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General Category => Games => Topic started by: XeNoMoRPH on 11:28, 29 December 19

Title: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 11:28, 29 December 19
(https://zxart.ee/image/type:releaseInlayImage/id:238554/filename:TheSwordOfIANNA_Front.jpg)




source: http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/12/the-sword-of-ianna-incredible-game-is.html (http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/12/the-sword-of-ianna-incredible-game-is.html)
spanish Article wifh info: https://auamstrad.es/videojuegos/sword-of-ianna-amstrad/

https://youtu.be/9yQqH8XWH7Q (https://youtu.be/MDt8znSFcP8)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 11:30, 29 December 19
This one already looks awesome...
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 11:33, 29 December 19
Btw:

De las más profundas catacumbas ha surgido una filtración cual fumarola de volcán activo... ¡Se confirma Sword of IANNA para CPC! 😲 https://t.co/fwvezBzAFP
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 12:09, 29 December 19
Why did they release this information the same day of the Spanish version of April fools? Oh, well.

Looks fantastic and apparently it will run from a Dandanator. The developer doing the port is the same that ported the game to the speccy 48K (using a cartridge).
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 12:13, 29 December 19
Yup, I was told about the day's significance and then saw the confirmation 😄 Spaniards...
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GUNHED on 16:46, 29 December 19
Hola Xeno!


Thank's a lot for informing us!  :)  Sound is well, the GFX are detailed. But... why are the sprites only in one color? In 2020 spectrum ports should be done far better. Can't be that hard to add some of the CPCs great colors, right? Maybe the converters do read this and give it a polish.  :)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: DanyPPC on 17:48, 29 December 19
This is really a great game I have played on MSX2.


Good to have a port on our cpc platform.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GUNHED on 20:30, 29 December 19
Ah, very interesting! So the port comes from MSX, not spectrum?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Lazy Dude on 20:51, 29 December 19
This looks exiting. Nice animation and good variation in levels shown.
I think I would hold back on commenting on the sprite colour as it is shown to us as a WIP.
I wish the team well with this one.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Token on 22:24, 29 December 19
Pretty, I like it yet :) I saw there are Speccy and MSX2 code source...http://theswordofianna.retroworks.es/fr/telechargement/ (http://theswordofianna.retroworks.es/fr/telechargement/)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: SharkusMaximus on 23:09, 29 December 19
This looks great. Here's hoping there's a physical release which does it justice.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: kawickboy on 21:58, 30 December 19
I own the wonderful msx2 release. That's a good new but i sould have hoped a more colorful sprite.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 22:17, 30 December 19
I don't mind it, to be honest. Looks very pretty as it is.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 20:33, 06 January 20
https://twitter.com/alberto_mcalby/status/1214137233407541254
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GUNHED on 17:36, 07 January 20
The sound is awesome!  :)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: ervin on 23:22, 07 January 20
Quote from: GUNHED on 17:36, 07 January 20
The sound is awesome!  :)


Yes it is absolutely brilliant!
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Skunkfish on 16:14, 08 January 20
Looks very nice indeed.
I like the mono sprites, they could almost be considered an artistic choice but I guess it's because of the Speccy origins...
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 17:06, 08 January 20
I have the impression this is a WIP preview a bit for the Spanish equivalent of April fools day.

The guy working on it made the brilliant Ianna port to the speccy 48K, but I'm not sure if it will look anything like this when is finished (as in: BETTER).
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GUNHED on 21:05, 08 January 20
Quote from: Skunkfish on 16:14, 08 January 20
Looks very nice indeed.
I like the mono sprites, they could almost be considered an artistic choice but I guess it's because of the Speccy origins...


Why not using the colors? Monochrome sprites in a colored game. Sorry, not my taste.  :-X
Or just go completely to MODE 2 - in this case the resolution is better.  :)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 07:21, 10 January 20
(https://scontent-mad1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/81947433_10222038025403536_4340642379112382464_o.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_ohc=CfPlt4n4kXMAQkS_Ihc6Y8lhxj0P8-KwsTfgJ3NEuCjhqZuZIMq0RCAxw&_nc_ht=scontent-mad1-1.xx&oh=3f62b813a6c79636c704b6b7ba9fe8ff&oe=5EA29290)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: ||C|-|E|| on 00:56, 11 January 20
I like it a lot! and I actually find those Mode 1 graphics very appealing   :) . Yes, you could argue that a complete rework from scratch in Mode 0 would be "better" but that would also require a huge amount of work and modify the engine more than in the current situation. I am glad to have it as it looks now!
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 16:47, 11 January 20
Quote from: ||C|-|E|| on 00:56, 11 January 20
I like it a lot! and I actually find those Mode 1 graphics very appealing   :) . Yes, you could argue that a complete rework from scratch in Mode 0 would be "better" but that would also require a huge amount of work and modify the engine more than in the current situation. I am glad to have it as it looks now!
Translate Text from spanish, from Spirax [ main conversion author ]
Quote
Indeed, the game engine will be in mode 1. The engine has been rewritten and part of the code has been taken advantage of with the game logic while maintaining the screen resolution of the zx / msx 256x192. Although the graphics are in mode 1, the map has been based on the msx version, which includes the background layer and the foreground layer. The screen will be divided into two zones, where the screen will change color palette according to the map area. The marker will have a palette independent of the screen. It is still in the process of adapting the tiles. The music is being done by Mcklain to adapt it to the Amstrad timmings. The startup screen is being processed by Mac just as Spectrum did. More details will be shared shortly and will be shown in real hardware at events.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: rexbeng on 00:51, 12 January 20
Wait! Seriously?
This website even hosts a feature on why CPC users are annoyed with all the speccy ports that flooded the machine back in the day.

This is 2020 (happy new year all!) and we kind of have more knowledge on what the CPC can do in comparison to the speccy, and 256x192 with monochrome graphics and (presumably) character-steps animation and low framerate is waaaay too far back.

I'm really curious as a CPC developer myself, what's the point today in converting a game to a superior machine if you don't improve it? I don't doubt SoI is a fun and enjoyable game; but if I want to play a spectrum game I can do so on a Spectrum or a Spectrum emulator.

Yeah, I get it there's a general mentality to welcome everything that comes the CPC way, but this absolute absence of any type of criticism on releases keeps on justifying the things you'd read in casual C64 forums, like 'games on CPC always looked good in still screenshots but in reality they are shit'.


Oh and SoI doesn't even look like a CPC game.

regards,
rb
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 11:02, 12 January 20
I would never understand that shitty attitude.

Someone is putting time into producing a game for fun, and they will give you the game for free. You can play it if you want, if you don't think is worth your time... just don't play it.

I don't see the point of gatekeeping, seriously.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Arnaud on 13:18, 12 January 20
Quote from: Skunkfish on 16:14, 08 January 20
Looks very nice indeed.
I like the mono sprites, they could almost be considered an artistic choice but I guess it's because of the Speccy origins...
I think it's to keep the same color of the Sprites when changing the zone palette.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Carnivius on 13:46, 12 January 20
Quote from: Arnaud on 13:18, 12 January 20
I think it's to keep the same color of the Sprites when changing the zone palette.
i thought maybe a memory thing too, as there's quite a bit of animation for the sprites and having them mono keeps the memory usage lower than shaded ones?  I dunno. I would like to see the sprites recoloured to add even just some basic shading and depth but they're nice and well drawn as they are and I've played the MSX and Spectrum versions and it's a good game on both so keen to try it on CPC.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: SkulleateR on 14:51, 12 January 20
I think moaning about the sprite isn't quite fair here, of course the MSX2 Version looks really nice, but does it effect gameplay when having a more colourful sprite ? I don't think so ...


I mean I even like to play old BASIC games if the gameplay addicts me. Hell I even play Android One from time to time  ;D 8)


We really should be thankful for every software that comes out for our beloved system these days.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: rexbeng on 15:08, 12 January 20
@reidrack
Why do you find the attitude to be 'shitty'? Yeah, most people make things for free but that's the norm in retro computing anyway; the games I've worked on come free of charge as well. And yes, I can do whatever I want with regards to playing the game or not, as much as the developer can do whatever he wants with regards to how the game is made to be like. But is there a rule that declares 'free' and 'what want' mean one cannot express an opinion that's outside the "oh this is so nice" frame?

As far as the 'speccy port' debate goes, there's a whole article here (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Speccy_Port (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Speccy_Port)) if you care to read arguments. We even make jokes on speccy port topics in this forum you know. And, yes, I prefer a proper CPC game and I am writing this in a CPC site. Is that also not ok?

And where's the gatekeeping? I am making an argument and have this question on why make a speccy port of a speccy game nowadays. Can you offer your opinion other than 'it's free so take it and put a sock in it'? Maybe somebody could pass this to the developer in spanish forum/socials? I'm really interested to read his side. Surely it shouldn't be a 'publisher gave me 4 weeks to deliver the game on CPC so I had no choice' reason.

regards,
rb
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: MacDeath on 00:33, 15 January 20
I was wondering (me too) if the monocolour sprites was due to some RAM limitations or project being WIP or a deliberate choice to some odd nostalgia for past speccy ports?
Or even code trick to ensure correct playability...

(quite often it wass the opposite, sprites were coloured and background not so...)

according to the footages, the sprites are in 2 colours + transparency and not attribute clashes...
this bringsd the question on the technic used to generate them :
is it a 1bit per pixel tile + 1 bit per pixel mask or is it a native 2bits per pixel picture with one ink used to generate the transparency/mask ?

first case the sprite is limited to 2 inks (+transparency) while second technic would alow for one extra ink/colour to be used to add some deepness to the sprite (some coloured eetails, antialiasing).

That the game would often change palettes is not an excuse to keep the sprites with less colours.
It's in 4 colour mode, we don't expect more colours on screen beside the usual HUD palette swap, and Head over Heels is a perfect exemple of the sprites in 3 colours+transparency and background in four colours done right, with a lot of palettes swaped depending on the screen.

In both cases, the total Data weight of the sprite is the same (1bpp graph + 1bpp mask = 2bpp sprite)
But some CPU time and routines speed or whatever may perhaps render the use of separate 1bpp mask more efficient... some coders may confirm this or not.

(a great thing may even be to have proper 2bpp graph and extra 1bpp mask so the sprite woudl have 4 colours + transparency... as it was often the case with CGA PCgames... but the CPC is not really a PC in CGA with 8mhz and 512ko RAM...)

I am not a huge fan of the Black+white+Red+blue palette... too much saturation, some better chocie may be used .
the B&W + Red + dark Yellow is better.

same with the HUD, I generally suggest to avoid the medium yellow for the less saturated pastel yellow... but again, may need to avoid the deception of emulator and youtube video and remember it is a WIP.  :)


I suggest the develppers to check some CGA games, but also games like Night Hunter or Back to the golden Age.
Else ehre are some nice exempels of palette use in Mode1 :
red-yellow-blue : http://cpc.sylvestre.org/archives/archives_palettes_rjb.html
red-green : http://cpc.sylvestre.org/archives/archives_palettes_rv.html
grey and others : http://cpc.sylvestre.org/archives/archives_palettes_gris.html




Speccy ports/cross dev have a special infamous place and history with CPc world so yeah, we are quite sensible on the matter here (especially me).

Despite this, the game feels quite polished.
Music is great.
Backgrounds are awesome (and properly Mode1 coloured) and it reminds me Myth:history in the making (another speccy port) + Prince of persia + Tharghan + probably other things.

Can't be bad from what I see, it this supposed to be 64ko or 128ko RAM ?


To keep the same 256x192 screen size is obviously to ease the port, we are not on some Antiriad sort of port...

Invasion of zombi Monster did it somewhat right too...

if you must change the whole level, screen size and so on, it becomes a lot of "from scratch" to add and if the original game is already good, CPC version even if ported can't be too bad.

Seing the MSX2 graphics, some port in Mode0 may have been possible but missing a lot of the finesse/precision of the small pixels...
also really a lot of extra work for the Graphic artist to port that.

Look at me, I'm not the same as before...  shamefurr dispray !!! speccy porting is bad.... lol.
:'(


Please also go for a proper PLUS/GX4000 512ko cartridge version !!!



to compare :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2aMVpZuKTQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yQqH8XWH7Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWMp-PaagDE
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: keith56 on 00:24, 16 January 20
Quote from: rexbeng on 15:08, 12 January 20
As far as the 'speccy port' debate goes, there's a whole article here (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Speccy_Port (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Speccy_Port)) if you care to read arguments. We even make jokes on speccy port topics in this forum you know. And, yes, I prefer a proper CPC game and I am writing this in a CPC site. Is that also not ok?

Maybe somebody could pass this to the developer in spanish forum/socials? I'm really interested to read his side. Surely it shouldn't be a 'publisher gave me 4 weeks to deliver the game on CPC so I had no choice' reason.

There's a heck of a difference between a "speccy port" SOLD during the profitable days of the CPC and one given away for FREE today...
And as for 4 weeks to develop the game... you're comparing the choice of a commercial developer to a hobbyist... sure the hobbyist developers could spend the rest of their lives working on the CPC port - but when the response is likely to be 'MEH, why no Mode 0?' or 'doesn't look good compared to pinball dreams' - maybe they have other priorities in their lives?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 08:48, 16 January 20
Quote from: keith56 on 00:24, 16 January 20
There's a heck of a difference between a "speccy port" SOLD during the profitable days of the CPC and one given away for FREE today...

What I was going to say. Indeed it is a immensely different thing whining about speccy ports then and now. Sure, we can say "pity it's just a speccy port", but dissing the dev for going that way is, I think, OTT. Can only serve to drive devs away.

I, for one, would love to see a nice new game on the CPC, port or no port. Not being a port is a bonus.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GUNHED on 21:42, 16 January 20
The MSX version is awesome. It would be great to use the colored sprites on CPC too.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Sykobee (Briggsy) on 13:38, 21 January 20
This looks great, and I think MODE 1 suits this game.


Regarding the sprites, it appears that it's the mono Spectrum sprite + mask being used - which likely uses as much memory as a 2bpp CPC sprite which could have 3 colours (white, black, shade/splash/etc) which isn't a major advantage but would be quite an effort to rework the sprites, and of course a tweaked sprite rendering routine. The animation is very nice. Looking forward to seeing the final version.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 14:07, 21 January 20
Also remember, that this game will be in cartridge format for Amstrad, and I hope we can acquire the same fantastic physical edition as in ZX Spectrum
(http://www.elmundodelspectrum.com/wp-content/uploads/pix/201710/game-sword-ianna-3801.jpg)

Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 14:30, 21 January 20
Damn that is nice.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GUNHED on 18:56, 21 January 20
Quote from: Sykobee (Briggsy) on 13:38, 21 January 20
Regarding the sprites, it appears that it's the mono Spectrum sprite + mask being used - which likely uses as much memory as a 2bpp CPC sprite which could have 3 colours (white, black, shade/splash/etc) which isn't a major advantage but would be quite an effort ...
From experience: NO! Just use the colored MSX sprites and a regular CPC sprite routine. It's less than 1% of the the time to make such a game.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 08:31, 03 March 20
https://twitter.com/BATMAN_GROUP/status/1234609155668946944
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 08:33, 03 March 20
As a loading screen, it's really nice!
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: kawickboy on 09:56, 03 March 20
It reminds goold old time with spanish loading screen based on packaging artwork: after the war, A.M.C, satan, turbo girl, phantis...
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: ivarf on 10:28, 03 March 20
Nice animation and background graphics. It looks like the game will have a good feel to it and probably play well.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: andycadley on 19:20, 03 March 20
Quote from: GUNHED on 18:56, 21 January 20
From experience: NO! Just use the colored MSX sprites and a regular CPC sprite routine. It's less than 1% of the the time to make such a game.
Indeed. The sprite routine is going to have to be tweaked regardless and the translation to 2bpp is likely to slow it down more than just a bulk conversion which strips out the masking.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: MacDeath on 23:49, 03 March 20
nice spanish intro screen, despite the cruel lack of boobs... please go for the sexist way again...  :laugh:

any news about a proper release date ?

Also a PLUS version with some hardwsprites patches as foreground elements or bonuses/stuff/things the way Switchblade did it, this could be quite cool and could add a few patches of extra colours, enough to have an even awesomer result...
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 08:34, 06 March 20
(https://scontent-mad1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/89443985_10222602928725766_7776420343928848384_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_sid=1480c5&_nc_ohc=GdW-ParzcgoAX-c42Ew&_nc_ht=scontent-mad1-1.xx&oh=a8635306be2ce9b2772825883ef95933&oe=5E9626E7)
Four screens from level 1

this weekend, in a fairly advanced state of development. Sword of IANNA for Amstrad CPC, it can be tested , in spanish event:
http://www.retroparla.com/index.php/2020/02/24/retro-parla-2020-programacion-del-evento/
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: kawickboy on 12:01, 06 March 20
Is the loading screen in fullscreen ?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 10:29, 07 March 20
Quote from: kawickboy on 12:01, 06 March 20
Is the loading screen in fullscreen ?
mmmm, I certainly wouldn't know how to tell you right now  :(
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 16:13, 10 March 20
https://youtu.be/UEpnZR_W5Q4?t=4241 (https://youtu.be/UEpnZR_W5Q4?t=4241)

First gameplay  :o
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 18:17, 06 May 20
https://twitter.com/blackmores_/status/1258034690482737152
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 07:22, 07 May 20
I love how this looks, restrictions and all...
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 08:21, 07 May 20
Definitely! IMHO the original version is in the top 5 of games for the speccy. If this one moves OK on the CPC, I'm more than happy!

Looks like 2020 is going to be a good year for the CPC.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Carnivius on 08:31, 07 May 20
Quote from: MacDeath on 23:49, 03 March 20

Also a PLUS version with some hardwsprites patches as foreground elements or bonuses/stuff/things the way Switchblade did it, this could be quite cool and could add a few patches of extra colours, enough to have an even awesomer result...
I hate those 'few patches' of colour on the Plus version of Switchblade.  They stand out too much cos of their hugely inconsistent look and are distracting and is why I almost always play the disk version instead (if Hiro himself had gotten the HW sprite treatment for extra colour I would have been much happier).  The red sky gradient at the start is ok but even that's not great especially compared to Stryker which has waaaay smoother and prettier gradients in it's skies when run on a Plus.

This game looks good.  I can't say I'm hugely fond of it on Spectrum.  I just have a few niggles with the way it plays and controls but overall it's very good.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: andycadley on 08:53, 07 May 20
Quote from: Carnivius on 08:31, 07 May 20
I hate those 'few patches' of colour on the Plus version of Switchblade.  They stand out too much cos of their hugely inconsistent look and are distracting and is why I almost always play the disk version instead (if Hiro himself had gotten the HW sprite treatment for extra colour I would have been much happier).  The red sky gradient at the start is ok but even that's not great especially compared to Stryker which has waaaay smoother and prettier gradients in it's skies when run on a Plus.

This game looks good.  I can't say I'm hugely fond of it on Spectrum.  I just have a few niggles with the way it plays and controls but overall it's very good.
Hate is a strong term, but I know what you mean about it being visually a bit weird. It's very clearly a game that was designed for the old school machines and then slightly tarted up and I don't think that looks good. Hiro himself presumably didn't get prettied up because it would have required a lot more effort to fake a hardware sprite passing behind the various on-screen objects. Generally I don't think that sort of approach tends to work very well.


As to Ianna, it looks OK but I'm not really sure why I would play it over the Speccy version. There isn't really a "grab factor" to make the CPC version seem like a stand out improvement and, in these days when all machines are available, I think you need that if you're going to port a game between retro systems (unless you are doing it for your own personal satisfaction of course)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Carnivius on 09:27, 07 May 20
Quote from: andycadley on 08:53, 07 May 20
Hate is a strong term, but I know what you mean about it being visually a bit weird.
I used to find it intriguing, then tolerable, then irritating and now just annoys me so damn much I heavily dislike playing the Plus version. Yeah I'm weird like that.   Yeah I guess having him move behind stuff could have been tricky.  It's pretty impressive just how much foreground stuff that is in Switchblade actually when compared to most other 8 bit games.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 09:31, 07 May 20
Quote from: andycadley on 08:53, 07 May 20
As to Ianna, it looks OK but I'm not really sure why I would play it over the Speccy version. There isn't really a "grab factor" to make the CPC version seem like a stand out improvement and, in these days when all machines are available, I think you need that if you're going to port a game between retro systems (unless you are doing it for your own personal satisfaction of course)

I guess it depends.

I personally don't see the appeal of ports. I agree with you that it is very easy to get an emulator (and sometimes the real hardware!) and enjoy the original game, so why bother with a port? When a game is designed for a system, it is very possible that it may not translate well to a different one. I get asked all the time to make ports of my games, and I don't do ports!

That said, I see that most people here are invested enough to have a real CPC at home, and for them the port may provide something extra when played on the actual machine; but ultimately I think the port exists because the author wants to do it. He made a port of Ianna for a speccy 48K, which is crazy and amazing at the same time!

Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Sykobee (Briggsy) on 11:59, 07 May 20
I think they've put some decent effort into the background graphics.

Yes, the Switchblade sprites are a bit odd - the sprite lights are okay, but the (bright blue/red) sprite crates are poor, the grey ones are okay.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GUNHED on 14:41, 07 May 20
Well, all I have at home are some CPCs / Plus, few PcWs, one Genie IIIs, but nothing else. Therefore I do appreciate the CPC version. And from what I have seen it looks really pretty (already commented on CPC sprite colors before). The final version is not out now, I will wait and see. Hopefully the CPC version has some extras over the spectrum version. Since the CPC has more colors f.e. it would be great.


And of course I will play it on the real hardware. Emulation is great, but can't beat real hardware - especially with the original CPC color monitor with it's infamous hardware antializing.  :D
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 08:01, 29 June 20
https://youtu.be/0EU01-vqcgM (https://youtu.be/0EU01-vqcgM)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 12:22, 29 June 20
https://youtu.be/wYmz-uadCl4 (https://youtu.be/wYmz-uadCl4)

download: http://retroworks.es/php/game_en.php?id=15 (http://retroworks.es/php/game.php?id=15)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 12:24, 29 June 20
Looking forward to give this a go tonight.

I loved the speccy original (although I didn't finish it), and this one looks fantastic!

EDIT: it runs from a Dandanator. I guess depending of what it is using from that technology we may or may not see a disc version.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: viddi on 12:57, 29 June 20
This is so cool!

Wish you´d release a dsk version plus a physical disc release.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 13:40, 29 June 20
Wishing a physical version too...

Right, time to see how to create a Dandanator under RVM :D
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 13:54, 29 June 20
https://youtu.be/UCIgn3hjuao
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 13:54, 29 June 20
4MHz "REPOKER DE ASES" is in Dandanator format (and compatible with 64K models, which is nice for games that were initially 128K only), and it was sold for 45€.

That being several games, I guess this could be a bit cheaper than that (the BOM will be the same though).

Considering the cost of a big box edition on 3" disc; sounds like a good deal to me.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: SkulleateR on 14:06, 29 June 20
Wish I could play this on real hardware too but no Dandanator here  :(


Hope there will be a DSK and/or M4 release as well ....
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 14:07, 29 June 20
Playing it right now; don't mind the port aspect of it, really... looks and plays beautifully!
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: manossg on 14:12, 29 June 20
I hope it will come out on dsk...
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 14:54, 29 June 20
Sorry guys, but this game is not going to come out in DSK format  :o
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: asertus on 15:06, 29 June 20
Quote from: XeNoMoRPH on 14:54, 29 June 20
Sorry guys, but this game is not going to come out in DSK format  :o


Why? Does it use any specific Dandanator features? 128K or similar? Or just to push dandanator or DES?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 15:43, 29 June 20
Quote from: asertus on 15:06, 29 June 20

Why? Does it use any specific Dandanator features? 128K or similar? Or just to push dandanator or DES?
I can not tell you the reason, that is what the authors commented, I suppose it is the space that the game occupies, if you look at the other versions of ZX Spectrum and MSX2, they are also in cartridge, although I have seen the version of Spectrum Plus 3, comes in a DSK with a special large format
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Sykobee (Briggsy) on 15:54, 29 June 20
How about a .crt for Plus machines?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Otto on 16:22, 29 June 20
Is there a way to give the ".rom" image file to the MAME CPC emulator?

MAME emulates a series of CPC extension boards like Multiface, Cpc-Rom-Box etc, but no Dandanator I'm afraid.

(In case the game came as a ".crt" file for the CPC+ machines, MAME should be able to run it since it emulates the CPC+ machines, too.)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Phantomz on 16:32, 29 June 20
Quote from: XeNoMoRPH on 14:54, 29 June 20
Sorry guys, but this game is not going to come out in DSK format  :o


Any chance of a cpr version?  :D
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 16:34, 29 June 20
For technical details:

https://twitter.com/fj_pena/status/1277584551011852289

- Is not a regular ROM
- It is a ROM for a Dandanator cartridge
- It really uses the memory mapper in the cart

EDIT: just trying to help here, but I think the authors should have a FAQ somewhere :D
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: DanyPPC on 17:42, 29 June 20
I hope there will be a cpr version for C4CPC.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Nich on 17:54, 29 June 20
Quote from: viddi on 12:57, 29 June 20
This is so cool!

Wish you´d release a dsk version plus a physical disc release.

Same here. I commented on @Xyphoe (https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=109)'s stream that having a cartridge- or ROM-only release on the CPC (and I don't mean a GX4000 cartridge) doesn't really make The Sword of Ianna feel like an 'authentic' CPC game in my opinion.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Carnivius on 18:04, 29 June 20
Feels very authentic to me. Maybe cos I'm used to emulators so don't really care about physical media.  Certainly feels like a CPC game.  I like games that run fine on my 464 but I understand the huge limitations caused by loading from cassette into a 64k machine if this game required that cart method, i'm ok with that. I just still finding the whole rom thing a lil confusing andhave to use RVM which is a fine emulator but yeah
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: viddi on 18:36, 29 June 20
Cpr would be also okay.

Everything else is a bit too exotic imo.

Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 19:08, 29 June 20
Quote from: Phantomz on 16:32, 29 June 20

Any chance of a cpr version?  :D

technically I do not understand much, but as I have been told it is not possible  :(
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Nich on 19:19, 29 June 20
Quote from: Carnivius on 18:04, 29 June 20
Feels very authentic to me. Maybe cos I'm used to emulators so don't really care about physical media.  Certainly feels like a CPC game.  I like games that run fine on my 464 but I understand the huge limitations caused by loading from cassette into a 64k machine if this game required that cart method, i'm ok with that. I just still finding the whole rom thing a lil confusing andhave to use RVM which is a fine emulator but yeah

I'm not all that keen on using Retro Virtual Machine either, mainly because it uses a lot of resources and my PC is 6 years old and doesn't have a state-of-the-art turbocharged graphics card. :(
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: DanyPPC on 19:30, 29 June 20
Quote from: XeNoMoRPH on 19:08, 29 June 20
technically I do not understand much, but as I have been told it is not possible  :(


That's a pity, but I understand your reasons.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Ace on 20:07, 29 June 20
Quote from: Nich on 19:19, 29 June 20
I'm not all that keen on using Retro Virtual Machine either, mainly because it uses a lot of resources and my PC is 6 years old and doesn't have a state-of-the-art turbocharged graphics card. :(
Why though... My 11 years old mobile CPU (an ancient Core2 Duo T9900) manages to cope with RVM at about 20% CPU load, at all times.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 20:21, 29 June 20
Quote from: Ace on 20:07, 29 June 20
Why though... My 11 years old mobile CPU (an ancient Core2 Duo T9900) manages to cope with RVM at about 20% CPU load, at all times.

Here works fine too. You can even disable the shaders in the command line with -ns
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: roudoudou on 20:30, 29 June 20
is there any technical documentation for this dandanator?
can't find relevant information about it except it's kind of romboard


Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 20:47, 29 June 20
Quote from: roudoudou on 20:30, 29 June 20
is there any technical documentation for this dandanator?
can't find relevant information about it except it's kind of romboard

http://www.dandare.es/Proyectos_Dandare/CPC_Dandanator!_Mini.html

Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: roudoudou on 20:59, 29 June 20
Quote from: reidrac on 20:47, 29 June 20
http://www.dandare.es/Proyectos_Dandare/CPC_Dandanator!_Mini.html (http://www.dandare.es/Proyectos_Dandare/CPC_Dandanator!_Mini.html)
maybe i miss something (google translator) but i do not see any detail about rom management (if this is really a rom management!)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Nich on 21:01, 29 June 20
Quote from: reidrac on 20:21, 29 June 20
Here works fine too. You can even disable the shaders in the command line with -ns

That has made a huge difference! Thank you so much!

Apparently ZEsarUX (https://github.com/chernandezba/zesarux/releases) also supports the Dandanator, but I tried to install it on my Linux PC and it doesn't want to cooperate with my Linux installation. :( I can now play the game properly on RVM without any slowdown! :D
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: TotO on 21:03, 29 June 20
Quote from: roudoudou on 20:59, 29 June 20
maybe i miss something (google translator) but i do not see any detail about rom management (if this is really a rom management!)
I think that you have missed nothing. It is a ROM board with multi-games through a menu and an op-code feature to return to it.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 21:07, 29 June 20
Quote from: roudoudou on 20:59, 29 June 20
maybe i miss something (google translator) but i do not see any detail about rom management (if this is really a rom management!)

I couldn't find info either, but that info hast to exist somewhere if they are using that cart for this game (unlike other games released before that were basically using the tool described on that page to generate the ROM).

EDIT: well, this is "something".

