Zeewolf viewport size (draw distance) request

rare_j · 05 September 2012, 02:07

I've been playing Zeewolf again recently and it is still a great game. Really nice aesthetic too with the flat shaded polys.
What would make it even better though is if the draw distance could be increased so you could see more of what's going on around you.

I imagine that the draw distance is fixed to be as small as it is so that the game just about runs on a 68000. (Luckily back in the day I was playing this on a 50mhz 030 so I never suffered it in slideshow-o-vision.)
I wonder if there's just a simple constant somewhere in the engine that controls this draw distance, and could be bumped up a bit by a clever enough hacker???

Framerates would not be an issue these days with WinUAE.
Does anyone have the skills to make this good old game play even better?

wXR · 05 September 2012, 04:57

Someone please answer this brilliant man!

stevsurv · 05 September 2012, 12:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by wXR

Someone please answer this brilliant man!

erm... erm... erm....

Amiga1992 · 05 September 2012, 14:28

I doubt this is as trivial as the OP makes it sound. Going in and hacking an engine like that sounds pretty complex to me, specially since I don't think this would be a constant at all, rather product of a more complex calculation. But then again, an expert should know better and might give a more satisfying answer than me.

wXR · 05 September 2012, 14:59

And let's make sure we do it with Hunter too.

Toni Wilen · 05 September 2012, 16:01

Finding and patching code used to clip draw distance is probably the easiest part (and it is far from trivial).

Possible very difficult problems:

- Geometry calculations most likely use 16-bit fixed point math (fast but very limited range) = under/overflows possible if visible area becomes larger.
- Buffers used for Z-sorting and geometry calculations and so on may only have just enough space for normal draw distance.

rare_j · 05 September 2012, 23:18

Many thanks for the insights Toni.
I've seen framerate patches for F1GP and Stunt Car Racer.
Looks like this request is possibly more difficult.
Maybe someone will be interested enough to take a look at the code and find out for sure.

05 September 2012, 02:07	#1
rare_j Zone Friend Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: London Posts: 1,176	Zeewolf viewport size (draw distance) request I've been playing Zeewolf again recently and it is still a great game. Really nice aesthetic too with the flat shaded polys. What would make it even better though is if the draw distance could be increased so you could see more of what's going on around you. I imagine that the draw distance is fixed to be as small as it is so that the game just about runs on a 68000. (Luckily back in the day I was playing this on a 50mhz 030 so I never suffered it in slideshow-o-vision.) I wonder if there's just a simple constant somewhere in the engine that controls this draw distance, and could be bumped up a bit by a clever enough hacker??? Framerates would not be an issue these days with WinUAE. Does anyone have the skills to make this good old game play even better?

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05 September 2012, 04:57	#2
wXR Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York Posts: 552	Someone please answer this brilliant man!

05 September 2012, 14:28	#4
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	I doubt this is as trivial as the OP makes it sound. Going in and hacking an engine like that sounds pretty complex to me, specially since I don't think this would be a constant at all, rather product of a more complex calculation. But then again, an expert should know better and might give a more satisfying answer than me.

05 September 2012, 14:59	#5
wXR Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York Posts: 552	And let's make sure we do it with Hunter too.

05 September 2012, 16:01	#6
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 49 Posts: 26,518	Finding and patching code used to clip draw distance is probably the easiest part (and it is far from trivial). Possible very difficult problems: - Geometry calculations most likely use 16-bit fixed point math (fast but very limited range) = under/overflows possible if visible area becomes larger. - Buffers used for Z-sorting and geometry calculations and so on may only have just enough space for normal draw distance.

05 September 2012, 23:18	#7
rare_j Zone Friend Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: London Posts: 1,176	Many thanks for the insights Toni. I've seen framerate patches for F1GP and Stunt Car Racer. Looks like this request is possibly more difficult. Maybe someone will be interested enough to take a look at the code and find out for sure.

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