Been working on a cpc version of atic atac - classic game, never understood why there wasn't a nice cpc version (probably a bit early in the cpc's life?)
There are a few sites out there which list the data structure formats, etc, from the spectrum code - and they've been really useful.
I love mode 0, so it has to be that - but apologies for my attempt at graphics, I'm clearly not an artist - my philosophy has been get something vaguely recognisable and move on. The other issue is that I can't dynamically rotate the background items like Ultimate did back in the day (as mode 0 pixels have the chunky aspect ratio), so they have to be drawn twice.
Interestingly (to me at least) the room outlines are drawn as lines, and I found a nice algorithm on here for that here:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/fast-line-draw-in-assembly-(breseham-algorithm)
Couple of questions I've been thinking about though:
- Is this likely to be served with some kind of take down notice? I don't want to go too far if so.
- Depending on the answer to 1, would anybody be interested in doing some nicer graphics for this (as I'm using the speccy data structures and map, there are certain restrictions to consider size wise).
This is looking really good!
Is it an asm project?
There's been a few C64 and Atari-8bit ports of Ultimate games in the last few years and I've not heard of any takedown requests - the only recent homebrew I've seen subject to DMCL takedowns is hte C64 version of Super Mario Bros..
Forgot to add the link to the code:
https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc (https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc)
The C64 saw this year an excellent version: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=188753
I don't think you'll have any issues; keep going!
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 18:54, 15 May 20
Is this likely to be served with some kind of take down notice? I don't want to go too far if so.
@40Crisis (https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=951) wrote a program to convert
Jetpac to the CPC in 2014, but he didn't include any of the actual Spectrum code for copyright reasons. Despite that, there are copies of this version out there that do contain the original code, and none of them have been taken down.
That's a really cute project! I loved those old Speccy games. Mind you, my first computer was a ZX Spectrum with 16k. Tranz Am would also make a great conversion to the CPC. Maybe when I am retired ..
Quick wip video here (still lots to do):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2lqpxD-3gE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2lqpxD-3gE)
Hey matey, Steven Day of the Atic Atac C64 conversion has sent some artwork over to help :)
QuoteA) Rare will not issue a takedown unless he tries to sell it. retro freebies are classed as "fan art" to them and B) pass these on to him and see if they fit his template.
Ah thanks Neil79, that's fab.
It looks like these are a bit higher res than I can use, but I'm hoping I can use them as a basis for a mode-0 version.
The MODE 0 doors graphics have the same resolution as your, except they are more colourful.
Sadly, it was posted as JPG, so the graphics was destroyed by the image compression...
Here an example that how it fit... It will be amazing if he can do graphics for you! :)
Ah ok - in that case if we can get them as png's then we might be in business :)
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 08:46, 02 June 20
Ah ok - in that case if we can get them as png's then we might be in business :)
Attached is a PNG :)
Here's the contact details
https://www.facebook.com/Ste.Day86 (https://www.facebook.com/Ste.Day86)
Steven Day = Ste
Here's some of his other artwork, deffo a guy to know that's for sure!
That Alien 8 screen... WOW.
It would look absolutely amazing with the CPC palette.
Quote from: ervin on 09:50, 02 June 20
That Alien 8 screen... WOW.
It would look absolutely amazing with the CPC palette.
I though the same. Isn't it? :-\
Already looks better - will try and get in touch with him, fingers crossed. Thanks Neil79.
Great! :)
Yes, it will be really nice to have your atic atac port with colourful graphics.
The game will be metamorphosed to an authentic MODE 0 hit!
(probably you will have to fix the palette to match next)
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 13:26, 02 June 20
Already looks better - will try and get in touch with him, fingers crossed. Thanks Neil79.
Glad to have helped!
Ste(Steven Day) is one of the best in the C64 art scene, deffo worth getting in touch with!
more bits to try
Awesome! Thanks so much for this Ste
@STE86 (https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=383) Great sprites! But... One of these two clocks is not at the right time! ;D
A few screens with some of Ste's graphics in, they're great.
More excellent work from Ste.
It's really great ! This is not the same game anymore.
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 18:23, 05 June 20More excellent work from Ste.
(https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16810.0;attach=31563;image)
As expected, that is MODE 0! 8)
That last screen looks absolutely amazing.
Really looks amazing ... keep it up 8)
And this is why Indie Retro News has good contacts! ;D ;D ;D ;D
Awesome work Ste + Shay !!!
