Re: [stella] Playfield Graphics.... ideas. (fwd)

Subject: Re: [stella] Playfield Graphics.... ideas. (fwd)
From: Chris Cracknell <crackers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 04:27:31 -0500 (EST)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 01:33:39 -0700 (MST)
From: Nick S Bensema <nickb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: crackers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [stella] Playfield Graphics.... ideas.

>But then I got thinking, "Hey, if I only change the playfield graphics
>every x number of lines, I can save on memory. If I change it every
>4 lines I'll only use 20x48 bits. If I change it every 6 lines I'll
>only use 20x32 bits. And if I change it every 8 lines I'll only use
>20x24 bits." Not bad, but of course the vertical on my playfield gets
>blockier and blockier.

Every six lines would be tricker than every four or eight lines.  Six is
not a power of two, so neat tricks with Boolean math won't work.

>Two things have occured to me...
>
>1) It might be possible to set up a chunk of ram in the Supercharger as
>   psuedo-video ram for the playfield graphics if you have a game that
>   modifies the playfield graphics a lot with player interaction.

Perhaps.  Probably.  I guess so.  It'd be better than Surrouns.

A full 40x192 grid would take up 5x192=960 bytes.  If you alternate
colors every scanline, similar to what Amidar does, it looks like 
40x96x2 graphics. 

>2) It might be possible to write a PC-Programme specifically for editing
>   playfield graphics.

Of course... what are we all going to do it in our head?  Even that gives
me a headache.

>Is this a doable thing? Would this be a helpful utility?
>Would it work good for generic graphic purposes?
>Or am I just completely screwed up in my understanding of playfield graphics.

Just about any game that uses playfield graphics is going to have them 
stored as data.  Except Surround, I guess.

Of course, it would be hard to get an editor to condense and reuse as
in Combat.

>Also, a PC sprite editor might be an option. Something where you specify
>the vertical resolution of a sprite and then it gives you a grid of
>8x??. You click on the grid squares to toggle them and then you can preview
>the sprite in the different width modes. When you're done it saves the
>data similar to the playfield editor so that you can easily cut and
>paste the data into your source code.

Hey, you're not writing the same program I'm trying to write, are you?

Actually, this program modifies existing .BIN files.  I guess I'll have
to get it to output data in some way.

>I could probably sit down and write a programme to do this on the C-64...
>That is, if my C-64 still works. But I don't think it would be that terribly
>useful to any of us since I'm sure most of us are using PCs for our 2600
>coding. unfortunately I know SFA about programming a PC. Does anyone out
>there think they can do it? (that is, if it's even a worthwhile idea).

Man... too bad I spent the beginning of the weekend vegetating in front
of this damn machine.  I'm probably going to spend the rest of it out
there doing stuff in that giant room with the blue ceiling and that
bright-ass light bulb.  But I'll get tired of that and whip something up
maybe in a week, or a month.

>So am I on to something or am I just talking out my ass?

Yes.


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