Hi!
I am new in this forum and I think that do not know why I didn't create an account before. :) Only wanted to know a preview of the work I am doing together with a pixel artist.
If you didn't know about that we are doing a port of the Snow Bros arcade machine to the Amstrad/Schneider CPC series of computer with the intention to make a tape and disk version. So is not only tied to the 128KB machines.
I wanted to share with you all the WIP we are doing and of course... we accept critics! :) But please be benevolent since this is still under development and this is our first thing we develop for the machine. In fact, the first game we do for a 8 bit machine. ;D
If you would like to know more details just ask! We will be more than pleased to answer all the things :)
The video:
CPC Bros - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5IP5570Fk)
P.S.: I see that some people over are from Germany so I also would like to get in touch with some if there is a coming soon a retro party or so. I am in Reutlingen.
That looks great!
I absolutely loved this game in the arcade.
Very welcome in the forum here! Have a great time! :-D
Wow, this looks lovely! Hope it gets finished, I really do since I loved the arcade as well!
One little criticism, the player sprite flashes quite a bit when jumping... can this be fixed?
Nice to have you here, please keep us in the loop!
Snow bros on CPC,a good news :)
Waiting for the game !
You will meet a big part of the german CPC scene at the XzentriX:
XzentriX 2013 meeting in Seeshaupt / Germany | The Amstrad CPC news portal (http://www.octoate.de/wp/2013/03/13/xzentrix-2013-meeting-in-seeshaupt-germany/)
Grüße aussem Nachbarlandkreis (TÜ). :-)
nice, really nice. keep going.
Fantabuloso ;D
Quote from: Gryzor on 07:20, 03 April 13
Wow, this looks lovely! Hope it gets finished, I really do since I loved the arcade as well!
One little criticism, the player sprite flashes quite a bit when jumping... can this be fixed?
Nice to have you here, please keep us in the loop!
i would say it's a pre-production game so lots of things can and do change. Same is true of all modern games.
give them some slack and leave the comments until the release. ;)
this way they can either do an update, or they can use the comments to build on and make another game.
if I had shown some of my early versions of some of my games, you would have said "colours are wrong", "text is in the wrong place", "it crashes", "it flickers", "it's too slow", "music is broken" etc ;)
Quote from: Gryzor on 07:20, 03 April 13
Wow, this looks lovely! Hope it gets finished, I really do since I loved the arcade as well!
One little criticism, the player sprite flashes quite a bit when jumping... can this be fixed?
Nice to have you here, please keep us in the loop!
I will keep you all in the loop of course. Regarding the flash... flash? O_o You mean when the characters touch the platforms? The little bounce or really when just jumping? If so please could you describe exactly the moment it flash? Hehehe I am trying to figure it out but I can not.
Actually there is a little of garbage in the double buffer when the player gets killed by the red demons so that might be what you say. Or it is always flashin everytime it jumps?
And for everybody... I will not get angry for suggestions or telling that this is not correct or can be improved. Just the opposite! Every oppinion is more than welcome! :)
Sometimes you have great surprises when you wake up , this is one !
I am happy to see you started adaptation of this great game.Graphics need more works but are already nice, game seems fast despite few bugs (logical this is just the begining), music is good too.
I am very impatient to see how this will turn but looking at this great start that looks like a future great game for our beloved CPC !
Keep up the good work and please don't give up !
btw, i saw you use double buffer , does this will run on a 64K machine ?
Seems you already have a good knowledge of the machine but if you need some help , just ask ;)
Only point out that the music is one of the example songs of the Wyztracker. I just took it only for testing purposes.
Quote from: fano on 11:15, 03 April 13
btw, i saw you use double buffer , does this will run on a 64K machine ?
Seems you already have a good knowledge of the machine but if you need some help , just ask ;)
Yes... the double buffer eats a lot of RAM but couldn't find any other way to avoid flickering while maintaining a tolerant framerate. We are SUFFERING to fit everything in 32 KB, code and assets. But I guess we would manage to do it. Because of that we will have to split the game in several parts. There will be loads every boss.
And well... do not know too much really about the machine. I need still to dig more in the CRTC to see if I can implement the scrolling between levels. But it is not sure whether we will be able to do it or not since we are almost on the limit of memory but still scratching bytes.
