R-Type

[TFM]

All my apologies, i totaly forgot to present the Easter Egg team that is active on R-Type :
 

     
• Fano : code
• TotO : graphics
• iXien : sound (http://www.amstradtoday.com/)

Thanks Fano, I missed that before, Sorry! You _ALL_ do a wonderful job! Can't wait to see the final result, but hey take your time, better do it perfect than too quick   

[ivarf]

24. desember

[robcfg]

That would make a nice christmas present!

Keep up the good work!

[TFM]

Right, but why are they called easter eggs? Easter time makes more sense to me 

[MacDeath]

OMG, duck ! duck ! you're about to get pwned by the green bastard !!!

You should know you have to make a big and meant plasma bullet to pwn this bad boy as soon as he appears...

[TFM]

I remembe having been playing R-Type (not on CPC) and there were two fire buttons, one was for making and releasing big plasma shots. The other allowed _ANYTIME_ to fire regular small shots. How is it the case here? Are two fire buttons supported?

[fano]

I remembe having been playing R-Type (not on CPC) and there were two fire buttons, one was for making and releasing big plasma shots. The other allowed _ANYTIME_ to fire regular small shots. How is it the case here? Are two fire buttons supported?

Hum , maybe SNES version.Here the game has been designed for GX4000/SMS paddle so the first button is for regular fire/load and second to release/recall force.

24. desember

This was our first objective.Other side, we are working to add the maximum feature we can so this release date is not a certitude . We want to try all ideas we had to be sure to have no regret but don't be afraid, we can say it will be before Easter 

OMG, duck ! duck ! you're about to get pwned by the green bastard !!!

I don't care , here i am GOD himself , i am the programmer of that stuff and i gave myself invulnerabilty 

Right, but why are they called easter eggs? Easter time makes more sense to me 

[redbox]

This all looks so tantalising... I'm really looking forward to it and probably looking forward more to hear how you did it from a technical point of view - this would make one very good story guys!

I showed the preview shots to my C64 friend (the same one who almost choked when he saw Star Sabre and RD 128+) who is a R-Type fiend as well  and he started to say "well the Speccy version has the best algorithms" etc and when I explained that this part was based on the Speccy code and the rest is pure CPC hardcore he went very quiet...!

They know the CPC is a better machine in the right hands     And an awesome R-Type will be great to dangle in front of their noses 

[fano]

I'm really looking forward to it and probably looking forward more to hear how you did it from a technical point of view - this would make one very good story guys!

Technicaly speaking , I'm afraid but you'll may be disapointed as it is not State of Art.It is just regular programming with choices in design and some little tricks.
But if you want , there are no problem to speak about this aspect when it will be finished (after passing successfully the last technical difficulty  )

[fano]

About the Amiga version , i've been a bit disapointed as i was expecting more from the Amiga (for example i don't understand the void background on L1)

Was unable to found it but finally found this , there is a comparaison between different versions , you'll understand more waht i meant : http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/rtype/rtype.htm

[TFM]

Good site!

btw... it's really sad to see that the CPC version has even fewer colors than the spectrum version. Especially since the CPC has all that wonderful intense colors (in contrast to the worn out colors of the c64 f.e.).

I can't understand how a software company has such a mismanagement. If they don't sell quality then they will not sell for long. And finally all these companies complained about "pirate copies". I should sue them for selling minor quality software and get my money back from them 

These spectrum ports really did bad things to the CPC.

[mr_lou]

I can't understand how a software company has such a mismanagement. If they don't sell quality then they will not sell for long.

Agreed! Except... there are exceptions....  Explain Microsoft to me... 

And finally all these companies complained about "pirate copies". I should sue them for selling minor quality software and get my money back from them 

Agreed!

[TotO]

These spectrum ports really did bad things to the CPC.

All Spectrum ports are bad things to the CPC ... But, without them you don't get those games on it.

[fano]

Sure TFM ! Sadly people who manage software compagnies are rarely passionated , their job is just to make money (and maybe this is a chance for their compagnies as i am not sure a software/hardware compagny only guided by passionated people would survive...)
As develloper , you can love a game or a machine but you do not decide about time and money your boss want to put in games.We can see that too with actual games.

Agreed! Except... there are exceptions....  Explain Microsoft to me... 

Bundle OS with computer , use unfair practises (not only an opinion, US and EU courts judged that), add this evil marketing thingies (sheeping?) and you get the exception..

[TFM]

Agreed! Except... there are exceptions....  Explain Microsoft to me... 

