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Space Harrier Released


Sheddy

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Rybags hit it on the head. I was never a Space Harrier fan but this version has done it for me. It is the kind of game you'll either love or hate but Sheddy's version is excellent and has excelled where other 8-bit versions failed.

 

 

Because Sheddy hasn't felt awkward using gr. 7 resolution and to make a finished product around it.

 

The engine behind Space Harrier is just a straight (and clever) build on the A8's capablities, and even better: no try to run behind the C64.

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Great Game! Maybe one of the best ever released for 8 bit Atari. :thumbsup: :)

- But only for the NTSC part of the Atari world. -

On PAL machines, especially with CRT's or tube tv's it's a pain for the eyes if you play longer than 5 minutes. :thumbsdown: :(

 

It does depend a lot on how the TV is set up. I suggest adjusting the brightness and contrast on the TV until the flicker is less distracting. The colours will end up looking duller, but easier on the eyes.

 

When using an emulator that doesn't have blending, the refresh rate of the monitor needs to be set at the same refresh rate of the Atari being emulated (60Hz for NTSC, 50Hz for PAL)

Edited by Sheddy
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Well,

 

if there will ever be a fileversion, it would be good to see one that does NOT require 64k RAM + 1MB XRAM, since few A8 users do have 1MB XRAM. Maybe:

 

1) one could create a fileversion that loads one level after another, so it requires less RAM/XRAM (maybe 320k would be enough then)...?!? Sheddy, how much RAM is required for the main program only (without any levels) and how much RAM is taken for a level ?!?

 

2) one could save some RAM/XRAM by using a static title screen (in CIN/RIP/MAX/G2F/... format, min. 16 colours, 160x192 or 160x200; with less flicker or flicker-free) instead of an animated + interlaced title...?!? Sheddy, how much RAM is required for the animated Space Harrier title ?!?

 

3) the fileversion for real A8 should be packed and splitted into 2-4 files, so that it can be put onto 2-4 DD (180k) disks, since not all A8 users do have 720k or 1440k disks... (for a quick test I zipped the flasher-ATR and got a 386k ZIP-file, then I zipped the BIN/CAR and got a 387k ZIP-fle, since most A8 packers do not pack better than ZIP, I guess that 3 DD disks would be the minimum for a packed fileversion of Space Harrier - of course 2 packed DD diskfiles would be really cool)...

 

-Andreas Koch.

 

I'm not going to re-write it! It was made as a cart so it could be made better, and work on a standard Atari without massive expansions. But as I've said before, I'm prepared to try and help someone move it to another storage medium if people are really that desperate to play it on a real Atari, but not get a Maxflash cart. :?

 

If someone makes a good title screen, there is no reason why it couldn't be bolted onto the front instead of the existing one. Memory usage isn't much of a problem as it can be written over when the game play starts and re-loaded afterwards. I just wanted to do the title screen in the same way as the original arcade version - by using the in-game graphics themselves and not just a picture.

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Great Game! Maybe one of the best ever released for 8 bit Atari. :thumbsup: :)

- But only for the NTSC part of the Atari world. -

On PAL machines, especially with CRT's or tube tv's it's a pain for the eyes if you play longer than 5 minutes. :thumbsdown: :(

 

Can´t prove that.

 

Played it on my PAL 800 XL and 130 XE with a LG TFT: No disturbing flickering, but the colors are a little bit weak.

 

Played on my NTSC 1200 XL with a Sony NTSC Tube Screen has stronger colors and more flickering that the PAL version, but still not so bad that one couldn´t play it.

You really should try different set-ups.

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It does depend a lot on how the TV is set up. I suggest adjusting the brightness and contrast on the TV until the flicker is less distracting. The colours will end up looking duller, but easier on the eyes.

 

 

I played it on a LCD TV and it's mucho better for my eyes. Pal guys, if you have a LCD TV use this instead of your tube tv! No more migraine headache while playing Space Harrier. ;)

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Actually I just looked at the Amiga and ST versions of space harrier - the Amiga version isn't bad, but I think the A8 version leaves the ST version in the dust!

 

Amiga: proof that Atari should've just stuck a 68k in the 800 ;)

Edited by sack-c0s
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Amiga: proof that Atari should've just stuck a 68k in the 800 ;)

 

Isn´t that exactly what Jay Miner did? ;-)

 

exactly.

 

Looking at the c64 version he must've really been up against the clock on that job - I'd have thought the raster splits for the floor that made the US version but not the UK one would've been an afternoons work

 

Still..

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO1jhy4UjfM

 

hope nobody woke up to this one christmas morning ;)

Edited by sack-c0s
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Chris,

 

Congratulations on the big release. After you spend enough time on a project it starts to feel like it will never be completely ready and you just have to kick it out of the nest. :)

 

Also, don't take anything anyone complains about too seriously. This is one of the most impressive pieces of A8 software ever and it doesn't need defending.

 

Looking at the c64 version he must've really been up against the clock on that job - I'd have thought the raster splits for the floor that made the US version but not the UK one would've been an afternoons work

 

Is that a serious release? It looks like it's running on a system with a bad video chip.

Edited by Bryan
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I should clarify that the video I posted there is from the PC8801 version, and having looked at multiple videos on youtube it does indeed look like that was what the machine was capable of.

 

apparently the C64 version was rushed in a couple of weeks*, so there's probably room for improvement there

 

I like the way the CPC coder realised if he tried to do things exactly how the arcade machine did it then it would all end in tears and made a pretty smart compromise to keep the game speed up

 

 

 

*edited because I was reading across two browser windows and getting my facts muddled...

Edited by sack-c0s
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I like the way the CPC coder realised if he tried to do things exactly how the arcade machine did it then it would all end in tears and made a pretty smart compromise to keep the game speed up

 

Yep! Pre-scaled wire frame graphics require much less memory and less drawing time compared to bitmaps of a comparable size.

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