Search found 734 matches
- Tue Dec 19, 2023 5:38 pm
- Forum: Games/Software
- Topic: Zaxxon, should have been better for 1985
- Replies: 24
- Views: 1036
Re: Zaxxon, should have been better for 1985
Would doing a circular buffer help, I don't think a game looking like Zaxxon even needs an actual scrolling. Eg Commando has no real scrolling nor a buffer, but lots of unrolled separate subroutines for almost every type (even a typesize) of bg object, and lots of specialized subroutines for the sa...
- Tue Dec 19, 2023 11:11 am
- Forum: Games/Software
- Topic: Zaxxon, should have been better for 1985
- Replies: 24
- Views: 1036
Re: Zaxxon, should have been better for 1985
No. Commando and Critical Mass were released in November 1985 and were, with the exception of Nigel Alderton's work on Street Hawk, the developers only releases of the year. In contrast, Platinum Productions released eight titles in 1985 from Zaxxon in January to any-direction scrolling Rambo in No...
- Mon Dec 18, 2023 9:15 pm
- Forum: Games/Software
- Topic: Zaxxon, should have been better for 1985
- Replies: 24
- Views: 1036
Re: Zaxxon, should have been better for 1985
It's easy to say from the safe and cozy vantage point of 2023, with nearly 4 decades of hindsight under the belt. But could it really? It's a somewhat unfair assertion, since the realities of game development were really much different back then, and also the situation and skills of various coders/...
- Wed Dec 13, 2023 4:54 am
- Forum: Hardware
- Topic: Colour clash query
- Replies: 52
- Views: 1589
Re: Colour clash query
If they had wanted to compete in the computer gaming market they would have produced a different computer. That's obvious. well, then they failed in whatever market they aimed, that's obvious :) Another design choice which reflects their interest in text applications is the way the screen pixels ar...
- Wed Dec 13, 2023 4:38 am
- Forum: Hardware
- Topic: Colour clash query
- Replies: 52
- Views: 1589
Re: Colour clash query
At the end of the day, it is. There's no two ways about this. The original programmer had absolutely no way of expressing their intent and so any hardware is guessing. Even if you code specific rules for every single individual game, this is still guesswork about what the original programmer would ...
- Tue Dec 12, 2023 1:46 pm
- Forum: Hardware
- Topic: Colour clash query
- Replies: 52
- Views: 1589
Re: Colour clash query
Better for what? for overall user experience This computer wasn't made for games although that's what it ended being most used for. It was the best and the cheapest for the task Sinclair had in mind. you can't be sure what exactly Sinclair had in his mind And let's not forget it was a success. and ...
- Tue Dec 12, 2023 12:51 pm
- Forum: Hardware
- Topic: Colour clash query
- Replies: 52
- Views: 1589
- Tue Dec 12, 2023 12:49 pm
- Forum: Hardware
- Topic: Colour clash query
- Replies: 52
- Views: 1589
Re: Colour clash query
ULAX is, as far as old software not written for it, entirely based on guesswork. Sure it's educated guesswork, based on studying lots of existing code, but it's still seeing a sequence of changes and makinba big assumption about what the end result should be on screen as a result. And any system th...
- Tue Dec 12, 2023 11:08 am
- Forum: Hardware
- Topic: Colour clash query
- Replies: 52
- Views: 1589
Re: Colour clash query
About the only practical option for an upgrade would have been to add a Timex-style 8x1 attribute mode (with maybe, at a stretch, two BRIGHT bits or half-green bits to expand the palette) on the 128K's ULA. This wouldn't eliminate colour clash, but would allow for more colourful games. The very min...
- Tue Dec 12, 2023 10:52 am
- Forum: Hardware
- Topic: Colour clash query
- Replies: 52
- Views: 1589
Re: Colour clash query
Well the expansion port is essentially all the signals from the Z80 Plus a few extra bits. You could theoretically add just about anything too it. But you'd have to write entirely new software for it. There isn't any capacity in how the spectrum actually stores "what is on the screen" to ...
- Tue Dec 12, 2023 10:39 am
- Forum: Hardware
- Topic: Colour clash query
- Replies: 52
- Views: 1589
Re: Colour clash query
Everything on 8-bit machines was an active compromise somewhere. You could use a lot of screen RAM and take the hit on performance, like the CPC. Or you could go for a mostly text/tile oriented display like the C64, but pay the price in terms of flexibility to some extent. doesn't mean better compr...
- Tue Dec 12, 2023 8:55 am
- Forum: Hardware
- Topic: Colour clash query
- Replies: 52
- Views: 1589
Re: Colour clash query
Memory is one reason. Very first Spectrums only had 16K. Also, completely eliminating color clash would increase traffic between ULA and lower RAM - more delays for CPU 4-colours no-attribute mode (similar to what cpc had) would have the same amount of traffic hovewer, 12k just for the screen was o...
