Eh... chit-chat, I guess

[MacDeath]

http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=3059

sorry....

I should have launched the real game in order to check the facts...
doesn't it change between the 2 versions ?


Concerning the EP64/128 palette...

found this :


Is the palette the same as for MSX2 (256 colours, Rx8 Gx8 Bx4 or something like this ?

But if I remember correctly you can actually choose only 8 colours from the 16...

It's hard to find a nice "look-up table" with all video modes/palettes/constraints detailed and explicated...
Still this machine has quite a few additionnal modes compaired to CPC.
We already had a lot of topics about those computers that are considered cousins for CPC (and speccy too, sadly...)
Enterprise 64/128 TOSEC

[Geco]

Welcome mate!

This is very interesting; are there any videos of your conversions?

Helol Gryzor

There are only 3 videos about conversions:
Sub Hunter


IK+ Reloaded


Star Sabre


Software CPC emulator (modified CPC ROM)


IK+ Reloaded also a modified CPC conversion, the original CPC IK+ contained also the original C64 picture in width 40, I guess they wanted to write the CPC version also for picture size 40x25 but they met memory problem, this could be the reason why finally it is released with 32x24 size. I made modification on EP version it got Amiga lake background, and made wave effect, and screen size 40x26, it runs on 64Kb.


part (Geco átiratai)
contains nearly all my conversions except the newest one , Exploding Fist (CPC) , and Captain Fizz (ZX Spectrum), but they are only binaries.

[Geco]

Welcome Geco. I am also the author of the "Enter" emulator.

What happens if you write directly to the line parameter table, does Nick re-read the colours, or does it read it only 1 time per scanline or 1 time per lpt "block"?

Hello Arnoldemu

Many thanks for your effort for the 1st enterprise emulator, I was very happy when I met with it, cool stuff, if I remember well EP32 was based on Enter, please correct me if I am wrong.

Unfortunately nothing happens, I tried it, Nick reads only once an LPT definition/scan line, so the colours can be refreshed / scan line, this is the reason why I could not make Star Sabre menu ( 4 cols in 2 col mode) therefore I made raster effect in the conversion it looks good also

[Geco]

Hello MacDeath

just liek the old time, lol...

You are right, but it has several reason, Enterprise arrived late, because of problems with prodction it's custom Chips, and bad advertisements, and other Íbad steps... so fastest solutions for increase the program park was the conversions, despite it there were some good game released in that time, which was not conversion: ex Cauldron, and Magic Ball (Out of this World)

to be fair as those games had proper official release, you should better ask the author to help him so you may even get an official Enterprise release as well.

You are right, I will do it in this way in the future. This is the reason why I made my 1st post here

you preach converted dudes here... just some shitty speccy ports on CPC : may be better to then convert the speccy directly I guess.

I saw some very nice Speccy port on CPC , but it is true, with CPC capabilities sould look better, I miss a good Last Ninja version on a Z80 computer, on CPC it should look better than on C64, except the sprite in 16 col mode.

Also bigger better palette. Check the amstrad PLUS then.
are you sure the menu is in high rez 2 colour mode on CPC ?
to have colour changes per line is also not really possible on CPC unless very expensive CPU wise tricks and big limitations as well.
Isn't the menu in "mode1" + numerous rasters on CPC ?
I think the menu uses the 320x200x4 mode with numerous  palette changes vertically.

I know PLUS also with it's 4096 cols , good machine, but it appeared also late , and it's raster handling is also takes some CPU time , and personally I miss attribute video mode from it, in attribute mode (not the same as in Speccy) is the best for pictures, check

These are non iterlaced attribute pictures.

Yes, I saw in the code, that the menu in 2 col mode, and the colours are changed within a scan line by writing CPC colour register, very good idea,and good looking.
The Star Sabre text is in mode 1 (4 col) if I remember well , with colour changes / scan line, the bottom of the screen is mode 2 (2 col) colour changes inside a scan line, but please correct me Axelay if I am wrong)

Didn't enterprise feature some colour attributes modes like the speccy ? which technically enable to change colours on the same line...
How do you deal with the in-game "horizontal fullscreen"... is this also possible on the enterprise ?
Wasn't EP's soundchip "Dave" better for other things like samples ?

