Re: Hi ho
Original Message - From: Geoff Winkless [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 10:47 AM Subject: RE: Hi ho So how does Chris White explain the disaster that was PS1 Speedball? :) Geoff learning curve :)
RE: Hi ho
I must have missed this, and I left 6months from end, just a mixture of things really lol Id put it down to experience as well C -- Sig On -- Ppps. I know i can't spell and all my grammer is wrong , so there's no need to point it out :) -- Sig Off -- -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of f-k-nose Sent: 06 January 2003 23:03 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: Hi ho Original Message - From: Geoff Winkless [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 10:47 AM Subject: RE: Hi ho So how does Chris White explain the disaster that was PS1 Speedball? :) Geoff learning curve :)
RE: Hi ho
Chris White wrote: I must have missed this, and I left 6months from end, just a mixture of things really lol Id put it down to experience as well *chuckles* Actually it wasn't all that bad, I was just disappointed that the gameplay didn't seem as good as the amiga version :( What do I know? The only games I've ever written to completion were versions of Minesweeper and Tetris... :) Partly because I couldn't draw for toffee, but mainly because I always got way too caught up in the cool experimental stuff and couldn't be bothered doing all the dull game design bits :) Geoff This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit http://www.messagelabs.com
RE: Hi ho
Well game play should be identical , as it's the Amiga AI under the skin, converted from 68000 to C, Same core was taken across to Gba if my info is correct And peeps are entitled to their opionion no matter what ;) C -- Sig On -- Ppps. I know i can't spell and all my grammer is wrong , so there's no need to point it out :) -- Sig Off -- -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Geoff Winkless Sent: 07 January 2003 09:52 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: RE: Hi ho Chris White wrote: I must have missed this, and I left 6months from end, just a mixture of things really lol Id put it down to experience as well *chuckles* Actually it wasn't all that bad, I was just disappointed that the gameplay didn't seem as good as the amiga version :( What do I know? The only games I've ever written to completion were versions of Minesweeper and Tetris... :) Partly because I couldn't draw for toffee, but mainly because I always got way too caught up in the cool experimental stuff and couldn't be bothered doing all the dull game design bits :) Geoff This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit http://www.messagelabs.com
OffTopic: PS1 Speedball (was Re Hi ho)
[ about me writing: ] Actually it wasn't all that bad, I was just disappointed that the gameplay didn't seem as good as the amiga version :( Chris White wrote: Well game play should be identical , as it's the Amiga AI under the skin, converted from 68000 to C Ahh. I thought I might not make myself clear, oh well. I didn't mean the play of the game, ie the computer's play, I meant rather the gameplay as in the intuitiveness of the controls, the learning curve etc. Just silly things like not having the same after-touch mechanism on the game pads (contrary to the words in the printed manual, incidentally) so you need to use analog sticks which makes sending the ball in a straight line nigh-on impossible. And the goalie being computer controlled was a mistake. I understood why the decision was taken: novices -always- send the goalie the wrong way when control changes from a defender; but it just meant that I had less control over the outcome of the game than I had before. Same core was taken across to Gba if my info is correct That surprised me: given that it's an ARM chip, why not just use the code from the Acorn conversion? And peeps are entitled to their opionion no matter what ;) heh. Well I'm with you there. Geoff This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit http://www.messagelabs.com
RE: OffTopic: PS1 Speedball (was Re Hi ho)
Well for the recorder , there was after touch N controllerable goaly in there last I looked ;) Time for a phone call just to see what did happen to it pmsl And compiler for Gba is a C one as well, and code was portable (ish), so would have been easier, but again I didn't code the gba version either , so I refush to take any blame lmao C -- Sig On -- Ppps. I know i can't spell and all my grammer is wrong , so there's no need to point it out :) -- Sig Off -- -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Geoff Winkless Sent: 07 January 2003 10:26 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: OffTopic: PS1 Speedball (was Re Hi ho) [ about me writing: ] Actually it wasn't all that bad, I was just disappointed that the gameplay didn't seem as good as the amiga version :( Chris White wrote: Well game play should be identical , as it's the Amiga AI under the skin, converted from 68000 to C Ahh. I thought I might not make myself clear, oh well. I didn't mean the play of the game, ie the computer's play, I meant rather the gameplay as in the intuitiveness of the controls, the learning curve etc. Just silly things like not having the same after-touch mechanism on the game pads (contrary to the words in the printed manual, incidentally) so you need to use analog sticks which makes sending the ball in a straight line nigh-on impossible. And the goalie being computer controlled was a mistake. I understood why the decision was taken: novices -always- send the goalie the wrong way when control changes from a defender; but it just meant that I had less control over the outcome of the game than I had before. Same core was taken across to Gba if my info is correct That surprised me: given that it's an ARM chip, why not just use the code from the Acorn conversion? And peeps are entitled to their opionion no matter what ;) heh. Well I'm with you there. Geoff This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit http://www.messagelabs.com
