https://zxspectrumitlives.wixsite.com/h ... rn-age-k-l
Klass of '99 & Lethargy: The Apathetic Dream
Re: Klass of '99 & Lethargy: The Apathetic Dream
nice website. my attention span has been destroyed by modern technology, but I managed to read 3 reviews 
Re: Klass of '99 & Lethargy: The Apathetic Dream
I would love to play this on the Speccy. The PC version was great but it’s more at home on the Speccy.
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redballoon
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Re: Klass of '99 & Lethargy: The Apathetic Dream
I was going to be doing converting some of the PC original graphics for the Speccy version but I honestly can’t remember how they never got done. I wasn’t familiar at all of the PC version at the time. In a strange twist of fate, I now make games with the original PC author. At one point we even discussed doing an updated PC version with new graphics, but decided to just make brand new games.
Re: Klass of '99 & Lethargy: The Apathetic Dream
While I wouldn't want to discourage the author (so apologies if he ever turns up here and reads this, but the project seems to be dead since 2012 anyway), I will point out my view on the graphics and why I prefer the look of the original Skool Daze games. What I'm observing about Klass of '99s graphics is based on the screenshots in the article linked in the opening post.
For reference, links to the maps of Skool Daze and Back to Skool on https://maps.speccy.cz
I'll abbreviate the games to SD, BTS and KO99 from here.
Both SD and BTS had this vanishing point perspective going with their graphics, which I liked at lot and gives it a semblance of a 3D effect, slightly helping immersion. Meanwhile KO99 has 45 degree angles, but only at the horizontal edges of the building, which makes it feel much more 2D.
I also feel KO99 has a bit too much of that checkerboard stippling going on, as you'll find it on all the tiles that make up the room floors as well as walls and shadows. SD has a good amount as well but apart from a few objects on the left side, it only uses it for its walls and stairs - also, only the walls on one half of the skool are stippled, which implies the light is coming from one direction. It's interesting to note that stippling is nonexistent in BTS save for a few tiny bits.
Let me add that stippling/dithering has become a bit of pet peeve of mine lately as I feel Speccy gfx often go overboard with it in this attempt to create fake colour detail by adding various strengths of dithering. Of course the checkerboard one is the most common one and it's generally fine, but there's something about these floors and walls in KO99 that I don't like, maybe it is because they remind me of floors from a jump'n'game which take me out of the immersion of a school, I can't say for sure. All this stippling/dithering talk simply is a personal preference of mine and I expect many to disagree which is completely fine and valid.
Another thing on the old games I like a bit better is the use of the background colours. Both SD and BTS use paper colours on the brighter end of the colour spectrum, the darkest being 4 aka Green, but most of it takes place on 6 aka Yellow in SD and a mix of 4 to 7 in BTS. KO99 is fine for the most part, but there are Paper 1/2 floors and objects, which I find are a little too dark as they make the colour clash stand out much more than the lighter colours above 4, which is of course more noticeable on b/w screens that are not relevant nowadays but I just wanted to add it as I used one with my Speccy until 1990 or so
Again, this isn't a big deal and I know some people do not care about colour clash at all or too much, but I'll mention it anyway.
Again, respect to the author of Klass of '99, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" (if it was released) etc. etc., you know the drill. Just my two cents/opinions for a discussion
For reference, links to the maps of Skool Daze and Back to Skool on https://maps.speccy.cz
I'll abbreviate the games to SD, BTS and KO99 from here.
Both SD and BTS had this vanishing point perspective going with their graphics, which I liked at lot and gives it a semblance of a 3D effect, slightly helping immersion. Meanwhile KO99 has 45 degree angles, but only at the horizontal edges of the building, which makes it feel much more 2D.
I also feel KO99 has a bit too much of that checkerboard stippling going on, as you'll find it on all the tiles that make up the room floors as well as walls and shadows. SD has a good amount as well but apart from a few objects on the left side, it only uses it for its walls and stairs - also, only the walls on one half of the skool are stippled, which implies the light is coming from one direction. It's interesting to note that stippling is nonexistent in BTS save for a few tiny bits.
Let me add that stippling/dithering has become a bit of pet peeve of mine lately as I feel Speccy gfx often go overboard with it in this attempt to create fake colour detail by adding various strengths of dithering. Of course the checkerboard one is the most common one and it's generally fine, but there's something about these floors and walls in KO99 that I don't like, maybe it is because they remind me of floors from a jump'n'game which take me out of the immersion of a school, I can't say for sure. All this stippling/dithering talk simply is a personal preference of mine and I expect many to disagree which is completely fine and valid.
Another thing on the old games I like a bit better is the use of the background colours. Both SD and BTS use paper colours on the brighter end of the colour spectrum, the darkest being 4 aka Green, but most of it takes place on 6 aka Yellow in SD and a mix of 4 to 7 in BTS. KO99 is fine for the most part, but there are Paper 1/2 floors and objects, which I find are a little too dark as they make the colour clash stand out much more than the lighter colours above 4, which is of course more noticeable on b/w screens that are not relevant nowadays but I just wanted to add it as I used one with my Speccy until 1990 or so
Again, this isn't a big deal and I know some people do not care about colour clash at all or too much, but I'll mention it anyway.
Again, respect to the author of Klass of '99, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" (if it was released) etc. etc., you know the drill. Just my two cents/opinions for a discussion
