M.A.X. Port is an SDL library based runtime executable for the 1996 DOS game M.A.X.: Mechanized Assault & Exploration developed and published by Interplay Productions.
The goal of the project is to fix the game breaking defects present in the original game executable and to create a runtime that natively runs on modern operating systems.
M.A.X. Port requires the original game data. The port only provides a modernized executable.
Latest News
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New audio engine
M.A.X. Port uses a new audio engine called Miniaudio. The new engine made it possible to integrate sound effect loop point support, streaming audio playback for MVE videos and better 2D panning. The engine also supports 3D audio spatialization which would be an interesting feature to add to M.A.X. in the future.
The recent improvements and this latest update makes M.A.X. Port’s playability comparable to the original in single player and hot seat game modes. Network play is not implemented yet. There will be occasional crashes or other gameplay issues still, but hopefully nothing that completely breaks the game in a way that it cannot be recovered from last turn’s backup save. It is also worth mentioning that up until now 112 original game defects are fixed out of the known 206.
Enjoy this new video footage showcasing the latest improvements.
Posts
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Full HD game play
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Graphics renderer work in progress
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Status report
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The game is over
At long last I was able to finish the single player custom game I started back in 2009. M.A.X. Port is not yet stable, but when the original M.A.X. repeatedly crashes with stack overflows or heap memory allocation issues M.A.X. Port can already help. So with a combination of M.A.X. Port and the original game I not only fought the enemies, but also the game breaking defects turn after turn. Finally after 322 turns all three enemies were eradicated from the map and the game ended with my glorious victory.
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Work work
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First mission of an alternative Concord campaign
Ever wondered about what would have happened if you, as a M.A.X. Commander, would have taken side with the Concord and their faithful servants within the Circuit? Is it in humanity’s best interests to abandon the contract that the Dealer in Worlds offered to them? Is treachery and deceit the only options to reach one’s goals? Oh right… We are humans.
With the save file format fully documented it will eventually become possible to develop new missions for M.A.X. that could tell us the story of the Clans that did not join the Secret Council of Freedom. Crash those impudent rebels and bask in the glory of our Concord Masters!
Can you find Waldo?
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Debugging the AI in M.A.X.
The AI or Task Manager of M.A.X. distinguishes more than 44 different types of tasks and 5 or more reminder events that are related to tasks. There is a built-in AI debugger within the game with two major features. It is possible to inspect the task tree hierarchy at any given time and it is possible to log the timeline of task manager events into a file for later offline analysis. The video in this post demonstrates the first feature.
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Debugging the Pathfinding module in M.A.X.
The path finding algorithm of M.A.X. was very powerful compared to other strategy games of the time. Of course it is not fair to compare turn based, simultaneous real-time and real-time games, but I do not care. Pathfinding in M.A.X. is outstanding.
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Videos render correctly
Those wicked x86 opcodes tricked me…
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Mech Commander - Carlton L.
Who is Carlton L.? Why is he a Mech Commander instead of a M.A.X. Commander? Why would a mechanical engineer fix that sealing plate with so many screws? This is not cost effective… immersion ruined! :P
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Easter eggs
Found some easter eggs :)
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Hidden secrets
M.A.X. has many hidden secrets.
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Messing around with demo versions of M.A.X.
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Winter holidays gone
I wasted my winter holidays, but made a lot of progress. A very basic sound manager is in place.
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Sprites finally render correctly
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Played a game
Played a game against an invisible enemy.
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In game
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Moving around the menus
Made some progress with mouse and keyboard handling.
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The mouse is moving
Basic mouse handling had been reimplemented in SDL.
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Fixed color mapping
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The first rendered screen
After several months of monotone grindy work the first rendered screen appears.
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A new start
The first news entry sets the mark for the start of the project.