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andym00

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Posts posted by andym00

  2. Posted · Edited by andym00

    On 9/10/2019 at 4:39 AM, VladR said:

    Using 16-bit indices is great for an initial prototype phase. The version that you can always get back (via #ifdef flags) to (your reference rasterizer) when you spent too much time in your optimized version and it's getting hazy over the weeks how exactly did it work in the first place. But, it's lazy for a final release.

     

    Figure out a way how to group the blocks into categories/areas/subdivisions - some kind of hierarchy.

     

    Then, you need just 1 index of the category per certain amount of 8-bit data. If you used rows, then it's 1 byte per row, which is 25 Bytes per screen. That's a considerable saving.

     

    If you could design the maps so that you'd have 3 rows of data from within area, then you'd need just ~8 additional Bytes per screen.

     

    You get the idea.

     

    I get what you're saying, just thought I'd see what the magic numbers would be.. I had a good look through the map to see if there was some logic to it, but if there is it passed over me.. I did also take a look through the SimCity source code to see how he handled the maps in there, see if there was some magic that maybe saw inspiration in RoBB.. Couldn't see any there, in fact came away from trawling the SimCity source code amazed at how simple it all is, which reinforces my feeling that RoBB is dead simple..

     

    It did occur to me almost immediately after posting that that with the 4x4 or 5x5 block you could just store the blocks as 12bits without much additional complexity, or even 11bits with a little more fiddling of bits, and then essentially at the 34KB figure mentioned in the wiki.. Watching some videos of it, I think its 5x5 blocks, judging by the way some things are animated on it when you blow stuff up.. Could be wrong, feels like a lot of the tiles are designed with a centre character in the tile in many cases..

     

    I also wonder if the 'sea pixels' are drawn automagically on top.. I didn't try removing them from the map, but they probably bloat the block count substanially, maybe even getting it down to less than 1024 blocks on the 5x5 block size map..

     

    It's one of my favourite games on the 64, and I'd love have time to get something running, but it's not going to happen form me, life is dominated by little human beings at the moment.. Another 14 years or so, and ship him off to Uni and then hopefully can get back into some 2030's retro programming :)

     

    • Like 5

  3. Posted

    On 10/16/2012 at 6:18 PM, JAC! said:

    Well 10x10 screens (40x25) divided by 2x2 chars per tile = 100/4= 25k without packing. Not really a problem.

    Well, there's a lot more blocks in there than I imagined, which are going to need >8bits each block index.. And you missed out the amount of storage for the blocks themselves..

     

    Had a boring afternoon today at work, so thought I'd do some conversion of the actual map, just to see..

    So... There's 244 chars in the map..  

    2x2 Blocks = 2945 blocks..  Memory = 61780 bytes (blocks=11780, map=50000)
4x4 Blocks = 1695 blocks..  Memory = 39520 bytes (blocks=27120, map=12400)
8x8 Blocks =  662 blocks..  Memory = 45468 bytes (blocks=42368, map= 3100)

    Those sizes aren't ringing true for me, doesn't seem plausible, and too big, bar the 4x4 one.. Lets try other some sizes.. 

    3x3 Blocks =  2404 blocks.. Memory = 43714 bytes (blocks=21636, map=22078)
5x5 Blocks =  1213 blocks.. Memory = 38325 bytes (blocks=30325, map= 8000)
6x6 Blocks =  1026 blocks.. Memory = 42348 bytes (blocks=36936, map= 5412)
7x7 Blocks =   890 blocks.. Memory = 47600 bytes (blocks=43610, map= 3990)
10x10 Blocks = 393 blocks.. Memory = 41300 bytes (blocks=39300, map= 2000)

    They're all a metric shitload of memory because of the need for 16bit block indices..

     

    Given the amount of blocks generated here, I can't help but feel some other system might be in use, some kind of direction reversible RLE, or simply compressing large blocks, or possibly even sonic style blocks of blocks kind of thing..

     

    Maybe he did just go with 4x4 or 5x5 blocks, can't tell without looking at the memory.. But after looking at the generated character maps, they look very very compressible..

     

    Either way, you're looking in the ball park of 40K for your map and blocks, not including any character sets.. The C64wiki in RoBB does mention the maps came in at 34KB, but I don't quite see how.. That would only make sense if it was 5x5 blocks, and only an 8 bit block index, which doesn't seem possible..

     

    Oh god, I must resist urge to write stupid things :)

     

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    ACME supports a 24-bit PC, but it has a syntax that'll make you cringe compared to the others :) DASM does as well I think..

    I think there's several others that do it as well.. It's something I requested for KickAss too, but it not happened so far..

    That said, it's only a small extra step to output several 64KB blocks and concatenate them as a post-build step.. A few restrictions obviously, but if what I recall of the PoP code having jump tables for all the functions in the 'overlays', it'd be easily workable..

    • Like 1

  6. Posted · Edited by andym00

    I don't think the scrolling would be an issue..

    Yes, there results are slightly different depending upon the order, ie: colour 0, 1 looks very slightly different to 1,0

    Here's the C64 captured doing exactly this, with both odd/even even/odd.. There's not a lot in it, but if you had vast expanses and you were scrolling a one pixel vertically per frame than you may see some very (very!) subtle flickering happening.. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it :)

    colmix3.jpg

    http://www.larshaugs...c64/colmix.html

     

    The above image is

    Row 0 = Col 1

    Row 1 = Col1/Col2

    Row 2 = Col2/Col1

    Row 3 = Col 2

    • Like 1

  7. Posted

    Really (really!) like those Xenon mock-ups.. There's a lot of potential there I think..