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 18:23, 05 June 20
More excellent work from Ste.
Absolutely stunning!
It's a well-coded project, and if these graphics continue to come in, it will be an epic collaboration.
Hi Shay. Signed up to the site to see if you'd be interested in my playtesting services when the time comes. I did some fairly extensive playtesting for the C64 version (as Ste will attest), and would be more than happy to help out with this one too. Always happy to see an Ultimate game get a new conversion, and this is looking pretty darn good already.
Hi mate, that would be great - thanks so much for the offer.
Still lots to do, but will give you a shout when I've got a few more bits in :)
The photo doesn't do it justice, but the beta version of Atic Atac runs perfectly on M4. ;D
I renew my congratulations to the coder (John Ward) and the graphic designer (Steven Day) also for the speed with which this project is taking shape... ;)
Here's a new wip vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owk4jr-3b0Y
Ste has now finished pretty much all of the graphics - they're fantastic, so just a question of writing the rest of the code now :'(
Definitely some challenges coming up, especially in terms of getting the other sprites on screen in an efficient way. I'm double buffering (hardware), so hopefully got enough time to do what needs to be done and keep the frame rate up.
There's a disk on the github site if you want to try a wip build - it's an HFE format disk - is that widely used in other emulators other than retrovirtualmachine? If it's not, I can probably switch it to be a DSK.
Menu screen is very much function over style at the moment...game is 6128 only...
Is there a decent guide anywhere to doing sound effects in assembler on the cpc? (and maybe music). Something that plays nicely with interrupts would be great.
This REALLY looks fantastic, keep up the good work, can't wait to see the final result :o
Very nice old school graphics, looks great! I never played original game before so I don't know how it plays but I will try this one when finished.
Quoteit's an HFE format disk - is that widely used in other emulators other than retrovirtualmachine? If it's not, I can probably switch it to be a DSK.
I never heard of this format before, but anyway DSK also would be good if possible
Quotegame is 6128 only
why is this - memory or something else? I am not sure but isn't 6128 same as 464 but with more memory?
QuoteIs there a decent guide anywhere to doing sound effects in assembler on the cpc? (and maybe music). Something that plays nicely with interrupts would be great.
I am using fantastic Arkos2 player, although it's not a guide - it is in assembler and there are good instructions how to use them on the website: https://www.julien-nevo.com/arkostracker/ (https://www.julien-nevo.com/arkostracker/)
Edit: these are instructions I used: http://www.julien-nevo.com/arkostracker/index.php/exporting-and-using-a-music (http://www.julien-nevo.com/arkostracker/index.php/exporting-and-using-a-music)
https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/cpctelera-arkos-2-conversion-problem/msg177009/#msg177009 (https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/cpctelera-arkos-2-conversion-problem/msg177009/#msg177009)
also, here is (old arkos2 - there is a new one!) example project I made following those instructions and cpctelera.
there you can find some conversion scripts and actual asm code for playing the song.
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 20:36, 12 June 20
Here's a new wip vid:
Looking awesome, featured on IRN!
Many thanks teopl, will take a look at this.
Quote from: teopl on 09:18, 13 June 20
Very nice old school graphics, looks great! I never played original game before so I don't know how it plays but I will try this one when finished.
I never heard of this format before, but anyway DSK also would be good if possible
why is this - memory or something else? I am not sure but isn't 6128 same as 464 but with more memory?
I am using fantastic Arkos2 player, although it's not a guide - it is in assembler and there are good instructions how to use them on the website: https://www.julien-nevo.com/arkostracker/ (https://www.julien-nevo.com/arkostracker/)
Edit: these are instructions I used: http://www.julien-nevo.com/arkostracker/index.php/exporting-and-using-a-music (http://www.julien-nevo.com/arkostracker/index.php/exporting-and-using-a-music)
https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/cpctelera-arkos-2-conversion-problem/msg177009/#msg177009 (https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/cpctelera-arkos-2-conversion-problem/msg177009/#msg177009)
also, here is (old arkos2 - there is a new one!) example project I made following those instructions and cpctelera.
there you can find some conversion scripts and actual asm code for playing the song.
QuoteIs there a decent guide anywhere to doing sound effects in assembler on the cpc? (and maybe music). Something that plays nicely with interrupts would be great.
