Alone in the Dark 1 on Amiga 1200?

[CCCP alert]

I was looking at the machine minimum spec requirements for the game in the manual an it says.

8mb hard drive space.
640k (588k free) + 128 EMS/XMS RAM
PC AT (so any 286 PC compatible) PC AT @ 16mhz is recommended.
Adlib blablah
and VGA of course.

OK so if we say your A1200 needs Fast RAM in the trapdoor, bringing the superior 020 up to full 14mhz speed in it, and you had a hard drive too, could Alone in the Dark have been natively coded to Amiga 1200?

Of course nobody on Youtube has set up DOSbox to run like a 12mhz or 8mhz 286. Don't know if the CD-ROM edition this manual is from had different requirements to the original floppy version I had.

*A decent 3D coder not using a C compiler, proper Amiga 100% machine code polygon experts on the development. Not some lazy port either, a ground up bespoke Amiga 1200 game engine from scratch with only the geometry and background bitmaps etc ported over.

[Aladin]

https://www.mobygames.com/game/325/a...he-dark/specs/

Mac: 68040 - 4Mo - 256 couleurs

What justifies this difference in power?

[Retro1234]

You can run it under Mac emulation and iirc in Low res get a decent speed boost
[ Show youtube player ]

[malko]

Given that Alone in the Dark has static rooms (fixed camera view) I am sure even an A500 version can be doable (ex: cruise for a corpse).

AitD :
[ Show youtube player ]

CfaC:
[ Show youtube player ]

[saimon69]

Alone in the dark however has more than the usual 8 color vectors used in an A500, and in some points even attempted Texture mapping. Will need a review of the assets, both in the bitmaps and in the vectors but yeah, i think could be done in ECS for accelerated machines and in AGA for base 1200

[derSammler]

Originally Posted by malko

Given that Alone in the Dark has static rooms (fixed camera view) I am sure even an A500 version can be doable (ex: cruise for a corpse).

AitD :
[ Show youtube player ]

CfaC:
[ Show youtube player ]

Don't judge games by how they look on screen. AitD runs at a snails pace even on the 3DO, which is a way more powerful system.

The minimum specs of the PC version are also just want you need to run it (e.g. code will excute if met), but don't assume it will be playable with that. It won't.

And, of course, everything 3D on the Amiga has the issue that you have to use planes to get pixels on screen, but you draw to a chunky framebuffer.

[kamelito]

During the interview of the developers back in the day, they said that a version for Amiga and Atari ST was planned.

[Seiya]

reading this topic, i thought someone was working at amiga porting

[sokolovic]

Maybe with non textured 3D (or isn't it "just" Gouraud shading ?).

[Megalomaniac]

The PC recommended specs suggest that it's doable on an A1200 (ideally with fastRAM), the Mac minimum specs suggest that it's emphatically not. Cruise For a Corpse probably isn't a fair comparison because that's an adventure and AITD is much more actiony and dependent on real-time reactions, with monsters and weapons. I can't think of any 3D games which look that good and run well on an A1200, even with fastRAM, but clearly the A1200 wasn't pushed as close to its limits as the A500 was.

[grond]

Wasn't AitD just flat-shaded polygons? This could be done easily in planar graphics. The only thing 3D about the engine is coordinate transformation/projection, then it's all 2D. Moreover, the part of the screen that changes with game action usually is rather small. I'm pretty sure it could be done on an A1200.

[Nobby_UK]

Just tried it on Amiga DosBox = Unplayable

It's an ugly game --- why would you want to play it anyway ?

[malko]

Originally Posted by derSammler

Don't judge games by how they look on screen. AitD runs at a snails pace even on the 3DO, which is a way more powerful system.

The minimum specs of the PC version are also just want you need to run it (e.g. code will excute if met), but don't assume it will be playable with that. It won't.

And, of course, everything 3D on the Amiga has the issue that you have to use planes to get pixels on screen, but you draw to a chunky framebuffer.

The minimum specs vary in regard of the developer skills. Have a look at what KK has done with Doom/Dread
Instead of CfaC I could also have given as example "Zdzislav Hero of the galaxy 3D" (and it's in HAM as well).

https://oldhol.abime.net/4968

[ Show youtube player ]

[malko]

Originally Posted by Nobby_UK

Just tried it on Amiga DosBox = Unplayable
It's an ugly game --- why would you want to play it anyway ?

It's an amazing game. I played and finished the first 3 episodes on PC BitD. Atmosphere, gfx, exploration, puzzle, etc. Very well made.
Give it a serious go. I am sure you will be get by the game

[jotd]

a port like that without the source code... no way!

[Don_Adan]

Originally Posted by jotd

a port like that without the source code... no way!

Why? You need only x86 to 68k code/source translator. You created Z80 translator, then maybe You can try to make x86 translator too? Meynaf want to makes some x86 conversion, but no good (for meynaf) x86 disassembler exist.

[meynaf]

Originally Posted by jotd

a port like that without the source code... no way!

This is how I did all my game ports.

[jotd]

yes, and I also ported games without the source, but we're talking about x86 to 68000 of a big game.

Originally Posted by Don_Adan

Why? You need only x86 to 68k code/source translator. You created Z80 translator, then maybe You can try to make x86 translator too? Meynaf want to makes some x86 conversion, but no good (for meynaf) x86 disassembler exist.

LOL. My translator is not perfect and requires a lot of reviewing and debug. You can't just take the binary, disassemble, convert, and it works. Some bugs can take a while, on a 64K ROM game... I can't imagine how much time it would take on a "modern" game like AITD.

A better approach would be maybe apply Ghidra or IDA excellent ability to convert x86 to C code and try to recompile it in 68020, identifying the main display & sound & control parts. The C code is difficult to understand, so a lot of RE is required first.

[meynaf]

Originally Posted by jotd

yes, and I also ported games without the source, but we're talking about x86 to 68000 of a big game.

It also runs on Mac...

[Dunny]

Originally Posted by grond

Wasn't AitD just flat-shaded polygons? This could be done easily in planar graphics.

Gouraud shaded and texture mapped also, I'm afraid.