Xbox port

[Peter]

According to this site

http://www.nelson.monkey.org/~nelson/we ... xultx.html

there is a port of Exult to the Xbox. Does anyone know which files I need to download for this? Are they then just copied to a CD anlong with the U7 data files and played on the Xbox?

Thanks.

Peter

[Dominus]

The X-Box port never went official, so I have to decline any support-knowledge here.

[Cyrus]

What do you mean you can't give support-knowledge. Do you want me to waste a whole day trying to get one going, either there is one or there isn't. You shouldn't play with people.

[Dominus]

And you shouldn't assume I'm playing with you.
All there is to say is that someone talked in our irc channel about it and apparently he got it working somehow. You can read those logs yourself. This person never said much more about it and I assume that he used some tool he could not possibly have legally and therefore never made the port official.
And that is why I can't give any support and even if I could, probably shouldn't.
All we know is that there is a port (just using google gives you that much insight - sorry you wasted a day, but you should at least check google first) but we neither know where to get the files you need nor can we offer any other help.

[Bomb Bloke]

I can't tell if Exult runs under Linux or not (I see rpm files and the like, but Fedora doesn't ring a bell with me), but I guess it does.

Thus, this link might be useful.

http://www.xbox-linux.org

Or not. Take it or leave it.

[Gradilla Dragon]

The problem is: It's too much trouble to install Linux in the X-Box, it goes against the "fair use policy" established by Microsoft, and some games force updates to the X-Box OS, which results in your Linux installation to be wiped off.

[Bomb Bloke]

(I don't have an X-Box and I don't use Linux (nothing against Linux, mind)).

I was just noting a possible generic solution, but still, you've caught my interest - what's this 'fair use policy'? Is there any link where I can read it?

I believe Sony lost the court case when they tried to stop Linux going onto the PSII, but then they started marketing their own version...

[Colourless]

If you are going to use Linux on an Xbox you should be able to compile exult for the xbox as if it was just any old linux installation. Porting Exult isn't really a problem, as exult is very portable, usually the problem is with SDL.

A native XBE version of Exult is NEVER going to appear on this page, nor is anything we will ever tell people how to get. We are on a narrow enough fine line with EA and we dont want to get on the wrong side of Microsoft.

-Colourless Dragon

[Gradilla Dragon]

The policy says you are not allowed to open, tamper nor modify your X-Box. That policy comes with your X-Box.

[LordChuckles]

but the policy only effects your ability to have your x-box repaired or returned or whatnot. once you pay for it you can do whatever you want to it, just dont expect a refund afterwards. thats the american way.

[Dominus]

the reason to not bother with an xbox port has nothing (or at least not much) to do with the policy that comes with your xbox.

[Gradilla Dragon]

Yea, that's it, no warranty anymore. Also, you need to make sure your X-Box has a 10 GB hard drive, and install Linux in the last 2 GB, which are never used by the X-Box.

Or you can replace the hard drive with a bigger one. The X-Box supports up to 137 GB hard drives, and only uses the first 8 GB for the "normal operation". The problem is you need to do some hardware modifications for it to accept the new bigger hard drive.

Also, the X-Box only has 64 MB of RAM, so you may want to upgrade. It involves soldering the chips into the X-Box yourself. It supports up to 128 MB of RAM.

Too much risk to damage it, and the warranty is void the moment you open it. Also, there is no support for hardware accelerated 3D.

[Bomb Bloke]

It would seem, according to the link I supplied, that you can install Linux on an X-Box with no hardware modifications - though you will have more control over the end result if you do so.

I suppose installing Linux is just as legal as adding a larger hard drive.

Not that I'm advocating the idea, mind - I'm just saying it can be done.

[LordChuckles]

i doubt either one is illegal.. i mean if you pay for something.. you could turn it into an atomic bomb and the only illegal part of it would be the fact that you posess a nuclear weapon

[Colourless]

Modding an xbox is not illegal. It will be a license violation however.

[Bomb Bloke]

A picture was made concerning the atomic bomb idea - When the PS2 was released, there was concern that the thing could have military applications, such as for guiding missiles.

Thus, there was a pic which showed Saddam using one to attack the US. He was foiled by a disc read error.

[Gradilla Dragon]

Regarding the license violation, that has to be analysed carefully. If the license says you must only run games and the built-in software (and I read it does!!!), running Linux on it is a license violation, thus you no longer have the right to use all the software subject to that license (including the copy protection system it has); in other words, if you run Linux your X-Box, playing 'real' X-Box games on it after that is illegal because you no longer have the right to use the basic functionality of the X-Box.

I do not have the license at hand, so I can't tell if it says so, but I have read comments that it's highly restrictive on the X-Box's use. I suppose the purpose of that license is to prevent from using it for military applications and stuff (as if it were going to be successful ).

[Dominus]

As you are still pondering the license stuff, the real reason that there will never be a native Xbox port, is that for doing this you need to use certain development tools that you can only get from MS for some hefty money. At least this is what I think is the reason. I might be wrong.
What you do with your Xbox is certainly up to you, you can take it apart, you can smash it, you can mod it and so on...

[Angelo]

I wonder how would you play it with a controller...

[Dominus]

Angelo: the answer to this is linked in the thread...

[Angelo]

I know it. I was just wondering how practical would it be to play it with a controller.

[Bomb Bloke]

Not very. 50% of the game involves picking stuff up etc, and that would be annoying with a controller.

Speaking of which, Ultima VII was released on the Snes. However, they changed the game around a bit... I haven't played through that version, but the maps seem a lot different.

I doubt it would be easy to get hold of that cartridge. I do have a rom image of the game, though I doubt I'll ever do anything with it. I got given a ton of snes roms by soe guy wanting me to back them up, and I don't even know what most of them are.

[Gradilla Dragon]

It's so much different. It's not even the same game!!!! It's too dumbed down, and the items were reduced to a minimal. Houses are ugly and undecorated. Everything is too plain. Inventory management is a subscreen. To pick up items, you have to stand next to them, although most items are inside containers, which you have to stand next to and "activate".

[drcode]

(I'm playing catchup after being on vacation.)

Legal issues: Someone could purchase a developers' license from MS. Might be quite a few $$$'s, though.