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peteym5

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About peteym5

  • Birthday 05/11/1970

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  1. I had considered early Renaissance music because that is close to the same era. One issue though, we have to make sure the music is public domain or is royalty free and allowed for commercial use. Most cases Midi files are and the site does not state anything. It is easiest to find the Midi or MOD file and port them to RMT. The other issue is making instrument files that sound like they came from that era, they did not have electronic guitars, or rock band drum sets. So it looks like my little experiment works, it reduces the noticeable gap going from one screen to another. I may try a few things to reduce it more as long as it does not generate other issues. It is not causing the game to crash or become unplayable after a certain point, and I am satisfied with that.
  2. I figured something like that is going on. If someone were to alter the clock frequencies and increased to resolution until we get close to 240 pixels on screen and other 16 for over scan to allow sprites to partially move off the edge of the screen. Player/Missile positioning could keep 128 for the exact center. I am not sure if the Commodore 64 sprite system has that ability. I believe the Nintendo Entertainment System had 256 pixels across, but was character/tile set mode only. Did not have a true bitmap mode. Could had created an Antic/GTIA with the ability to generate graphics similar to the NES. 60 column text, double it for 480 pixels. But that is something Atari never went for because the original chip designers left. I know you probably would need to run Antic/GTIA at 5.37Mhz and could be issues with overheating. The other issue with increasing resolution is that the displays are mapped in main memory, and would be a limit with 64K systems. Could get up to a point of just displaying a nice picture, but can't move much because the system resources at tide up. Think of using APAC, the Atari mode the alternates between graphics 9 & 11. Nobody is using it for games and I personally would love to do it, but the resources are tide up and would only be able to move one things at a time.
  3. Personally I think both companies should had put more development into making the computers more usable with professional applications, enhance the text displays so more text can be shown on screen. To take advantage if a monitor is hooked up. 60 or 80 column display. That was something that started putting these computer systems on the decline about 5 years after they were released. Otherwise, they are just a video game console with a keyboard. I mentioned this ideal before, too bad Atari didn't have something that can change the CPU, Color, and Pixel clocks between 1.79 and 2(4) Mhz. So when in wide screen mode, all 48 columns get squeezed back to the visible screen area. I know wide screen, 48 columns/pixel bytes on Antic Text modes, only has 44.5 columns visible, before running into the static on the right side. But a black border could had be placed at column 48. I believe Atari also had 44 bytes mapped to leave room for the horizontal scrolling. Would had given the ability to have 192/384 pixel wide graphics modes. By the way, did you know you can reduce that right side static to 2 pixels wide by setting the HSCROL bit in the display list and setting HSCROL to a certain value? I did it to a few of my later games. I always wondered why Atari offset the player/missile horizontal position by 40 pixels before becoming visible to the screen. Even at Quad width, the whole player is hidden if below a value of 24 anyway. Well a lot of the numbers for the Antic/GTIA do not make sense.
  4. This is something I cannot disagree with. I tried many different Commodore 64 games and seen the video. It seems like some games that need a lot of moving objects, lots of screen manipulation, or action, seem to run better on the Atari 8-bit. However this really depends on who wrote the game or what programming language they used. Like was it compiled Basic, Pascal, Action, or direct Assembly. Programmers figure out more stuff over time. This is probably due the the Atari 8-bit running at 1.79mhz vs Commodore 1mhz, along with needing to change two bytes for character + color map. Even using player/missile multiplexers to get 8 or more sprites on the Atari screen, the Atari still has the advantage of the faster CPU. Graphics quality, depends on the type of game, what needs to be moving, and the layout. I can tell which Commodore 64 games were put out by companies that had experience programmers working of them. Atari (Atarisoft) and Activision make some really good games the ran great of both machines. Atarisoft even had a few Vic-20 games.
  5. I always said one big mistake with all these different models of computers was that there was not a standard and made it difficult to make software for them. Outside the IBM PC, no one made their video display technology backward compatible with earlier technology, or made something with enhancements that could support earlier modes. I know Atari went from CTIA to GTIA, but did no go to Super GTIA, and rewrote the OS going from 400/800 to XL/XE. Programs written for earlier Atari 8-bit modleds could either run directly on newer XL/XE, need the translator disk, or the publisher just release the updated version. Commodore was notorious for having many computer models with different video display technology making it hard to run a Commodore program more than one computer model. I know Commodore and Atari got away from this with Amiga and ST, But I did understand that some stuff was still not 100% backward compatible with the last models running stuff mode for the first models. Like I said with the Commodore 64, they should had stuck with it as their standard until they got the Amiga. The Commodore 128, was the 8-bit machine that could still run Commodore 64 software. Could Commodore enhance the VIC-II chip further? 80 column support, TED color palette, or a VIC-I mode? Atari was intending to make a CGIA chip that combined Antic/GTIA in one chip, save costs. But appears it did not have anything new or extra. But was intended to make the XL line cheaper to produce and sell. Maybe at the same price range as the Commodore 64.
  6. Ever since I played games like Zelda on Nintendo, Phantasy Star on Sega, Dark Heart of Uukrul on Apple. I realize something that is lacking in those games is once you solve them, there is no point to go back and play the game. I got my cartridges free from friends after they solved these games. During the development stages of Secretum Labyrinth Dark Castles, I was thinking what can I do about these one time solve game and make people feel there is more to these games. To bring the player to put the cartridge back in the machine and play again. I asked, can we move some of the items around, and then asked, can we change some of the exits leading to different rooms around? This is what had been done with the new Quest system. Five different Quests can be selected the title screen. Four with items in fixed locations, One with items placed randomly inside the game. Secretum Labyrinth Dark Castles will also have a game save feature, so you do not need to solve the game in one sitting. It requires a formatted blank floppy disk. Do not use the floppy to store other files because Secretum Labyrinth reads and writes directly to sectors and will write over anything stored in those sectors.
