tep392 Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 If its like DK I should be able to find the data for the boundry boxes, if you want to tweak them. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Even though I played this game a ton growing up – until doing this hack, I never knew you could press jump as you landed on the spring to directly reach the moving platform above! Yes, it's the same with the original. It seems to be a rather large hit box the collision detection uses. Same here concerning never knowing about the 'spring jump' back-in-the-day. It wasn't until emulation that I also 'discovered' that technique. Huge thanks for not only explaining, but also providing captures on the, indeed, rather large hit box. Figures I never noticed/encountered it prior to this hack, but glad the flaw is in the original game and not due to any changes with the graphics - Very cool - thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 If its like DK I should be able to find the data for the boundry boxes, if you want to tweak them. Yes, yes, yes! I know I've read a similar story before. It starts off with some graphics being hacked, tweaks to the gameplay, and then... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 I just got a DK Jr. cart yesterday and started wondering if anyone had considered hacking up the game to add POKEY sound. A quick search led me to this lovely thread. I've read it from beginning to end and I'm absolutely delighted that some folks have done their best to tweak and update the sprites and colors. I can only hope than when the Concerto cart and/or XM ever get into general availability, that more ROMS and XM-enhanced updates find their way to completion. Bravo to all the smart, talented and clever folks brining new life into our old systems! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.BAZ Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 this is a little late, but I thought of Faxanadu. and a 2nd in support of Double Dragon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosystemsearch Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I truly think that Desert Falcon, Xevious, Double Dragon, Xenophobe, and Scrapyard Dog would be great candidates for the XM!(Desert Falcon upgraded will POKEY, Xevious gets POKEY as well, Xenophobe has more levels and POKEY sound, Double dragon more graphical detail+POKEY music, and Scrapyard Dog XM gets password system and Yahama chip sound) :D ;) :D :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC-42 Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 I truly think that Desert Falcon, Xevious, Double Dragon, Xenophobe, and Scrapyard Dog would be great candidates for the XM!(Desert Falcon upgraded will POKEY, Xevious gets POKEY as well, Xenophobe has more levels and POKEY sound, Double dragon more graphical detail+POKEY music, and Scrapyard Dog XM gets password system and Yahama chip sound) :D ;) :D :D Fantastic ideas. I'm a little busy working on my own little 7800 game just now. You volunteering to crank these out? I'm sorry if that seems kinda cranky, I guess.... It's just that, with all the tools and materials and all of the actual living, breathing experience all around us on this forum, learning to program for the 7800 need not be so far out of reach as it seems. I have a family of 5 and no time at all in my life and even I am managing to churn out a meager little game for the 7800. Take a chance, see what you can learn. Doesn't cost anything, really. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stun Runner 87 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagCD Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 A fixed Double Dragon would be delightful. :-) I second that -- Double Dragon with the ability to continue and pokey sound would be an incredible addition to the 7800. I'd settle for the existing graphics -- they really aren't terrible (although it is clear from other thread that the 7800 was capable of more). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+darryl1970 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 I'm getting there... Still got more animations to do on the turtle and crab, but the basic walk is done. Mario test_00.png This is looking really good. I noticed the Sidesteppers are missing a little bit of "bounce" in the animation. I do not know your level or programming; if not you, somebody needs to fix Mario's step. Tapping the joystick in either direction results in Mario morving without changing his step frame. This is really sad, and one of the reasons I can't stand the 7800 port. Also, if somebody could get the turtules to jump out of their shells, like on the 5200 and arcade versions. If not, a compromise would be lto do it like Mario Bros XE. I don't know if there are available frames for this. Heard some great tiunes. Were those TIA or Pokey? The Pokey isn't bad in the right hands, although Pokey would be great too. It would be great if Mario's jump arch could be fixed too. These great graphic improvements deserve a better backend code! Great work so far. Love to see the next improvements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 I truly think that Desert Falcon, Xevious, Double Dragon, Xenophobe, and Scrapyard Dog would be great candidates for the XM!