I wasn't even aware that this was being worked on:
https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/10/ ... .html#more
Saboteur on the NEXT
Re: Saboteur on the NEXT
That looks pretty good.
I'm not normally a fan of remakes because they tend to lose that Speccy charm, but this still feels like Saboteur. Maybe because it still has that blocky kind of sprite movement and is not smooth, because higher frame rates make things feel more console-like to me.
Curious to see what can be done with sound in the game.
I'm not normally a fan of remakes because they tend to lose that Speccy charm, but this still feels like Saboteur. Maybe because it still has that blocky kind of sprite movement and is not smooth, because higher frame rates make things feel more console-like to me.
Curious to see what can be done with sound in the game.
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oO cozy Oo
- Manic Miner
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Re: Saboteur on the NEXT
For me I lost interest in the Next , my n-go is in the loft the games remind me of the Amiga, sad really as I was excited to get mine 
Be Safe! Be Happy! and have some Speccy FUN!!!
Re: Saboteur on the NEXT
If you have truly lost interest in your n-go, keeping it idle is selfish and irresponsible. Sell it on ebay, given the scarcity of NEXT-compatible machines, you'll get your money back quicklyoO cozy Oo wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 4:55 pm For me I lost interest in the Next , my n-go is in the loft the games remind me of the Amiga, sad really as I was excited to get mine
Re: Saboteur on the NEXT
I really don't understand those rants about "Next games looking like Amiga"... 
Graphics were the essential part that had to get improved from the original ZX Spectrum. The Timex models had improved graphic modes already, then the Pentagon, then the ATM... Every little improvement in that topic was always welcome.
In the most basic level, just drawing maths curves forced you to draw in monochrome because of the damn attributes, and I've always regretted this limitation, to the point I was thinking about driving some EGA card from the ZX bus back then !
What I mean is, it's not only about games. Just having the possibility to get a clearer and more colourful display, even if it meant transmitting fixed frames to an external device, would have already been an improvement.
As a matter of fact, comparing Shovel Adventure between the 128k and the Next version illustrates my case perfectly : it's the exact same, perfectly animated game and both versions are equally enjoyable, but the Next version is so much "readable" ! Yes, readabililty is exactly the what the original Speccy was lacking.
In games, you can now actually see what's happening instead of having to cope with monochrome objects moving on a monochrome background (even though more recent games made efforts - playing with larger objects, outlining them, using parts spanning entire bytes to display more colours than usula, and limiting attribute clashes as much as they could - usually by using a black background everywhere), and yes, it gives them a refreshing new life.
Now about comparing with the Amiga... Well, indeed. The screen resolutions were similar from the start anyway, only the colours were a problem. Interestingly, the redesigned Next version of The Way of the Exploding Fist from WASP Studios uses the original graphics from the never released Amiga version, meaning, yes, the raw graphics capabilities are similar. Than what ? Isn't that what we've always wanted ? It still very low resolution compared to modern PCs, but it's still not too much RAM to manage for a 8 bits computer. Just perfect, if you ask me.
It's actually how it should have been from the start, if just a bit more memory could have been dedicated to the display (new graphics modes could have been added with the 128k model, even just one full dedicated memory bank would have been an improvement.
Even the low resolution somewhat simplifies graphics programming, because every pixel you put on the screen is meaningful, clearly visible, and easy to define (as opposed to modern high resolution PCs where you basically have to manipulate gigantic pictures if you want to display anything).
Actually, 256x192 always seemed a bit crowded, and I was usually using a 512x384 monochrome buffer when drawing curves, with an LDIR driven display tool allowing to quickly scan it in every direction, but for 8 bits games, 320x200 would be perfect and of course 320x256 is even better, so I'm really glad the Next added the possibility to cover a 5/4 monitor full surface without any border, because this is really a very important improvement. Who would complain, seriously ?
Now my dream is a Simon the Sorcerer adaptation !
Graphics were the essential part that had to get improved from the original ZX Spectrum. The Timex models had improved graphic modes already, then the Pentagon, then the ATM... Every little improvement in that topic was always welcome.
In the most basic level, just drawing maths curves forced you to draw in monochrome because of the damn attributes, and I've always regretted this limitation, to the point I was thinking about driving some EGA card from the ZX bus back then !
What I mean is, it's not only about games. Just having the possibility to get a clearer and more colourful display, even if it meant transmitting fixed frames to an external device, would have already been an improvement.
As a matter of fact, comparing Shovel Adventure between the 128k and the Next version illustrates my case perfectly : it's the exact same, perfectly animated game and both versions are equally enjoyable, but the Next version is so much "readable" ! Yes, readabililty is exactly the what the original Speccy was lacking.
In games, you can now actually see what's happening instead of having to cope with monochrome objects moving on a monochrome background (even though more recent games made efforts - playing with larger objects, outlining them, using parts spanning entire bytes to display more colours than usula, and limiting attribute clashes as much as they could - usually by using a black background everywhere), and yes, it gives them a refreshing new life.
Now about comparing with the Amiga... Well, indeed. The screen resolutions were similar from the start anyway, only the colours were a problem. Interestingly, the redesigned Next version of The Way of the Exploding Fist from WASP Studios uses the original graphics from the never released Amiga version, meaning, yes, the raw graphics capabilities are similar. Than what ? Isn't that what we've always wanted ? It still very low resolution compared to modern PCs, but it's still not too much RAM to manage for a 8 bits computer. Just perfect, if you ask me.
It's actually how it should have been from the start, if just a bit more memory could have been dedicated to the display (new graphics modes could have been added with the 128k model, even just one full dedicated memory bank would have been an improvement.
Even the low resolution somewhat simplifies graphics programming, because every pixel you put on the screen is meaningful, clearly visible, and easy to define (as opposed to modern high resolution PCs where you basically have to manipulate gigantic pictures if you want to display anything).
Actually, 256x192 always seemed a bit crowded, and I was usually using a 512x384 monochrome buffer when drawing curves, with an LDIR driven display tool allowing to quickly scan it in every direction, but for 8 bits games, 320x200 would be perfect and of course 320x256 is even better, so I'm really glad the Next added the possibility to cover a 5/4 monitor full surface without any border, because this is really a very important improvement. Who would complain, seriously ?
Now my dream is a Simon the Sorcerer adaptation !
Re: Saboteur on the NEXT
This seems to have been released in the UK recently(?). Anybody tried it yet?