RE: Hi ho
Cookie wrote: However. Let's be clear here; there are those who had the good fortune to grow up doing SAM stuff (or any earlier machine), and those who didn't. The ones who did? Well, they make games like Quantum Redshift, where everything runs at 60fps, and there's nary any slowdown or flicker. The ones who didn't? They make games like Splinter Cell, which are difficult to watch on an HDTV because the graphics tear all over the place. You'd think they'd never heard of double buffering, or waiting for the frame sync. And they've never changed the border color to optimize their display in their lives! So how does Chris White explain the disaster that was PS1 Speedball? :) Geoff This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan service. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit http://www.messagelabs.com
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho So how does Chris White explain the disaster that was PS1 Speedball? Zing! Hahaha! Graham
Re: Hi ho
Hi hoFrom: Graham Goring Blimey, I was looking around for old Sam Coupé sites and I suddenly remembered the mailing list. So I just thought I'd drop in and see how/what everyone was doing? Obviously me and James Curry are still in contact but I've not heard hide nor hair from most ex Spam Soufflé owners in ages! Graham Unfortunately, someone opened the door while the Spam was cooking, and it flopped. :-) Si
Re: Hi ho
Colin Piggot [EMAIL PROTECTED] scribbled: I'd rather concentrate on the game design part of it myself, for me that's the interesting bit about making games. :) Well, that has to be the main part but on the other hand, saving a few t-states isn't important when you have some 2GHz + monster to work with! Ah yes... a whole host of other problems come to the fore though. If you're using VC++ or Intel's compiler, their optimization algorithms are pretty damn good. Provided you don't deliberately jerk them around or anything (and sometimes, even if you do). The things to worry about these days are efficiently shoving IO data around, memory allocation, and the correct choice of algorithms. (My SAM heritage does still show through though... the app I'm working on at the moment is 200kb in size when compiled (including graphics), and takes up less than 1/1 of the available CPU power of the system. Not bad for a remote control, logging, diagnostics and analysis package for a mass spectrometer). *sigh* However. Let's be clear here; there are those who had the good fortune to grow up doing SAM stuff (or any earlier machine), and those who didn't. The ones who did? Well, they make games like Quantum Redshift, where everything runs at 60fps, and there's nary any slowdown or flicker. The ones who didn't? They make games like Splinter Cell, which are difficult to watch on an HDTV because the graphics tear all over the place. You'd think they'd never heard of double buffering, or waiting for the frame sync. And they've never changed the border color to optimize their display in their lives! When I were a lad... it were all different. All green fields! And we only programmed using 0's - we couldn't afford 1's. Seriously though... there's something to be said for paying attention to the small stuff. There's a large number of XBOX games which have come out recently where I'd love to meet the developers and shake them by the neck. Or the eyeballs -- take your pick. Simon
Re: Hi ho
RE: Hi hoPart of the problem with SAM games programming was it had about 1/4 the power it really needed to do the system justice -- unless you wanted to use Mode 2. Unfortunately, by that time, everyone wanted to have a Spectrum/AtariST crossover (the Atari was yet another machine which didn't have enough horsepower for its specs). *sigh* The XBOX, surprisingly, is the same. It has about 1/2 the power it needs to live up to its full potential. (And 1/4 the memory). Stick a gig of memory in that thing, and you'd have a console that no other could beat. Simon -- From: Graham Goring When you don't have the power, you have to limit your options and while that sometimes leads to better design, it mostly leads to arse games. J I mean if you look at most of the SAM Coupé's software it was generally not that great with only a few standout games that showed signs of ingeniousness (such as Water Works which was brilliant - what happened to Martin Bell?). Maybe it was down to a lot of people using stuff like SCADs (which sounded like a disease at the best of times) which produced flawed software (and similarly GamesMaster had some vile limitations) instead of coding their own from scratch, but the fact remains that most SAM games weren't exactly stellar. However I'd argue that the problem with most PC games these days is that they're either all me too products or they're infuriatingly over-designed to the point that unless you're familiar with the genre, they're impenetrable. These days games are generally far better put together and designed than they used to be, but our expectation levels are similarly higher so we don't really notice it.
