511:. This term has been widely used by the gaming community. The process of porting a game from a console to a PC is often regarded negatively due to the higher levels of performance that computers generally have being underutilized, partially due to console hardware being fixed throughout their run (with games being developed for console specs), while PCs become more powerful as hardware evolves, but also due to ported games sometimes being poorly optimized for PCs, or lazily ported. While broadly similar, architectural differences may exist such as the use of
475:, the terms "arcade perfect" or "arcade accurate" were often used to describe how closely the gameplay, graphics, and other assets on the ported version matched the arcade version. Many arcade ports in the early 1980s were far from arcade perfect as home consoles and computers lacked the sophisticated hardware in arcade games, but games could still approximate the gameplay. Notably,
362:, is converted to run on a different platform, perhaps with some minor differences. From the beginning of video games through to the 1990s, "ports", at the time often known as "conversions", were often not true ports, but rather reworked versions of the games due to the limitations of different systems. For example, the 1982 game
280:
An interpreter is less complex and therefore easier to port than a code generator, because it is not able to do code optimizations due to its limited view of the program code (it only sees one instruction at a time, and users need a sequence to do optimization). Some interpreters are extremely easy
268:
The use of intermediate code enhances portability of the compiler, because only the machine dependent code (the interpreter or the code generator) of the compiler itself needs to be ported to the target machine. The remainder of the compiler can be imported as intermediate code and then further
435:
and other sophisticated features made porting from them to Apple "far more difficult, perhaps even impossible". Reviews complained of ports that suffered from "Apple conversionitis", retaining the Apple's "lousy sound and black-white-green-purple graphics"; after
Garriott's statement, when
454:
for the Atari first because it preferred to develop for the most advanced computers, removing or altering features as necessary during porting. Such a policy was not always feasible; Bunten stated that "M.U.L.E. can't be done for an Apple", and that the non-Atari versions of
173:
it on the new platform, but practitioners often find that various minor corrections are required, due to subtle platform differences. Most standards suffer from "gray areas" where differences in interpretation of standards lead to small variations from platform to platform.
368:, a text adventure augmented with graphic images, has significantly different graphic styles across the range of personal computers that its ports were developed for. However, many 21st century video games are developed using software (often in
440:
asked "Atari and
Commodore people in the audience, are you happy with the Apple rewrites?" the audience shouted "No!" Garriott responded, " the Apple version will never get done. From a publisher's point of view that's not money wise".
110:
constructs and third party library calls are unlikely to be portable, and the amount of effort invested by the original authors in only using portable constructs (platform specific constructs often provide a cheaper solution).
63:
when the cost of porting it to a new platform is significantly less than the cost of writing it from scratch. The lower the cost of porting software relative to its implementation cost, the more portable it is said to be.
467:
wrote in 1986 that when porting from Atari to
Commodore the original was usually superior. The latter's games' quality improved when developers began creating new software for it in late 1983, the magazine stated.
319:
language, interpreted code (in the BCPL case) is more compact than machine code, typically by a factor of two to one. Interpreted code however runs about ten times slower than compiled code on the same machine.
269:
processed by the ported code generator or interpreter, thus producing the compiler software or directly executing the intermediate code on the interpreter. The machine independent part can be developed and
165:. Writing software that stays within the bounds specified by these standards represents a practical although nontrivial effort. Porting such a program between two standards-compliant platforms (such as
98:, meaning that little effort is needed to adapt it to a new environment. The amount of effort actually needed depends on several factors, including the extent to which the original environment (the
496:
was notorious for its deviations from the arcade version. Arcade-accurate games became more prevalent starting in the 1990s as home consoles caught up to the power of arcade systems. Notably, the
504:, which was introduced as a multi-game arcade system, would also be offered as a home console with the same specifications. This allowed arcade perfect games to be played at home.
281:
to port, because they only make minimal assumptions about the instruction set of the underlying hardware. As a result, the virtual machine is even simpler than the target CPU.
327:
try to take advantage of the compactness of interpreted code, because a Java program may need to be transmitted over the
Internet before execution can start on the target's
372:) that can output code for one or more consoles as well as for a PC without the need for actual porting (instead relying on the common porting of individual component
126:
means that most desktop software is never ported to a different CPU. In that same market, the choice of operating systems has effectively been reduced to three:
161:, greatly facilitate porting by specifying details of the computing environment in a way that helps reduce differences between different standards-conforming
249:(a machine is defined by its language and vice versa). The intermediate code instructions are translated into equivalent machine code sequences by a
284:
Writing the compiler sources entirely in the programming language the compiler is supposed to translate, makes the following approach, better known as
308:
Execute the adapted source using the interpreter with the code generator source as input. This will generate the machine code for the code generator.
277:). This greatly reduces design efforts, because the machine independent part needs to be developed only once to create portable intermediate code.
