Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

General software. From trouble with the Banyan Tree to OCP Art Studio, post any general software chat here. Could include game challenges...
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PeteProdge
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Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by PeteProdge »

Yeah, I've been away for a bit, as I've been working on comedy and a new retrogaming thing. It's nearing completion. By 'it', I mean my new YouTube channel, Reheated Pixels, which has me looking at old computer/console/hand-held games.

I'm kicking off with a look at an in-depth look at Out Run, and today I've published a 90-second taster video (with apologies to The Cardigans, who I have shamelessly ripped off)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8r_kVRd-54

I've managed to get TV/radio presenter Iain Lee involved, and my friend off the comedy circuit, Donald Mackerel.

As well as the Spectrum 48K and 128K versions, I'm also looking at arcade; Commodore 64; Amstrad CPC; MSX; MSX2; Amiga; Atari ST; MS-DOS; Sega Master System; PC Engine/Turbo Grafx; Sega Mega Drive; Sega Saturn; Sega Game Gear; Nintendo GameBoy Advance and the PlayStation 2.

The Spectrum versions will be a key focus of the video. It's brought up in the guest discussions, and well, there's no getting away from it, it really didn't work out well on the Speccy.

I'm also looking at the creation and design of Out Run, as well as sticking a few gags in there. Trying be factually informative AND acting like an idiot at the same time. I guess this first video will be like a cross between Fantasy Football League and Top Gear.

I've ended up filming at Silverstone (it's fairly local to me) and the Centre For Computing History in Cambridge. I've spent a small fortune getting a working Sega Saturn (because these are nearly impossible to emulate). I've uncovered some history on how US Gold got it over to the Speccy, and the MSX version has some relevance to us.

Hopefully, I should have the full version ready for Sunday.
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by zedex82 »

I willlook forward to this.

Nice work
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by 5MinuteRetro »

Out Run is likely my favourite arcade game, so I'm really looking forward to this. I think I've said before that I do have fond memories of the Spectrum version - at least, fonder than others here seem to have - but it might be because I had a 128, and Out Run was circa 50% about the music. 😉
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by PeteProdge »

5MinuteRetro wrote: Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:03 pm Out Run is likely my favourite arcade game, so I'm really looking forward to this. I think I've said before that I do have fond memories of the Spectrum version - at least, fonder than others here seem to have - but it might be because I had a 128, and Out Run was circa 50% about the music. 😉
Although it's far from my favourite arcade game, the conclusion you reach is pretty much the same as mine. The music is truly important, and I'll be highlighting that - not just in the Spectrum bits!
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

I think you should visit a recent poll about this game to see how much love we have about it... ;)
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by PeteProdge »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Thu Jan 03, 2019 8:37 am I think you should visit a recent poll about this game to see how much love we have about it... ;)
Ah yes, I voted for Out Run in it! Even though Enduro Racer is faster and more faithful to its arcade version. I'm unsurprised at being in the minority.

I think I'll have to include ZX Spectrum Enduro Racer in the video as an example of the Speccy being able to do decent speed for pseudo-3D racing games. (As you can see from the trailer, another famous arcade-to-Speccy arcade conversion will be used for this purpose.)
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by Alessandro »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Thu Jan 03, 2019 8:37 am I think you should visit a recent poll about this game to see how much love we have about it... ;)
I think that a simple this/that poll is not so much representative of people's opinions. Quite a few of those who explained their vote (including myself) stated that although they preferred Enduro Racer, Out Run was by no means a bad title.
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Alessandro wrote: Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:49 pm
Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Thu Jan 03, 2019 8:37 am I think you should visit a recent poll about this game to see how much love we have about it... ;)
I think that a simple this/that poll is not so much representative of people's opinions. Quite a few of those who explained their vote (including myself) stated that although they preferred Enduro Racer, Out Run was by no means a bad title.
Yeah, I know what you mean . Out Run was not that bad.
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by Morkin »

I looked up the Crash review as I was thinking they probably had it roughly right (72%); in that if you forget it's an arcade conversion, it's not actually a bad driving game - just that it can get a bit laggy at times when there's too much on the road.

One thing that surprised me was the differences in reviewer scores - 59%, 63% and 93%.
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by Swainy »

When is this video out then?
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by PeteProdge »

Swainy wrote: Sat Jan 19, 2019 6:54 pm When is this video out then?
Probably in a week or two!

