itch.io

Hi, I tried to compile again the game for Atari ST. I deactivated the splash screen that seemed to create some issues. If you still want to give a try on the ST, download it and try it again. I hope it works.

Hi, I'll definitely have to give a closer look at it.

In any case, all the versions come from the same game logic. I usually have two sources: one where the game is split in three separate parts and one where the three parts are in the same file. The Amiga and the Atari use the single file source and the game logic is strictly identical. The C64 version comes from a version that is split in three parts, and it should be nearly identical.

Ah, the game is not meant to replace the ROM in the emulator, there are just two executables (for 40 and 80 columns).

You can try to search for an image of an original Atari ROM and OS disk. Hatari will load it and will behave as the original computer with the Atari OS. Usually I configure Hatare so that to have a shared directory on my OS  seen as a hard disk inside the emulated computer. The game files are just executables and can be run with a double click. Try also the other games, I remember spending quite some time developing The Queen's Footsteps on the Atari.

Hi, so you tried the game with the original Atari ROM and TOS and it does not work? In that case, I should definitely have a look at it. Do the other games (The Queen's Footsteps and Silk Dust) work?

Hi, did you use the original Atari TOS or EmuTOS in Hatari? If you tried with EmuTOS, did you get the same error with an Atari TOS?

Hi,
 I look at the code of the game and, in order to decide to go to Turin, you should:

- Have received the second telegram

- Have visited Rovelli's place

- Have the recomposed letter with you

- Have examined the iron's gate at Raligotto's villa

For the moment, I do not see the bug, yet. The moment where you examine the gate should not count. If you examine the recomposed letter, you should get a slightly longer message, with a part that says that you recognize the symbol. This does not trigger any particular event though.

If you still think there's a bug, can you send me a save file of the game, so that I can watch it in more detail? Write me using the address on my blog, I will give you a second address where you can send attached files.

Cheers,

D.

Hi, which is the version of the game you are playing? On which platform?

Did you receive the second telegram? Have you had a look at the symbol on the gate of Raligotto's villa? Try to read again the letter. The symbol on the gate is what makes you realize that there's a connection between Raligotto and Rovelli.

Did you try to speak again to the hotel clerk?

D.

I tested the game on Firefox. Does it happen repeatably when you start the game, or you noticed the slow down gets worse after a while?

Hi, thank you for the feedback. I'll have a look at it. What is the browser you are using?

Thank you Frank, I'll definitely let you know if I will do something about it.

Thank you, I will certainly let you know if I will do something in this direction. No minidisc, as I am not equipped for it, but more probably cassette.

My pleasure!

Amazing work!

I'm really pleased to see that my little game gets some love.

Cheers,

Davide Bucci

Hi Marco,
   I'm so happy to see this result. When I released the source code of The Queen's Footsteps, I did not imagine that someone would ACTUALLY read it, let alone study it in detail to port the game towards such an advanced system, drawing a picture for each room.

The result is truly amazing and I like it a lot.

Cheers,

D.

Thank you, I enjoyed a lot working on it.

Hello!

In theory, the version of the game in a single .cas file should contain the loader and the three parts. If the cassette does not stop automatically when part1 is fully loaded, try stopping it manually. If you try to load from there, part2 should be loaded. If you are using an emulator though, it is probably much more convenient to use the distribution with the three .cas files separated.

Let me know,

D.

It worked perfectly. Problem solved, thank you very much!

Hi to all,
  I have a background in classical piano and I lean towards a piano/orchestral/electronic kind of palette.  I recently tried to write some music for one of my games, called Silk Dust: https://soundcloud.com/user-375194295/sets/silk-dust-soundtrack

Listening again the pieces after a few months, I realized I have a soft spot for Varenna suite, Villa Briccorosso and Emilia's Theme.

I recently wrote this piece, investigating a more electronic soundscape: https://soundcloud.com/user-375194295/new-star

(btw, a high quality version of the pieces along with some bonus can be found here on Itch.io for a very moderate price)

Cheers,

D.

Hi to all.
   I noticed something strange after I added a browser-friendly version of certain games I developed.

The screenshots (that are present in the page) are not shown unless the width of the browser window is quite reduced. That seems strange to me. Here is a game where this behaviour can be seen:

https://darwinne.itch.io/silk-dust

I tried with Safari 16.6 and Firefox 117.0 running on macOS 13.5.1 and I get the exact same result.

I don't know if there is a bug somewhere. Is that a problem with my game that messes up with the content of the page?

Kind regards,

D.

BTW I received the printed book today. It is the version with a spiral and it is very nice. Definitely an useful resource.

The soundtrack can be bought with a -50% discount for a limited time. Hurry up!

Thank you very much!

A truly great resource!

My pleasure! I'm glad you appreciate it, I had some great fun working on the game and on the soundtrack.

Hi, I created a soundtrack project here on Itch, where all the music can be downloaded for a small fee: https://darwinne.itch.io/silk-dust-original-soundtrack

Indeed :-)

That's great! I'm glad everything is OK.

Thank you very much!!!

I published a new short piece this evening. It is called The Dynamene. I hope you will like it!

That's great! I hope you are going to love both! Leave some space left on the Minidisc, as I will probably publish a new piece within the next few days.

My pleasure!!! I'm glad that you appreciated.

That's strange, I just tried again downloading the files from Itch.io and running on the Vice C128 emulator and it shows a splash screen. Can you please try again? Maybe the files are cached somewhere?

Hello! I updated the C128 version of Silk Dust. Can you please try it again and let me know if there is something different this time?

It's true that I have prepared a splash screen for the C128 version of The Queen's Footsteps, but not for Silk Dust... Something to think about...    :-)

Indeed!!!

Thank you! Not for the moment, but the future will tell.

Hi and thank you very much! I'm glad that you like the games.

I thought about those systems, but I was dubious, as they do not have a keyboard. The entire gameplay (currently based on a parser) would need to be rethought. Are there examples of similar text adventure games ported there? How are they working?

Implementing a menu system would change quite a lot the structure of the game, I fear.

Cheers,

D.

Thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the game!

Hello,
   I'm glad you and your wife both appreciate the game!

When I played to similar games, I used a second disk I swap when I want to save. However, there is some space left in the game disk, if you want to use it for the saves, you can do it.

Cheers,

D.

:-)