1200XL M.U.L.E. Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 I just discovered the joyful effects of artifacting! Is that how it is spelled? I hope so! I want to play Drol from the collection of CSS cracks and saw two versions: artifacting and color. The artifacting version came out as B&W on my Sophia upgraded 1200XL and the color version looked like something you'd see on an old XT machine with CGA grahics. Then I switched over to my 130XE that does not have any upgraded video and played the artifacting version. Wow, what a difference! In some ways the change from the color version was very subtle but that didn't minimize its impact. I plan on keeping that 130XE as-is, as an artifacting station. Now I have to ask, is there a master list or catalog of software that leverage artifacting? I'm sure this exists somewhere. Maybe this thread could be that list? 1. Drol Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Basically anything that was initially developed for the Apple II then ported to Atari. Eg, most Brøderbund titles. I presume the "color" version of Drol was a community hack to use Gr.15 instead of Gr.8 so PAL displays could have some colour, but at the expense of resolution... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panther Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) Ultima II Ultima III Ultima IV Lunar Leeper Lode Runner Lode Runner II Lode Runner III Auto Duel Choplifter Edited May 23, 2021 by Panther Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+gnusto Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 There are really MANY more than people remember, here's just a few from my slowly building Launchbox database which I will someday release: Basically every Pinball Construction Set table Much stuff with Broderbunds Arcade Machine 221B Baker Street 3-D Red Baron A.E. Andromeda (but only for the meter) Armor Assault Auto Duel Aztec B-1 Nuclear Bomber Battle Warp Beyond Castle Wolfenstein Bug Off! Casino Parlor Games Castle Wolfenstein Caverns of Callisto Cellar Terror Checkers (Odesta) Chess (Odesta) (although only the title screen seems deliberate) Chicken Choplifter (before XE version) Cosmic Life Crazy Eights Cross Fire II Crush, Crumble and Chomp! Crypt of the Undead Cytron Masters Diamond Mine Drol Earth 2500 Eggnapper Escape from Vulcan's Isle Flight Simulator II Highrise Jawbreaker Jeepers Creepers Lode Runner Lunar Leeper Marauder Nightraiders (only title) OGRE Pool 400 Protector II Retrofire Return of Heracles Shadow Hawk One Solo Flight Spy Strikes Back Spy's Demise Stellar Shuttle Super Bunny (original) Telengard The Clash of Kings Threshold Tower Toppler Twerps Ultima 2,3,4 Many more are missing from this list, because I'm probably only 1/3 through attributing them. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 A worthwhile project to catalog such titles but I'd suggest to expand it to include other special modes and expoits like PAL blending (APAC, TIP etc) and maybe 480i interlace (Stellar Shuttle 480i I think is the only one there) Also worth mentioning games that are switchable or also have multicolour versions (e.g. Drol) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Pinball Construction Set Conan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panther Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 There are probably a bunch of people scratching their heads thinking, "these games aren't just in black & white?" 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 20 minutes ago, Panther said: There are probably a bunch of people scratching their heads thinking, "these games aren't just in black & white?" For anyone still scratching their heads after 40 years... NTSC Artifacting + Color Blending.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+gnusto Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 8 hours ago, Rybags said: A worthwhile project to catalog such titles but I'd suggest to expand it to include other special modes and expoits like PAL blending (APAC, TIP etc) and maybe 480i interlace (Stellar Shuttle 480i I think is the only one there) Oh I'm not doing them specifically; I just tag them appropriately once I've got them set up, then it's easy to extract them with a quick grep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Does "Panther" make use of NTSC artifacting (lower panel) ?!? Several Compute! type-in listings seem to use artifacting (not absolutely sure, since I only have PAL computers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ijor Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) And I think there were a few that even had both CTIA and GTIA artifacting. The program displayed a specially crafted screen and asked you what color do you see. I seem to remember some very old adventure games with this feature? Edited May 23, 2021 by ijor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+gnusto Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 (edited) 15 minutes ago, CharlieChaplin said: Does "Panther" make use of NTSC artifacting (lower panel) ?!? It appear so yes. Several games did this (using the artifacting effect only for an instrument panel/indicator). Panther is a weird case though because I always had the impression that was a PAL first title. It certainly looks intentional though (consistently the same color artifact in the same areas), so it does appear to be real. Edited May 23, 2021 by gnusto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+gnusto Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 4 minutes ago, ijor said: And there were a few that even had both CTIA and GTIA artifacting. The program displays a specially crafted screen and asked you what color do you see. I seem to remember some very old adventure games with this feature? You can see an example here, there are plenty more (Return of Heracles, etc). Most of the ones that ask are from the early 80s, when unconverted CTIA machines were pretty prevalent. Although OGRE, pictured here, is from 1986, so there's an exception to every rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 