390 replies to this topic

[SpiceWare]

Hmm, the last 2 reviews in the AA store bring up an issue with PAL:

Roger Wolf - the black bar at the bottom may have been smaller if the programmers had taken a bit more attention in this issue.

David Kelly - The only minor thing in PAL land is the border at the bottom of the screen which is a bit on the big side - but really it's a minor point.

Thing is, I couldn't have "taken a bit more attention" on this as there's no way for me to see it as I only have NTSC equipment. I don't recall anybody bringing this up as an issue when the game was being developed.

That said, here's a PAL60 version:
 mm20100612PAL60.bin   32K   36 downloads

If those of you in PAL land can let me know if this works OK then I can have Al add it to the store as an option.

[potatohead]

Get a nice PC capture card. They do PAL nicely. Use one for testing PAL video code on Propeller all the time.

Honestly, I've never found anything here in the US that does PAL, but for the odd device here and there.

[ATARIPITBULL]

Another game I wanted but never got around to buying.

[SpiceWare]

Weird, this topic was in the Homebrew forum until I posted the PAL60 version.

Capture device could work, have to see what's available for the Mac and if the price is worth it or not considering how few of the games are sold in the PAL regions. Could also just stick with PAL60 for future games, it's a lot less hassle.

It's not going away, so it'll still be there whenever you get around to buying it

Edited by SpiceWare, Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:22 AM.

[potatohead]

And I recommend you do.

Yeah, there are USB capture devices that will work with Mac. There are two varietes. HD capable ones deliver a fantastic signal, but their support varies. I've one that appears to be XP only, despite buying it fairly recently. Another "EasyCAP" is ordinary def, and it's got much more broad support. For VCS stuff, most any of the full frame ones will do, and the nicer capture display won't really impact what you see on a VCS. It's resolution lies below those issues. Some older ones, like "Dazzle" seem limited and picky. Either way, that's the easy PAL display in NTSC regions.

Edited by potatohead, Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:48 AM.

[Crazy Climber]

ATARIPITBULL, on Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:15 AM, said:

Another game I wanted but never got around to buying.

Pick it up man!

[Atari2600Lives]

Crazy Climber, on Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:58 PM, said:

ATARIPITBULL, on Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:15 AM, said:

Another game I wanted but never got around to buying.

Pick it up man!

In my opinion, if you were not to differentiate between homebrew or original titles , this would be one of the top 5 games ever released for the 2600 system, it should almost be a crime not to own it. Warlords was great but this is a quantum leap beyond warlords . Its always going to hold a special place in my heart and I am very grateful that Darrell made it.

Edited by Atari2600Lives, Sun Jun 13, 2010 7:26 PM.

[Moonpig]

SpiceWare, on Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:22 AM, said:

Capture device could work, have to see what's available for the Mac and if the price is worth it or not considering how few of the games are sold in the PAL regions.  Could also just stick with PAL60 for future games, it's a lot less hassle.

Hi was thinking about buying an atari just for this game, and was wondering has the Pal bug been fixed?

Thank you

Edited by Moonpig, Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:18 AM.

[SpiceWare]

It's not a bug, its caused by the fact that PAL has more scan lines than NTSC. I did up a page, Atari NTSC vs PAL vs SECAM, that goes over how the TV standards work in regards to the Atari. In the screenshots you can see how the PAL picture is larger, therefore the black area below the score is also larger.

If I made the game area larger for the PAL version, say by inserting 50 scan lines in the middle of the arena, then it wouldn't play the same - diagonal shots wouldn't line up anymore and it would take longer for the fireballs to travel up/down. Yes the speed tables could have been adjusted to compensate for this, but as mentioned above nobody brought this up as an issue during the 9 months the game was under development and I'm not going to go back 6 years later to "fix" it.

The PAL60 build is a quick hack that uses NTSC timing (fewer scan lines) with PAL colors. While most PAL TVs will supposedly support PAL60, there's no guarantee that your specific TV will. None of the 20 downloaders have replied as to whether or not that build worked for them, which is why it's not offered in the store as an option.

[GroovyBee]

What bank switching does the version above require? I'll test it on my CC2.

[Mayhem]

It uses standard F4 bankswitching.

[GroovyBee]

Just tested it on my old 50Hz portable PAL TV and it can't lock to the TV signal. I'll test it on a more modern TV after the weekend.

[davyK]

SpiceWare, on Sat Jun 12, 2010 5:48 PM, said:

Hmm, the last 2 reviews in the AA store bring up an issue with PAL:

Roger Wolf - the black bar at the bottom may have been smaller if the programmers had taken a bit more attention in this issue.

David Kelly - The only minor thing in PAL land is the border at the bottom of the screen which is a bit on the big side - but really it's a minor point.

Thing is, I couldn't have "taken a bit more attention" on this as there's no way for me to see it as I only have NTSC equipment. I don't recall anybody bringing this up as an issue when the game was being developed.

That said, here's a PAL60 version:
mm20100612PAL60.bin

If those of you in PAL land can let me know if this works OK then I can have Al add it to the store as an option.

VERY late to this party but I haven't been here in a while. Downloaded this PAL60 BIN and copied it to my Harmony cartridge. No full playtest yet but it works great on my PAL woody!! Full screen. I had to use my woody though - it wouldn't launch from the Harmony menu when trying it on my PAL 7800.

Really sorry for the delay and a massive thanks for doing this!!!! That was my review quoted above - I'll keep the cartridge as a collector and play this version....

Edited by davyK, Fri Jan 27, 2012 5:34 PM.

[SpiceWare]

Yep, it's a 32K game w/out extra RAM using standard F4 banking.

So far we've got 1 OK and 1 bad. I don't think 50% odds are good enough to make it an option.

[GroovyBee]

There are a few TVs here so I can test on them too. There is a retro gaming club that meets once a month and they have a ton of TVs. Next time I go there I'll test it out and report back.

[SpiceWare]

Thanks!