Re: Hi ho
- Original Message - From: Simon Cooke [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 2:46 AM Subject: Re: Hi ho I mean if you look at most of the SAM Coupé's software it was generally not that great with only a few standout games that showed signs of ingeniousness (such as Water Works which was brilliant - what happened to Martin Bell?). Maybe it was down to a lot of people using stuff like SCADs (which sounded like a disease at the best of times) which produced flawed software (and similarly GamesMaster had some vile limitations) instead of coding their own from scratch, but the fact remains that most SAM games weren't exactly stellar. Although without either of these, there would have been even less software for people to complain about - as coding a game fully from scratch was such a task for most people
Re: Hi ho
- Original Message - From: Simon Cooke [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 2:46 AM Subject: Re: Hi ho I mean if you look at most of the SAM Coupé's software it was generally not that great with only a few standout games that showed signs of ingeniousness (such as Water Works which was brilliant - what happened to Martin Bell?). Maybe it was down to a lot of people using stuff like SCADs (which sounded like a disease at the best of times) which produced flawed software (and similarly GamesMaster had some vile limitations) instead of coding their own from scratch, but the fact remains that most SAM games weren't exactly stellar. I wish more peopel had the talent to have hand coded their work ... as you say - it would have really made the difference with some Scads games Some people such as Jupiter did write some great games using Scads however :)
Re: Hi ho
On Sat, 4 Jan 2003 18:43:35 -0800, Simon Cooke [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: When I were a lad... it were all different. All green fields! And we only programmed using 0's - we couldn't afford 1's. Many true things said in jest. :-) There are (were) some brands of eprom/prom/rom where you did in fact only program the 0s as all other bits were 1 by default. I'll get me coat. -- Nev - please note that mail to nevilley@ will no longer work.
Re: Hi ho
- Original Message - From: Simon Cooke [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 4:39 AM Subject: Re: Hi ho f-k-nose [EMAIL PROTECTED] scribbled: - Original Message - From: Simon Cooke [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 2:46 AM Subject: Re: Hi ho I mean if you look at most of the SAM Coupé's software it was generally not that great with only a few standout games that showed signs of ingeniousness (such as Water Works which was brilliant - what happened to Martin Bell?). Maybe it was down to a lot of people using stuff like SCADs (which sounded like a disease at the best of times) which produced flawed software (and similarly GamesMaster had some vile limitations) instead of coding their own from scratch, but the fact remains that most SAM games weren't exactly stellar. Although without either of these, there would have been even less software for people to complain about - as coding a game fully from scratch was such a task for most people Careful with those attributions there, skippy. 'Twas Graham that wrote that. Simon --- Sorry - my mistake! (It was a bit late I wrote wot i did ;)
Hi ho
Title: Hi ho Blimey, I was looking around for old Sam Coupé sites and I suddenly remembered the mailing list. So I just thought I'd drop in and see how/what everyone was doing? Obviously me and James Curry are still in contact but I've not heard hide nor hair from most ex Spam Soufflé owners in ages! Graham
Re: Hi ho
Welcome back! Colin has launched a new paper Sam Coupe magazine, you could check that out, as well as several interesting new hardware bits... Have you looked at his site yet? Frans Graham Goring wrote: Hi ho Blimey, I was looking around for old Sam Coup sites and I suddenly remembered the mailing list. So I just thought I'd drop in and see how/what everyone was doing? Obviously me and James Curry are still in contact but I've not heard hide nor hair from most ex Spam Souffl owners in ages! Graham
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho I've not, but I did hear that Colin was still producing hardware for the SAM. Are there many active users still? The only time I look at SAM stuff is via emulation. I'm thinking of compiling a disc of all the best e-tunes in one lump... What's his website addy then? Graham -Original Message- From: Frans v. Egmond [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 03 January 2003 16:25 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: Hi ho Welcome back! Colin has launched a new paper Sam Coupe magazine, you could check that out, as well as several interesting new hardware bits... Have you looked at his site yet? Frans
