PAL version of SKIING .... different than NTSC?

[+Spriggy]

Due to possible excessive banter about my query and hijacking a HSC thread .. I've started this post. Here is the thread I started the question on http://atariage.com/forums/topic/275371-season-7-week-5-frostbite/ . An excerpt of my last post is below.

 

Wow My Skiing run felt good on the original atari/activision PAL hardware, being an aussie. I noticed some of the other scores were already seconds faster. How can then be? So I jumped on Stella, started the PAL version of Skiing and ran the same path I use. Around the same time. Doh . I then ran then NTSC version on Stella using my same path, with only a handful of runs. 23.81 Near on 5 seconds faster on the same path. Plus.. I think one of the trees seemed to be in a slightly different horizontal position, causing me to do another tap side-wards.

PAL vs NTSC framerate differences surely can't account for the huge time differences ... can they? Don't forget ... I played an original PAL cart on a PAL Vader and then the PAL rom on Stella with the same-ish times. So its not my hardware. Interesting . Food for thought.

Definitely time to improve once the brain shuts off Pity its on emulation though

#EDIT#. Hold on!!!! (sorry to hijack!). I'm a fan of the atari kwik twitch games like Dragster/Barnstorming/Skiing. Recently at home I equaled the twin galaxies listed record for Skiing, on Game 1, at 32.72. I just realize that I played that on the original PAL cart and my PAL Vader So does that mean the PAL cart of Skiing ... runs differently on Game 7??? I need a beer . Sorry to hijack ... but I thought other PAL players may be affected. Cheers.

If this query looks like it will turn into back and forth banter, I'll move the query out of this thread instantly.

So in a nutshell....

~ I played an Activision PAL version of SKIING last week on a PAL 'Vader' with s-video mod. I equaled the GAME 1 Twin Galaxies HS of 32.72. The HS is listed as NTSC.

~ After work today ... and with a few beers under the belt .. I dip my toe into the HSC pond to drop a time on one of this weeks HSC games, SKIING Game 7.

~ After some research on youtube (which made me feel guilty ) I cranked up my PAL Vader, inserted the same PAL Activison SKIING cart, I had previously equaled the TG record, and attempted some good times based on a path I found on youtube. I dropped a 28.40, which I felt was solid based on the gameplay. After comparing this time to historical times and some lads on the HSC thread ... I was 5 seconds-ish behind. WTF??

~ I literally ran to my laptop and cranked up STELLA (pretty sad ). I started a PAL rom of SKIING and tried my path. I think I hit a 28.81 with a few tries. Same time-ish.

~ I then started a NTSC rom of SKIING .. and within a few runs .. I hit a 23.81. Same path. 5 second-ish faster. WTF??

And so my query begins..... Any answers from the gurus? Not the death of a president I know .... just interested in the why.

In my eyes ... which may be biased ... GAME 1 on my PAL cart appeared to play the same as the NTSC version. Hence being able to equal the top score. GAME 7 however appeared notably slower. My wife even videoed me on my phone playing the atari .. and I compared it to a very similar run on youtube. Noticeably slower. Around 5 secs as I stated. MMM?

Edited February 11, 2018 by spriggamortis

[Jason_Atari]

My time for skiing on the HSC was over 5 seconds faster on stella than on my PAL 2600 using the same route as you explained.

[+Spriggy]

Thanks Jas. Looks like PAL & NTSC carts are indeed different, in relation to the speed of the runs.

 

Nads commented on my original query on the HSC thread, pretty much outlining this difference in more detail. Other lads also noticed the speed difference.

 

Activision Skiing is one of the few games I have noticed a big difference between the PAL and NTSC versions.

Being an Aussie also I noticed this some years ago, thats why I always will use the emulator for any Ski run.

The PAL VERSION is much quicker on the slalom runs Games 1 - 5 but a lot slower on the Downhill runs of Games 6 - 10.

 

Oh well. Can put this to bed and get back to some atari gameage!

 

Thx & Cheers

Edited February 12, 2018 by spriggamortis

[oyamafamily]

My own recommendation for posting scores here on Atari Age 2600 High Score Club is the usage of NTSC (North American) version of VCS games, but Vocelli said PAL & NTSC video formats DON'T matter.