119:
The number of significantly different CPUs and operating systems used on the desktop today is much smaller than in the past. The dominance of the
158:
937:
312:
The difficult part of coding the optimization routines is done using the high-level language instead of the assembly language of the target.
393:
space and the hardware struggled when multiple ghosts appeared on the screen creating a flickering effect. The poor performance of the
89:
The term is not generally applied to the process of adapting software to run with less memory on the same CPU and operating system.
507:
A "console port" is a game that was originally made for a console before an identical version is created which can be played on a
185:, which automates the detection of minor variations in the environment and adapts the software accordingly before compilation.
1061:
765:
457:
46:
that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally designed for (e.g., different
1076:
891:
17:
800:
Nicoll, Benjamin (2015). "Bridging the Gap: The Neo Geo, the Media
Imaginary, and the Domestication of Arcade Games".
1110:
1088:
1032:
920:
539:
742:, p. 136, § 7.4.3 Example gives an example translation of a BCPL program into INTCODE for the interpreter.
597:
Whitten, D.E.; Demaine, P.A.D. (March 1975). "A machine and configuration independent
Fortran: Portable Fortran".
1019:
632:
239:
in order to enhance portability of the compiler and minimize design efforts. The intermediate language defines a
189:
864:
835:
730:, p. 133, § 7.4 The bootstrapping process and INTCODE explains the role of the INTCODE interpreter.
193:
668:
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French
569:
364:
54:). The term is also used when software/hardware is changed to make them usable in different environments.
324:
694:, p. 3, § 1.1 Languages, Levels, and Virtual Machines describes the terms and their relations.
432:
51:
1129:
559:
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205:
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788:
Port or conversion? An ontological framework for classifying game versions | DiGRA Conference 2019
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Many early ports suffered significant gameplay quality issues because computers greatly differed.
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Porting arcade games to home systems with inferior hardware was difficult. The ported version of
258:
178:
47:
549:
147:
94:
989:
753:
718:, p. 124, § 7.1 Introduction explains compiler portability using intermediate code.
463:
428:
262:
246:
201:
83:
1134:
554:
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394:
328:
162:
107:
58:
31:
8:
1098:
964:
257:. It is also possible to skip the generation of machine code by actually implementing an
177:
There also exists an ever-increasing number of tools to facilitate porting, such as the
1053:
1024:
909:
Stanton, Jeffrey; Wells, Robert P.; Rochowansky, Sandra; Mellid, Michael, eds. (1984).
813:
614:
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omitted many of the visual features of the original game to compensate for the lack of
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43:
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79:
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181:, which provides consistent programming languages on different platforms, and
1123:
809:
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295:
574:
424:
228:
564:
472:
351:
890:
Dunnington, Benn; Brown, Mark R.; Malcolm, Tom (January–February 1987).
706:, p. 2. Ch. 1 Introduction explains translation and interpretation.
758:
The Video Game
Explosion: A History from PONG to Playstation and Beyond
650:
486:
437:
386:
347:
482:
340:
232:
182:
170:
78:, meaning "to carry". When code is not compatible with a particular
450:
420:
212:
200:) gain portability by outputting source code in another high level
39:
27:
Process of adapting software to run in other computing environments
339:"Video game port" redirects here. For the hardware connector, see
208:) for which compilers for many platforms are generally available.
544:
381:
197:
92:
Software developers often claim that the software they write is
369:
166:
135:
131:
836:"Dispatches / Insights From the Strategy Game Design Front"
316:
106:), the experience of the original authors in knowing which
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Adapt the source of the code generator to the new machine.
211:
Two activities related to (but distinct from) porting are
157:
International standards, such as those promulgated by the
501:
390:
120:
42:
for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a
1075:
739:
727:
715:
956:
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169:) can be just a matter of loading the source code and
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779:
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649:
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294:Port the interpreter. This needs to be coded in
86:, the code must be "carried" to the new system.
929:
829:
827:
685:
596:
883:
245:that can execute all programs written in the
915:. Addison-Wesley. pp. 12, 21, 44, 126.
871:(panel discussion). October 1984. p. 30
859:
857:
824:
400:is cited by some scholars as a cause of the
981:
833:
786:Grabarczyk, Pawel; Aarseth, Espen (2019),
350:designed to run on one platform, be it an
72:The term "port" is derived from the Latin
1097:
912:The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software
854:
703:
691:
637:.. discusses .. portability of .. Fortran
599:IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering
489:despite its differences, while the later
334:
102:) differs from the new environment (the
745:
14:
1122:
902:
799:
656:Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online)
150:remains a significant issue, with the
990:"The Evolution of Commodore Graphics"
987:
346:Porting is also the term used when a
227:Instead of translating directly into
1047:
1013:
760:. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 315.
751:
680:To carry, bear, or convey; to bring.
