iPod touch Master of Orion 2 on Touch?

[brkov]

Hello everybody,

only a couple of days ago i was re-installing the good old MoO2 - and i was wondering if its possible to get that one up and running on an ipod touch. I am using a Win-PC and got an .exe installer for that game.

I think the hardware should be able to handle that - the only thing would be, how i get that thing installed and how would i get a win-pc game running on the touch. (or is there even a mac-version available, that would make it easier?)

I would appreciate any ideas and solutions.

Thanks

 

[G99]

Basically, it's impossible
The iPod Touch won't be able to launch the executable, since it runs OS X. I am also certain that the mac version (if available) will not run either. Even if you do manage to launch it, you won't be able to interact, due to the difference in the interface between the iPod Touch and a computer. But, this leads on to another question: Has anyone tried installing a standard OS X application on the iPod Touch? If so, what happened?

 

[mrgreen4242]

Basically, it's impossible
The iPod Touch won't be able to launch the executable, since it runs OS X. I am also certain that the mac version (if available) will not run either. Even if you do manage to launch it, you won't be able to interact, due to the difference in the interface between the iPod Touch and a computer. But, this leads on to another question: Has anyone tried installing a standard OS X application on the iPod Touch? If so, what happened?

What he said, and to answer the last question, there's no way to even try to launch a standard OSX application - they are compiled for PPC, x86, or both, the iPhone/touch is an ARM device. There's just no way to do it.

As an aside, a MoO/2 port would be pretty cool. It's been a long time since I played it, but it seems the controls would be adaptable to touch screen and it would be well suited to the platform. I'd like a Star Control 2 (Master of Urquan, now) port even more though. The more difficult battles might be a little hard to manage without the precision of a keyboard/controller but i would still be hella fun and I suppose, since it would be a custom version of the game, there could be some sort of "cheat" that levels the playing field back out (an auto-aim or whatever).

 

[TP-Eric]

A port would be more than possible. A dev could start with FreeOrion and port from that. I don't imagine it would be too difficult.

 

[TouchPodium.com]

Hehe, it's a bit more difficult than just transfering over the files to your touch. Someone would have to port it - and even then, the iPod Touch would have to be able to run it. Personally, I never played MoO2, so I'm not sure how graphic intensive it is - but if it is anything like a PS2 game - it'll either run slow - or it won't run at all.

Also.. Eric. Wow, I didn't know you were a member here, hehe! I just signed up today. (It's Jody, haha...)

 

[Muncher]

Yeah, it could be hard to port or easy, depending on what API it uses under the surface. If it uses OpenGL or SDL, it wouldn't be all that hard, you'd have to modify the resolution and make sure it would work with a touch screen. Looking at the Freeorion wiki, it seems to be available for linux, a good sign. Maybe you can find an orion fan that's also a programmer, who might be willing to help.

 

[kirksumner]

I was the guy lucky enough to port Master of Orion II to the Mac when I worked for MacSoft. MOO2 is my favorite all-time game!

I agree with previous posters that MOO2 would have to be ported to the iPhone. However, it would be better to start with the Mac code base instead of the PC code base since it contained some bug fixes and lots of cleaning up of code. The guys at SimTex were brilliant in my opinion, but the code suffered from not having a source control server.

I believe the toughest part of the port would be to rework the GUI screens and interface elements to work with a small touch-screen. It would be a fun challenge.

The graphics and CPU requirements for MOO2 are well below the capabilities of the iPhone. The iPhone could easily handle it.

I would love to bring MOO2 to the iPhone myself, but unfortunately I do not have the rights to the game. If someone who had the rights asked me to port the game, I would jump at the chance!

Best Wishes,
Kirk Sumner

 

[grammargeek]

It would be fantastic on the iPad! Kirk, would you still interested in working on this project?

 

[roeen]

why are the game rights an issue

Hey,
since the game is licensed with GPL, what stops us from porting it,or even charging 0.99$ for our time ? (as long as we reales the ported source as well )

cheers
Roee

 

[goosnarrggh]

Hey,
since the game is licensed with GPL, what stops us from porting it,or even charging 0.99$ for our time ? (as long as we reales the ported source as well )

cheers
Roee

The original MOO2 is proprietary software.

There is free software inspired by MOO2, called FreeOrion. FreeOrion is inspired by, but not a clone of, MOO2.

But because it is GPL, FreeOrion might not be eligible for sale on the iOS App Store without express consent for re-licensing from everybody who contributed code to the project, as well as removal/replacement of all contributed code and dependencies on all external GPL libraries by authors from whom consent for relicensing cannot be acquired.

The recent VLC case demonstrates that simply releasing the source code separately from the binary code is not enough to satisfy some peoples' interpretation of the GPL -- they argue that the binary code itself must be redistributable with no additional restrictions on the recipients' ability to install that software on their own machines, and that doesn't work due to the iOS App Store's DRM. And it just isn't worth the expense of litigating the matter in court to see whose side would win.

Distribution solely to jailbroken iOS devices might be feasible. So might distribution solely by means of source code, requiring all recipients to compile the object code for themselves. But still, you'd be left with a not-quite-identical separate work inspired by MOO2, not MOO2 itself.

 

[viriiguy]

While it IS true that you would not have the original MoO2... What you would have, is an attention getter. The the FreeOrion version gain some popularity, then you can rest assured the owners of MoO2 would jump at the opportunity to cash in on it and have the original ported.

 

[Vipers]

Moo port

Hi, I just wanted to say that there is someone who is actually working on porting the moo2 series into IPad and may be android too. It appears from his site www.orionrebirth.com that he is still in the initial phase. At least it's better than nothing

 

[KittyMac]

Starbase Orion is coming this fall, it should be welcome experience for any MoO2 fan.

 

[fifiluvr]

I hope they still have the bubble people like the original MOO!

 

[TheBrain1966]

If anyone is still on this. I played both MOO and MOO2 on my android tablets via an app called DOSBox Turbo. It was basically DOSBox with some significant enhancements added that made touch work almost exactly like a mouse. In regular DOSBox, touch was very flaky but this other app has settings for mouse tracking. There are 2 settings, relative and absolute. Absolute indicates it is experimental but selecting it makes point input track perfectly in both games. Still a little challenging in MOO because of smaller button like in selecting how many ships to move to another system. Yes you have to run DOS and launch the games from the command line but after they started they were perfect. Honestly it is kind of nostalgic to have to start it from a commend line. With MOO especially there was no Win32 exe. It was always a native DOS so it is like old school to run it. I am going to miss this one with my iPad if I can't find a way to run them. I see the App Store has an app DOSpad but there are complaints that you can't get the games on the device since an update that removed file sharing.