Games Crossdev

This page aim to cover the historical aspect of games crossdev from the commercial era.

Highlighting similarities between the different platforms games ports and the Amstrad.

Exemples :

• Games with Graphics and sound ported from Atari ST

• Games with graphics ported from C64

• and so on...

In some case, it was

• Co-development : datas and design created at the same time with the aim to be included on different machines sharing similarities.

• Straight portage : one version was first and specifically designed, then it was slightly adapted to match the new machine (speccy ports, often)

and so on.

It will be developped further soon.

Please don't delete it.

Amstrad as Original Version

• Zombi from UbiSoft was first released on Amstrad CPC, then ported on different computers follonwing its success.

Yet such occurance was quite rare as Amstrad CPC wasn't really the leader computer, exept perhaps in France.

Multi platform developpement

Said for games created as a whole project, the same theme working for all versions or different teams actually sharing datas.

Yet each specificity of each machine is taken into account concerning the programmation.

Such project were often done by serious games company and every versions of the game were often close to each other.

Exemples

• Rick dangerous : Amstrad version includes aspects of the Speccy version (Z80 codes) and C64 version (graphics) and has stuff of its own (Graphics too).

Many French games were designed to have common graphics with their Thomson versions, The TO8 and latters models did have the same Video modes as the Amstrad Plus (minus the hardwired Extra plus features, yet the 4096 palettes and the 3 modes were there) but also could display an extra character attributed mode (320x200 in 16 attributed colours, like a better Speccy).

• Mach 3 from loriciel(s).

• Bivouac / chamonix challence from infogrames also had a TO8 version with almost exact same graphics as Amstrad's.

Also some Games were inspired from Atari ST version, concerning graphics.

• Jim powers

• Skate ball: mode 1 4 colour graphics same as 16 colours Atari St graphics thanks to the same resolution.

• l'aigle d'Or 2

Speccy Ports

a page is treating this matter. 3 kinds :

• Lazy : almost ran untouched on a CPC.

• Average: some stuff are a bit redone to implement Amstrad's specificities, mostly graphics. often a bit sluggish though.

• Good : It was really cross-developped and the Amstrad version is well enough implemented despite sharing stuff with Speccy one.

16 bit

Atari ST was used to develop games for CPC.

Raphael Cecco, creator of Exolon or Cybernoid series was known for programming on Atari ST then channel codes into the CPC (he said this in interviews).

Also Loriciel developped Hardware tools for such Atari ST helped developments.