A Jaguar game with Parallax scrolling

[emkay]

Careful, you might make the Jaguar game look like the sub-par version if you keep going like this

 

We are (reboot) loving watching this evolve, keep it up!

 

 

800 1978/79

 

 

1.79MHz 8 bit CPU 16 Bit Adressbus , small help with Antic and GTIA

 

 

 

Jaguar 1994

 

13.3MHz CPU 16(32) Bit full 64 Bit graphicscontroller

 

 

I'd say: No problem, if the game looks somehow "sub par"

 

 

3 Things really would help moving the game in "par"

 

1. different char alignment

 

2. moving graphics over the whole sceen

 

3, score panel in overlay looks much cooler

 

 

The protagonist would also look very "fat" on the screen , when using 10 pixel width.

[emkay]

This one is built on 9 pixel....

 

 

 

freak.xex

[Heaven/TQA]

Watching the colour rotation.

This one makes the most sense . It really reminds of an icy tunnel.

 

We may be able to have different coloured sections within a level (corresponding to the changing platform types), I'll see when I've finished the DLI chain. As far as the score line goes, I can't see any way round it, as the players are all used and can go all the way to the top of the screen, and there's not enough chars left in the main playfield set to do the digits. Still, the scrolling region is 27 lines visible so I think it looks ok.

 

@heaven - see attached for "slowly scrolling" background - it moves at 0.5 lines per frame including the scroll. Is this what you meant? This may free up another char so the middle can be a 2x1 chars tile.

 

Cheers,

 

Simon

 

Edit: of course it helps if I actually attach the file

 

Sir, yes, sir! exactly what I ment with not static... now imho very good...

[Heaven/TQA]

Watching the colour rotation.

This one makes the most sense . It really reminds of an icy tunnel.

 

We may be able to have different coloured sections within a level (corresponding to the changing platform types), I'll see when I've finished the DLI chain. As far as the score line goes, I can't see any way round it, as the players are all used and can go all the way to the top of the screen, and there's not enough chars left in the main playfield set to do the digits. Still, the scrolling region is 27 lines visible so I think it looks ok.

 

@heaven - see attached for "slowly scrolling" background - it moves at 0.5 lines per frame including the scroll. Is this what you meant? This may free up another char so the middle can be a 2x1 chars tile.

 

Cheers,

 

Simon

 

Edit: of course it helps if I actually attach the file

 

and can the "ground" tile not be more "random pixel pattern" in terms of gfx?

[Rybags]

I think just for larfs it might be cool to use the Bounty Bob sprite.

 

Have him turn into the crushed pile of blob if he hits the top, and if he falls, have the scrolling show him fall into the ground with only his hat remaining.

[sack-c0s]

I got around to firing up the emulator last night. From the screen shots the platforms don't look like they stand out enough and it could make gameplay difficult or annoying, but when you see it in motion it actually looks a lot better than the pictures suggest and is very smooth and clear.

 

So anyone who hasn't gotten around to seeing it running yet should probably keep that in mind.

 

 

 

I'm curious about seeing a ZX spectrum version though - all the tricks being used here would work for consoles and the C64, but they don't exist for those guys so I'm wondering how they'd bruteforce their way around things

[+AtariNerd]

I find fascinating the side-effect that the overall screen motion creates, that prevents the eye-brain connection from being able to focus on individual details, which causes the dithering used to work much better than it might in a static picture. Probably not intended by design, but somehow very effective.

[Heaven/TQA]

I got around to firing up the emulator last night. From the screen shots the platforms don't look like they stand out enough and it could make gameplay difficult or annoying, but when you see it in motion it actually looks a lot better than the pictures suggest and is very smooth and clear.

 

So anyone who hasn't gotten around to seeing it running yet should probably keep that in mind.

 

 

 

I'm curious about seeing a ZX spectrum version though - all the tricks being used here would work for consoles and the C64, but they don't exist for those guys so I'm wondering how they'd bruteforce their way around things

 

Speccy / Armstrad could work with 2 Layers? Brute copy of the layers into frame buffer then paste rest over the background.

[Rybags]

Got doubts. A Spectrum or Amstrad would likely need some kind of kludge like only using every 2nd scanline for the moving stuff.

You could say the same for BBC. Character modes come into their own with this kind of thing, you just can't do it in bitmap with anything less than an Amiga or ST.

 

Or course VBXE could do all that moving around, but we're talking a 14 MHz engine able to copy/paste a pixel every 2 cycles there.

[Creature XL]

 

OK.

Just one idea. To make more action on the screen.

Because we have all PM free yet, what about some funny scoreboard build on this? Just like vertically scrolling in the center in it's own speed .

