old helicopter game (I think called Airstrike)
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I have put airstrike in a Rar file and put it on my website. I am not sure where I got it from It must have been from a shareware floppy or cd.
Thank you for your intrest and help.
On my sie you will see an Airstrike link on the left of the home page
http://www.alpower2000.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
Thanks
Thank you for your intrest and help.
On my sie you will see an Airstrike link on the left of the home page
http://www.alpower2000.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
Thanks
Very cool, I got it downloaded and took an initial look.
Even in default DosBox it's saying "This program has been designed to run on a 486 or better specification. Unfortunately Airstrike would not be playable on this machine."
How very irritating.
I've tried a few quick tricks, but no luck so far. There are other things I can try tonight; I'll see what I can do. Basically that breaks down to 3 things I can think of:
1. More advanced DosBox config tricks to try to bypass the trick it's using to detect machine capabilities (and failing for bad reasons; it thinks it's too slow! Ha!)
2. Use a real machine; I have a limited few I can try it on
3. Not sure I can accomplish this, but in theory we could hack the exe to bypass the check, if it's a yes/no thing and not a 'calculate speed' thing.
And, I got into the game once, but the same configuration didn't let me in the second time, so it seems intermittent. Some games have a bug where too fast a computer is as bad as too slow; that could also be a problem here - too fast and the "calculate speed" counter wraps to a small number.
I've tried altering dosbox speed, but haven't found a workable value, and it didn't let me in again. So we have hope, but it's being obnoxious and I couldn't find a sweet spot with random testing.
The game is licensed "May ... be distributed via ... [BBS & Email &] Internet" but not "CD-ROM, floppy disk, or other magnetic media" without explicit permission. Otherwise, "providing no financial transaction is involved," "this software may be freely distributed." So it is freeware on the internet, but essentially the author didn't want to be blindly included in compilation disks or have some one else charge for what he's giving away for free.
It's exciting, you've rescued this game from forgotten lost obscurity! Especially if we can get this working. Do you mind if we post the game on game sites like this one? Worst case if we can't get it working but it's posted out there, maybe someone else can figure it out over time. But I haven't given up yet!
Even in default DosBox it's saying "This program has been designed to run on a 486 or better specification. Unfortunately Airstrike would not be playable on this machine."
How very irritating.
I've tried a few quick tricks, but no luck so far. There are other things I can try tonight; I'll see what I can do. Basically that breaks down to 3 things I can think of:
1. More advanced DosBox config tricks to try to bypass the trick it's using to detect machine capabilities (and failing for bad reasons; it thinks it's too slow! Ha!)
2. Use a real machine; I have a limited few I can try it on
3. Not sure I can accomplish this, but in theory we could hack the exe to bypass the check, if it's a yes/no thing and not a 'calculate speed' thing.
And, I got into the game once, but the same configuration didn't let me in the second time, so it seems intermittent. Some games have a bug where too fast a computer is as bad as too slow; that could also be a problem here - too fast and the "calculate speed" counter wraps to a small number.
I've tried altering dosbox speed, but haven't found a workable value, and it didn't let me in again. So we have hope, but it's being obnoxious and I couldn't find a sweet spot with random testing.
The game is licensed "May ... be distributed via ... [BBS & Email &] Internet" but not "CD-ROM, floppy disk, or other magnetic media" without explicit permission. Otherwise, "providing no financial transaction is involved," "this software may be freely distributed." So it is freeware on the internet, but essentially the author didn't want to be blindly included in compilation disks or have some one else charge for what he's giving away for free.
It's exciting, you've rescued this game from forgotten lost obscurity! Especially if we can get this working. Do you mind if we post the game on game sites like this one? Worst case if we can't get it working but it's posted out there, maybe someone else can figure it out over time. But I haven't given up yet!
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I tried a slower laptop over lunch, and it complains but lets me proceed more frequently on this computer.
I got some screenshots! I'll package them and post them later. Meanwhile, here's the dosbox (from dosbox.com) custom config file I'm using that works on my laptop (usually) but not my beefier desktop (most of the time).
Easiest way to get this working is copy dosbox files to a directory, copy this text to the DosBox.conf file (or create the file), and copy all the game files to the same directory. If it works for you, great! If not, hopefully further modifications will work.
The secret is in that last [cpu] section; I've been modifying this and that trying to get it happy. It's still complaining about "if you are in windows, quit so I can have more resources" but it runs too fast anyway. That's an irrelevant error message, DosBox is a VM and there are no windows in dosbox.
And I usuall put the game files in a \Game subdirectory, and then the first line is mount c .\Game; that keeps the files separate. But that may be harder to setup the first time, it's ok to dump all files in one directory.
