Richard Walker has released an alpha version of a module to allow the use of USB joysticks on RISC OS. With the module running, any games that use the Acorn and Serial Port joystick SWIs should respond and work with a modern USB HID-compliant joystick.
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News bit: Batch convert video files
In order to solve the problem of converting multiple video files to a RISC OS friendly format, Raik Fischer has written a front-end for FFmpeg that makes it possible to process a whole series of files in one go, rather than run the process for each individual file.
Read MoreNews nybble: Imagery given kiss of life
Rick Murray has dug out an old graphics application, Imagery, that was originally a commercial package and subsequently released on an Acorn World cover disc in 1993. With some basic – or in this case BASIC – hacking, the application now works again on modern systems. For more details – and a link to download – have a read of this thread on the RISC OS Open forum.
Read MoreMop Tops top speed topped up
And some other game updates from AMCOG, too. A number of titles from AMCOG Games – specifically, those that run in 16 million colour screen modes – have been updated with improved compatibility with the latest ROM updates for ARMSX ARMX6 and Titanium machines. At the same time, the company has seen fit to add some new features to the products, as follows:
Read MoreArriving on the platform now: Train times
TrainTimes is a new application from Kevin Wells. Less astute readers might assume that’s some kind of newspaper for train spotters, but everyone else will surely realise it’s actually for viewing the times that trains are due. The application can display the times for up to the next eight trains that are due at any given UK railway station, with a button for each of those trains that will show you the stations and times for that individual train.
Read MoreNews nybble: Rick Murray releases KanaTutor
Learning Japanese, I think I’m learning Japanese, I really think so! For a number of years now, Rick Murray has been trying to learn the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries, which are components of the written language. To assist with the process, he has developed an application called KanaTutor, which is now available free of charge from !Store. Rick explains that the program is not a one-stop tool for learning Japanese, the written form of which is very complicated – it’s merely a self-help learning/testing tool. You really need to…
Read MoreNews nybble: Quake updated
You receive 25 health! Following R-Comp‘s release of a new version of Quake just before this year’s Southwest Show, further work has been carried out on the source code, and there is now a new version available from !Store. The updated version benefits from hardware-accelerated floating point capabilities of modern CPUs, which provides a significant performance boost, with profiles included to offer either smooth 60 frames per second gameplay, or higher resolutions, or aspect-correct widescreen, and so on. The game can now be played on the Raspberry Pi 3, and…
Read MoreNews nybble: 3D squash game released
And called TENiS. Obviously. Patrick M has released yet another simple game, which he says is “based on tennis but it’s a bit different, so I’ve spelled it TENiS” – well, quite. It’s actually a one player squash game. Squash is indeed a bit like tennis, but you hit the ball against the far wall – exactly like you do in Patrick’s TENiS game. Odd naming aside, the objective of this simple but fun game is to keep the ball in play, bouncing it against the far walls, as well…
Read MoreNews nybble: Quake Ressurection… erm… resurrected
Oh well – looks like I won’t be getting any real work done for a while! A new version of Quake Resurrection has been released by R-Comp Interactive. First launched by the company for the StrongARM RiscPC, the 2018 edition has been updated for modern hardware, such as the ARMX6 and Titanium, but it also supports both real and Virtual RiscPC systems, as well as the Iyonix, Pi, and so on. The game includes the original levels for the classic first person shooter, along with the Malice ‘total conversion’ (which…
Read MoreNews nybble: R-Comp releases NetFetch 5.03
Existing users of R-Comp‘s NetFetch 5 package can now update their software to version 5.03, by downloading the new version from !Store – it should be in the “My Software” section. The main improvement in version 5.03 is to do with how the software deals with multiple SMTP servers. Support for this is relatively new, necessitated by the increasing use of Sender Policy Framework (SPF) as an anti-spam measure, and the new version sees some user interface improvements as a result of user feedback. For new users, NetFetch 5.03 can…
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