Idea for homebrew title that 7800-homebrew dev. may consider to produce: Pac Land 1984

[Synthpopalooza]

https://vgmrips.net/packs/pack/pac-land-zx-spectrum-128

 

This is the music for the ZX Spectrum version of the game.  It uses the AY chip, so this gives you an idea how it might sound.

[gambler172]

Should i start on a homebrew Pacland with own levels?

Or does anyone wants to work on it?

Graphics are possible....but for sure it is a lot of work...

would be great to get the graphics for Pacland....this makes it easier.

[TIX]

Hey, big fan of the game here,

the sprites are perfectly doable in 3 colors !

and if we have the frame number available, it's pretty easy to recreate the rolling running effect !!

 

Here is a quick (8x30) 8 frame run cycle:

 

Edited September 29, 2019 by TIX

[Synthpopalooza]

Facts about the sound ...

 

The Namco WSG chip used in this game allows for 3 sound channels, each one can use a set of 4-bit sampled waveforms which are in the system ROM.

 

In Pac-land, the music uses three channels, a bass, lead, and percussive part.  When game sounds happen, they temporarily override parts of the music.  We can maybe get around this by using TIA for sfx and POKEY for the music.  Or by using a TIA channel as a noise channel for the percussion track.

 

My setup for the music:

 

First two channels: $Cx distortion in 16-bit mode handles the bass.

Third channel:  $2x set to 1.79 mhz makes that nice organy lead.  We have a channel free which can be used as percussion or another square wave to add to the lead sound.

 

Should have a demo tonight.

[Giles N]

19 hours ago, Synthpopalooza said:

The AY chip could do it.  Three standard square waves and 1 noise.  The game would sound close to the NES version.

 

Putting multiple sound chips on a card wouldn't be feasible.  I don't think we'd need double POKEY for this anyway.

How’s the availability and costs and compatibility of this AY-chip?

 

Do you know?

 

Could be interesting to get info ‘out here’, since - at least to me - it seems production and availability are major factors to how popular a retro-console is/becomes.

[Giles N]

9 hours ago, TIX said:

Hey, big fan of the game here,

the sprites are perfectly doable in 3 colors !

and if we have the frame number available, it's pretty easy to recreate the rolling running effect !!

 

Here is a quick (8x30) 8 frame run cycle:

 

Ha!

 

So cool!

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

 

[Synthpopalooza]

In the link I posted earlier, NewEgg sells these for $4. They aren't rare.  Tons of arcade games used them, as did computer platforms like the Spectrum.

 

 

[John Stamos Mullet]

I kind of love how the initial scolding in this thread turned into a bunch of people sharing knowledge and ideas and now this thing might actually get made. 

[Giles N]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolRetroGamer said:

 

Thanks man.

 

I have given some reasons throughout the thread why the idea popped into my mind.

[Giles N]

The foreground-trees in the forest-section could look something like this.

 

But I need to find something that puts it firmly within the 160x240(?) paradigm.

Edited September 30, 2019 by Giles N

[Giles N]

Rough template for title-screen text.

[Synthpopalooza]

Thing is I have been thinking of trying the stage 1 music for purposes of my POKEY experiments/emulation test thread anyway, so it kinda dovetailed. 

[Giles N]

Here within 16x16 with black, yellow, red.

note: eyes looks white but are transparent

[Giles N]

Without grid

[Giles N]

1 hour ago, Synthpopalooza said:

Thing is I have been thinking of trying the stage 1 music for purposes of my POKEY experiments/emulation test thread anyway, so it kinda dovetailed. 

If you find time and energy, try also with the AY chips!

 

Could be really interesting to know if these could be the new sound standard for 7800-games.

[Synthpopalooza]

I am not proficient in that chip, sadly.

 

Sprite stuff:

 

https://www.spriters-resource.com/arcade/pacland/

[Giles N]

Standing (with grid-index)

[Giles N]

Standing (no grid).

Edited September 30, 2019 by Giles N

[Giles N]

29 minutes ago, Synthpopalooza said:

I am not proficient in that chip, sadly.

 

Sprite stuff:

 

https://www.spriters-resource.com/arcade/pacland/

Thanks a lot!