  7. Sorry, that is not how myself or Video 61 does business. This game will be available on Cartridge from AtariSales. Release date is to be announced. What has Video 61 done to you to deserve your lack of patronage? I have sold over 10 different games and 400 cartridges since I started working with Video61. As stated, Secretum Labyrinth King's Gold is a free download as part of this Adventure game series. I provided it freely to the community in good faith and respect. I even re-posted it after KJMANN persuaded me to take it down. Posted in another thread. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/231275-secretum-labyrinth-kings-gold/page-6 Let's keep things on a positive track here. You know our policy. End of discussion.
  8. I am hoping to get this together by March, I am having a few people checking things over right now. We are going to release Animal Keeper first, then we will be getting to this Game. Video 61 is also tied up with releasing my games ports for the Atari 5200.
  9. I know the VIC-20 & C64 had 256 character sets. The Vic-20 also had double height characters and 4K font that was used to emulate a bitmap graphics mode. I know the TED based machines also had a color palette more like the Atari, but had no sprites and no SID chip. By the time the 16 and +4 were put out, many people either had a Commodore 64, Atari, Apple, TI-99, or IBM PC. I do not think those machines sold very well. The intention was to release another low cost machine like the VIC-20, and one chip that did it all. But it was a flop. Many in the United States called the "Plus/4" a "Minus/60" because it could not perform as well as the Commodore 64. As I said it many times, Commodore would had been better off if they taken the 64, sold it with 16K with blank sockets, or sold a cartridge with the "+4+" software to make it into a "+4" or include it on internal ROM chips. Did they also update the Basic?
  10. Pay per Downloads is not how we do business. Contact Video61 if you want to inquire on the policy further. Here is a free game from me. http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=7079 The cartridge games have more screens, monsters, and more puzzles you need to solve inside the game.
  11. Cartridges are harder to copy in that you need a separate piece of equipment to do so. You can try doing in DOS, but most cases, trying to plug in a cartridge with power on, usually crashes the computer, could fry one of the EPROMS, or cause the flash memory to erase. Plus will only copy one bank, if it is a bank switching cartridge. I am not aware that I said anything about copy protection, nor would I discuss it if such programming existed. There was something going on in the earlier stages of development of Venture. KJMANN was working with a few other people that I did not know about to port stuff to the 5200 and make other changes. I have my own download of this and checked it out before making a request to take it down. It is an earlier version that had bugs corrected later on. We will be releasing our own official 5200 Venture soon that will have a manual, real label, and packaging. Since that download is a pirated copy, and violation of our copyright I will not be providing any technical support. I am upset that someone also removed all the names and copyright notice from that version.
  12. I have trusted and let people beta tested my stuff in the past without having them sign anything. I even tried the beta demo thing in the past and considering doing it again. A beta demo is the game, but does not include the data for all the levels and enemies, so it will only play one level and go back to the title screen. Has the level number variable removed also to deter anyone from hacking it back into the full version. Secretum Labyrinth King's Gold started as a beta demo, but is actually a playable game. The map is smaller and has limited enemy types. It is just I had been burned before. KJMANN and Video61 had been burned also, People had taking the copies of the programs we sent them and distributed them. Video61 does not want to do floppy games after he released one, and a week later, someone tried to sell him back bootleg copies. So he is now saying "No Floppy for you!" after that happened. Two years ago, someone going by "Bobby75" posted the Atari 5200 version of Venture on the 5200 section and I had to make a request to take it down.
  13. I say Super IRG method works great on getting more screen colors on the Atari, The method of swapping between two character set in each TV frame. However the VIC chips can also swap character sets, the Commodore 64 (& Vic 20?) can most likely do something similar. Not sure if TED or whatever the PET/CBM machines use can change the character set memory pointers. The ST & Amiga uses bitmap screens for text displays so the method won't work there, unless you alternate whole screens between each frame. The PC text modes, I could never find anything about changing the character set pointer and doing a custom font there.
  14. First of all I have no ideal who this Bluemoon guy was, nor is currently associated with anyone in my group. I have my own suspicions, and I never responded to anything this person stated. I had considered porting some stuff to the Commodore 64, but decided later it was too much trouble. As I am planning to start up more games for the Atari 8-bit in the next few months. I still need to finish up some PC and Atari 7800 game ports. I might consider C64 ports if I got a lot of help with the first few games, team up with someone. Seeing that Mythos Zelda port is making me to start thinking about further upgrades for Secretum Labyrinth to make the game look better and demonstrate what the Atari 8bit can do.
  15. I keep being asked to let more people beta test, but when I ask to continue the conversation in private, I state they need to contact Video61, provide identification, and sign a non-disclosure. I never hear from them again, that tells me they may not be trustworthy. I have been trying to get one guy from here signed over, even lives one State away from Video61. Actually anyone can beta test a version of Secretum Labyrinth at any time, "King's" Gold" that uses the same version of RMT. Different songs are being with each game. Some updates were done over the years to demonstrate some new abilities of these Adventure RPGs. Like altering the screens based on Quest, combining several songs into one RMT file, and more spread out pixels for the floor pattern. The room drawing logic and data encryption is an earlier version that helps deter from any doing anything with it. It does not take up any more time to draw a new screen. I am not sure if Fandal had the latest version on his website, I just sent him an email. It may be there within a day or two. It is the version that alters the screens for different quests. I have to check with Atari Mania as well.
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