Ray casting and the 2600

[Syntaxerror999]

I was watching this video on Doom and Wolfenstein 3D and how they simulate 3D. On the part about Wolfenstein he talked about how the game used 'ray casting' to draw the walls of what, in memory is actually a 2d top view shooter.

 

That got me thinking... could ray casting... or something like it be done on the 2600?

 

Heres the video...

https://youtu.be/zb6Eo1D6VW8

[+Gemintronic]

https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=302

 

Pretty much the best effort yet.. and, they had to do it sideways. This is the reason to use whatever calculating power you can out of DPC+ ARM.

[Jinroh]

Joe Musashi did a great demo that used the DCP+ & ARM. He has the code available too.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/229083-ray-casting-engine-demo/?hl=%2B3d

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by Jinroh

[LS_Dracon]

I didn't like the video about DOOM. It's sensationalist.

If you keep this analogy further, never had a true 3d game, because they're displayed exclusively in a 2d plane (tv/monitor).

Only will exist a "non-fake" 3d game in a true holographic graphics, generated in real life environment.

[gauauu]

If you keep this analogy further, never had a true 3d game, because they're displayed exclusively in a 2d plane (tv/monitor).

Only will exist a "non-fake" 3d game in a true holographic graphics, generated in real life environment.

 

The point is that all of the action takes place in 2 dimensions. Later games have things above and below you, different vertical levels, etc. This doesn't -- everything takes place in a 2d map, even if the visuals are 3d. In other words, it's not talking about the projection, it's talking about the game world.

Edited May 19, 2016 by gauauu

[LS_Dracon]

I understand 3d as X,Y and Z calculation, and Z affects the image (zoom in/out or distortion). It could vary according other peoples.

Top down view (Zelda ALTTP) is not even a fake 3d as Z is not calculated (I assume).

A 2d beat'em up game like Final Fight is a fake 3d because Z is calculated but does not affect the way sprites is drawn on screen.

Wolf3d definitely is not fake as X and Y is calculated in a 2d map but Z is calculated to affect the pixel column height.

 

We could talk about polygon algorithm to define which are or not "true" 3D. Any plane in Doom is a polygon BTW.

 

So we're talking about how these graphics are rendered on a screen, it's all about projection. A true 3D game world still stores it's vertex information in a 2D arrays of data.

 

Yeah, I know what the video is all about, but it's difficult to define exactly what is or not true 3D.

[davidbrit2]

Joe Musashi did a great demo that used the DCP+ & ARM. He has the code available too.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/229083-ray-casting-engine-demo/?hl=%2B3d

 

 

 

I'll have to try that out; don't know how I've overlooked it all these years. I'd love to see DPC+ pushed to the absolute limit, with the ARM running 99%+ of the game code, and the 6502 doing little more than bit banging the hell out of the TIA and polling inputs. Hell, if the Vic-20 can run a reasonable facsimile of Doom with just a RAM expansion, then the 2600 ought to be able to pull it off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm2yDM2Fou8

 

Maybe a trackball + keyboard/video touchpad FPS?