4 ms·

Developed 30 years ago and in Sweden, judging by the code comments :) https://github.com/historicalsource/pinballfantasies/blob/main/FANTASIE.ASM#L18 https://g

by Radim 5y ago

Developed 30 years ago and in Sweden, judging by the code comments :) https://github.com/historicalsource/pinballfantasies/blob/main/FANTASIE.ASM#L18 https://github.com/historicalsource/pinballfantasies/blob/ma...

mcraiha 5y ago
It also seems that there are some text conversion issues in comments, since e.g. "anv„nd" is not a word, but "använd" is.
- Delk 5y ago
  Looks like it might be encoded in code page 850, which was commonly used in DOS at the time for non-English locales, at least in parts of Europe. On another note, it's interesting to see what appear to be some kinds of todo items or task assignments in the comments of fantasie.asm: things like testing on different kinds of displays and computers. I guess the project management toolbox was a bit less refined at the time.
  - hipnoizz 5y ago
    I remember reading about the development of Baldur's Gate II - around 2000 I suppose, a rather big game, especially for its times - and they supposedly tracked all bugs using some kind of physical board and paper notes. I'm not sure if that is true of course. Pinball Fantasies was likely developed probably around 1991-1992, so 8 years earlier. We are really rather spoiled by nowadays tools (when we are not complaining about Jira etc. of course). I also still remember rather horrible crudeness of tools like Bugzilla or Mantis which were one of the first tools in this area I worked with.
  - ftrobro 5y ago
    Project managing in assembler code, I love it. One of Gabriels assignments is that he should test if the game runs well on his dad's laptop.
  - egypturnash 5y ago
    The whole set of credits for the original Amiga version is less than ten people: two programmers, one artist, one musician, and a couple of producers. This port was done by "FrontLine Design", who seemed to be three more people, according to the text in intro.asm. I'm not sure you need a complex project management toolbox for a team that size. (Digital Illusions grew into DICE, who certainly does need complex project management tools; I wonder how many of the original members are still there.)
    - tpmx 5y ago
      "FrontLine Design" was also known as The Space Pigs in the early PC demo scene (90-93).
      - egypturnash 5y ago
        I am completely not surprised that the PC port of a game by Amiga demo sceners was handled by PC demo sceners :)
        Firehawke 5y ago
        And of course the PC demoscene legends Future Crew did Epic Pinball in 1993, so there's definitely some kind of fixation on pinball by demosceners! Not that that's a bad thing by any means.
        inDigiNeous 5y ago
        Epic MegaGames tried to recruit Future Crew, but they declined. I remember reading from somewhere that one of the coders from FC made a technically impressive pinball game in a weekend out of spite and showmanship and showed it to Tim Sweeney that they could do it, but wont. Wikipedia says this: "Tim Sweeney saw some impressive 3D demos done by a group of Finnish developers that were members of the PC demogroup Future Crew and sent Mark Rein to Finland to recruit them. They declined except for Misko Iho who travelled to the US with Mark, bringing back an unfinished version of a pinball game.[5] Unable to convince them to allow Epic MegaGames to finish the game, Tim showed the unfinished game to James Schmalz in Canada. James developed Epic Pinball (with six pinball tables) from scratch in nine months while he was in college. Tim and Mark kept in touch with James to ensure he was on the right track.[6] The graphics were created using Deluxe Paint II and the music was composed using Scream Tracker.[7]"
- TonyTrapp 5y ago
  The "conversion issue" is merely a display issue on GitHub - I myself appreciate that the source files were uploaded as-is and not converted to UTF-8. They are true relics of their time and will look correct when viewed in the programs they were intended to be used with.
geon 5y ago
> FELHANTERINGEN CP! (TMINSTONE OUT OF MEM) The error handling is retarded! (At least out of mem) > TONINGEN SKA INTE SLUTA P BAJSBRUNT UTAN P SVART! The fade should not stop on poop-brown, but on black!

by Radim 5y ago

mcraiha 5y ago

It also seems that there are some text conversion issues in comments, since e.g. "anv„nd" is not a word, but "använd" is.

Delk 5y ago
Looks like it might be encoded in code page 850, which was commonly used in DOS at the time for non-English locales, at least in parts of Europe. On another note, it's interesting to see what appear to be some kinds of todo items or task assignments in the comments of fantasie.asm: things like testing on different kinds of displays and computers. I guess the project management toolbox was a bit less refined at the time.
- hipnoizz 5y ago
  I remember reading about the development of Baldur's Gate II - around 2000 I suppose, a rather big game, especially for its times - and they supposedly tracked all bugs using some kind of physical board and paper notes. I'm not sure if that is true of course. Pinball Fantasies was likely developed probably around 1991-1992, so 8 years earlier. We are really rather spoiled by nowadays tools (when we are not complaining about Jira etc. of course). I also still remember rather horrible crudeness of tools like Bugzilla or Mantis which were one of the first tools in this area I worked with.
- ftrobro 5y ago
  Project managing in assembler code, I love it. One of Gabriels assignments is that he should test if the game runs well on his dad's laptop.
- egypturnash 5y ago
  The whole set of credits for the original Amiga version is less than ten people: two programmers, one artist, one musician, and a couple of producers. This port was done by "FrontLine Design", who seemed to be three more people, according to the text in intro.asm. I'm not sure you need a complex project management toolbox for a team that size. (Digital Illusions grew into DICE, who certainly does need complex project management tools; I wonder how many of the original members are still there.)
  - tpmx 5y ago
    "FrontLine Design" was also known as The Space Pigs in the early PC demo scene (90-93).
    - egypturnash 5y ago
      I am completely not surprised that the PC port of a game by Amiga demo sceners was handled by PC demo sceners :)
      - Firehawke 5y ago
        And of course the PC demoscene legends Future Crew did Epic Pinball in 1993, so there's definitely some kind of fixation on pinball by demosceners! Not that that's a bad thing by any means.
        inDigiNeous 5y ago
        Epic MegaGames tried to recruit Future Crew, but they declined. I remember reading from somewhere that one of the coders from FC made a technically impressive pinball game in a weekend out of spite and showmanship and showed it to Tim Sweeney that they could do it, but wont. Wikipedia says this: "Tim Sweeney saw some impressive 3D demos done by a group of Finnish developers that were members of the PC demogroup Future Crew and sent Mark Rein to Finland to recruit them. They declined except for Misko Iho who travelled to the US with Mark, bringing back an unfinished version of a pinball game.[5] Unable to convince them to allow Epic MegaGames to finish the game, Tim showed the unfinished game to James Schmalz in Canada. James developed Epic Pinball (with six pinball tables) from scratch in nine months while he was in college. Tim and Mark kept in touch with James to ensure he was on the right track.[6] The graphics were created using Deluxe Paint II and the music was composed using Scream Tracker.[7]"
TonyTrapp 5y ago
The "conversion issue" is merely a display issue on GitHub - I myself appreciate that the source files were uploaded as-is and not converted to UTF-8. They are true relics of their time and will look correct when viewed in the programs they were intended to be used with.

geon 5y ago

> FELHANTERINGEN CP! (TMINSTONE OUT OF MEM) The error handling is retarded! (At least out of mem) > TONINGEN SKA INTE SLUTA P BAJSBRUNT UTAN P SVART! The fade should not stop on poop-brown, but on black!