Rastan port for A500 1MB (demo available)

[earok]

basementApe has been working on a really promising looking port of Rastan, the alpha demo for A500 1MB is now available to download and play.



Links:

itch: https://basementape.itch.io/rastan-amiga-500
IRN: https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/...a-500-and.html

Saberman:

[ Show youtube player ]

[d4rk3lf]

Haven't played Rastan "back in the day", but this looks amazing.
I did a quick look at the arcade version, and this is perfect example how I think ports for A500 1MB should be done.
Sure, there's no parallax (who needs it, after all), but colors are so much nicer then in arcade version, and the gameplay seems spot on.

Amazing job basementApe!

[rothers]

Wow this looks amazing, more info on the game specs?

[AmyMor]

Incredible quality
Between that and the CASTLEVANIA port AMIGA is reaching the top!

[alexh]

Looks nice. Thanks to the author basementApe and earok for their hard work.

The best thing about the arcade version's visuals is the parallax scrolling, particularly in the cavern sections. If some of that can be added to the Amiga version, even just one level, it would lift it considerably.

[kalu666]

looks good, forcing the game in ntsc is a way lot better!

[demoniac]

Looks and sounds good -- props to the team!

[kremiso]

i was wondering about the complicate lianas + fire sequence, and i see changed with a moving platforms jumping sequence

apart this, i like this new dev approach, adapting colors and gfx (amazing style so far)

the new darker setting inside the castle is also great

fingers crossed

[lmimmfn]

This looks beautiful, i dont mind no parallex layer, maybe a compromise would be a slight copperlist sky that moves slightly on vertical scroll to provide some depth?

I would have preferred back in the day if some of the arcade games released before the Amiga(like this, 1942, Green Beret, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Galaga etc.) were ported and accurate rather than trying to shove the latest CPS monster arcare onto an A500 with 1 floppy disk

[K1200RS21]

a magnificent port that deserves a magnificent icon

[Bren McGuire]

i understand the limitations of Amiga and this is a great port but I think the graphics could be worked on a bit more they feel a little lifeless, not the characters but the backgrounds for example the really vast plain color areas like the sky and the dark color under the ground

[saimon69]

BasementApe is implementing copper now

[jotd]

just gave it a try and yes, it's damn good, even on low spec A500 winuae "slowest possible" it runs properly.

The graphics are top notch and the sfx & music too.

It's like the Final Fight of hack n slash games: it's been ages that we're hearing about redoing that one and it never happened, until now (and Scorpion)

Congrats, and please complete it!

[Bren McGuire]

ah yes "copper" the amiga world catch all "solution" for "i dont want to work on graphics so i'll just fill the space with bands of
colors". i said the game graphics need work and that is not what it needs because you cant do that on the floor can you. the graphics need more real polish elbow grease work not programatic crutches like compare to arcade here how "full" the graphics are

copper lines will just make it look even dumber
the music needs a lot of work too and the pace of the game seems slower than arcade maybe because 50hz?

Originally Posted by saimon69

BasementApe is implementing copper now

[d4rk3lf]

Originally Posted by Bren McGuire

ah yes "copper" the amiga world catch all "solution" for "i dont want to work on graphics so i'll just fill the space with bands of
colors".

Sometimes..
...often times..
Less is more.
Haven't played Rastan, but from what I see, I really dislike color palette they use in the Arcade, and this port have great colors.
And your screenshot proves my point, because it looks like mess
(with all respect to original creators)

Zool is a good example where "less is more".
Aga "enchased" version brought only mess into the screen with additional parallax, and many colors in the BG.

Originally Posted by Bren McGuire

copper lines will just make it look even dumber

It's Ok if you don't like it, but there's nicer way to say that.
Besides, you can try your own port with millions parallaxes, and colors that would bring headache to anyone with a little bit of taste for colors.
Cooper can add depth.

[saimon69]

I KNEW someone would come and blast this because is not a 1:1 port -_-

[Gzegzolka]

It should be a port that You want and like to make, not need to make. Do it as You want. You can add features related to amiga if You want. I am interested how this game could look with colour gradient in background, but if I remember it right Core's Torvak do not have it too.

[saimon69]

BasementApe has problem with EAB account authentication right now, so gave me this text to post here:

Wow, thanks a lot everybody for the feedback and kind words It's great motivation to see that so many enjoy this version so far, even tho it's far from finished

Right so here's my thinking on why I do things one way instead of the other way with this port.

My goal isn't to make the most arcade-accurate Amiga port of Rastan possible, it's more like try and make the best *rendition* of Rastan that the A500 can do on its own terms. The A500 was a great machine for its time and all, and it has many strengths. However throwing a shit-ton of moving sprites on-screen at once the way the arcade does isn't one of those strengths. Neither is memory. I think the greatest A500 limitation might just be the paltry pile of memory that it has for gfx and audio. Which is part of the reason why I've been reworking the backgrounds; to make them all fit in 512kb of chip memory along with all the enemies, music, and sfx I wanted to be in there.

I also think the arcade's graphics has several problems. The artists knew their stuff but they were pushing pixels on CRTs, for CRTs, and probably using paint tools that equate to banging rocks together to start a fire by today's standards. So not really surprising then that, the way I see it, it all ended up looking a bit messy, noisy, and well.. garish. At least on modern screens.

Finally, I just enjoy doing pixel art within the limitations the A500 forces on you. Working in the 12-bit color range is a lot of fun, and so is working with a 16 color palette. Yeah I know I could bump that up to 32, but then performance would take a hit.

Keep in mind though it's all very much still WIP atm. Things will change as I/we figure things out and go back and iterate on older stuff. So if there's something you don't like right now well hey, it might just change somewhere down the line who knows?

I honestly agree with him: 8 bit ports were good not because they tried to redo the arcade as much as possible but because they tried to get the essence of the arcade and adapt it to the machine potential; this approach also was used on consoles and did wield interesting results that were not arcade perfect but their own game; think Shadow Dancer and ESWAT on megadrive.

[Cris1997XX]

16 color palette? Damn, I didn't even notice that until now! Since he intends to release the source code, hopefully someone will make an improved AGA version too

[DanyPPC]

True !

Originally Posted by saimon69

I honestly agree with him: 8 bit ports were good not because they tried to redo the arcade as much as possible but because they tried to get the essence of the arcade and adapt it to the machine potential; this approach also was used on consoles and did wield interesting results that were not arcade perfect but their own game; think Shadow Dancer and ESWAT on megadrive.