mariuszw Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Hi, I am just letting you know that there is new game port coming to Atari 8-bit: Laser Squad. Here are some screenshots: Port is based on C64 version. Presented screenshots come from VBXE version. VBXE is used to emulate C64 colormap. Regular version is also going to have some colour, although it will be surely simplified. Final version will include all 7 missions from C64 (both missions from basic game and expansion pack). Mariusz. 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irgendwer Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 If not again too CPU intensive (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/245646-new-atari-8bit-port-wip-saboteur/?do=findComment&comment=3368722) while this is round based, maybe the PMG "pseudo color ram" could be applied here? laser_squad.g2f.zip 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Phew. This on ZX Spectrum has defined me as a gamer. Stone cold classic, still better than heaps of modern games. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Ah good. Thought myself of porting some games to VBXE. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 If not again too CPU intensive (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/245646-new-atari-8bit-port-wip-saboteur/?do=findComment&comment=3368722) while this is round based, maybe the PMG "pseudo color ram" could be applied here? LaserSquadPalMixed.png Good idea. I never considered interleaving P/M colors in order to get more colors when full-screen usage is needed. It's kind of similar to what's often done to get more colors on the 2600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmilo Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 (edited) Awesome news ! Thanks in advance Something I did years ago was testing how it would look with two layers of exapanded PMG that creates 0+3 colors. Only "problem" is that max 10 tiles wide is possible with all pmgs used. ps. Love that idea with alternate colors that create multiple combinations! Never thought of it [edit] pps. Don't think cpu would be a problem. There's plenty of cpu cycles free in vbi, and only thing taking time in the game is probably AI and firing code. Even if it's slower that shouldn't influence gameplay. Edited October 24, 2018 by popmilo 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathchild Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 ps. Love that idea with alternate colors that create multiple combinations! Never thought of it Wasn't that the Tezz / Manic Miner approach? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twh/f2 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Hi, I am just letting you know that there is new game port coming to Atari 8-bit: Laser Squad. Here are some screenshots: Wow. This is basically X-Com: The prequel. I never have seen this game and I wasn't aware that such a mature strategic game even exists on any 8bit! Once ported this is truly a great contribution to the Atari 8bit platform. Keep up the good work! grüße, \twh 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmilo Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Wow. This is basically X-Com: The prequel. I never have seen this game and I wasn't aware that such a mature strategic game even exists on any 8bit! Once ported this is truly a great contribution to the Atari 8bit platform. Keep up the good work! grüße, \twh Well get ready for a real treat then That's one of the best squad, turn based strategy games ever. ps. If you're in a hurry, please try c64 version (best imho) as it has larger map view. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmilo Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Wasn't that the Tezz / Manic Miner approach? Don't think so. Manic Miner has unique screens so it uses non-linear positioned pmgs. Each level is different. Something like LS requires any-color-any-tile method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irgendwer Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 (edited) Wasn't that the Tezz / Manic Miner approach? Don't think so too. I'm trying to advocate this principle since 2009 (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/34916-graph2fnt/page-30?do=findComment&comment=1786016), without much effect yet. I have an own title on my agenda for this mode, but the list is getting longer and longer (and the title even doesn't have a high priority.) Edited October 24, 2018 by Irgendwer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariuszw Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 If not again too CPU intensive (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/245646-new-atari-8bit-port-wip-saboteur/?do=findComment&comment=3368722) while this is round based, maybe the PMG "pseudo color ram" could be applied here? LaserSquadPalMixed.png That's a cool idea. However, the biggest problem with Laser Squad is the variety of colours used in one line of map. Just check the very bottom line of my screenshot. You have violet tile on position 1, 3, 5, 9, 11. You need two bits of one PM/G player for one tile. So, you need three players to have violet colour applied to tiles. And there is still brown table, and blue chairs. I guess some simplification could help (like having all interior tiles white - similar to what Popomilo did), but still it will not work in 100% of cases. Mariusz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emkay Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Reminds me an old friend Semi hires with colors. Mixing different graphics in a scanline... or even on the whole screen. So, let's wait and see, if there really will be a new game named "Laser Squad" for the Atari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariuszw Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Ah good. Thought myself of porting some games to VBXE. Well, that wasn't exactly my plan. I ported the game to Atari with the idea to have colouring with PM/G and later realized, that I can't really colour it with PM/G, so I looked for alternatives, and then found Mono's article about emulating ZX Spectrum colormap on VBXE with source code where I found inspiration I needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ger Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I