Stunt Car Racer Atari 8-Bit ( 128kb )

[Vyper68]

Hi
Has anyone seen that they have released a version of SCR for the A8's. It is quite good, i have tried it on my 800XL and the Altirra emulator, it does need 128K to run though. They reckon the framerate is better than the C64 and it does seem to run smoother. Just a shame it's 30 Years late to the party.

[Bryce]

I have an Atari 130XE and there's an 8MB AtariMax on it's way to me, so I will check it out as soon as I can.

Bryce.

[roudoudou]

Hi
Has anyone seen that they have released a version of SCR for the A8's. It is quite good, i have tried it on my 800XL and the Altirra emulator, it does need 128K to run though. They reckon the framerate is better than the C64 and it does seem to run smoother. Just a shame it's 30 Years late to the party.

The AtariXL has a 6502 clocked to 1.7Mhz instead of 1Mhz for C64 and Stunt car racer display routine isn't accelerated by any video trick

[Vyper68]

The AtariXL has a 6502 clocked to 1.7Mhz instead of 1Mhz for C64 and Stunt car racer display routine isn't accelerated by any video trick

Well i am not too worried about the framerate being better or worse. I was more impressed that they did it in the first place, they used to say the Atari couldn't run these games but it just goes to show that things can be done if you have some decent A8 coders. They have been having a discussion about the possibility of porting Sam's Journey now but even i think that might be a stretch.
The amount of hardware mods now is amazing. There is RGB/Component/DVI boards and other video/audio mods, Various memory upgrade solutions. One thing i haven't seen is Wi-Fi like we have with the M4 though.

[VincentGR]

they used to say the Atari couldn't run these games

it has the best version of rescue on fractalus

[DanyPPC]

I tested it on my 130XE but i did not notice big differences.
It's a bit of time that I do not load it on the C64

[Vyper68]

it has the best version of rescue on fractalus

I do like that game sooo much. I have the XE Cart version so I don't have to wait for it to load. Amstrad version is quite good as well though.

[Bryce]

I have Rescue on Fractalus on cartridge too. That game amazed me back then.

Bryce.

[Vyper68]

I have Rescue on Fractalus on cartridge too. That game amazed me back then.

Bryce.

The extended intro when your ship leaves the mothership was always an impressive use of the palette the A8 had, with colours ( sorry, colors ) and luminances.

[ukmarkh]

The 800XL is a great 8bit, there's a 128k version as well, so would be interesting to know more. The Atari 800xl still has the best 8 bit tennis game I've ever played.


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[Vyper68]

The 800XL is a great 8bit, there's a 128k version as well, so would be interesting to know more. The Atari 800xl still has the best 8 bit tennis game I've ever played.


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You need 128KB to run Stunt Car Racer on the Atari so you either need a 130XE or a expanded 800XL or 65XE to run it - or use the Altirra emulator.

[ukmarkh]

You need 128KB to run Stunt Car Racer on the Atari so you either need a 130XE or a expanded 800XL or 65XE to run it - or use the Altirra emulator.

Hi, I believe my 800XL has 256k expansion, but never really had an excuse until now to get it out the loft and use it [emoji1303]


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[ukmarkh]

Interesting that the CPC version is both 64K and 128K, I wonder what's added on the 128K version???

[Vyper68]

Interesting that the CPC version is both 64K and 128K, I wonder what's added on the 128K version???

I do not know - I think the C64 tape version might have had to load tracks in as needed maybe the 128K version loads all the maps in one go???

[||C|-|E||]

It is very impressive, to be honest. I really enjoyed Amstrad version a lot, but this one seems way smoother... great, great job.

[Vyper68]

I have to be honest i do think the Atari version is better that the CPC much as it pains me. I think the frame-rate in the CPC version is a bit slow. I don't know if it was ported over from the Spectrum and then given a graphical makeover.
Given it's wireframe and the Spectrum and CPC are better at that compared to the C64/A8 it's a shame if that were the case. I think we know these days that it is capable of much better.
Some of the games from 4Mhz and @reidrac are amazing - the Atari needs extra hardware ( something called VBXE ) to get close. See this Video to see what i mean.

http://www.indieretronews.com/2017/01/rick-dangerous-all-time-favourite-game.html

[||C|-|E||]

Well, it is true that Stunt Car Racer could be way better on the CPC, but we need to consider that it was programmed back in the days, when people were thinking about selling the games and they had to put them in the market as soon as possible. If it was programmed now, with all the time in the world and the current knowledge we have about the Amstrad it would be miles away. That is probably the main difference, in one case we are looking at a modern port that squeezes the platform as much and possible and in the other at a normal CPC game that was released with a different aim in mind 

[Vyper68]

Well, it is true that Stunt Car Racer could be way better on the CPC, but we need to consider that it was programmed back in the days, when people were thinking about selling the games and they had to put them in the market as soon as possible. If it was programmed now, with all the time in the world and the current knowledge we have about the Amstrad it would be miles away. That is probably the main difference, in one case we are looking at a modern port that squeezes the platform as much and possible and in the other at a normal CPC game that was released with a different aim in mind 

I agree totally with what you are saying about Stunt Car Racer. It was made quickly to get to market and sell, these projects we see today are not for much if any commercial profit and without that commercial pressure they can take their time and produce something they are proud of which is what the Atari 8-Bit crew are doing now. The other point i was making was that the Atari needs additional hardware like the VBXE to get something like the quality of El Tesoro Perdido de Cuauhtémoc. The CPC really is probably the best all round 8-Bit when you compare to the others around. I dearly love my 800XL but if it wasn't for the Hardware/Software coming from the likes of Poland i think it would have struggled. The amount of hardware modifications available for it now is bonkers.

[robcfg]

I don't agree with the Atari being unable to do something nice without a VBXE.


Please try Crownland, an amazing game! Ok, it uses memory expansion, but many demos use it too.