Lucasfilm David Fox on YouTube

[Heaven/TQA]

Just if someone never discovered this:

 

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=VHz7LT10jL0

 

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=QYnFfIscHgo

[Rybags]

Watched the first 2 parts and start of the 3rd...

 

gotta goto bed.

 

Seems they edited out the Fractulus clip. The bloke seems not so great at public speaking but it's good to get some of the inside info.

 

And... WTF is he doing using that piece of crap AKA Quicktime?

Edited August 17, 2008 by Rybags

[TwiliteZoner]

Just if someone never discovered this:

 

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=VHz7LT10jL0

 

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=QYnFfIscHgo

 

Thanks for the link. Very interesting.

[+Philsan]

So George Lucas had the idea of the aliens pretending to be pilots.

[emkay]

Just if someone never discovered this:

 

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=VHz7LT10jL0

 

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=QYnFfIscHgo

 

 

 

What to say? I'm not sure how authentical this really is (80% ? )

 

In part 4 he says that they prefered the C64 for doing Koronis Rift, because they had more colours available and to fade in the mountains in.

Actually, That fact in the Atari version. The Mountains fade in better and the view depth is one layer more, While on the C64 version the layers are reduced and the mountains plopping into the screen.

And, while the C64 version never uses more than 16 colours, the A8 Version simply shows 48 of them...

 

My guess: He saw the picture of the C64 version more colourfull and did a wrong combination to his memories.

 

 

Atari Version has only 4 colours, while the C64 version uses 16 colours...

 

Atari:

 

C64:

 

 

 

 

Really interesting to know that Lucasfilm got 1Million $ to produce the games.

 

Hey, THEY GOT 1Million where others got nothing and they didn't even care about using some player for underlaying the title graphics...

 

 

It shows exactly what I allways thought of : They used the A8 like a "powercomputer" simple usage of cpu powers and a special customized screen, to have the games running. That's what they did also on a "Cray" computer (who cares wasting cpu time).

No usage of special software enhancements, but screen syncing for 60hz computer was done.

I'm even more sure now, that Rescue on Fratalus and Koronis Rift, and The Eidolon can run faster on a PAL machine.

 

Check the C64 version. It runs faster on a 50 Hz computer as it does on 60hz. So there are CPU optimizations done to have this "Slideshow" on the C64.

At least for The Eidolon they created the custom loader to have some music while loading.... years later.

 

 

Really, C64 guys always say that the "conversion" were bad programmed, which looks like the cause for the slowness of the C64's versions.

I say, the facts are vice versa. The C64 versions have code optimizations for compensating the slow cpu, while the A8 versions were the unoptimized "proto types"....

[Rybags]

I think he just got mixed up when talking about Koronis.

 

Since the A8 version uses GTIA luma mode, there are 16 shades available, where the C-64 only has it's black, white and 2 greys.

 

The argument for the C-64 version being deliberately slower doesn't wash - for games like Fractalus/Koronis the conversion for the rendering engine would have been reasonably straight-forward.

 

The '64 does have the downside though in that the way it's bitmap graphics are mapped, drawing routines aren't quite as fast as the Atari.

 

With the Atari, you know that a (Y+1) position is always 40 bytes ahead (assuming you're mapping contiguously). On the C-64 it can be 1 byte, or 320 bytes ahead.

 

When addressing single (random) points, you can use a lookup table on both machines - but I think you'll also find a slight advantage towards the Atari there.

[Heaven/TQA]

Yeah, I spotted the "Koronis is better because of more colours"-thing in the presentation as well but thought David mixed that up... we know that our Koronis is far better... I guess he ment compared to Rescue on Fractalus at least Koronis Rift has "blending in" mountains.

Edited August 18, 2008 by Heaven/TQA

[twh/f2]

Really cool. So my avatar actually shows the face of Charli )))

 

honestly great stuff !!

 

grtx,

\twh

[FastRobPlus]

He seemed kinda history-challenged in those videos.

"We were getting 6 or 7 frames per second while Microsoft Flight Simulator was getting 1 or 2" [Pause for chuckles.]

 

Um... Okay. You mean the popular BAO-developed game Flight Smulator and Flight Simulator II published by Sublogic for the Apple, TRS-80, Commodore and Atari? Or the identical BAO Flight Simulator ported to DOS and published by Microsoft for 8088?

Oh, sorry David, you mean you only get the chuckles if you say it was a Microsoft game? Or is your memory just really that faded that you don't know who was making the #1 selling game at the time you were a developer?

 

Ironicly, he could have gotten more laughs if he compared the framerate of Rescue on Fractalus to Microsoft's own Flight Simulator 2000.

[+Allan]

He said if you type 'author' on the 8-bit version the programmer's names come up. I wonder if they put them in the 5200 version? I tried typing 'author' on the keypad using the telephone system but it didn't work. They still might be there.

 

Allan

[+Allan]

I contacted David Fox and he thinks the names should be in the 5200 version but doesn't remember how to get them to come up. Anybody want to guess at what the right combination would be? Anybody want to look at the binary to see if they could find it?

 

Allan

[peteym5]

I am watching these videos and in part 4 when he discusses Time Warner selling Atari to Jack Tramiel. The nickname "Jack the Hutt" fits him perfect. Oh did you know, when Jack Tremial and his team were walking up to Atari for the first time, someone announced "Imperial Troops have entered the base, Imperial Troops have entered the base..." The Atari days of being a great video game company have ended. Also reminds me of when the Emperor takes over the Old Republic and becomes the Empire.

[+Allan]

I am watching these videos and in part 4 when he discusses Time Warner selling Atari to Jack Tramiel. The nickname "Jack the Hutt" fits him perfect. Oh did you know, when Jack Tremial and his team were walking up to Atari for the first time, someone announced "Imperial Troops have entered the base, Imperial Troops have entered the base..." The Atari days of being a great video game company have ended. Also reminds me of when the Emperor takes over the Old Republic and becomes the Empire.

 

That person was Landon Dyer. Here's his blog. That story is in it.

 

http://www.dadhacker.com/blog/?p=987

 

Allan

[Rybags]

Great little story there.

 

I think we've been over it before, but DK was probably by far the best arcade conversion done on the A8.