Forums > Game Forums > Winter Games > How to play it?

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Nowhere Girl (8680) on 8/6/2012 11:04 AM · edited · Permalink · Report

I have the PC version and I have very little idea how to play it. I looked at the game manual for the Atari version, but it only says how to play it with a joystick. What about keyboard?

Btw, when I had my very first experiences with computers - at the age of 8 (before my parents bought our first PC), playing a friend's Atari and neighbour's Commodore - I appreciated joysticks, they were coarse like joysticks should be, required some amount of force to be used succesfully. The only joystick for PC I've ever had was their exact opposite - it was so sensitive you could probably move the cursor just by blowing at the joystick. What a pity... completely unsuitable for games. This device made me believe PCs are completely joystick-uncompatible. Anyway, now I haven't used a joystick for some 20 years, so I doubt if I could get used to it, but I suppose there are old-fashioned joysticks for PC...

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Rola (8486) on 8/6/2012 4:06 PM · Permalink · Report

Are you sure you aren't comparing digital joysticks of the 8-bit computers (single electrical connections, "na mikrostykach") with analog joysticks of PCs (precise potentiometers) ? They're made for flightsims and are poorly suited for arcade shootfests.

My former Thrustmaster claimed to require a force just like the flightstick of F-16.

My present Logitech Wingman has Force Feedback - its internal motors are "fighting" with me - have you experienced this sensation?

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Nowhere Girl (8680) on 8/6/2012 4:59 PM · Permalink · Report

Hey, it's likely, but anyway I have only used a single PC-compatible joystick in my life. I was about 11, I told my father that I'd like to have a joystick and he bought something like this - he was no game maniac, just played computer bridge sometimes (my parents were both quite keen bridge players for some time. Now I guess my mom doesn't have many people to play with - my father died 10 years ago), so he probably had no idea what kind of device I used when playing my friend's Atari. Or maybe at that time (early 90s, right after the communism and non-availability of everything) sturdy PC-compatible joysticks simply weren't available... Anyway, I would appreciate information on how to play this game. Some events are not too difficult because you only use arrows anyway, but figure skating was THE event where moving the joystick in diagonal lines to "tell" the skater to do a particular jump or pirouet was necessary.

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lilalurl (733) on 8/6/2012 7:15 PM · Permalink · Report

[Q --start Nowhere Girl wrote--] moving the joystick in diagonal lines to "tell" the skater to do a particular jump or pirouet was necessary.[/Q --end Nowhere Girl wrote--]

Press Num Lock (so that the num lock LED is no longer lit) Then all the keys around 5 on the keypad will act like the 8 ways of a joystick. So for instance 9 will be the up and right diagonal.

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Nowhere Girl (8680) on 8/6/2012 8:11 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

I suspected it... but it didn't work. I'll have to try it again, maybe I did something wrong. I'm not really used to numeric keypad on laptop - it's added as extra function to a normal laptop keyboard (keys j, k, l and so on). Anyway it's better than nothing - my old computer didn't have a numeric keypad at all. And at the moment it would be a waste of space and money for me to have two computers and I really need a laptop - I'm a translator and recently I spent altogether about 25 hours (spread over a few days, of course) at the National Library, checking quotes that already do have their Polish translation... So a laptop will have to suffice with all its disadvantages such as overheating and a small keyboard.
Btw, another question in terms of control: and how to shoot in biathlon? I've tried spacebar and enter; didn't work. Numeric "+", perhaps?
[Edited: I had to add line break... and I'll never understand why the board script "understands" double breaks, but not single ones.]

Anyway "Winter Games" are not a great game, but pleasant anyway (well, maybe not too pleasant for my fingers - bobsled was terrible, holding keys all the time). I play the PC version, but I've taken a look at the screenshots for other computers and at once I noticed the ski jumping hill in those versions... And I'm so much in love with ski jumping hills that it doesn't take much for them to enchant me - for example I always say that "All jumping hills are beautiful, and ugly hills are beautiful in their ugliness. At once I regret they are only virtual ones... Just to boast a little: I have climbed 244 jumping hills. (And no, I'm not a "maƂyszomanka", as for the sport itself, I'm mostly into women's ski jumping as a political matter.) But the ski jump venues themselves are partially a separate hobby - if an opportunity present itself, I go there also when there are no competitions (in fact I have climbed most of "my" hills when there were no jumpers, no coaches and no other staff around) and I have simply fallen in love with jumping hills and their diversity...

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lilalurl (733) on 8/6/2012 9:04 PM · Permalink · Report

Biathlon: When in firing position, press Down -> gives "Bolt Open" and then Up -> gives Loaded Then fire with Return.

If you are playing the PC version via Dosbox, you can remap keys using by press Ctrl + F1. So I guess you could try and remap the numpad to something like ERTDFGCVB (or whatever you prefer).

Since you mention the other ports of the game, you could probably emulate one of those if you still cannot manage to get the diagonals to work properly. The NES version would probably be the easiest to configure.