SHINOBI Gfx restoration

[fano]

After reading Shinobi -Control problems?! , i played it a bit on my CPC and i must admit this is one of the best CPC games (it seems so laaagggyyy on winape but not on real CPC !)
BUT , graphics are soo horribles ! Long time i wanted to do it so finaly i decided to find someone to redo them.After , i'll re-integrate them in game and correct palettes.
You'll find some attached to this post, please note you need to use a new palette too (you can adapt it for +, i'll see if it is possible to add this feature) , a good idea would be to have a global palette this time.Palette change according to level (color 12->15) so don't care if palette is not correct there.Anyway graphics are just here to be used as template so this is not very important.


Some infos about dimensions (mode 0)
tiles : 8*16 (64)
Sprites 1 (hero and baddies) : 12*24 (80)
Sprites 2 (bonuses) : 12*24 (4)
Sprites 3 (weapons) : 6*5 (6)
Boss 1 : 22*97 (1)
Boss 1 hands : 14*17 (3)
Boss 1 fire : 8*13 (2)
Boss 2 : 120*81 (1)


Note , i'll just do this for graphics , no uber extra mode or features this time , time is lacking.

[sigh]

Is it possible to use the C64 sprite for the main character? That sprite was fantastic.

[fano]

Yep, more , i think C64 gfx could be used as a base 

[MacDeath]

PErhaps with a bit more colours...

[Snake_Plissken]

A great game but gfx can be better.

I hope you will make a good lifting.

[sigh]

PErhaps with a bit more colours...

I think it's more important that the right colours are used, rather than adding more. The CPC sprite has more colours than C64, but differs a lot from the arcade compared to the C64 version. They shuold of used the grey for the main sprite rather than the black blue combination.

[MacDeath]

They shuold of used the grey for the main sprite rather than the black blue combination.

actually it is Dark Cyan... but yeah.


One thing i quite like is when you can manage to reserve 1 or 2 colours who are to be used only by the sprites or the backgrounds...
Its a subtle way (in mode0 of course) to differenciate well those 2 elements.


The shuriken bonus stage is well ported, colours are great. (slows a bit thoiugh during the fan sequence).



Let's Compare The classic ( Shinobi ) Series


Also :
http://www.retrogamer.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8965




Concerning the port of the C64 sprite, are they at the same size?
Fano seemed to told he only wanted a cosmetic pack, so we'll have to follow the exact same tileset...
Unlike R-Type where he could do more heavy size modification (because he had the source code from speccy version), here it may not be that possible.


The CPC's shinobi sprite is very slim... which is quite understandable (it gain a few CPU & RAM I guess).



But yeah, ported dirtily...  
(graphically only)



nose Vs. moustache..



160pixels vs 128pixels...
But yeah, "orange+pink+DarkGreen+DarkCyan+DarkRed" is totally a poorly choosen colour set for those walls..




Another forum thread with a few comparisons...
Shinobi [+Todos os jogos][+Mini Reviews] - Fórum UOL Jogos


and this :
Shinobi Comparison: Master System Vs NES Vs C64


On CPC many tiles actually try too hard to use too much colours, and palette limitation means that some of the dark colours are replaced with colours of a wrong shade/hue.


Like I said, a mix of dark yellow, dark green, darkred and orange and pink (pastel red) can't be good.


The same as when they try too hard to get grey mixed with everything into a 7 gradiant shade...CPC can't do it!


Best way is to simplify the hues (shadows and lightnings) in the same "tune" if possible... and get more reasonnably precise pixel art too.


I also think the SegaMasterSystem's version may be helpfull to get some inspiration... after all it uses the "EGA full 64 palette" so is not that far from the CPC... and the display is in 256pix horizontal. So quite "Amstrad-Speccy" size friendly.
And this Sega MasterSystem version is said to be one of the best.
But because of ROM limitation, can tell the textures are great, tiles are quite simple, but hey, still good to get inspiration.

another good page to compare a bit...
Shinobi (1989) screenshots - MobyGames

[sigh]

Concerning the port of the C64 sprite, are they at the same size?
Fano seemed to told he only wanted a cosmetic pack, so we'll have to follow the exact same tileset...
Unlike R-Type where he could do more heavy size modification (because he had the source code from speccy version), here it may not be that possible.


The CPC's shinobi sprite is very slim... which is quite understandable (it gain a few CPU & RAM I guess).




nose Vs. moustache..

Regarding the size, what you say is probably very true as this would effect the hitbox dramatically. The C64 version is shorter and slimmer, but a I did a quick edit on the height and colours as an example. The width of the character wouldn't be a major issue as it looks as though it's the walking frames that aquire the width:



The original CPC version has 6 colours while the version I did has 10.

But if you wanted to keep the colours the same amount, it could have a 6 colour version like this:



Also removed the nose and moustache!

