That is extremely good :smile::smile::smile::smile::smile:
Authentic isn't the word - it really could pass for a genuine game inlay from the ultimate years, back when game covers seemed better somehow, more atmospheric than they are now.
Cant wait for this game to be released, it looks great. Top artwork by Mark as well, as others have pointed out it looks like a classic Ultimate cover from the 80's.
Talking of the Microsoft acquisition of Rare Ltd, has anyone approached Rare Ltd / Microsoft / Stampers about releasing the Ultimate back catalogue as freeware (i.e. with no loss of copyright).
If I remember correctly, the Stampers main objection seemed to be that making their games freely distributable might effect their intellectual property rights surrounding the characters and the like (which they intended to use at some later point)*. That was then. But now?
Microsoft may have a different view re software titles that are 30 years old.
Then again the titles may still be owned by the Stampers. However, as far as I'm aware, the Stampers left Rare Ltd a few years ago and are no longer in the biz. I.E. They may be more open to the idea of free distribution or some workable alternative (read on).
TBH I never understood why Rare Ltd didn't just move to make the games available on itunes, steam or something similar for a small token fee - this would have allowed us old fans to buy and download them as audio samples if not TZX etc. Rare would've commercially re-stamped their copyright, rather than some how watering it down. And they would've made money. We'd be able to buy the games we missed at the time. Everyones a winner. Still what do I know, eh? ;)
* From my correspondence with Rare Ltd circa 2000. Damn I wish I could find my old emails so I could quote directly.
The next stage for me now is my first Spectrum loading screen since 'Total Recall from 1990.
This all looks great. Is there any chance of you including some loading screen hints and tips in this thread? I'm intrigued how to get the very detailed screens to look good (Wizball springs to mind especially). Is it more a case of tailoring the drawing to the attribute squares beforehand or making thigs fit together afterwards?
This all looks great. Is there any chance of you including some loading screen hints and tips in this thread? I'm intrigued how to get the very detailed screens to look good (Wizball springs to mind especially). Is it more a case of tailoring the drawing to the attribute squares beforehand or making thigs fit together afterwards?
I've not started it yet! I'm a little bit scared! Ha! Yes though, you must tailor your drawing to the attribute squares as you draw it, well I did anyway. If you don't then you just end with a mess and spend twice as long changing things. Best thing to start off doing (which is what I'm going to do) is draw your ink with a character square grid ON, then add the colour bit by bit. I'll be able to give some better hints when I've actually done this one! It's been a while!
I can't help thinking this is just making things worse and worse, great as the artwork is.
Putting that A.C.G. copyright message on the cassette is definitely not right. It should at least refer to the original arcade game as A.C.G. copyright, and this version separately. Otherwise it looks like you're making out that this version belongs to A.C.G. But it's also tantamount to admission that you're violating someone else's copyright.
I also really think that all it takes to dodge any issues of copyright is to change the names. The graphics aren't exact copies of the original, nor are the level layouts and all of the code is original. No-one's ever been done for copying the style of a game, but titles and names are more easily shown to be a breach of copyright.
Yeah you might be right but if anything like that happens then all we have to do is change the name, adjust the artwork and game and its done.
It's all just a bit of fun but I'm intrigued to see if something as trivial as a Spectrum game that's never going to be sold brings anyone from Rare out of the woodwork. Somehow I doubt it.
I can't help thinking this is just making things worse and worse, great as the artwork is.
I wouldn't say that the cassette label is bad...I like it - and strictly speaking Dingo is copyrighted by ACG and I don't see a problem in referencing that, but I'm not crazy about the cassette inlay with a price on it. I get the fun in making it lok authentic, but the situation is questionable enough as it is, and including a price on the cover is IMHO not the best idea.
The price isn't on the cover. Just on the mocked up advert.
Ok I see where you're coming from about the price. Someone who is a bit dumb MIGHT think you might be able to go into Smiths or Menzies or Woolworths to buy a copy. Two of those shops no longer exist though so it might be a bit of a stumbling block to any buffoon looking to make a purchase.
* I've adjusted the 'price' now to ?0.00. No one can get their knickers in a twist about that!
I wouldn't say that the cassette label is bad...I like it - and strictly speaking Dingo is copyrighted by ACG and I don't see a problem in referencing that
No, the original arcade game called DINGO is copyright A.C.G. This Spectrum game is not. You should at least make that clear, otherwise it looks like you're trying to pass your game off as coming from A.C.G.
