9 replies to this topic

[NightDriver]

Hello,
Does anyone have the NTSC bin for the GCC Proto version of Millipede? I found one on the forums before but it was a PAL bin. Also is there any other GCC Protos out there that where made but not released because Atari went with a different developers final product?
Thanks,
Tom

[Zach]

If an NTSC version of this is ever found, it'll make headlines here at AA.

[mojofltr]

Hmm, I didn't realize the prototype was PAL until now.

I thought that some of the Flashback 2 consoles had the game on them(?) It would have rolled on screen then, correct?

//edit//

I just downloaded it on my Krokocart and tried it out. The title screen comes on just fine as though it were NTSC, but as soon as the game begins, the screen rolls and the game won't play - no sound or anything.

I hacked the scoring graphics some time ago so that they were easier to read - thinking the ROM was NTSC.

Edited by mojofltr, Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:57 PM.

[Tempest]

Is the problem that the prototype is PAL or is it just a poorly programmed NTSC kernel? I always thought it was NTSC with just too many scanlines. Why would GCC make a PAL prototype?

Tempest

[Mitch]

Tempest, on Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:01 PM, said:

Is the problem that the prototype is PAL or is it just a poorly programmed NTSC kernel?  I always thought it was NTSC with just too many scanlines.  Why would GCC make a PAL prototype?

Tempest

Yes, I believe that is correct. It is NTSC and a prototype, no doubt if they had gotten the OK from Atari they would have cleaned up the scanline problem before release.

Mitch

[supercat]

Mitch, on Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:19 PM, said:

Yes, I believe that is correct. It is NTSC and a prototype, no doubt if they had gotten the OK from Atari they would have cleaned up the scanline problem before release.

That seems a rather optimistic assumption. Perhaps they could have gotten the scan-line count down, but running a 262 line display with a normal-height screen doesn't leave a whole lot of breathing room. The screen may have been over-length because there was too much stuff to do in vblank (or if it was overlength due to carelessness, there might still have been too much stuff to do in vblank).

[R.Cade]

Yeah, I tried to NTSC-fix this and it gets much worse if you try to decrease the VBLANK time. It glitches like mad. It would need a kernel rewrite to fix it.

And it is PAL. 314 lines during the game, 295 in the title.

[A.J. Franzman]

R.Cade, on Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:32 PM, said:

And it is PAL.  314 lines during the game, 295 in the title.

Those two statements alone are self-contradictory - the PAL standard requires an even number of scanlines, or color will be lost.

[Omegamatrix]

I agree 295 lines would be an odd line scan = no color. The main screen at 314 lines can be no mistake though. That is clearly PAL, and no one could have made that big of a mistake. Perhaps because it is a prototype they weren't done with the first screen. I can't name any NTSC game that has 295 lines either.

[R.Cade]

It's also possible that Z26's scan line count is not exactly 100% in all cases. I do not know that for sure. I double-checked the speeds listed here though.