ZX ULAX emulator

Struggling with Fuse or trying to find an emulator with a specific feature. Ask your questions here.
polomint
Drutt
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:50 pm

Re: unusual announcement

Post by polomint »

Lethargeek wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:14 pm
polomint wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:04 pmOhh, I dunno,
the numbers (post counters per section and average users online) speak for themselves
Eh? are you on about post counts on here? If so, then that means that I do nothing through all of my life... In that case, all the apps I write for work, in fact my work in general was all a dream...
My life with my gf, kids, cars, military, troubles, highs were/are all a simulation..

Thank you for notifying me of my mistake, so that my understanding is improved..

If I am wrong in my thinking then please correct me...
So far, so meh :)
User avatar
Ast A. Moore
Rick Dangerous
Posts: 2640
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 3:16 pm

Re: unusual announcement

Post by Ast A. Moore »

polomint wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:04 pm I am working on a Windows version of SpectREM by Mike Daley :)
Oh, did he update it beyond v0.9? Cause that’s the latest version I have.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
polomint
Drutt
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:50 pm

Re: unusual announcement

Post by polomint »

Ast A. Moore wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 7:07 pm
polomint wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:04 pm I am working on a Windows version of SpectREM by Mike Daley :)
Oh, did he update it beyond v0.9? Cause that’s the latest version I have.
It is working.. Nuff said ;)
So far, so meh :)
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: unusual announcement

Post by Lethargeek »

polomint wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:22 pmEh? are you on about post counts on here?
i'm on about more directly-spectrum-related activity here, counts are just indicators being spot on
many times i was annoyed in that other place clicking "discussions" and getting a list populated with too many "chit-chat" messages
polomint
Drutt
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:50 pm

Re: unusual announcement

Post by polomint »

Lethargeek wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 7:37 pm
polomint wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:22 pmEh? are you on about post counts on here?
i'm on about more directly-spectrum-related activity here, counts are just indicators being spot on
many times i was annoyed in that other place clicking "discussions" and getting a list populated with too many "chit-chat" messages
In that case, we have 3 emulator authors in that chat,,,,
So far, so meh :)
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Lethargeek »

maybe i will check it later, i don't usually join when i can't see at least some of the content before
User avatar
Pegaz
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1209
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:44 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Pegaz »

Lethargeek wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2020 2:23 pm Btw i just googled the Vega+ to refresh my memory and almost immediately stumbled upon a very familiar name from these recent events. And next to the words "lies", "paid" and "scam", no less. So it seems i shouldn't have been surprised by the actions and personal qualities of the current WoS staff. Maybe now being a lying crook is even a requirement to be in. :roll:
Many of us remember well and haven't forgotten the history of censorship and bans of Fogarty's company on wos.
Probably you didn't know it and that was why you were an easy target, but some of us who have spent more than a decade there, know their methods very well.
You reacted impulsively to their provocations, but you were absolutely right, because you noticed what kind of liars and manipulators you were dealing with and you told them straight in the face.
So, relax...and don't pay attention to some wos trolls, this is Spectrum Computing forum.
Their mockery, lol and facepalm performance, simply doesn't bring much success here.
User avatar
druellan
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1466
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 7:19 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by druellan »

Destiny Mission looks stunning without color clash, and I'm wondering about Arkanoid 2 :lol:

Image

BTW: is there an English version for the documentation about the format?
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Lethargeek »

One of the oldest ones... it was just a test of full color-per-pixel repaint of something. The background in Destiny Mission was chosen to get most effect for the least amount of work. Usually i prefer to change sprite colors.

Maybe i will do Arkanoid someday. And you people may name other titles you'd like to see improved.

Not even the russian documentation is properly finished, some changes happen time to time and it needs more tutorials. Starting the translation now means more work in the end, and it's hard enough for me to write so much in english already.
User avatar
R-Tape
Site Admin
Posts: 6353
Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:46 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by R-Tape »

druellan wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 7:46 pm Destiny Mission looks stunning without color clash, and I'm wondering about Arkanoid 2 :lol:

Image
This is a hoax. Everyone knows that Destiny Mission doesn't have any sprites.
User avatar
druellan
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1466
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 7:19 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by druellan »

Lethargeek wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:39 pm One of the oldest ones... it was just a test of full color-per-pixel repaint of something. The background in Destiny Mission was chosen to get most effect for the least amount of work. Usually i prefer to change sprite colors.
Those are the ones that really poke my interest, no extra colors but just the lack of colour clash, but I like the other ones also, they are not overdone as most of the Spec256 ones.
Oh, and how you colorized vector games like Total Eclipse and Academy? Are those using the new video mode you mentioned?