No-one's ever been done for copying the style of a game, but titles and names are more easily shown to be a breach of copyright.
Not true.
If memory serves me right Nintendo were pretty quick to put down anything that came close to any of their products. For instance Blitz Bombers (Amiga) or Great Giana Sisters (Spectrum) were both quashed close to release. In both cases a cease and desist order and the threat of futher action was enough to stop the sale of the products.
My understanding is that, as no money had changed hands and neither game reached market, no damage was actually done to Nintendo's sales of Bomberman or Super Mario respectively, so they had no reason to pursue the matter further (e.g. to obtain financial renumeration for breach of copyright / loss of earnings etc). Blitz Bombers was subsequently released as freeware via the Amiga Format publication. I'm not sure what, if anything, happened after that.
The thing is, large corporations don't have to actually "win" a legal case to get their way. They can simply keep throwing money at a case, appealing rulings etc until the other party is financially unable to continue.
I'm not suggesting that the current copyright holders (The Stampers / Rare Ltd / Microsoft ?) of Dingo would do this though. They seem to have tolerated a large number of freely available remakes over the years so far (all of which acknowledge the original copyright). It's not like they are unaware of remakes. That said, I think they might have something more to say if anyone were to try to make money from it or pass off the concept / characters as an original idea though.
They seem to have tolerated a large number of freely available remakes so far (all of which acknowledge the original copyright). I think they might have something more to say if anyone tries to make money from it though.
I'm not suggesting that the current copyright holders (The Stampers / Rare Ltd / Microsoft ?) of Dingo would do this though. They seem to have tolerated a large number of freely available remakes so far (all of which acknowledge the original copyright). I think they might have something more to say if anyone tries to make money from it or pass off the concept as an original idea though.
Nuff said.
True. You can't legally download Knight Lore for the Spectrum but you can play a remake with no problem?! Nonsensical.
True. You can't legally download Knight Lore for the Spcectrum but you can play a remake with no problem?! Nonsensical.
I think the oddity dates back to when Rare Ltd envisaged incorporating their old games into new titles as subgames and adding cameo appearances (such as Sabrewullf in Killer Instinct).
Even so, they've always been mindful to keep their characters ownership secure. IIRC character rights were not part of the deal with US Gold. Someone will probably cite Pentagram at this point, but Pentagram was developed by A.C.G. themselves (check the inlay). :)
Here's a picture from the latest version.
I've finally gotten the flicker hammered out of the enemies' movement, and put some colours on them, so this is a picture from Spectaculator that always makes it looks so much nicer. :D
...I may not keep the magenta colour though. I haven't decided yet.
Also new here (although is a small thing) - a view of Mark's koala from the front. It's pretty close to mine...just a bit better. :)
I'm not completely sure about that sprite - if I look hard at the nose I can see where his eyes are supposed to be with thick black pixel lines for eyebrows above, but most glances I look at the top of the head and just see a black rectangle with a pig's snout in it. I think there needs to be a white line over the top of the eyes or the head just looks strange. It's probably one of those things that looks great in a sprite editor with a box of a different colour around it, but on the black background I don't think it works.
I'm not completely sure about that sprite - if I look hard at the nose I can see where his eyes are supposed to be with thick black pixel lines for eyebrows above, but most glances I look at the top of the head and just see a black rectangle with a pig's snout in it. I think there needs to be a white line over the top of the eyes or the head just looks strange. It's probably one of those things that looks great in a sprite editor with a box of a different colour around it, but on the black background I don't think it works.
I'm not completely sure about that sprite - if I look hard at the nose I can see where his eyes are supposed to be with thick black pixel lines for eyebrows above, but most glances I look at the top of the head and just see a black rectangle with a pig's snout in it. I think there needs to be a white line over the top of the eyes or the head just looks strange. It's probably one of those things that looks great in a sprite editor with a box of a different colour around it, but on the black background I don't think it works.
It may look better as is (without additional white lines) once it's moving, especially if there's some profile-to-portrait turning animation. What we need is a gif anim of it in play to be sure... or better yet, a released version to play (is my desperation to play this starting to show yet?) :)
No, the original arcade game called DINGO is copyright A.C.G. This Spectrum game is not. You should at least make that clear, otherwise it looks like you're trying to pass your game off as coming from A.C.G.
I have exactly the same opinion. You don't want to seem misleading regarding copyright issues, even if there's a very small chance that anybody will care. If you receive a cease and desist letter, it may be too late to simply change the name and continue with the project, since the letter will probably refer to the entire project and not just the name, and you won't want to risk a legal dispute over this.
