Jump to content
IGNORED

Rick Dangerous


Heaven/TQA

Recommended Posts

Posted also also on AtariOnline and I may have found the MISSILE(S) and the other PLAYER(S), at least 1 or 2:

Regarding Rick Dangerous here's that I noticed and some doubts/thoughts that is a copy of a what I just posted on AtariAge:

 

Strange thing is that on 2 of those 3 screens in the left normal A8 Rick sprite isn't PMG coloured like is on the one you see here/the only one of the 2 at AtariOnline.

Why? Don't get it as Rick is [1+1] PLAYERS in multicolour mode giving 3rd colour and on those 2 it is like the enemys just a soft sprite using the 3 PFs colours same as the enemys.

On the other hand I think I remember to saw the remaining 2PLAYERS used in some underlays on gfxs to add some more colour(s). Wondering where are they now... And the 4MISSILES?

:)

 

Humm... regarding MISSILES it see that is, at least one, on Ricky hat it has 9pixels and his black contour/shadow? If isn't the black (00) BAK colour register then is other PLAYER and a MISSILE?

Sorry, not to critic but just for curiosity.

:thumbsup:

I sincerily hope the author don't mind, it's just my usual curiosity working ;)...

:grin:

Edited by José Pereira
Link to comment
Share on other sites

During Silly Venture 2k16 I had an opportunity to talk with the creators of RD Atari conversion. They work hard on optimizing the game as they want the game to run on stock 64 kilobytes machines - software sprites take a lot of space, so it's not an easy task. They fight for every byte. And I think this is the main reason why it's still unfinished. They cannot promise any specific release date yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It actually looks like the converted Speccy version, optimized for Atari graphics.

32 Bytes width seem to open the door for every Speccy conversion.

 

Other 8-bit versions (C64, CPC) of Rick Dangerous have also 32 bytes width. What's the reason to talk about conversion from ZX Spectrum here?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Other 8-bit versions (C64, CPC) of Rick Dangerous have also 32 bytes width. What's the reason to talk about conversion from ZX Spectrum here?

It's the closest match. Also, the softwaresprites move the same. On Amiga, ST, and C64 they all drop down the screen. On the Speccy they sink into the walls, as done in the A8 version.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

same here:

Hm... same to the Pc version , just a conversion from a slow 8 bit machine , as it seems.

 

As , luckily the ST version is a 68000 native game, the software-sprites moved more free, otherwise the Amiga version could also suffer from this.

Edited by emkay
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Other 8-bit versions (C64, CPC) of Rick Dangerous have also 32 bytes width. What's the reason to talk about conversion from ZX Spectrum here?

32 width is obvious solution to maximum common possible screen width. Based on article written by author himself, it was just a time saving thing based on short dev schedule (only 4 months for all platforms !!!)

 

Author quote:

- The screen was 32 characters (256 pixels) wide on all formats, including the Amiga and ST versions, since we were so tight on time we could not afford to have different width maps for the different formats.

- Similarly, all sprites were 24 pixels wide by 21 pixels high on all formats - the restriction of the hardware sprites on the Commodore 64 - another time-saving technique.

- Rick was designed in July 1988 and took four months to create...

- The game ran to 85 screens in size on the 8-bit formats, with 50 additional screens on the 16-bit formats.
Link to articles:
  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 width is obvious solution to maximum common possible screen width. Based on article written by author himself, it was just a time saving thing based on short dev schedule (only 4 months for all platforms !!!)

 

Author quote:

- The screen was 32 characters (256 pixels) wide on all formats, including the Amiga and ST versions, since we were so tight on time we could not afford to have different width maps for the different formats.

- Similarly, all sprites were 24 pixels wide by 21 pixels high on all formats - the restriction of the hardware sprites on the Commodore 64 - another time-saving technique.

So they made a cross assumption, to have one Level Set for 2 "market-leading" 8 Bit Platforms. Both limitations hit the specs of the A8. Which means, back in that time, it would have been a "piece of cake" to create the A8 version. But, in that time, the A8 was declared dead. Some years later, they might have decided to create the A8 version, because of the new "Eastern Europe" Market.

Interesting, isn't it ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was already a time for 16bits... Rick came out in '89 and Rick 2 and impossamole in '90... Those were the last games made by Core design for 8bits...

Only other game worked on was C64 port of Chuck Rock and even that one was not published and only came out recently on Games that weren't website...