 

I found one sheet, from which I try to downscale.

 

But I’m not sure what the capacities of the 7800 are.

 

I try to stick to 16x16 pixels ,3 colours with a transparent.

 

 

 

[Synthpopalooza]

Music ...

 

Warning:  Real hardware is best.  Prosystem comes closest but the highest notes in the lead don't get played.  A7800 emulator messes the tune up completely.

 

Also Warning:  The $2x channel plays sound for the $00 frequency rests, but with recoding, this can be eliminated.

 

Setup:

 

AUDCTL=$70 (0 and 1 joined in 16 bit mode, 1.79 Mhz on channels 0 and 3)

 

0 - silenced.

1 - $Cx distortion, 16-bit counter, 1.79 mhz clock, bass.  For the last 4 notes, mod 3 bass (RMT $C) is used.

2 - $2x distortion, 1.79 mhz clock.  Lead

3 - $Ax distortion, no special settings.  Plays same notes as 2

 

An mp3 of a recording in Altirra emulator (Atari 8-bit computer) is included, which is 100% hardware accurate.

 

Also attached:  Binaries and sources for POKEY @$4000 and @$450, for those who have developer carts.

 

Possible modifications:  Either have channel 3 play percussion ($8x distortion), or have the percussion on a TIA channel. 

 

 

pacland.mp3 pacland-450.A78 pacland-450.asm pacland-450.bin pacland.A78 pacland.asm pacland.bin

[Synthpopalooza]

1 hour ago, Giles N said:

Thanks a lot!

 

I found one sheet, from which I try to downscale.

 

But I’m not sure what the capacities of the 7800 are.

 

I try to stick to 16x16 pixels ,3 colours with a transparent.

 

 

 

 

That is actually 160A mode.  Sprites can be any of 3 colors plus transparency, from 7 palettes.  If you can get away with it, this one is best.

 

160B mode lets you use 12 colors per sprite, but at a cost of DMA render time.  If overused, some elements of the screen may not render.  Use this carefully.

 

Also, there is theoretically no limit to how big your sprites can be, unlike the NES, but 16x16 is perfectly fine, and probably the best recommendation.  The smaller your sprites, the less DMA time it takes to render them.

 

 

 

 

[Trebor]

7 hours ago, Synthpopalooza said:

Real hardware is best.

And here it is...

?

Pac-Land Main Theme Music-REALHW.mp3

[Giles N]

10 hours ago, Synthpopalooza said:

Music ...

 

Warning:  Real hardware is best.  Prosystem comes closest but the highest notes in the lead don't get played.  A7800 emulator messes the tune up completely.

 

Also Warning:  The $2x channel plays sound for the $00 frequency rests, but with recoding, this can be eliminated.

 

Setup:

 

AUDCTL=$70 (0 and 1 joined in 16 bit mode, 1.79 Mhz on channels 0 and 3)

 

0 - silenced.

1 - $Cx distortion, 16-bit counter, 1.79 mhz clock, bass.  For the last 4 notes, mod 3 bass (RMT $C) is used.

2 - $2x distortion, 1.79 mhz clock.  Lead

3 - $Ax distortion, no special settings.  Plays same notes as 2

 

An mp3 of a recording in Altirra emulator (Atari 8-bit computer) is included, which is 100% hardware accurate.

 

Also attached:  Binaries and sources for POKEY @$4000 and @$450, for those who have developer carts.

 

Possible modifications:  Either have channel 3 play percussion ($8x distortion), or have the percussion on a TIA channel. 

 

 

pacland.mp3 754.28 kB · 7 downloads pacland-450.A78 16.13 kB · 2 downloads pacland-450.asm 25.88 kB · 2 downloads pacland-450.bin 16 kB · 5 downloads pacland.A78 16.13 kB · 2 downloads pacland.asm 25.88 kB · 2 downloads pacland.bin 16 kB · 2 downloads

Very cool!

[Giles N]

3 hours ago, Trebor said:

And here it is...

?

Pac-Land Main Theme Music-REALHW.mp3 810.23 kB · 10 downloads

Awesome!