As @teopl (https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=2874) kindly said it, Arkos Tracker 2 can handle both music and sound effects (or sound effects only if you don't want music). Contact me via the website or PM me here if you have trouble using it
However, I admit I don't know how cpctelera works, but some guys here have managed to use it. The player and music/sound sources can be converted to SDCC via Disark, a software also in the package.
Thanks Targhan.
I'm not using cpctelera, just straight assembler - everything controlled by interrupts, so hopefully that will be fine (?)
Will definitely be in touch if I get stuck though, thanks for the offer.
QuoteI'm not using cpctelera, just straight assembler - everything controlled by interrupts, so hopefully that will be fine (?)
Yes, everything will be very fine. Just don't forget to save ALL the registers (including the auxiliary ones) before calling the player in your interruption handler and you'll be fine.
I know this game do not have music, but each time I'm watching your progress in video I run the "UNUSED.BAS" file to listen this tune from the dave rogers player disc (sources include).
https://cpcrulez.fr/coding_src-music-dave_rogers_music_player.htm (https://cpcrulez.fr/coding_src-music-dave_rogers_music_player.htm)
This one sound so perfect for this game, may be if you like it (intro-loop on the title screen, next in-game), we should kindly ask him to use it?
Slowly getting there
Hi,
I have just discovered this project, that's a really good idea to do a conversion of this game on CPC ! New graphics are really awesome. I know this would be probably tricky, but is there any possibility to "paint" the walls ? They look a little bit empty.
Hey TomEtJerry,
Thanks for the post and the comments.
On the spectrum original the room walls are drawn using vectors, and I'm using the same data to do that on the CPC.
On the plus side it means they're the same as the original (apart from being a bit chunkier), but the downside is - like you say - they're a bit empty.
Will have a think about it though...
Cheers :)
Sprites, pick-ups, and food in. Music / placeholder sfx in (though not recorded on this vid).
Collision detection a bit dodgy (especially on the weapon), door logic to do (all doors are currently passable, no opening / closing).
(lots of other bits to do too, but progressing).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDOIsQbaPzw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDOIsQbaPzw)
I have played a bit with the last beta, until it has been reset :-X
https://youtu.be/iSiNBvNYmfE (https://youtu.be/iSiNBvNYmfE)
Well, it is a beta :D
This looks (and feels!) fantastic. Very classic, I love it.
Hey,
Yes - the random crash bug...stuff of nightmares for me!
I think I've got it fixed though - seems to be a problem with bank switching and interrupts, the music player runs in one of the interrupts and bank switches - in rare scenarios it wasn't restoring the bank correctly before exiting the interrupt...at least I think that's the cause, not seen a crash for a while so fingers crossed.
Will push a new version out soon :)
...the sound effects are just placeholders...
Updated release here: https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases/tag/v0.4
- Reworked the player collision model so that door entry/exit is much more how it should be - added bonus of that is that tables are now solid (i.e. you can't walk through them)
- (though for now you can still walk through any door)
- Hopefully the random crash bug is fixed
- Auto open/close of doors
- Other minor tweaks
https://youtu.be/670W7TqBdfE
STE, is it your 1st CPC project ?
Looks lovely now. Doors still seem require a lot of precision (from the video) but it's all coming together nicely, it seems.
Hi,
I think the doors are working as they should now actually - it's just that standing in front of one doesn't make it open (you just need to wait for the timer to fire basically).
Sound effects and a bit of logic on the boss rooms, few smaller bits and pieces and it's done.
(Then to work out what to do next!)
Quote from: kawickboy on 10:43, 09 October 20
STE, is it your 1st CPC project ?
no, but it will be the first one to get released since about 1990 :)
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 08:33, 10 October 20(Then to work out what to do next!)
Well.... I just so happen to have most of the graphics for Fix It Felix jr and Dropzone already done from a while ago...
The 5th WIP was released 3 days ago : https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases (https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases)
No video of the 5th WIP atm.
Quote from: genesis8 on 20:21, 11 October 20
The 5th WIP was released 3 days ago : https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases (https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases)
No video of the 5th WIP atm.
http://www.indieretronews.com/2020/10/atic-atac-ultimate-play-game-classic.html
:)
I'll admit I wasn't the biggest fan of Ultimate games on the Spectrum but eager to give the CPC version of this a try when a full version is done..
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 20:36, 12 June 20
Menu screen is very much function over style at the moment...game is 6128 only...
I'm also eager to try this out. Will there be a 464 version at some point?