Thanks for precisions, i noticed too you do not use the total surface of the screen, what are the dimensions of your game area + score display ? (in mode 0 pixels or in CRTC chars) In the same order of idea , what technics do you use to save and restore background after drawing sprites ? maybe there are solutions to save some memory here ;)
Shame you didn't mention it a week ago. There is a very large demoparty held in Saarbruecken every Easter, so you've only just missed it. There were quite a few of us CPC people there... :)
There's also the Evoke party in Cologne in August (EVOKE 2013, 16-18 Aug 2013, AbenteuerhallenKalk, Cologne, Germany (http://evoke.eu)), Nordlicht in Bremen in July (Nordlicht 2013 | A Demoscene Party in Northern Germany (http://nordlicht.demoparty.info/)) and Demodays in Switzerland in August (demodays | 23/24/25 August 2013 - Olten/Switzerland (http://demodays.org/)) which might be closer to you. There are loads more too!
You could try looking at a list of demoparties - demoparty.net (http://www.demoparty.net/) or http://www.pouet.net/index.php (http://www.pouet.net/index.php), although the latter is more for discussion and releases.
Also, good to hear you're developing a new CPC game... good luck! :)
Quote from: fano on 11:59, 03 April 13
Thanks for precisions, i noticed too you do not use the total surface of the screen, what are the dimensions of your game area + score display ? (in mode 0 pixels or in CRTC chars) In the same order of idea , what technics do you use to save and restore background after drawing sprites ? maybe there are solutions to save some memory here ;)
I left 32 pixels of height (the upper part of the screen) for the scoreboard. The total size of the drawing area including the scoreboard is 128x256 pixels. The full 16KB ram page. Still need to tweak the vertical adjust register to better center the screen as you can see.
For drawing sprites and restoring background... Saving and restoring? Hehe. I am just doing it using "the way of the donkey". Just paint the dirty background tiles and then over the sprites. It is a thing I wanted to improve since I am fully painting the affected tiles. There might be the possibility to paint them partially accelerating considerably the speed but this doesn't enter inside my main priorities right now.
Right at the moment I am limiting the speed to 15FPS maximum.
Quote from: ralferoo on 13:12, 03 April 13
Shame you didn't mention it a week ago. There is a very large demoparty held in Saarbruecken every Easter, so you've only just missed it. There were quite a few of us CPC people there... :)
There's also the Evoke party in Cologne in August (EVOKE 2013, 16-18 Aug 2013, AbenteuerhallenKalk, Cologne, Germany (http://evoke.eu)), Nordlicht in Bremen in July (Nordlicht 2013 | A Demoscene Party in Northern Germany (http://nordlicht.demoparty.info/)) and Demodays in Switzerland in August (demodays | 23/24/25 August 2013 - Olten/Switzerland (http://demodays.org/)) which might be closer to you. There are loads more too!
You could try looking at a list of demoparties - demoparty.net (http://www.demoparty.net/) or http://www.pouet.net/index.php (http://www.pouet.net/index.php), although the latter is more for discussion and releases.
Also, good to hear you're developing a new CPC game... good luck! :)
That is a pity! But there are more so we will see if I would be ablte to join one of them. Thank you very much for all that info!
Quote from: pacomix on 13:29, 03 April 13
For drawing sprites and restoring background... Saving and restoring? Hehe. I am just doing it using "the way of the donkey". Just paint the dirty background tiles and then over the sprites. It is a thing I wanted to improve since I am fully painting the affected tiles. There might be the possibility to paint them partially accelerating considerably the speed but this doesn't enter inside my main priorities right now.
I have used "the way of the donkey" and it worked fine for me before. :)
Hey, why not making this great game for 128 KB machines. Instead of 32 KB you would have 96 KB (3x more!!) RAM for code.
And today nearly everybody has a 6128 keyboard (else get it cheap on ebay).
I'm looking forward to see more :)
Quote from: villain on 09:02, 03 April 13
You will meet a big part of the german CPC scene at the XzentriX:
XzentriX 2013 meeting in Seeshaupt / Germany | The Amstrad CPC news portal (http://www.octoate.de/wp/2013/03/13/xzentrix-2013-meeting-in-seeshaupt-germany/)
Grüße aussem Nachbarlandkreis (TÜ). :-)
Uups. First I oversaw the P.S. of the other post...
Yes, the XzentriX is a great choice. Or just post instantly in the German part here or in the German CPC Forum from Markus.
