Re: ZX Recoloring project
Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2019 5:21 am
Thanks to @geecab for pointing me to this thread! Sorry for a somewhat long reply, but my project rarely gets much attention, so let me use it as an excuse for stating my point of view
1) Motivation. I think the idea of "easy remastering" is still relevant today, and I am happy that some people share my view. What's different now. First, a few major titles got "official" remasterings and re-releases, and some companies started fighting with fan-made remakes, which doesn't increase our motivation to do this work. This concerns Speccy scene to a lesser degree, but fun remakes competitions (like organized by remakes.org) are long gone, and I miss those times. Nowadays a decent remake (especially with a blessing of a copyright holder) can be turned into a commercial mobile game, which can be a preferable path for many.
2) Tech stuff. It turns out that only certain types of games would benefit from the approach I proposed in "ZX Recoloring Project", and not all of them are equally easy to convert. Well, this is to be expected, but in practice it just means that one needs love a certain game, have a motivation to do a remake (in spite of my point (1)), be satisfied with my project's capabilities, and be happy that only the graphics gets upgraded. I wanted scrolling and better sound in Joe Blade 3, so I had to write my remake from scratch. I think it is good. Since modern emulators support advanced graphic filters, I bet many people are just happy with them.
3) On good recolorings. In my strictly personal view, a good remake (I imagined when designing ZX Recoloring Proj) should feature double-resolution sprites and updated colors. I like, for example, Deflektor, Exolon and Head over Heels remakes from Retrospec. I tried to play with triple resolution, but it looks weird -- like a huge screen populated with few huge blocky objects and vast empty spaces in between (we upgrade the screen resolution, but the game resolution stays the same). I am not a fan of keeping the initial resolution intact -- yes, I understand that such a game looks "more faithful", but... Even a double resolution is "pixelated enough" nowadays to look retro, and if a game has a version for Amiga or Atari, it would be exactly what you want -- the same game, (nearly) the same resolution, better colors. We've seen a lot of HD remasters today, and now I think we know they can look good if made properly. Say, I really like HD remasterings of Grim Fandango, Full Throttle and Monkey Island. They are good. I don't like Leisure Suit Larry, though, and I completely dislike modern Dizzy made for Android. So it is possible, but it takes time and skill.
4) On the state of "ZX Recoloring Project". I don't consider it "effectively abandoned" -- it is just being postponed every year due to other exciting things I have to do, like my daily job and other semi-hobby projects Though in practice the biggest hindrance was graphics. I wanted to create a nice showcase for the project, so I tried to recolor I, Ball 2. Unfortunately, I was never satisfied with the results. I am a reasonably decent coder, but drawing sprites is completely outside my expertise. Yes, I could so something semi-decent, but that's not the purpose of a showcase, right?
Technically the project is in a permanent alpha stage. There are a lot of things (in coding) that must be done there, but it makes sense to invest my effort only if someone really wants and is able to recolor some nice game. I don't think I can do it, but I can help and improve the project if there are any interested people around. Can't promise to do it fast, but I am still alive and capable of doing various stuff.
1) Motivation. I think the idea of "easy remastering" is still relevant today, and I am happy that some people share my view. What's different now. First, a few major titles got "official" remasterings and re-releases, and some companies started fighting with fan-made remakes, which doesn't increase our motivation to do this work. This concerns Speccy scene to a lesser degree, but fun remakes competitions (like organized by remakes.org) are long gone, and I miss those times. Nowadays a decent remake (especially with a blessing of a copyright holder) can be turned into a commercial mobile game, which can be a preferable path for many.
2) Tech stuff. It turns out that only certain types of games would benefit from the approach I proposed in "ZX Recoloring Project", and not all of them are equally easy to convert. Well, this is to be expected, but in practice it just means that one needs love a certain game, have a motivation to do a remake (in spite of my point (1)), be satisfied with my project's capabilities, and be happy that only the graphics gets upgraded. I wanted scrolling and better sound in Joe Blade 3, so I had to write my remake from scratch. I think it is good. Since modern emulators support advanced graphic filters, I bet many people are just happy with them.
3) On good recolorings. In my strictly personal view, a good remake (I imagined when designing ZX Recoloring Proj) should feature double-resolution sprites and updated colors. I like, for example, Deflektor, Exolon and Head over Heels remakes from Retrospec. I tried to play with triple resolution, but it looks weird -- like a huge screen populated with few huge blocky objects and vast empty spaces in between (we upgrade the screen resolution, but the game resolution stays the same). I am not a fan of keeping the initial resolution intact -- yes, I understand that such a game looks "more faithful", but... Even a double resolution is "pixelated enough" nowadays to look retro, and if a game has a version for Amiga or Atari, it would be exactly what you want -- the same game, (nearly) the same resolution, better colors. We've seen a lot of HD remasters today, and now I think we know they can look good if made properly. Say, I really like HD remasterings of Grim Fandango, Full Throttle and Monkey Island. They are good. I don't like Leisure Suit Larry, though, and I completely dislike modern Dizzy made for Android. So it is possible, but it takes time and skill.
4) On the state of "ZX Recoloring Project". I don't consider it "effectively abandoned" -- it is just being postponed every year due to other exciting things I have to do, like my daily job and other semi-hobby projects Though in practice the biggest hindrance was graphics. I wanted to create a nice showcase for the project, so I tried to recolor I, Ball 2. Unfortunately, I was never satisfied with the results. I am a reasonably decent coder, but drawing sprites is completely outside my expertise. Yes, I could so something semi-decent, but that's not the purpose of a showcase, right?
Technically the project is in a permanent alpha stage. There are a lot of things (in coding) that must be done there, but it makes sense to invest my effort only if someone really wants and is able to recolor some nice game. I don't think I can do it, but I can help and improve the project if there are any interested people around. Can't promise to do it fast, but I am still alive and capable of doing various stuff.