Search found 2042 matches

by Joefish
Thu Feb 22, 2024 12:32 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: R-type question
Replies: 54
Views: 1996

Re: R-type question

Mostly you really need to play this level keeping ahead of, and below, the centre of the screen. That way things hurtling down the middle of the screen will pass behind you, but you have to be ready to fire on anything coming at you head-on. Also practise using a charged shot and try to time it so y...
by Joefish
Fri Feb 16, 2024 12:04 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: How big should new Speccy games be? 48k? Bigger? Release 2 versions?
Replies: 67
Views: 1647

Re: How big should new Speccy games be? 48k? Bigger? Release 2 versions?

By 1985, the Spectrum had evolved to 128k, and by 1987, 180k was possible with +3 disks. Nearly 40 years later, why would we "downgrade" the Spectrum? Shouldn't developers be free to use any size up to 180k if they wish? Yes, most developers won't need it, but if you wanted a game with lo...
by Joefish
Thu Feb 15, 2024 7:24 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: How big should new Speccy games be? 48k? Bigger? Release 2 versions?
Replies: 67
Views: 1647

Re: How big should new Speccy games be? 48k? Bigger? Release 2 versions?

But so enraging when a Speccy-clueless "multi format comparison" video loads the Spectrum version in 48K mode and assumes it has no music... I think the trick is to sabotage it. The mistake is trying to pander to these people. There were plenty of perfectly legitimate ways to program a 48...
by Joefish
Thu Feb 15, 2024 7:13 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: How big should new Speccy games be? 48k? Bigger? Release 2 versions?
Replies: 67
Views: 1647

Re: How big should new Speccy games be? 48k? Bigger? Release 2 versions?

Let's face it, you can write a 48K game that pushes that particular machine spec way beyond what anyone would have said was impossible, but there's always going to be someone ready to give you a crappy review because he had a +2A and your game isn't playing incessant AY lift music like he thinks it ...
by Joefish
Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:10 pm
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: Unnecessary inclusions in games
Replies: 49
Views: 1800

Re: Unnecessary inclusions in games

always hated the wall-hugging weapon in R-Type , not even because of its movement pattern seemingly covering less space but because it being so weak in comparison to any other I play the arcade version under emulation rather than the Speccy version these days, but that weapon is so much more useful...
by Joefish
Mon Feb 12, 2024 11:06 am
Forum: Games/Software
Topic: The best Speccy game by Mike Young: vote
Replies: 5
Views: 345

Re: The best Speccy game by Mike Young: vote

PeteProdge wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2024 11:58 pm The Plagues Of Egypt got this, with four votes!

Noah got only one.
Sadly ironic that Noah didn't even get a pair of votes.
And after he was expecting a flood.
Never mind, let's hope he can take that on board, and move on.
by Joefish
Fri Feb 09, 2024 12:34 pm
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: Super Sonic Bros. Fast scrolling platform game which tries to not look like a ZX game
Replies: 19
Views: 1070

Re: Super Sonic Bros. Fast scrolling platform game which tries to not look like a ZX game

That's very good. I like how you've used black edges on the background objects, and how that lets you use light and dark shades without affecting the background colour. Also the highlights and shading is impressive for such blocky limitations! I'd like to see a bigger player sprite though, in more t...
by Joefish
Thu Feb 08, 2024 12:19 pm
Forum: Preservation
Topic: The Quest for the Staff of the First Moon
Replies: 21
Views: 698

Re: The Quest for the Staff of the First Moon

I heard the staff of the first moon all quit when they learned the staff of the second moon were getting paid more for shorter hours... :lol:
by Joefish
Wed Feb 07, 2024 2:43 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Another ATTRibute scroller, But At Pixel Speeds
Replies: 11
Views: 784

Re: Another ATTRibute scroller, But At Pixel Speeds

Now vertically, this would have to move in whole characters, but there's a way of hiding that in the gameplay. The trick is, you don't scroll vertically every time the player jumps or drops down, unless they're about to fall right off the bottom of the screen - in which case they should already be f...
by Joefish
Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:11 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Another ATTRibute scroller, But At Pixel Speeds
Replies: 11
Views: 784

Re: Another ATTRibute scroller, But At Pixel Speeds

Wall_Axe wrote: Tue Feb 06, 2024 11:21 am Any chance of a .gif or YouTube video showing the scrolling?
Can't at the moment. Could someone capture it in a GIF and upload it?
by Joefish
Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:35 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Another ATTRibute scroller, But At Pixel Speeds
Replies: 11
Views: 784

Re: Another ATTRibute scroller, But At Pixel Speeds

And excuse my ignorance as well, please, what is the 4-pixel position? The original thread suddenly started talking about 4 pixels, which didn't make sense to me because attributes are aligned to 8 pixels. Hence I lost track of that discussion. Different relevance! In the first instance, rothers ha...
by Joefish
Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:27 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Ultimate Filmation Maths.
Replies: 9
Views: 1224

Re: Ultimate Filmation Maths.

