What's the best screen mode for an AGA shoot-um-up

[NovaCoder]

Hi,

I'm currently developing a new AGA 2D shooter and what too know what's the best screen-mode (resolution) to run in.

For example, is it realistic to develop it to run @ 640x480 in 256 colours? I want it to run at 25fps minimum. The game will be developed in C++ with assembler for the 'important bits' (eg the renderer).

I'd really be interested if someone had got a screen-mode/fps testing test app written in C or assembler.

Also how much difference will targeting an 030 @ 50mhz offer over the standard 020 @ 14mhz? What kind of increase in resolution/colors can I expect? I've read that if you're targeting an 030, it's better not to use the standard blitter, copper and just do it all in software using the 030....is this true?


I've had real trouble tracking down any decent documentation for AGA specific graphics, anyone got some links?

Thanx

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

Hi,

I'm currently developing a new AGA 2D shooter and what too know what's the best screen-mode (resolution) to run in.

For example, is it realistic to develop it to run @ 640x480 in 256 colours? I want it to run at 25fps minimum. The game will be developed in C++ with assembler for the 'important bits' (eg the renderer).

I'd really be interested if someone had got a screen-mode/fps testing test app written in C or assembler.

Also how much difference will targeting an 030 @ 50mhz offer over the standard 020 @ 14mhz? What kind of increase in resolution/colors can I expect? I've read that if you're targeting an 030, it's better not to use the standard blitter, copper and just do it all in software using the 030....is this true?


I've had real trouble tracking down any decent documentation for AGA specific graphics, anyone got some links?

Thanx

For the resolution and colours you want to use, the blitter is a waste of space, its a bottleneck and will slow things down, so yes, if its going to be 030 minimum doing it with the processor is the way forward.

The specs for your game, coupled with resolution and the notion of using C doesn't inspire confidence. Yes I know you'll use ASM for important bits, but unfortunately that still leaves scope for the C code to be a bottleneck. C is not as proficient on Amiga as it is on PC.

I suggest you look to T-Racer for inspiration of what can be done and the realistic specification to work within.

http://hol.abime.net/3998

[musashi5150]

I'd stick to lores (+overscan) with 256 colours if I were you. With assembler you could expect results similar to Banshee I guess (http://hol.abime.net/31) running on a vanilla A1200.

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by musashi5150

I'd stick to lores (+overscan) with 256 colours if I were you. With assembler you could expect results similar to Banshee I guess (http://hol.abime.net/31) running on a vanilla A1200.

What resoultion is lores (+overscan) and is that interlaced?

Thanks

[Steve]

PAL LORES = 320x256
NTSC LORES = 320x200

That is non-interlaced. Check out these links for hardware info:

http://pub.elowar.com/AmigaDev/Hardware_Manual.html

http://pub.elowar.com/AmigaDev/Devices_Manual.html

http://www.mways.co.uk/amiga/howtocode/text/aga.php

http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~gowdy/...ions/main.HTML

Details of overscan resolutions can be found here:
http://pub.elowar.com/AmigaDev/Hardw.../node0085.html

That should get you started.

[NovaCoder]

Thanks Steve