Quote from: TFM/FS on 18:01, 03 April 13
Quote from: villain on 09:02, 03 April 13
You will meet a big part of the german CPC scene at the XzentriX:
XzentriX 2013 meeting in Seeshaupt / Germany | The Amstrad CPC news portal (http://www.octoate.de/wp/2013/03/13/xzentrix-2013-meeting-in-seeshaupt-germany/)
Grüße aussem Nachbarlandkreis (TÜ). :-)
??? Posted in wrong thread / forum ???
::)
Quote from: TFM/FS on 17:59, 03 April 13
Hey, why not making this great game for 128 KB machines. Instead of 32 KB you would have 96 KB (3x more!!) RAM for code.
And today nearly everybody has a 6128 keyboard (else get it cheap on ebay).
I'm looking forward to see more :)
Well the thing is that I also would like to have the tape version. Only in case it turns completely impossible to carry it out for 64KB I will do the 128KB version then... (Captain Obvious) ;D
@arnoldemu: he said he accepts criticism :D But sure, it's looking really good, I'm just offering some notes. Naturally I don't expect it to be perfect!!!
@pacomix: when the character jumps platforms and the sprite rolls, it blinks rapidly - or at least that's what I see in Winape...
Quote from: pacomix on 13:29, 03 April 13For drawing sprites and restoring background... Saving and restoring? Hehe. I am just doing it using "the way of the donkey".
Didn't know that name but using this too ;)
Quote from: TFM/FS on 18:01, 03 April 13
??? Posted in wrong thread / forum ???
Kannst Du Dumpfbacke einfach mal Deine saublöde Fresse halten? Sicherlich, Dein Englisch ist schlecht. Aber das verstehst Du vielleicht trotzdem:
"
P.S.: I see that some people over are from Germany so I also would like to get in touch with some if there is a coming soon a retro party or so. I am in Reutlingen."
@Gryzor:
It would be very nice if you could stop the constantly provocations by TFM. Thanks!
Really pleased to see another development for the CPC , I am not that familiar with the game , but from the looks of what you have posted it appears a great game is in production!I hope that with everyone's knowledge on this board that you can make it a game that is a pleasure and proud to be released. Good on you !
Quote from: pacomix on 18:19, 03 April 13
Well the thing is that I also would like to have the tape version. Only in case it turns completely impossible to carry it out for 64KB I will do the 128KB version then... (Captain Obvious) ;D
Well, you can go for both versions. Start with a 64 KB Version, then - if you have time and energy - move on the a bitter Version for 128 KB. Well must not use up all RAM though ;-)
Quote from: villain on 19:45, 03 April 13
Kannst Du Dumpfbacke einfach mal Deine saublöde Fresse halten? Sicherlich, Dein Englisch ist schlecht. Aber das verstehst Du vielleicht trotzdem:
"
P.S.: I see that some people over are from Germany so I also would like to get in touch with some if there is a coming soon a retro party or so. I am in Reutlingen."
@Gryzor:
It would be very nice if you could stop the constantly provocations by TFM. Thanks!
I did not read his p.s. at first instance, I just tried to help! Looked like you posted - however - in the wrong thread.
The game progress looks very nice already!
I hope we can play it soon ;)
If you need help, ask me ;)
I'm a vivid source of indefiniteness :D
(Better don't ask me)
To TFM & Villain:
RELAX TV ☯ 3 Hours of Relaxing Music, Nature Sounds, Ambient Sleep Tracks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zqpDVyCB2Y#ws)
Quote from: Gryzor on 18:36, 03 April 13
@arnoldemu: he said he accepts criticism :D But sure, it's looking really good, I'm just offering some notes. Naturally I don't expect it to be perfect!!!
@pacomix: when the character jumps platforms and the sprite rolls, it blinks rapidly - or at least that's what I see in Winape...