- Sat Dec 09, 2023 6:37 pm
- Forum: Programming
- Topic: Forth compiler for ZX
- Replies: 67
- Views: 2188
Re: Forth compiler for ZX
@_dw, i mean, even your _fib2 here (being "n1 -- n2") could be SCALL
- Sat Dec 09, 2023 5:07 pm
- Forum: Programming
- Topic: Forth compiler for ZX
- Replies: 67
- Views: 2188
Re: Forth compiler for ZX
some possible optimizations a) keeping track what stack values happened to be in registers when they are needed, thus avoiding some explicit redundant swap/drop/rot/etc b) for simple functions taking and returning 1-2 or no values instead of "call...jp" use "pop:(pop):call...ret"...
- Wed Dec 06, 2023 8:19 pm
- Forum: Games/Software
- Topic: What's the SHORTEST Speccy game ever?
- Replies: 54
- Views: 2516
- Wed Dec 06, 2023 8:16 pm
- Forum: Games/Software
- Topic: Games where the main sprite changes
- Replies: 37
- Views: 1183
Re: Games where the main sprite changes
Transformers , rather obviously! And I think the thing in Jet Set Willy is supposed to be a flying pig. I don't see why Antiriad shouldn't count. Stepping into the suit doesn't seem to me as any different to changing outfit in Exolon or The Great Escape . then it's the same as entering a tank in ik...
- Wed Dec 06, 2023 2:40 pm
- Forum: Games/Software
- Topic: Games where the main sprite changes
- Replies: 37
- Views: 1183
Re: Games where the main sprite changes
Transformers, Draconus
don't think Antiriad counts - otherwise we must include Ikari Warriors
don't think Antiriad counts - otherwise we must include Ikari Warriors
- Fri Dec 01, 2023 4:01 pm
- Forum: Emulators
- Topic: New discovery on Z80 I/O block instructions
- Replies: 15
- Views: 1731
Re: New discovery on Z80 I/O block instructions
yep... I was there when Patrik was working on the new releases of his test suite. We knew about new discoveries about the CCF/SCF instructions and the flags of block instructions, which motivated the update. We didn't check all the tapes of the new version on real hardware, sorry. owww... trust no ...
- Fri Dec 01, 2023 3:50 pm
- Forum: Emulators
- Topic: New discovery on Z80 I/O block instructions
- Replies: 15
- Views: 1731
Re: New discovery on Z80 I/O block instructions
Actually, I don't know of anyone who specifically tried z80memptr.tap on a real Zilog or NEC until yesterday on Sinclair hardware. i dont remember old discussions details now, but do you mean even Patrik himself never tried it on a real hw :? People usually try z80full.tap and z80ccf.tap. I have a ...
- Fri Dec 01, 2023 1:55 pm
- Forum: Emulators
- Topic: New discovery on Z80 I/O block instructions
- Replies: 15
- Views: 1731
Re: New discovery on Z80 I/O block instructions
couldn't be all, not every one failed Patrik's test before afair, otherwise too many people would complainTheMartian wrote: ↑Fri Dec 01, 2023 1:05 pm Does this happen in all Z80 models, or just NEC? I'm curious.
- Thu Nov 30, 2023 1:09 am
- Forum: Emulators
- Topic: ZX ULAX emulator
- Replies: 252
- Views: 73054
Re: ZX ULAX emulator
a quick one for the recent Forest Escape this is for the full version, not the demo ; scr2sbuf 109221 0111 0 0111 0 0111 109230 109221 -1928F ; masked 1092E3 C807 1092E8 2160 0131 0536 0337 0113 1092EF 1092E8 -192FB 109300 1092E8 -193A3 1093AD C888 (i won't put it in the game pack while the game is ...
- Mon Nov 20, 2023 9:21 am
- Forum: Design/Ideas
- Topic: Stunt car racer for super cpu
- Replies: 16
- Views: 1011
Re: Stunt car racer for super cpu
Commodore's SuperCpu is 65816 clocked up to 20MHz i.e. you will get clock x20, 16bit accumulator instead of 8bit and 24bit addresss space. Not like all this is needed to speed up old game. On other side, we have Z80 at 7 or 14 MHz (I'm not sure if 28MHz is a thing, last time I was interested in sup...
- Mon Nov 06, 2023 7:48 pm
- Forum: Games/Software
- Topic: Which games use teleporting ?
- Replies: 103
- Views: 3179
Re: Which games use teleporting ?
What do you mean by teleporting in Total Eclipse? Game looks like 3D with flipscreen when you enter rooms. 13:44 a rectangle on the wall (but not used throughout this vid it seems) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_U0V10NlBY&t=824s there are other moments where the exit point is out of place bu...
- Mon Nov 06, 2023 1:22 pm
- Forum: Games/Software
- Topic: Which games use teleporting ?
- Replies: 103
- Views: 3179
Re: Which games use teleporting ?
Antiriad, Total Eclipse (& maybe other freescape games)
- Sat Oct 28, 2023 1:55 am
- Forum: Emulators
- Topic: Flashload problems
- Replies: 9
- Views: 393
Re: Flashload problems
What are the main reasons a program will not load with 'instant' load (e.g. Flashload), when it does load with the speeded up versions (e.g. edgeloader in ZX-Spin). even more intriguing is why in rare cases flashload works but edgeloader fails :? happened to me a few times, can't recall which files...