51 replies to this topic

[GroovyBee]

I'm not an Aquarius programmer but I'm pretty sure that you can poke data into the display RAM at any time.

[DZ-Jay]

GroovyBee, on Tue Dec 13, 2011 4:53 AM, said:

I'm not an Aquarius programmer but I'm pretty sure that you can poke data into the display RAM at any time.

Sweet!  I'm looking forward to those tests.

[theloon]

My two cents may be too ambitious..

What about a BASIC compiler similar to Batari BASIC?  That could really make the Aquarius scene take off.  For some, assembly is strictly verboten

Pending that, what about a "port" of Adventure Creator?
http://www.gb64.com/game.php?id=144

[jaybird3rd]

theloon, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:14 AM, said:

What about a BASIC compiler similar to Batari BASIC?  That could really make the Aquarius scene take off.  For some, assembly is strictly verboten

The Aquarius already has a Microsoft BASIC interpreter built-in, and despite its reputation (including the common but erroneous claim that "it can't even do FOR/NEXT loops!"), it's actually capable enough to give novice programmers a good start.  Building something like batari BASIC for the Aquarius would amount to reinventing the wheel, in my opinion, and I'd rather put my own efforts into new development.

Personally, I plan to do most of my subsequent Aquarius development in the C language, with a little assembly when needed.  In addition to being easier to work with, C will make it easier for me to port whatever I create for the Aquarius to other platforms later.

[thegoldenband]

As others have suggested, character-based systems would potentially be good candidates for ports, e.g. the Odyssey^2 and the Model I/III.  What about a port of one of the better O^2 games, like Smithereens or Pick Axe Pete?  Or some of the cooler Model III titles?  Since the Model III is monochrome, you might be able to use color as a way of making new creative contributions to the game.

[GroovyBee]

Even the Videopac G7000 has better graphical capability than the Aquarius because it has user definable sprites and the ability to place several ROM characters anywhere one screen. With the stock Aquarius you are limited to the built in font on character boundaries.

[theloon]

jaybird3rd, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:39 AM, said:

theloon, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:14 AM, said:

What about a BASIC compiler similar to Batari BASIC?  That could really make the Aquarius scene take off.  For some, assembly is strictly verboten

The Aquarius already has a Microsoft BASIC interpreter built-in, and despite its reputation (including the common but erroneous claim that "it can't even do FOR/NEXT loops!"), it's actually capable enough to give novice programmers a good start.  Building something like batari BASIC for the Aquarius would amount to reinventing the wheel, in my opinion, and I'd rather put my own efforts into new development.

Personally, I plan to do most of my subsequent Aquarius development in the C language, with a little assembly when needed.  In addition to being easier to work with, C will make it easier for me to port whatever I create for the Aquarius to other platforms later.

I propose a compromise between our opinions:  How about making an assembly routine that auto-starts a BASIC program?  It could also create a binary with the end-users BASIC source and itself so the end-user could give it to a cart manufacturer/homebrew repository.

Edited by theloon, Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:24 AM.

[nitrofurano]

Pixelboy, on Thu Dec 1, 2011 8:39 AM, said:

I'm always up to suggest ideas for ports to homebrewers, but I don't know a whole lot about the Aquarius. From what I've read just now, it has a Z80 CPU, resolutions of 40x24 for text mode and 80x72 for graphics mode (I assume those are tiles of 8x8 pixels) and 16 colors. With no hardware sprites, I'd say the only games that could be ported to this machine are ZX Spectrum games, am I right?

i would bet more on sharp-mz700 than zx-spectrum:
40x25 for text instead of 40x24
8 colours instead of 16
512 characters available instead of 256
both are z80
i think mz700 ram size is around 64kb, i think this can be solved with aquarius ram expansions somehow

but when converted, the results are very look alike

some online playable games can be find here: http://web700.marukun.com/index.html , and you can find there a very similar look an feel that exists on aquarius as well

and here i posted some mz700 pictures i converted to aquarius limitations, using the GrafX2 lua script i posted a link somewhere here in this forum - http://groups.yahoo....137323/pic/list

[Aquaman]

nitrofurano, on Wed Aug 1, 2012 5:42 AM, said:

Pixelboy, on Thu Dec 1, 2011 8:39 AM, said:

I'm always up to suggest ideas for ports to homebrewers, but I don't know a whole lot about the Aquarius. From what I've read just now, it has a Z80 CPU, resolutions of 40x24 for text mode and 80x72 for graphics mode (I assume those are tiles of 8x8 pixels) and 16 colors. With no hardware sprites, I'd say the only games that could be ported to this machine are ZX Spectrum games, am I right?