Hi! You mean exactly when it gets to a platform when it is falling down, right? That at the moment is something I realized since I implemented the vertical collisions (as you all can see horizontal collisions are not yet implemented) and after taking a quick look I didn't find a solution (yet). That is due to the double buffer that of course I "hope" to fix. :D
@all:
Regarding the wrong thread/forum messages. That was just a misunderstanding by TFM. No need to start a "fight" for this little thing. We are not so many people so please keep the agressiveness outside. Hehehe. Let there be peace! :)
Quote from: pacomix on 21:20, 03 April 13
We are not so many people so please keep the agressiveness outside. Hehehe. Let there be peace! :)
[troll_mode]
Wrong Thread/Forum? 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
[/troll_mode]
Quote from: villain on 19:45, 03 April 13
Kannst Du Dumpfbacke einfach mal Deine saublöde Fresse halten? Sicherlich, Dein Englisch ist schlecht. Aber das verstehst Du vielleicht trotzdem:
"
P.S.: I see that some people over are from Germany so I also would like to get in touch with some if there is a coming soon a retro party or so. I am in Reutlingen."
@Gryzor:
It would be very nice if you could stop the constantly provocations by TFM. Thanks!
Also, it'd be quite nice if you kept your language and insults to yourself. We've had enough.
Arrh, a new german game. I like it :D
Reading this post I do re-think if I should ever put my newest efford (a "samegame" - just logics, no fancy sound or so, and for a small cpc464) into public ... if I ever manage to get those AMSprite on screen *sigh* ...
Back to topic: nice effort, I did see your main figure on Webseite eines Spaniers :D ... how did you implement sound ? thats one thing I (and my cpc progs) absolutely lack ...
BTW: Grüße in den Süden !
Well, for sound you can use the Wyztracker or the Starkos (probably the most used today) sound files, oh yes, there is also the soundtrakker.
So you basicly have the song-data and player. Now either you put an interrupt in the system, or - for a game - you just call the sound routine once a frame from your program. It depends what you use.
Quote from: SRS on 21:41, 03 April 13
Arrh, a new german game. I like it :D
Reading this post I do re-think if I should ever put my newest efford (a "samegame" - just logics, no fancy sound or so, and for a small cpc464) into public ... if I ever manage to get those AMSprite on screen *sigh* ...
Back to topic: nice effort, I did see your main figure on Webseite eines Spaniers :D ... how did you implement sound ? thats one thing I (and my cpc progs) absolutely lack ...
BTW: Grüße in den Süden !
Personally I am using Wyztracker for the sound. But I didn't look at Starkos or Soundtrakker. So they might perform better than Wyztracker... but I really do not know.
And regarding a new german game... well we can say almost. The pixel artist is from Ibiza and I am originally from Spain but living in Germany. So we can say fifty fifty haha.
Looks like it will be a really cool game.
Why are you going for 15fps...?
I understand the double buffering, but too me it causes such a headache - two screens to update, two loads of backgrounds and sprites to restore and draw. Or am I missing something?
Quote from: redbox on 21:22, 04 April 13
Looks like it will be a really cool game.
Why are you going for 15fps...?
I understand the double buffering, but too me it causes such a headache - two screens to update, two loads of backgrounds and sprites to restore and draw. Or am I missing something?
I am going for 15fps 'cos I couldn't find a way to draw such amount of sprites with backgrounds faster than that...
Regarding the backgrounds and the double buffer... currently the way it works is pretty straightforward ("the way of the donkey"), just populate the affected tiles by the sprites to redraw, redraw them in the "hidden" screen buffer, and draw the sprites over. It is not really a headache. Nothing about saving the affected background somewhere or using a small buffer where to draw the "part to redraw" since we are not using a single buffer. I find the double buffer way faster than having a single buffer at the expenses of one page of RAM of course.
Really having a double buffer is not hard to maintain. The only thing to take in account is the previous and current position for the sprites and which is the active buffer. With that you have all the necessary information to use to populate the affected tiles.
For the detail. I am not using assembler more than for the sprites routines and the Wyztracker (that comes like that). All the logic is C code. And sigh! I am suffering a lot to maintain the code under 12KB right at the moment.
Suggestions? More than welcome of course!
By the way... does any of you know who is the holder of the Snow Bros copyright?
I only just got round to looking at the youtube video - those sprites are lovely! Just wondering if you'd actually be better to lock at 12.5fps rather than 15fps so that each screen is drawn in exactly 4 frames. 15 fps means you'll have some shown for 3 frames and some for 4, so it won't look quite as smooth...
