Just for fun contest idea: "i can't believe it's not bitmap"

[ramidavis]

 

Unfortunately i am not much of a artist or graphics designer, so i would not be taking part in this.

Contest would be to see who can produce the best looking screen on the TI without using bitmap.

You can use whatever tricks/ideas you want, but can not be an actual bitmap screen.

Round up all the screen entries before the next TI convention, and have them displayed to the crowd running on actual hardware.

Ballot box voting for your favorite screen.

Edited November 27, 2017 by ramidavis

[Asmusr]

Are we allowed to use:

• Sprites?
• Half-bitmap mode?
• Flicker modes?
• Scanline/raster tricks?

[ramidavis]

Sure, why not!

As long as you are not literally putting the machine into graphics mode 2, all fair game i say.

No-go on:

graphics 2 ,

graphics 2 + graphics 1 ,

graphics 2 + text ,

graphics 2 + multicolor .

 

Text, graphics 1, multicolor are all fair game.

• Sprites
• Half-bitmap mode
• Flicker modes
• Scanline/raster tricks

Edited November 27, 2017 by ramidavis

[+chue]

F18A? Just kidding , I am sure that would not be keeping with the "spirit" of the contest.

[ramidavis]

[+adamantyr]

For the record, half bitmap is just bitmap mode with address masks used to reduce the table sizes. You may want to exclude it...

 

Are scanline tricks even possible? My understanding is all of that is out of direct control of the CPU...

[Asmusr]

Are scanline tricks even possible? My understanding is all of that is out of direct control of the CPU...

 

Haven't you seen the megademo?

[ramidavis]

Hm. No for half-bitmap mode.

[atrax27407]

Just declare Rasmus the winner by default!!!

[Retrospect]

 

DEVIL.zip

 

No Magellan used or anything, just straight XB compiled. Was going to be for a game but couldn't think of a game to go with the graphics, Devil's Tower. Reason this simple pic was compiled was to test the draw-speed. I found it somewhat impressive.

Edited November 28, 2017 by Retrospect

[Tursi]

Since raster effects would allow you to change the active character set and color tables, you could essentially get most of the advantages of bitmap without switching to bitmap. I'd exclude them too

 

Sprites make sense and I'd think if you can get flicker to look good, more power to you

[sometimes99er]

No Magellan used or anything ...

 

That sounds as if you've used pen and paper? All of those pixels to hex-values would drive me mad. I mean there's a lot of graphic characters defined there. There's even a gun-sight sprite hidden away.

 

Edited November 29, 2017 by sometimes99er

[Retrospect]

 

That sounds as if you've used pen and paper? All of those pixels to hex-values would drive me mad. I mean there's a lot of graphic characters defined there. There's even a gun-sight sprite hidden away.

 

haha! Alright, I forgot to mention, and this was a big bad of mine to forget this; but I DID use your character definition app to define the characters!

 

I have tried graphics with pen and paper in the past, lots n lots of paper wasted, aching wrist, sore head.

 

You spotted the gun-sight sprite? How, I don't know, but yes there is one in there because the game was going to have a gun shooting at various aliens that zoom across the screen. I just couldn't figure a plot, or point, for the game at all so gave it up. There was another screen that was a Mayan temple but the code for that's long-gone now.

[carlsson]

I know that programs like Playscii can convert a hires image into the closest match from a given charset. I don't know if it also would be able to calculate the custom charset with least amount of errors, or if there are other programs that can do that. Too bad about the restrictions of grouping 8 characters at a time with a given combination of background and foreground, it greatly limits the combinations compared to if you could set the colours individually for each position, irregardless of which character it held. Then again the C64 people are doing wonders with their PETSCII graphics which tends to have one single background colour and then let you individually set the foreground and pick one of the 256 symbols in the character generator, including reverse mode in order to swap foreground and background. Yet again it is an example that not all systems of the time were equal or even particularly similar, even if they on the surface may look alike.

[ramidavis]

Since raster effects would allow you to change the active character set and color tables, you could essentially get most of the advantages of bitmap without switching to bitmap. I'd exclude them too

 

Sprites make sense and I'd think if you can get flicker to look good, more power to you

Good point. No raster-trickery.

[Omega-TI]

I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't post this message, but I'm wondering, by eliminating so many modes and magic tricks people have developed and refined over the decades, won't this reduce the point and fun of entering? I mean, will the final images rise to the "I can't believe it not bitmap" goal?

[AMenard]

I also wonder... Even if the graphics are made with just the character set, are they not a bitmap graphic nonetheless? After all those characters are just bits mapped in a cell (8x8 or other depending on the system). So no modification to those stock character then? Maybe the OP should have asked for pure ASCII art then?

[Asmusr]

We have seen it several times before: it's difficult to come up with rules for competitions that appeal to everybody. Probably a good idea to limit the size of the task rather than limiting the ability to be creative.

[+save2600]

18 posts in and only one pic. What's next, someone's image disqualified because they used a beige TI to produce it?

[+InsaneMultitasker]

It's sort of like a contest for the 99/4

[Tursi]

Do what you want, it was just a suggestion. But there's no practical difference between bitmap mode and a normal graphics mode that can change the color set every scanline, except one eats more CPU.

[ramidavis]

I was just hoping to stir up some creative juices without the designers taking the easy way out with the seemingly-ever-popular bitmap mode, not start a war.

Sorry for the mess.

Edited November 30, 2017 by ramidavis

[+adamantyr]

Hey, I think it's a fine contest! There's no war here.

[Retrospect]

There's also no entries. Other than mine. C'mon people - get your charset piccies in. Let's see them. I'm damn sure some will have better than mine (because I can't find my Mayan Temple pic)

[sometimes99er]

Just for fun contest idea: "i can't believe it's not bitmap"

 

Contest would be to see who can produce the best looking screen on the TI without using bitmap.

 

There's also no entries. Other than mine. C'mon people - get your charset piccies in.

 

As I understand, it's still just on the idea stage. Hence all the inputs, questions and changes. And your example input is appreciated.

 

 

Unfortunately i am not much of a artist or graphics designer, so i would not be taking part in this.

 

One question. Does it have to be something original, like something you draw yourself, or is it okay to bring in and manipulate graphics from different sources?

 

Edited November 30, 2017 by sometimes99er