Goochman Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Ill spend less than 5 seconds looking at the screen font - Im more interested in playing so leave the font as is - who cares........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 It wasn't at all complicated on the C-64- but I assume it is on an Atari? Yeah, you need to stop doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Why would people prefer the game with that crappy-looking standard font over something better? Not only does it look unpolished but it feels incredibly amateurish as well... -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Just looks like a 5200 game to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I think it looks fine. Although I like what modern day programmers do with the 8-bits/5200, I still like the original Atari programs. The important part is the gameplay. Plus I don't think Keithen is trying to re-write Tempest, but just finish what he couldn't twenty years ago. I'm greatly appreciative of him spending all this time doing it considering he won't get anything out of it except for maybe the satisfaction of completing it and maybe seeing a few 5200 fans enjoying his efforts. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 (edited) I think that approach is best, its good to have things are close to the original and I'm very happy to see things are progressing :-) Curt That's too bad. It seems the fonts could be changed to look more like the vector fonts by extending ANTIC E for the entire screen. But that's minor. I can't wait for the final release. For the memory footprint they're targeting, there may not be enough RAM for a custom charset. Of course, if there is enough RAM, not having a custom font is nigh inexcusable. We are planning to use 32k, so RAM would not be an issue. Remember though that Keithen is trying to finish the game the way he would have back in 1984. This is HIS design and vision. I will suggest to him about changing the font, but that is the LEAST of our worries right now. If he decides to keep the font as is, that is the way it will be. Suggestions like this might make him decide NOT to finish it if you all are going to be so nit picky. I assure you that the gameplay will make you forget about the font... Edited May 9, 2008 by Curt Vendel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcleverly Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 I think that approach is best, its good to have things are close to the original and I'm very happy to see things are progressing :-) Curt That's too bad. It seems the fonts could be changed to look more like the vector fonts by extending ANTIC E for the entire screen. But that's minor. I can't wait for the final release. For the memory footprint they're targeting, there may not be enough RAM for a custom charset. Of course, if there is enough RAM, not having a custom font is nigh inexcusable. We are planning to use 32k, so RAM would not be an issue. Remember though that Keithen is trying to finish the game the way he would have back in 1984. This is HIS design and vision. I will suggest to him about changing the font, but that is the LEAST of our worries right now. If he decides to keep the font as is, that is the way it will be. Suggestions like this might make him decide NOT to finish it if you all are going to be so nit picky. I assure you that the gameplay will make you forget about the font... here is one question, though. is this gonna be real smooth like the arcade version. i have seen versions for some older computers that are pretty slow/choppy. i understand!!! that the 5200 is not them, just wondering how well it will handle all of the sprites/characters, especially in the later levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuzzed Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 In the Gray/Silver Catalog (C021776-Rev-A) from Atari, it lists Tempest as Trackball Compatible. Is this still going to be the case? This game looks freakin sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orrimarrko Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Are you seriously arguing about the font for the score? It looks just like every other 1st party 5200 game out there. Wouldn't you want it to look like it would have if it was completed in '84? Regardless, this is just silly. Great screenshots - thanks for putting the time and effort into finishing what looks to get a lot of play time in my new machine. Can't wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scihorror Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Thanks for the screenshots! Can't wait to see what else he's done on it! BTW, the font looks fine. Personally, that's one of the things that helps define it as an Atari 5200 game. Keep up the great work, Keithen and Dutchman! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82atari5200 Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 Why can't it be vector graphics? It's just not going to be Tempest with raster graphics. If you just reverse the polarity of the neutron flow it will fix the font as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 I think it looks fine as it is, looking forward to trying this someday when it's finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 Only being familiar with Commodore computers, I was able to achieve a "vector look" with letters and numbers on a game called "Vecktar" simply by using the custom characters trick- the computer read character shapes from a secured RAM location instead of the usual ROM location. It wasn't at all complicated on the C-64- but I assume it is on an Atari? How does it work (please keep it simple for this "Atari Challenged!")