Wonderboy in Monster Land SE

[Asman]

I have question. How amiga version is close to the arcade version ?

@earok
I guess you are changing colour values directly in disk image. Or you have a file version of this game ?

[Retro1234]

Can this finally be played without keyboard with cd32load?

[earok]

Originally Posted by Asman

I have question. How amiga version is close to the arcade version ?

@earok
I guess you are changing colour values directly in disk image. Or you have a file version of this game ?

Not very close I think! As I understand it there are different levels. I haven't done a full playthrough of either game yet.

Currently, I'm changing the values in the WHDLoad disk image. I don't have a file version of the game.

[earok]

Originally Posted by Boo Boo

Can this finally be played without keyboard with cd32load?

Yes.

But I think it might be worth making it so FIRE opens doors anyway..

[Retro1234]

Like the hacking stuff Wonderboy, Giana whats next?

[earok]

Originally Posted by Boo Boo

Like the hacking stuff Wonderboy, Giana whats next?

cheers

Maybe UN Squadron? I wanted to retitle it as Area 88 (the name of the manga/anime it's based on), possibly tweak the palette, see if I can make the game more playable somehow...

Originally Posted by s2325

AGA version simulation for personal amusement:

Haha, nice!

[Amigajay]

Originally Posted by earok

Also included a SMS screenshot to show the playfield is actually wider than SMS version, albeit not quite as tall (SMS seems to have better use of the playfield though, particularly camera positioning. I might look at that as well..)



.

In pure pixels it may be bigger, but in real terms on a TV screen of course its a different matter and the MS one is full screen, though i guess layout wise the Amiga one is closer to the arcade original in that respect!

[dlfrsilver]

yes by the way, the arcade machine is a kind of hybrid :

It's using partly tiles, partly bitmaps, exactly like the amiga......

Problem : since mame only manage tiles, the bitmap part is not supported :/

[Shatterhand]

Originally Posted by earok

Yes.

But I think it might be worth making it so FIRE opens doors anyway..

On arcade you enter doors by pushing up. Problem is that UP is used for jump here.

To fire the 2nd weapon, you use up + button. I didn't play long enough to see how its done on the Amiga.


But to enter doors, it should be either up+button or down+button , so no risk to enter a door by accident.

But anything is better than the space bar. Who the heck thought this was a good idea?

Maybe UN Squadron? I wanted to retitle it as Area 88 (the name of the manga/anime it's based on), possibly tweak the palette, see if I can make the game more playable somehow...

All that game needs is a decent frame-rate. The game is basically unplayable with its frame-rate.

[earok]

Originally Posted by Shatterhand

On arcade you enter doors by pushing up. Problem is that UP is used for jump here.

To fire the 2nd weapon, you use up + button. I didn't play long enough to see how its done on the Amiga.


But to enter doors, it should be either up+button or down+button , so no risk to enter a door by accident.

But anything is better than the space bar. Who the heck thought this was a good idea?



All that game needs is a decent frame-rate. The game is basically unplayable with its frame-rate.

I used CD32load to assign space to fire button. Actually worked, but the problem was you'd go back into the shop half the time after exiting. And you'd accidentally enter shops if you were fighting in front of the door.

Making button two jump is doable, and I tested it, but of course it means that you need to hold down that button for ladders :/ I don't think ladders are that common so maybe not too annoying. And of course that means we could use Up for shop. Someone smarter than me might be able to implement blue jump plus keep up for ladders.

Down+Button is for special weapons.

Re: Framerate, I'm not hopeful but I'll keep tinkering.

One other problem I want to try and fix is the camera centering, it's too high so often it's like a leap of faith when you jump off a low edge.

[Shatterhand]

I'd think down+button would be special weapons on amiga, it makes sense. Can't understand how someone has this good idea then assigns enter doors to space bar

And my 'its unplayable' remark about framerate is regarding UN Squadron. The framerate on Wonderboy is not good, but its far from making it "unplayable"

[earok]

Ah right, whoops!

Well, regarding UN Squadron..

If you play a version of the game on an 020 without a speed fix (eg the whdload slave has a speed fix), it runs really fast, too fast to be playable. So I thought, why not make a pseudo "aga" edition without the speed fixes, and just scale down the movement speed on everything. So, bullets moving 4 pixels a frame would move 2 pixels a frame.

I couldn't work it out though. My ASM skills were much worse then, so maybe I'd be able to crack it if I gave it another shot.

[earok]

Another update! Before and after images again.



This time I've repositioned the camera to be slightly lower, so you can actually see where you're going to land when you walk off a ledge. The camera is centered on Wonderboy's forehead, like in the arcade version.

I haven't had any problems so far with this causing view issues etc.

[earok]

Ok! I've uploaded the first alpha to the Zone - this is a CD32 specific build ISO

So, a whole bunch of notes
* Palette changes as previously discussed
* Viewport change as previously discussed (the camera is lower)
* Press BLUE to jump (two button pad is a requirement for this version) also to climb ladders (I can't think of a fix for this)
* Press UP to enter shops (this relies on CD32Load, it's not a feature of the hack per se)
* Press PLAY to pause (again, it's CD32load's magic, not part of the hack)
* Some (not all) waits have been removed from Codetapper's slave. This keeps it reasonably smooth (especially when there's lots of coins on screen) but I'm unsure if this causes instability or makes it too fast anywhere in the game.


I'm not really sure if I can think of anything else to do. I could do specific versions (eg without the second button pad requirement, set up for a hard drive), maybe look at embedding the changes back into an ADF or the like.

I don't have my CD32 at the moment so I can't test on real hardware, any issue reports would be appreciated!

[jbenam]

Wow, the viewport change truly makes it a much better port now. Awesome, thanks earok!

About the blit waits, I know the WHDLoad guys often have to patch those, maybe you can try asking them and see if we can get a silky smooth game on 020/CD32?

[earok]

Cheers mate

I think (guessing here) the blitwaits in the slave were to keep the game at an A500 accurate speed on any system, but of course the game wasn't slick on A500.

Unlike some other games it doesn't feel too fast with them gone, though some effects eg coins from bosses look unnaturally fast.

May be the best thing to do is ask for a custom option to disable some or all the blitwaits.

I just remembered the original version of the slave didn't have blit waits, I could bundle them both with whatever package I make.

[Amigajay]

Looks good, that changed viewpoint makes it alot better and easier to see now!

[idrougge]

Originally Posted by Shatterhand

Except no brazilan Master System has FM, so it's funny to hear it with FM music

No Master System outside of Japan had FM.

Originally Posted by Shatterhand

On arcade you enter doors by pushing up. Problem is that UP is used for jump here.

I think you push down on Master System. Strange that they didn't use it on Amiga.

[s2325]

How about doors like in James Pond 2: Robocod

[idrougge]

Originally Posted by earok

Also included a SMS screenshot to show the playfield is actually wider than SMS version, albeit not quite as tall (SMS seems to have better use of the playfield though, particularly camera positioning. I might look at that as well..)

The actual playfield doesn't look any wider than the MS version.