5 minutes ago, gnusto said: Panther is a weird case though because I always had the impression that was a PAL first title. It certainly looks intentional though (consistently the same color artifact in the same areas), so it does appear to be real. Actually, it was developed in the US by Sculptured Software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 10 minutes ago, ijor said: And I think there were a few that even had both CTIA and GTIA artifacting. The program displayed a specially crafted screen and asked you what color do you see. I seem to remember some very old adventure games with this feature? I think several Adventure International games did this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+gnusto Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 4 minutes ago, www.atarimania.com said: Actually, it was developed in the US by Sculptured Software. Ah I should have thought of that, Sculptured seemed to have a straight line to the UK publishers, and why wouldn't they, some very capable titles out of that developer. My hazy memory had it that the UK title came out first, but I suppose that's even possible still (they finish it, ship to the UK, it's published quickly there but not so quickly here in a struggling '86 market). It was always sad to me how quickly the 8-bits eroded in the States. But then again I was part of the problem, I had an ST by '86, and was buying all ST stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+gnusto Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 17 minutes ago, CharlieChaplin said: I think several Adventure International games did this... You may be thinking of the color blend question for the S.A.G.A. games, which was on both US and Euro releases. The only AI title I can think of that asked up front on CTIA/GTIA is Tutti Frutti (part of the options screen). AI gets a special "ouch" in retrospect from me on artifacting, from the text adventures. I (personal opinion) really hated the font used for the adventures, and the only place artifacting was intentionally used on those titles was the separation bar and the prompt (see attached). Add to that they were white on black, which fully accentuates artifacting, and it just drove me crazy back in the day. I owned a couple of them and I remember getting the pirate copies just so I could play without the font, since I didn't want to modify my originals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1200XL M.U.L.E. Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 Wow, lots of great mentions here! Thanks for the replies, everyone! I started putting together a list based heavily on @gnusto post. Here is a link to a Google Sheets file. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NsnhjY7f4NDdFQryrhls8F-8ICc9cPQJmlJOSx4T6ek/edit?usp=sharing This is a start ... not an end. Lots of empty cells here but we'll get them filled them over time. Anyone want to help out as co-owner / co-editor of this sheet? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farb Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Here are the titles we have flagged as containing artifacting in the preservation database: http://www.a8preservation.com/#/software?f=t:ARTF&page=1 I see a few that aren't on your list including some Crystalware adventures and the Sierra Hi-Res Adventure series. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 (edited) Add Ultima 1 to that list, it uses artifact color in the towns and castles. Subtract Conan, it may look like an Apple II game but it does not use artifact color. Edited September 19, 2021 by Great Hierophant 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfollowell Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 On 5/23/2021 at 1:08 PM, gnusto said: You may be thinking of the color blend question for the S.A.G.A. games, which was on both US and Euro releases. The only AI title I can think of that asked up front on CTIA/GTIA is Tutti Frutti (part of the options screen). AI gets a special "ouch" in retrospect from me on artifacting, from the text adventures. I (personal opinion) really hated the font used for the adventures, and the only place artifacting was intentionally used on those titles was the separation bar and the prompt (see attached). Add to that they were white on black, which fully accentuates artifacting, and it just drove me crazy back in the day. I owned a couple of them and I remember getting the pirate copies just so I could play without the font, since I didn't want to modify my originals. It seems like you could select the regular Atari font fairly easily, though I can't remember how, off the top of my head. While I didn't have any of the originally published single versions, my version definitely wasn't pirated; one of the few items I really sprung for back in the day. Mine was a later, original 12 adventures collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisible kid Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 A<enter> selects native atari font and blue background B<enter> selects custom font and black background 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted September 18, 2022 Share Posted September 18, 2022 Add Hopper and Stellar Shuttle to the list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted September 18, 2022 Share Posted September 18, 2022 Also Learning with Leeper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted September 18, 2022 Share Posted September 18, 2022 (edited) @gnusto Is that Altirra you are using? If so I would go into adjust colours and select around 340 for the artifacting phase, as that's roughly what A.E. is supposed to look like from the art on the box. Of course, if you like the green and purple, then fine I can't remember the name of the game, but there's also a PAL artifacting use... And yeah, like many I'd adjust the display list from all 0F's to 0E's so to make it graphics 15 for us PAL lot.. Edited September 18, 2022 by Mclaneinc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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