Or it means they are all shown in 3 frames, and the 16.666666666666666666666666667 was just rounded to 15 ;)
Quote from: pacomix on 23:12, 04 April 13
currently the way it works is pretty straightforward ("the way of the donkey"), just populate the affected tiles by the sprites to redraw, redraw them in the "hidden" screen buffer, and draw the sprites over. It is not really a headache. Nothing about saving the affected background somewhere or using a small buffer where to draw the "part to redraw" since we are not using a single buffer. I find the double buffer way faster than having a single buffer at the expenses of one page of RAM of course.
Really having a double buffer is not hard to maintain. The only thing to take in account is the previous and current position for the sprites and which is the active buffer. With that you have all the necessary information to use to populate the affected tiles.
Thanks for the explanation - I understand how you're doing it and it's a nice way. Will try it myself :)
Quote from: pacomix on 23:12, 04 April 13
Regarding the backgrounds and the double buffer... currently the way it works is pretty straightforward ("the way of the donkey"), just populate the affected tiles by the sprites to redraw, redraw them in the "hidden" screen buffer, and draw the sprites over. It is not really a headache. Nothing about saving the affected background somewhere or using a small buffer where to draw the "part to redraw" since we are not using a single buffer. I find the double buffer way faster than having a single buffer at the expenses of one page of RAM of course.
Really having a double buffer is not hard to maintain. The only thing to take in account is the previous and current position for the sprites and which is the active buffer. With that you have all the necessary information to use to populate the affected tiles.
I use this method in a couple of games I have in development.
I have a list for each buffer.
I push the x,y,width and height into the list.
When the buffer is swapped, I swap the list. (I actually swap the pointer to the list ;) ).
Then I read through the list, work out the rectangle of tiles to redraw and draw them. Then empty the list and start again for this buffer.
This works good.
There is overdraw if more than one sprite is over the same tiles, but I accept this with my current games.
The double buffer really helps! :)
Quote from: arnoldemu on 13:11, 05 April 13
I use this method in a couple of games I have in development.
I have a list for each buffer.
I push the x,y,width and height into the list.
When the buffer is swapped, I swap the list. (I actually swap the pointer to the list ;) ).
Then I read through the list, work out the rectangle of tiles to redraw and draw them. Then empty the list and start again for this buffer.
This works good.
There is overdraw if more than one sprite is over the same tiles, but I accept this with my current games.
The double buffer really helps! :)
I do it in a similar way but avoiding the redraw and with only one buffer, which depending in the amount of verschiedene tiles you use can be possible or not.
I store for every sprite the current coordinates and the coordinates where they were drawn in the buffers.
In the paint loop, first of all, take a look in which buffer the sprite will be painted and for each of the sprites:
- Populate the affected tiles for the position the sprite had in that buffer.
After that loop just paint the tiles affected.
Then another loop for every sprite again:
- Paint the sprite in the required buffer (the hidden one) with the current coordinates of it.
- Store the current position in the required set of coordinates for the just painted buffer.
- Call sprite's state machine
- Flip the buffers
In order not adding twice or more the tiles to the populated tile list, what I do in the populate function, is setting a flag in the byte where I store the tile info (tile number) when I add it to the list, and before adding it I check if that flag was already set ignoring the add if so. And in the tile paint function I reset that flag just before painting it. That avoids the redrawing and the need of having two separate lists. One for each buffer.
But of course... depending the amount of different tiles you use in the game, this could be an affordable way or not. In my case I am limited to 32 different tiles (5 bits) because I make use of 1 bit to tell if a tile should be drawn with mirroring, another one to tell if it is a platform and another one for the purpose I have just described. But right at the moment it is enough.
That could add a little of overhead when creating the list of tiles-to-be-painted but I guess it is nothing in comparison with the overhead of redrawing them.
And regarding the double buffer. It helps a lot regarding the speed of painting yes since you avoid drawing everything to another small buffer before copying it to the main screen buffer. But yes... at expenses of having 16KB less. (sigh!)
Quote from: ralferoo on 00:09, 05 April 13
I only just got round to looking at the youtube video - those sprites are lovely! Just wondering if you'd actually be better to lock at 12.5fps rather than 15fps so that each screen is drawn in exactly 4 frames. 15 fps means you'll have some shown for 3 frames and some for 4, so it won't look quite as smooth...
I didn't think about that. But you are right.
At the moment I am not switching the buffers in sync with the VLB and I have just noticed some minutes ago a slight flicker from time to time in some sprites. If that happens more often I will have then to sync the switching of the buffer with the VLB or, automatically adjust the switching depending on the time spent in the paint loop like some portable consoles does in example. ;)
Any news ?