I try to get myself organised, then real life comes along with its 'do your tax return' demands and offers of freelance work. Gah.

The Out Run video is nearly done and I've even shot some stuff for the second video. The biggest obstacle is to give it some nice opening titles and then the rest should work out nicely.
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by Swainy »

No worries mate, as a parent of two I understand that life gets in the way of these things sometimes. Looking forward to the video whenever it arrives.
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by PeteProdge »

Swainy wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 5:27 am No worries mate, as a parent of two I understand that life gets in the way of these things sometimes. Looking forward to the video whenever it arrives.
You'll be very very pleased with the second video, a subject close to your heart!

I'm filming the final bits for this Out Run video this weekend, then it's all a case of editing it.
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by Bizzley »

PeteProdge wrote: Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:43 pm I'm filming the final bits for this Out Run video this weekend, then it's all a case of editing it.
For that authentic retro feel can you use your editing software to change the Frames Per Second the video runs at so it's more in line with that of the 48K Spectrum version of Out Run. 3FPS should do the trick. 8-)
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by 5MinuteRetro »

PeteProdge wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:00 pm Probably in a week or two!
Tick tock. 😉
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by PeteProdge »

5MinuteRetro wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:04 pm
PeteProdge wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:00 pm Probably in a week or two!
Tick tock. 😉
Yeah I really really shouldn't make any predictions on when this video comes out. It curses me. A mass of freelance work came in and I needed that to see off a bigger-than-expected tax bill. Plus there's been marathon training in the mix.

I now find myself with a week off work, which started today. I am filming an extra bit for Reheated Pixels up at Bury's Arcade Club on Friday. So yeah, not forgotten about this (in fact, it's been getting me down that I still haven't put out a proper episode). As it's the first episode, there's a lot of work needed to do the titles and captions - setting the template for all the subsequent episodes. I want it to look great straight from the off. I remarked on Twitter that I'd have it ready before Brexit. Looks like that was a safe bet, eh?
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by FFoulkes »

Cool. You may want to watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N60lBZDEwJ8

Or try my Pygame-translation (I wasn't too familiar with Pygame, when I wrote it; maybe I would write things a bit different today. But it works and even runs fast enough):

Code: Select all

#!/usr/bin/python

import pygame
import math
import os

WIDTH = 800
HEIGHT = 600

os.environ['SDL_VIDEO_WINDOW_POS'] = "100,50"

roadW = 2000
segL = 200 # segment length
camD = 0.84 # camera depth

class Line:

    def __init__(self):
        self.x = 0 # 3d center of line
        self.y = 0
        self.z = 0
        self.X = 0 # screen coord
        self.Y = 0
        self.W = 0
        self.scale = 0
        self.curve = 0
        self.spriteX = 0
        self.clip = 0
        self.s = None
        self.s_width = -1
        self.s_height = -1

    def setz(self, a):
        self.z = a

    def setcurve(self, a):
        self.curve = a

    def setspriteX(self, a):
        self.spriteX = a

    # from world to screen coordinates
    def project(self, camX, camY, camZ):
        self.scale = camD / (self.z - camZ)
        self.X = (1 + self.scale * (self.x - camX)) * WIDTH / 2.
        self.Y = (1 - self.scale * (self.y - camY)) * HEIGHT / 2.
        self.W = self.scale * roadW * WIDTH / 2.

    def drawSprite(self, surface):
        if not self.s:
            return
        destX = self.X + self.scale * self.spriteX * WIDTH / 2
        destY = self.Y + 4
        destW = self.s_width * self.W / 266.
        destH = self.s_height * self.W / 266.

        destX += destW * self.spriteX
        destY += destH * (-1)
        clipH = destY + destH - self.clip
        if clipH < 0:
            clipH = 0
        if clipH >= destH:
            return
        # print int(destW / self.s_width), int(destH / self.s_height)
        # self.s = pygame.transform.scale(self.s, (int(destW / self.s_width), int(destH / self.s_height)))
        # print destX, destY

        surface.blit(self.s, (destX, destY))


def drawQuad(window, color, x1, y1, w1, x2, y2, w2):
    pygame.draw.polygon(window,
                        color,
                        ((x1 - w1, y1),
                         (x2 - w2, y2),
                         (x2 + w2, y2),
                         (x1 + w1, y1))) 


pygame.init()
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((WIDTH, HEIGHT))
pygame.display.set_caption("Racing!")
pygame.mouse.set_visible(1)
pygame.key.set_repeat(1, 30)
clock = pygame.time.Clock()
running = True
lines = []
for i in range(1, 1600, 1):
    line = Line()
    line.setz(i * segL)
    if i > 300 and i < 700:
        line.setcurve(0.5)
    if i > 750:
        line.y = math.sin(i / 30.0) * 1500

    if i % 20 == 0:
        line.setspriteX(-2.5)
    lines.append(line)