(Desert Falcon upgraded will POKEY, Xevious gets POKEY as well, Xenophobe has more levels and POKEY sound, Double dragon more graphical detail+POKEY music, and Scrapyard Dog XM gets password system and Yahama chip sound) :D ;) :D :D The XEGS version of Desert Falcon doesn't really have better audio than the 7800 original especially when taking into account the XEGS - like all A8 and 5200 hardware - had a POKEY standard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 The XEGS version of Desert Falcon doesn't really have better audio than the 7800 original especially when taking into account the XEGS - like all A8 and 5200 hardware - had a POKEY standard. Smacks of Tramiel era development, which often meant ... get a bulk deal on the licenses, and then cheaply develop other versions for your other consoles. Usually, the XE games were 'better' because they were original A8 disks put on a cartridge from the original devs; whereas the 7800 versions were quick ports done cheaply. Karateka especially comes to mind here. Went the other way sometimes though. Both Desert Falcon and Food Fight were done by GCC with the 7800 in mind; whereas the XE versions were quick, cludgy ports. Exceptions to this exist though. Commando was pretty awesome on both systems. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Exceptions to this exist though. Commando was pretty awesome on both systems. Quite, but there were still a lot things left off of the XL/XE version that were doable. The 7800 version is polished. Being that the XL/XE version was never officially released, I'm guessing there would have been some polish added first. How much, we don't know. Tempest mentioned in a thread once that the notes at Atari listed the game as being complete (in fact this is what he has listed on his site). But who knows how accurate the notes were, especially with all the other unorganized things that were going on there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Quite, but there were still a lot things left off of the XL/XE version that were doable. The 7800 version is polished. Being that the XL/XE version was never officially released, I'm guessing there would have been some polish added first. How much, we don't know. Tempest mentioned in a thread once that the notes at Atari listed the game as being complete (in fact this is what he has listed on his site). But who knows how accurate the notes were, especially with all the other unorganized things that were going on there. And then you have Crossbow which does play better on the 7800 but the XEGS version has a better title screen and great POKEY audio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Quite, but there were still a lot things left off of the XL/XE version that were doable. The 7800 version is polished. Being that the XL/XE version was never officially released, I'm guessing there would have been some polish added first. can you give examples? There are definitely things I don't like quite as well in the XE version, but i chalked that up to hardware differences. 1 The sound isn't as polished. But to be fair, the 7800 version is using both POKEY (for music) and TIA (for sound) and is the only 7800 game to do so. The XE just has the one POKEY to use. 2. The controls feel weird. But again, the 7800 has a two button controller, the XE a one button. Makes things trickier 3. The game has less color in spots. Again, I chalked this up to MARIA vs. GTIA and which displays colors and sprites more easily. I really like the XE Commando and wish it was released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 And then you have Crossbow which does play better on the 7800 but the XEGS version has a better title screen and great POKEY audio. Arguably, better Village and Desert "scene" graphics under the XE port as well. The 7800 looks very good in many places, but could have/should have been better. 100% agreed plays better on the 7800. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Arguably, better Village and Desert "scene" graphics under the XE port as well. The 7800 looks very good in many places, but could have/should have been better. My memory is hazy on this, but I think they have been developed by different shops. IIRC, Sculptured Software did the XE version and Imagineering did the 7800 version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MobiusAqua Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Actually, the 7800 version's copyright screen says "Developed by Sculptured Software". So maybe Imagineering did the XE version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Actually, the 7800 version's copyright screen says "Developed by Sculptured Software". So maybe Imagineering did the XE version? THE XE one has "developed by Sculptured Software. Don't see any "developed by" on the 7800 one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 THE XE one has "developed by Sculptured Software. Don't see any "developed by" on the 7800 one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Whoops - I was referring to crossbow having different developers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) can you give examples? There are definitely things I don't like quite as well in the XE version, but i chalked that up to hardware differences. Yes, hardware/color/sprite capabilities aside... 