I was contacted the other day by someone who couldn't get my (now ancient) port of Repton 3 running under Vista; mostly because Microsoft seem to have hidden the .NET 1.1 runtime download (or made it more confusing than necessary for mere mortals to locate and install). Seeing as Vista comes with .NET 2.0 installed as standard, it seemed to make sense to rebuild the project using Visual Studio 2008 and targetting .NET 2.0.

You can download one of two flavours:

• Repton.NET.1.0.2.exe (471 KB) - If you're not certain what you need to download, use this version
• Repton.NET.1.0.2.zip (300 KB)

Enjoy!

In case anyone is vaguely interested, I've set up a CVS repository where all my future development work will be hosted. This is on a machine at home, so please don't expect lightning fast response times (or even 100% uptime!)

This project can be accessed using the following CVSROOT
:pserver:anonymous@edcourtenay.homelinux.com:/root

The module to checkout for this project is 'repton'.

I'd seriously recommend that you use a client like TortoiseCVS , but if you're using a command line CVS client:

cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@edcourtenay.homelinux.com:/root login
cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@edcourtenay.homelinux.com:/root co -P repton

I've also set up a web interface to the CVS repository here:
http://edcourtenay.homelinux.com/viewcvs/repton/

I decided a while ago that it would be nice to get to grips with SDL, but what with one thing and another I never got around to it. However, a couple of weeks ago I came across some SDL bindings for .NET, and I decided to re-write Repton.NET to use SDL as opposed to its original incarnation which used DirectX.

Anyway, a couple of screenshots from the development so far:

Well, it's done!

Many, many thanks to Chris Marshall for all the effort he put in to the game.

reptonsetup.zip (723.45 KB)

If anyone wants to extend the game (or simply find out how bad my code is!) you can join the workspace on GotDotNet at: http://www.gotdotnet.com/Community/Workspaces/Workspace.aspx?id=908ed5a1-e09e-414b-92fb-df17a36fd0a0. If anyone wants to take ownership of the code, they're more than welcome - just let me know and I'll transfer ownership of the workspace to you. I've got more work than I know what to do with at the moment, and with another baby arriving in April next year, I simply can't see that I'll have any time to continue with this project.

Anyway, as it stands it's fully playable. All the maps from Repton 3, Repton Thru Time, Life Of Repton and Around The World In 40 Screens are implemented.

The tested platforms for this game are:

Windows 2000/XP, .NET Framework 1.1, DirectX 9.0b

Both DirectX 9.0b and .NET Framework 1.1 can be downloaded from Windows Update.

I can't take any of the credit for the latest updates to Repton.NET; I've been totally snowed under with other work, and therefore haven't been able to do any development for the past month or so. Chris on the other hand has been doing sterling work on the project, and has implemented a large number of the things that were missing. The game is now essentially playable, with the notable exception that the Fungus doesn't 'grow' in the maps at the moment.

A word of warning however; don't attempt to enter a password - you won't get very far!

Chris has made a start on the monsters - he's got eggs cracking properly and made several other tweaks to my crufty code.

Enjoy!

Repton.NET.0.05.msi (802.5 KB)

Just a quick note to welcome Chris Marshall to the Repton.NET development team. He's only been on board for just over a day, and he's already making significant progress with my crufty code. Nice one Chris.

OK, now we're getting somewhere - this is looking more and more like a playable game!

Things still left to do include:

• Allow Repton to be killed (fairly vital really!)
• Hatch eggs when dropped
• Monster logic
• Episode selector
• Password selector for levels

As ever, you'll need the .NET Framework 1.1 installed on your machine, along with DirectX 9. Go to Windows Update and install both from there if you haven't already done so,

A new build of Repton.NET has been made available over at GotDotNet, so please drop over and have a look.

Updates in this version include:

• Repton is now animated as he moves around the map
• 'Blind Sprites' now work correctly, following the left hand wall
• Keys open safes
• Blind Sprites open cages

However, Repton still cannot die - this is the next item on my agenda.

I've started work on a port of the classic Repton 3 for the BBC Micro - a game that took up far too much of my time when I was younger - to the .NET platform.

Considering the amount of time I've had to get the project underway (not a lot) and my unfamiliarity with the .NET framework (there's just so much in there...) I'm quite impressed with how far things have progressed.

I started by having a look at the KRepton port, and I've quite unashamedly nicked all the maps and graphics that were supplied with that version! The only difference is that I've converted all the sprite files to PNG as opposed to BMP. As the .NET framework can handle .PNG files natively, and also as I'm injecting all the images and maps into the final executable, it makes sense. At present, with all 21 map sets and related image files, the whole thing is weighing in at 300k.

At the moment, I've got the basics of the game in working order. Rocks fall correctly, keys open strongboxes, blips fly around the maze following the left hand wall switching cages into diamonds (albeit far too fast at the moment) and the main character is fully animated.

However, there's quite a lot left to do: as yet there's no scoring mechanism, there's no way to complete a level (crowns, bombs and timers don't work at present), monsters are not implemented, eggs don't crack and falling rocks don't kill you. Phew.

Anyway, as soon as there is a slightly more complete version, I'll post it to this site. You've been warned!