VOGONS


First post, by OldGamersNetwork

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I'm trying to master Sopwith But I'm having keyboard problems. I'm not able to turn and shoot the plane at the same time. As soon as I start shooting the plane flies strait ahead.
I'm sure this used to be no problem running on real iron. Does anyone have a solution?

Reply 2 of 10, by OldGamersNetwork

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FYI: I have a standard HID keyboard driver and some drivers for an Xbox and Xbox360 controller.
I also had the same problem with Test Drive 1. Using a joystick it's fine but unfortunately this game as not really playable with a joystick.

Reply 3 of 10, by dr_st

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How many keys(and which ones) are you pressing at the same time to shoot while turning? Some keyboard start choking already at certain 3-key combinations.

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Reply 4 of 10, by konc

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Well as my avatar implies I have a thing for this game. I don't recall changing direction and shooting at the same time, ever. Every key pressed was cancelling anything else already pressed. What I used to do was to repetedly and quickly press "," or "/" and space bar, not keeping them both pressed.

I don't know why you are sure that you could do that. In case you want to solve this once and for all I could just try it on real hardware and report back, although I'm fairly sure about the result.

Reply 5 of 10, by OldGamersNetwork

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My brother and I used to do this thing where we would constantly loop the plane and then try to release the bomb at the right moment to hit a building or another plane. So I'm very sure, also it works with a Joystick but unfortunately joystick control has other issues.
@dr_st only two keys at the same time.

Reply 6 of 10, by konc

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I see. This got my interest so I just tried it on 2 XT's, each one with its own keyboard.
The behavior you're describing isn't there, once you press a key, eg. B or space abr, any other key already held pressed is cancelled. In a few words, it behaves exactly as in dosbox.

btw, I don't know if the video you posted is yours, but this is sopwith 2. Doesn't change anything though, behavior is still the same.
Edit: for sopwith 2, keeping a loop and firing at the same time actually works even in dosbox

Last edited by konc on 2015-05-24, 16:44. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 7 of 10, by ripsaw8080

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I tried it in DOSBox 0.74 and SVN. I'm not certain of the version of Sopwith I'm using, it isn't labeled with a clear version number, but it is more complicated (has flocks of birds) than another one I've seen.

After setting full throttle with the X key, I hold down comma to fly in a loop, then pressing spacebar (with or without holding it down) to fire bullets does not stop the loop, and pressing B to drop a bomb does not stop the loop or stop the firing of bullets. So, I don't see the described problem in the first place. For startup options I chose S for single-player and 3 for IBM Keyboard only.

Reply 8 of 10, by konc

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ripsaw8080 wrote:

I tried it in DOSBox 0.74 and SVN. I'm not certain of the version of Sopwith I'm using, it isn't labeled with a clear version number, but it is more complicated (has flocks of birds) than another one I've seen.

After setting full throttle with the X key, I hold down comma to fly in a loop, then pressing spacebar (with or without holding it down) to fire bullets does not stop the loop, and pressing B to drop a bomb does not stop the loop or stop the firing of bullets. So, I don't see the described problem in the first place. For startup options I chose S for single-player and 3 for IBM Keyboard only.

You are also playing sopwith 2 which, after rechecking, does work the way you describe. You can keep a loop and fire at the same time.
Just to clear any confusion because also the OP showed a video of sopwith 2:

This is the starting sceen of the original sopwith (1984), having no menu music:

sopwith_000.png
Filename
sopwith_000.png
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1.32 KiB
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887 views
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Fair use/fair dealing exception

And this is sopwith 2 (1985):

sopwith2_000.png
Filename
sopwith2_000.png
File size
1.44 KiB
Views
887 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

In the first game firing while looping breaks the loop, in #2 it works.