STUNT CAR RACER?

[emkay]

Imagine if you will that a friend was giving away apple pies that they had spent many days to prepare and bake out of the goodness of their heart. Keep in mind that they are neither seeking fame or fortune for this gift that they have given you. You taste it, and say it's good, but then suggest to them it would have been better if they had used green apples instead of red ones.

Things were a little more complex. The suggestion of green apples could give new ideas to the baker.

But, what some people want is to get an extra Rolex to get any happy , after someone spent them a nice wristwatch, he has to manage the Rolex also.

[+mytek]

NO individual person here has been called by ugly names, there is no constructive-vs-destructive stuff, and based on your contributions to this thread, you should avoid double-moral standards. And I will remind you of it, quickly.

 

ALL of us here have praised SCR-port, ad-nauseum... pages and pages of it (from every single one of us). But the notion implied here that those who expect or look forward to extract the best of their user experience is a sign of disrespect to SCR authors is PURE NON-SENSE.

 

As simple as that. End of the story.

 

Maybe not individually, but as a collective I think that's an entirely different story. And you may ask how or why I got that impression .

 

Let some of your posts speak for themselves...

 

 

I think never... Much on the contrary, you have already stated you don't give a f_ck for those who think otherwise.

...Not to mention the locally-resident, "collective-commiseration" experts that insist (here) that all is good....

BE JEALOUS about your work. Don't let the "I do what the f_uk I want" mentality trump the opportunity to capitalize on it.

...rescued from the flurry of drama-queen reactions here...

It is part of the "I'm on this fantastic sh_t hole, so you should be, too" mentality from where such dumb concepts originate from.

To say the least your posts are quite colorful in the use of language. And as a humorous aside...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcC1f1jqCPI

 

Anyway my point was that if you take a look at the very first post in this topic, you'll notice that this was probably not meant to be the place for these pro and con discussions. No where do I see something to the effect of "we are seeking your feedback", but instead it looks like this was meant as a simple way to announce SCR and to provide the download as a present to all.

 

Enough said. I will not post anymore about this .

[Faicuai]

Maybe not individually, but as a collective I think that's an entirely different story. And you may ask how or why I got that impression .

 

Let some of your posts speak for themselves...

 

To say the least your posts are quite colorful in the use of language. And as a humorous aside.

Yes!

 

And that's what happens when you try riding a double-moral standards horse: for one, you seem quite "affected" by someone else vocal position, and on the other.... you continue to rant about it and contribute DIRECTLY with the suppression of those who think otherwise, by resorting to silly & collective metaphores, instead of addressing the issue on hand. It does not help you in any form or shape.

 

This thread / post is a PUBLIC post, and it will elicit a PUBLIC reaction.... whether anyone of us like it or not. And that includes a MIRAGE of praise for SCR, as it rests here, as well as the desire for it to do at its best (there is NOTHING wrong about it, much contrary to what you or ANYONE else may imply).

[Marius]

I have read the entire thread, and I am like: what have I just read?

 

I'm a huge fan of my harddisk interface(s) (IDE+, BlackBox, Side2+U1MB, MyIDE), and yes I wished that the original disk would run from PBI too; that was one of the many feelings I had about this absolutely STUNNING port.

 

On the other side, I must add, this game made me use my real 1050 diskdrive, and I thought it was really fun to have that experience again. I still have plans to create a cool disk label for the floppydisk (and sleeve).

 

I have to say that I'm not the biggest fan of XBIOS. I absolutely see the strength of it, but the reason I'm not the biggest fan, is because it does not meet my idea of compatibility with the original a8 concept. Stuff like IDE+ and SIDE2 follow the concept and IMHO everything developed should follow that. That is why am also not the biggest fan (anymore) of Custom OS's.

 

It's not that I'm against it; I also love Qmeg OS and MyBIOS (Custom OS's) and I am pretty amazed by the simplicity and features of the Sio2BT which works on a Stock XL/XE with XBIOS loader. Yes, that is fabulous stuff.

 

Most important thing (for me) is: Atari = fun. It all has it's charm. I absolutely ADORE the Stunt Car Racer game. It is really challenging, and finally a game that is pretty hard to master indeed. I have been playing it quite a lot, and I still feel like a rookie, and that is not the game to blame, but simply myself. I need to practice more.

 

I must say I have no problems with the loading speed. The only thing I would love to see is an option to go to the start screen with a key combination (I did not find it yet). Also when I chose by accident Multiplayer game, I did not found a way of exit that. That is where I have to reboot, and that is where the loading time is noticeable.

 

I encourage atari developers to work more together. I think we absolutely should be very thankful and happy with great hardware development, and with fabulous software development (Games, demos, but also tools and amazing firmwares like the alternate Bios for Ultimate 1MB and Incognito). I think it is always good to write for stock Atari computer, but it is a good thing to take in mind that there is actual HW development like PBI harddrives. Can't be that hard to write software that is PBI HD compatible I guess...

