Hi, Star Wars by Domark was released for the CPC but never the PCW. Can it be modded to run on the PCW? This is for a new video I'm working on. Thanks!
https://www.myabandonware.com/game/star-wars-d7#Amstrad%20CPC
It can be ported, like Habi did with PacMania, for example, but it would be a lot of work.
Just to spell it out, the CPC machines have quite sophisticated graphics systems, with I understand various 'modes', built in, and supported by ROM code to allow programmers access to this, plus the ability to do things with machine code. The PCW in effect has nothing, although it does support bit-mapped graphics which may in some regards be 'better' than the CPCs but there is ZERO ROM support for this and a programmer would need to do EVERYTHING regarding graphics from scratch. Which I assume is what 'Habi' did in the game mentioned above, also consider what was done for games like Batman and 'Head over Heels'.
Oh, there's the matter of colour as well. The PCW has none, as I'm sure you know, although you might do wonders with variations of grey-scale.
So, to take a 'normal' CPC game and create a version for the PCW you'd need to remove ALL the graphics code and re-create EVERYTHING from the ground up. Maybe possible, for SOME games, but it would be a LOT of work.
Geoff
Sounds like the gauntlet has been thrown! - But don't look at me. :-X My best programming effort was a writing quiz program for the Spectrum written in basic for a school competition: Example of it here:
10 PRINT "What is the capital of the UK?"
20 INPUT A$
30 IF A$="LONDON" PRINT "CORRECT":GOTO 60
40 PRINT "WRONG ANSWER"
50 END
60 ......etc etc etc
I didn't win the competition BTW.
PCW graphics are not "less" powerful than CPC, just different @Habi (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1314) knows a lot about that and has converted games like "La AbadÃa del Crimen" and others:
http://www.habisoft.com/pcwwiki/doku.php?id=es:nuevos:indice (http://www.habisoft.com/pcwwiki/doku.php?id=es:nuevos:indice)
there is a podcast speaking about that and those conversions, but in Spanish.
And here you have a list of "preserved" PCW games...
http://www.habisoft.com/pcwwiki/doku.php?id=es:juegos:indice (http://www.habisoft.com/pcwwiki/doku.php?id=es:juegos:indice)
Games:
- No game uses stuff from ROM. You do it by yourself or you're slow.
- Use a MODE 2 game to be converted to PcW, that's relatively easy.
- Also MODE 1 games can be converted, use dithering to emulate 4 colors. Results may vary.
Example: Take a look at Starglider.
Can anyone clarify in very simple terms what the pcw is lacking for games compared to the CPC, and vice versa; what the pcw had that the cpc lacks?
And what if the story with Starglider? Funny enough that's the game I'm featuring for my video.
Well, they don't "lack" IMHO. They are just different. But what do we have in common:
- RAM (even Expansion RAM) can be used in relative similar ways (first 64 KB and E-RAM at &4000, 16 KB blocks)
- FDC (identical)
- Z80 (identical)
- speed (nearly identical)
- PSG (can be put to the PcW IIRC)
- Monochrom mode (similar resolution, but yes, different to program).
Interesting. So what about these differences?:
Quote from: GeoffB17 on 21:38, 03 August 19the CPC machines have quite sophisticated graphics systems, with I understand various 'modes', built in ... The PCW in effect has nothing, although it does support bit-mapped graphics which may in some regards be 'better' than the CPCs ...
If anyone can clarify what the differences are, referenced in the post above this one, it would greatly help with the video which I am finishing up today and tomorrow ;D I'll be sure to give thanks in the video description also. ;)
As far as I know, video memory on the CPC is organized as character rows, while on PCW you can make use of a 'roller ram' table that contains addresses in memory for each scanline. You should be able to do nice scrolling by only changing the addresses in that table rather than copying all data to screen every frame.
I'm most probably forgetting more differences... :D
It's always intrigued me how many games are dual format and run on both CPC & PCW. Some are even triple format and will run on CPC, PCW & Spectrum Plus 3.
Thanks guys. I kept the explanation a little loose as it seemed to be unclear what the main differences were, but here's the vid (it goes public tomorrow but please enjoy early access:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwuH09S5YSE&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwuH09S5YSE&feature=youtu.be)
Quote from: Starglider on 22:32, 09 August 19
Thanks guys. I kept the explanation a little loose as it seemed to be unclear what the main differences were, but here's the vid (it goes public tomorrow but please enjoy early access:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwuH09S5YSE&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwuH09S5YSE&feature=youtu.be)
Great video, thank you.
PS: Your voice is even greater!!!