Image
Lethargeek wrote: Wed Jan 15, 2020 8:39 pm Not even the russian documentation is properly finished, some changes happen time to time and it needs more tutorials. Starting the translation now means more work in the end, and it's hard enough for me to write so much in english already.
Haha ok, no pressure then, but I showed your work on a small Spectrum group and some artists are intrigued :)
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Lethargeek »

druellan wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:17 pm Those are the ones that really poke my interest, no extra colors but just the lack of colour clash, but I like the other ones also, they are not overdone as most of the Spec256 ones.
that's mainly because i'm too lazy to make a full repaint :lol:
(and an extra reason i dislike xored sprites, as these need it)
druellan wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:17 pm Oh, and how you colorized vector games like Total Eclipse and Academy? Are those using the new video mode you mentioned?
no, ZX textures are very similar to sprites - read screen, read texture byte, mask it at the polygon edge, write screen
so recolorable the same way, replacing the corresponding pixels in ULAX memory with solid color or simpler pattern
hardest part is to preserve attribute effects, reloading the (limited) dynamic palette at the right moment
in Academy (as it is a multiload) the palette had to be constructed from any attribute with some tricks

also i recommend playing the freescape games with adapturbo (LAlt+F1 toggle, LAlt+F2/F3 & RAlt+F11/F12 tweak, see emuL-info.txt)
User avatar
Pegaz
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1209
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:44 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Pegaz »

I would really like to see Sabre Wulf, Atic Atac and Heartland with colorful main sprites and without color clash.
Just a few questions ...
How difficult is the recoloring process?
I remember the ULA + recoloring was relatively easy and really fun.
Are there any tools, that make this process easier?
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Lethargeek »

Pegaz wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:51 pm How difficult is the recoloring process?
it depends on how well you understand disassembled z80 code and how complicated this code is
easiest ones (like Phantis 2 - 1st tutorial is about it) took less than one hour, hardest ones needed several evenings
and then most of the time went into the actual repaint, finding all the graphics to repaint, and checking after
Pegaz wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:51 pm Are there any tools, that make this process easier?
besides primitive homemade tools to match the colors and to repaint sprites when i have to, i use mostly:
this very emulator for finding the gfx routines and figuring out what these are doing exactly (see pics in the tutorial)
ZXSpin to get nicely formatted disassembly of the aforementioned routines
Xpeccy for finding gfx data and sometimes tracing the code

...and i hope we will have this in working condition before long - viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2155
User avatar
druellan
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1466
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 7:19 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by druellan »

Lethargeek wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:30 pm that's mainly because i'm too lazy to make a full repaint :lol:
Hah! Well, call me oldschool because I like that kind of minimalist work. Another one: Chuckie Egg

Image

Lethargeek wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:30 pm also i recommend playing the freescape games with adapturbo (LAlt+F1 toggle, LAlt+F2/F3 & RAlt+F11/F12 tweak, see emuL-info.txt)
Oh I did that! In fact, my first gameplay was Red Shift on turbo mode and it is a blast.
User avatar
Pegaz
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1209
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:44 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Pegaz »

Definitely, that unpretentious style is great.
For example, Crystal Kingdom Dizzy looks awesome.
At first glance, it looks like nothing has changed and then you realize how bright and polished the game looks with those carefully done enhancements.
Total Eclipse is another such example and it's a real pleasure to play it.
On the other side, I also liked Commando 128 the most, graphically it's a whole different game now.
I haven't tried all the examples yet, but overall this engine are very promising.
I like these recolored games more than the ones in EmuZWin, because the original Spectrum feeling was kept here, much better.
Well done.
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Lethargeek »

oww, commando was a real pita: spaghetti code, different sprite formats, interrupt corrupting sprite data, almost every object has its own output procedure... but i think the end result was worth the effort (even managed to reduce the amount of flicker)
User avatar
Pegaz
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1209
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:44 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Pegaz »

I'm assuming this emulator currently only exists in the windows version.
Is there a plan for a Linux port?
It would be really nice to play these recoloring games on Raspberry pi for example.

