Popeye 7800

[Jinks]

31 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

It gave me this glitch on startup once with the latest version, the first time. But subsequent loading of it is fine.

 

 

Warm your 7800s it helps. Leave them on for 10 minutes then try the Concerto.

 

[+darryl1970]

4 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

So the graphical glitching I posted is definitely unique to that specific 7800 of mine. I tested the DF cart again on a recently completed 7800 sent in for services and it did NOT experience the graphical glitching on that console either. It was a late made '88 year X series 7800 (Those 7800s are.... very unusual and obviously were built as cheap as possible btw).

 

So that is 2 out of 3 7800s I've used recently that play the rom without the graphic issues. Not sure why this one I normally use does this but as it is only on the title screen selections and doesn't 'stick' I'm fine with it. So ignore what I said before about the graphical issues I guess.

 

Working on other issues that may fix this??? IDK

3 hours ago, bradd1978 said:

I was able to some what play the new demo on my Concerto. It would periodically glitch and give me a solid yellow screen with hum. Has anyone else experienced this? My Concerto is on 0.95 firmware

Anyways, what I did play, this is truly an amazing port! I cannot wait to purchase this

I have. Since this NEVER happens on my versa-cart, I assumed it was young Concerto firmware; I have since noticed it on my Dragonfly. It's being looked at right now!

3 hours ago, MrZarniwoop said:

Yes, chalked it up to Concerto firmware work-in-progress. I even had that happen once (albeit green, not yellow) at a Concerto menu! But never recreated.

So did I, but see above.

2 hours ago, bradd1978 said:

Yeah I figured. It’s happened every time I’ve tried playing the ROM so thought I’d mention it.
Waiting patiently for a CIB release ?

I hope to see a stable Concerto & Dragonfly version. I think Concerto may still have some sound issues until the firmware is fixed. Hoping to handle the crashes.

34 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

It gave me this glitch on startup once with the latest version, the first time. But subsequent loading of it is fine.

 

 

It seems pretty random for a few of us in the DEV group.

[John Stamos Mullet]

9 minutes ago, Jinks said:

Warm your 7800s it helps. Leave them on for 10 minutes then try the Concerto.

 

proper power supply helps as well.

 

I replace my shitty aftermarket 10v 1.25A power supply that I though was good enough for a 7800, with the same exact DVE 9v 1000ma, 16w fat brick the 7800s use, and stability is much improved.

Edited January 29, 2021 by John Stamos Mullet

[+x=usr(1536)]

11 hours ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

proper power supply helps as well.

 

I replace my shitty aftermarket 10v 1.25A power supply that I though was good enough for a 7800, with the same exact DVE 9v 1000ma, 16w fat brick the 7800s use, and stability is much improved.

 

And put the sucker on a UPS if at all possible.  Surge suppressors don't cut it; the really dirty power generation and transmission we have today can and does play hell with electronics.

 

(Pure sine wave or modified sine wave UPS: your call.  If you have the cash, go pure.)

[John Stamos Mullet]

9 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

 

And put the sucker on a UPS if at all possible.  Surge suppressors don't cut it; the really dirty power generation and transmission we have today can and does play hell with electronics.

 

(Pure sine wave or modified sine wave UPS: your call.  If you have the cash, go pure.)

I'm lucky in that respect in that I did the wiring myself for all lights and outlets in my man cave, and we don't have National Grid or another big conglomerate for power. We have town municipal power managed 100% locally, in a town of about 15,000 people. 
 

these pipes are clean.

[+darryl1970]

Update on first page. RC 2.8

[+x=usr(1536)]

3 hours ago, darryl1970 said:

Update on first page. RC 2.8

Seems to be working without issue here - Concerto + POKEY, V0.95 firmware.  Really like the sound.

 

One small thing: the heading on the high score table is missing an apostrophe - it should read, "TODAY'S TOP 5".

[bikeguychicago]

Out of curiosity, is there a reason why the Sea Hug has so much flicker? Is this also the case with the arcade game? I don't remember.

[+darryl1970]

On 2/1/2021 at 11:13 PM, x=usr(1536) said:

Seems to be working without issue here - Concerto + POKEY, V0.95 firmware.  Really like the sound.

 

One small thing: the heading on the high score table is missing an apostrophe - it should read, "TODAY'S TOP 5".

Grammatically speaking, yes. The titles for the high score screens are entered in single quotes, so adding an apostrophe to the middle of the name, closes the name.

 

set hsdifficultytext 'Novice Top 5' 'Arcade Top 5' 'Expert Top 5' 'Todays Top 5'

 

I will tag @RevEng to see if there is a substitute character for an apostrophe. If so, I'll make the change. Otherwise, it's just a limitation of the characters available.

 

18 minutes ago, bikeguychicago said:

Out of curiosity, is there a reason why the Sea Hug has so much flicker? Is this also the case with the arcade game? I don't remember.

The Sea Hag doesn't really flicker on the arcade, but she does have an interlaced appearance when she appears, which simulates a flicker. She's kind of a ghostly figure that appears at will.

 

Each sprite plot requires a lot of CPU time, and Popeye is plotting a lot of big sprites. I noticed that flickering the Sea Hag and bottles reduces slow down a lot, especially in the higher levels. I figured it was a decent sacrifice for game play, while kind of fitting her ghostly nature.

[RevEng]

23 minutes ago, darryl1970 said:

I will tag @RevEng to see if there is a substitute character for an apostrophe. If so, I'll make the change. Otherwise, it's just a limitation of the characters available.

This one is an oversight on my part. I'll add in " to substitute for '. I should be able to get an updated 7800basic out this weekend, with that change.