Hi Nomad,
I'm afraid there won't be a 464 version, I need 128K to make it work for a few reasons:
- Amstrad graphics take up more space than spectrum graphics of the same dimensions due to the higher resolution screen
- As I'm using Mode 0 (where the pixels have a rectangular aspect ratio) I can't rotate the images in software, so they need storing twice (on the Spectrum Ultimate dynamically rotate all the doors / room decorations / etc for the side walls)
- To avoid flickery sprites I'm hardware double buffering the screen which reduces the amount of memory I've got available
- Being honest, it's my first project, so might not be the most efficient way of doing things. Ultimate did do a version of Sabre Wulf for the 464, but it did have flickery sprites (so not double buffered), and there's no object rotation in that game either
(I'm not knocking Ultimate there by the way - they made amazing games!).
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 15:25, 14 October 20
Hi Nomad,
I'm afraid there won't be a 464 version, I need 128K to make it work for a few reasons:
- Amstrad graphics take up more space than spectrum graphics of the same dimensions due to the higher resolution screen
- As I'm using Mode 0 (where the pixels have a rectangular aspect ratio) I can't rotate the images in software, so they need storing twice (on the Spectrum Ultimate dynamically rotate all the doors / room decorations / etc for the side walls)
- To avoid flickery sprites I'm hardware double buffering the screen which reduces the amount of memory I've got available
- Being honest, it's my first project, so might not be the most efficient way of doing things. Ultimate did do a version of Sabre Wulf for the 464, but it did have flickery sprites (so not double buffered), and there's no object rotation in that game either
Thanks for the in depth explanation: fair enough. Hopefully I can check it out via an emulator or with an expanded 464.
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 15:25, 14 October 20(I'm not knocking Ultimate there by the way - they made amazing games!).
Agreed! Their stuff under the RARE moniker is also amazing. :)
I'd also like to know if this works on an expanded 464 - if the bank switching works the same as the 6128 it should do...
dK'tronics or compatible must do the job.
I see it has gone RC1.0 a few days ago. Nice xmas present. It's very good. The bit thing that could be improved is the SFX. It has SFX and it is good don't get me wrong but the original spectrum beeper SFX is part of the nostalgia. It would IMO be great if the SFX was closer to the original, perhaps optionally?
Some unlocked but closed doors seem to take longer to open than I remember... but that could be my memory.
It's quite easy to mistake locked red doors for unlocked closed doors, yes the gfx are different, but in the spectrum game they were all white and distinct from their locked counterparts.
Once again thanks for creating this great CPC game.
Quote from: alexh on 14:34, 25 December 20It has SFX and it is good don't get me wrong but the original spectrum beeper SFX is part of the nostalgia.
True, if one feels nostalgic about migraines. :P
Quote from: alexh on 14:34, 25 December 20
I see it has gone RC1.0 a few days ago. Nice xmas present. It's very good. The bit thing that could be improved is the SFX. It has SFX and it is good don't get me wrong but the original spectrum beeper SFX is part of the nostalgia. It would IMO be great if the SFX was closer to the original, perhaps optionally?
Some unlocked but closed doors seem to take longer to open than I remember... but that could be my memory.
It's quite easy to mistake locked red doors for unlocked closed doors, yes the gfx are different, but in the spectrum game they were all white and distinct from their locked counterparts.
Once again thanks for creating this great CPC game.
Thanks Alexh. New release up today, very minor changes - changed the pick up key from G to Z (to help people playing on keyboard), plus small tweaks. Releases can be found here:
https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 17:38, 25 December 20
Thanks Alexh. New release up today, very minor changes - changed the pick up key from G to Z (to help people playing on keyboard), plus small tweaks. Releases can be found here:
https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases (https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases)
I have been following the development of this title for Amstrad CPC for a long time, and the latest releases finally offer a playable product, so congratulations to the programmer, the graphic designer and the musician!
I point out a bug present in many releases that concerns passing through the barrel in some areas, when controlling the servant character. The one represented in the screenshots is one of those steps where the character gets stuck and there is no way to get him out of that position until the loss of life (I don't know if this also happens with the other characters, but it seems to me not).
Another thing concerns the passage of the main character over other sprites (such as fur on the ground, tree trunks, stairs and other elements of the backdrop) which creates very unsightly color contrasts. Is there no way to correct this? Apart from these things the game is perfect and the final release will very well compete with the equally beautiful version for C64!
Thanks for everything, really! :-*
Thanks for the info, I didn't know about this bug so will take a look!
