Page 1 of 1
Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Wed May 08, 2019 5:05 pm
by hotrodx
There's a big hype among Amstrad CPC fans for a new racing game called "Vespertino". See their teaser here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAcd47eUZF4
This is being made by the guys who made the Batman Forever Demoscene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJosZfm560Q
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Wed May 08, 2019 7:16 pm
by Miquel
Do you think CPC hardware can handle the few videos shown? I don’t know its video capabilities so I will trust your word.
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Wed May 08, 2019 10:01 pm
by Sik
They didn't show much footage but I'm going to guess it precomputes and/or unrolls a lot (and their comment about needing a memory expansion for a disk release which even then would be limited seems to imply so — the "main" release is a cartridge). And raster effects :v
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 3:49 pm
by Miquel
I have to say I'm really exited to see this project accomplished.
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 3:56 pm
by Stef
I have to admit i'm still very doubtful about the "3D car animation" part... but i have to admit I was quite impressed by their Batman Demo i never though it was possible to do that on a CPC so...
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 5:48 pm
by Sik
Isn't that just a prerendered animation?
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 7:33 pm
by Chilly Willy
Sik wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 5:48 pm
Isn't that just a prerendered animation?
Yeah, clearly. You aren't going to do a real 3D rotating car like that on an 8-bit system... well, not at that speed. My guess is it's a HUGE cart - which is fine. Quite a few older systems could have really nice games these days with a good size cart.
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 1:31 pm
by Miquel
It's not only capacity but also transfer speed what matters, and that's not a demo: there is a game running in there.
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 2:14 pm
by Stef
Sik wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 5:48 pm
Isn't that just a prerendered animation?
Of course it is
But even a pre-rendered animation that smooth and that big on a CPC is an accomplishment.
The Z80 is terribly slow at copying memory and i don't think there are kind of DMA on this system (maybe the GX4000 has one for the sprite table).
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 2:24 pm
by Chilly Willy
A quick check of the CPC cart pinout doesn't reveal anything like DMA support from carts. So doing animation that size that smoothly is still a real accomplishment. The game (what little they show) looks really good.
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 9:49 pm
by Sik
From what I recall, CPC is entirely bitmap based, with the only real perk being scrolling… so yeah, don't expect much. No idea if it can use cartridge memory as framebuffer, but this is Batman Group, so maybe they just have a fast blitter. Especially since in-game it definitely can't cheat that much yet they claim it runs at 25 FPS — blitting the single sprite the car select needs is nothing in comparison.
Re: Strong Buzz for new Amstrad CPC game
Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 2:02 pm
by Miquel
A static frame buffer on a game? I don't think is possible.