 

Last word:

But please let the joy/fun about and with Stunt Car Racer be the highlight of this thread. Stunt Car Racer was one of those games that made me want my Atari ST back, and for this game I don't need an Atari ST anymore. So again a very big thank you to all the people involved; and yes that also means XXL and his Xbios!

[+mytek]

Most important thing (for me) is: Atari = fun. It all has it's charm. I absolutely ADORE the Stunt Car Racer game. It is really challenging, and finally a game that is pretty hard to master indeed. I have been playing it quite a lot, and I still feel like a rookie, and that is not the game to blame, but simply myself. I need to practice more.

 

Yeah I too need to play this game a lot more, in order to adapt my reflexes so that I can keep my car on the track. And I must admit that I've never done well when it comes to games with a 3D perspective such as this one, but it sure is fun to try . So Paul if you are a rookie, then I guess that makes me an extreme novice, and generally a piss-poor driver. Of course having the ability to practice as a built-in feature has been a great help in getting me farther along the learning curve, so this is definitely a very nice option to have. And not being able to save my high score when currently played from a CF drive is kind of a blessing in disguise, if you catch my drift .

 

I never played this game on any other system, so I don't know how true it is to the original concept, but I do like what I'm seeing in this version. Absolutely great stuff for sure!

[Marius]

 

Yeah I too need to play this game a lot more, in order to adapt my reflexes so that I can keep my car on the track. And I must admit that I've never done well when it comes to games with a 3D perspective such as this one, but it sure is fun to try . So Paul if you are a rookie, then I guess that makes me an extreme novice, and generally a piss-poor driver. Of course having the ability to practice as a built-in feature has been a great help in getting me farther along the learning curve, so this is definitely a very nice option to have. And not being able to save my high score when currently played from a CF drive is kind of a blessing in disguise, if you catch my drift .

 

I never played this game on any other system, so I don't know how true it is to the original concept, but I do like what I'm seeing in this version. Absolutely great stuff for sure!

 

Yeah! Weird coincidence is that my father, who is entirely unknown on internet, is indeed called Paul. My Name is Marius.

[+mytek]

 

Yeah! Weird coincidence is that my father, who is entirely unknown on internet, is indeed called Paul. My Name is Marius.

 

Opps! Sorry about that, but another interesting coincidence is that my father's name is also Paul. At 62 years old I sometimes get my wires crossed .

 

So on a side note; how would you compare this version of SCR to ones on other computer systems that you've seen? Obviously the ST would have some advantages due to the 68000, but I would imagine that the custom graphics chips in the 8-Bit would somewhat compensate for that.

[emkay]

Opps! Sorry about that, but another interesting coincidence is that my father's name is also Paul. At 62 years old I sometimes get my wires crossed .

Yeah, my grandfather's name also was Paul

 

So on a side note; how would you compare this version of SCR to ones on other computer systems that you've seen? Obviously the ST would have some advantages due to the 68000, but I would imagine that the custom graphics chips in the 8-Bit would somewhat compensate for that.

Well, the question wasn't aimed at me, but I knew several versions in the past.

 

While the PC version is somehow the best, the ST version is somehow faster than the Amiga version. But there is some inconsistence in the movement, making the game normally unplayable. Well, you could cope with that, and play it.

The Amiga version looks best and plays fast enough and with a consistent framerate.

The C64 version was too slow to get the feeling for the needed "action" of controls.

The Atari version plays fluently enough to play through "unsolvable" tracks, because you get the feeling for the controls better. Even if I hate that RAID Tune in the Title, the game itself is really marvelously playable and fine.

The best 8-Bit version yet.

[+mytek]

This is excellent news, that not only did the team finally get this game ported over to our 8-bits, but that it reigns supreme .

 

One more thing of interest to me, is where did the concept of racing cars on an elevated platform first come from? Because the only kind of racing I recall in real life that does something similar would probably be for slot cars (e.g., model cars with electric motors that are powered from rails in the track). None the less pretty cool concept.

 

Lot's of Pauls .

 

 

 

Yeah, my grandfather's name also was Paul


Well, the question wasn't aimed at me, but I knew several versions in the past.

While the PC version is somehow the best, the ST version is somehow faster than the Amiga version. But there is some inconsistence in the movement, making the game normally unplayable. Well, you could cope with that, and play it.
The Amiga version looks best and plays fast enough and with a consistent framerate.
The C64 version was too slow to get the feeling for the needed "action" of controls.
The Atari version plays fluently enough to play through "unsolvable" tracks, because you get the feeling for the controls better. Even if I hate that RAID Tune in the Title, the game itself is really marvelously playable and fine.
The best 8-Bit version yet.

[Mclaneinc]

Too many of us Paul's I reckon...

[VincentGR]

"While the PC version is somehow the best, the ST version is somehow faster than the Amiga version. But there is some inconsistence in the movement, making the game normally unplayable. Well, you could cope with that, and play it.