Enterprise have Attribute mode also, but for create a speccy screen there should be a special Line Parameter Table built, Attribute mode in EP is 1 byte for 8 pixel in basics, on speccy 1 byte for 8x8 pixels.
Do you mean in-game "horizontal fullscreen" on swap screen possibility? Yes it is possible.
Dave is better in samples, because it have 2 6 bit D/A converter (for 2 volume registers), but other volume 4 registers can be used also for digital playback, and only one out instruction is enough for writing the volume register, ex (out (0a8h),a), we have a mod player like player Digitrax Module Player, which plays 4 channel digi sound.
And there are other effects of Dave, but nobody used them , Low pass filter (limited to noise) High pass filter, ring modulation, and with polynom counter settings we can play 3 different noise in tone channels in the same time, the last one is used frequently in CPC conversions, and SID player, it found out by IstvánV.

So you did this ?

Yes

[Geco]

Hi Geco
Please do ask in future, it is not ideal finding out about a conversion after the fact like I did with those two.
Interesting, well that explains why some of the rasters look nicer, but the alert message was slower and blocked out by the player sprite.

The menu is mode 2.

Hello Axelay

Sorry again, in the future I will ask if you agree about a conversion. I choosed those games, because they are very good stuff, and surprisingly (vey) fast on a z80 machine without Sprite.
Yes, the Alert message could be solved by pixel write on EP only, which takes more time, and I did not want to spend time to fit the sprite, it would be much slower 
mode 2, and congratulations for the timing , I would do never this effect.

[Geco]

Concerning the EP64/128 palette...

found this :


Is the palette the same as for MSX2 (256 colours, Rx8 Gx8 Bx4 or something like this ?

But if I remember correctly you can actually choose only 8 colours from the 16...

I checked Enterprise 64/128 TOSEC topic, thx MacDeath, I totally understand you why you did not know what does Geco means in the 2nd column.
The table above is a CPC-->EP colour conversion table, Geco means that that column used by me in my early conversions (and it was set by manually), EP1,2,3 was used by IstvánV ( he set these colours by computed values)
I do not know if the palette is the same as for MSX2, but the bit setting is the same.  (256 colours, Rx8 Gx8 Bx4)
Yes, you are right , the low 8 colour can be chosen freely, this makes the conversion harder for CPC mode 0

It's hard to find a nice "look-up table" with all video modes/palettes/constraints detailed and explicated...
Still this machine has quite a few additionnal modes compaired to CPC.
We already had a lot of topics about those computers that are considered cousins for CPC (and speccy too, sadly...)
Enterprise 64/128 TOSEC

Yes, till we did not have a program cpccolor.exe, I tried to find the "ideal" palette, and bias manually, it took time, but it made difficulties only in CPC mode 0, for the others only the colours should be substituted.
Yes, additional modes are: Attribute mode, hardware character mode( it has also 3 modes), and lores modes.
Thanks for the link, I read it now
Do not you like speccy? I like it also, but EP have much more Speccy ports than CPC I think the painful point only that, some software hous did not take time to create a normal conversion based on CPC capabilities, they directly converted the speccy games.
As I found the CPC and EP the nearest cousins

[Axelay]

Sorry again, in the future I will ask if you agree about a conversion. I choosed those games, because they are very good stuff, and surprisingly (vey) fast on a z80 machine without Sprite.

Thank you.  As far as speed goes, I prefer to think that too many commercial z80 games were surprisingly slow. 

http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=3059

sorry....

I should have launched the real game in order to check the facts...
doesn't it change between the 2 versions ?

Well yes, that image of a menu is in Mode 1, but it's from the 64K version.  The 128K version is significantly different, in mode 2 with split rasters.  Thinking about it now, the 64K version menu was modelled after the sort of menu I thought of as 'Ocean style' at the time, though on reflection it looks like it was mostly the menu screens by James Higgins, like this one.

[redbox]

As far as speed goes, I prefer to think that too many commercial z80 games were surprisingly slow. 

A wrong which simply has to be righted[nb]Pathetic internal bargaining as to why I'm still trying to code Z80 today[/nb]. 

[Gryzor]

Just watched the videos, they're ace Bonus points for loading Oh Mummy in the emulator!

[Geco]

Just watched the videos, they're ace Bonus points for loading Oh Mummy in the emulator!

Thanx , My favourite is IK+ Reloaded, because the looking imroved the most there, and another one is Microprose Soccer Reloaded, the screen size have been icreased to 25x40 with 4 colours, and the speed is not slower. Unfortunately  Emulator and Star Sabre is not my video
About 10% of games run on emulater (simulator or I do not know how can we call it) those, which do not use port i/o, and IM 2, only ROM calls, and other disadvantege is mode0, this caused by FIXBIAS, some or most mode0 games are looking strange on the emu