N = len(lines)
pos = 0
playerX = 0
flying = 0

while running:
    clock.tick(50)

    x = 0
    dx = 0
    maxy = HEIGHT

    pygame.event.pump()
    keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()
    if keys[pygame.K_LEFT]:
        playerX -= 200
    if keys[pygame.K_RIGHT]:
        playerX += 200
    if keys[pygame.K_UP]:
        pos += 200
    if keys[pygame.K_DOWN]:
        pos -= 200
    if keys[pygame.K_q]:
        flying += 200
    if keys[pygame.K_a]:
        flying -= 200
    if keys[pygame.K_ESCAPE]:
        running = False
        continue

    while pos >= N * segL:
        pos -= N * segL

    while pos < 0:
        pos += N * segL

    startPos = pos / segL

    if flying < 0:
        flying = 0

    camH = 1500 + lines[startPos].y + flying

    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))

    # draw road
    for n in range(startPos, startPos + 300, 1):
        l = lines[n % N]
        if n >= N:
            n2 = N * segL
        else:
            n2 = 0
        l.project(playerX - x, camH, pos)
        x += dx
        dx += l.curve

        if l.Y >= maxy:
            continue
        maxy = l.Y

        if (n / 3) % 2:
            grass = (16, 200, 16)
            rumble = (255, 255, 255)
            road = (107, 107, 107)
        else:
            grass = (0, 154, 0)
            rumble = (0, 0, 0)
            road = (105, 105, 105)

        p = lines[(n - 1) % N] # previous line

        drawQuad(screen, grass, 0, p.Y, WIDTH, 0, l.Y, WIDTH)
        drawQuad(screen, rumble, p.X, p.Y, p.W * 1.2, l.X, l.Y, l.W * 1.2)
        drawQuad(screen, road, p.X, p.Y, p.W, l.X, l.Y, l.W)

    # draw objects:
    for n in range(startPos + 300, startPos, -1):
        lines[n % N].drawSprite(screen)

    pygame.display.flip()
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by PeteProdge »

FFoulkes wrote: Tue Mar 19, 2019 11:41 pm Cool. You may want to watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N60lBZDEwJ8

Or try my Pygame-translation
Ah, that is lovely.

I never really progressed to proper machine code when I was on the Spectrum (or since, really). I did masses of stuff in BASIC. I think I only did a few machine code tutorials, not doing much other than getting stripes in the border or making a block go round the screen. With the multiface, I did hack into games, changing a lot of text and a few graphics. The Lifeguard program taught me how to hack so I could bring in infinite lives/energy. In the dying days I did get a BASIC compiler so my home-grown games would have had a bit of polish.

At one stage, during my long BASIC phase, I did try to do a pseudo-3D racer in the vein of Out Run. Yeah, yeah, I know, really naive of me. I got as far as having two sets of scaled graphics for some road signs flying past the camera. That went really fast, but hey, I didn't exactly have a game engine in there. I do wonder if it would have been slower than yer actual official Out Run.

There are masses of Out Run clones and spin-offs, and I don't really want to cover them in the video (which is going to be around 45-60 mins in length), there's already too much going on. I think it's around 15-17 official versions of Out Run (including the arcade) being covered. I had to buy a Sega Saturn to cover that version as almost everything on that platform is pretty impossible to emulate, even on the best-spec'd PCs.

On Friday night, I'm off to Bury's Arcade Club, hopefully I can find an Out Run sit-down cabinet (I'll take the stand-up one), and maybe a cabinet for the episode 2 game I'm covering. (Being in the north west also means there's a small chance I could interview the creator/designer of the game I'm covering for episode 3.)

