José Pereira

Welcome to same team as me. That is what I have in mind and questioning all these years and the reason that from time to time I talk here about Gauntlet... EDITED: Now that more than 30years have passed will it finally come an answer? And maybe someone to change if isn't asking for too much...

Yes that I corrected at the begining after your post that make me watch some YouTube videos. When is one type of enemys we could have its main colour whatever we want but if more than one maybe the better solution is to have that colour the one that makes them more seen/different than the walls and grounds gfxs (if, for example, is a grays level then maybe better enemys main colour be brown). What more than one type of enemys may turn not so possible charmode is that they will increase the number of chars they use. I'll see C64 charset(s) this night and some videos to see how's the enemys: number of frames and how many different on the same level, how much bonus, walls,... It's not all that important other than just get finally an answer that I never got and is possible today with emulators, internet and these forums discussions: "Would it had been possible that Gauntlet used charmode to have a 5th colour on the gfxs?".

No. The point is that the coder had problems, no time and had to do some decisions on his life. And on PoP Yes what I proposed was accepted by him and other(s) person(s) that joined the project. And it maybe went to more and unexpected (maybe A8 will have a nicer and totally different looking than the others...) that when it is it will be and you'll see it ... If he ends is current project then Prince of Persia is the following and is not because of technical problems but with people's own life outside A8. Coders code when have time to do it and you talk all the time because you have time. I wish coders have your available time.

PoP please contact the coder...

Yes, mistaked because there can be more than one type of enemys at the same level but then it still can be and have all them with the same PF3 colour. And No the enemys doesn't seem to ever overlap eachother and always move in charsteps so it still makes sense my proposal.

And I'm still with the opinion that the in-game playing area could had be done in Antic4 charmode. The C64 is in charmode and their charset has 256chars when ours has only 128chars. If the charsets were done on A8 where's the reason we got GR.15 bitmap mode? I think the answer is in a wrong decision and A8 didn't get the right (the usual ) treatment as the others. There wasn't no need to... And why? There isn't a need for any 'fancy tricks' nor multiple/cmplicated charsets. The problem is for the enemys (normal ones: ghost, sorcerer, fat guy and monster) each use 4chars x number of frames (moving/different directions). If, lets say that each has 8frames x 4chars = 32chars each that the 4 already takes ours 128chars charset. But if we call each enemys to the current level (ghots frames then the same chars are used on the next level where are sorcerers,...) this would get us only 32chars (if they vare 8frames...). This way we would had 96chars free and I'm almost sure that this is enough for the simple ground design, walls, exit, bonus, teletransport, enemys generators,... If C64 had also something like ours 128chars limit I'm sure they would do exactly this to have their colourmap, this is the true, sad but it is. Problem is we never get the attention we deserved .

O.K. lets show it... I am using exactly same PFs bit-pairs and nothing changing other than the in.game be in ANTIC4 charmode. -> PICTURE SCREEN: The title screen picture is already in charmode (like, I think, it was Tezz some time ago that confirmed it in here). PF0/PF1 are dark and medium red luminances and light/pink is PF2 all screen high and PF3 also the same in some scanlines and then is the DLIs rainbow on the logo. In some scanlines the PF2 can be other than pink that makes possible to have other colour(s) (here the yellow and orange) on the weapons, hair,... And ther's still open the possibility to add PMGs and coloured it more like we do in G2F, RastaConverter,..: -> CREDITS AND CONTROLS SCREENS: Like I always do and think that is better is to have dark luminance on titles and then underneath line in lighter (normally credits names in white) and also because keys are rectangular forms then they should be in inverse mode and distinct to the other texts. On the Controls screen I also have 2Players left and other 2 on the right in the U.S.Gold logo and white are again 2 at left and 2 at the right Missiles in 5th Player mode: -> PLAYERS CHOOSE SCREEN: Like in the Gauntlet picture here it can also be better/more colours in charmode and PF2&PF3 with some, not much DLIs: -> IN-GAME SCREENS: The game have PF0/PF1 as dark and light luminances and PF2 is the medium luminance. PF3 is on the fires of our guys that are Missiles in 5th Player mode. Beeing the game in GR.15 bitmap and if we turn it into GR.12 charmode instead to get an aditional color? First I wanna say that in case of PF1 and in most of these 1colour and 3luminances of it I most of the times prefer that the lightest be white. This way the PF3 could be the colour we used on the enemys. In ghosts it can be lightest gray (0C), in sorcerers a lilac/purple (colour 5 or 6), brown (colour1 or F) for the monsters and the fat guys a pale green (E8) or (EA),... The only constraint is that now our guys fires have to be lightest gray/... but that isn't a problem/nor look worse, I think. For the bonus (here where you'll see 2screens at the same) we can have them blinking, like one frame with PF2 and the other with PF3. Also in some level that are in grays I probably suggest that with all the more colours we have on A8 palette they could be other as we already have white and sometimes (when there are ghosts) a light gray. But no more 'blah, blah, blah!...', here are some in-game if in charmode (Levels 001->007): Yes, this just one more makes all the difference, doesn't it? ...

On Gauntlet the 2guys are 2Players in multicolour mode and their fires that are each 2Missiles in 5th Player Mode geting PF3 colour and all enemys aren't really soft sprites. These move in charsteps with just replacing their frames. They're like you have a letter 'A' and replaced it by a 'B'. And in 32Bytes wide without any soft sprite using isn't all that hard to... And by the way, do we have now a start of "Best do it in Gr.2"? And where's GR.7? At least the coherence is that the two are double line resolution . Best would be the two in presence. Mode 2+7...