i would bet more on sharp-mz700 than zx-spectrum:
40x25 for text instead of 40x24
8 colours instead of 16
512 characters available instead of 256
both are z80
i think mz700 ram size is around 64kb, i think this can be solved with aquarius ram expansions somehow

but when converted, the results are very look alike

some online playable games can be find here: http://web700.marukun.com/index.html , and you can find there a very similar look an feel that exists on aquarius as well

and here i posted some mz700 pictures i converted to aquarius limitations, using the GrafX2 lua script i posted a link somewhere here in this forum - http://groups.yahoo....137323/pic/list

These pictures you posted look really good. Still I think that pure on gameplay the Aquarius could even do better when not having such crowed gameplay areas and stick to games like Loderunner, Mr. Do, Jumpman Jr etc,

[jaybird3rd]

Aquaman, on Wed Aug 1, 2012 1:15 PM, said:

These pictures you posted look really good. Still I think that pure on gameplay the Aquarius could even do better when not having such crowed gameplay areas and stick to games like Loderunner, Mr. Do, Jumpman Jr etc,

There's plenty of potential for Aquarius games, despite the limited graphics and character set, and those limitations will be considerably diminished if I can find the time to make my SuperFont project a reality.

Despite what some seem to think, you don't really need a sprite-driven system to create a good game: a colorful character display like that of the Aquarius is enough for many types of games, especially puzzles and strategy games.  I've got at least two or three of them planned, and I'd like to finish the first of them in time for the Aquarius's thirtieth anniversary next year.

I too am impressed by the MZ-700 artwork; I especially like the outdoor scenes, as in the "Eugea" screenshot.  The Aquarius is certainly capable of producing screens just like them.

[nitrofurano]

Aquaman, on Wed Aug 1, 2012 1:15 PM, said:

nitrofurano, on Wed Aug 1, 2012 5:42 AM, said:

Pixelboy, on Thu Dec 1, 2011 8:39 AM, said:

I'm always up to suggest ideas for ports to homebrewers, but I don't know a whole lot about the Aquarius. From what I've read just now, it has a Z80 CPU, resolutions of 40x24 for text mode and 80x72 for graphics mode (I assume those are tiles of 8x8 pixels) and 16 colors. With no hardware sprites, I'd say the only games that could be ported to this machine are ZX Spectrum games, am I right?

i would bet more on sharp-mz700 than zx-spectrum:
40x25 for text instead of 40x24
8 colours instead of 16
512 characters available instead of 256
both are z80
i think mz700 ram size is around 64kb, i think this can be solved with aquarius ram expansions somehow

but when converted, the results are very look alike

some online playable games can be find here: http://web700.marukun.com/index.html , and you can find there a very similar look an feel that exists on aquarius as well

and here i posted some mz700 pictures i converted to aquarius limitations, using the GrafX2 lua script i posted a link somewhere here in this forum - http://groups.yahoo....137323/pic/list

These pictures you posted look really good. Still I think that pure on gameplay the Aquarius could even do better when not having such crowed gameplay areas and stick to games like Loderunner, Mr. Do, Jumpman Jr etc,

thanks, but they were just small adaptations from the orginal mz700 ones! - btw, is understandable that those known Aquarius games looks that archaic, see that early zx-spectrum games also looked like that as well, and only since the early 90's that zx-spectrum games were start to be coded in a more skilled, and with relatively better pixel-art illustrations and sound.

I think if Aquarius were more "lucky" on be more popular (appearing earlier than were, with a better price, etc.), we would see more and better games available

Interesting is what we are seeing now with homebrew game development and better cross-development tools, helping Aquarius being more popular now than what it were in the 80's, it just depends on how many and good stuff created, or development tools available will appear, and that is why i think a zxbasic-compiler version for Aquarius is really important for us, because it's is relatively very efficient and easy to use.

[nitrofurano]

guys, just imagine on what can be possible if people here organize somehow some yearly contests, like csscgc or msxdev, if we have enough good development tools for newbies and z80-assembly noobs (like me)!

[jaybird3rd]

nitrofurano, on Wed Aug 1, 2012 1:32 PM, said:

I think if Aquarius were more "lucky" on be more popular (appearing earlier than were, with a better price, etc.), we would see more and better games available

Yes.  The Aquarius had a very short lifespan, and the games from Mattel were almost all Intellivision ports.  New games, tailored specifically to the Aquarius and produced with the help of modern tools, can certainly surpass what Mattel or any of the third-party publishers were able to do in the early 80s.

I personally have no interest in creating another "Garry Kitchen's GameMaker" or a BASIC compiler.  Something of that scale would be a lot of work, and it wouldn't be of much use to me because I'm already comfortable with working in assembly and in C, so I think my efforts would be better spent creating new games using these existing languages.

