28 Jun
2007
28 Jun
'07
3:17 p.m.
Graphics are not a requirement for games, just as
multiple lines of
text are not a requirement for games, but each level of display
sophistication encapsulates the varieties under it, and extend the
possibilities dramatically.
Of course. I don't think anyone would expect to be able to run a
Doom-like gape, or even a space invaders type of arcade came on a machine
with a 1-line display like the HP9830. But that's a far cry from saying
that it's impossible to play games on an HP9830.
Think of chess. I have no idea if there ever was a chess program for the
HP9830, I wouldn't be suprised if there was, I suspect there was enough
memory for it, etc. It could display the moves on a 1-line display using
the standard notation, and you (the player) would have to keep track of
where the pieces are, say by using a real chess set abd board.
Of ocurse it's more convenient to have a full-screen display and display
the board there (although I am not convinced anything is added by having
a '3D' represenation of the pieces with shadows, etc, over the sort of
diagram you see in chess books].
Equally you can play a text adventure on 1-line display (there is,
amazingly, an adventure game for the HP75C handheld computer), it's more
convenient to do so on a a machine with a multi-line displauy or printer.
Contrast Lunar Lander on a calculator, or on a TTY, or on a PET
display, or on a vector display (Atari's arcade machine from the
Or to keep it very much on-topic, a GT40.
1970s)... essentially, it's the same game - a
simulation of landing a
spacecraft under 0.167g with limited fuel and potentially limited
landing zone opportunities. The only real difference is the extent to
which the machine can reproduce aspects of the view or at least a
representation of the controls. In all examples, you are queried,
either by typing in thrust values, or by pulling a lever that
translates to thrust values, then after a calculation phase, the game
re-presents the environment, either numerically or graphically. For
all that the premise and potentially the calculation engine are
essentially the same, they are all different games.
THat I dod not dispute.
I am challenging the ocmment that you couldn't have games on a 9830. Yes,
there are some gmaes that need more than a 1-line display, some that are
a lot nicer on a full-screen or grapghical displau, and some that are
perfectly palyable on a 1-line display.
-tony