1. The secret locations where the prisoners are held are just crap on the XE version. Instead of dodging boulders and enemies to get to the prisoners you've got a few rubber snakes, a rubber rat, and what looks like a pancake-flat bottle (you don't have to dodge that). None of these do ANYTHING; they're all pasted to the floor and only carelessness or cerebral palsy would cause anyone to be in danger of colliding with them. The only animations aside from yourself in these scenes are the prisoners squirming around, and these scenes are all the same throughout the whole game. There could at least have been a few enemies in there, but not a trace. Additionally there are not as many secret areas, but they're not missed for their dullness, which is another issue. There's no reason why they had to use so few colors. The dark is ok I suppose (although why doesn't the protagonist get darker if he's in a darker place?), but there still could be more general use of color. There's not a single DLI, but there are plenty on the every normal game screen. This is one of the reasons I think it may have been incomplete, as why would they not at least throw a few enemies down there, or at least animate the snake and mouse. To me the snake and mouse look like placeholders more than anything else. 2. The enemy death sprite shape is totally different from the 7800 version. It looks like the guy is being blown apart, which isn't such a bad way to simulate the death. But it's nothing like the 7800 enemy death, which much more like what happens in the arcade. This all could be down to technical reason, such as keeping the byte-width of the graphic down in order to maintain the frame-rate. I know there are parts where the graphic action will slow things down a little, due to so many softsprites. But those are usually when large objects are being animated, like the jeeps, which aren't on screen that long anyway. So it wouldn't have affected all but the smallest amount of gameplay. 3. The score panels looks pretty dull. I know the XE's hi-res is not as capable as on the 7800, so hence the reason for using Antic E, but a single DLI with color changes would have done wonders to set the score panels off from the rest of the scenery. I think there are a few other touches here and there in the 7800 that were left off too, like maybe kissing the nurse at the end. Otherwise it's a great looking game, and I think it has more levels and different level graphics than the 7800 version, but I can't recall for sure -- I'd have to examin them again (been a few years since I've played through the 7800 version). 1 The sound isn't as polished. But to be fair, the 7800 version is using both POKEY (for music) and TIA (for sound) and is the only 7800 game to do so. The XE just has the one POKEY to use. Yeah, given there. 2. The controls feel weird. But again, the 7800 has a two button controller, the XE a one button. Makes things trickier I like the XE controls fine, but it's definitely more natural to have that extra button for the grenades. Actually Commando XE should be hacked for using a Genesis controller. In fact I might just take the time and do that myself, now that I've thought of it. 3. The game has less color in spots. Again, I chalked this up to MARIA vs. GTIA and which displays colors and sprites more easily. Given... I really like the XE Commando and wish it was released. I'm glad it was found and released as it is, but it's a great candidate for being enhanced if anyone is ever up to the task. Was the proto the "final" version? I think it's up in the air... Edited November 9, 2015 by MrFish 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Sculptured did the awesome MK2 port to SNES (Probe did the crappy Genesis port). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Arguably, better Village and Desert "scene" graphics under the XE port as well. The 7800 looks very good in many places, but could have/should have been better. 100% agreed plays better on the 7800. I'd love to see the title screen and the POKEY audio ported to the 7800 version. Throw in HSC support and maybe some extra digitized samples from the arcade original and you'd end up with the best 8-bit port of the game. Of course, there still needs to be a Trak-Ball version too! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Defender_2600 Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Arguably, better Village and Desert "scene" graphics under the XE port as well. The 7800 looks very good in many places, but could have/should have been better. 100% agreed plays better on the 7800. I'd love to see the title screen and the POKEY audio ported to the 7800 version. ... 7800 Crossbow deserves a complete updated graphics with characters / sprites redrawn from scratch, updated tiles and new colors. I would like to work on it so I'm giving a first look at the graphics / rom , however it will be a very long project because currently I'm already working on some 7800 projects. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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