At 03:31 PM 4/11/2001 +0200, you wrote:
We've a horizontal resolution of 160 pixles, right? PF0-PF2 give you a PF
resolution of 20 Bits.
It should be reminded that not all games use playfield for background elements.
Stargate is a good example of smooth horizontal scrolling using sprite
elements for the background. This has obvious limitations, but it's doable.
Now, how do you make a 4-pixel jump if one PF bit is 8 pixels wide? Is
this a special trick?
If only there were a TIA function to shift the entire playfield 1-7 bits
left or right...
That would have made smooth horizontal scrolling (although still low
resolution) possible.
That's something that definitely would have been possible to add way back
then, as it would have meant adding delay as in the sprite
positioning/sizing which they were already doing.
As soon as the hardware designers saw Surround they knew that playfield
bitmaps were going to be possible, but it was probably too late to redesign
the chip to anticipate scrolling games. I don't think any arcade games
featured horizontal scrolling yet in early 77... Maybe Drag Race.
-
Archives (includes files) at http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archives/
Unsub & more at http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/