     

    And Wizardy! I used to love that game on the 64.. For a long time I hoped Heavens RPG kind of Diablo game (Heaven and Hell ? iirc?) was going to be something along the lines of this while it was still an isometric point of view..

     

    Great game, and one you could do very easily on the A8, nothing technically complicated about it, but it's a massive job to rewrite such a game from scratch.. You'd probably be better off hacking the raw 64 code to run on the A8[1], and then emulate the sprites with the left over time.. I mean, it's nothing but standard multi-colour text mode (I think!), so you could just plonk it as is on the A8, but with better color choices, and it's not exactly bursting at the seams with on-screen sprites :) That'd be one for the record books, emulating a 64 game on the A8 ;)

     

    Either way, with the A8s scrolling this game should be a piece of cake on the A8 ;)

     

    [1] But part of me suspects it's probably full to the brim memory wise anyway.. Oh, and bugger, just forgot about the character set size, still I'm sure there'd be a way round it if since there's not a huge amount of characters on screen at once..

  10. Posted

    It's just that amazingly weak sine channel that is a deal breaker for me.

     

    Don't think it's a deal-breaker (even if it is a triangle rather than sine).. Follin's tunage would say not.. Hell, even JT made it sound like the original with RC3.. And that has fuck all clever shit going on.. Check the source to see it's about the music, not the technical abilities of the machine.. Damn, even the closing part of JT's set at Assembly 2012 reminded my why we love this shit :)

     

    (the first hour was shite though!)

  13. Posted

    Point one: is this the ONLY reason why you would learn english, so that you can have contact with analmux?

     

    Point two: what is your real problem with learning english in general? Is it too difficult for you? Don't you have plenty of time? Why don't you learn better english then? Or are you just too lazy to learn english?

     

    Surely it's a bit rude to derail his thread with accusations of poor English skills ? He has a good grasp and has come along enormously since he first appeared and I personally have no problem understanding him..

     

    Whilst we're out on the thin ice of the frozen language lake, yours aren't exactly the stuff of legends either, although I'm convinced that arrogant attitude is merely a side-effect of not speaking in your mother tongue :)

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    All of this is no reserve, Free P&P for Europe & UK, and just needs to be got rid of now as I need to clear things out ready to move, or else it's bin bound..

     

    Of main interest is likely the 400 I gave a new breath of life too..

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200809395383

     

    VIC-20 Carts:

    Jelly Monsters http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200809422842

    Radar Rat Race http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200809426198

    Gorf http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200809425387

    Star Battle http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200809424556

    Mole Attack http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200809423949

     

    PAL Sega Saturn http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200809341528

     

    Jaguar controller http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200809366636

     

    There's other toot too, but nothing of interest to the residents here I suspect :)

  15. Posted

    Surprisingly nice results.. I might have to give this a go on the next victim, although the keys still look fairly hazardous to human health ;)

     

    Actually, is it just the pictures being in different lighting, that makes the keys in the post-scrub picture seem to have lost some of their shine ? They look much more matte than the original picture..

  17. Posted

    Dunno about the UV questions, but don't let the Peroxide near an XE badge - the paint WILL peel off. Perhaps that's down to the phosphoric acid.

     

    I'm not sure I noticed much difference even though I just slopped it on all over the badge.. But then I haven't paid a lot of attention to it's original colour really ;)

     

    Anyway, another Vic-20 on the boil today, along with a 1530/C2N and those god awful white Commodore joysticks.. This whole process has had the unfortunate side-effect of totally rekindling my love affair with the beautiful beautiful VIC-20 :) I feel like 12 when I look at the beautiful white thing again!

     

    The XE family are pretty sexy too when they're all nice and shiny, before I get banned for too much VIC loving;)

  18. Posted

    Well I've just today booked a ticket for a Friday journey from London to Newcastle and back on Saturday for the (fairly) stonking sum of 117UKP (including next day delivery of tickets), it's not great, but then again it's not soooo bad really.. I mean it works out less than the petrol I would have consumed on a 600 mile round-trip if I still had my piece of magic driving paper, the one Snicklin is working on obtaining right now ;) You'll get there, and then you'll wonder why you bothered, petrol the price it is, insurance being monumentally insane, and then to top it all the roads are full of the stupid, the belligerent and the indifferent :)

     

    Anyway, I've no idea if I can make this or not.. Going to be moving to Newcastle end of this month, and since I'm car-less for the next 10 months it doesn't look like a pleasant choo-choo trip from that neck of the woods to Manchester, well not without it taking 127 hours on a series of what appear to be horribly slow trains :) Probably just as well.. I'd likely just get drunk and make an arse of myself anyway :)

  19. Posted

    Sorry all.. Alcohol plus internet access on too many contraptions and a bad day for other reasons meant my brain misfired on an awesomely retarded scale and I failed to keep a lid on it.. Remedial action has been taken.. And Emkay, I bow to your programming prowess now and in the future.. I was clearly wrong and have a lot to learn..

     

    Apologies for the disruption to 'normal' service.. Won't happen again :)

     

    Now... Fast PM updates or something wasn't it ?

    • Like 1

  24. Posted

    My intention is that I still like programming for the A8 family..

    Have you ever programmed them ? Or just talk shit all day ?

     

    What you have written above, points to a lie. You actually know the 6502 due to the C64 or other machine and put some code onto the A8 to have comparisions, hoping to find bad parts, as it seems...

     

    So what if I know 6502 down to a 64 ? For the record I learnt 6502 on a Microtan 65.. So what ? You think only people that start on an A8 are important ? You're a twat,as usual, if you believe that..

     

    And now we change the focus of the discussion?

    You should count the colours in the pictures and then look at common pictures on the A8 for up to the early 200x ....

     

    No.. You asked.

    Edit: still waiting for what you've written by the way ?

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