238 replies to this topic

[tep392]

I've played around with the colors a bit recently. Will post NTSC and PAL Altirra screen shots later. One comment on pinky. The arcade version is much less saturated than either of the examples above. Keeping it saturated helps to keep the eyes distinct in this version. Otherwise they tend to blend in when viewed on a monitor.

Edited by tep392, Fri Apr 13, 2012 11:06 AM.

[Rybags]

You don't get much choice with saturation - it's sort of a reverse product of luminence on the A8, ie low/mid values have decent saturation but then the yellow will be more brownish with high saturation.

Not to mention the end difference between emulation and real machine and between Pal/Ntsc.

Edited by Rybags, Fri Apr 13, 2012 11:27 AM.

[fibrewire]

Rybags, on Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:32 PM, said:

#2 looks a bit bland - Pacman and pink ghost are desaturated and look practically same as the dots.

#1 has much better Pacman colour.

I concur. If bland is desirable, simply reduce the contrast on your CRT television.

[fibrewire]

so when do I get to play this bad boy on my 800?

[tep392]

fibrewire, on Fri Apr 13, 2012 11:26 AM, said:

so when do I get to play this bad boy on my 800?

I just received 10 carts, so very soon

[tep392]

These are NTSC and PAL, respectively, screen grabs of the lastest version using Altirra. In the PAL screen grabs of V8 posted earlier, I had left the color codes for PAL the same as for NTSC, so they were way off.

Edited by tep392, Fri Apr 13, 2012 2:09 PM.

[MrFish]

NE146, on Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:35 AM, said:

...But in the 5200 version they'd kill you if you just touched a corner of it.

This isn't true at all.

[NE146]

MrFish, on Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:11 PM, said:

NE146, on Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:35 AM, said:

...But in the 5200 version they'd kill you if you just touched a corner of it.

This isn't true at all.

Allright allright, not as bad as 2600 Pacman where a corner touch is insta-kill, but definitely a lot less forgiving than the arcade game.

[MrFish]

NE146, on Sat Apr 14, 2012 3:15 PM, said:

MrFish, on Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:11 PM, said:

NE146, on Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:35 AM, said:

...But in the 5200 version they'd kill you if you just touched a corner of it.

This isn't true at all.

Allright allright, not as bad as 2600 Pacman where a corner touch is insta-kill, but definitely a lot less forgiving than the arcade game.

The pixel resolution is coarser on the 5200/8-Bits than the arcade machine, so movement and collision detection are naturally going to be as coarse.

[NRV]

MrFish, on Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:57 PM, said:

The pixel resolution is coarser on the 5200/8-Bits than the arcade machine, so movement and collision detection are naturally going to be as coarse.

Not necessarily, you could move any object in steps lower than "one pixel size" and base the speed of the object and the collision methods in this "decimal" steps. Of course for our 2:1 pixels the movement is going to look coarse in the horizontal directions, but the collision precision can be the same one that in the arcade version.. and that one is "char" based by the way (that's the reason of the "bug" where you can go through a ghost sometimes.. both objects change their "tile" position at the same time).

All this info is in the Pac Man dossier:
http://home.comcast....mandossier.html

I have the original ghost behaviors, the collision methods and the pacman movement (with the classic speed up when taking corners, to outrun the ghosts) implemented according to that info.. maybe someday I will have the time to add the rest of the logic to put "arcade pac man" in some new mazes x)

[MrFish]

NRV, on Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:03 AM, said:

MrFish, on Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:57 PM, said:

The pixel resolution is coarser on the 5200/8-Bits than the arcade machine, so movement and collision detection are naturally going to be as coarse.

Not necessarily, you could move any object in steps lower than "one pixel size" and base the speed of the object and the collision methods in this "decimal" steps. Of course for our 2:1 pixels the movement is going to look coarse in the horizontal directions, but the collision precision can be the same one that in the arcade version.. and that one is "char" based by the way (that's the reason of the "bug" where you can go through a ghost sometimes.. both objects change their "tile" position at the same time).

All this info is in the Pac Man dossier:
http://home.comcast....mandossier.html

I have the original ghost behaviors, the collision methods and the pacman movement (with the classic speed up when taking corners, to outrun the ghosts) implemented according to that info.. maybe someday I will have the time to add the rest of the logic to put "arcade pac man" in some new mazes x)

Sure, you can have virtual movement and collision. I doubt they used it in the first Atari 8-bit version of Pac-Man though. Even though possible, I don't know how much closer that would bring you to the arcade's play mechanics, since it's always going to be highly affected by the actual resolution. I'd be glad to be proven wrong with your new version though.

I also think part of the problem with the play mechanics on these A8 versions is due to the lack of joystick movement responsiveness. They're hardly forgiving to 180 degree direction changes.

[therealbountybob]

NRV, on Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:03 AM, said:

...
I have the original ghost behaviors, the collision methods and the pacman movement (with the classic speed up when taking corners, to outrun the ghosts) implemented according to that info.. maybe someday I will have the time to add the rest of the logic to put "arcade pac man" in some new mazes x)

Just some ideas for a future pac-man - Perhaps we could have selectable ghost difficulty levels - with different ghost graphics - super ghosts or something - maybe they could have a power pill randomly appear in the maze (occasionally) and they go for it - if they get it before pac-man they power up

[FULS]

therealbountybob, on Sun Apr 15, 2012 4:03 PM, said:

NRV, on Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:03 AM, said:

...
I have the original ghost behaviors, the collision methods and the pacman movement (with the classic speed up when taking corners, to outrun the ghosts) implemented according to that info.. maybe someday I will have the time to add the rest of the logic to put "arcade pac man" in some new mazes x)

Just some ideas for a future pac-man - Perhaps we could have selectable ghost difficulty levels - with different ghost graphics - super ghosts or something - maybe they could have a power pill randomly appear in the maze (occasionally) and they go for it - if they get it before pac-man they power up

And also maybe a 2 player game where you both compete at the same time. Each one adding to there score for each dot and then If one player eats a power dot then both players can eat the ghosts, the last ghost ate by a player could be worth 1600 points to his score.

[Stephen]

NRV, on Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:03 AM, said:

All this info is in the Pac Man dossier:
http://home.comcast....mandossier.html

I have the original ghost behaviors, the collision methods and the pacman movement (with the classic speed up when taking corners, to outrun the ghosts) implemented according to that info.. maybe someday I will have the time to add the rest of the logic to put "arcade pac man" in some new mazes x)

pac_06.png

That is one of the best write ups I have read in a very long time. I would love to have something similar for Star Raiders.