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Sideshow Vote II: Battle of the 8-bit nerds

Started by broodblik, 15 June, 2022, 03:40:14 AM

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Pyroxian

Much as I love the sound of the SID chip, the Spectrum has my heart

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: Magnetica on 16 June, 2022, 09:11:54 PM
Do you remember the side missions that triggered at certain points? To fight the Thargoids (no relation). Ok I say missions - there might have only been one. Not exactly GTA territory.

I'm not sure — my memories of playing Elite are slightly muddled because a friend of mine had a 5.5" floppy drive for his BBC and the floppy version was notably expanded from the 'standard' cassette version that I was playing at home. I do recall the Thargoids but I can't remember if they were actually in the game I usually played!

(As I remember, the floppy version had an unusual copy protection system — it came with a novella in the box and the game would direct you to a specific page, paragraph and line in the book and ask you to enter word number X from that line before it would complete loading.)

I was computer-less for most of my university years until 1990, but then picked up again when I got an Atari STE with a whole megabyte of RAM, on which I taught myself DTP using the remarkably capable (for its time) Calamus (unrelated to some application floating about now with the same name).

After that, I got my first Mac in '94, at the urging of Kev Walker, with whom I was writing at the time, mainly so we could stop exchanging hard copies in the post and re-typing entire documents to accommodate a few basic changes... and it's been Macs all the way since.
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
Less-Awesome-Artist: Scribbles.

Dash Decent

You know, I really thought this question was going to be which 8-bit 2000AD game was best?  Dredd (either), Rogue Trooper, Nemesis, Strontium Dog (either) with perhaps an allowance for the Dan Dare games or the Stainless Steel Rat game.

But, seeing what it is, it's got to be the C64.

Only one of my high school friends had a Spectrum (though pity the kid with the Tandy Coco).  The colours seemed brighter than on the C64 but there was often this weird colour issue where an object would take on the colour of the background as it passed over them.  It was a bit like the screen was made up of 'squares' of colour and if something extend partly into that 'square' it would do a bit of a chameleon act.  It always reminded me of comics printed with the colour being a bit off, so they didn't sit correctly inside the outline .

That said, there are several C64 games that have a weird colour effect where white objects have a red and blue 'tinge' to them.  It always reminds me of the Apple II.

Also too, although I have no nostalgia for the Speccy and would never get one, the Spectrum Next design is very tasty.

I'm sure there are people still coding games for the Speccy and it's also true for the C64.
- By Appointment -
Hero to Michael Carroll

"... rank amateurism and bad jokes." - JohnW.

Dash Decent

Some 2000AD art done on the C64.

Urban and Stallone are done using PETSCII graphics, which is an alternative character set made up of shapes.  The Dredd to the right of the Stallone version is also done using PETSCII.

STE '86 is the handle of one of the artists.  It doesn't mean the picture was done in 1986.  (I think the brilliant Johnny Alpha pic is from 2010.)

- By Appointment -
Hero to Michael Carroll

"... rank amateurism and bad jokes." - JohnW.

broodblik

Great 256 color usage just shows how people "exploit" tech in great way.
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

JayzusB.Christ

Lovely bit of 8-bit artwork there.  It kills me to say it, but my beloved Spectrum couldn't have done colours like that.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

M.I.K.

It can do colours, they're just very... idiosyncratic...







My vote's for the ZX Spectrum, obviously.

Dash Decent

#22
Aiiiiii! My eyes! When does the burning stop?

No, actually they're very good. Done as proper games for the Advent calendars I think?

Also, good to know Dredd likes the occasional jellied eel. Though how he got all that tomato sauce everywhere, I just don't know.
- By Appointment -
Hero to Michael Carroll

"... rank amateurism and bad jokes." - JohnW.

broodblik

Wednesday is the last day to determine the type of 8-bit nerd you are.
When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

Old age is the Lord's way of telling us to step aside for something new. Death's in case we didn't take the hint.

The Legendary Shark


I had a C64 and enjoyed it for a while - but playing out and holiday jobs had more appeal.