 

It would enhance the look of depth and you could fill the screen ?

 

 

But hopefully all the PMGs are about to be used - two players + two missiles for player (and active power-up if there is one), two players + two missiles for fruit, uncollected power-ups etc. It's a shame because it would look good, but I want all available colors and resolution for the foreground objects with no possibility of flickering when you get near the top of the screen. For a horizontal scroller with the same sort of graphics that would be ideal though.

 

Cheers,

 

Simon

 

I am alrite with the Gr.0 score board. And, even if not, i wouldn't try to change your mind, as it i your game - at least fro the most part.

Using PMG for overlay score-board would, however, be the final touch. We do not see it often on the XL (for obvious reasons). A solution which might work:

considering the player is mostly NOT in the top of the screen, you can just display the scores. IF it gets to the top, you "roll" the scores out, to avoid flickering.

If the player has moved down you scroll it back in (maybe after a minimum of off-time).

 

ouch, just realized that the fruits or power-ups could/would scroll till the top as well. So the idea is maybe not that practical. I will post it anyhow, maybe it is inspiring for others

[+GroovyBee]

Character modes come into their own with this kind of thing, you just can't do it in bitmap with anything less than an Amiga or ST.

 

Or the 7800 .

[Heaven/TQA]

Rybags... but you have scrolling games on Speccy/Armstrad, too... so you only need to calc the left side of the screen while the ride side is a brute copy of the left half?

[Rybags]

But scrolling in the context of this game doesn't really work since you've got the independant banded zones which are relying on charset switching.

 

Brute-force copy - I guess so, but in the end you're burning a ton of cycles plus getting a repeated effect rather than a mirrored one.

 

 

Actually, a non-mirrored look would look better for this game, e.g. offset by 1 character line the corresponding left/right rocks if possible.

[Heaven/TQA]

honestly... I think would be possible on frame buffer machines...

 

you can precalc the tiles... and maybe you can not do all 5 layers but at least 2 layers would work... the parallax is a nice eye-catchy fx but not for the game play necessary.

 

so I am still confident... but should that leave to formatwar.net

[Heaven/TQA]

f.e.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwzLpK1b0U8

[Heaven/TQA]

and on the CPC they left out the minimalistic parallax fx?

 

[Rybags]

Neither is anywhere near fullscreen though.

 

And remembering too, Spectrum = 256 pixels across and that first one cuts about 32 pixels out on the sides.

 

That aside, it's for someone else to worry about, and let's not forget about atrribute clash that would probably make it a very monochromatic affair.

[Heaven/TQA]

Rybags... nobody said it would not need tweaks and adjustments... had no 1:1 port in my mind.

 

but c64 should be no prob. does anybody work on that yet?

[Rybags]

C64 version would be good to do, I wouldn't mind - although of course music's another matter.

 

Such a simple game, the codebase could be 95% + in common pretty easily.

[emkay]

I am alrite with the Gr.0 score board. And, even if not, i wouldn't try to change your mind, as it i your game - at least fro the most part.

 

Not to forget the sense of the thread. A port as good as possible.

 

 

 

Using PMG for overlay score-board would, however, be the final touch. We do not see it often on the XL (for obvious reasons). A solution which might work:

considering the player is mostly NOT in the top of the screen, you can just display the scores. IF it gets to the top, you "roll" the scores out, to avoid flickering.

 

 

The indicators for live could be done with simple dots in the black ranges. 2 Player should really be enough for the main sprite.

The bonusses could disappear when they cannot be reached. So, in theory, there is no need to shorten the heigth...

 

 

 

If the player has moved down you scroll it back in (maybe after a minimum of off-time).

 

ouch, just realized that the fruits or power-ups could/would scroll till the top as well. So the idea is maybe not that practical. I will post it anyhow, maybe it is inspiring for others

 

 

...

[emkay]

Btw: To make the graphics more Jaguar, we still have the option to use double scanline charmode.

 

 

[Rybags]

What about powerups and penalties.

 

Is there a list of what the Jag version has?

 

If there's none, it'd be a cool idea to introduce some... maybe also stars or something, collect enough and you get an extra life.

[Heaven/TQA]

I would do it like in Boinxx... simply multiplex and then let the other sprites simply disappear when crossing that zone... no big deal.

[Heaven/TQA]

Btw: To make the graphics more Jaguar, we still have the option to use double scanline charmode.

 

beah...

[emkay]

Btw: To make the graphics more Jaguar, we still have the option to use double scanline charmode.

 

beah...

 

 

What?

At the current state it is far away from looking like the Jaguar version.

 

Double scanline saves a lot of memory and patterns get the double size.