sargie Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 Hello! I am a big fan of the Novagen game "Encounter!" - the fast Battlezone style shooter. Can someone "technical" please explain how this game works in terms of how are there so many big, moving objects on screen running at that speed? It seems like voodoo to me! I'd really appreciate any insights on "how it was done". Thanks! Sarge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 A mix of Gr. 7 which is equal to 2x2 hires pixels so about 100 scanlines for the action area, and stretched PMs which can occupy a large portion of the screen. Probably worth a comparison with the C64 version which can't do lower bandwidth graphic rendering as easily or stretch objects out as large. Combined with a slower CPU speed it runs slower and the movement looks less smooth. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracMan Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 Panel at the bottom is nicer on C64. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargie Posted April 8, 2023 Author Share Posted April 8, 2023 Thanks! Yeah, Encounter really exploits the benefits of the A8. So, when a sphere or missile is moving towards me, it’s player or missile? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 (edited) 3D, psudeo 3D, raycasting and the like on the Atari 8 bit is always impressive to see. I am blown away by games and demos, old and new which push the A8 in this aspect. Rescue on fractalus remains a solid favourite. There are a great 3D engines of late, some WIP. Check out Globe's Final Assault, his 128k raycasting engine, also Sweity's wip Doom engines (with texture and realtime lighting), Shanti's 3d engine. And of course project M. Final.Assault : https://youtu.be/92K9wnk_4Cw 128k raycasting engine: Doom engine (running in 64k!!): Nrv's amazing Project M from 2010: https://youtu.be/RG6nCuhq2rU Shanti's current wip engine: https://youtu.be/MF7iqTBp9oA Edited April 8, 2023 by Beeblebrox 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 (edited) doesn't encounter mirrors via DLIST the view port similar to Capture the flag or WayOut? Alternate Reality:City All stuff is symetrical in Y. C64 has to draw that.... A8 not... in terms of engine... sin/cos are your friends here and some z sorting... or are the pillars PMs? can not remember... Edited April 9, 2023 by Heaven/TQA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 I don't think it's mirroring (strangely enough) but there's lots of LMS which I would guess helps with optimisation. The clouds are PMs, the barriers and player shots are PF. Given the amount of movement and large objects that are often onscreen, it was a pretty impressive feat of programming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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