Atari ST conversion: Super Stario Land - Page 3

DamienD · 21 April 2020, 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmigaHope

Nintendo is not as vicious these days about Mario clones like they were back in the day with Great Giana Sisters.

Are you kidding?

Nintendo is the reason why a lot of internet sites no longer host any ROMs.

Retro1234 · 22 April 2020, 15:48

There strangely is a Nes emulator for the ST don't know how fast it is.

I once contacted the Author of Stario and asked if it was coded in STOS iirc and I probably don't

he said No all ASM and the maps ripped from Mario Land but don't quote me on that.

AmigaHope · 22 April 2020, 16:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamienD

Are you kidding?

Nintendo is the reason why a lot of internet sites no longer host any ROMs.

Yes, Nintendo is still very active in preventing piracy of their products. This includes C64 SMB.

They are no longer super active in lawsuits over all games that involve a character jumping on top of enemies to defeat them and smashing blocks to get items. If you don't use their code, their art, their character designs, etc. you will not get sued.

That's why Giana Sisters is okay now.

Galahad/FLT · 31 August 2020, 22:40

So, now that the COVID situation seems to have settled down, and things are not so desperate at work, thought i'd continue with this.

It is now in official beta for playtesting, so not long now.

That is all.

The only disappointing thing is the system requirements for this game are thus:

68020 and 2 meg of chip ram.

That does NOT mean AGA only, if you have an OCS/ECS system with that spec or higher, it will work.

Unfortunately due to the way the game is programmed to be fast and smooth on a base Atari ST, it takes up the entire 1 meg of chip ram on that machine.

I'm left with no memory for samples and additional modules, so unfortunately, memory has had to be increased to 2 meg of chip ram, fast/slow is obviously utterly useless as both samples and module have to be played in chip ram.

rabidgerry · 02 September 2020, 21:25

Would love to try this game out! Looks great.

Amiga1992 · 02 September 2020, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

So, now that the COVID situation seems to have settled down

Galahad/FLT · 02 September 2020, 21:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

Useless response, whether you believe it exists or not, was the world not affected by it or did life for you go on 100000% unaffected?

Radertified · 02 September 2020, 22:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Useless response, whether you believe it exists or not, was the world not affected by it or did life for you go on 100000% unaffected?

I think Akira is

over "seems to have settled down" because it's nowhere near settling down.

But we're venturing into off-topic so let's keep on topic. Hooray for Super Stario Land!

Amiga1992 · 03 September 2020, 01:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radertified

I think Akira is

over "seems to have settled down" because it's nowhere near settling down.

Exactly my confusion, was pretty clear.
Unless we're in some kind of alternate reality...
Yeah sorry for going off-topic, but was just, flabbergasted.

Galahad/FLT · 03 September 2020, 03:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

Exactly my confusion, was pretty clear.
Unless we're in some kind of alternate reality...
Yeah sorry for going off-topic, but was just, flabbergasted.

Ha, you're in America, but here in the UK, its a hell of a lot better than it was.

Anyone back on topic, the shitty Super Stario Land will be ready soon for those that give a shit!

ransom1122 · 03 September 2020, 04:09

rabidgerry · 03 September 2020, 22:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Ha, you're in America, but here in the UK, its a hell of a lot better than it was.

Anyone back on topic, the shitty Super Stario Land will be ready soon for those that give a shit!

Can't wait for Shitty Stario

mcgeezer · 04 September 2020, 00:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

S
The only disappointing thing is the system requirements for this game are thus:

68020 and 2 meg of chip ram.

That does NOT mean AGA only, if you have an OCS/ECS system with that spec or higher, it will work.

Unfortunately due to the way the game is programmed to be fast and smooth on a base Atari ST, it takes up the entire 1 meg of chip ram on that machine.

I'm not sure how much you inspect as part of the game doing these conversions but how much do you know (everything/some/minimum/zero) about how the scrolling and sprites in the game are working on the ST side?

I can only guess it's holding 16 copies of each tile and sprite in ram and redrawing the screen each time. I used to program an ST so I know a little bit about it, certainly I know they are shit at horizontal scrolling... I was just wondering if it's possible to patch the scroll and sprite engine to work on OCS Amigas in 0.5Mb Chip.

Maybe give me some pointers on the ST side and I can take a look in STEEM?

Geezer

rothers · 04 September 2020, 15:35

I'm also curious how it does it. Would the fastest way be literally just having the whole level made from massive bitmaps copied to the screen, kind of building the level from a limited set of possibilities? Is that why it takes up so much RAM?

I think SMB on the spectrum works like that, it is 50fps too.

Galahad/FLT · 04 September 2020, 20:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcgeezer

I'm not sure how much you inspect as part of the game doing these conversions but how much do you know (everything/some/minimum/zero) about how the scrolling and sprites in the game are working on the ST side?

