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townparkradio

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Posts posted by townparkradio

  1. Posted

    FWIW, jzIntv writes out 320x200 GIFs for its screen shots. It includes a few extra lines top/bottom with the screen border color, and it replicates pixels horizontally to at least get closer to the original look.

     

    Even then, the aspect ratio isn't quite correct. After the 2:1 stretch, Inty pixels are still a little taller than they are wide, by about a 5:4 ratio. But, you can't really do that ratio cleanly in a GIF without some pixel replication, so I don't bother.

     

    Which was my point. You can't use modern pixel display sizes as "accurate" representations of anything. You'll only end up making it worse and trying to shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the meaning of display resolutions entirely. It's also a curse to emulator programmers, so I'm told.

     

    Yeah, non-square pixels are a downright pain.

     

    If you're trying to make archival-quality samples of displays, I can understand trying to capture screenshots at their "native" resolution (159x192, plus maybe a minimum 1px border), and ignore the fact that displaying it on a square-pixel machine will look wrong. Storing the image in that native form will give you one pixel stored per one pixel generated, and is in a sense the highest fidelity archive you can achieve of what the video controller computed. It still isn't necessarily the best representation of what a game player might have seen on a TV of the time, though, but it captures one stage of the pipeline faithfully.

     

    After that, everything is about generating a reasonable display from that archive on a modern display device. From there, you could pixel-replicate / rescale for square pixels, post process, add NTSC artifact emulation, fake scanlines... all the fun stuff MAME and other emulators like to do. In some sense those too are trying to faithfully reproduce the experience of the original system. But to whatever extent they're inaccurate, they'll distort the record. But, if they always start from a pristine, reliable copy of the last digital step in the pipeline, at least you'll have a chance to improve your post processing in the future without losing any fidelity in the archive.

     

    For a simpler example, consider Intellivoice samples. What's the best archival format for those? If you're not archiving the raw, encoded speech, then I'd suggest storing the 10kHz 8-bit PCM samples generated by the VTM, since that's what was computed by the speech core. After that it goes downhill -- a 7-bit PWM chopper, a 120dB/decade "brickwall filter", etc. If you stored 44.1kHz WAV files of the output of a simulated PWM+filter version, it's larger space, but it isn't archival quality, since you can't ever go back and improve the fidelity of the analog parts. But the digital parts are unambiguous.

     

    Learned something new today. Didn't really know anything about the Intellivoice.

  3. Posted · Edited by townparkradio

    FWIW, jzIntv writes out 320x200 GIFs for its screen shots. It includes a few extra lines top/bottom with the screen border color, and it replicates pixels horizontally to at least get closer to the original look.

     

    Even then, the aspect ratio isn't quite correct. After the 2:1 stretch, Inty pixels are still a little taller than they are wide, by about a 5:4 ratio. But, you can't really do that ratio cleanly in a GIF without some pixel replication, so I don't bother.

     

    Which was my point. You can't use modern pixel display sizes as "accurate" representations of anything. You'll only end up making it worse and trying to shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the meaning of display resolutions entirely. It's also a curse to emulator programmers, so I'm told.

  8. Posted · Edited by townparkradio

    It's simple: you don't. That resolution is irrelevant, and the Intellivision can use several graphics modes UP TO that one. For example, I think the background layer is capable of something like 160x96, and sprites are higher res. And you know what? That does not mean pixel resolution as we look at it today. All it means is how many "blocks" are displayed across a television's native resolution horizontally and vertically. They're then "painted" across a 4:3 television, which is 640x480 (interlaced).natively. Secondly you're doing it backwards anyway, it's 192x160 you need to be worried about. 160x192 would be some warped screwed up widescreen.

     

    The only thing that is important is maintaining a 4:3 aspect ratio. That's it. Whatever the screenshot you're getting, change it to the size of your choice at a 4:3 aspect ratio and you're done.

  9. Posted

    People are putting too much into the word obsolete.

     

    The other version got put on cart before it should have been put on cart.

     

    This version includes every bit of gameplay that DK Arcade had.

     

    However, it looks better, controls better, sounds better, is bug free and includes another game.

     

    You decide which copy you want.

     

    I think the problem is that you're thinking as a straight engineer here. People do attach emotion to words, rather than just the strict meaning. The Intellivision itself is "obsolete", but that doesn't mean it's a waste to get one.