Quote from: Mr. DVG on 17:59, 25 December 20I point out a bug present in many releases that concerns passing through the barrel in some areas, when controlling the servant character. The one represented in the screenshots is one of those steps where the character gets stuck and there is no way to get him out of that position until the loss of life (I don't know if this also happens with the other characters, but it seems to me not).
I've put up a fixed version - thanks for letting me know about this
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 22:00, 25 December 20
I've put up a fixed version - thanks for letting me know about this
Nothing! Thanks to you for this great job!
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 22:00, 25 December 20
I've put up a fixed version - thanks for letting me know about this
If it can be useful in the new version, I found another one that was blocked (see screenshot)! ;)
In this case it doesn't get stuck, it just doesn't go through it!
Thanks Mr DVG - fixed this one too (new release up).
I gave the RC something a go and... can't seem to be able to pick up objects?
Using cpcec emulator, neither the joystick or Z key do it.
EDIT: OK, downloaded RC4 and works! Sorry for the noise.
As suggestion: show the version on the menu screen.
Is this now the official release?
I'm putting together a video and stream of the best Amstrad games of '2020' so want to know if I can include this or not :)
Hey Xyphoe, hard to say if it's the official release - it's not really had too much testing outside my own - when you doing the video?
I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into this loving port. I wanted to see if it would be possible (technically) to replicated the ZX Spectrum sounds.
I found a post here :
https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/games/spectrum-emulator-on-an-amstrad/msg50181/#msg50181
That describes a method of emulating the buzzer/beeper using the original Z80 code from Spectrum games but changing two writes to Spectrum HW to the CPC AY chip.
The Spectrum version of Atic Atac has been re-sourced and commented, the sound routines for everything look reasonably well documented.
https://github.com/mrcook/zx-spectrum-games/tree/master/atic-atac
So *in theory* it should be possible to lift the sfx routines "as is" and use them in the CPC version.
I appreciate that nothing is that easy and depending on the CPU demands of the game there may not be enough CPU time left per frame.
Good luck even if you decide not to investigate this.
If the original game is using the AY, then converting the music and sfx shouldn't be too hard. You can use, for example, Arkos Tracker 2 to play both (see my signature). I'm sure you can find someone to convert the songs and sfxs.
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 20:53, 26 December 20
Hey Xyphoe, hard to say if it's the official release - it's not really had too much testing outside my own - when you doing the video?
I suppose it doesn't really matter when I do the video, I'm just looking at '2020 releases' ... so let me know if it should be included or not. :)
If the game is 'complete' (ie you can complete it to the end, it has all the features, etc) and you're only thinking of future minor releases to fix bugs in the future then perhaps I should?
Quote from: Xyphoe on 18:44, 27 December 20I suppose it doesn't really matter when I do the video, I'm just looking at '2020 releases' ... so let me know if it should be included or not.
If the game is 'complete' (ie you can complete it to the end, it has all the features, etc) and you're only thinking of future minor releases to fix bugs in the future then perhaps I should?
OK no worries - there's a new bug fix release here: https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases/tag/v1.4
Like you say, everything after this will be minor tweaks etc, so would be great if you could include this one - thanks Xyphoe.
Quote from: Targhan on 17:00, 27 December 20
If the original game is using the AY, then converting the music and sfx shouldn't be too hard. You can use, for example, Arkos Tracker 2 to play both (see my signature). I'm sure you can find someone to convert the songs and sfxs.
Hi Targhan, the original game doesn't use the AY chip I'm afraid.
Quote from: alexh on 15:13, 27 December 20
I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into this loving port. I wanted to see if it would be possible (technically) to replicated the ZX Spectrum sounds.
I found a post here :
https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/games/spectrum-emulator-on-an-amstrad/msg50181/#msg50181 (https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/games/spectrum-emulator-on-an-amstrad/msg50181/#msg50181)
That describes a method of emulating the buzzer/beeper using the original Z80 code from Spectrum games but changing two writes to Spectrum HW to the CPC AY chip.
The Spectrum version of Atic Atac has been re-sourced and commented, the sound routines for everything look reasonably well documented.
https://github.com/mrcook/zx-spectrum-games/tree/master/atic-atac (https://github.com/mrcook/zx-spectrum-games/tree/master/atic-atac)
So *in theory* it should be possible to lift the sfx routines "as is" and use them in the CPC version.
I appreciate that nothing is that easy and depending on the CPU demands of the game there may not be enough CPU time left per frame.
