Compileable version of Alien Breed 3D II - The Killing Grounds

[trixster]

interesting! Is there a link to it anywhere?

[abu_the_monkey]

i am not sure if it is available anywhere, but, I will ask Karlos if I can upload the mod here.

[viddi]

Nice.

Is it WHDload compatible?
Download link pretty please?
Thx.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by viddi

Is it WHDload compatible?

Maybe with the default slave but certainly not with the AB3DII slave.

[pipper]

Mods to the data files should be compatible with whdload, no?

[alexh]

Originally Posted by pipper

Mods to the data files should be compatible with whdload, no?

Yes probably. I thought this was for your new executables

[pipper]

Even my executable should stay compatible.

Which reminds me: in the 90s I embarked on a mission to create a “Doom-TKG” total conversion for AB3D. I didn’t get all to far, though. I imported a selection of wall textures and monsters into TKG, but didn’t get to import the actual levels.
So right now, imagine running around in TKG levels with Doom wall textures and monsters :-)

[alexh]

Originally Posted by pipper

Even my executable should stay compatible.

If you say so. I've not looked at the AB3DII slave but traditionally slaves patch routines using absolute addresses. If you modify an executable too much, move things around, shorten functions etc the slaves patches the wrong code

[trixster]

The dream for me remains playing AB3D at 1x1 resolution.

[pipper]

It has been done before and much of what I’m doing with AB3D2 can be translated to AB3D1.
Maybe someone can give John Girvins code a whirl?!

The biggest hurdle is the fixed resolution hard coded everywhere and I believe the rendering code is directly writing the 12bit color pixels scattered into the copper list. Copper chunk cannot run at 1x1. This needs to be rewired. On RTG cards one could potentially directly render into a 15bit image… On other machines we would need to map from 12bit to 256 colors on the fly.

[pipper]

Some other anecdote: it looks like the AB3DII menu was developed by someone else, then came delivered as a small self running demo with source. Then it was shoehorned into the original menu code of Alien Breed. Now half of the menu loop runs in controlloop.s, the other half in menunb.s There’s still remnants of the original menu code there, apparently with more options and even a screenshot function. The “cheesesauce” executable still is using the old menu style, showing the title image you can find on the packaging, but never saw in-game.

The menu fire effect is entirely implemented via a blitter routine. 3 blits per frame, triggered formerly by a copper interrupt, then using the blitter interrupt to schedule the next 2 passes.
The background scrolling is achieved by only moving the bitplane pointers of the first 2 bitplanes every frame. The height of these two bitplane is double (512 lines) and the scrolling just wraps back to 0 when reaching 256.
The 256 color palette is setup in such a clever way to isolate the background and foreground from each other and make the fire look fading.
The new code achieves the same effects using a QBSBlit blitter queue and by manipulating the screens bitmap pointers followed by a ScrollVPort call. The copper interrupt has been replaced by a VBlank interrupt server. I don’t know why it had to be a copper interrupt in first place?

[abu_the_monkey]

would it not be better to translate the ab3d1 level data into something that ab3d2 understands (either on the fly or as a stand alone tool) than to rewrite the source code for ab3d1? that is kind of what John Grivins tools do but with the quake level format as the target.

I only dabble with coding so may be well off the mark here.

[pipper]

Yes that would be a route to go, but it would basically mean translating the AB3D levels and data to AB3D2. IDK how much work that is… in terms of tools to write. We’d also loose the rather unique 12bit graphics ofAB3D1 this way. Though I’m not sure how uniquely colored the original assets really are…

[abu_the_monkey]

Karlos gave me the go ahead to share his mod.

I have uploaded it to The Zone! KarlosTKG_fixed.LHA

Enjoy

edit: added a couple of screenshot montage images.

[pipper]

Wow, that DOES look great and surely works with the my modified executable.

What I'd need in addition is a small demo map that shows _all_ features of the renderer fore quick debugging.

[abu_the_monkey]

yes it works just fine with your executable from the zone and the one I built from your source code.

[grond]

That looks amazing! I wonder though whether the game captures the atmosphere of the first part. I have seen many 3D shooters and to me none was as intense as AB3D (ok, Halflife and Doom 3 were very atmospheric). I always wondered whether AB3D was so absorbing *because* it was so ultra low-res...

[pipper]

The reworked sounds and weapons also greatly contribute to atmosphere. It shows what could have been with a proper art and sound direction. For instance, the dogs now growl and you can almost feel them take a bite out of you, the weapons and impacts also seem to have more ooomph now

[viddi]

The other exe doesn't work here.
Too bad it's so slow compared to WHDload, even on my V1200.

But fantastic work on the gfx!!

[jotd]

Originally Posted by pipper

The copper interrupt has been replaced by a VBlank interrupt server. I don’t know why it had to be a copper interrupt in first place?

copper interrupt occurs at the bottom of the frame
vertical blank occurs at the start of the frame


if you need that time before next frame is displayed, copper interrupt is required.
if you have double buffering and just need to switch frames, I suppose that vblank interrupt is all right...


Also if you need to read joypad buttons, you need to read them in vblank not in copper interrupt where the capacitors are discharged.