However, I do intend to create some reusable assets along the way which others may find useful.  Because the Aquarius is a character-driven system, one of the things I want is a C library to make it easier to create character-based objects and user interface elements.  These are the kinds of problems that have long since been solved on other systems, so fortunately there's no need to reinvent the wheel here.  What I have in mind is something similar to the open-source ncurses library, scaled down to the Aquarius and with more game-oriented features.  That will be very useful for my own games, and it will also make it easier for others to create their own games in C if they wish.

[theloon]

Again, I think a compromise may be in order.  If not a new BASIC compiler then a better, more integrated IDE to the benefit of newbs and savvy C coders alike.

Something like NESICIDE really lowers the bar for development while being a powerful tool for the expert:
http://www.nesicide.com/

[Aquaman]

theloon, on Thu Aug 2, 2012 10:43 AM, said:

Again, I think a compromise may be in order.  If not a new BASIC compiler then a better, more integrated IDE to the benefit of newbs and savvy C coders alike.

Something like NESICIDE really lowers the bar for development while being a powerful tool for the expert:
http://www.nesicide.com/

I think both can easily live together. ASM or C-based programms which will be undoubtfully surpassing anything that has ever been done with the Aquarius, but for creative people but not so great coders something like NEDICIDE.
Again I also understand Jay, because he is already doing one hell of a job keeping the Aquarius alive and kicking, but maybe some other coders can come forward to make something like this available for the Aquarius community. I am sure this should satisfy them more than making stuff for already software crowded systems like the Spectrum. Boundaries on those systems are not getting stretched much further I think!

[cparsley]

If you do go for Lode Runner, I'm more than game to design levels using the original lode runner for reference, but fitting within the Aquarius format. Just shoot me a line if you go that way.

[thegoldenband]

I'm still rooting for a Model III port -- perhaps surprisingly, there are some great arcade-style games on that system.  Could the Aquarius pull off the Model III's versions of Zaxxon or Frogger, I wonder?

[theloon]

Low res black and white games could be done with a $15 dollar Arduino with a $1 modded RCA cable and a $5 dollar Wii nunchuck adapter.

What we really need is a game that celebrates character based graphics.  Look what they did with the MZ-700:
http://web700.marukun.com/

[jaybird3rd]

It would be very easy to create elaborate screens like those MZ-700 screenshots with the help of a good drawing tool, something that would allow anyone to build "mockups" of their game ideas using the real Aquarius character set and color palette.

Let me see if I can dust off my Aquarius Screen Editor within the next month or two.  I have an "alpha" version that I used for the Aquaricart project, but it's got a few rough edges that I want to fix before I release it.  It works something like a combination of the traditional "Windows Paintbrush" and the old TheDraw "ANSI art" editor, and I think it would be easier to use than the various graphics conversion utilities that have been offered.

[theloon]

There's always Mappy:
http://tilemap.co.uk/mappy.php

Export plugins can be made in Lua

[jaybird3rd]

Perhaps, but that seems like overkill to me.  I think a simpler editor would be more optimal for our purposes.  Mine can incorporate all of the relevant features of Mappy along with some nice Aquarius-specific features (like a "bloxel" freehand drawing tool), with the added advantages of being free and platform-independent.

[Aquaman]

jaybird3rd, on Mon Aug 6, 2012 12:20 AM, said:

Perhaps, but that seems like overkill to me.  I think a simpler editor would be more optimal for our purposes.  Mine can incorporate all of the relevant features of Mappy along with some nice Aquarius-specific features (like a "bloxel" freehand drawing tool), with the added advantages of being free and platform-independent.

Sounds good to me!

[Aquaman]

jaybird3rd, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:39 AM, said:

theloon, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:14 AM, said:

What about a BASIC compiler similar to Batari BASIC?  That could really make the Aquarius scene take off.  For some, assembly is strictly verboten

The Aquarius already has a Microsoft BASIC interpreter built-in, and despite its reputation (including the common but erroneous claim that "it can't even do FOR/NEXT loops!"), it's actually capable enough to give novice programmers a good start.  Building something like batari BASIC for the Aquarius would amount to reinventing the wheel, in my opinion, and I'd rather put my own efforts into new development.

I think Jay is (partially) right but the common Basic should be avoided and Extended Basic used instead to give the game some graphical speed!

[jaybird3rd]

You know ... now that I think about it some more, a good set of programming tools somewhat along the lines of GameMaker might be an interesting design challenge in itself, even if it's something I won't ever need to use for my own projects.  I'll still want to do two or three other games first, to develop some of the assets that will go into creating it, but I might consider putting it on my long-term project list.  Let me consider it further.

[GroovyBee]

jaybird3rd, on Tue Aug 7, 2012 5:26 AM, said:

Let me consider it further.

You have to do the NES version first .