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho His site can be found at http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ If you have an actual Sam its worth digging it out and supporting it :) Adrian -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Graham GoringSent: 03 January 2003 16:23To: 'sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no'Subject: RE: Hi ho I've not, but I did hear that Colin was still producing hardware for the SAM. Are there many active users still? The only time I look at SAM stuff is via emulation. I'm thinking of compiling a disc of all the best e-tunes in one lump... What's his website addy then? Graham -Original Message- From: Frans v. Egmond [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 03 January 2003 16:25 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: Hi ho Welcome back! Colin has launched a new paper Sam Coupe magazine, you could check that out, as well as several interesting new hardware bits... Have you looked at his site yet? Frans
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho Ta'. I think my actual SAM is in Stratford Upon Avon at the moment (I'm in Manchester) and I'm not even sure if it works any more. Certainly the disc drive made odd whining sounds last time I tried using it... I'm surprised that Colin's working on a FPS game for the SAM, though, as I'd have thought it was impossible to recoup the costs on it? Graham -Original Message- From: Adrian Brown [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 03 January 2003 16:25 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: RE: Hi ho His site can be found at http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ If you have an actual Sam its worth digging it out and supporting it :)
Re: Hi ho
Ta'. I think my actual SAM is in Stratford Upon Avon at the moment (I'm in Manchester) and I'm not even sure if it works any more. Certainly the disc drive made odd whining sounds last time I tried using it... Well disk drives can be easily replaced I'm surprised that Colin's working on a FPS game for the SAM, though, as I'd have thought it was impossible to recoup the costs on it? Oh don't sound so pessemistic :) There is still life in the Sam world! In fact, over the last 2 years I've been busier and busier things have really been on the up. Judging by all the correspondance i receive more and more people are coming back to the Sam scene , and there is certainly still demand for software and hardware - if there wasn't I could hardly see myself working on more and more new stuff - especially a magazine and new hardware (of which there are one or two new bits of hardware to be released later this month..!) Although, on the otherhand, I was described as being quite insane in an email to the list a few days ago - to quote: The man's quite clearly insane! I think his SAM in a can project is really fantastic and is clearly the work of a madman. It's well worth getting this issue to read the article Colin Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Three of Sam Revival Magazine Out Now !
RE: Hi ho
And remember, not every one is doing stuff for Sam for a financial gain. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Colin Piggot Sent: 03 January 2003 16:50 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: Hi ho Ta'. I think my actual SAM is in Stratford Upon Avon at the moment (I'm in Manchester) and I'm not even sure if it works any more. Certainly the disc drive made odd whining sounds last time I tried using it... Well disk drives can be easily replaced I'm surprised that Colin's working on a FPS game for the SAM, though, as I'd have thought it was impossible to recoup the costs on it? Oh don't sound so pessemistic :) There is still life in the Sam world! In fact, over the last 2 years I've been busier and busier things have really been on the up. Judging by all the correspondance i receive more and more people are coming back to the Sam scene , and there is certainly still demand for software and hardware - if there wasn't I could hardly see myself working on more and more new stuff - especially a magazine and new hardware (of which there are one or two new bits of hardware to be released later this month..!) Although, on the otherhand, I was described as being quite insane in an email to the list a few days ago - to quote: The man's quite clearly insane! I think his SAM in a can project is really fantastic and is clearly the work of a madman. It's well worth getting this issue to read the article Colin Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Three of Sam Revival Magazine Out Now !
