NeoGeo Metal Slug conversion to Amiga 500 - madman task ;-)

[sandruzzo]

About Dynamic Palette and interlaced pic...

[ Show youtube player ]

[roondar]

Interlacing colours is an interesting idea. It was used fairly frequently on the C64 and (AFAIK) the Atari 8 bit machines as well. However, on the Amiga it seems that it's use was rare and when done it was (AFAIK) always relegated to Copper background gradients.

And I think I may understand why. I was a big C64 fan right up to late releases such as Creatures, Creatures 2 and Dragon Breed. All these featured the interlacing for more colours trick. However, it was used sparingly as it distracted you quite a bit. Sure, the extra colours were nice, but you also immediately picked up the flicker.

A good example of over use of this technique to the point where it gets to be a detriment is the hugely impressive Atari 8 bit port of Space Harrier: [ Show youtube player ] here the entire screen is interlaced and IMHO it tends to distracts a lot from the gameplay. A good example of it being distracting is found from 10:00 onwards, where the colours switched between have slightly more contrast.

Now, putting it in the background gradient only and having only slight differences between frames does make it much harder to spot (and thus it works better as an illusion). This was done on the Amiga several times as you rightly point out.

Perhaps it can work better than I think for 'full screen' or foreground objects with the proper palette, but I can't really judge it without a clear example. And don't get me wrong: if it can work well, it's definitely a very neat trick. I just wonder how frequently it can be used without being too obvious.

[sandruzzo]

@roondar

Two points are crucial:

- 50hz
- good palette

[roondar]

Originally Posted by sandruzzo

@roondar

Two points are crucial:

- 50hz
- good palette

All the 8 bit games I referenced, including the Atari Space Harrier ran in 50Hz. The C64/Atari 8 bit generally didn't do the 25Hz thing for arcade games

And I agree about the palette, but I still feel an actual example would be better than linking a YouTube video showing a very subtle use of the effect you're suggest is used full screen and both foreground and background (if I'm understanding your plan correctly!).

[sandruzzo]

@roondar

Whitout gfx allmost impossible. I can only an .exe that load 2 different pics with same palette to show it. If you use a good dither you can archive a good outcome!

[Tigerskunk]

Originally Posted by sandruzzo

@roondar

Whitout gfx allmost impossible. I can only an .exe that load 2 different pics with same palette to show it. If you use a good dither you can archive a good outcome!

But you would need some kind of conversion script going from normal graphics to split up into two flicker frames anyway.

Or do you really expect someone to draw two different overlay versions of the same animation frame and then hope for it to look good in your game when you flicker these two frames?

That's what I was writing about some pages before.
You extremely underestimate the effort needed for assets creation and/or conversion for these more unconventional ideas to work well.

[sandruzzo]

@Steril707

Now way around if you want a good result: two sets of frames.

[zero]

16 colours + copper + sprites would look fine I think.

[ross]

http://www.aaronbell.com/secret-colo...-commodore-64/

[roondar]

Yeah, that is an awesome example of the effect in action. I will note that the C64 Dragon Breed dragon (which I actually reached back in the day without cheating ) doesn't look as nice on real PAL hardware. The 50Hz flicker is more notable than the 60+Hz on modern monitors.

[DanScott]

Are you going for and AGA metal slug style engine?

Then why not just use 16 colour scenery on one playfield, 16 colours front playfield for objects, 2x hardwares sprites (16 colour "joined" ) for the player, and the rest of the sprites for a 4 colour background parallax.

Then start plotting some big objects and see how it runs.

BTW.. there are some "methods" for blitting larger objects that can help immensely

[sandruzzo]

@roondar

I'll try to put a simple example to show this effect

@DanScott

Aga? Too easy

[mcgeezer]

Originally Posted by sandruzzo

@DanScott

Aga? Too easy

Honestly.... this thread is laughable.

[sandruzzo]

Originally Posted by mcgeezer

Honestly.... this thread is laughable.

Com'on Man, take it easy

[sandruzzo]

@mcgeezer

I know by myself that nothing is easy when we talk abou programming, even a simple one, take time and effort. I know well since I was a professional programmer and as researcher I did one of the most succefull surgical simulator in the entire world. Even Enginers from Maclarend f1, were very impressed by it.

We were getting some funny moment, and I fully respect all programmers, theyr time and effort to do stuffs.

If you take it personal, your call, I never meant to shit you or everyone here.

[sandruzzo]

In the Zone! I've upload a simple test about interlace. Two way: first one interlacing is evident as more colors. In the second way using a dither, clearlly is much better. Sorry I'm not so good with gfx.

Files: SandruzzoTest.zip

[Tigerskunk]

Whom do I need to pester for access to the zone?

[meynaf]

Originally Posted by Steril707

Whom do I need to pester for access to the zone?

You do not need to pester anyone :
http://eab.abime.net/faq.php?faq=vb_...ezone_faq_item

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Steril707

Whom do I need to pester for access to the zone?

How do I get access to The Zone?

Edit: oops, only just noticed meynaf's reply on this thread page after posting.

[Hewitson]

Originally Posted by sandruzzo

If you have problem I can send it directly.

email address censored

I'd remove that if I was you... Or at least modify it so bots won't pick it up.