At Wed Jun 17 11:05:21 1998, Glenn Saunders wrote:
>I think the graphics for this have the potential to be really stunning,
>especially if you put a gradient on the sky and sea. A large symmetrical
>object with slices of colors like this is something that is well-suited to
>the 2600's playfield. I don't know many examples of the playfield being
>used to paint a large multicolored MOVING object like this.
Well, I know one. Look at the Phoenix mothership, it even has got moving
parts in it...
As for the sea and sky gradient... the problem here is that the ship is
sinking, but the gradient's not...
so I'd have to use different indexes for them. The ship color change
could or could not fall together with the gradient color change in one
scanline.
>It's been mentioned that Titanic sank at night-time and we know that would
>make for a fairly monochromatic scene, but it might be more dramatic to
>have a sunset ala Enduro and shift those color registers around so that by
>the time the ship finally sinks, the moon is out, maybe start with an
>iceberg hitting the side with a sound effect before the music starts.
>There is plenty of room for sprites to be used as clouds or seagulls or
>sun or moon up at the top, which would help enhance the aesthetics.
Hmmm, nice idea. But I wonder if I do all this if there will be room for
the actual GAME?
>There is a problem with the music, however. (...)
>
>If you listen to decent music like in Smurf's Rescue or Journey Escape or
>the Raiders theme you'll hear a hint of out-of-tuneness, but it's just a
>hint. That is what you need to strive for. The 7800 music like Tower
>Toppler or Mario Brothers are what you want to avoid ;)
Yes, I have Smurf (-yet-). But I can't simply run DISTELLA over it,
'cause it's got 8k... so I'll have to find another way. By the way, the
notes played in the background music of Smurf are basically the same I
could use for the melody of my theme. There's certainly room for
improvements, but why give it all away in the first version having
sound? ;-)
>It's highly unusual for a game this preliminary to have had so much
>attention lavished on the music, however. Usually this is the last thing
>a programmer thinks about. Jim Nitchals did program mostly sound-related
>stuff, so I hope you go back and make the music the best it can be if this
>is a tribute.
Well, I'm a musician, as some of you already know.
"So much attention"??? I coded the music and playing routine in about
two and a half hours yesterday.
I'll try my best... but I'll have to put the music to another key then.
>Overall, I think it's a great, contemporary idea to present on the 2600...
Thank you.
With love (and many notes to shift)
Kurt Woloch
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