, there was a little slowdown during intense parts of certain levels. However, if you play OpenTyrian on a "normal" system, I bet that these things probably don't apply.
Needless to say, grab this one now. I remember back when new computer systems at electronic stores were being demoed by running copies of the shareware version of Tyrian, so it's nice to see it attract a following once more. Now if only OpenRaptor was in the works...
To get to the good stuff, just go here: http://code.google.com/p/opentyrian/
For those who don't know, Tyrian was an iconic DOS shoot-'em-up that's been one of the landmarks of mid-90's computer gaming. The game has been freeware since 2004, and just recently the graphics from the game were available for use in an open license. Wiki article is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_%28computer_game%29
OpenTyrian has been ported to the following systems and consoles: Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, plus the PSP, DS, GP2X, Gizmondo, GameCube, Amiga, Dreamcast, and Nokia Internet Tablets. I've finally put some time into the DS port, and I've gotta say it's pretty amazing. Everything has been faithfully ported and even includes the in-game ads for other Epic products during that time! And no more messing with AUTOEXEC.BAT, either. ;)
I've only noticed two things about the DS port in particular: First, the text is way too small to be legible, which makes reading datacubes a hassle. Secondly, there was a little slowdown during intense parts of certain levels. However, if you play OpenTyrian on a "normal" system, I bet that these things probably don't apply.
Needless to say, grab this one now. I remember back when new computer systems at electronic stores were being demoed by running copies of the shareware version of Tyrian, so it's nice to see it attract a following once more. Now if only OpenRaptor was in the works...
To get to the good stuff, just go here: http://code.google.com/p/opentyrian/