Also this example with enhanced Spectrum BASIC is great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiRqRV5Cffc
I didn't notice it bundled with games pack, can it be downloaded as well?
Also, Is it possible to do custom Spectrum Rom, with this engine installed (more color, no color clash etc) or any Basic program must be recolored individually, like every other game?
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Lethargeek »

Pegaz wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:52 am I'm assuming this emulator currently only exists in the windows version.
Is there a plan for a Linux port?
It would be really nice to play these recoloring games on Raspberry pi for example.
not in the near future (at least not by me, maybe some linux emulator author will be interested)
Pegaz wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:52 am Also this example with enhanced Spectrum BASIC is great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiRqRV5Cffc
I didn't notice it bundled with games pack, can it be downloaded as well?
it is inside "ULAX-emuL\test\" folder named "webas3"
Pegaz wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:52 am Also, Is it possible to do custom Spectrum Rom, with this engine installed (more color, no color clash etc) or any Basic program must be recolored individually, like every other game?
it would be simpler to make one proper dux for the usual ROM and then edit any BASIC programs wherever you need it
custom ROM is possible, but it would add just some syntactic sugar ("extended" BASIC operators instead of pokes used in this example)
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Lethargeek »

Pegaz wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:51 pm I would really like to see Sabre Wulf, Atic Atac and Heartland with colorful main sprites and without color clash.
you can check the preliminary version of Heartland now
(clash between fore/back objects is still there, but not with sprites)

same folder https://cloud.mail.ru/public/3Rzu/33GtNmUof
User avatar
Pegaz
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1209
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:44 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Pegaz »

This already looks really good, thank you.
A couple of suggestions if possible.
The c64 version is slower but has a very well colored main character sprite in two shades of blue.
Can something like this, be done here as well?
The lightning fired by the wizard has a too strong yellow-red combination, it may be better to be just red (red dashes) on a black background.
Also rotating knives could be dark gray, hats may have a different color depending on the color of the main sprite.
Tunderbolts are great, also all the potions and flying objects look really good.
For now, this version seems very promising...
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Lethargeek »

Pegaz wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 9:42 am The c64 version is slower but has a very well colored main character sprite in two shades of blue.
any number of shades and colors is possible, but then we need to extend dux code section (this one doesn't look much beyond the last output buffer into the original gfx source) and supply the actual pixel data of course
Pegaz wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 9:42 am The lightning fired by the wizard has a too strong yellow-red combination, it may be better to be just red (red dashes) on a black background.
you may test it yourself, look for C8AE code under "magic ray", change it to some C8XX - the last two digits are paper and ink indices in the "reference colors" palette (index 8 is for standard zx attribute paper/ink); also you can change other listed object colors as well, the number after FFFC tag is either GRB555 direct color ink or again a symbolic link to standard reference ink (-7A111X)
Pegaz wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 9:42 am Also rotating knives could be dark gray, hats may have a different color depending on the color of the main sprite.
these are alternating white/grey, kinda glinting - i found one shade for all its frames looking to bland
User avatar
Pegaz
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1209
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:44 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Pegaz »

Lethargeek wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 11:54 am
Pegaz wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 9:42 am The lightning fired by the wizard has a too strong yellow-red combination, it may be better to be just red (red dashes) on a black background.
you may test it yourself, look for C8AE code under "magic ray", change it to some C8XX - the last two digits are paper and ink indices in the "reference colors" palette (index 8 is for standard zx attribute paper/ink); also you can change other listed object colors as well, the number after FFFC tag is either GRB555 direct color ink or again a symbolic link to standard reference ink (-7A111X)
Looks interesting, thanks for the tips.
I will definitely play around with these settings and try to learn something.
User avatar
Pegaz
Dynamite Dan
Posts: 1209
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:44 pm

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Pegaz »

Ok, this is my first attempt with Heartland.
It was really fun, hope I didn't make things worse. ;)

https://gofile.io/?c=MXoJPq
User avatar
Lethargeek
Manic Miner
Posts: 734
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:47 am

Re: ZX ULAX emulator

Post by Lethargeek »

Pegaz wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:54 pm hope I didn't make things worse. ;)
Whatever suits you, though i still prefer grey page and white/grey daggers; and maybe stardust and magic ray are too dark, haven't you tried same but brighter inks? Also not sure if it was your intention or not, but selecting C087 instead of C007 as generic sprite colors means zx-paper-colored outlines instead of the black ones, which may look worse if the sprite overlaps red or blue tubes on level 2
Post Reply