Does anyone care about SECAM support?

[+Propane13]

Hi!

 

So, I'm making a game (Steam Tunnel Bob) for the Atari 2600, and I'm going to make a PAL version as well as an NTSC version.

The PAL supporting code is going into place right now.

 

I've also heard of a mode called SECAM.

It seems to have 8 colors. Is it worth supporting this? Is PAL/NTSC sufficient, or does someone care about SECAM?

 

Thanks!

-John

[+Psionic]

Is PAL/NTSC sufficient, or does someone care about SECAM?

Not really. SECAM is only used in France, the former Soviet Union (and Eastern bloc), and other assorted countries in Asia and Africa - mostly places where you're not likely to sell many Atari games.

[Omegamatrix]

Yeah, I would just stay with NTSC and PAL. I know some homebrewers have supported all three in the past which is great, but NTSC and PAL are a lot more used.

[SeaGtGruff]

You could have a SECAM version included in your PAL version-- similar to the way some NTSC games had a color version and a black-and-white version. The user could either select between the PAL and SECAM color palettes using the TV TYPE switch, or some other method (like selecting it from a menu).

 

Michael

[Nukey Shay]

On the other hand, the SECAM palette resides solely in the lower nybble of color values...so it's not so much of a bother to support it (the exceptions being gradual color shading which is not possible, or color values that require a specific bitpattern). IMO the SECAM palette's colors always appear to be more vibrant than the others under emulation. More likely, it's my failing eyesight that is getting less capable of distinguishing between gradual changes

 

Always a waste of time if you need more than 8 basic colors, tho.

[+Propane13]

Has anyone who made a game SECAM compatible actually sold one?

Easy or not, I figure it might be interesting to find this demographic out.

Any SECAM people in these forums that want games in SECAM?

 

I guess if there's one poor guy that lives in a SECAM-based country that will only buy SECAM games, that would be enough motivation for me to put it in.

However, if that guy doesn't really exist to the community's knowledge, then I'd probably skip the support.

 

-John

[Ben_Larson]

I think most people implement the different TV types using preprocessor logic in their code (that way you only have one .asm file to maintain). So if you do that, then it's pretty easy to add-in support to do a SECAM build too - it's just a matter of using the PAL kernel timing with some different colors. I just did it because I like the cheesiness (and challenge) of the 8-color palette... Whether anyone will use it is doubtful, but it's kinda fun to do for completeness' sake...

Edited July 13, 2008 by Ben_Larson

[Hornpipe2]

Has anyone who made a game SECAM compatible actually sold one?

 

I would like this question answered too.

[vdub_bobby]

SECAM is a waste of time and code IMO.

 

I don't think anyone, ever, has requested a SECAM version of a game, nor have I ever heard of anyone ever even testing a SECAM binary on real hardware.

 

What's odd, though, is that I'm pretty sure the Ebivision guys are from France, but I don't think they made SECAM versions of their games. I could be wrong, though, I can't remember for sure and while the store is closed/gone I can't check.

[SeaGtGruff]

SECAM is a waste of time and code IMO.

 

I don't think anyone, ever, has requested a SECAM version of a game, nor have I ever heard of anyone ever even testing a SECAM binary on real hardware.

 

What's odd, though, is that I'm pretty sure the Ebivision guys are from France, but I don't think they made SECAM versions of their games. I could be wrong, though, I can't remember for sure and while the store is closed/gone I can't check.

If you want my humble opinion, the biggest problem with doing a SECAM version isn't that almost no one has a SECAM console to play (or test) the games on, or that no one ever requests or buys SECAM versions of games, etc.-- the *real* problem is that the Atari 2600's SECAM palette has only 8 colors. Even just 16 colors would have been a whole lot better-- the 8 basic colors, plus 8 "high intensity" versions of them, as found in the standard 16-color computer palette:

 

black

blue

red

magenta

green

cyan

brown or gold (or "dark yellow")

light gray (or "dark white")

dark gray (or "light black")

light blue

light red

light magenta

light green

light cyan

yellow

white

 

Having just 8 colors, and only 1 intensity or "luminance" of each, really puts a cramp on any graphics designed for SECAM consoles.

 

Michael

[Glade Swope]

I wonder what the reason was for only having 8 colors in that format... some kind of technical difficulty? lazy design? Secam was actually capable of higher color quality than NTSC.

[maiki]

Not really. SECAM is only used in France, the former Soviet Union (and Eastern bloc), and other assorted countries in Asia and Africa - mostly places where you're not likely to sell many Atari games.

 

As for the Czechoslovakia from what I remember I was able to tune my ZX Spectrum fine on Czechoslovakian Tesla TVs during 80s. They supported both SECAM and PAL. Not all of them though. It was mainly the Soviet TVs that refused to display PAL colors leaving you with blueish monochrome display. The TV broadcast was SECAM before 1990 but it is said they had used PAL internally due to SECAM limitations with video editing and such.