don't see how switching modes during the line would help. I'd try completely redo graphics into lowres .. that would bring enough colors and give the game some unique Atari look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Dragon Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Wow. This is basically X-Com: The prequel. I never have seen this game and I wasn't aware that such a mature strategic game even exists on any 8bit! Once ported this is truly a great contribution to the Atari 8bit platform. Keep up the good work! grüße, \twh Yep Laser Squad II became Xcom.. From Eurogamer interview with it's creators : "...so we went back to working on what, at the time, we called Laser Squad II. We built the demo on the Atari ST, and I remember saying to Nick that we needed to get a better publishing deal. The deal we had with Blade wasn't that good; we didn't get a good royalty fee, they ended up owing us some money... it was time to get serious and find a decent publisher. So we made the demo, and it had a basic working tactical combat system, but with 3D isometric graphics so it looked more impressive. We had a shortlist of three publishers, one of which was Microprose. We were particularly keen on them, because they published Civilization, of course. We thought they were the best company for strategy games because of Sid Meier, and we wanted to do games for PC, because we saw it as the future of gaming.  We took the demo to Microprose in the UK, and they liked what they saw, but they said that they wanted something bigger. It wasn't a Microprose game; it needed to be something deep. There was a guy there called Pete Moreland, who suggested the theme of UFOs, and I thought this was a very good idea. So I went away and we came up with the whole strategic aspect of the game, with randomly-generated tactical missions, the Geoscape, the economics. In a couple of weeks I went back to them and said, "How about this?" and they thought it was great! So we started on X-Com, which was what Laser Squad II had become." 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emkay Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I don't see how switching modes during the line would help. It's not about that special part. It's about hires and color mode "Interleave" . You'd get more information on the screen and have colors where needed. It cost no additional CPU, except you want to change color registers every scanline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Dragon Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 An amazing game on C64 and ST for myself. Any plans to do Chaos, Rebelstar, Lords Of Chaos and Rebelstar Raiders in the future, if this goes well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariuszw Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 I don't see how switching modes during the line would help. I'd try completely redo graphics into lowres .. that would bring enough colors and give the game some unique Atari look. That's certainly an interesting idea with lowres colorful graphics. If somebody prepares the graphics, I will definitely consider it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariuszw Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 An amazing game on C64 and ST for myself. Any plans to do Chaos, Rebelstar, Lords Of Chaos and Rebelstar Raiders in the future, if this goes well? No plans at this moment. Lords of Chaos have C64 version which makes porting easier. The other games exist for Spectrum AFAIK, and this makes the port much bigger effort. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irgendwer Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I guess some simplification could help (like having all interior tiles white - similar to what Popomilo did), but still it will not work in 100% of cases. Yes, you just have 5 different colors with the principle (like the black, white, yellow, green and red in the example) and have to assign this "attribute" to individual tiles without any restriction where they appear. That's it. That's certainly an interesting idea with lowres colorful graphics. If somebody prepares the graphics, I will definitely consider it. Are you dealing with character graphics? Then the only benefit would be a greater variety of the colors and that you are able to use more colors in a single tile. On the other hand you still have to "live" with just 5 (or even 4 in bitmap mode) colors... (if you don't apply PMG trickery in low-res too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ger Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Man I love Chaos. I would go for remaking it from scratch, the game is simple enough. Well, I add it to my list. Unless somebody else makes it, it will be done in 2050. Or something like that 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irgendwer Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I guess some simplification could help (like having all interior tiles white - similar to what Popomilo did), but still it will not work in 100% of cases. So here the proposal for the indoor sample you've attached: indoor.g2f.zip 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Yes, you just have 5 different colors with the principle (like the black, white, yellow, green and red in the example) and have to assign this "attribute" to individual tiles without any restriction where they appear. That's it. Are you dealing with character graphics? Then the only benefit would be a greater variety of the colors and that you are able to use more colors in a single tile. On the other hand you still have to "live" with just 5 (or even 4 in bitmap mode) colors... (if you don't apply PMG trickery in low-res too). How can a 320 pixel (40 tile) screen, be covered by 5 8-bit PM/G objects? Does each tile (8 wide X # line) get a single PM/G object? Even if this is the case, the PM/G objects would have to be in quad mode. Too tired to even type. My head explodes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pseudografx Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 (edited) Just a quick attempt at low-res graphics. Edited October 25, 2018 by pseudografx 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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