Huge and ugly status panels - Page 5

Antiriad_UK · 23 August 2019, 01:46

Was that an actual game?! Wow

Shatterhand · 23 August 2019, 20:30

The Gremlins 2 panel isnt butt-ugly though. But I agree It had no need to display the name of the game.

I remember it was a big deal for Spain gaming industry that Topo Soft got the Gremlins 2 license deal... I remember playing the MSX version a lot, getting very close to beat it without cheats ( I find amazing how free time I had when I was a kid, the game wasn't even good to deserve so much dedication).

I always thought the Amiga version was also made by Topo, but looking the hol page, it doesn't seem so .

Havie · 27 August 2019, 08:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by roondar

'Some'? You surely mean almost all of the panel is useful. Over half of it is an immensely useful radar

I agree but if you compare it to the BBC Oiginal then the size of it and sides take up a lot more space. My estimate is panel on BBC takes up 25% of screen but on Amiga it's closer to 50% and is more functional than attractive...

roondar · 27 August 2019, 09:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Havie

I agree but if you compare it to the BBC Oiginal then the size of it and sides take up a lot more space. My estimate is panel on BBC takes up 25% of screen but on Amiga it's closer to 50% and is more functional than attractive...

It is certainly true that the BBC Micro version of the game uses screen real-estate more effectively and uses a different aspect ratio (it's more square than the Amiga, which instead is wider). This does make the relative size of the panel look very different. However, the actual status panel itself is only a small amount bigger than the BBC Micro one (when measured in pixels). The far bigger difference is that the game window itself is much smaller on the Amiga.

But yeah, the panel does look a lot bigger. And it's yet another Amiga game that only uses 200 pixels vertically, which makes it worse.

Anyway, it's not a biggie - the only reason I find it different (and thus more acceptable) is that the area is actually used, whereas most of these status panels are just 'kinda there'

DamienD · 01 September 2019, 14:12

Dr. Strange 2

DanScott · 01 September 2019, 20:15

Premiere (one of my games) had a not so huge but quite ugly status panel

DamienD · 01 September 2019, 20:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanScott

Premiere (one of my games) had a not so huge but quite ugly status panel

Nah, it's not so big or ugly compared with most examples in this thread:

Compare this with my post above for Dr. Strange 2

dlfrsilver · 01 September 2019, 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanScott

Premiere (one of my games) had a not so huge but quite ugly status panel

Question about Premiere Dan, you programmed it on Atari ST right ?

Cherno · 01 September 2019, 21:46

License to Kill's status bar is not that ugly, but still far too large for the information it provides; No one cares about score, and the number of bullets and magazines could be condensed to two small icons and numbers instead of giant graphics, inclduing one for a pistol!

Persion Gulf Inferno / North Sea Inferno is huge AND ugly (looks like a spreadsheet, the weapon sprites are nice though).

DanScott · 01 September 2019, 23:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlfrsilver

Question about Premiere Dan, you programmed it on Atari ST right ?

Noooooooo I believe it might be in 32 colours... don't remember though

The only Atari ST stuff i did was Heimdall intros and sub games, and the Wolfchild intro

dlfrsilver · 02 September 2019, 00:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanScott

Noooooooo I believe it might be in 32 colours... don't remember though

The only Atari ST stuff i did was Heimdall intros and sub games, and the Wolfchild intro

The main code has the $610A at beginning, that's the st header

DanScott · 02 September 2019, 01:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlfrsilver

The main code has the $610A at beginning, that's the st header

maybe some Core tool I used.. or SNASM thing... but don't remember...

it's far far far too long ago to remember every byte of every disk sector

dlfrsilver · 02 September 2019, 09:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanScott

maybe some Core tool I used.. or SNASM thing... but don't remember...

it's far far far too long ago to remember every byte of every disk sector

You bet

Shatterhand · 02 September 2019, 14:07

IIRC Licence to Kill doesn't scroll horizontally. The panel was there to make the main game look more "Vertical" I guess, like arcade games.

trydowave · 02 September 2019, 14:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamienD

Dr. Strange 2

jesus... thats half the screen

Galahad/FLT · 02 September 2019, 15:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shatterhand

IIRC Licence to Kill doesn't scroll horizontally. The panel was there to make the main game look more "Vertical" I guess, like arcade games.

Youre too kind.

It was like that because of the ST so it would scroll at a decent enough speed.

Shatterhand · 02 September 2019, 15:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Youre too kind.

It was like that because of the ST so it would scroll at a decent enough speed.

Aerhm.... yeah, it makes sense

I used to play the MSX version which was a direct Spectrum copy, and it had a panel like that too. As the C64 version also had...

But indeed those games were usually designed to cope with the lowest common denominator.

That was probably the best James Bond game before N64 Goldeneye. Though it's not saying much.

DamienD · 03 September 2019, 23:24

Another "half screen" panel: 1000cc Turbo

Hewitson · 04 September 2019, 09:42

Anubis · 04 September 2019, 13:58

Just from other thread - Soldier 2000

04 September 2019, 13:58	#100
Anubis Retro Gamer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Underworld Age: 51 Posts: 4,058	Just from other thread - Soldier 2000 Last edited by Anubis; 05 September 2019 at 00:57.

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23 August 2019, 01:46	#81
Antiriad_UK OCS forever! Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Birmingham, UK Posts: 418	Was that an actual game?! Wow

23 August 2019, 20:30	#82
Shatterhand Warhasneverbeensomuchfun Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Rio de Janeiro / Brazil Age: 41 Posts: 3,450	The Gremlins 2 panel isnt butt-ugly though. But I agree It had no need to display the name of the game. I remember it was a big deal for Spain gaming industry that Topo Soft got the Gremlins 2 license deal... I remember playing the MSX version a lot, getting very close to beat it without cheats ( I find amazing how free time I had when I was a kid, the game wasn't even good to deserve so much dedication). I always thought the Amiga version was also made by Topo, but looking the hol page, it doesn't seem so .

01 September 2019, 14:12	#85
DamienD Banned Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London / Sydney Age: 47 Posts: 20,420	Dr. Strange 2

01 September 2019, 20:15	#86
DanScott Lemon. / Core Design Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Tier 5 Posts: 1,212	Premiere (one of my games) had a not so huge but quite ugly status panel

01 September 2019, 21:46	#89
Cherno Registered User Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Dortmund, Germany Posts: 1,054	License to Kill's status bar is not that ugly, but still far too large for the information it provides; No one cares about score, and the number of bullets and magazines could be condensed to two small icons and numbers instead of giant graphics, inclduing one for a pistol! Persion Gulf Inferno / North Sea Inferno is huge AND ugly (looks like a spreadsheet, the weapon sprites are nice though).

02 September 2019, 14:07	#94
Shatterhand Warhasneverbeensomuchfun Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Rio de Janeiro / Brazil Age: 41 Posts: 3,450	IIRC Licence to Kill doesn't scroll horizontally. The panel was there to make the main game look more "Vertical" I guess, like arcade games.

03 September 2019, 23:24	#98
DamienD Banned Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London / Sydney Age: 47 Posts: 20,420	Another "half screen" panel: 1000cc Turbo

04 September 2019, 09:42	#99
Hewitson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 41 Posts: 3,772

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