Game play pictures on back of box

[Master Phruby]

How come the game play pictures on the back of Colecovision game boxes never matches the actual game? If these are prototype pictures why aren't the graphics up to that par? Isn't this false advertising?

 

 

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The games in this ad don't look like the actual games.

 

 

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[SKELETOR68]

I would love to see the Zaxxon pic on the back of the cart box made into a Game using the SGM. But your right about the game pics on boxes.

[dafivehole]

I thought that those pics were from the actual arcade machines... except for the games that weren't in arcades... that's where you have a good point

[Master Phruby]

If you look at the pictures, like Zaxxon and Donkey Kong, they are definitely not the arcade version.

[digress]

Yeah, the package art was completed simultaneously to the game development. They didn't have final screen shots only mockups based on the resolution and colours.

 

Donkey kong & zaxxon are close enough. Skiing... well I would have been pretty disapointed with that but was that even release by the same company? I think the skiing shot shown is by a third party later on and the coleco image is vaporware.

 

I've always been disappoint that the rip cord, tunnels & trolls, & mr. turtle games were not released.

[ColecoDan]

Skiing isn't close because it is vapor ware. The vapor ware screen shots are just mock up pictures of what they thought the game would be like since they weren't even programming them yet.

Almost all advertising and boxes were mock up pictures. Remember they gave their programers hardly any time to do the program, you think they were actually going to give the art department a ton of time to wait around for the programmers actual screen shot.

 

 

Differences in screens could also be due to changes made by programmers after they showed the art department what the screens were going to have.

[retroillucid]

This skiing mockup was made by me and its based onthe mockup on the otriginal CV console box

For Skiing, I'm sure Coleco did planned to make it, but they must have quickly ran out of cartridge space

that said, I'm sure it can be done that way using the Megacart

[Pixelboy]

This skiing mockup was made by me and its based onthe mockup on the otriginal CV console box

For Skiing, I'm sure Coleco did planned to make it, but they must have quickly ran out of cartridge space

that said, I'm sure it can be done that way using the Megacart

It's not the MegaCart you need, it's a highly-optimized screen-refresh engine. The way I envision it, you'd have a bank of tiles (for the trees, snow, sky, etc.) loaded in VRAM, and you would simply redraw the screen constantly by drawing the trees (and other elements) using this bank of tiles. This would produce a 3D effect as you go down the slope. The skier's skis and the flags would be done with magnified sprites.

 

Remember the buildings on the sides of the road in Turbo? That's the kind of thing I'm talking about, but the rendering engine in Skiing would be more advanced, because it would take into account the position (and therefore the first-person viewpoint) of the skier on the slope.

[+FujiSkunk]

Keep in mind the technology for capturing a single frame of video and turning it into a paper print did not exist in the late '70s and early '80s, at least not at anything anywhere near affordable or practical. The best you could do was maybe construct a program capable of generating a "still" photo and then aim a camera at the television, but that would have required taking time and resources away from the game developers. Instead, the marketing department mocked up their screenshots based on what they saw the going on in the development lab. These were marketing guys who weren't necessarily worried about getting pixel-accurate representations, and were probably prone to a little embellishment anyway. Coleco was no more guilty of this than Atari, Mattel, and all other game and console manufacturers back then.

[Master Phruby]

Remember they gave their programers hardly any time to do the program, you think they were actually going to give the art department a ton of time to wait around for the programmers actual screen shot.

Differences in screens could also be due to changes made by programmers after they showed the art department what the screens were going to have.

 

However other companies like Atari, Activision and Imagic gave the art department time to put a real picture of the game on the back of the box. It's not like the art department had to stop all work on the box and advertising just to have a small screen shot put in. That could be done easily at the last minute. Seems really deceptive.

[+FujiSkunk]

 

However other companies like Atari, Activision and Imagic gave the art department time to put a real picture of the game on the back of the box. It's not like the art department had to stop all work on the box and advertising just to have a small screen shot put in. That could be done easily at the last minute. Seems really deceptive.

 

Actually all companies in the early '80s used art-department mock-ups for their screenshots. Just look on the back of any 2600 Activision box, or any 2600 Atari black-label- or silver-label-era box and you'll easily tell those are not actual screenshots, and sometimes show a scene you can't actually get in the real game. It wasn't until the mid to late '80s that real screenshots became common on boxes.

Edited August 28, 2013 by FujiSkunk

[+nanochess]

And I thought my poor Zaxxon box was too beaten...

[retroillucid]

It's not the MegaCart you need, it's a highly-optimized screen-refresh engine. The way I envision it, you'd have a bank of tiles (for the trees, snow, sky, etc.) loaded in VRAM, and you would simply redraw the screen constantly by drawing the trees (and other elements) using this bank of tiles. This would produce a 3D effect as you go down the slope. The skier's skis and the flags would be done with magnified sprites.Remember the buildings on the sides of the road in Turbo? That's the kind of thing I'm talking about, but the rendering engine in Skiing would be more advanced, because it would take into account the position (and therefore the first-person viewpoint) of the skier on the slope.

You are right, although, I don't think it could fit 32K without huge compromises

Maybe a programmer will prove me I'm wrong though...

[+FujiSkunk]

You are right, although, I don't think it could fit 32K without huge compromises

Maybe a programmer will prove me I'm wrong though...

