R-Type

[ivarf]

Hmm... looks like i'm probably damned either way (and i'm off to hide behind the sofa in a minute) but okay, here goes...

R-Type was a really difficult one to score. On the one hand i liked it hugely and enjoyed playing it but then again i had it crash out on me several times, with quite a few being around the same place (the level 4 boss if memory serves, possibly under similar circumstances to those that fano mentioned in post 324 of this thread) and losing all that hard fought for progress was almost painfully frustrating to me as a player so i simply couldn't ignore it when writing the review.

The first screenshot caption should have said [Amstrad CPC] Just like the seaside crane machines! by the way, which is a shame because i was rather fond of it.

The "c64" screenshot is the best looking of the four 

Shame on me, I haven't tried the game yet, have only seen youtube-videos and read about it in Retrogamer and here.  I have always liked and preferred the strong colours of the Amstrad and all Segas. In my opinion the colours in the youtubevideos of the game are not saturated enough, I reckon this is due to the emulator used or videocoding. Are the colours much stronger on a real machine for this game?  I understand that the scrolling is like it is, because of the original code which came from the ZX Spectrum. This looks like characterbased scrolling, I doesn't like that much... My guess is that C64users are even more put off by this..

TMR, what score would you give to the "original" on the ZX Spectrum?

[TMR]

TMR, what score would you give to the "original" on the ZX Spectrum?

i don't know to be honest, i've never thought about it in that context... probably somewhere in the early to possibly mid 90s, i expect. You didn't ask, but now i'm thinkking about it the C64 version is worth a low 80s because it's quite fun as a game in it's own right and only sucks as a conversion of R-Type.

[Gryzor]

Heya TMR...


I can actually sympathise with the frustration leading to a lower score. Strangely enough, though, the final version never crashed for me, were you using a beta perchance? Did you try contacting the devs?


As for the difficulty... :p

[beaker]

Any idea when a version for 3 inch discs are coming so I can play it on my 6128+ rather than an emulator? My left arrow's just busted on my HP laptop... 

[ivarf]

Are you all playing on R-type on emulators? No wonder the colours look off, CPC unsaturated 

[beaker]

Sigh, for the moment

I need a new iron to do the ABBA switch in my 6128+ so I can use the HxC...

[TMR]

I can actually sympathise with the frustration leading to a lower score. Strangely enough, though, the final version never crashed for me, were you using a beta perchance? Did you try contacting the devs?

i haven't, but the issue i've had is similar to the one reported in this thread already so i was assuming they knew and were already looking into it. And no, i got the disk image from the official site when it went live, same as everybody else, i rarely get beta versions on any platform and won't knowingly review anything that's flagged as beta just to get a head start either.

As for the difficulty... :p

i still stand by what i said about difficulty - on default difficulty it's meant to play like R-Type so any variation on that is worthy of note.

Are you all playing on R-type on emulators? No wonder the colours look off, CPC unsaturated 

i have to use an emulator for it at the moment, i've only got a 464.

[TotO]

R-Type get 82%*, because problems are not solved in time.

Missing:
- Fixing the sad crash (2 months...)
- Building the 3" version for everyone can play on CPC
- Master mode for top players (after the gold logo. Like a second loop)
- Arcade mode adjusted to be less harder (master mode sequel)
- And some Gfx fix (Mura head bug, ...)

Sorry!

About the Force move, it was programmed to be arcade like.
It own a magnetic attract mode, and you can turn easilly around w/o locking it, if you don't press fire 2. Work far better tant the old CPC/Spectrum version.

* A nice score in absolute.

[MacDeath]

i have to use an emulator for it at the moment, i've only got a 464.

ouch that was it then... the frustration for having only a 464...

Once again I curse you Lord Sugar, you did the CPC wrong with this 64K models... should have been 128K !

[DARKGATE]

  I have a CPC 464 with 128k,  64K+64K RAM EXPANSION= 128K  I am a math genius.
The new R-TYPE is fantastic, but I admit that I would have liked to see a version for the CPC464 .

[TotO]

Just plug it a floppy drive... 

[TFM]

... but I admit that I would have liked to see a version for the CPC464 .

For the 464 (which provides only 1/3 of usable RAM compared to a 6128) you can use the old version :-)

[SyX]

Well, i admit that i prefer games that use joysticks, floppies and 128KBs of ram... I'm really tired of limited 64 kbs tape games. For me is impossible to enjoy a game with flickering in 2012, neither in CPC, neither in Matra Alice, neither Dreamcast, ... Come On!!! 

[fano]

82% only ! 

I hope you'll take a look to the "final" version without that awfull frustrating bug (OMG i dishonored myself with it)  and you'll take some time to see more features that are already in this version like extra levels , how to play, anti crash system (!) , weapons improvement (yes they are!) , casual mode and more (easter eggs?)
(the best is the intro , i didn't code anything on it  )

[TotO]

I just updated the file with the vicious crash bug fixed.

You can download it here: Fixed DSK
Or visit the R-Type website: http://cpc.rtype.fr

Top players:
The MASTER mode is coming soon... Please, 2 weeks to wait.

