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Basically the 640x200x8 video mode on NEC PC8xxx was considered an actual 320x200x27... the fine dithering of the basic RGB 8 colours producing the Amstrad CPC palette.
CPC can display in fullscreen in 192x256 so you can actually turn the 640x200x8 graphics from NEC PC8xxx into 320x200x27 graphics (just divide the horizontal resolution by two and merge the colours) that can then be put (only the graphic parts) into a CPC screens of 192x256... can actually even use double vertical pixels so it would be somewhat 192x128 with big square pixels... may need then to reduce the colours a bit or use rasters (well, snatcher graphics in 320x200 screens would rarely really use all the 27 pseudo colours actually).
ingames parts of Snatcher on NEC PC-88 would most often only display a 384x120 (ratio 1x2) graphic zone... so yeah a CPC can totally put that, just in bigger screen and idéally it would need to redo the pixels on every lines in two to accomodate the inverted pixel ratio of 2x1 in Mode0 on CPC.
To get it into a real game would need extra RAM and IDE SSD/card... most probably but those are now easily available actually.
http://img110.xooimage.com/files/2/d/f/montage-ports-11-4ea16dc.png
Good observations! I thought a lot about the movement and animation on the CPC hardware, but when it came time to animate it, I couldn't quite give it that authentic feel without bleeding into my time...which seems to be in very limited nowadays. I think the rest would be functional without much trouble but I believe you may be right about mask. I imagine flickering or an element of choppiness would be more evident if this was running on CPC hardware. Appreciate the nice comments folks!
I am not familiar with the particulars of CPC programming, but I get the feeling that moving such a large sprite smoothly and seemlessly against a graphical background could be an issue. Addidtonaly - clipping it against the frame could be tough too.
Still - awesome work though!
Yeah, I liked that you could tell which machine a game was running on purely by how it looked. Each system had it's own 'style' in a way due to it's resolution or palette or other limitations (such as attribute issues the Spectrum and C64 had that the CPC thankfully did not). Each version had it's own 'character' and charm.
Thanks 8 Bit Dreams! I miss the days when games being developed differed from system to system. Often times each version was different due to hardware restrictions or different development teams. Each served as a unique interpretation of the source material. Sometimes the results ended up adding a magical quality to the overall design and art direction. Even when there were misses. Sometimes the liberties or stuff developers were able to sneak past the publisher made the games even more special. I plan to do more 'demakes' but I'd like each to have a significance to them and to not be a re-creation so to speak. I'd much rather develop mock-ups based on a system that it never perhaps had the opportunity to be ported over.
Thanks for your kind words! Love your gallery. Amoung some of my favorite pieces on PJ.
It's funny I feel like this could have been pulled from the Hardcore Gaming 101 website. You definitely nailed the authenticity of the CPC and this easily could be a picture from the port for it.
The colors are pretty much perfect. I like the joke. Good stuff.
Thanks fellas! 8 Bit, I left a comment on your Ned Kelly piece. Dynamo.
Haha, two vintage computer pieces in one day by two Canucks? What are the odds? I just posted my MSX piece, have look and let me know what you think if you have the time.
Great work! I hope to see more from you soon. :)
Appreciate the kind words! Some of your techniques helped me get through some of the harder points of this creation as I very seldom see anything done with this palette (Only a single grey?!) and with such style as well! In some small way, I dedicate this piece to you and our shared love for 1980's robots and vintage computing.
This looks awesome. Lovely use of colour. And yeah I can't see any of this being a problem on a real CPC (don't know about the rest of the game as I've never played it). Real nice work. :)
Thanks for your feedback, MacDeath. It was very insightful. I love deconstructing older systems and working closely around their original restrictions. You really start to understand the motivation of the programmers and artists of the time. It has helped me improve my pixel art and overtime... problem solving has become easier. I never had the luxury of growing up with a CPC/C64/NEC PC etc. (NES/SMS kid). So, all of this is very new to me. However, I have a deep appreciation for retro games, how they were made and the people who made them. It's reassuring to know that it would be possible, even if it required a little more to make it possible.