Good luck even if you decide not to investigate this.
Hi Alexh, I'm also a big fan of the original sounds, but I think this is beyond my capabilities as a dev to try and achieve. Saying that though, the code for my version is freely available, so more than happy for you or anyone else to pick it up and make changes / improvements.
I try to explain what happened on this screen. The character died at the entrance to the door on the right and reappeared in the center of the screen with the trap door open and then got stuck in that position, unable to move until he lost his life!
Apart from that, other things I have not found. I'm not very good at this game, but I have explored (with the servo character) about 71% of the areas and it seems to work all right, but it would need to give a test by who Atic Atac knows it well, to try all the variables and the possible combinations!
It still remains a great conversion of a cult game!
I really like the new sound effects, but I understand it's just a matter of taste ! ;)
Quote from: Mr. DVG on 17:42, 28 December 20
I try to explain what happened on this screen. The character died at the entrance to the door on the right and reappeared in the center of the screen with the trap door open and then got stuck in that position, unable to move until he lost his life!
Apart from that, other things I have not found. I'm not very good at this game, but I have explored (with the servo character) about 71% of the areas and it seems to work all right, but it would need to give a test by who Atic Atac knows it well, to try all the variables and the possible combinations!
It still remains a great conversion of a cult game!
I really like the new sound effects, but I understand it's just a matter of taste ! ;)
Thanks Mr DVG - updated build here: https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases/tag/v1.5
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 09:40, 28 December 20I'm also a big fan of the original sounds, but I think this is beyond my capabilities as a dev to try and achieve.
Ok. I am not a CPC or Z80 coder but I have lots of low-level experience on embedded platforms. I will try and make a small CPC test demo to see if I can lift the Z80 sound code direct from spectrum version and replace the buzzer code with AY code. Key press to trigger each sound.Quote from: shaymanjohn on 09:40, 28 December 20Saying that though, the code for my version is freely available, so more than happy for you or anyone else to pick it up and make changes / improvements.
I did have a look at the SFX code and it seemed quite "high level". I'm not familiar enough with the code, CPC architecture or Z80 ASM to try to replace something. Maybe if I can get the proof of concept working on CPC then you could help integrate it?
Not sure it matters, but I like the AY sounds as they are.
I mean, it has personality. It is a CPC version (has colours already!), if I wanted to play the original... well, it is available on speccy.
I prefer the sound effects presently in the CPC version.
Final release build available here:
https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases/tag/v1.6
Thanks to everyone who's helped along the way, in particular:
- Neil79 on here for alerting Ste Day right at the start of the project
- Ste Day for doing the amazing mode-0 graphics (and believing that mode-0 was the way to go). Without these, the project would be nothing.
- Saul Cross for the fantastic music and sounds
- Targhan for Arkos tracker/player and help with my random questions
- Richard Duffy (D77Gaming) for all the play testing / bug tracking
- Mr DVG for his general bug reporting on here
- arnoldemu for the z80 sample programs on here
- RetroVirtualMachine for being an excellent emulator, with nice debugging capabilities (and being Mac compatible)
- roudoudou for Rasm (and being Mac compatible)
Gratz to John in bringing this in under the wire for a 2020 release inside 6 months ;D
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 16:07, 29 December 20
Final release build available here:
https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases/tag/v1.6 (https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases/tag/v1.6)
Thanks to everyone who's helped along the way, in particular:
- Neil79 on here for alerting Ste Day right at the start of the project
Thank you so so much for the credits! - Wonder what the game would've like if Ste Day was never notified :o . What a glorious release all round, well done 8)
Thank you very much for this great game :-)
During Enterprise conversion i found 3 bugs, 1 cause freeze, other 2 are small bugs.
- max food item is 5 included crosses too, there is a room where 4 mushroom, and a food by default, and if the player dies there, it contains 6 food item, if player returns the game gets frozen, because food item counter is overwritten by the last food item. i increased max food item to 6 and checks it in food item checking list in a room, if it is reached, then no further food item check.
- game completed % shows wrong result if over than 8eh (142) rooms were visited, because after cp 8eh a jr nz occurs, jr c solves the problem.
- player hangs if he dies on the room where are 2 tables, because after init his legs goes into the table, i changed player init y position from 57h if i remember well to 53h, but if you like i will check it.
Quote from: Geco on 22:29, 10 January 21Thank you very much for this great game :-)
During Enterprise conversion i found 3 bugs, 1 cause freeze, other 2 are small bugs.