? I'm just trying to get an idea of what's going on here. You just program the game however you want! Yes the atari is similar in that the char set can be loaded in RAM, modified, and then pointed to. Although I think we are limited to 128 characters instead of 256 like the C64? Maybe if someone creates said FONT they might be more inclined to include it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight magicman Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 (edited) ugh, I shouldn't post when I'm drunk. Peace Edited May 11, 2008 by midnight magicman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 What? Was Airworld "Airware"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickelPlate Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Why would people prefer the game with that crappy-looking standard font over something better? Not only does it look unpolished but it feels incredibly amateurish as well... -- Atari Frog http://www.atarimania.com Way to go slick! Keep comments like that coming and ruin it for everyone when the author just says screw it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman2000 Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 What? Was Airworld "Airware"? No, it was a real project. There are many reasons why it was canceled but the main one was lack of time with everything else. The other was the copyright holder being a PITA.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Mockup of alternate character set. If the "HI" was on a seperate screen line then a DLI could change charsets. Therefore, all of 88 bytes expenditure for numerics + the symbol representing lives left. TEMPCHR.zip BASIC program demo of character set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman2000 Posted May 14, 2008 Author Share Posted May 14, 2008 I talked with Keithen about the font. At this point we will NOT be changing it. The main reason for this is he wants to finish the game and not take more time dealing with the font. He did say that back at Atari, the font was chosen due to ROM space. He had only 16k and could not waste any space. Of course now we have 32k but he doesn't want to spend the time on changing it. He wants the game to be as close as possible to his original vision that he would have completed back in 1984. I fully support this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 I talked with Keithen about the font. At this point we will NOT be changing it. The main reason for this is he wants to finish the game and not take more time dealing with the font. He did say that back at Atari, the font was chosen due to ROM space. He had only 16k and could not waste any space. Of course now we have 32k but he doesn't want to spend the time on changing it. He wants the game to be as close as possible to his original vision that he would have completed back in 1984. I fully support this. I actually prefer the original font. Most Atari-made 5200 arcade ports (Joust, Moon Patrol, Robotron, etc.) used it, and if this was the way Tempest was going to be as well.. then that's the one I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari5200 Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 (edited) and that's how it should be and people should quit bitching. (replying to Dutchman) Again, when it comes to production runs, let me know if you need extra shells. I have a few common games that I can donate the shells. Edited May 14, 2008 by Atari5200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 I talked with Keithen about the font. At this point we will NOT be changing it. The main reason for this is he wants to finish the game and not take more time dealing with the font. He did say that back at Atari, the font was chosen due to ROM space. He had only 16k and could not waste any space. Of course now we have 32k but he doesn't want to spend the time on changing it. He wants the game to be as close as possible to his original vision that he would have completed back in 1984. I fully support this. I actually prefer the original font. Most Atari-made 5200 arcade ports (Joust, Moon Patrol, Robotron, etc.) used it, and if this was the way Tempest was going to be as well.. then that's the one I want. Amen to that. I like it actually. When I was working on my homebrew I used the same club symbol for the lives display because I saw it in Tempest and liked it. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 I like both fonts but more important than either is to play the game. Either one is fine. I can't wait to play this game. Realsports Baseball was one of the best games on the 5200. It blew the other sports games out of the water. I think Tempests is going to another of the top best games for the 5200. The prototype that's been floating around the Net forever showed that inspite of the vector graphics issue, you could translate a vector game successfully if you were a great programmer. With everything finished and the time Keithen was able to take to do it, Tempest is going to fantastic. So now that we got the original programmers for Tempest, Super Pac-man, and Cloak and Dagger finishing (or finished as in the case of Super Pac-man) their games, all we need is to get Stargate, Battlezone, Black Belt, Frisky Tom, Jr. Pac-Man and Meebzork finished by their original programmers. Plus get somebody else to finish Spitfire. Hopefully the sources for these will show up someday. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Well if original vision is the intention, then go for it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 (or finished as in the case of Super Pac-man) I still think Super-Pacman is "unfinished" in the sense that the ghost's blue time is way too short.. but that's another gripe for another thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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