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Carrion
Registered: Feb 2009
Posts: 317 |
Games with ECM mode?
Hi there.
I recently experimented a bit with ECM and It could actually give really kool results if used cleverly - even with only 64 chars. Almost NES like gfx ... No tools to support it though, or at least I don't know one. (Charpad is out of scope I guess)
I was wondering if there are any games that utilize the Enhanced Color (Background) Mode for doing level gfx?
What about demos?
I guess if it comes to demos there were probably some ECM plasmas or similar f/x.
And let's not mention all the noters here ;) |
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Krill
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 2839 |
Quoting CarrionI was wondering if there are any games that utilize the Enhanced Color (Background) Mode for doing level gfx? Wrote "extended" first, wasn't sure myself, checked OP and edited to "enhanced". Oh well. =) |
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JackAsser
Registered: Jun 2002
Posts: 1989 |
Quote: Quoting CarrionI was wondering if there are any games that utilize the Enhanced Color (Background) Mode for doing level gfx? Wrote "extended" first, wasn't sure myself, checked OP and edited to "enhanced". Oh well. =)
Extraordinary? Enchanted? |
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Dane
Account closed
Registered: May 2002
Posts: 421 |
Since you asked about demos, the chessboard floor in EoD also uses this enchanted mode. |
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Smasher
Registered: Feb 2003
Posts: 512 |
Endpart of Gerposaurus uses ECM |
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Krill
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 2839 |
Well, additionally to mere namedropping, it would be somewhat informative if you'd tell to what purpose/benefit that mode was used. |
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TheRyk
Registered: Mar 2009
Posts: 2069 |
Quote:I may be missing something, but isn't ECM visually effectively like hires bitmap, but with fewer background colours to choose from? (Granted, it is animateable/scrollable a lot more efficiently.)
Main advantage that might not matter a great deal for trackmo maniacs but could be crucial in game-coding is less waste of RAM compared to HiRes bitmap combined with extra color options compared to HiRes text. In games or other situations in which graphics are re-used big deal ECM can be nice to have. For demo coding I'd normally agree HiRes is superior unless you can sledge-hammer some very special problem like the one 4-mat described. PS (offtopic): Just btw PETSCII ECM has been tried, too, though not with results that were a blast IIRC. Lookee here or here PPS: must correct myself, this one WAS a blast: Plascii Petsma |
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oziphantom
Registered: Oct 2014
Posts: 478 |
with Squid Jump, it lets me get more colours on the screen without having to scroll CRAM. Since the scroller is right on the limits, it either ECBM or Fixed 2 colours..
Spy Hunter uses it to also speed up scrolling.
H.E.R.O probably uses it to get more colours as well without having to do raster splits. |
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zscs
Registered: Sep 2010
Posts: 45 |
Is Wolfling also uses ECM mode?
(I'm not familiar with this special mode) |
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JackAsser
Registered: Jun 2002
Posts: 1989 |
Quote: Is Wolfling also uses ECM mode?
(I'm not familiar with this special mode)
No. This is plain multi color characters. (bit 7 on the color ram data controls if the char is rendered in hires or lowres) |
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Raz
Account closed
Registered: Aug 2003
Posts: 16 |
Concerning demos that use ECM: I use ECM for the fire-effect in Gumbo (Gumbo Revised) - I have explained that effect in details in a forum thread here: Release id #185647 : Gumbo Revised
The reason is simply to allow for a gradual fading between a wide range of colors, by having a dithering pattern over 64 chars ($00-$3f) and alternating the "direction" of the flow of chars as shown in the example below. (In the end I used a non-linear transformation with fewer colors, for a more flame-like effect, but see the full forum post for info about that).
// Color ramps
// bk : 07
// ec1: 08
// ec2: 02
// ec3: 0b
// CHAR COL ; BK COL ; bit patt ; direction
// -----------------------------------------
// 01 ; 07 ; 00 ; 00-3f
// 0a ; 07 ; 00 ; 3f-00
// 0a ; 08 ; 01 ; 00-3f
// 04 ; 08 ; 01 ; 3f-00
// 04 ; 02 ; 10 ; 00-3f
// 09 ; 02 ; 10 ; 3f-00
// 09 ; 0b ; 11 ; 00-3f
// 00 ; 0b ; 11 ; 3f-00
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