222:
1081:BCPL, the language and its compiler
1050:The Ultimate History of Video Games
740:Richards & Whitby-Strevens 1984
728:Richards & Whitby-Strevens 1984
716:Richards & Whitby-Strevens 1984
290:, feasible on the target machine:
235:translate to a machine independent
50:, operating system, or third party
24:
962:
865:"The CGW Computer Game Conference"
315:According to the designers of the
25:
1146:
1079:; Whitby-Strevens, Colin (1984).
1048:Kent, Steven (2001). "The Fall".
540:List of system quality attributes
154:being a widely used alternative.
1103:Structured computer organization
190:high-level programming languages
1041:
1020:Ultimate History of Video Games
1007:
793:
431:, because the latter machines'
1083:. Cambridge University Press.
936:Bernstein, Harvey (May 1985).
733:
721:
709:
697:
642:
625:
590:
419:developed video games for the
13:
1:
834:Bunten, Dan (December 1984).
583:
570:Write once, compile anywhere
67:
7:
938:"Beyond Castle Wolfenstein"
518:
444:Others worked differently.
298:, using an already present
38:is the process of adapting
10:
1151:
988:Yakal, Kathy (June 1986).
423:first then ported them to
338:
114:
752:Wolf, Mark J. P. (2008).
658:. Oxford University Press
560:Source-to-source compiler
325:Java programming language
265:for the virtual machine.
810:10.1177/1555412015590048
611:10.1109/TSE.1975.6312825
458:The Seven Cities of Gold
402:video game crash of 1983
273:on another machine (the
969:Ozark Softscape M.U.L.E
188:The compilers for some
179:GNU Compiler Collection
550:Program transformation
335:Porting of video games
287:compiler bootstrapping
965:"The Game Collection"
869:Computer Gaming World
840:Computer Gaming World
485:became the console's
448:, for example, wrote
429:Atari 8-bit computers
323:The designers of the
247:intermediate language
202:intermediate language
44:computing environment
1099:Tanenbaum, Andrew S.
1056:. pp. 237–239.
633:"Portability Issues"
555:Software portability
329:Java virtual machine
108:programming language
32:software engineering
18:Port (video gaming)
1054:Three Rivers Press
1025:Three Rivers Press
994:Compute!'s Gazette
464:Compute!'s Gazette
411:stated in 1984 at
356:video game console
138:. However, in the
1105:. Prentice-Hall.
1063:978-0-7615-3643-7
898:. pp. 14–21.
802:Games and Culture
767:978-0-313-33868-7
509:personal computer
413:Origins Game Fair
360:personal computer
237:intermediate code
223:Porting compilers
128:Microsoft Windows
16:(Redirected from
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1130:Interoperability
1116:
1094:
1077:Richards, Martin
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996:. pp. 34–42
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461:were inferior.
446:Ozark Softscape
344:
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255:executable code
242:virtual machine
225:
217:cross-compiling
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104:target platform
100:source platform
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605:(1): 111–124.
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1009:
998:. Retrieved
993:
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972:. Retrieved
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946:. Retrieved
944:. p. 83
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873:. Retrieved
868:
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842:. p. 40
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662:December 21,
660:. Retrieved
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500:system from
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473:arcade games
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57:Software is
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29:
1135:Source code
651:"port, v.2"
575:Meaning of
565:Source port
471:In porting
395:Atari 2600
259:interpreter
171:recompiling
148:portability
1124:Categories
1000:2019-06-18
974:2017-10-04
875:31 October
846:31 October
754:"Glossary"
676:. ... 1.
584:References
487:killer app
438:Dan Bunten
387:Atari 2600
365:The Hobbit
348:video game
253:to create
948:8 January
818:147981978
483:Atari VCS
374:libraries
341:Game port
300:assembler
233:compilers
231:, modern
213:emulating
204:(such as
183:Autotools
163:platforms
146:markets,
68:Etymology
1101:(1984).
1017:(2001).
672:; Latin
619:16485156
577:unported
519:See also
451:M.U.L.E.
421:Apple II
385:for the
95:portable
60:portable
40:software
674:portāre
545:Poshlib
498:Neo Geo
492:Pac-Man
481:on the
433:sprites
397:Pac-Man
382:Pac-Man
331:(JVM).
198:Esterel
167:POSIX.1
115:History
75:portāre
52:library
36:porting
1109:
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678:trans.
670:porter
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352:arcade
271:tested
194:Eiffel
192:(e.g.
144:mobile
134:, and
942:Antic
814:S2CID
615:S2CID
415:that
358:, or
136:Linux
132:macOS
1107:ISBN
1085:ISBN
1058:ISBN
1029:ISBN
950:2015
917:ISBN
896:Info
877:2013
848:2013
762:ISBN
664:2017
603:SE-1
494:port
427:and
317:BCPL
215:and
142:and
806:doi
607:doi
502:SNK
391:ROM
376:).
370:C++
263:JIT
261:or
159:ISO
152:ARM
121:x86
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48:CPU
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