Games porting /games conversion today The conversion of a game from outer systems (mainly C64) to the Plus/4 is a sort of handcraft-ish art, especially when some notable compromises must be reached (sprites, music and so on, think at the removing of Trumbles in Elite +4).
Which game would you see converted to the Plus/4 nowadays?
My choice is Space Rouge, it's a wonderful game made by the authors behind Ultima series and it displays solid 3D graphics which I would see how faster could be on Plus/4. It's a pity Pigmy, Csory, TCFS, TGMS (just to cite some VIPs talking about conversions) are not active today...gc841?
Re: Games porting /games conversion today If I remember correctly in some cases TCFS not converted the games but based on the original wrote new ones using its graphics and music. Like Krakout or Hexenkuche. Am I right or wrong?
Re: Games porting /games conversion today Yes, that's the way TCFS worked on several portings. Have to say, this condition had been very well regulated in any single game case, sometimes completely rewriting it, sometimes strictly converting it. Being a Maestro lies In these decisions mainly
Re: Games porting /games conversion today I never heard of "Space Rogue", but i also love this kind of games. The original Game seems to come with a lot of extras in the package (Maps, Ship-Manuals, etc..), with multiplies the game experience. Which version of "Space Rogue" is the best? Are there other "Gems" out there, which can be recommended?
My latest favorite is "Snatcher" (not SD-Snatcher) in the Sega CD Version. The MSX-Version is suitibale for a conversion. The Story is mix of "Blade-Runner", "Body-Snatcher" and "theTerminator". A game, that i would like to convert myself, if i had the peace and time for it.
Re: Games porting /games conversion today I would love to see someone write a blog or something as they go through this process. As someone who is more familiar with the C64, I would love to get some insight based on what the differences are.
Re: Games porting /games conversion today Is there a real benefit from converting a game from another platform to Plussy in the era of nuclear reactor CPU powered PCs and emulators ? Earlier it was the solid chance to be able to play with it when you had another platform not the one that the sw was originally coded for. But today? Maybe it's better to accomplish something completely new for our Plussy than to put the effort in converting an existing piece... Just my H O.
Re: Games porting /games conversion today First, I think we should steer clear of the discussion of "what is worth it" (the Plussy is old, we're old as well, I say just appreciate what we still have in terms of scene/community).
Anyway, the answer is simple: the level of effort involved. Converting a game is easier than writing a new one. (Well, maybe if the new game was really simple.)
As long as we're on the topic of new games... I think I can count them on one hand. XeO3 is likely never going to be finished (prove me wrong ). DCD was working on Bomberman (I did music for it), it was in a playable state, but seems like it's dead at the moment. I think Skoro might be working on a new game, I also recall writing some tunes for him more than a year ago, haven't heard anything. I have one that I've been working on since early 2000s, will probably be released eventually, but lack-of-time, blah, blah, the usual. And finally there's AiT2: Kichy has a proven track record, hats off to him. The first part was amazing, the second looks even better, so I'm supporting this project by writing some music. So... that's 5 games, but I did a very, very, very generous count.
Case in point: discussing game conversion totally makes sense. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love to see more surprises like Sabre Wulf.
Re: Games porting /games conversion today Funny you should say that, I was about to say that we haven't even had the original Bruce Lee game yet so go for that first. We need that on the plussy, and if there could be a C16 version too, even better. I think it's a perfectly workable game, maybe even on a C16. Just look at Tom Thumb.
Forget obscure games for now, we need more classics, and C16 versions too would be fantastic.
Re: Games porting /games conversion today The Bruce Lee game looks like it uses sprites.
If a game does have sprites, that makes the conversion more difficult by orders of magnitude (if not impossible). All the sprite handling would have to be rewritten from software. That means extra code (which might not fit into the memory) and extra CPU time (which might make the game slow). Another issue comes up if the background is character screen, the software sprites would have to take up characters as well (16 chars for a SINGLE 3x3 char sprite, now imagine having 6 enemies), so if the background uses all 256 characters, it just won't fit.
That is the reason why the existing converted games are the ones that they are (that sentence sounds weird). When TCFS made games (like Commando), he essentially wrote new games from scratch, using his own software sprite engine, and only reused graphics/music. (So that's a "Yes, you're right" to gerliczer's question above.)
Re: Games porting /games conversion today Wow, you're right, I did. It was first mentioned on the forum 7 years ago... I'd be happy to see either one, but I thought Last Ninja was only a tech demo (just the movement with no real game engine behind it).
Re: Games porting /games conversion today These are slow times Certainly for me anyway. I guess we will pick up quite some speed again when the kids leave the elderly house...
Re: Games porting /games conversion today Just to point out about XeO3: an Italian C64 coder offered his time in order to continue the project, I've discussed this option with Mike, and he felt like mmmmmmmeh, don't wanna give up and concede the project in other hands after all this work achieved. I can do nothing than hope. And experimenting by myself.
Re: Games porting /games conversion today Hi Luca,
I watched the video and the music is brilliant. Could you please release it? The XeO3 project very much stalled, so this way we are denied the pleasure to enjoy the tune (or tunes). Anyway is it a TED piece?
Re: Games porting /games conversion today gerliczer: release the game do you mean? Heh Can't say loud enough how much I would do that Unfortunately, Mike has been kidnapped by work and family, and the project stalled there :/
It's a SID tune playing via SIDcard, with TED sfx.
Re: Games porting /games conversion today Space Rogue Start Screen ported from the DOS-Version. Compare it with the original (cutted-down) DOS-Version, the C64-Version or the Amiga.
Re: Games porting /games conversion today Few years back there was a complete review about Space Rogue by Commodore Vilag (Hungarian Commodore magazine focused mainly on games), and it's size (number of pages) was up to the Elite, complexity is at least on the same level. Gfx is filled vector, very nice fill and dithering.
Re: Games porting /games conversion today Space Rogue would be worth a port. You have a Space-Flight Simulator and RPG elements in this game. They also put a lot of love in the packaging. Next to Starcross from Infocom another masterpiece of gamepackaging.
Games porting /games conversion today
