Making Excel spreadsheet games work with OpenOffice

[dortmunder]

I've got a selection of games - Darts, Deal or no Deal, Golf, Whack a Mole, Ice-Slider, Missile Strike, Space Invaders - all of which are based on a spreadsheet document. Here they are if anyone's interested (they're not high-tech games by any means):
http://rapidshare.com/files/145704925/atta..._16_09_2008.zip (http://anonym.to/?http://rapidshare.com/files/145704925/attachments_16_09_2008.zip)
I can play them at work but not at home as I don't have Microsoft Office. Instead, I use OpenOffice but when I try to play a game I get a message saying "BASIC runtime error. Property or method not found".
Can anyone tell me how to make these games work on an OpenOffice spreadsheet?
Many thanks.

[blueivy]

I've got a selection of games - Darts, Deal or no Deal, Golf, Whack a Mole, Ice-Slider, Missile Strike, Space Invaders - all of which are based on a spreadsheet document. Here they are if anyone's interested (they're not high-tech games by any means):
http://rapidshare.com/files/145704925/atta..._16_09_2008.zip (http://anonym.to/?http://rapidshare.com/files/145704925/attachments_16_09_2008.zip)
I can play them at work but not at home as I don't have Microsoft Office. Instead, I use OpenOffice but when I try to play a game I get a message saying "BASIC runtime error. Property or method not found".
Can anyone tell me how to make these games work on an OpenOffice spreadsheet?
Many thanks.

Hi dortmunder,

You'll not be able to run those games in Calc in OpenOffice as they seem to require VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) that only works with Microsoft Office. Calc uses Openoffice Basic that is the same principle as VBA (ie. to control the application) but is a different language so one is not compatible with the other.

There are converters to convert VBA to OpenOffice Basic but your mileage will vary. A quick Google found this site (http://www.business-spreadsheets.com/vba2oo.asp) and there will likely be many others. As I said though, your mileage will vary depending on what the game does. Maybe worth a try though.

[dortmunder]

Thanks for taking the time to look into this, Paul. Way over my head though, all that 'code swapping'.

[Bobinovich]

Unsure here but would the free Excel Viewer work? Can be downloaded here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8378bf4-996c-4569-b547-75edbd03aaf0&displaylang=EN) if you want to try.

[blueivy]

Unsure here but would the free Excel Viewer work? Can be downloaded here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8378bf4-996c-4569-b547-75edbd03aaf0&displaylang=EN) if you want to try.

Wont work unfortunately. Excel Viewer only allows you to view spreadsheets - it doesn't include VBA. You need the full MS Office for that.

[blueivy]

Thanks for taking the time to look into this, Paul. Way over my head though, all that 'code swapping'.

It's just a way of converting one language to another - a sort of phrase book for spreadsheet programming if you like :)

[bluenose]

This is going back a long time but can anyone remember the embedded flight simulator game in Excel 97.
I cannot play it now but I know someone who could if I could remember the keys.
Its along the lines of F5(go to) X97,L97 then press control and shift.
I know that is not exactly right but its not far off.
Thanks