Scott Stilphen Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 Is there any way to get a true screenshot of games that use the 'venetian blinds' trick (Basic Programming, Stellar Track, etc.)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Scott Stilphen: Is there any way to get a true screenshot of games that use the 'venetian blinds' trick (Basic Programming, Stellar Track, etc.)? Uhm... what you get are true screenshots. What you not get are faked ones, that display both pictures at once Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 Can someone explain that trick to me, I noticed this too when I started taking screenshots for my prototype page. It appears that only parts of the letters appear on the screen at the same time, but I can't figure out why they couldn't display the whole thing at once? Also, why are the letters made up of lines instead of being solid? Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Tempest: Can someone explain that trick to me, I noticed this too when I started taking screenshots for my prototype page. It appears that only parts of the letters appear on the screen at the same time, but I can't figure out why they couldn't display the whole thing at once? Also, why are the letters made up of lines instead of being solid? Well, I don't know that particular trick in detail. But in general, the maximum resolution the VCS can display is three copies of both sprites, giving you a 6 char resolution, (or 48 pixel width). Only way to extend that is by using flicker, which is diplaying another 6 chars every other frame. Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 If the elements of the screen are relatively static, couldn't you just take a quick series of screenshots (to capture the needed frames) and then superimpose one over the other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 quote: Originally posted by NE146: If the elements of the screen are relatively static, couldn't you just take a quick series of screenshots (to capture the needed frames) and then superimpose one over the other? That's the only way possible at all, since the emulator wont't analyse which objects are flickering and which not. But - you could never capture a desired effect like the frogs'n'flies flies with a screenshot :-) Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 Ok, I got it! Try this: Make screenshots of both frames. Then add both into a new animated GIF, loop it infinite and set the time between these two frames two 17ms (NTSC) or 20ms (PAL) Greetings, Manuel [ 02-22-2002: Message edited by: Cybergoth ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snider-man Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 Well, this isn't a way to get a *true* screenshot, but this is what I've done. I needed a screenshot of Dark Mage (2600 text adventure) for a review in CGM. Since the "flicker" effect displays the text, I grabbed two screenshots of the game, then overlayed one on the other. True, it wasn't a "screenshot," but it was representative of what the game's appearance was. (And a gif is hard to duplicate in a magazine!) You will also encounter this problem when you have sprites that "flicker." If you grab a screenshot of, say, Venture - you'll only get one or two of the enemy sprites, not all three. Snider-man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 hhehe..try StarWars:TAG The trench is displayed half a screen between frames. so if you take a screen shot...you only see one half of the trench...and not the other half. Also sometimes the laser cannons aren't always displayed when you grab the shot because of the flicker used. The Towers scene is really hard to do. When I did a review of Starwars:TAG for the VCS awhile back I had to do the two shots overlayed to display the desired effect of how it looked in game play. I did make a note in the review that I had to alter these shots and overlay them to look right. just the way the VCS handles displaying more than it technically can...and we gotta live with it. Besides the shots we paste together to make a complete shot are still more accurate than the ones Atari painted on the boxes half the time!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted February 22, 2002 Author Share Posted February 22, 2002 How do you 'superimpose' one picture over another? What software are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 Well..Scott in my case I took the two seperate screenshots... Then I use Adobe Photoshop 6 and have it transparently overlay the second shop on top of the first. Or..I can take the second shot and tell Photo shop to set the background color as Transparent...then I can select the 2nd shot and paste it on top of the first shot. Paintshop Pro should be able to tackle this easily enough as well I would think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 Yes, that is what we have had to do with any game that has flicker. Take two screenshots and merge them using Photoshop or a similar tool. It's time consuming (especially if you have 4-5 final screenshots), and we haven't done it for every flickering title yet, but eventually I'd like to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted February 22, 2002 Author Share Posted February 22, 2002 Thanks. Looks like I'll have to upgrade my graphics software Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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