 

The Amiga version looks best and plays fast enough and with a consistent framerate.
The C64 version was too slow to get the feeling for the needed "action" of controls.
The Atari version plays fluently enough to play through "unsolvable" tracks, because you get the feeling for the controls better. Even if I hate that RAID Tune in the Title, the game itself is really marvelously playable and fine.
The best 8-Bit version yet."

 

 

 

 

This version is even faster than the Z80 and feels like a 16bit machine (or even better).

Edited May 17, 2018 by VincentGR

[Mclaneinc]

We can discuss the mechanics of the games parts all day and have been it seems but at the end of the day almost every one has agreed the game itself is a stunning bit of work and plays damn well, the porters of it have done an outstanding job, I THINK that's agreed?

 

Do I like the game animation loader, not really, do I use the net hi score system, no to be honest, does either of those impact on the game after its loaded and I can play it, no, that is the bit I care about and that side of things is beyond critique in my opinion, SCR on the Atari, now that is a feat of programming..

 

End of for me..

[juansolo]

The Amiga version looks best and plays fast enough and with a consistent framerate.

 

A tip for any Amiga players of SCR who have a A1200. Try and get hold of the Turbo and TNT versions. Turbo mode on an A1200 it nigh on perfect in terms of speed and responsiveness and the TNT version has a whole new set of tracks.

[+mytek]

We can discuss the mechanics of the games parts all day and have been it seems but at the end of the day almost every one has agreed the game itself is a stunning bit of work and plays damn well, the porters of it have done an outstanding job, I THINK that's agreed?

 

AGREED

[Lost Dragon]

@Mytek and anyone else interested in the concept for Stunt Car Racer:

 

You can download the full pdf RG magazine interview with Geoff here, for free, it is discussed...

 

http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/media_view/233/geoff-crammond-interview-rg.php

[+mytek]

@Mytek and anyone else interested in the concept for Stunt Car Racer:

 

You can download the full pdf RG magazine interview with Geoff here, for free, it is discussed...

 

http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/media_view/233/geoff-crammond-interview-rg.php

 

Thank you very much for posting a link to that interview article. It was a great read and totally satisfied my curiosity as to where the concept came from.

 

Excerpt from article...

[Stefan Haubenthal]

And, a side note: Even if the game is graphically blasting most 8 bit version to the desert , the most capable chip inside the Atari is POKEY. And, after my latest experiments, I'm not really sure any more, if SID is the more capable chip for music

Well, how do you filter a POKEY sound?

[+CharlieChaplin]

Well, how do you filter a POKEY sound?

 

...with Melitta filters over both ears... ;-)

[emkay]

Well, how do you filter a POKEY sound?

Well how do you play clear sounds with SID?

 

And, well ( 2 ) , Development on the Atari sometimes takes centuries

 

What's available yet...

 

 

 

 

 

You may not be able to cut off high frequencies, but you can add waves on different channels to spread the waves and to cancel the high frequencies then.

Edited May 21, 2018 by emkay

[lemiel]

Very nice!

[+Stephen]

Well how do you play clear sounds with SID?

 

And, well ( 2 ) , Development on the Atari sometimes takes centuries

 

What's available yet...

 

 

 

 

 

You may not be able to cut off high frequencies, but you can add waves on different channels to spread the waves and to cancel the high frequencies then.

Is that a SID player?

[emkay]

Is that a SID player?

It was a part of a demo, but I don't know the name now.

[miker]

It's SID player indeed, with LPF (lowpass filter) support.

 

And here is another nice song build by Voy/SSG^dial with use of its sources.

Eye (LPF).xex

Edited May 21, 2018 by miker

[emkay]

It's SID player indeed, with LPF (lowpass filter) support.

 

And here is another nice song build by Voy/SSG^dial with use of its sources.

Thanks. This is new to me

[Lynxpro]

 

I had similar feelings, especially after I started coding in ASM and learned about DLIs, I realized how restricted the Atari was in placing colors on screen, and that SID on the C64 sounded so amazing...

 

What I didn't realize at the time was that the C64 also had significant restrictions in placing colors. Both were trying to cheat 8K of screen memory and finding ways to stuff more colors than should be allowed. But the color restrictions were different. Games written on a c-64 might not look good on an Atari, but games written on an Atari often didn't look good on a C64 either. And the SID now sounds like a generic chiptune chip because of all the chips that came later, while the Pokey maintains a distinctive sound (if a bit harsh sounding)

 

I realize now how much more capable the Atari was than I gave it credit for.

 

The Atari POKEY sounds harsh because the POKEY is fk'n Metal, and Metal comes from Hell! Sorry, had to slip in some Jack Black/Tenacious D there, which is still on-topic considering Jack Black was the kid in the Pitfall tv commercials.

 

Maybe the Commodore enthusiasts will be inspired to upgrade the game for 128K RAM, whether it's from supporting the C64 external RAM expansion boxes or the C128's stock memory configuration. And then both platforms can duke it out at the retro events, just for fun.