Nirvana/Bifröst-esque static graphics in t'olden days

[Alone Coder]

If we only keep games:
48 Irons (1995) https://worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0012735 - game menu
Dizzy XII: Underground (2001) https://worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0015212 - border effects in intro
Hexagonal Filler (2004) https://worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0021064 - gameplay, victory screen (MCX)
Nocturnal Illusion (2005) https://worldofspectrum.org/archive/sof ... -sam-style - gameplay (interleaving lines)
X-Melody (2004, released in 2007) https://worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0021116 - border picture in title card

✓ Reviewed

[TMD2003]

If we only keep games:
48 Irons (1995) https://worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0012735 - game menu
Hexagonal Filler (2004) https://worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0021064 - gameplay, victory screen (MCX)

Present and correct!

I had to check all the colour modes on Hexagonal Filler - Spectaculator 8.0's Pentagon setting works with 224t, but it's out of sync with 216t and 232t, and Hard just appears in black and white. (I assume that's for some top-secret Russian hardware that's never been emulated.)

Dizzy XII: Underground (2001) https://worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0015212 - border effects in intro

Note that this will need to be the Russian-only .TRD version as the tape versions don't contain the intro. I wasn't specifically looking for border effects (impressive though they are, it's as if the border is a continuation of the rest of the screen...), and if we were going to go down that route, then TV-Game (2004) and Gnarly Simon (late teens?) could be included, but I reckon that's a thread for another day.

It's always been a curiosity, this game - did nobody ever attempt to use Gogin's non-Codemasters-derived game engine for other Dizzy-clone-style games, or did he not allow it?

Nocturnal Illusion (2005) https://worldofspectrum.org/archive/sof ... -sam-style - gameplay (interleaving lines)
X-Melody (2004, released in 2007) https://worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0021116 - border picture in title card

Nocturnal Illusion wasn't found on the link (which is to WOS so maybe it's Lee chewing on the wires again) - and I couldn't find it here either. Does it have a Russian title? X-Melody is listed as MIA, even though there are screenshots.

[druellan]

Oh, thanks for this! Multicolor and border effects games are on the "wanted" list to keep populating the groups, specially "border effects" that is still on the infancy.

About the topic, the game I remember from back in the day using multicolor for static graphics is Action Force II (https://i.postimg.cc/X7pRBzZm/action-force2.png)

[Alone Coder]

I had to check all the colour modes on Hexagonal Filler - Spectaculator 8.0's Pentagon setting works with 224t, but it's out of sync with 216t and 232t, and Hard just appears in black and white. (I assume that's for some top-secret Russian hardware that's never been emulated.)

Hardware multicolor is the same as in Timex 2048/2068, but with bit 5 of port #eff7 (bit 0 in old release, changed for ZX Evo compatibility).

It's always been a curiosity, this game - did nobody ever attempt to use Gogin's non-Codemasters-derived game engine for other Dizzy-clone-style games, or did he not allow it?

Maybe that's because every Russian Dizzy author started with their own engine This changed only when DizzySE SDK appeared.
The intro was something special because there was a smooth horizontal border scroll across the screen (previously appeared only in Insult megademo).

Nocturnal Illusion wasn't found on the link (which is to WOS so maybe it's Lee chewing on the wires again) - and I couldn't find it here either. Does it have a Russian title? X-Melody is listed as MIA, even though there are screenshots.

https://vtrd.in/full_ver/X_MELODY.ZIP
https://vtrd.in/full_ver/NOCTURSE.ZIP (18+!!!)

[Alone Coder]

The same engine as in Action Force 2 was used in Dan Dare 2 SU Edition:

[druellan]

Oh! We don't have that version on the database, probably because it is a non-official version? https://zxart.ee/eng/software/game/dan- ... id:163474/ [mention]Einar Saukas[/mention] Perhaps worth adding it to have more parity with ZX-Art?

[PeterJ]

Interesting find [mention]druellan[/mention].

It is available within this .tzx

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... Megatape_3

But not as an individual listing. I don't know what the policy is regarding versions of released games given away with magazines ([mention]Einar Saukas[/mention] will know), but this looks like a special case maybe?

[Ralf]

The same engine as in Action Force 2 was used in Dan Dare 2 SU Edition

Thanks. I didn't know about it and suppose many people didn't know either.
When this picture is displayed?

[Joefish]

I remember that - I think it was a cut-down version of Dan Dare II (the one with JetPac-style bouncy hoverbikes) with just a single maze level to complete, then you got to see that graphic if you completed it.

As you can see from the text, it was done more as a promo for AF II that Dan Dare II, which I think had been out for a while by then.

[Alessandro]

I confirm that the Sinclair User special version of Dan Dare II is a promo with just one level. It was on the Megatape 5, bundled with issue 74, May 1988. I still have the magazine and tape in my possession by the way.

My suggestion is to create a specific entry for it as a modification of the original title.