 

Technically there was no reason Rick wouldn't fit in Atari 8bit. Only thing I can think of is that it wasn't popular in UK and they didn't have a coder available at that time.

 

Also I don't see 64k as some hard limit... There are only a couple different sprites on screen at once and all possible shifted frames for soft sprites can be generated on the fly when screen transitions happen. Yes it's more complex than having everything unrolled in memory at once, but considering how much work is already done it should be possible.

 

Great work coders!!!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was already a time for 16bits... Rick came out in '89 and Rick 2 and impossamole in '90... Those were the last games made by Core design for 8bits...

You read the text, you've linked to?

 

The game IS definitely build on the limits of the C64 and Spectrum. Both machines had their part on the market. The Atari was declared dead between 1986 and 1990. That's the main cause, why Games that would do better on the A8 never reached that platform.

 

Great work coders!!!

 

No doubt, for the Atari department ;) Great work!

 

But, it still doesn't make sense, to waste time for clamping the whole game into 64K, if development time is the problem. Who tried to use the 128Bytes of RAM only , to have a full working game on the 2600?

Showing , what fits into a standard Atari , is colliding by the use of the VBXE.

Edited by emkay
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was already a time for 16bits... Rick came out in '89 and Rick 2 and impossamole in '90... Those were the last games made by Core design for 8bits...

Only other game worked on was C64 port of Chuck Rock and even that one was not published and only came out recently on Games that weren't website...

 

Technically there was no reason Rick wouldn't fit in Atari 8bit. Only thing I can think of is that it wasn't popular in UK and they didn't have a coder available at that time.

 

Also I don't see 64k as some hard limit... There are only a couple different sprites on screen at once and all possible shifted frames for soft sprites can be generated on the fly when screen transitions happen. Yes it's more complex than having everything unrolled in memory at once, but considering how much work is already done it should be possible.

 

Great work coders!!!

The 64 KB limit is the ultimate challenge for the game, if you consider having additional soundtrack, the title screen, double buffering etc. You need to save-up on memory as much as you can and still keep in mind the 25 FPS target.

 

Unfortunatelly, on-the-fly pre-shifting would not spare much memory. There are times where there are up to 8 soft-sprites rendered at the same time, and there may be several types on them. The ones on the screen take the most of memory. Would give some benefits on some shots, but the worst case scenario could take most of the memory. The code itself would take also some space.

Edited by Marek Konopka
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My voice goes to 64k... Mostly because I own two 800xl's and couldn't yet get my hands on a 130xe... Yeah, memory upgrade is option but I like machines as they were when we were kids...

 

Maybe I'm wrong but I think more than 50% of people still own 64kb machines ? Was there ever a poll done on Atariage about that ?

 

Squeezing Rick is really a nice challenge. Counting sprites in PC spritesheet graphics there is over 150 different frames. Shifted it would take more than half of 64k... I hope you (coders) manage to make it work !

 

Ps. If you get stuck, please ask for help, I have a nice quick sprite routine laying around ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My voice goes to 64k... Mostly because I own two 800xl's and couldn't yet get my hands on a 130xe... Yeah, memory upgrade is option but I like machines as they were when we were kids...

So your Atari had neither a Cartridge Slot nor Page Flipping built in?

Curious ;)

 

Maybe I'm wrong but I think more than 50% of people still own 64kb machines ? Was there ever a poll done on Atariage about that ?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think all Ataris were benefitted by a Cartridge Slot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having cartridge games is great of course. Only argument I can think of against making a game on cartridge is price and shipping time.

Of course it would be worth waiting and paying more for it if game is something unique like Space Harrier was or like new Sam's Journey on C64...

 

Imho Rick is an Atari version of an old classic. Huge nostalgia value and very nice game to have as Atr file or on diskette with a nice cover, manual etc. Investing in making it a cartridge game would be nice but also a gamble. 64K Rick has probably 99% Atari market. Cartridge version much less than that.

 

Now, making one of those 3d-never-been-done games that you talk about all the time -> that would be 99% market even with a blown up cartridge version. Just my two cents ;)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...

There has been an update about this on youtube and atarionline. Little bit of gameplay at 3:10




While I can't understand any of it, I got from the comments on atarionline that they are trying to get it onto a cassette.

I especially loved this google translate effort

I am waiting for a game with baked goods on my face like a teenager. I hope that someday I will wait. It's nice that the developers have set themselves the requirements for the final version of the game. I can only wish them more time to create Rick and more motivation.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...