Hi Snake!
Unfortunately not... Too many things changed last year in my life and I needed to disconnect a bit from the computers. But it is a thing still pendant to finish.
Paco
Hopefully you'll find time and strenght to finish it, what you've achieved so far looks very promising.
any preview to test ?
Amazing looking game, can't wait to see it in action on real hardware! TOP STUFF!
NOTE: The music, in the initial YooToob vid, is the Wyztracker version of Stargazer's Amiga mod called Shampoo. The version in the vid is very funky, I like it a lot! It's better than my STArkos version (which is WIP... the arpeggios need to be a higher volume!)
Quote from: Snake_Plissken on 10:21, 09 July 14any preview to test ?
Hi Snake! Apart of the two videos that are in Youtube (one in my account Pacomix64 and another one in the account Juan Esteban) there is nothing to test still. I added the shots and two more enemies. I was thinking in releasing a 128KB version only since I'm running out of RAM mostly due to the double buffer but I want to have a cassette release too for the 464's. Maybe by reducing sprite frames and tiles would be possible...
I did a test with a single buffer screen last month but the game would loose a lot of speed turning it into a non-pleasant experience.
Quote from: Jonah (Tasteful Mr) Ship on 10:54, 09 July 14
Amazing looking game, can't wait to see it in action on real hardware! TOP STUFF!
NOTE: The music, in the initial YooToob vid, is the Wyztracker version of Stargazer's Amiga mod called Shampoo. The version in the vid is very funky, I like it a lot! It's better than my STArkos version (which is WIP... the arpeggios need to be a higher volume!)
Thanks Jonah! Yep... the music is amazing. Really well converted! I like it even more than the original one. I took it just for testing.
Regards!
With memory expansions easily available these days, that would be sad to downgrade the game because of memory problems from the lowest part of the range
Quote from: pacomix on 12:16, 09 July 14
Hi Snake! Apart of the two videos that are in Youtube (one in my account Pacomix64 and another one in the account Juan Esteban) there is nothing to test still. I added the shots and two more enemies. I was thinking in releasing a 128KB version only since I'm running out of RAM mostly due to the double buffer but I want to have a cassette release too for the 464's. Maybe by reducing sprite frames and tiles would be possible...
I did a test with a single buffer screen last month but the game would loose a lot of speed turning it into a non-pleasant experience.
Would be shame cos I was looking forward to playing this on my 464 but I understand if not possible.
Is this still being worked on?
Quote from: sigh on 18:05, 04 January 16
Is this still being worked on?
It is stopped since long time ago. But I plan to continue with the work once I settle down again next month.
Quote from: remax on 12:23, 09 July 14
With memory expansions easily available these days, that would be sad to downgrade the game because of memory problems from the lowest part of the range
Yes, right, this is the 512 KB era, not the 64 KB era any longer. Welcome in 2016 fellow CPC brethren. ;D :)
Quote from: pacomix on 18:14, 04 January 16
It is stopped since long time ago. But I plan to continue with the work once I settle down again next month.
Excellent! So what are you intending to tackle first? Will you move to 128kb or will you try to optimize for 64kb?
Quote from: pacomix on 18:14, 04 January 16
But I plan to continue with the work once I settle down again next month.
fantastisch :)
Quote from: sigh on 19:24, 04 January 16
Excellent! So what are you intending to tackle first? Will you move to 128kb or will you try to optimize for 64kb?
Hi sigh!
That's the main question. First I need to review again everything since there are several things I forgot. Like how the build pipeline was working. I stick to a specific version of SDCC (3.2.1 #8124) since at that time I was testing newer versions and all of them generated code that broke the game and I didn't want to dig deeper on the reasons.
So first of all would be to review all the system I had and then the code and make it work with the most recent version and with the optimizations the creator of CPCTelera suggested.
Then I planned to suppress the double buffer by using masked sprites OR optimizing the drawing (background + sprites on top) with care. If I see the result is not fine for the gameplay I think that I would have to go for a 128Kb version or cut a lot the variety of tiles at least for the 64Kb version.
QuoteIf you didn't know about that we are doing a port of the Snow Bros arcade machine to the Amstrad/Schneider CPC series of computer with the intention to make a tape and disk version. So is not only tied to the 128KB machines.