- Master mode for top players (after the gold logo. Like a second loop)
- Arcade mode adjusted to be less harder (master mode sequel)
- And some Gfx fix (Mura head bug, ...)

[MacDeath]

The new R-TYPE is fantastic, but I admit that I would have liked to see a version for the CPC464

what is the detail you don't understand in "R-Type 128K" ?
You want an "R-Type 128K" working on a 64K machine ?

I have a CPC 464 with 128k

then you have a "good and usable" CPC.

seriously, having only 64K is what killed the CPC...

I mean, like syx said :

I'm really tired of limited 64 kbs tape games. For me is impossible to enjoy a game with flickering in 2012

with its 16k screen, possibilities of fullscreen/overscan (24K/32K are then used for the sceen) and double buffering, also keep in mind the graphic datas (like, 2bit per pixels in mode1) are bigger than those on Speccy (1bit per pixel + a few attributes)... 64K is clearly not enough...

cumulated with the tape driver, you can't even multiload easily and even the Tape version should have needed 128k to be truly exploitable, we would have got richer and richier games!

[DARKGATE]

  Excuse me Toto, you think wick is possible use the engine of this new R-TYPE, for others shooters?
Example : SALAMANDER,  SAINT DRAGON, R-TYPE 2,  PROJECTX (FROM AMIGA TO AMSTRAD  ), MENACE ecc..
Thank you. 

[arnoldemu]

Well, i admit that i prefer games that use joysticks, floppies and 128KBs of ram... I'm really tired of limited 64 kbs tape games. For me is impossible to enjoy a game with flickering in 2012, neither in CPC, neither in Matra Alice, neither Dreamcast, ... Come On!!! 

But I also dislike games that are lazy and use 128k because the coder could not find the time to make better and more clever use of the memory.

I am sure 100% R-Type uses all 128K fully and efficiently.

I think it is still ok to make a 64k game in 2012.. some games are smaller and they can fit into this space easily. No need for 128k and all CPCs (KC compact etc) can run it.

[TotO]

I not fully agree... You can see the problem with BB4CPC.
Because the programmer don't want to support 128K as option and using at less 16K for a double buffer,  the game look epileptic. I can't enjoy it, and I'm not alone.

As Amiga 500 games add extra features with 512K expansion (sounds, fast loading, ...) CPC games may add extra features with 64K expansion, without shame.

It's the first logical step and gamers buy EXT RAM massively on Amiga, then buy new computers with more RAM for enjoying better games. On CPC, we don't

Yes, R-Type CPC in a full 128K / Floppy game, and can't be done with less.

[rexbeng]

To support TotO's view, I remind everyone that the basic memory for the Amiga was 256KB (Amiga 1000). Does anyone care to remember *any* 256KB games?


rb

[ivarf]

As Amiga 500 games add extra features with 512K expansion (sounds, fast loading, ...) CPC games may add extra features with 64K expansion, without shame.

It's the first logical step and gamers buy EXT RAM massively on Amiga, then buy new computers with more RAM for enjoying better games. On CPC, we don't

Yes, R-Type CPC in a full 128K / Floppy game, and can't be done with less.

Maybe I am ignorant, but where can I find memory for the 464 that can be easily fitted?

[MacDeath]

Maybe I am ignorant, but where can I find memory for the 464 that can be easily fitted?

that's a problem too.
there is no modern (and quite cheap) RAM extension card, which is a shame.

[TotO]

that's a problem too.
there is no modern (and quite cheap) RAM extension card, which is a shame.

Because few peoples buy it and tape programs don't use it.
Most popular for 664 users, to be "6128" up-to-date.

[arnoldemu]

What I was saying was:

128K only games are fine. I am not against this - you may think I am.

I am sad when I see a 128K game which is really a potential 64K game made in a lazy way.
e.g. "I don't want to work out where my data goes, so I will just put it into the extra ram".
So when the game is analysed there is much empty space.
If the game is 128K then it should have all the main ram full, and use as much as possible of the extra ram too.
So that very few bytes are not used.

If a game is real 128k, I want to see extra gfx, extra sound, longer levels etc. I want to see good use of the extra ram.

I am also not against games that are compatible with 64k. If the game is small, it can fit into 64k easily, no trouble. Then if the coder wants to do it, they can add extra for 128k.

Ok, say a cpc version of canabalt was made, and it was made lazy so you had to have 512k ram. Stupid. it could fit into 64k and everyone can enjoy it. But, if it then had extras when run on 128k machine... fantastic.

But also it is good to see games made for 128k only. R-type 128k is an example of this.

[arnoldemu]

I not fully agree... You can see the problem with BB4CPC.
Because the programmer don't want to support 128K as option and using at less 16K for a double buffer,  the game look epileptic. I can't enjoy it, and I'm not alone.

The programmer made a choice to make it this way.

Your team made a choice to make r-type 128k.

I have some games in development. they will run in 64k. but use 128k for extra stuff!

Maybe I could ask you this:

I also have a plus machine. Why did you not make it so it used plus extra features? Pluses are around so all games should be made to use plus features Why, because you chose to make it for CPC.