Omega-TI Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I've seen video game remakes over the years, some for pretty obscure games, some for even more obscure computer systems. In all that time, I have never seen a remake of Parsec! I know the TI was not the most popular or well known machine, but it was not scraping the bottom of the barrel either. Could it be that no one wants to screw with perfection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrospect Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) I have seen an old remake or two .... one of which was a very poor rendition of Parsec on the Atari 800 .... It was awful! But as for modern remakes, no, there are none .... and you are right , nobody can touch perfection Edited June 21, 2013 by Retrospect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Perfection? Well, I also loved this game as a child, and I might be walking into a mine field here, but technically, since the color of the scrolled area is all yellow they should not have used bitmap mode. They could have done this much more efficiently using normal graphics mode, and the scrolling could have been pixel smooth and full screen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrospect Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Interesting Rasmus .... because the use of Bitmap mode was the one reason the game could not be played on the more rare 99/4 (chiclet keyboard model) I see why they did it all one colour though, because as you changed levels, the colour of the background changed with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Look up the Bigfoot remake by Howard Kistler... Also Tunnels of Doom Reboot by the same guy. He is an awesome programmer and a great guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 There's a Hunt the Wumpus remake here: http://www.dreamcodex.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) And MunchMates at the same site, also Howard Kistler, is a remake of Munch-Man. Howard is The Codex here at AtariAge, though not presently active, and also coder of Magellan. In Owen's interview with Howard at Retrogaming Times Monthly, he talks about a remake of Parsec in the pipe named Parsecutor. Edited June 22, 2013 by sometimes99er 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 There was a Parsec remake in the works a long time ago. The project died and early death. It looked good. I have attached a couple of the promo videos. It was to be a multi-universe multi-player game. The demo was fun to play. Each "universe" was to be an independent server, and you would move between them by way of a star gate ("It's the 'Fargate'!... "F"! It's different from that movie which I've never seen, so how would I copy it? ... I just want to make sure we are clear, it's the 'Fargate'. Goes far, get it?! And there is no way it came from that movie or that syndicated series based on the movie.") parsec_fall.mpg parsec_trailer.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senior_falcon Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Way cool! Thanks for sharing. But how did they get such detailed graphics from the TI-99? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) There was a Parsec remake in the works a long time ago. The project died and early death. It looked good. I have attached a couple of the promo videos. There's a site for that one. From what I see, there's really nothing but the name in common. Would hardly call it a remake. Do they mention the TI version at all ? There was another one, which had elements from the original one, sideway scrolling, avoid asteroids scene, name was Parsector, Parsectoids or something. Windows based, and it had a site for a few years until about maybe 2006. Edited July 8, 2013 by sometimes99er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 From what I see, there's really nothing but the name in common. Would hardly call it a remake. Do they mention the TI version at all ? If there was any mention of the original, I did not see it. None of the ships carry a name similar to the originals, let alone even remotely resembling any of the original ships. Now I could buy into a 3D version of Parsec from the cockpit view, but I totally agree with you, the only thing the same is the name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 There's a site for that one. From what I see, there's really nothing but the name in common. Would hardly call it a remake. Do they mention the TI version at all ? Holy crap, it lives! I gave up looking for it after the original development project went off-line. This site looks like it's pretty much the same as the original with some recent updates (you know, like the "28.8k modem" minimum spec.) ISTR a short dedication to the original TI Parsec, but reading the history section that may have come after the new game concept. This may explain the differences from what I remember: After the source release of Parsec in May 2003, the original Parsec Project will be closed. However, some members of the original Parsec Project will continue working on Parsec as members of the open source development effort. I never read the FAQ back in the day. I tried pulling up Archive.org copies of the old site to no avail. The current site still has links to the old site, which no longer exists, obviously. Ah, well. Does "Beyond Parsec" count as a remake, or a sequal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Well, TI told him not to use Parsec in the name, so it became "Beyond Space". I wouldn't call it a remake for sure. A sequel ? Yeah, why not. http://www.99er.net/jphillips.html With Parsec's popularity, I felt a 2-player version would be a sure hit. I created a storyboard concept and began coding the software as a submission to TI. The concept was two ships in a moveable asteroid field. The asteroids would move if they were fired upon, so they could be used as both an offensive and defensive weapon. I used the sound effects created for Parsec and submitted it to TI. They loved it and accepted it as a Class A submisstion. But TI announced they were killing the home computer. They released the software back to me with the condition that I did not use the Parsec name. So, I renamed the game "Beyond Space." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) There's a site for that one. From what I see, there's really nothing but the name in common. Would hardly call it a remake. The project didn't get finished. I'd say that's as TI-99/4A project. What might be fun would be to remake TI-99/4A games as they were depicted on the gen 2 instruction manuals. Imagine Car Wars with the futuristic looking cars they pictured. Edited July 8, 2013 by S1500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Well, TI told him not to use Parsec in the name, so it became "Beyond Space". I wouldn't call it a remake for sure. A sequel ? Yeah, why not. http://www.99er.net/jphillips.html Be that as it may, I have a cartridge with the label "Beyond Parsec" and the splash graphics to go with it... is that not normal? I would like to think I have one gem amongst my many unrare cartridges, especially since "Spy's Demise" is going to sell on eBay for over $200! Not that I would sell it, but to SAY I have a $200 cartridge in my stock-pile. heheheh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 (edited) I like the idea of a remake. I’ll give it a try, no promises, will probably be something on and off. First of all I’d like to replicate the first level. Copy look and feel to an almost pixel-perfect degree. Not including tricks like laser-trails. And probably resynthesizing voice effects. Secondly, I’d like to slowly expand the universe, at first faithfully to the original style, but also within “top view” capabilities of the chips (9918A, 9919 and 5220). Any input or branching is welcome. http://en.wikipedia....ec_(video_game) http://xona.com/ti994a/parsec.html http://www.videogame...net/parsec.html Edited July 9, 2013 by sometimes99er 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 I like the idea of a remake. I’ll give it a try, no promises, will probably be something on and off. One request... enable a CHEAT CODE! (Not all of us are great players, I've NEVER been past level 5) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Here's the Parsec XL for Atari XL/XE 64 KB ... http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-parsec-xl_8627.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Here's the Parsec XL for Atari XL/XE 64 KB O M G They destroyed with 64k what was done perfectly with 16k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willsy Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 O M G They destroyed with 64k what was done perfectly with 16k. Wow! They certainly did didn't they! It looks awful! Oh dear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 (edited) I fire up Parsec in Classic99 with the Debugger turned on. Ship flies steadily across the sky.SAL at >1B00>1B00: 50 46 84 0C 50 35 88 03>1B08: D02 sprites. Must be ship and exhaust. Got starting positions. First one (>50) for both is vertical position. Actual patterns must be offset (not at top left corner) within the sprites to line up.SDT at >1800First sprite starts at character >84Location of first sprite pattern at >84 * 8 + >1800 = >1C20>1C20: 00 00 3E 11 08 FF 80 47 ...Entering the string in Patterns reveals ... the ship !Hello ship, hello world. Edited November 27, 2014 by sometimes99er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 Looking at the SAL, I moved the ship up and down. Upper limit seems to end at between >05 and >0F. Moving slightly down from >05, will even make the new value the upper limit. Ship moves up and down. You can use arrow keys or E and X. Lower limit set to insure a crash with the message area. Lift can be changed using the number keys, 1, 2 and 3. Area below should be Flash and you should be able to interact - though very limited for now. [media=544,416]http://sometimes.planet-99.net/parsec/p1.swf[/media] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 What is this sorcery?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfollett Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 (edited) I'm not saying the Atari version is great by any means, but those unfamiliar with the Atari emulators might not have realized that the game relied on color artifacting. Here's an Atari screen shot with artifacting turned on. Unfortunately I don't consider any of the emulators artifacting to be entirely accurate. For instance there are some green colors between the numbers/letters that I don't think would really show on a real TV. Bob Edited July 13, 2013 by bfollett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 I'm not saying the Atari version is great by any means, but those unfamiliar with the Atari emulators might not have realized that the game relied on color artifacting. Here's an Atari screen shot with artifacting turned on. Unfortunately I don't consider any of the emulators artifacting to be entirely accurate. For instance there are some green colors between the numbers/letters that I don't think would really show on a real TV. Bob Reminds me of the color "effects" caused by the Apple's simplistic TTL-based video generator when using white vertical lines with black adjacent. And FFS, "Space Gliders"? Really?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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