Turrican porting on MSX: WIP2 and "playable" tech demo

[thegeps]

Hi there,

I've added background collisions and player respawn after death (actually only when falling to the falls, as there are no enemies) to my code.
And probably some bugs too.
Here's a video on my YT channel (subscription and like appreciated, of course): set quality at 720p50
In the first comment you'll find a link to try it online on a web emulator. Let me know if you spot any bug, thanks

[ Show youtube player ]

[Seiya]

nice working

[PortuguesePilot]

Impressive! I'd like to see an MSX2 improved version too, if it's possible. Cheers!

[thegeps]

The plan is to add an MSX2 version too (I'm starting to study the V9938)

[gimbal]

I like it It's like half Turrican, half storm trooper

[idrougge]

The scrolling looks rather smooth for MSX. Is it due to the capture or are you using some trick to hide the fact that the MSX (1) doesn't have scroll registers?

[thegeps]

Capture is in real time. The only trick here is the speed the scrolling is 8 pixel step (1 character) but due to its speed it seems smooth. And, just to tell, it could be faster (I've put a 3/50sec pause between frames)

[rothers]

This is a vast improvement on Turrican just by the fact the player sprite is in the centre of the screen and not over towards the right edge which made the original game rubbish & cheap deaths a-plenty.

Honestly, how could the dev team have thought that was a good idea?!

Imagine if it, IDK, Sonic or any other platform game was like that.

[saimon69]

Originally Posted by thegeps

Hi there,

I've added background collisions and player respawn after death (actually only when falling to the falls, as there are no enemies) to my code.
And probably some bugs too.
Here's a video on my YT channel (subscription and like appreciated, of course): set quality at 720p50
In the first comment you'll find a link to try it online on a web emulator. Let me know if you spot any bug, thanks

[ Show youtube player ]

By the way do you have already someone who takes care of the score? Would be the good occasion for me to improve my Arkos Tracker skills - the sound chip for the base MSX is the same of the spectrum and Amstrad if i remember clearly?

(AND am italian so no language barrier )

[thegeps]

Yes, same PSG (even same of Atari ST, btw). Actually my usual musician doesn't want to do Turrican musics because he only wants to do original musics...
So actually no musician for PSG, just a japanese friend who will to do them on OPLL additional audio cartridge, so the game could have double (or triple if someone will arrange them also for Konami SCC) soundtrack.
If you want to prove your skills on Turrican songs you are more than welcome

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by rothers

Imagine if it, IDK, Sonic or any other platform game was like that.

That'd be horrible since Sonic is meant to be played at a high speed. Turrican is not. My prevailing assumption remains that it is to make the game harder. But who knows, maybe it was necessary to make it play and scroll smooth as butter, who knows.

One thing that is most certainly not true is that the devs were idiots, there is a reason behind it.

[Muzza]

Performance is one common reason.
The player can move around in the center part of the screen shooting enemies without any scrolling work being required.
If the character is always centered, every small movement requires tile blits and CPU work, increasing the chance of it dropping to 25hz. Which for an action game that was pushing the limits of a base A500 could have been a big negative.

[thegeps]

Hi there! This time I've added background animations (spikes, falls, reactor flames on flying platforms), "to dark" and "to light" effect when determined zones are triggered and I've improved bacground collisions. I've also fixed an annoying bug on main character sprites. As usual set quality at 720p50 to avoid frame's missing.
Actual tech demo (updated as you see it in this video) can be played online clicking on the link in the first comment.

[ Show youtube player ]

[PortuguesePilot]

Awesome work!