Hi -- I'm from the PortMaster crew. We port modern games to retro handhelds. I'd love to add this game to our catalogue -- I sunk countless hours (as a paid employee during office hours) into it when it came out all those years ago! Would you be okay with us distributing your game files in our port packages? Of course, we'd credit you, and all that. If not, that's fine -- we can instruct players to download them (from here) to add manually. Thanks for considering.
Cool, thanks for reaching out! How does it run on the Anbernic? I've only tried some of my Godot 3 games on my RG35XX Plus, and they work just fine, but I haven't gotten to making proper ports of them, as I'm constantly busy with new projects...
For WJ2, I'd love to add icons to the on-screen buttons matching the physical buttons of the Anbernic, and perhaps skip the mouse cursor entirely.
If you're in no hurry, I'd like to put that little extra effort into it to make it a tiny bit better fit for these consoles.
Thanks for the response. It's running nicely. Of course, I'm excited to get it into the catalogue, but if you'd like more time, that's your call. You're the creator :) We could even release now, then update the game files later. I've also tested Basic Biking, Otto's Tennis, and Turret vs Turret. If you'd like to test my work-in-progress, here are some links:
I couldn't get these installed (haven't touched my Anbernic in a while). Is it just drag'n'drop to "ports" and the sh file to "ROMS/Ports", on muOS?
How do you use the menus on devices without the joystick?
Thanks for the work you've done, and sorry for having to look at how I manage my projects...
And if you get to putting these in the catalog eventually, please link to my own website: ottoojala.com, instead of itch, in the credits - I might leave this platform at some time.
Is it just drag'n'drop to "ports" and the sh file to "ROMS/Ports", on muOS?
That should do it (https://muos.dev/installation/portmaster#download-the-portmaster-port-files). You'll also need to install all the runtimes via the PortMaster app (muOs > Apps > PortMaster > Options > Runtime Manager > Download All), as you're manually loading here (as opposed to installing via the app, which would download the dependencies automatically). Of course: don't forget to add your game files (as per the JSON "inst"). Don't worry about the meta files for now (gameinfo.xml, port.json, README.md, screenshot.png) -- that's for the catalogue packaging.
How do you use the menus on devices without the joystick?
You can tap the power button quickly to swap the D-pad to Analogue mode (https://muos.dev/#handy-hotkeys)
And if you get to putting these in the catalog eventually, please link to my own website: ottoojala.com, instead of itch, in the credits - I might leave this platform at some time.
Will change it right now, so it'll be ready whenever we release :) -- just let me know when you're ready, and whether or not to include the game files (or have users download and manually add these).
The little time I spent trying these out, I only got TvsT's game menu open, without the cursor, and as it's a game with absolutely zero optimization, it's a poor experience anyways. But if you're fine with WJ2's port, I trust it is ok, so go ahead and add it to the catalogue. You can include the game files too.
I'd love to find the time to make the game more suitable for these handhelds, but the current version will have to do for now. Thanks for the work you've put into it (and all your other ports, too)!
If they feel heavy at all, I'd say skip them - no one wants to play a game that doesn't properly run, in my opinion. Otto's Tennis game is the one I've been playing on my Anbernic since I got the console, but it too would obviously be better with a proper port (= better menus). Now that I think of it, I'd prefer to make a stellar app for the PortMaster catalogue, rather than just something that kind of works, so lets do that instead. I'll try to find the time to make a proper version of the tennis one, with gamepad controls. Perhaps you could help me out with the PortMaster stuff after that?
For sure! Happy to help.
I've optimised WJ2 — including icons that match gamepad buttons and other enhancements — so I can add it to the catalogue once I've applied a few finishing touches.
For Otto's Tennis, I think the easiest solution for menus/buttons is to label them with a 'hotkey', so like: 1 Player (L1); 2 Player (L2); Difficulty (SELECT); and so forth.
Cool. If you do any modifications to the game and its assets, do credit yourself for the mods you've made.
Yes, the hotkey solution for tennis game would be the easiest. I want to give it some more thought still, as I am too into these consoles, and I see this as a fun design challenge :--) Making a game that actually feels like it's designed for the Anbernic, is what I'm after.