 

The same trick was used for a lot of 3-D-esque games on the Commodore 64, particularly ports of Sega's late '80s games like Space Harrier and OutRun. They weren't quite crammed into 32K, but they did get stuffed into 64K or less (Space Harrier loads completely into memory, OutRun requires disk access only once per game).

[retroillucid]

The same trick was used for a lot of 3-D-esque games on the Commodore 64, particularly ports of Sega's late '80s games like Space Harrier and OutRun. They weren't quite crammed into 32K, but they did get stuffed into 64K or less (Space Harrier loads completely into memory, OutRun requires disk access only once per game).

Yeah, what I'm saying

Doing this kind of games take some space

 

I'm not saying it could not fit a 32K cart (with compromises) but just saying to do the game according to the graphics Coleco showed, it will take more than 32K for sure

 

[+FujiSkunk]

Yeah, what I'm saying

Doing this kind of games take some space

 

I'm not saying it could not fit a 32K cart (with compromises) but just saying to do the game according to the graphics Coleco showed, it will take more than 32K for sure

 

 

Maybe, maybe not. C-64 Space Harrier has 13 different levels (if memory serves), and graphics don't start recycling until the sixth level. OutRun loads five different courses into memory for each game. If all we're talking about is the rough equivalent of one of those levels or courses, that is, a single downhill ski run, then the memory needed for the graphics will be considerably less. Admittedly I don't know how big the game "kernel" is for OutRun or Space Harrier, but it seems plausible to me it could fit into 32K.

Edited August 28, 2013 by FujiSkunk

[youki]

Screenshot you see at the back of boxes are hand made. Not even done on a computer. That was really commun in the 80s. As said previously the technologie was not really able to take a clear picture for a screenshot.

 

concerning skiing i'm sure it can been done in 32k (nowaday)

[retroillucid]

Mario Bros would not have fit a 32K without VERY HUGE compromises and you guys are saying Skiing could fit 32K ?!

Let's face it, Skiing could not be done this way using only a 32K board

 

As I will make Skiing (unless someone's doing it before me) , ... We will discover how much space Skiing is taking

 

64K seems fair to me.

Edited August 28, 2013 by retroillucid

[retroillucid]

 

- Spectar. (Done for years now)

 

- Side Trak. (Done)

 

- Chess Challenger. (Done)

 

- Rip Cord (There's WIP)

 

- Tunnel & Trolls (There's WIP)

 

- Horse Racing. (Someone here was working on it , yet?)

 

- Smurf Play n Learn. (Seriously, who cares?)

 

- Skiing. (Someday)

 

 

So think about it, almost all unreleased games from the CV system box has been done!

 

Now, to the flyers!

There is a couples of unreleased games there!

[Pixelboy]

 

Mario Bros would not have fit a 32K without VERY HUGE compromises and you guys are saying Skiing could fit 32K ?!

Of course, if I were doing Skiing myself, I would make compromises to try to make it fit in 32K. But honestly, I'm looking at the amount of graphics involved, and I think it's doable, expecially if music and sound effects are kept to a minimum. But it would have to be coded in assembly language, probably.

[retroillucid]

Of course, if I were doing Skiing myself, I would make compromises to try to make it fit in 32K. But honestly, I'm looking at the amount of graphics involved, and I think it's doable, expecially if music and sound effects are kept to a minimum. But it would have to be coded in assembly language, probably.

I did'nt think about music SFX.... Although, I would probably have a jingle at title screen and end of race with very few sfx

so yeah, maybe it could fit 32K afteralll

 

Skiing and Dracula are probably the most unreleased graphic intense games

Those games looks beautifull judging from their mockups

[NIAD]

You are right, although, I don't think it could fit 32K without huge compromises

Maybe a programmer will prove me I'm wrong though...

This is a job for Youki!!!!

[NIAD]

As others have mentioned, graphic mock-ups were used simply due to the time constraints that were placed on all the different departments. You can see firsthand just how crazy things must have been with the game Donkey Kong. Look at the game mock-up on the back of the Donkey Kong box and compare that to the mock-up on the back of the ColecoVision Game System box. Even the two mock-ups are different.

 

As far as the Skiing game, again as was mentioned, Coleco's version never materialized and the skiing game that was eventually released for the CV by TeleGames circa 1986 pails in comparison as far as eye candy. However, this game was played a couple years back in the CV High Score Club and playing it in a competition like this really changed a lot of opinions aout the game... myself included.

 

Also, if you look closely and read all the text on the back of the boxes, there's usually a line that reads, "Actual game screens may vary from screens shown", like the box scan I included below. This was a standard disclaimer that is probably still used all the time today to thwart any false advertising charges.

 

 

[youki]

This is a job for Youki!!!!

 

why not! My concern is not the 32K or the animation for that game should really be not a problem, but it is more to make it playable and fun. the physic to implement to give the feeling you are skiing seems more concerning for me.

[retroillucid]

why not! My concern is not the 32K or the animation for that game should really be not a problem, but it is more to make it playable and fun. the physic to implement to give the feeling you are skiing seems more concerning for me.

Would be awesome if you tackle this project!

 

If you need the other screen mockup, let me know and I will send it to you

The other mockup is the beginning of the race