- max food item is 5 included crosses too, there is a room where 4 mushroom, and a food by default, and if the player dies there, it contains 6 food item, if player returns the game gets frozen, because food item counter is overwritten by the last food item. i increased max food item to 6 and checks it in food item checking list in a room, if it is reached, then no further food item check.
- game completed % shows wrong result if over than 8eh (142) rooms were visited, because after cp 8eh a jr nz occurs, jr c solves the problem.
- player hangs if he dies on the room where are 2 tables, because after init his legs goes into the table, i changed player init y position from 57h if i remember well to 53h, but if you like i will check it.
Hi Geco,
Thanks for the info, that's great. If you have a github account can you raise a pull request with your fixes in? Let me know, thanks!
https://youtu.be/sRyE2Y38ugY
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 07:37, 11 January 21
Hi Geco,
Thanks for the info, that's great. If you have a github account can you raise a pull request with your fixes in? Let me know, thanks!
Hello John
Unfortunately i do not have, but i can upload the modified sources, both the CPC and EP, because i created 1 ASM file from your great code for page 0.Or i can copy and paste here the bugfix modifications, because i made modification in other places too, ex changed sprite drawing from XOR method, this has a disadvantage, sometimes the game slows down when there are 4 sprites on the screen.
Quote from: Geco on 08:43, 11 January 21Hello John
Unfortunately i do not have, but i can upload the modified sources, both the CPC and EP, because i created 1 ASM file from your great code for page 0.Or i can copy and paste here the bugfix modifications, because i made modification in other places too, ex changed sprite drawing from XOR method, this has a disadvantage, sometimes the game slows down when there are 4 sprites on the screen.
Hey, no worries - maybe you can DM me the changes in that case. You're right about the XOR sprites, I'm not keen on them but they gave best performance and are fine in most scenarios.
Nice work on the Enterprise conversion - I don't know much about that machine - is the screen mode and sound chip the same/similar to the cpc then?
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 09:24, 11 January 21
Hey, no worries - maybe you can DM me the changes in that case. You're right about the XOR sprites, I'm not keen on them but they gave best performance and are fine in most scenarios.
Nice work on the Enterprise conversion - I don't know much about that machine - is the screen mode and sound chip the same/similar to the cpc then?
Ok, i will send you the modifications in DM probably tonight.Enterprise have the same video modes also like CPC, pixel colour 2, 4, 16, and it has additional video modes also, pixel 256 colour, low pixel colour 2 ,4, 16, 256, Attribute mode (like Speccy, but with 8x1 attributes), HW character modes also. Video addressing is different by default, it is contiguous, but an LPT (line parameter table, which is responsible for screen definition) can be made to CPC addressing also, i did not use this method, because in this case the screen definition LPT would be over 3KB, i changed CPC addressing to contiguous, in this case screen definition is 16 bytes + 128 bytes VSYNC definition. It has a disadvantage in colour 16 mode, because the last 8 colour can not be chosen freely from the 256, it can be chosen from 32 8colour groups, you can see it in the conversion also, some colours are brighter, some are darker.
Sound: Similar like AY, but Dave does not have HW envelopes, it has high and low pass filters, ring mod, and some other interesting stuffs.
Updated bug fix release here:
https://github.com/shaymanjohn/aticatac-cpc/releases/tag/v1.7
Thanks to Geco for the fixes, and the great Enterprise version.
Thank you very much for you, Ste Day and Saul Cross for the great CPC version, i think it is better than all other versions. Plays ultra fast, sounds great, and has the best graphics.
Quote from: shaymanjohn on 15:54, 14 October 20
I'd also like to know if this works on an expanded 464 - if the bank switching works the same as the 6128 it should do...
Just thought I'd confirm that it works on an expanded 464.
I loaded the .DSK img from my DDI-5 and the game ran without a hitch. :)
(https://1.imgur.com/a4DyTiZm.jpg)
(https://1.imgur.com/Sa1D2Tlm.jpg)
Good job btw.
Hello.
Does it support GX4000? I tried to convert dsk to cpr with NOCART, but looks like it doesn't work
I'm not sure tbh - I don't know much about the GX4000. The game uses standard bank switching, and nothing out of the ordinary as far as I'm aware.
I converted it to CPR. Works like a charm. I can upload it later.
But it needs 128k RAM, so you need a modded GX4000.
AticAtac.cpr attached