Schizophretard Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 I'll let Bob look into this as they sound OK to me. Just want to confirm that you're playing on real hardware? Not yet but if there is a huge difference then Stella is way off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Not yet but if there is a huge difference then Stella is way off. It's entirely possible. The sound emulation in Stella is adequate, but there are differences from the real thing. Unfortunately, I'm not a sound guy at all, and since I'm pretty much tone-deaf I don't see this improving in Stella anytime soon (unless someone wants to step up and look into it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted September 19, 2012 Author Share Posted September 19, 2012 I suspect its because the TONE is frequently changed during some of the sound effects. For instance, the asteroid explosions toggle between 6 and 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Should I change it to a 'standard' explosion? ( i.e. voice 8 ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Most of the sounds are at volume level $0C (the ones that are constant anyway) - All Explosions start at $0C and work downwards. - The Thrust is at $08 (lower) - The Shots (player and UFO) start at $0F (the loudest) and work downwards. - The Extra Ship is at $0F - The UFOs and Magna-Mines are at $08 - The Player Ship Re-Entry is in a class by itself I also just sent SpiceWare an update to the Ship Re-Entry sound. I'm thinking explosions should be the loudest to start ($0F), Shots should be just under that ($0C) and Thrust should stay at $08. Sounds like a plan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 Should I change it to a 'standard' explosion? ( i.e. voice 8 ) No, it sounds great on the Atari. I just suspect that's why it sounds off in Stella. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I played it last night, and it is an absolute blast. Amazing work SpiceWare, as usual. My friends were watching me play, and they're like, that's not much of an atari improvement. I then fired up the original, and they're like, oh wow, yeah... much better. They were confused when the asteroids deluxe enemy showed up. I do have one complaint though. You are still respawning before the UFO leaves the screen. I am unsure if this is how it is done in Asteroids Deluxe or not, but the ship must be off the screen before you redeploy if you are trying to copy the arcade Asteroids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Are you planning to use the difficulty switches? Can the magnetic mines be turned off to keep the game play truer to the original arcade Asteroids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 I do have one complaint though. You are still respawning before the UFO leaves the screen. I am unsure if this is how it is done in Asteroids Deluxe or not, but the ship must be off the screen before you redeploy if you are trying to copy the arcade Asteroids. Yeah, I reverted to my old routines as there were some problems that cropped (in blog comments) up after I changed it to only respawn after the UFO left the screen. I haven't gone back to it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 (edited) Are you planning to use the difficulty switches? No. While I don't mind using them on the sixer, I find using the difficulty switches to be annoying on the four switch, Jr. and 7800. Can the magnetic mines be turned off to keep the game play truer to the original arcade Asteroids? I wanted to set it up as a menu option, but ran out of space so I tied it to the LEVEL option. Play Kids or Easy and the Magna-Mines won't show up. Edited September 20, 2012 by SpiceWare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I do have one complaint though. You are still respawning before the UFO leaves the screen. I am unsure if this is how it is done in Asteroids Deluxe or not, but the ship must be off the screen before you redeploy if you are trying to copy the arcade Asteroids. Yeah, I reverted to my old routines as there were some problems that cropped (in blog comments) up after I changed it to only respawn after the UFO left the screen. I haven't gone back to it yet. I know it may not be arcade-accurate, but I like the revenge factor of being able to respawn and kill the saucer that killed you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I know it may not be arcade-accurate, but I like the revenge factor of being able to respawn and kill the saucer that killed you. You do have a good point there. It did feel good to have revenge on the ufo. I guess its entirely up to him, if he wants to make it truly arcade accurate, or to make it his own little addition to take out revenge on the ufo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegamatrix Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 (edited) I'm surprised the sounds in E.T. are so off in Stella. I rarely play games on real hardware so I wouldn't have ever known. When E.T. gets lowered to the ground it sounds mesmerizing on a real hardware and meh in emulation. I'll have to compare the sounds for Space Rocks on real hardware and emulation this weekend! Unfortunately I have no equipment to do a comparison and post it like (RT?) did. Edited September 21, 2012 by Omegamatrix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I'm surprised the sounds in E.T. are so off in Stella. I rarely play games on real hardware so I wouldn't have ever known. When E.T. gets lowered to the ground it sounds mesmerizing on a real hardware and meh in emulation. I'll have to compare the sounds for Space Rocks on real hardware and emulation this weekend! Unfortunately I