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho Well disk drives can be easily replaced I'll stick with my PC for now I think... Far more fun writing games on the PC than the SAM (I don't have to worry about optimising ;) ). Oh don't sound so pessemistic :) There is still life in the Sam world! In fact, over the last 2 years I've been busier and busier things have really been on the up. Judging by all the correspondance i receive more and more people are coming back to the Sam scene , and there is certainly still demand for software and hardware - if there wasn't I could hardly see myself working on more and more new stuff - especially a magazine and new hardware (of which there are one or two new bits of hardware to be released later this month..!) I must admit I'm surprised, the last Quedgely show I went to (are they still going?) seemed to be populated by about 30 people with the remainder of the space filled by tumbleweeds rolling forlornly in the desert breeze. ;) Although, on the otherhand, I was described as being quite insane in an email to the list a few days ago - to quote: The man's quite clearly insane! I think his SAM in a can project is really fantastic and is clearly the work of a madman. It's well worth getting this issue to read the article Nowt wrong with being made. The idea of a SAM in a nice case is a good one. It's one of those things that will always seem like a great idea, like a portable Speccy with games on FlashRAM. Graham
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho And remember, not every one is doing stuff for Sam for a financial gain. Well, I never did anything for FRED for money, it was all for the love of the machine on the SAM. Same thing with PC games, I only write 'em for fun and to remake Speccy classics. Graham
Re: Hi ho
I'll stick with my PC for now I think... Far more fun writing games on the PC than the SAM (I don't have to worry about optimising ;) ). Optimisation is the fun part! Getting down to the nitty gritty in assembler is a great way to spend the night ;) Colin Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Three of Sam Revival Magazine Out Now !
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho Optimisation is the fun part! Getting down to the nitty gritty in assembler is a great way to spend the night ;) I'd rather concentrate on the game design part of it myself, for me that's the interesting bit about making games. :) Graham
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho Dont have to worry about optimising... Now where is the fun in not optimising, the best bit of programming is watching little coloured timer bars flicker on the screen, and counting t states :D -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Graham GoringSent: 03 January 2003 16:57To: 'sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no'Subject: RE: Hi ho Well disk drives can be easily replaced I'll stick with my PC for now I think... Far more fun writing games on the PC than the SAM (I don't have to worry about optimising ;) ). Oh don't sound so pessemistic :) There is still life in the Sam world! In fact, over the last 2 years I've been busier and busier things have really been on the up. Judging by all the correspondance i receive more and more people are coming back to the Sam scene , and there is certainly still demand for software and hardware - if there wasn't I could hardly see myself working on more and more new stuff - especially a magazine and new hardware (of which there are one or two new bits of hardware to be released later this month..!) I must admit I'm surprised, the last Quedgely show I went to (are they still going?) seemed to be populated by about 30 people with the remainder of the space filled by tumbleweeds rolling forlornly in the desert breeze. ;) Although, on the otherhand, I was described as being quite insane in an email to the list a few days ago - to quote: "The man's quite clearly insane! I think his SAM in a can project is really fantastic and is clearly the work of a madman. It's well worth getting this issue to read the article" Nowt wrong with being made. The idea of a SAM in a nice case is a good one. It's one of those things that will always seem like a great idea, like a portable Speccy with games on FlashRAM. Graham
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho Thats the problem with PC games these days though- most dont have any design :) when you dont have the power you have to have better design to compensate. *Start Flame War* -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Graham GoringSent: 03 January 2003 17:02To: 'sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no'Subject: RE: Hi ho Optimisation is the fun part! Getting down to the nitty gritty in assembler is a great way to spend the night ;) I'd rather concentrate on the game design part of it myself, for me that's the interesting bit about making games. :) Graham
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho But lets not get into the PC game war on the sam mailing list :D - I stillspend a good few hours playing stratosphere, bugs me that i cant get very far, it just keeps calling me back, to try and get a little further :D A. -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Adrian BrownSent: 03 January 2003 17:04To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.noSubject: RE: Hi ho Thats the problem with PC games these days though- most dont have any design :) when you dont have the power you have to have better design to compensate. *Start Flame War* -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Graham GoringSent: 03 January 2003 17:02To: 'sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no'Subject: RE: Hi ho Optimisation is the fun part! Getting down to the nitty gritty in assembler is a great way to spend the night ;) I'd rather concentrate on the game design part of it myself, for me that's the interesting bit about making games. :) Graham
Re: Hi ho
I'd rather concentrate on the game design part of it myself, for me that's the interesting bit about making games. :) Well, that has to be the main part but on the other hand, saving a few t-states isn't important when you have some 2GHz + monster to work with! Colin Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Three of Sam Revival Magazine Out Now !