[PacManPlus]

CONGRATS!!!!

[Defender_2600]

Congratulations!!!

[+playsoft]

Congratulations Darryl!

[BIGHMW]

Congratulations Darryl!!!  

[tep392]

Congrats Darryl!  I have to admit that I had not played this game before.  It's been a privilege to learn the game on such a fine port.

[+darryl1970]

Thank you all for the support, suggestions, kind words, and votes!

 

Much appreciated.

[Atariboy2600]

8 hours ago, darryl1970 said:

Thank you all for the support, suggestions, kind words, and votes!

 

Much appreciated.

What I missed?

[+darryl1970]

11 hours ago, Atariboy2600 said:

What I missed?

It's still available on ZeroPage Homebrew's site.

[+darryl1970]

Could this be the FINAL??

 

 

I think RC2.9 is my final release, unless some bugs are found.

 

 

[Atariboy2600]

19 hours ago, darryl1970 said:

It's still available on ZeroPage Homebrew's site.

You have the ZeroPage Homebrew's link?

[+Muddyfunster]

On 1/29/2021 at 7:15 PM, Jinks said:

Warm your 7800s it helps. Leave them on for 10 minutes then try the Concerto.

 

This is good advice  

[+darryl1970]

33 minutes ago, Atariboy2600 said:

You have the ZeroPage Homebrew's link?

It's currently on his main page.

https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by darryl1970

[Defender_2600]

On 2/9/2021 at 9:47 PM, darryl1970 said:

Could this be the FINAL??

 

Hey Darryl, since you asked, I'd like to share some final thoughts / ideas, which I think should be easy for you to implement. The first point is about the graphics of the title screen, Popeye's head really is very wide compared to the arcade version and there is room for improvement. So, I redrawn title screen graphics, looking carefully at the details, the proportions of the head, the pixels involved in the animation, the graphics of the blue star and the color of Popeye's skin. The result is very accurate and, if you like the idea, I am attaching the new graphics, I am always glad to share. I used the same height as the current graphics so that you can easily update it and maybe the space saved in width could be useful for something else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second point concerns the graphics of the platforms that support Popeye's and Olive's houses. Since the houses and stairways are now almost the same width as the arcade version, I think it would be preferable to also reduce the width of those two platforms, in order to get closer to the aspect ratio of the arcade version. In my example I have reduced the width of the platforms by two tiles (one tile for each platform) and I really like the result. In the platform that supports Popeye's house, I have also updated the grass graphics to be closer to the arcade version, of course I have seen that you are using only 6 different tiles for that graphic and I have respected this limitation. I made the platform pillar narrower than a pixel hoping that tile won't be shared with the stairs. An interesting idea would be if you can change a palette in that area so that you can add brown details. Here are the examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Among other details, I would suggest updating the color of the sky in the third level, where I am seeing that there is too much purple compared to the arcade version, and I also point out a Bluto sprite that seems to have a too long forearm (images below). Finally just a minor detail, I noticed some missing pixels on a ladder of the first level.

 

As usual, I thank you again for your kind attention and for making this excellent Popeye conversion. Thanks again.

 

- Marco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Classic Pac]

Amazing job of programming

[+darryl1970]

4 hours ago, Defender_2600 said:

 

Hey Darryl, since you asked, I'd like to share some final thoughts / ideas, which I think should be easy for you to implement. The first point is about the graphics of the title screen, Popeye's head really is very wide compared to the arcade version and there is room for improvement. So, I redrawn title screen graphics, looking carefully at the details, the proportions of the head, the pixels involved in the animation, the graphics of the blue star and the color of Popeye's skin. The result is very accurate and, if you like the idea, I am attaching the new graphics, I am always glad to share. I used the same height as the current graphics so that you can easily update it and maybe the space saved in width could be useful for something else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second point concerns the graphics of the platforms that support Popeye's and Olive's houses. Since the houses and stairways are now almost the same width as the arcade version, I think it would be preferable to also reduce the width of those two platforms, in order to get closer to the aspect ratio of the arcade version. In my example I have reduced the width of the platforms by two tiles (one tile for each platform) and I really like the result. In the platform that supports Popeye's house, I have also updated the grass graphics to be closer to the arcade version, of course I have seen that you are using only 6 different tiles for that graphic and I have respected this limitation. I made the platform pillar narrower than a pixel hoping that tile won't be shared with the stairs. An interesting idea would be if you can change a palette in that area so that you can add brown details. Here are the examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Among other details, I would suggest updating the color of the sky in the third level, where I am seeing that there is too much purple compared to the arcade version, and I also point out a Bluto sprite that seems to have a too long forearm (images below). Finally just a minor detail, I noticed some missing pixels on a ladder of the first level.

 

As usual, I thank you again for your kind attention and for making this excellent Popeye conversion. Thanks again.

 

- Marco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I'll check these things out. Good catch on the step pixels & Brutus's forearm. I can probably scale back the dirt too.

 

I can't add dark brown to the dirt above, because it doesn't have that color available. I think I tried cross-hatch, and it looked hokey. I will play around with that. I don't think I have a spare tile to add, if I'd move the brown bottom to the pillar below. That might make the pillar too low. I'll play with that.

 

I'll see what all I can knock out. That Popeye mural/banner will be be a pain. I don't know why I missed the little change in Popeye's nose. While I am at it, I could thin him out. I will basically be redrawing him, since scaling botches him. Might be worth it in the end.

 

I'll have to recheck the colors on flesh and ship background. I thought the color on my TV matched the arcade monitor

 

It's been a while since I compared.