  11. Posted

     

    (By the way ... this is an aside, but thanks very much for the information you've shared about your experiences with video game systems and solar power. I've found it to be fascinating reading, and I'm especially surprised to learn how much more energy-efficient the vintage systems are compared to the more recent ones.)

     

    What's sad about it is the modern systems usually don't even give as much gaming pleasure as the old ones. The new systems are better at epic RPG style experiences, but that's IT. No other genre are they even equal. And yes I include FPS. What have they done worth a damn since doom 2, really? And Doom ran just fine on a 24 watt drawing SNES.

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    The 7800... blargh. That system was crippled before it was released because of the sound.

     

    You might want to head over to the 7800 forum. There is the upcoming expansion module (XM) which has a POKEY and YM2151 built in. There is a good homebrew scene too (I program the 7800 as well ;)).

     

    Eh. I'm a bit poor. to have any hope of affording the system itself or any expansion module I'd have to barter advertisements on my radio station. That and Marty Goldberg annoys me. I tend to avoid the Atari sections.

  13. Posted

    Now I seek only a 7800, 5200, and Colecovision, and I have a complete low-wattage/solar arcade. It's honestly amazing how well a fit the older systems are to those living green.

     

    But honestly, I can't see how any of them hit the same niche as the Inty. Coleco had good arcade ports.. the best.. but nothing in depth. The 2600 had great mass appeal, but no nerd appeal to speak of. The 7800... blargh. That system was crippled before it was released because of the sound. No joke, I don't understand how the Inty wasn't #1.

  17. Posted

    Congrats!

     

    ...oh wait..... :P

     

     

    Pics or it didnt happen!!!

     

    There was going to be an unboxing video, but I came home from chopping wood to find my wife had already set everything up. There will be pics of everything tomorrow or the day after.

     

    ...unless you're asking for pics of the babymaking. If that's the case, you may kindly blow it out your orifice of choice.

     

     

    i meant the intv stuff!!!

     

    side note: why do half the threads on AA end up sexual somehow?!?!?! LOL

     

    Because we're men.

     

    Oh yeah!

     

    And now, about those babymaking pics?

     

    :P :P :P :P :P :P

     

    Blow it out your orifice of choice.

  18. Posted

    Congrats!

     

    ...oh wait..... :P

     

     

    Pics or it didnt happen!!!

     

    There was going to be an unboxing video, but I came home from chopping wood to find my wife had already set everything up. There will be pics of everything tomorrow or the day after.

     

    ...unless you're asking for pics of the babymaking. If that's the case, you may kindly blow it out your orifice of choice.

     

     

    i meant the intv stuff!!!

     

    side note: why do half the threads on AA end up sexual somehow?!?!?! LOL

     

    Because we're men.

  19. Posted

    She's 10 years my junior, and grew up loving Atari 2600 games. I am blessed to have met her. She is a big fan of Indiana Jones, so we have something of a joke. Whenever someone calls me a cradle robber, she corrects them in that she is a grave robber.. err uhm archaeologist.

  21. Posted

    Congrats!

     

    ...oh wait..... :P

     

     

    Pics or it didnt happen!!!

     

    There was going to be an unboxing video, but I came home from chopping wood to find my wife had already set everything up. There will be pics of everything tomorrow or the day after.

     

    ...unless you're asking for pics of the babymaking. If that's the case, you may kindly blow it out your orifice of choice.

  23. Posted

    Thanks to an insanely generous donation from our own Revolutionika, I am now the proud owner of a Sears Super Arcade, several boxes, and a few games I never had before. Three cheers for Rev, helping out a family that was stripped of Intellivision goodness by the filthy Neotoma cinerea. To try it out the wife and I played Frogger. I scored 4,880. My darling bride 6,340. Sigh.

     

    Oh and while we're at it? There's a baby on the way. Rev's gift will help show the next generation what good gaming is really all about.

    • Like 1

  25. Posted

    Sort of funny, in that I owned both Astroblast and Astrosmash back when I was heavily into collecting games but I don't remember EVER playing Astroblast. I think Burger Time was the first M-Network game I ever played and after being completely disappointed in that version, I don't think I ever played another M-Network game again.

     

     

    Mendon

     

    I remember being happy with the 2600 Burgertime; it looks bad but the play is really good. It still makes me happy today, and it marked M-network games as quality titles to me when I was a child. I later decided it was one of the WORST of the set, but M-network games were amazing. Go give them another try. Had I known about the Intellivision as a child I would have asked my parents for one of those instead of a second Atari for my brother.

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