Re: Hi ho
Right, you're clearly ALL mad. ;) Ah, is it really that obvious? :) Colin Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Three of Sam Revival Magazine Out Now !
Re: Hi ho
RE: Hi hoDont have to worry about optimising... Now where is the fun in not optimising, the best bit of programming is watching little coloured timer bars flicker on the screen, and counting t states :D Ah yes... changing the palette to see how many lines the routines use very psychadelic... I do it myself all the time too! Colin Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Three of Sam Revival Magazine Out Now !
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho thank you, ill take that as a compliment :D -Original Message-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Graham GoringSent: 03 January 2003 17:05To: 'sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no'Subject: RE: Hi ho Right, you're clearly ALL mad. ;) -Original Message-From: Adrian Brown [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 03 January 2003 17:03To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.noSubject: RE: Hi ho Dont have to worry about optimising... Now where is the fun in not optimising, the best bit of programming is watching little coloured timer bars flicker on the screen, and counting t states :D
RE: Hi ho
Yer, i miss that when im working on other platforms. So few machines you can still do that on :D A. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Colin Piggot Sent: 03 January 2003 17:09 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: Hi ho RE: Hi hoDont have to worry about optimising... Now where is the fun in not optimising, the best bit of programming is watching little coloured timer bars flicker on the screen, and counting t states :D Ah yes... changing the palette to see how many lines the routines use very psychadelic... I do it myself all the time too! Colin Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Three of Sam Revival Magazine Out Now !
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho When you don't have the power, you have to limit your options and while that sometimes leads to better design, it mostly leads to arse games. J I mean if you look at most of the SAM Coupé's software it was generally not that great with only a few standout games that showed signs of ingeniousness (such as Water Works which was brilliant - what happened to Martin Bell?). Maybe it was down to a lot of people using stuff like SCADs (which sounded like a disease at the best of times) which produced flawed software (and similarly GamesMaster had some vile limitations) instead of coding their own from scratch, but the fact remains that most SAM games weren't exactly stellar. However I'd argue that the problem with most PC games these days is that they're either all "me too" products or they're infuriatingly over-designed to the point that unless you're familiar with the genre, they're impenetrable. These days games are generally far better put together and designed than they used to be, but our expectation levels are similarly higher so we don't really notice it. Graham -Original Message- From: Adrian Brown [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 03 January 2003 17:04 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: RE: Hi ho Thats the problem with PC games these days though- most dont have any design :) when you dont have the power you have to have better design to compensate. *Start Flame War* -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Graham Goring Sent: 03 January 2003 17:02 To: 'sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no' Subject: RE: Hi ho Optimisation is the fun part! Getting down to the nitty gritty in assembler is a great way to spend the night ;) I'd rather concentrate on the game design part of it myself, for me that's the interesting bit about making games. :) Graham
Re: Hi ho
However I'd argue that the problem with most PC games these days is that they're either all me too products or they're infuriatingly over-designed to the point that unless you're familiar with the genre, they're impenetrable. These days games are generally far better put together and designed than they used to be, but our expectation levels are similarly higher so we don't really notice it. Without wanting to continue a long debate into the art of PC coding ... I will quickly add my view is that too many games on the PC (and console) look great, and sound great but where's the playability!! Hello? Eyecandy and sonics don't make a hit game! I want something that grabs my attention to keep coming back for more ... although very few do have that spark of ingenuity to really make a hit game in my eyes. Colin Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Three of Sam Revival Magazine Out Now !
RE: Hi ho
Title: RE: Hi ho Well, that's the thing innit? Pentium processors are bastard-fast so it's the last thing you think of. Obviously coding on the SAM is far more of an artform than anything I do on the PC because every T-state (or multiple of 4, anyway :) ) counts. The only assembler I did on the SAM Coupé scrolled a message and played a e-tune so it wasn't that taxing. :) Graham -Original Message- From: Colin Piggot [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 03 January 2003 17:07 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: Hi ho I'd rather concentrate on the game design part of it myself, for me that's the interesting bit about making games. :) Well, that has to be the main part but on the other hand, saving a few t-states isn't important when you have some 2GHz + monster to work with! Colin Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Website: http://www.quazar.clara.net/sam/ Issue Three of Sam Revival Magazine Out Now !
