Jump to content
IGNORED

The TI99/4A created in 1978 does well!


RXB

Recommended Posts

It sure does!  Looking at the comparison I see visually it's superior to the C64 version and the Spectrum to name just two.  Just goes to show with a good coder and an eye for graphics what the little TI can do.  There's actually been something said about Donkey Kong which interested me,  a friend told me, I don't know if it's true or not but the versions of DK at the time weren't "allowed" to be better than the Coleco version as that game shipped with the console!

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Retrospect said:

It sure does!  Looking at the comparison I see visually it's superior to the C64 version and the Spectrum to name just two.  Just goes to show with a good coder and an eye for graphics what the little TI can do.  There's actually been something said about Donkey Kong which interested me,  a friend told me, I don't know if it's true or not but the versions of DK at the time weren't "allowed" to be better than the Coleco version as that game shipped with the console!

 

 

 

 

We did a comparison of Donkey Kongs at Midwest Gaming Classic. Using as many 80s machines as we had present (which is a lot.) Much like the video but people went around to play the different ones.  However, one player was amazed when the TI-99/4A went beyond the ColecoVision to the 3rd and 4th screens. I guess the TI-99/4A version just had more ROM to implement that. 

 

 

It's interesting to compare the 9918A/9928/9929 versions: TI-99/4A, ColecoVision, Adam, MSX. Each one has its nice details, that it emphasizes with more colors or better drawing.

 

 

ColecoVision has bold girders, but one fewer of them. Mario gets 3 sprites' colors and there is 1 barrel per row! (4 sprites max) 

Donkey Kong is gridded such that he gets 3 colors. Pauline looks like no effort was put in..

image.png.ac3eecaa19b2eb90a3ae372bf007165c.png

 

TI-99/4A has thinner girders but 6 of them. Donkey Kong has 3 colors but not as well drawn. Mario gets 2 sprites' colors, and 2 barrels per row. Better gameplay in this compromise!

image.png.a58a7c05b5386cdd668125920ff3c403.png

 

The Adam version has the ugliest 2-color Donkey Kong, but the best animation at all times! I prefer more animation. The girders get less bold but still 5 of them. Barrels have a cute little curve detail! Mario gets 3 sprites and about 1 barrel per row.

image.png.ac5d87e3c5eb6271822e4203714c791b.png

 

 

MSX.. they just weren't trying hard enough. The barrels are nice, though.

image.png.08860bec5d7f6b499cc6dabfa056bb01.png

 

NES really shows off how to use 2-colors per line. I'm not familiar with its limitations. It's gridded nicely to 2-colors per char per line, except for a few places. A few sprites could fix that. 9918A artists could take away some lessons here:

 

image.png.0981e4d228a9b566b71eebf82f82d042.png

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, RXB said:

Graphics aside the SOUNDS from the TI99/4A were much closer to Arcade original. 

I did not see anyone not notice this?

played the video again to check that out and I'd say you're right it is much closer to Arcade.    Also I think the TI has the least annoying sound compared to others too.   

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the only thing the TI version lacks is multi-voice sound in some of the sound effects, and the "how high can you go?" screens.  Strangely the blue barrels in the girder screen don't cause fireballs to spawn from the oil drum at the bottom of the screen.  Graphically, it's an excellent version.  

 

I had this game back when I first got the TI in 1983, but I had a cartridge that would crash on the elevator screen almost every time you'd get to it, so it was exchanged for Pac Man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, my cartridge frequently crashed (garbled video) on the elevator level too, always when I got to a certain place.

 

The Atarisoft version of Donkey Kong is very impressive for a TI game. It actually is a 16K ROM, so it has a page swap for additional data. I've been meaning to try and disassemble the contents at some point...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, GDMike said:

The sound should have had a mix from use of the speech board, I don't know how many games made use of the two combined, the sound chip and speech synthesiszer. as the speech can create sounds that don't always have to be speech words.

None, as far as I know. Only TI and one or two other firms could generate input strings for the speech chip back then, and they charged per word, so commercial titles (at least) weren't going to mess around.

 

We tend to forget that what's easy today was quite difficult 30 years ago. :)

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Tursi said:

None, as far as I know. Only TI and one or two other firms could generate input strings for the speech chip back then, and they charged per word, so commercial titles (at least) weren't going to mess around.

 

We tend to forget that what's easy today was quite difficult 30 years ago. :)

 

Haha, yes. very true indeed. So much has changed like everything else, but the more the TI-99/4A changes, the more it stays the same.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I was on about before, the Coleco version was shipped with the console and I'm sure there was some level of restraint put on other versions at the time (it's out there somewhere I'll have to dig it up or ask my mate to verify his statement about it) .... meaning that other version couldn't exceed the Coleco's quality.  Now, I do know that Donkey Kong was put out for the ZX Spectrum twice, not sure if by the same company but I think it got released again in 1987 and was superior to the earlier version (after the Coleco's death presumably).  This makes me think;  if there *were* restraints on other versions, could the TI994a version without said restraints be even better and closer to arcade than it was ?  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There were probably restraints on other game console versions, unoficially. Coleco had the game console rights to Donkey Kong at the time, and was developing all the game console ports, and naturally wanted the ColecoVision to look better than the competition. I've never seen any verifiable confirmation that they intentionally made sure it looked better, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit.

 

The 4a is a computer, though. Atari had the computer rights, and no need to nor interest in making Coleco's game console look better. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find it interesting to compare Coleco and TI games given the same video hardware.  Something like Q*Bert was done so very well on the TI.  The programmers there went that one extra step to have the main character made up of more than a single sprite, giving him white eyes with black pupils and a black detail at the end of the nose, which adds so much to the main character.  The coleco version had a single colour sprite with the eyes and nose having transparent parts that looked odd.

 

 

Screenshot_2021-01-21 Q Bert - Colecovision.png

Screenshot_2021-01-21 Nice and Games -- Q bert [TI-99 4A].png

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...