Oh, why always the cartridge is the great forgottten thing.
So 464 cut is release->gx4000 cut atomatically is release with great 512kb rom to the trash. :( .
Quote from: pacomix on 12:43, 05 January 16
Hi sigh!
That's the main question. First I need to review again everything since there are several things I forgot. Like how the build pipeline was working. I stick to a specific version of SDCC (3.2.1 #8124) since at that time I was testing newer versions and all of them generated code that broke the game and I didn't want to dig deeper on the reasons.
So first of all would be to review all the system I had and then the code and make it work with the most recent version and with the optimizations the creator of CPCTelera suggested.
Then I planned to suppress the double buffer by using masked sprites OR optimizing the drawing (background + sprites on top) with care. If I see the result is not fine for the gameplay I think that I would have to go for a 128Kb version or cut a lot the variety of tiles at least for the 64Kb version.
In my very very humble opinion 128KB should be a no brainer for many games (not all) because the difference can be huge. I understand the reasons of trying to keep everything running in 64 KB, but I also think that from a practical point of view we should move from that barrier nowadays that memory expansions are so cheap and well accepted by many :). I would love to have everything in cartridge as well, but the Amstrad is not a MSX and cartridge was never the main format, only the Plus range is compatible with that. The ACID did not make things easy either...
@pacomix (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=855): Very glad to see you are continuing this amazing project! I'm really looking forward to see this project succeed :D.
Needless to say that If you needed any kind of help, we will be here for you :).
Come on and Good luck!
How about a fantastic wip vid?
Cool! 8)
Quote from: ||C|-|E|| on 18:29, 13 January 16I would love to have everything in cartridge as well, but the Amstrad is not a MSX and cartridge was never the main format, only the Plus range is compatible with that.
I've actually been meaning to ask that. Not to you specifically but your post reminded me of it.
How feasible is it to develop a cartridge format to use on the extension port? Could the 16k barrier be broken by using several ROMs and mapping? I see the X-MEM allows to boot directly to a different BIOS, I suppose it could be used to boot directly to the game. If a GX4000 game was somehow compatible with non-plus specifications (colour palette, hardware sprites, etc.), could I wire an adapter to boot it?
Me happy, me needs this.
Quote from: khaz on 16:45, 10 March 16I see the X-MEM allows to boot directly to a different BIOS, I suppose it could be used to boot directly to the game. If a GX4000 game was somehow compatible with non-plus specifications (colour palette, hardware sprites, etc.), could I wire an adapter to boot it?
I have done that with the CTC-AY board, but it looked to not interest peoples...
So, I have shared the project in : X-MEM + PlayCity, using ROM instead of my original cartridge system. (shown booting renegade and relentless)
Sorry for the bump, but I was thinking about this game recently. Anyone know what became of this project?
Oh drat, 7 years since the OP... That original video looks so nice!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5IP5570Fk
7 years !?!?!!?
:-X
Where does the time go?
Last time i spoke with Pacomix was two or three months ago. The project is on a long hiatus, if not full dead. The guy had to move between several countries in the last years due to work and didn't look very motivated.
We all know the whereabouts of SAD1942. He has enjoyed great sucess with games like Red Sunset or Lost Treasure of Cuauhtemoc in the last few years.
I really don't see it in the next few years, but you never know when an artist will be motivated again.
Quote from: Dubliner on 16:58, 25 August 20
Last time i spoke with Pacomix was two or three months ago. The project is on a long hiatus, if not full dead. The guy had to move between several countries in the last years due to work and didn't look very motivated.
We all know the whereabouts of SAD1942. He has enjoyed great sucess with games like Red Sunset or Lost Treasure of Cuauhtemoc in the last few years.
I really don't see it in the next few years, but you never know when an artist will be motivated again.
Damn it!* The Snow Bros project looked extremely promising and also felt like it was close to finishing.I don't know if he's still on this forum, but all of us here really appreciated his efforts in bringing this classic to the CPC.
There is no doubt that this would have been a superb conversion.
*I'm a little gutted to be honest :(
Come on and take initiative. You know that i am offering one week free vacation in Greece in my small hotel once a game for amstrad is complete and is considered being a gem. I do not like to repeat myself so spread the news because the coders need vacation after work. May or june or sept. Spread the opportunity.
A good reason to learn Z80. (I have twins babies at home right now)