have no equipment to do a comparison and post it like (RT?) did. I'm open to collaboration on looking into/fixing this issue. With the final issues being fixed with the TIA emulation for the 3.8 release, I think the sound emulation is the next big thing to consider. But as I've said above, I'm not a sound guy, so I don't understand a lot of the theory behind it. Also, all the emulators, in one way or another, use the original sound code from Ron Fries. So I suspect they all have the same issue. What we need is research into what's really going on, and attempt to improve that sound code. Finally, the way sound is handled in Stella is due to be reworked anyway, to properly support KidVid audio. Anyway, not to derail this thread anymore. Feel free to PM me or create a new thread to discuss this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I'm surprised the sounds in E.T. are so off in Stella. I rarely play games on real hardware so I wouldn't have ever known. When E.T. gets lowered to the ground it sounds mesmerizing on a real hardware and meh in emulation. I'll have to compare the sounds for Space Rocks on real hardware and emulation this weekend! Unfortunately I have no equipment to do a comparison and post it like (RT?) did. I can stream it on Saturday if you want a personal experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I just played the latest version and I'm amazed! This is great! I like the heartbeat, the thrust graphics, and the explosions. All the new stuff makes the game even more amazing than it was. Too bad we couldn't have had this version in 1982. The only thing I don't like is the green and purple lines at the bottom of the screen, but that's nitpicking. The old 2600 just keeps getting better and better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 thems greens and puple lines are just like apple 2 series. I like thoses colors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 The only thing I don't like is the green and purple lines at the bottom of the screen, but that's nitpicking. The old 2600 just keeps getting better and better! There's a menu option so you can choose a monochrome color scheme that doesn't have green and purple. (I prefer the light-blue color of Asteroids Deluxe, personally.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schizophretard Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 It's entirely possible. The sound emulation in Stella is adequate, but there are differences from the real thing. Unfortunately, I'm not a sound guy at all, and since I'm pretty much tone-deaf I don't see this improving in Stella anytime soon (unless someone wants to step up and look into it). It just seems weird that Asteroids sounds fine. When I get a chance I'll test on Harmony but it seems more like volume than tone. Mostly because people have told me I'm tone-deaf also. On Asteroids the volume sounds right and I have it as loud as it can go. With Space Rocks the heart beat sounds more quiet especially while shooting. It almost sounds like a static that pops up every once in a while. The UFO shots are like nails on a chalk board loud. I don't know. I'll probably figure out better what I'm hearing when I compare them more and also test on Harmony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 There's a menu option so you can choose a monochrome color scheme that doesn't have green and purple. (I prefer the light-blue color of Asteroids Deluxe, personally.) Thanks, I'll have to check the menu options out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I wonder how playing with the clipping and sampling rate and sample sizes in the audio settings menu on stella...I wonder how that would work and if the sound can be improved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 It just seems weird that Asteroids sounds fine. When I get a chance I'll test on Harmony but it seems more like volume than tone. Mostly because people have told me I'm tone-deaf also. On Asteroids the volume sounds right and I have it as loud as it can go. With Space Rocks the heart beat sounds more quiet especially while shooting. It almost sounds like a static that pops up every once in a while. The UFO shots are like nails on a chalk board loud. I don't know. I'll probably figure out better what I'm hearing when I compare them more and also test on Harmony. Any testing and feedback is appreciated; eventually we'll probably get it sorted out. And when I say I'm tone-deaf, I don't just mean 'tones'. It's more of an overall sound thing; I'm just not into sound/music all that much. Heck, I don't even own a stereo! Aside from listening to a few MP3's in the car, that's the extent of my sound/music experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I hear every nuance and variance, but how the hell do you describe sound via words? All I can really say is "it doesn't sound right" .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmervine Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I had a chance to download the latest build to my Harmony cart. Wow...very impressive! This game rocks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 Thanks! I'm wrapping up the build that Al's going to demo at PRGE. It has updated sound effects, updated Magna Mine graphics, a fix to Magna Mine routines and a revised easter egg. I'll be posting it later on today for playtesting to make sure there's no "show stopping" bugs. I'll appreciate some quick feedback on this as I'm going to have company starting tomorrow so I won't have much time to fix any issues after today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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