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




IndigoPrime

Quote from: Dash Decent on 18 June, 2022, 05:11:40 AMYou know, I really thought this question was going to be which 8-bit 2000AD game was best?  Dredd (either), Rogue Trooper, Nemesis, Strontium Dog (either) with perhaps an allowance for the Dan Dare games or the Stainless Steel Rat game.
And then which Dan Dare game. If you look at the original, the C64 coder (Andy Wilson) went off and did his own thing, which was much more comic-like and interesting than the other versions. That said, I'd argue this was much more classic Dan Dare and not really a 2000 AD game.

Most of the C64 2000 AD games were, to put it bluntly, bloody awful. Even those that weren't had major shortcomings. Nemesis had little to do with the comic and was repetitive. Rogue aligned quite well with the comic but was short. Those are the best of the crop on that system, which otherwise had two dire Dredd titles, a bafflingly weird Sláine effort where you grabbed 'thoughts', and a Strontium Dog game that appeared to have been written by someone who'd never read Strontium Dog. Am I missing any? (The Speccy's Stronty Dog game, based on The Killing, was a lot better, if still somewhat limited. And both Judge Death and Halo Jones got swallowed up when Piranha folded, although a playable demo of the former exists.)

Quote from: Dash Decent on 18 June, 2022, 06:21:29 AMSome 2000AD art done on the C64.
Given the limitations of the system, that first PETSCII Dredd is superb.

M.I.K.

There's also this text adventure...



...which was supposedly also released for the ZX Spectrum, but no trace of that version exists online.

JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: M.I.K. on 19 June, 2022, 01:09:51 AM
It can do colours, they're just very... idiosyncratic...







My vote's for the ZX Spectrum, obviously.

Hats off. That's amazing work.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Dash Decent

Quote from: M.I.K. on 19 June, 2022, 11:56:00 AM
There's also this text adventure...

Yep, that was the one I meant.  I've seen it on the C64.

Quote from: Dash Decent on 18 June, 2022, 05:11:40 AM
with perhaps an allowance for the Dan Dare games or the Stainless Steel Rat game.
- By Appointment -
Hero to Michael Carroll

"... rank amateurism and bad jokes." - JohnW.

Dash Decent

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 19 June, 2022, 10:16:24 AM
And then which Dan Dare game. If you look at the original, the C64 coder (Andy Wilson) went off and did his own thing, which was much more comic-like and interesting than the other versions. That said, I'd argue this was much more classic Dan Dare and not really a 2000 AD game.

Oh yes, it's definitely 50s Dan Dare, which is why I said perhaps an allowance.  On reflection it's probably as silly as if I'd said let's include the Scott Adams Incredible Hulk game.

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 19 June, 2022, 10:16:24 AM
Most of the C64 2000 AD games were, to put it bluntly, bloody awful. Even those that weren't had major shortcomings. Nemesis had little to do with the comic and was repetitive. Rogue aligned quite well with the comic but was short. Those are the best of the crop on that system, which otherwise had two dire Dredd titles, a bafflingly weird Sláine effort where you grabbed 'thoughts', and a Strontium Dog game that appeared to have been written by someone who'd never read Strontium Dog. Am I missing any? (The Speccy's Stronty Dog game, based on The Killing, was a lot better, if still somewhat limited. And both Judge Death and Halo Jones got swallowed up when Piranha folded, although a playable demo of the former exists.)

(Slaine!  That was the one I was trying to think of.)

I agree.  It's so disappointing!  There are talented people going back and reworking (e.g.) Commando and Ghosts & Goblins to improve the graphics and add missing levels and things.  I wish I had the talent, I'd have a tinker with some of these.  I know you know all about it IP, but some of the things being done now are so clever.  This presentation by Antonio Savona on game in progress Pig Quest is excellent.  It looks a little busy to me, but the idea of speculative rendering, and the amount of animation in the puff of cauldron smoke is great.

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 19 June, 2022, 10:16:24 AM
Given the limitations of the system, that first PETSCII Dredd is superb.

People love the challenge of trying to create something within the limitations and there are some brilliant pieces of art out there.  There's no way for me to remember all the best ones but a few:
Ego
Gary
Sgt PETSCII
Lion
- By Appointment -
Hero to Michael Carroll

"... rank amateurism and bad jokes." - JohnW.