A problematic feature...
14 December 2009
One of the core Neko features, and at the same time most problematic one, is that it will make it easy to implement a game that at the same time has a hardcore ASCII presentation, that is playable via Telnet, while providing a possibility for a modern tile-based roguelike…
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Unfortunately this feature also poses a lot of problems. It’s only the beginning that we have to organize screen classes to provide maximum compatibility between ASCII and normal full-color tile support.
First challenge that has already been overcome is compilation for ASCII vs. compilation for graphics. In FPC Valkyrie I have to do it via compile time defines. In Neko, the same executable can be used to both run the game in ASCII as well as using graphics. The fun thing here is that you don’t need to have the graphics libraries installed to run in ASCII mode. Neither do you need pdcurses to enjoy graphics ;).
However, the issue I’m currently fighting against is the GUI. It’s a real challenge to design a GUI system that will be compatible with ASCII mode, and still look good in graphics mode…
… with the whole point being : Neko must allow such flexibility, that a tile-based roguelike written on top of it won’t look makeshift, yet the ASCII will still work. Challenges…