Fantastic bit of work! So it is optimising to only redraw around anything that moves. And it's interesting how that sometimes leaves further away objects overlapped in the wrong order, but those glitches are outside of the rectangle being copied to update the screen. So not much different to what I ...
by Joefish
Mon Feb 05, 2024 11:29 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Another ATTRibute scroller, But At Pixel Speeds
Replies: 11
Views: 784

Another ATTRibute scroller, But At Pixel Speeds

rothers ' post about a Sonic clone got me wondering. How quickly can you shove a pixel pattern up to the screen to make an attribute-block landscape appear to move in pixels? ; ; Example Pixel Scrolling Attribute Blocks Code ; ; by: Jason J Railton ; for: Spectrum Computing ; ; dated: February 2024...
by Joefish
Wed Jan 31, 2024 5:36 pm
Forum: Showcase your work!
Topic: New game in development (any suggestion for the title is welcome)
Replies: 16
Views: 847

Re: New game in development (any suggestion for the title is welcome)

Lupus Invadus
Fleece Yourselves
Sheep Deprivation
by Joefish
Wed Jan 31, 2024 5:08 pm
Forum: Showcase your work!
Topic: New game in development (any suggestion for the title is welcome)
Replies: 16
Views: 847

Re: New game in development (any suggestion for the title is welcome)

Loopy Lupus
Wool Raider
Wool Snatcher
Ewe Can't Handle the Truth!
Advanced Welsh Simulator

Don't really know, but the farmer's name should be 'Artie' - Artie O'Dactyl
by Joefish
Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:55 am
Forum: Programming
Topic: I'm doing a sonic clone, best way to scroll the attributes layer 4 bits at a time?
Replies: 19
Views: 949

Re: I'm doing a sonic clone, best way to scroll the attributes layer 4 bits at a time?

Sounds complicated - far easier just to have two buffers and swap between them, and scroll each one a byte at a time. Now, if you really want to be clever, write the data to the two screens of a 128K Spectrum and time it such that it takes four scanlines to update each row, and then swap screens eve...
by Joefish
Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:42 am
Forum: Showcase your work!
Topic: New game in development (any suggestion for the title is welcome)
Replies: 16
Views: 847

Re: New game in development (any suggestion for the title is welcome)

I think it should be a wolf. Foxes really don't take sheep! The sprite is great though!
by Joefish
Tue Jan 30, 2024 6:13 pm
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: Super Minimal Bro' - Fast scrolling 48k platformer
Replies: 19
Views: 1317

Re: Super Minimal Bro' - Fast scrolling 48k platformer

That sort of effect works so much better on a 128K because you can swap screens at the attribute mid-line so it costs you hardly any CPU time to do 8x4 attributes - so long as you can time other routines around the switches. On a 48K machine it would take you two scan lines to change the row of attr...
by Joefish
Tue Jan 30, 2024 5:05 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: Z80 assembly development environment recommendations
Replies: 31
Views: 1218

Re: Z80 assembly development environment recommendations

This all sounds very long-winded. ZXSpin can be launched from the command line with the name of a file and it launches and loads it. One REALLY BIG advantage is, if there's already an instance of ZXSpin running, it instructs that to load the file and doesn't open another window. This is a huge advan...
by Joefish
Tue Jan 30, 2024 11:52 am
Forum: Brand new software!
Topic: Super Minimal Bro' - Fast scrolling 48k platformer
Replies: 19
Views: 1317

Re: Super Minimal Bro' - Fast scrolling 48k platformer

I've got major plans for this and want to recreate this demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE1KylKQDrQ which looks absolutely amazing, the peak of spectrum scrolling I reckon. I think it's possible, although it seems that exact demo, once logic and sprites were added, was too slow due to the mul...
by Joefish
Tue Jan 23, 2024 4:44 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Iconic Character Sprites
Replies: 66
Views: 3067

Re: Iconic Character Sprites

If you take another two studs off all four sides, you can add 45° roof slope bricks around the edge to make a neat frame. Decide whether you want the slopes facing inward or outward though, then pick the right bricks for the corners. That'll also protect it from knocking bits off the edges.
by Joefish
Tue Jan 23, 2024 11:07 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Iconic Character Sprites
Replies: 66
Views: 3067

Re: Iconic Character Sprites

Is that website getting theirs from Ali too? Makes a bit more sense I suppose. Easier on the wallet. I guess they won't say 'LEGO' on them then! Then again, LEGO's own pop-art mosaics that now use smooth round tiles, they don't say 'LEGO' on them either. That's only moulded onto the studs of bricks ...
by Joefish
Sun Jan 21, 2024 11:35 pm
Forum: Programming
Topic: How much self modifying code was there and did it do anything?
Replies: 26
Views: 1369

Re: How much self modifying code was there and did it do anything?

Yep, that last one is how the scenery blocks in Cobra are rendered. The pixel data for the scrollable tiles of scenery for one line of the screen are loaded into the CPU registers in pairs, then the stack pointer pointed at screen memory. So then by doing PUSH BC, PUSH DE, etc. a row of scenery tile...