I am very confident that even if I did complete my BASIC pseudo-3D car racer, it still would have been objectively better than this terrible (and yet official) hand-held version of Out Run, reviewed by Ashens in this brilliant video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6r8N2YHAs4

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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Except for Nintendo's Game & Watch consoles, all these handheld games used to be terrible!
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by 5MinuteRetro »

PeteProdge wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:05 pm On Friday night, I'm off to Bury's Arcade Club, hopefully I can find an Out Run sit-down cabinet (I'll take the stand-up one)...
There's a sit-down cabinet there. Far right-hand corner from where you enter the third floor. I spent roughly 99.9% of my time playing it during my last visit. :)
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by PeteProdge »

5MinuteRetro wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2019 10:39 pm
PeteProdge wrote: Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:05 pm On Friday night, I'm off to Bury's Arcade Club, hopefully I can find an Out Run sit-down cabinet (I'll take the stand-up one)...
There's a sit-down cabinet there. Far right-hand corner from where you enter the third floor. I spent roughly 99.9% of my time playing it during my last visit. :)
Oh, cheers, massive thanks for this! I live 150 miles south of Arcade Club and this'll be my first visit. I'm bringing a friend, who'll be roped into being a cameraman. Fingers crossed the other arcade game I'm covering (episode 2) is there...
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by Bizzley »

PeteProdge wrote: Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:43 pm I'm filming the final bits for this Out Run video this weekend, then it's all a case of editing it.
It didn't take this long to put Gone With The Wind together!

Any sign of the video heading this way or has it crashed and burned on the side of the road?
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by PeteProdge »

Bizzley wrote: Wed May 15, 2019 7:13 pm
PeteProdge wrote: Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:43 pm I'm filming the final bits for this Out Run video this weekend, then it's all a case of editing it.
It didn't take this long to put Gone With The Wind together!
It takes that long to watch it!
Bizzley wrote: Wed May 15, 2019 7:13 pmAny sign of the video heading this way or has it crashed and burned on the side of the road?
I did write on Twitter that I'd have it out before Brexit happened. That was a little tongue-in-cheek, but yeah, I think that's the goal now.

Seriously though, I've ended up with a lot of my spare time being sapped away because I did four months of training to do a marathon for charity. Which I completed the other week.

The two things left to do for this video are...
  • Record the links in front of a green screen
  • Create/animate the titles and captions
Now, as I try to make things look as good as possible (I've spent over £3,000 on the camera/lights/sound equipment, another £1,000 on a PC and hard drive for editing), I'm not happy with the green screen results from Adobe Premiere or After Effects. It's on the right side of acceptable for a YouTube video, just a little fuzzy, but I aspire for TV quality where possible. And so the final piece of the jigsaw is to get a MacBook Pro to deliver a decent transparency. Thankfully I just got the money to do that this morning from a freelance job, so that'll be winging its way to me.

I realise I sound like I'm one of the people working on the delivery of the Spectrum Next. I don't want to big this up too much, but I find it important that I hit the ground running, rather than coming up with something that look liked it was filmed on a potato. I've done too much stuff in the past using domestic camcorders and a 'this'll do' attitude to recording takes.

The overall idea of Reheated Pixels is that it's low budget anyway, with the occasional gag thrown in. Kind of like Baddiel And Skinner's Fantasy Football League, but for old computer games. I don't want to emulate the look-and-feel of anything else from any other retrogaming YouTubers, but I've certainly been inspired by quite a few of the British ones. If I can get the silliness of Octavius Kitten, throw in the sardonic review style of ChinnyVision and then just pepper in a few factual revelations a la Larry Bundy Jr, then I'm happy.

*breathes in air through teeth*

Right, there's a bank holiday weekend coming up, then quite a few spare evenings to work on the titles/captions. I think I can get the first video out in early June, and then aim for a schedule where I put out two videos a month.

Oh, the filming at Bury's Arcade Club of the Out Run cabinet went okay. I was crap at playing it, but I'm pleased I have original footage of a hydraulic Out Run arcade game. One of my friends filmed the trip for his own YouTube channel here, so you can see me and him playing on old games.
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by ZXDunny »

FFoulkes wrote: Tue Mar 19, 2019 11:41 pm Cool. You may want to watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N60lBZDEwJ8
Not the same algorithm (at all) and slightly buggy on the hills, but here's my efforts in BASIC:

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzyVNmHpYsU[/media]
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Re: Out Run - where the Spectrum fell short

Post by djnzx48 »

Arrgh, I'm feeling seasick just watching that! Don't you think it would be better suited to a speedboat racing game? ;)
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