Porting your game to multiple platforms makes much financial sense, allowing you to hit as many different markets and players as possible. One platform you might not have considered is MS-DOS.
Yes, you read that right: MS-DOS, the operating system that dominated the PC market in the 80s and early 90s.
It might sound crazy to consider DOS as a viable platform for a port -- and that's because, well, it is crazy. But that hasn't stopped developer Bryan Lunduke from porting his game Linux Tycoon to the age-old system.
Linux Tycoon is a Linux Distro Building game. You create a build full of software packages, fix as many bugs as possible, then ship it out to the online world to battle against the various other Linux offerings out there.
Purchase a copy of Linux Tycoon and you'll not only get copies for Windows, Mac and Linux -- you'll also now receive the newly-released DOS version.
"I did it just to make Richard Stallman's [founder of the GNU Project] head explode," laughs Lunduke. "A closed-source game about building Linux... running on DOS? I don't think something like that can exist in our universe at the same time as Stallman. I'm sure, at the very least, a temporal rift opened up somewhere."
Lunduke says that part of the reason why he ported the game to DOS was because so many people had asked for versions on other platforms, and this was an easy way to make that happen fast.
By making a DOS version, he reasons, players can now use free programs like DOSBox and VirtualBox to run Linux Tycoon on Android, iOS, OS/2 and more. "I've gotten requests for ports to everything from Android and iOS to HaikuOS and FreeBSD," he adds. "So I made a DOS version."
He continues, "Truth be told, it was actually pretty damned easy. I tend to do most of my coding in a terminal or simple text editor already, so coding in DOS wasn't much of a stretch."
Ironically, Lunduke is calling the DOS version "the most cutting edge" edition of the game. This is because he plans to implement any new features or updates in the DOS version first, essentially using it as a test-bed.
"Linux Tycoon isn't pushing any technological boundaries," he notes. "Hell, the
only real 'graphics' in the game come in the form of an 8-bit styled version of me, who simply stands there -- quietly judging you. So the DOS version is, in all reality, just as technically advanced as the Windows, Mac or Linux versions."
"Besides," Lunduke adds, "how awesome is it to have the 'test bed' version be the DOS
version? I toyed with calling it Linux Tycoon EXTREME Deluxe Edition for DOS."
This is actually a really clever idea. With DOSbox running on most any operating system, you could code your game once and target everything. That is, if you are willing to work within the constraints of a DOS operating system.
If that's your goal then just code your game in Java. DOSBox is a huge pain in the ass and i sincerely doubt that people would be willing to launch the thing to play a game that isn't made out of pure gold.
Come on... None of those concerns are relevant in the real world, Java auto updates. You'd have to be selling a physical copy of the game to be even remotely concerned with Java versions or patches or what ever and what vulnerabilities are you so worried about, people are going to hack your game or something, who cares. And beside that, i didn't say anything about DOS constraints, i said that DOSBox is a terrible application, not something you want your customers to deal with. This is just silly.
If i were to port my game, i would like to have opengl.
I think the only way to have opengl in hardware for dos was to get a voodoo2 card.
And then use the Glide library.
I loved the 3d dedicated voodoo device approach.
It put a very clear seperation between 3d and desktop.
The first game my company put out in 2010 was a DOS Only product. People yell at me and said why the heck did you do that? I said because DOS will run on anything. I was rather excited the other day when someone put it on a Nintendo DS chip. Now, you will be limiting your audience to John Titor and Dos-Box Enthusiasts, you are also supplying a very fanatic niche market.
Lunduke says that part of the reason why he ported the game to DOS was because so many people had asked for versions on other platforms, and this was an easy way to make that happen fast.
As for Java, you could go that route, but you will be up against multiple versions of Java, different patch levels, vulnerabilities etc.
I think the only way to have opengl in hardware for dos was to get a voodoo2 card.
And then use the Glide library.
I loved the 3d dedicated voodoo device approach.
It put a very clear seperation between 3d and desktop.