More tweaking and screenshots to come, feel free to play with these or suggest improvements on your own! And thanks, I'll see if I can get the game on sites I'm a contributor, and hopefully other people will with their sites as well!
I got some screenshots! I'll package them and post them later. Meanwhile, here's the dosbox (from dosbox.com) custom config file I'm using that works on my laptop (usually) but not my beefier desktop (most of the time).
Code: Select all
[autoexec]
mount c .
#or wherever the game is: mount c .\Game
c:
#run the game AirStrike: as.exe!
as
[render]
frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal3x
[cpu]
core = dynamic
cputype = auto
cycles=max
The secret is in that last [cpu] section; I've been modifying this and that trying to get it happy. It's still complaining about "if you are in windows, quit so I can have more resources" but it runs too fast anyway. That's an irrelevant error message, DosBox is a VM and there are no windows in dosbox.
And I usuall put the game files in a \Game subdirectory, and then the first line is mount c .\Game; that keeps the files separate. But that may be harder to setup the first time, it's ok to dump all files in one directory.
More tweaking and screenshots to come, feel free to play with these or suggest improvements on your own! And thanks, I'll see if I can get the game on sites I'm a contributor, and hopefully other people will with their sites as well!
I got it to run on my normal gaming rig, by setting cpu cycles to max in dosbox (defend).
It still complains the game will be slow on the starting screen, but I can press enter to make it continue, and it plays fine, with sounds and all :-)
It still complains the game will be slow on the starting screen, but I can press enter to make it continue, and it plays fine, with sounds and all :-)
Last edited by Rwolf on Thu Mar 05, 2015 4:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Go for it! I'll post pictures here you are welcome to take if that makes it easier, assuming your own screenshots aren't already in the pipeline.
edit: here they are!
Pesky picky annoying game, you can run, stop whining!
edit: here they are!
Pesky picky annoying game, you can run, stop whining!
Last edited by Quadko on Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- tienkhoanguyen
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God, Jesus Christ, is number one!hehe
Jesus Christ!hehe
O-well, I am still a nobody. hehe
Maybe after my death all my bunch of little DEMOs adds up to a whole pack.
Maybe then it is something substantial.
Otherwise it is just little 'tutorials' if you will for programming.
O-well, I am still a nobody. hehe
Maybe after my death all my bunch of little DEMOs adds up to a whole pack.
Maybe then it is something substantial.
Otherwise it is just little 'tutorials' if you will for programming.
God, Jesus Christ, is number one!hehe
Jesus Christ!hehe
Bless Jesus Christ!
Then please bless my mom.
Honour to my mom Huong Thi Vu
Honour to my dad Thuy Binh Nguyen
Love to cousin Carl Anh Cuong Cao Vu
Thank you Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ!hehe
Bless Jesus Christ!
Then please bless my mom.
Honour to my mom Huong Thi Vu
Honour to my dad Thuy Binh Nguyen
Love to cousin Carl Anh Cuong Cao Vu
Thank you Jesus Christ.
Thanks Quadko, I'll see whats needed, I made it to the 5th mission, I think of total 21 missions.
I like the option to pull back and reload when empty.
Very funny scoring, negative points for unnecessary ecological destruction.
Thanks for uploading the game btw, Alpower2000!
<edit> The game entry is now in the queue at Moby's, I used my own pics.
<edit> http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/airstrike_
I like the option to pull back and reload when empty.
Very funny scoring, negative points for unnecessary ecological destruction.
Thanks for uploading the game btw, Alpower2000!
<edit> The game entry is now in the queue at Moby's, I used my own pics.
<edit> http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/airstrike_
Last edited by Rwolf on Sun Mar 08, 2015 5:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- tienkhoanguyen
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cool Alpower - you got a game out congrats!
that is better than my little programs that i am practicing on
Jesus is on your side!
Jesus is on your side!
God, Jesus Christ, is number one!hehe
Jesus Christ!hehe
Bless Jesus Christ!
Then please bless my mom.
Honour to my mom Huong Thi Vu
Honour to my dad Thuy Binh Nguyen
Love to cousin Carl Anh Cuong Cao Vu
Thank you Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ!hehe
Bless Jesus Christ!
Then please bless my mom.
Honour to my mom Huong Thi Vu
Honour to my dad Thuy Binh Nguyen
Love to cousin Carl Anh Cuong Cao Vu
Thank you Jesus Christ.
Is this download still available?
I can't find it in the http://alpower2000.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ website
I can't find it in the http://alpower2000.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ website
Last edited by ndosed7 on Tue Jan 26, 2016 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Choplifter
I remember a game that sounds like that called Choplifter. They have it on this site.