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Pocket PC Update


Bomb Bloke

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Beta release 1.08 of the Pocket PC version of UFO was released on the 5th of this month.

 

You can get it from the home site, which you might want to translate with either Worldlingo or Babelfish (the original page is in Russian).

 

Don't own a pocket PC? Neither do I, actually. :D However, beta version 1.00 is still up for grabs, and that runs in a customised emulator that your desktop machine can handle.

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UPDATE:

 

WOW! This absolutely rocks! I would recommend anyone with a pocket PC or PDA phone download this IMMEDIATELY. It's the full game, the interfaces have been tweaked and (in most cases) vastly improved over the originals. I really think the guys behind this should release a new version of the game for the normal PC too as they've obviously decoded pretty much all of the game and REALLY know what they're doing!

 

Trust me, it's much more impressive than it looks and that was impressive to start with.

 

The only minor bugs I can see so far are language errors - but on the whole it's an excellent port and a vast improvement over the original! Next time I want to play UFO, I'll switch my phone on!

 

Down sides? I didn't hear any music or sound effects in this version. I'm assuming they're yet to come.

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UPDATE - Music wasn't enabled, but when I went into a tactical battle, I turned the sound and music off anf then on in the options box (as tehre's no sound options in the main geoscape menu) and all the sounds in both parts of the game, complete with music, are now working! :cool:

 

This is GREAT!

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Trust me, it's cheaper if you get a PDA phone. Pocket PC's are about £150+. I spend around £25 a month on my mobile bill. I got an O2 XDA II phone for £50 (on offer - usualy £75 I think) and am on the same contract basically. So... my phone can do more stuff is all.

 

If I could afford to, I'd get a 1GB memory card and try and fit Star Wars Episode 2 on it so I don't get bored in the queue for Star Wars Episode 3 :cool:

 

Back to the game - I think they've tweaked some stuff. My Interceptor range seems to be shorter than I remember, although it might just be because my map's not as zoomed in (as you can't zoom in much on it). I swear, I built a base in the UK and my Interceptors can just about cross the channel to France before Paris' Air Traffic Control turns them back ;)

 

Also, you really can't see very far through smoke any more (two squares depth at the most, even when you're waling through it), and I think they changed the maps so that crashed UFO's leave their mark on the terrain (ala X-COM Apocalypse).

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Looking at the screenshots on the developers website here, the graphics have the feel of the original.  When they release the final English language version, it will ALMOST be worth buying a Pocket PC.

 

I'd prefer it if someone ported X-Com to one of the Symbian devices though.

 

 

I also find that the CAB file can be downloaded. Is Cab file same as the source file? If so,, it is possible for someone to port it to other devices. :cool:

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A fair while ago they released an emulated version for the PC. They've taken that download down now, but I got a copy of that ages ago, along with the prior beta versions and the screen shot archives...

 

I'll try contacting them, see if we can put that download up here. I didn't mess with it much, but it lets you play tactical maps.

 

I know explosions are now 3D (be careful with those blaster bombs, folks), and two handed weapons now require TWO HANDS. I've got a screen shot showing a decent sized forest on fire, after a UFO crashed through it.

 

They don't update their site often.

 

Edit: Sent them a mail, but don't trust the translation of what I wrote to russian that Babelfish provided. I didn't use any exclamation marks, myself... :cool:

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Cheers BB, saved me the effort there ;)

 

Agreed - there really are some nifty alterations. I'm still not sure whether they just built it from teh ground up using the tactical sprites and the UFOPedia images or what? It would probably be easier after all with today's technology...

 

...though I could be wrong :)

 

*Sigh* I suppose that two-handed weapon rule means I have to pack away my rifle before throwing a grenade does it? I've always thought the motion scanner and medi-kit ought to take up both hands...

 

And yeah, from the tactical maps I've seen, the destruction trail from UFO's burns forests, gouges chunks out of hillsides and all sorts :cool:

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Building from the ground up would be far easier then reverse engineering the original and converting it. The fact that the 'alterations' were present in the early version also suggests the entire thing was written from scratch.

 

They even have Pocket PC desktop themes on the site. Do we have any PC desktop themes here? :cool:

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We did do... err... it's on the big-long list of things to do ;)

 

Lemme know if you get a message back from them. I'd be quite interested in adding this to the projects section if they're up for it :cool:

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I've taken the plunge and gone from my trusty old 1989 vintage Psion II LZ64 (megabytes are for wimps!) and upgraded to a Pocket PC so I can play the game.

 

The interface is a bit fiddly because of the small size of PDA screens, but apart from that I'm impressed. I'll post a full review later this week if anyone's interested.

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I will if I can figure out how, although the screenshots on the developer's website give you a pretty good idea what the game feels like.

 

I found one feature that hasn't been implemented yet - I've got one soldier with four kills from six missions, and he is still only a rookie :cool:

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Ok, BB got mail! :)

 

I sent them this:

 

Hello to you. I am one of the administrators at

https://www.strategycore.co.uk, and I go under the username of Bomb Bloke.

 

Please excuse my use of english - while some of our members are russian, I

am not. :cool: I've included a machine translated version above if it helps...

 

We noticed your excellent pocket pc version of UFO. Previously, you had a PC

version of the game, when it was in it's earlier stages.

 

You no longer have this up for download on your site, but I did get a copy

before.

 

I was wondering if I could have permission to put this program on our site

for download, as an advertisement for your site and program?

 

Plus a translation of more or less the same via Babelfish.

 

Hello Jeffrey!

 

Thank you for your letter. We will make PC version of Pocket UFO in the next

week and will support this kind of game. You can use Pocket UFO for free if

you put link to our site.

 

Best Regards

SMK Software Team

https://www.smksoftware.ru

 

Which makes me think they didn't quite understand me, but it's still very cool to hear that a PC version is in the works, yes? :lol:

 

I'll upload that demo I was talking about at some point. ;)

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