Attract mode
Anyone got any names of games that have a good attract mode?
(for those who dont know , its where the game runs a demo even when you arnt playing... like arcade machines do)
Zombie Zombie is one example :)
I know its stoopid , but i have this "thing" about running as many games in windows as i can at the same time.But zx games dont often do this.
So know any good ones guys ?
(for those who dont know , its where the game runs a demo even when you arnt playing... like arcade machines do)
Zombie Zombie is one example :)
I know its stoopid , but i have this "thing" about running as many games in windows as i can at the same time.But zx games dont often do this.
So know any good ones guys ?
Post edited by Sard on
Comments
im glad you posted though because i never was clear on what "attract" mode was, what you described i had always called demo or demo mode.
for the Double Dragon Remake i was going to try and do a couple of the level music, but they have someone else to do it now. i found all the midi files i could and among them is one called "attract mode" for Double Dragon, and it's very cool. i still may do a couple of the Double Dragon songs for spectrum even though they won't be using them in the remake, and the attract mode tune is definitely one of them ill try. it's short, and really grooving.
ill repost if i remember any games with attract mode.
cheers.
Most spectrum games won't have any demo mode, because:
1 - You already spent several minutes loading the game, so it's a fact that you want to play it, no need to convince you.
2 - You already paid for the game, so there are no more coins to squeeze from you.
3 - Memory is very limited, so any memory spent on demo mode could be better spent in game improvements.
damn why cant i remember anything unless someone names it? :)
well, i dont think a small demo would take up that much, it just needs some code to randomly or preset control the characters on the screen for a few seconds and maybe just add a text somewhere saying "demo play" or something, although you may be correct, just doesnt seem like a very big deal to me.
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
Another one with demo mode is Stainless Steel.
I guess Uridium,FlyingShark, Anarchy.
Deathwish3 havent demo mode but meanwhile menu its displayed characters go wlking behind.
ahh! ExplodingFist and Barbarian,.. BruceLee had?
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it smelled like slow death in there.
[ This Message was edited by: judasEZT on 2003-08-29 15:01 ]
[ This Message was edited by: judasEZT on 2003-08-29 15:03 ]
Also, try Three Weeks in Paradise, Herbert's Dummy Run, 3D Deathchase, Gilligan's Gold and Cobra, as I think these *may* have attract modes.
And of course !! Manic Miner + Skooldaze... how did i forget them ??? ;)
And i must say that mad mix game is top bannana !! Never seen that before so thx for the pointer.
The problem with this on the spectrum is (let's say the game has 4 buttons up/down/left/right and runs at a frame rate of 20 frames per second) you would need to store a bit for each key for each frame - so you can store 2 frames worth of key presses in a single byte. So at 20fps that's 10 bytes for a second of gameplay - 600 bytes for a minutes etc + the data to initialise the game into the same state in the first place.
This is a simple case, most games have more than 4 buttons and frame rates may be higher... it starts to eat up memory quite quickly :)
The other solution that's used more now on the DVD compatible consoles is simply to replay MPeg2 DVD footage of the game being played - but unless someone has figured out a way of releasing Mpeg2 technology and DVD hardware for spectrum then it's not really an option! :)
I remember there being a Ford Anglia, a Mini and a Citroen 2CV if I'm not mistaken...
Video Meanies, Jack Attack, Tutti Fruiti, Kick Start, Dorks Dilema, Petals of Doom, Tycoon Tex.....
The list for the C16 is quite long, but I suspect there are more than a few here who won't recognise any of these games. Just thought I'd mention it though, as I thought it strange that so many C16 games employed an attract mode, but there were so few Speccy games that did the same.
:)
Never matched the quality with the C64 offering in my opinion.
How different were the C16 and Plus 4?
The C16 came with 16K of RAM which was expandable to 64, while the Plus/4 came with 64k as standard. And little tools like a Wordprocessor and Spread Sheet, accessable by the Function keys.
Cheerz guys , great suggestions.
Hmmm. Was it the same processor in both of them? I seem to remember that any emulators I came across for these machines would double up as both C16 and Plus/4.
I've tried Fantasy World Dizzy on the C16. If you made a list of the corners that had to be cut, it's take up a whole roll of ZX printer paper...
I should imagine so, since all my C16 games had 'C16 - Plus/4' on them. The Plus/4 was apparently a 64k version of the C16. It wasn't however compatible with C64 games, hence it more or less failed in the market place. I think I only owned a couple of games which were Plus/4 ONLY titles, i.e. not C16 compatible.
As I said before though, I liked both the C16 and Plus/4 more than I ever did the C64.
i think also prefer the Plus 4. also i remember it has more colours than the C64, and theyre not all shades of brown. :)
Lando's Plus4 site is pretty good. have not spoken to him or Max Maslen from Total64 in ages ( he made a new coming soon page for Total 64 but i don't think it will happen. he got what Kim Lemon got, but earlier and in a worse way. He's just sick of it he says. maintaining a site and keeping up with everything, not the C64 )
greets
This page might answer some of your technical questions regarding the Plus/4
Alternatively only store timestamp (=frame number) and input state change. Most demos don’t (need to) change inputs every frame.
This is what I do in my attract modes.
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