Good point! Well, they think that they have no competitors. But as soon as Prodatron releases SymbOS 3 for PC, then Microsoft will be history ;-)

Guess if all other companies have a piece of the market, that's let's say 20%, then you just don't care about quality any longer - if your name is Bill or Gates. Furthermore the M$ marketing politics has always been very agressive. The forced the dealers to sell their stuff or else they get nothing to sell at all.

In the times of video games, there were more competitors, at least some more, so it probably would have made sense to go for quality. Some did, look at Trantor, Starglider, and all the others...

Sure TFM ! Sadly people who manage software compagnies are rarely passionated , their job is just to make money (and maybe this is a chance for their compagnies as i am not sure a software/hardware compagny only guided by passionated people would survive...)
As develloper , you can love a game or a machine but you do not decide about time and money your boss want to put in games.We can see that too with actual games.

Well, I'm very passionated about CPC, which brings me a lot of struggles. However, if you just do it to sell and to make money: Even then quality will help you to make better bussiness. If people connect your name with quality, you will have good customers for a long time.

But on the other hand, what's wrong about piracy copying a game of lesser quality? (I just ask the question)

Bundle OS with computer , use unfair practises (not only an opinion, US and EU courts judged that), add this evil marketing thingies (sheeping?) and you get the exception..

Hey, this bundle thing is what I plan to do with FutureOS. Better I get an lawyer now 

[redbox]

Bundle OS with computer , use unfair practises (not only an opinion, US and EU courts judged that), add this evil marketing thingies (sheeping?) and you get the exception..

Talk of Microsoft etc. always makes me think about
Sugar's approach to software (forward to 5:43).

Even though he got it wrong, he did once screw Bill Gates and not many people can say that. 

[AMSDOS]

I wonder how many times this has happened in recent years?

[Xyphoe]

If people connect your name with quality, you will have good customers for a long time.

Yes ... see for example Ocean games (1988 onwards...) and then compare to DOMARK and to a lesser extent US Gold.

I remember swearing to never buy another Domark game after PitFighter and Badlands 
I think I bought every Ocean game they released after Robocop, it wasn't often I thought I had a 'bad' game.

[MacDeath]

the problem in case of those speccied games...

some of them were good despite all those things.

R-Type for exemple was just a slightly slower and less coloured perfect speccy port. But better sounds effects perhaps...

The Speccy R-Type was the best Speccy game... hence it is a good game on CPC : not what you would have expected, yet playable and fun because technicall to play (got to know the patterns and timings...

And somewhat easier because it is slow...

So it was still a success which told the corporate : you see, no need to put 3 men for 3 month on a CPC specific version when a single man can port the speccy one in 3 weeks and it still makes fast profit..


I was mostly ashamed by games like BlackTiger or Xybot, but I bought them anyway because IO liked so much the arcades and... I was young and fool.


Xybot despite very bad graphics was still fun to play (2 player mode up this...) but black tiger...well...
At first it looked almost decent and faithfull but definitly not actually.

[TFM]

Ok, maybe the did the speccy port of r-type nearly perfect. But the CPC is not spectrum!

You also can argue that a c64 port to PS3 is a good game, because the port is perfect. Well, the PS3 is not a c64.

What I want to say is... a port is (even when perfect) still a port and will use only 20% of the CPCs featrues. So is can't be a good game. Just take a look at CPC games, which are no speccy ports and compare them to speccy versions. OMG!!!

And we will see the difference with R-Type quite soon (whenever, but in this life!). So I'm really curious and also looking forward.

btw. Maybe you guys will decide to do a Mode 1 version in additon after the current mode 0 remake :-)

[TFM]

Well, since I had a couple of minutes spare time today... and since I've stolen MacDeath gfx from the Wiki ... (following by even bigger crimes like using WinApe ... this was the funny result:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPyCKAttjEo

[Gryzor]

For a moment there I thought you were replacing the fighter with Pikachu!

[AMSDOS]

I kind of like the Graphics in Xybots - the shame about it is one needs a decent Microscope to play it properly, if it wasn't for a BASIC game called Ghost Maze I converted to the CPC, I would have said it was the smallest playing screen I've seen in any game on a CPC! 

[Xyphoe]

I kind of like the Graphics in Xybots - the shame about it is one needs a decent Microscope to play it properly, if it wasn't for a BASIC game called Ghost Maze I converted to the CPC, I would have said it was the smallest playing screen I've seen in any game on a CPC! 

Holy shit! You're right!

[TFM]

For a moment there I thought you were replacing the fighter with Pikachu!

This _IS_ a damn great idea!!!


Edit: The Xybot topic would look great as foreign thread imho