[fano]

Regarding the size, what you say is probably very true as this would effect the hitbox dramatically. The C64 version is shorter and slimmer, but a I did a quick edit on the height and colours as an example. The width of the character wouldn't be a major issue as it looks as though it's the walking frames that aquire the width:




Also removed the nose and moustache!

Nice one ! color count is not an issue (as long you keep at least 3 colors to do color cycling and bosses weakpoints)

[Sykobee (Briggsy)]

If I'm not mistaken, it looks like the C64 version, in its glorious 3 colours + transparent, is just two hardware sprites (multicolour size of 12x21 each) on top of each other. The odd size of C64 sprites is why the sprite is stumpy in this game (although in other games you'd be comparing against 8x16 mode 0 sprites so the C64 version often looked better because the sprites were bigger).

[sigh]

Just out of interest - how much effort would it take to give the game a 2 pxiel scroll instead of the current 4 pixel scroll it is using?

[fano]

I'd say , rewrite the game engine 

[sigh]

I'd say , rewrite the game engine 

..and I'd say, PLEASE DONT SPEND ANYTIME DOING THAT!!!!
Definitely not necessary to do something that drastic to an already great game.

[fano]

I agree totaly , the only thing missing here is good graphics !
Btw, i just finished a tool that rebuild a preview of the map according your modification on tileset using game data.Here is a test for the 2 first levels.I just need to cleanup a bit the code and to add more option to command line

[sigh]

The second level is shockingly sparse!

Does this mean that you could effectively recolour the level using this map, in which you would then use your tool to transfer the changes back into the game with a click of a button?

[Gryzor]

* Gryzor likes where this is going.

[fano]

Not exactly as the tileset must keep the same organisation.You need to modifiy it (it is in the folders) and you launch the program to preview the result of your modifications.I provide tools for this method but this is not the only one, i know totO would use PSP directly for that.
About tools, i am trying to keep them simple as possible, you have just to launch a program , everything is automated.I am still building something you can call a "kit" and i'll post it when it will be finished.
Note now we do have informations about levels, that will be possible to import them in some editing program to adjust some little things if needed.
Btw, i think that may be possible to restore some other Richard Aplin games like Double Dragon with the tools created for Shinobi when the job will be finished.

[sigh]

Not exactly as the tileset must keep the same organisation.You need to modifiy it (it is in the folders) and you launch the program to preview the result of your modifications.I provide tools for this method but this is not the only one, i know totO would use PSP directly for that.
About tools, i am trying to keep them simple as possible, you have just to launch a program , everything is automated.I am still building something you can call a "kit" and i'll post it when it will be finished.
Note now we do have informations about levels, that will be possible to import them in some editing program to adjust some little things if needed.
Btw, i think that may be possible to restore some other Richard Aplin games like Double Dragon with the tools created for Shinobi when the job will be finished.

Just to be sure - I'm guessing that the tiles would have to be exactly the same size too?

and one more thing....

Would it be possible to atleast get some sound on the 64Kb version?

[fano]

Just to be sure - I'm guessing that the tiles would have to be exactly the same size too?Would it be possible to atleast get some sound on the 64Kb version?

Shinobi's tiles are 8*16 mode 0 pixels but to simplifies things, they are in a same vertical stripe.About other Richard Aplin games i don't know actually but i'll study them too i think.About music, sadly, they rely on 64K expansion.

[sigh]

What about the sound effects for 64kb? (pushing really hard )
8*16 - the standard cpc tile mode is good:)

Regarding the animation frames of the main sprites - even if the graphics were cleaned up, the animations are still very choppy. Would there be an issue in adding extra frames of animation?

[MacDeath]

I haven't checked the sprites yet, but it seems that some badies re-use thesome parts of the Shinobi's legs (the yellow socks...)

Gotta check for that and try to handle this.

128K version is mostly single loading and extra sounds... so the whole tiles/sprites is quite limited due to being sorted for a 64K game I guess...

Is the Tape version a multiloading game?


Concerning the tile maping (level map), if it can't be modified, we must keep in mind some tiles were used at multiple place and functions...
So to try to get drastic colour changes may lead to some oddities elswhere...

[fano]

Concerning the tile maping (level map), if it can't be modified, we must keep in mind some tiles were used at multiple place and functions...
So to try to get drastic colour changes may lead to some oddities elswhere...

If you keep a global approach of your work, you may not have problems.Anyway, i'll update the "kit" to update the game easily so that will be possible to track down theses problems.

[sigh]

Your right about the re-use of legs on some enemies. The code will call up that particular legs graphic unless it can some how be modified to call up a completely different looking new one. I wonder if this is possible without too much trouble...

I'm sure it still multiloaded on my 128kb.

[fano]

yep , it is multiloaded on 128K.
I just see about theses legs, i'll try to find  a solution but that will not be easy 

[MacDeath]

I bet this will end up into a +128K mega game wankfest...
After Rick128+ and R-Type128, we're awaiting you around the corner!!!


(on t'attend au tournand...)