Re: NetHack on the II (was Re: *Karateka*)

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <33d6c1$ipp@bmerhc5e.bnr.ca>,
Jeffrey Robertson <jeffr@bmerha2a.bnr.ca> wrote:
> In article <332c8e$fad@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>,
> Anthony J. Stuckey <stuckey@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu> wrote:
> >
> >	Considering that even NetHack version 1.X ran about 800K of source, I
> >wouldn't try to hard on anying without a hard drive, and a GS would
> >probably be preferable. :)
> >	You could make a game disk on a 3.5", once you got it compiled,
> >probably.  I'm not sure that this would work for 3.1.3...
> 
> If you ask me, that is an acceptable trade-off.  I think it's fooling
> to try to port a game to a clearly inadequate system.  (If the original
> needs >1Meg and the new platform has 128K, it's inadequate!  Hold the
> flames please.)

Unless the original was poorly written and was lazy about memory
allocation!

> 4Mb memory is also a reasonable requirement.  After all, haven't most
> GS owners got 4 or 8Mb?  And certainly a pretty hefty hardrive too.

The vast majority of IIgses will be bare-bones machines, used by
schools, with 1 MB of RAM and no hard drive.

Among the on-line IIgs community, there will be a much higher
proportion of "expanded" machines.  From my experience, more than 4 MB
of RAM is rare, because most cards only support 4 MB, or have problems
with DMA compatibility beyond 4 MB.  (On a ROM 3, this would give a
total of 5 MB.)

Just considering the IIgs users in my local user group, about half
have a hard drive, varying in size from 20 MB to 240 MB, with most in
the 80 to 100 range.  All have at least 1MB of RAM, about 75% would
have more than 1 MB, about 50% would have 4MB.

Only two of us has a working accelerator (mine is dead).  Only three
of us have Internet connections and can program the machine (with
varying degrees of knowledge).  A fourth uses local BBSes but not
Internet.  Sample size is small: 16ish.  We may also be an unusual
sample, since most equipment has to be mail-ordered from the USA.

If you asked this question over a year ago, I would have halved the
above proportions for hard drives and RAM sizes.


Another point to consider: requiring 4 MB of AVAILABLE memory (or
anything close to it) may be unreasonable.  I have well over a
megabyte of desk accessories, INITs, etc. installed, plus an 800k RAM
disk.  In my 5 MB total RAM, I have just over 2 MB available in Finder.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand