R-Type

[Sykobee (Briggsy)]

Solution for classic hardware:

Resize the display to 192x240 (mode 1), use smooth vertical scrolling, and turn the monitor on its side.


:-p

[MacDeath]

Not sure a vertical scrolling is not problematic too...

not sure it would not burn the monitore too...

It contains the Powersupply and has no fan...
It use the natural movements of the hot air to cold the stuff, but if you put it on the side, it may screw with this beautifull optimisation and explode you screen... sort of.


Oh ? you where trolling ? I fed the troll then...

[fano]

Solution for classic hardware:

Resize the display to 192x240 (mode 1), use smooth vertical scrolling, and turn the monitor on its side.

Hey man , this one is great , for sure vertical scrolling would be easier 

[Leonie]

To be continued?
Why does it take so long?
Canceled?
Silence before the storm?

[fano]

To be continued?
Why does it take so long?
Canceled?
Silence before the storm?

I can not say a lot about this but it is far from canceled.It takes so loooong because we are trying to make it good as possible (as we can do i'll say).
This is a great story and we hope to reveal all soon 

[fano]

So now it's official.The project will be presented at the Retro Gaming Convention (Crégy-lès-Meaux France) , the November 14th.More infos after the RGC.
There will be a playable demo , i'll come with several CPCs for that.

(link to RGC: http://www.yaronet.com/posts.php?s=134570 (sorry evil language  ) )

[redbox]

So now it's official.The project will be presented at the Retro Gaming Convention (Crégy-lès-Meaux France) , the November 14th.More infos after the RGC.
There will be a playable demo , i'll come with several CPCs for that.

Yeah!

I seriously considered buying a ticket to CDG airport for about 5 minutes then realised it's on a weekend and the wife would kill me.

Can't wait to play it though.

[norecess]

What are the new features?

[Sykobee (Briggsy)]

Looks like a wider screen - 352 pixels?

[Gryzor]

* Gryzor drools.

[TotO]

What are the new features?

There are a lot but i can say the graphics (mode 0 ingame) and sounds are totaly new.
The display engine has been rewritten from scratch so we get a better game speed for a bit wider screen.
The only thing that remain from Spectrum, today, is the core game code (player,modules and enemies management).
We introduce too some features that affects the gameplay and we are going to improve it.

[norecess]

Interesting ! Did you have access to original source code? Or is it a simple hack like found in previous releases? (Rick Dangerous etc..)

[fano]

This time we got the Spectrum version source code from Bob Pape 
You can expect too some new fresh contents a long we can put all the stuff in a 3" disc (thanks exomizer !)

Looks like a wider screen - 352 pixels?

this is the title screen and menus format 

[viddi]

Wow! Can´t wait to get my hands on it.

You guys are brilliant.
Keep up the good work.

(We hopefully see an X-Mas release... )

[Gryzor]

This time we got the Spectrum version source code from Bob Pape 
You can expect too some new fresh contents a long we can put all the stuff in a 3" disc (thanks exomizer !)
this is the title screen and menus format 

Wait... is it going to be sold? On a disk? Me wants!!!

[TotO]

Sorry, this game can't be sold. (because ©Irem / R-Type™)
It's a free version for a free computer.
The .dsk file will be available when ... Finished ! 

[Gryzor]

Yeah, it makes sense and I did think of that, however maybe someone was nuts enough to do it

[AMSDOS]

Be nice to see how a Wire Graphics version of R-Type would hold up. Of course I know this never will happen!    Anyone know of a simular game which applies that approach? 

[Gryzor]

I guess this would be a 2.5D game then, of sorts... quite unique!

[TotO]

Space Harrier ...

[AMSDOS]

I did have Space Harrier in mind, though everything is coming at you from afar. Perhaps most if not all of the games which use wire-graphics are like this because their best for changing the field of depth, in that the graphics are calculated and change size the closer they move towards you.

I guess the only reason you'd have a game in the R-Type style with Wire-frame graphics is if you had some kind of depth in the game where you look down on your ship, but the ship had some kind of depth to it and the depth the aliens come in could alter.

[MacDeath]

Wire Graphics version of R-Type

Sorry but then it is no more R-Type...


Do you mean an horizontal scrolling Shmup with sprites generated in Wire ?
What's the point ?

This may even be ugly as space Harrier1  : couldn't see anything because of the Wire... you could see through...


But plaincoloured faced wire perhaps ?


On the other hand if you can put some kind of 3D in the backgound...let me get the video I want to show you...


This perhaps :

Well let's not dream too much...

But hey, some stuff like this could enable lvls with no (or few) tiled backgrounds, only sprites in 2D... (enemies waves) while the only backgrounds may be a multidirectional starfield and some 3D space stations...

This one is complete acid trip, omg...

Perhaps this kind of Shmup concept can actually be achieved... But we must accept this will never be that level of awesomness.

Got to have a solid Sprite routine/engine, to manage the waves, the fires and the R9 (or R-whatever) and patterns.

For the backgrounds, no need to have the classic tunnel style level design with a fixed scrolling...

Basic 3D shapes or Demo effects : plasma ? zooms ? multiple dot grids ?


Could this even be possible ?

Getting 2 sprites layers, some of them being in the background could enable the relief effect...
All those masked...ouch.

Where would CPU get time an ressources to generate awesome pseudo-3D stuffs in the background ?

And put a music too.


A good point : you can see this game is not fast and furious, the Backgrounds are slow and smooth...



Well, some Demo-effects (tuned down of course) as seen in :
Phat, From Scratch, Midline process, Backtro, paradise demo...

those ...could do great.

But this implies the Demo effect should be performed in the background while the CPC have to manage a proper Shoot em up sprite+sounds routine on the "foreground"...

Good point the levels are scripted, railed scrolling and sequences...
But this doesn't helps that much, does it ?

Getting this kind of stuff may be great too perhaps...

Or else the Nebulus "tower effect"...

Another example of Tower effect can be seen there : go to the middle of the video (at 2:30 actually) :

Well some stuff are perhaps to try, but I don't think this may be that easy nor possible.

After all most Race games mixed false 3D tricks (the road effect) with Sprites routines.
Something like Fire and forget2 would actually use as much ressource as a R-Type with bizarre background effects (if they are keeps simple)
As most Race games tried to get a fast effect (faster as possible)...

while R-Type like game would be placid/slow/kool instead speed for the background but Sprites and waves have to be a bit smooth and not to slow.

[AMSDOS]

MacDeath wrote:

Sorry but then it is no more R-Type...

Naturally, I was just referring to that style of game.

Do you mean an horizontal scrolling Shmup with sprites generated in Wire ?

Yes.

What's the point ?

Initally, I thought it might have been done to generate a fast paced game, though when I thought you could so easily create a layer of depth to the game, it would add an extra level of difficulty to it!    (As I said earlier wire-frame graphics are very good when it comes to depth, especally in games where things are moving towards you).

This may even be ugly as space Harrier1  : couldn't see anything because of the Wire... you could see through...

Each to their own, I like Space Harrier and yes you can see through them, though the pace of the game might have been compromised otherwise. Look at T-Bird for example, it's still quite playable, though it doesn't seem to offer the same level of speed.

But plaincoloured faced wire perhaps ?

In Space Harrier, the game is made up of the Sky & Ground and in between is some Sprite Landscape to generate the concept of depth and distance (even though you never make it to that landscape!  ), instead the ground has some lines running through it to give it the appearance of movement as well as Tree's, this is perhaps where it becomes difficult because those trees are Wire-framed too!     And above are the aliens which are Wired! Perhaps where it gets difficult is having Wired graphics with a Solid backdrop, personally I can manage with that, though perhaps for some people it's too difficult and you need a game like Elite, where it's a black backdrop when facing Space. I certainly feel colour is required when dealing with Wire-framed graphics because it helps distinguish between the various objects! 

On the other hand if you can put some kind of 3D in the backgound...let me get the video I want to show you...

That video takes it to a whole other level, certainally there's field of depth, I felt like the video took you around a whole room zapping aliens! Almost getting lost along the way!

[ukmarkh]

This conversation about Space Harrier and its wire frame graphics always pops up as a negative... the sprites and wireframe mix works perfectly for me and I can see everything. Do some people really have problems seeing the trees and objects? Are we all seeing things differently?

[AMSDOS]

ukmarkh wrote:

This conversation about Space Harrier and its wire frame graphics always pops up as a negative...

Well I tried to make it sound good and indeed I'm a fan of that approach, but it's not going to please everyone. But people can criticise just about anything which has been written for a CPC! 

I guess wire-frame graphics is seen as an old school approach in generating fast-paced games on the Amstrad. I don't think there were too many Wired-framed games after 1987, it's successor being Freescape, though Freescape was applied more in Exploration games, perhaps software companies were satisified that they had written all the Wired-framed games they could do and perhaps sprites were becomming more the in thing.