Just posted also on the http://atariage.com/forums/topic/261558-games-genres-that-we-dont-have-on-our-a8/page-3?do=findComment&comment=3686287 topic:

Always thought that Gauntlet one more colour in Antic4 charmode would make the difference in at least the enemys be different coloured and distinctable from the walls. When Lost Dragon revival that Atari User magazine where they said the charsets were done on A8 I'm wondering if the playing area gfxs and monsters has 128chars and it could be. Does anyone ever inspected it? Monsters move in char steps and have 4 direction and are how many? And objects, bonus, exit, walls,... aren't all that much, I think. It would be great if anyone could change it to charmode. Anyone? P.s.- In the colours of the playing area wich dark, medium and light are PF0/PF1/PF2? Can someone see? Thanks.

Thanks. Nice images there.

@Stephen can you post the original lamp? Just curious as it also seems perfect for a G2F conversion. And the other maybe if you post the original maybe someone is interested but not me also because of the computer.

After 86 on Poland the game I know that has A8 and C64 versions is Hans Kloss and beeing so popular and by the way of looking I'm almost sure that is A8 to C64. And on 80s I remember to read in AtariUser magazine that Gauntlet were done on A8 then ported but it turned from ours in GR.15 bitmap mode to C64 charmode so the code ended up changed.

To delete! It's also unfair to have 2x times the same post ...

O.K. and what about now? P.s.- It's not fair to decrease counter 3numbers in a single post!...

That isn't there any PMG overlay it is a simple PF0->PF3 64chars charset using original A8 own GR.1 font for the game area and also original GR.0 font for the top scores/lives/energy, nothing more than our guy is made with 4 PMGs. It doesn't use PFs, is totally made of and only with PMGs in multicolour mode and in A8 we could even get the hardware horizontal scrolling that the ZXs don't have in they move in char steps.

On A8 we have 40Bytes width that gives some more wide though not 32chars visible but only 20 but to look better and because of the 2:1 ratio we could also give some more charlines to the playing area (maybe 26charlines + 2 for the panel gives 28 and that with 1blank at the top and another at the bottom still be seen even for NTSC people)...

I already propose a game based on a ZX's LumASCII: Because we can't/not much ways of colourings on hi-res then on A8 we can use GR.1 on the playing area and Gr.0 for the top panel/scores&energy and then our guy could use PMGs but sadly and once again no-one got it : http://atariage.com/forums/topic/208115-spectrum-lumascii/?hl=%2Bgr.1&do=findComment&comment=2686507 -> Only PFs / Only PMGs: -> The game will look like this:

O.K. title changed.

Sadly noticed only now here on web news page but it seems it was on 22th. A little wiki of him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaya_Nakamura_(Namco) R.i.p.

If you had C64 and because of its large, comprehensive and well explaining book that came with the computer you can, and also because of its hardware specifications, that you in days can design, put and move sprites (x,y) on screen, text and colours also, sounds and music,... by just for/let/next/data and poke does all that in all their gfxs modes, sprites size and moving, channels and notes. With a couple of basic words you do all and on the end without thinking you are learning quickly and easily the machines adresses. Anyone easy understand let/for/next/goto/gosub/return and this together with poke is all that is needed for anything, even (x,y) positioning. This is maybe the reason why more people on C64 easily went to Assembly, Poke a,b is like a sta/lda... Of course that on the A8 we also easily understand these words common to all Basics and we could get many things in all the gfxs modes like draw a line(s) but we don't had a book like that one of the C64. I had wrote many Basic listings but never/ever put a value on a poke adress and never understood why on the magazines were those large listings that had only a for/read/usr/next and then hundred of data lines that in the end and if all was entered good was an 'et voilá here's a game'. And that's why some years later when a friend show me and gave me a photocopyed large book of Assembly I tried and even take it with me on a vacances to my grandparents village on an August that instead of playing soccer and other things I stayed allmost inside the house and never got anything. Yeah, I know that maybe also a reason was that I never met anyone that coded anything seriously and in Assembly back then on any 8bits and even later on the 16bits and the MS-DOS. And like me also my ZX's friends only displayed text and plot/draw lines. Yes the A8 and Sinclair have really this similarity in their Basic that ended up beeing the same type that ours only/main differences are ours different gfxs modes and the own machines hardware specifications...

How? I'm also seeing like @zzip, isn't there anyother basic word that is more related and direct to Assembly as POKE, maybe USR on A8 or SYS on C64 Basics...

Yes, thanks. I already got it and posted. Still missing the other 2 that maybe are his black contour/shadow?

Posted also also on AtariOnline and I may have found the MISSILE(S) and the other PLAYER(S), at least 1 or 2: Humm... regarding MISSILES it see that is, at least one, on Ricky hat it has 9pixels and his black contour/shadow? If isn't the black (00) BAK colour register then is other PLAYER and a MISSILE?Sorry, not to critic but just for curiosity. I sincerily hope the author don't mind, it's just my usual curiosity working ...

Strange thing is that on 2 of those 3 screens in the left normal A8 Rick sprite isn't PMG coloured like is on the one you see here/the only one of the 2 at AtariOnline. Why? Don't get it as Rick is [1+1] PLAYERS in multicolour mode giving 3rd colour and on those 2 it is like the enemys just a soft sprite using the 3 PFs colours same as the enemys. On the other hand I think I remember to saw the remaining 2PLAYERS used in some underlays on gfxs to add some more colour(s). Wondering where are they now... And the 4MISSILES?