Game release, Uwol - Quest For Money
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haha, this is great
Mida sa loed ? Nagunii aru ei saa
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen
I'm digging up an old thread, but I just recently played Uwol [well, not exactly, but I'll get to that] and wanted to give some feedback.
Shiru may not be aware or it, but his MegaDrive port of Uwol has been hacked and released as "Kolobok: Piramida" by his fellow countrymen. This is how I first found the game. Someone has dumped the cartridge contents [this is how the game box looks like, and yes, there is an actual cartridge in existence] and released the dump as an "unlicensed" game. I took a look at the file, and within it found plain text info on audio track conversions [For example, "UWOL Pyramid.Original by Augusto Ruiz, FM version by Shiru.Converted from WYZ Tracker using WYZ2TFM"]. Plus, the header reads "SEGA MEGA DRIVE MOJON,SHIRU 2010 KOLOBOK PIRAMIDA".
That's how I first tracked the Speccy original and the C64 conversion. Then I saw Shiru's 1.1 version, with some bugs fixed. The hack must be based on some early version, since not only it still has the 9-9 room bug, but also other glitches, like the main character sprite still being visible against the black border, when he goes off screen. The first two screens with developer logo and credits were hacked in the pirated version. The developer logo has been changed to big, green "Kudos" and the credits are replaces with a short story description in Russian. If anyone wants to take a look at this gem, search for "Kolobok (Unl) [Rus].bin".
Now, for the Shiru original port in its 1.1 version. I tried it on original hardware. I ran it on a MegaCart and the Neo Flash MD and tested the game on both a PAL MegaDrive II and a Japanese WonderMega. The game works fine, but there are some minor graphical glitches. I'm not sure what's causing them, but they're there and they're visible. Strangely enough, there's far less of those in the Kolobok hack.
When playing the game on a PAL MegaDrive II, connected to my TV with the RGB cable, I could clearly see some pixels / dots flickering in the upper part of the screen. Here's a photo of how it looks like. They're shifting a bit and flickering as well. On the Japanese console, the whole row of interference moves down a bit, so imagine it moved down one height of itself. In the first level, it covers to top platforms. It's not that annoying, and the game is still playable, but maybe it's worth looking into nonetheless.
I have tested it on two different consoles from two different regions, connected to the TV in different ways [RGB and composite] and on two different flash devices, and the distortion is always there. The only difference being in NTSC, when it appears lower than in PAL.
It's a great game and an amazing port. I'm glad you ported it to MegaDrive of all the consoles, since it's a platform that deserves far more love than it's getting at the moment. Also, the above comments should be viewed as constructive feedback and not complaints! The work you've done is amazing.
Shiru may not be aware or it, but his MegaDrive port of Uwol has been hacked and released as "Kolobok: Piramida" by his fellow countrymen. This is how I first found the game. Someone has dumped the cartridge contents [this is how the game box looks like, and yes, there is an actual cartridge in existence] and released the dump as an "unlicensed" game. I took a look at the file, and within it found plain text info on audio track conversions [For example, "UWOL Pyramid.Original by Augusto Ruiz, FM version by Shiru.Converted from WYZ Tracker using WYZ2TFM"]. Plus, the header reads "SEGA MEGA DRIVE MOJON,SHIRU 2010 KOLOBOK PIRAMIDA".
That's how I first tracked the Speccy original and the C64 conversion. Then I saw Shiru's 1.1 version, with some bugs fixed. The hack must be based on some early version, since not only it still has the 9-9 room bug, but also other glitches, like the main character sprite still being visible against the black border, when he goes off screen. The first two screens with developer logo and credits were hacked in the pirated version. The developer logo has been changed to big, green "Kudos" and the credits are replaces with a short story description in Russian. If anyone wants to take a look at this gem, search for "Kolobok (Unl) [Rus].bin".
Now, for the Shiru original port in its 1.1 version. I tried it on original hardware. I ran it on a MegaCart and the Neo Flash MD and tested the game on both a PAL MegaDrive II and a Japanese WonderMega. The game works fine, but there are some minor graphical glitches. I'm not sure what's causing them, but they're there and they're visible. Strangely enough, there's far less of those in the Kolobok hack.
When playing the game on a PAL MegaDrive II, connected to my TV with the RGB cable, I could clearly see some pixels / dots flickering in the upper part of the screen. Here's a photo of how it looks like. They're shifting a bit and flickering as well. On the Japanese console, the whole row of interference moves down a bit, so imagine it moved down one height of itself. In the first level, it covers to top platforms. It's not that annoying, and the game is still playable, but maybe it's worth looking into nonetheless.
I have tested it on two different consoles from two different regions, connected to the TV in different ways [RGB and composite] and on two different flash devices, and the distortion is always there. The only difference being in NTSC, when it appears lower than in PAL.
It's a great game and an amazing port. I'm glad you ported it to MegaDrive of all the consoles, since it's a platform that deserves far more love than it's getting at the moment. Also, the above comments should be viewed as constructive feedback and not complaints! The work you've done is amazing.
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That distortion you mention is CRAM writes, and there's not much do to about them, besides writing the colors right when VBL starts so they wouldn't appear in active scan
Mida sa loed ? Nagunii aru ei saa
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen
No one of those who tested the game on the HW reported about these graphical glitches at the time when I worked on the game.
I don't have real console and flash cart, so I can't see and fix the problem. Source code is open, if someone fix the problem and send the fix to me, I'll update files on my website.
I don't have real console and flash cart, so I can't see and fix the problem. Source code is open, if someone fix the problem and send the fix to me, I'll update files on my website.
Do you know what type of hardware was used to test it [both consoles and cartridges / flash devices]? Custom cartridges and boards aside, there's the Everdrive MD and ToToTek's old carts. I have an old ToToTek cartridge somewhere, but I don't think it would produce different results than MegaCart.Shiru wrote:No one of those who tested the game on the HW reported about these graphical glitches at the time when I worked on the game.
This would suggest there's something wrong with both of my consoles and both of my flash cartridges, although this is the only game I tested [throughout the years] that does this. I could ask some people to test it on their hardware. Just trying to help to solve a problem, unless it's a problem with my hardware.
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it happens on all hardware, regardless of flashcarts and MD/Genny models. It also happens in a lot of commercial games, albeit only on overscan.Morden wrote:This would suggest there's something wrong with both of my consoles and both of my flash cartridges, although this is the only game I tested [throughout the years] that does this. I could ask some people to test it on their hardware. Just trying to help to solve a problem, unless it's a problem with my hardware.
Mida sa loed ? Nagunii aru ei saa
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen
http://www.tmeeco.eu
Files of all broken links and images of mine are found here : http://www.tmeeco.eu/FileDen