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[Mel Odius goes 'Six String Searchin']

Mel Odius goes 'Six String Searchin' is correct!
[imgzoom]http://onedollarproductions.co.uk/uploads/guessedthegame1.png[/imgzoom]
Sorry for the tough one, I knew it was obscure but I was hoping someone would have come across it.

Over to janosbiro...

Alright, apparently nobody played this but me. Here's some hints, first one to Google the answer can take the next turn:

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It's a DOS game from 1992.

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Spoiler

The goal of the game is shown in one of the screenshots I posted.

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Spoiler

The game had a parser interface and no mouse support.

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Spoiler

It was made in a 'game-making' program (way before AGS existed).

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Spoiler

Although it was a complete game in itself, it was released as shareware as a kind of demo for a planned sequel.

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I don't think the sequel was ever made.

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I played it as a kid in the mid 90s, but it's probably pretty obscure. There's at least one Youtube longplay though.

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Alright, have another screenshot that actually shows the main character:
[imgzoom]http://www.onedollarproductions.co.uk/uploads/guessthegame3.png[/imgzoom]

Nope, sorry,you're on the wrong track there.

It's a DOS game.

Here's another screenshot:
[imgzoom]http://www.onedollarproductions.co.uk/uploads/guessthegame2.png[/imgzoom]

Lucky guess

Is this obscure enough for you?
[imgzoom]http://www.onedollarproductions.co.uk/uploads/guessthegame1.png[/imgzoom]

Hmm... I never played either of them. I'm gonna say... two?

Is that Manhunter?

I've found free software to cover almost everything I want to do with my PC, but I can't find a decent free video editor. There seems to be a few programs for Linux and Mac but not many for Windows. Those that do run on Windows are either unfinished, unstable, low on features or don't support many file formats.

I'd like to be able to have multiple video and audio streams, mask video, speed up/slow down video and audio, and obviously cut video and audio up and move it around. All while being able to preview in realtime. So, you know, not much.

Does anyone know any free software that runs on Windows that would do all that? Or failing that, anything out there that's cheap that people would recommend?

Happy birthday IndieBoy! Hope it was a good one!

Being a curious individual, I would see in this challenge an opportunity to learn something, so hooray!

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking though for everything I've looked at it seems like there's a big pile of basics I need to learn before I get anywhere near graphics programming, file IO and launching external programs. I was wondering what language people would choose to do this in, to save me learning a bunch of syntax then discovering I'm blocked from launching things outside of specific directories etc.

Actually, thanks to the ags shell plugin, it's possible to run cli commands from within AGS.

Ah, thanks, I didn't know about that. I'm going to try doing it in another language for learning purposes, but it's useful to know I can fall back on AGS if it doesn't work out.

I'm building an arcade cabinet with some people from work (Windows XP PC, CRT monitor, wooden cabinet shell, joysticks, buttons and a card that converts them to keyboard inputs).

What I want to do is create a program that acts as a graphical frontend to let you choose which game you want to play. This has to be controlled entirely with the keyboard (no mouse) and when a game is chosen it will need to load the correct key mapping file to the card (done through a command line program with arguments) then launch the game. Ideally it'll also have fancy graphical effects (the vision I have in my head is of the song select menu in DDR games - cycling through screenshots of games with arrow keys and loading more info about them when one is selected). Also once the launcher is built it will need to be easy to add/change games, so probably storing info about the games in XML or something and loading that when it starts.

Anyway, my actual question: what should I build this in? AGS is out because it won't launch external programs. I've looked at Flash which is a possibility, but that also has some restrictions on loading programs. I've done lots of scripting but very little real programming, so what would you recommend?

Also, I think Ben There, Dan That! is on Steam as a freebie, if I remember rightly.

Ben There, Dan That! and Time, Gentlemen, Please! are sold as a double pack (Ben There, Dan That! being freely downloadable elsewhere). So it's sort of free, but only if you buy Time, Gentlemen, Please!.

What is run > sndvol on XP sp 3? Yay

sndvol32

Why is that not the case?

Just guessing, but my theories...
1 - You slide on ice because the surface melts and provides a thin layer of water which acts as a lubricant. Maybe the cloth absorbs the water.

2 - The cloth provides a larger surface area, so more friction. The tyre is full of groves which aren't in contact with the ground, so aren't providing any grip. (The purpose of a tyre tread is to carry away water from rain or ice, to stop the tyre slipping. A bald tyre actually has much more grip than a tyre with a tread because more of it is in contact with the road, but as soon as there's water involved - rain, snow, ice - it starts to slip. If I'm right about guess 1, that wouldn't be an issue for the cloth).

3 - On a cold winter's day the rubber in the tyres is much harder, and won't mould itself to the ground (this is why winter tyres are better in the snow - they're made from a different compound that stays soft in the cold). The cloth can mould to the ice and provide more friction.

@Mods
Sounds pretty bad. I haven't come across that error, though a game that's 'incompatible with Vista' should never kill a PC, especially not to this level. It does seem like a hardware error if you're getting a messed up Dell screen.

Does the computer have an onboard graphics card? If so you could take your current card out and switch to using the onboard one for testing purposes (should be automatic, but if not there'll be a setting in the BIOS to change between them). Alternatively can you get another card to put in it (though don't put in anything you care about - if the motherboard's fried you might kill the new card as well)?

I'd also run through the Dell diagnostics before trashing the PC. Instructions here, but the gist is hit F12 on bootup. If you've reinstalled Windows you might have removed the diagnostics partition, so you'd need to re-download it and burn a boot CD or put it on a USB drive.

You could also try a Linux boot CD, just to see what you get with a different OS.

Happy birthday to Mr IndieBoy!

Another one was a turn based assault kind of game that reminds me of Fallout.

Only thing that comes to mind is Jagged Alliance, though I'm only going on screenshots because I've never played it. Don't know if it was on Amiga though.

Thanks for the responses. I might see if I can borrow a power supply for testing, or maybe try and get a feel for how hot the card and supply are getting when I start pushing them. Overheating is quite possible as the computer's in an attic that gets very hot over the summer (though I've got the windows open whenever my PC is on).

I'm pretty sure it could burn the power supply itself.

Yeah, that's what I'm most concerned about. I suppose if the power supply burns out I'll replace it with one that has enough power. As long as it doesn't short the motherboard and total the computer at the same time

I got a good-spec second hand graphics card from someone who was moving house and didn't want their old computer. It works really well, but when I push it with games like Bioshock and Fallout 3 on high settings I occasionally get a pattern of small single-coloured squares appearing in front of some textures. They disappear again after a split second. I've tried to screenshot them, but either I'm missing them or they're not showing up on screen captures. In Fallout (where I see them more regularly) I think they mainly appear on objects that are nearer to the screen - for example when talking to characters or looking at the PIP boy. They don't seem to cause any problems with the game, no slow downs or crashes and I've played for hours without any problems. They're just an annoying visual glitch.

Anyway, to try and find the problem I had a look at the power requirements of the card, then the output of my power supply. My supply has a max output of 375 Watts, and the card lists its requirements as 450 Watt or greater (with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI-E power connector recommended).

So my questions:

1) Is the lack of power likely to be causing the glitches I mentioned?

2) More importantly, am I or could I be doing any damage to my computer by running the card in combination with this power supply?

The card is an ATI Radeon HD 4850 (by PowerColor if that makes a difference).