I can only guess it's holding 16 copies of each tile and sprite in ram and redrawing the screen each time. I used to program an ST so I know a little bit about it, certainly I know they are shit at horizontal scrolling... I was just wondering if it's possible to patch the scroll and sprite engine to work on OCS Amigas in 0.5Mb Chip.

Maybe give me some pointers on the ST side and I can take a look in STEEM?

Geezer

Not possible chap, would require far too much effort for a game that I consider a curiosity.

If you look at the levels, you will see that each level comprises sections, i.e. the level design repeats itself a few times every level. And it precalcs all these sections at the start of each level, which is why it takes up so much memory.

If I had the source to the game, it would be entirely rewritten to enable it to scroll and plot like a typical Amiga platformer, but I don't and I'm not wading through reams of undocumented resourced code.

I don't rate the game at all as I'm no Mario fan, it was simply conceived to see what it would take to get it running.

This game will not be getting that level of attention from me, especially as the game is literally a rip off everywhere (titlescreen is stolen from pac land) and there is the obvious chance the Big N takes exception to it.

So thanks, but help declined, its not worth the effort.

rabidgerry · 04 September 2020, 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Not possible chap, would require far too much effort for a game that I consider a curiosity.

If you look at the levels, you will see that each level comprises sections, i.e. the level design repeats itself a few times every level. And it precalcs all these sections at the start of each level, which is why it takes up so much memory.

If I had the source to the game, it would be entirely rewritten to enable it to scroll and plot like a typical Amiga platformer, but I don't and I'm not wading through reams of undocumented resourced code.

I don't rate the game at all as I'm no Mario fan, it was simply conceived to see what it would take to get it running.

This game will not be getting that level of attention from me, especially as the game is literally a rip off everywhere (titlescreen is stolen from pac land) and there is the obvious chance the Big N takes exception to it.

So thanks, but help declined, its not worth the effort.

Would like to play it in whatever form it comes in when it's ready.

rabidgerry · 03 May 2021, 14:57

@Galahad/FLT

Is this still in the works or have you abandoned it? Just cuirous.

Galahad/FLT · 03 May 2021, 15:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabidgerry

@Galahad/FLT

Is this still in the works or have you abandoned it? Just cuirous.

One of Scoopex's musicians is trying to fix the in game module as when SFX play, it gets ruined.

Once he is happy it will retrigger notes properly then it can be released.

rabidgerry · 03 May 2021, 15:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

One of Scoopex's musicians is trying to fix the in game module as when SFX play, it gets ruined.

Once he is happy it will retrigger notes properly then it can be released.

Nice one! Looking forward to it

Keep up the good work it's appreciated.

Keops/Equinox · 03 May 2021, 17:29

Galahad: did you ever make a post or something about how your handle those conversions from a programmer's perspective? The various steps, the issues you encountered etc. It has always made me curious.

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22 April 2020, 15:48	#42
Retro1234 Phone Homer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: 5150 Posts: 5,773	There strangely is a Nes emulator for the ST don't know how fast it is. I once contacted the Author of Stario and asked if it was coded in STOS iirc and I probably don't he said No all ASM and the maps ripped from Mario Land but don't quote me on that.

31 August 2020, 22:40	#44
Galahad/FLT Going nowhere Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: United Kingdom Age: 50 Posts: 8,986	So, now that the COVID situation seems to have settled down, and things are not so desperate at work, thought i'd continue with this. It is now in official beta for playtesting, so not long now. That is all. The only disappointing thing is the system requirements for this game are thus: 68020 and 2 meg of chip ram. That does NOT mean AGA only, if you have an OCS/ECS system with that spec or higher, it will work. Unfortunately due to the way the game is programmed to be fast and smooth on a base Atari ST, it takes up the entire 1 meg of chip ram on that machine. I'm left with no memory for samples and additional modules, so unfortunately, memory has had to be increased to 2 meg of chip ram, fast/slow is obviously utterly useless as both samples and module have to be played in chip ram.

02 September 2020, 21:25	#45
rabidgerry Registered User Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: Belfast Posts: 1,512	Would love to try this game out! Looks great.

03 September 2020, 04:09	#51
ransom1122 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Omnicorp Age: 45 Posts: 5,812

04 September 2020, 15:35	#54
rothers Registered User Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: UK Posts: 487	I'm also curious how it does it. Would the fastest way be literally just having the whole level made from massive bitmaps copied to the screen, kind of building the level from a limited set of possibilities? Is that why it takes up so much RAM? I think SMB on the spectrum works like that, it is 50fps too.

03 May 2021, 14:57	#57
rabidgerry Registered User Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: Belfast Posts: 1,512	@Galahad/FLT Is this still in the works or have you abandoned it? Just cuirous.

03 May 2021, 17:29	#60
Keops/Equinox Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: . Posts: 107	Galahad: did you ever make a post or something about how your handle those conversions from a programmer's perspective? The various steps, the issues you encountered etc. It has always made me curious.

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