Re: [stella] Hello again...

Subject: Re: [stella] Hello again...
From: "B. Watson" <atari@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 14:11:49 -0500 (EST)

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004, Manuel Rotschkar wrote:

> Pang might be one of the games that'd suit the anti-
> flicker engine I use in Star Fire.
>
> Depends on wether you want 16 pixel sprite resolution or
> if you rather want normal/doubled/quadrupled normal 8
> pixel sprites. (The Star Fire engine can do both, but
> for 8 pixels it's sub-optimal, as it doesn't make use of
> the second sprite)

I need to have another look at Star Fire, I just barely remember
playing a version you posted here a while back. I don't want to
re-use your code though... rather re-invent my own wheel (since
half the fun is in finding out how wheels work).

> > ...unlike Poker Squares...
>
> Whatever happened to that BTW? I thought it was 99%
> finished, yet you never had it officially released on
> cartridge, or?

I was delaying the release until I came up with a nice looking
manual and label, and then real life intruded and I never managed
to come up with anything (I'm no graphic designer, I found out).

See comment at end of message, to Dennis.

> Greetings,
>         Manuel

Er, you are the same Manuel as Manuel Polik? I'm confused :)

---

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004, Adam Thornton wrote:

> So you hate the SC because cassette was its original media?  Because
> these days I use a computer as my sound source.  Heck, even Stella Gets
> A New Brain is a CD....

Nah, I don't hate the SC.. but I really do want the game to be a cartridge
that'll work in any unmodified 2600. I don't know the numbers, but I bet
less than 1% of 2600 owners are also SC owners, and I'm not so conceited
that I think anybody's going to run out & buy an SC just to play my game
(are they even available right now?)

For the same reason, I wouldn't want to make the game use the driving
controller or light gun (though those could be optional, I could code
the game so it's still playable with joystick or paddles).

>From what I've seen of the Supercharger in person, it's a pretty
impressive piece of hardware. I just said that about cassettes because
I was in `rambling' mode.

---

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004, Dennis Debro wrote:

> So as for comments...it sounds fun. If you'd like I'd share the
> thoughts I had this morning. As for sound priorities...look at
> http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archives/200307/msg00051.html. This
> is TFXM by Manuel.

I'd definitely like to hear any thoughts you've had.. even if they're
`This guy is crazy' :)

Hm, it looks like TXFM might be overkill for this. Also, see comment
above about wheels and the re-inventing thereof. I learn from others'
examples, don't get me wrong, but I do want to be original, and to
actually understand what I'm doing rather than treating somebody's
API as a `black box' (I get enough of that in Java at work...)

I'll only ever have one sound effect to worry about (two if I do the
shooting noise, but I'd make the popping noise take precedence)... I was
asking a more general question about music, not audio register specifics
as implemented on the 2600:

If you're listening to a bass and a guitar (or to a piano by itself), and
one of the voices had to drop out for a beat (the bass or the guitar... or
the piano player's left or right hand), which would you pick to make the
song sound more continuous? I suspect most people would notice more if
the guitar (the melody) were to cut out... of course once I actually have
code, I can just post 2 binaries and let other people listen & decide.

> Also...where's Poker Squares!? It'd make a nice PC5 release. Just send
> it to AA and they'll do the rest. Sorry for volunteering you Albert ;-)

You didn't just volunteer him, he did that himself already, if he hasn't
changed his mind in the past year.

Hm. You guys have just made up my mind for me. I'm just not going to
be able to do a homebrew production run on my own, ever... and I'm
not going to magically become a graphic artist overnight, either.. and
somebody in the world other than me actually cares about Poker Squares
(I wasn't sure)...

So I'm going to send Albert the final version of the ROM (I suspect he
already has it), and let the AtariAge folks design the label/box/whatever
they're going to do. If they're interested in doing a release, I'd rather
let them do it, they know what they're doing and I don't, and the fact
that I've dragged my feet this long is evidence that I'd probably never
get motivated enough to do it on my own...

Ergh. Sorry, that ran a lot longer than I meant it to. Rant mode today.

--
B.

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