The ZX Spectrum version uses this to interact with the Dandanator:

https://github.com/fjpena/sword-of-ianna-zx/blob/master/src/dandanator/eeprom_writer_offset.asm

Looks like a disk interface. But I guess if anyone wants to use this should ask for the docs to the author instead of reverse-engineering the thing.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: roudoudou on 22:29, 29 June 20
Quote from: reidrac on 21:07, 29 June 20
I couldn't find info either
i found a post of Dandare which explain the extras! Maybe Duke will publish a new firmware? :D

Quote- board can map up to two simultaneous slots of 16k anywhere in the memory (16k aligned)
- It does not use IO ports, but OPCode traps and bushacking for communication
- It does not interfere nor changes the rom settings (rom configuration and upper rom mapping). Instead it "overlays" when requested.
- USB is bitbanged and uses a serial USB chip, ch340g, to do the hard USB communication part.
- Actions may be delayed until an optrap. This means you can send a command, do whatever you want and the mapping will only happen when an specific opcode is issued
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: kawickboy on 10:34, 01 September 20
Any news ?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: reidrac on 10:52, 01 September 20
Quote from: kawickboy on 10:34, 01 September 20
Any news ?

What do you mean?

It was released: http://theswordofianna.retroworks.es/en/575-2/

Is that what you are asking for?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GUNHED on 14:02, 01 September 20
Ah, it's for the Dandanator.  :)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GOB on 21:32, 01 September 20
No physical cardtridge version ?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: roudoudou on 22:11, 01 September 20
Quote from: GOB on 21:32, 01 September 20
No physical cardtridge version ?
it's not regular cartridge but dandanator specific
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GOB on 22:39, 01 September 20
But there is no dandanator with cardtridge expension port ???
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 06:36, 02 September 20
Quote from: GOB on 22:39, 01 September 20
But there is no dandanator with cardtridge expension port ???
the cartridge version of zx spectrum that was released a long time ago looked like this:

(https://www.readyandplay.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ianna2.jpg)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: kawickboy on 08:20, 02 September 20
No release like Repoker de Aces ?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Skunkfish on 09:32, 02 September 20
Perhaps it's planned for the DES (Dandanator Entertainment System)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 09:40, 02 September 20
Quote from: kawickboy on 08:20, 02 September 20
No release like Repoker de Aces ?
Yes, is the same:
(https://auamstrad.es/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/repoker-4mhz-website-promo-cartucho-frente-780x405.jpg.webp)
here are a few words from one of the authors of Ianna, in another forum:

Quote
Spirax: At the moment with this of the Covid the physical edition has been delayed, so it is only available as a download.

Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: kawickboy on 10:05, 02 September 20
Their online shop is still down due to Covid.
I've bought the msx2 cart and i'm impatient to launch the cpc one.


To GOB and other CPC+ coders: making a CPR from the cart file is too hard ?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: andycadley on 10:48, 02 September 20
As far as I am aware the Dandanator works in a totally different way to the Plus cartridges so trying to rework it for that is unlikely to be trivial.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: GOB on 17:03, 02 September 20
Quote from: roudoudou on 22:11, 01 September 20
it's not regular cartridge but dandanator specific
I remember a dandanator version with cardtridge port with GBA format... Did i dream ?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: robcfg on 17:32, 02 September 20
You didn't dream it: https://auamstrad.es/des/ (https://auamstrad.es/des/)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 11:03, 08 February 22
https://twitter.com/anakintf/status/1490985905766559752 (https://twitter.com/anakintf/status/1490985905766559752)


DES cartridge edition available:  http://www.retroworks.es/shop/new_index.php?lang=es (http://www.retroworks.es/shop/new_index.php?lang=es)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: Gryzor on 13:30, 08 February 22
Oooh nice!!
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: kawickboy on 13:53, 15 February 22
Those carts are ready to use or we must buy a hardware to use it ?
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: asertus on 14:11, 15 February 22
They are DES cartridges, you need a DES.


https://auamstrad.es/des/ (https://auamstrad.es/des/)


https://twitter.com/anakintf/status/1490985905766559752

Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: kawickboy on 14:25, 15 February 22
Thanks. The store wasn't really clear about that.
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 07:22, 16 February 22
Quote from: kawickboy on 14:25, 15 February 22
Thanks. The store wasn't really clear about that.
https://auamstrad.es/the-dandanator-entertainment-system/ (https://auamstrad.es/the-dandanator-entertainment-system/) [ english translation]

if you go here: http://www.retroworks.es/shop/new_index.php?lang=en (http://www.retroworks.es/shop/new_index.php?lang=en)

(https://i.ibb.co/kmgH9jN/captura.png)
Title: Re: The Sword of Ianna is coming to the Amstrad CPC
Post by: kawickboy on 14:31, 21 February 22
Thanks everyone. I'm on a waiting list for a DES now.
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