However this would be easy to fix. Instead of "DINGO Copyright 1983" (which seems to imply the copyright refers to this new release since it uses the same title) it could say "Original game copyright 1983". Also I would change the "Available from" sentence to only mention the shops that do not exist anymore, just to be safe too.
I'm not completely sure about that sprite - if I look hard at the nose I can see where his eyes are supposed to be with thick black pixel lines for eyebrows above, but most glances I look at the top of the head and just see a black rectangle with a pig's snout in it. I think there needs to be a white line over the top of the eyes or the head just looks strange. It's probably one of those things that looks great in a sprite editor with a box of a different colour around it, but on the black background I don't think it works.
I cant see what you're on about. I can't see a pigs snout anywhere. There are no eyebrows, just eyes, nose, mouth & ears. It looks fine to me.
I cant see what you're on about. I can't see a pigs snout anywhere. There are no eyebrows, just eyes, nose, mouth & ears. It looks fine to me.
I can see what he means, but it's hard to say if it's really a problem since it depends on many other factors. Look at this:
Above you can see the current image (left), its generic shape that people will probably see the first time looking only at this single image before their eyes are trained to see the intended image (center), and the "corrected" version that somewhat fixes this problem (right).
However the "corrected" version may not be viable since it's higher than 16 pixels, it may not match the frames from other angles, and perhaps this is not really an issue anyway since it's hard to judge a single frame out of context.
That's what I see, something like the middle image. In the sprite there are black gaps around the eyes that then reach all the way up to the top of the head, so it looks like two holes that run from the top of the head down.
But that last one doesn't look any better. You'd have to move his ears up a pixel then draw that line over the top of the eyes one pixel lower. It's still too big for the sprite though.
But that last one doesn't look any better. You'd have to move his ears up a pixel then draw that line over the top of the eyes one pixel lower. It's still too big for the sprite though.
I don't think the "corrected" version looks any better either, I was merely explaining your post as Sokurah requested.
Personally I would keep the original image, it's probably the better possible choice for 16x16.
Comments
...and it's very good the way it is. :cool:
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
That is extremely good :smile::smile::smile::smile::smile:
Authentic isn't the word - it really could pass for a genuine game inlay from the ultimate years, back when game covers seemed better somehow, more atmospheric than they are now.
Does anyone know the name of the font Ultimate used on their Spectrum cassette inlays? :)
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
If I remember correctly, the Stampers main objection seemed to be that making their games freely distributable might effect their intellectual property rights surrounding the characters and the like (which they intended to use at some later point)*. That was then. But now?
Microsoft may have a different view re software titles that are 30 years old.
Then again the titles may still be owned by the Stampers. However, as far as I'm aware, the Stampers left Rare Ltd a few years ago and are no longer in the biz. I.E. They may be more open to the idea of free distribution or some workable alternative (read on).
TBH I never understood why Rare Ltd didn't just move to make the games available on itunes, steam or something similar for a small token fee - this would have allowed us old fans to buy and download them as audio samples if not TZX etc. Rare would've commercially re-stamped their copyright, rather than some how watering it down. And they would've made money. We'd be able to buy the games we missed at the time. Everyones a winner. Still what do I know, eh? ;)
* From my correspondence with Rare Ltd circa 2000. Damn I wish I could find my old emails so I could quote directly.
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
This all looks great. Is there any chance of you including some loading screen hints and tips in this thread? I'm intrigued how to get the very detailed screens to look good (Wizball springs to mind especially). Is it more a case of tailoring the drawing to the attribute squares beforehand or making thigs fit together afterwards?
I've not started it yet! I'm a little bit scared! Ha! Yes though, you must tailor your drawing to the attribute squares as you draw it, well I did anyway. If you don't then you just end with a mess and spend twice as long changing things. Best thing to start off doing (which is what I'm going to do) is draw your ink with a character square grid ON, then add the colour bit by bit. I'll be able to give some better hints when I've actually done this one! It's been a while!
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
Putting that A.C.G. copyright message on the cassette is definitely not right. It should at least refer to the original arcade game as A.C.G. copyright, and this version separately. Otherwise it looks like you're making out that this version belongs to A.C.G. But it's also tantamount to admission that you're violating someone else's copyright.
I also really think that all it takes to dodge any issues of copyright is to change the names. The graphics aren't exact copies of the original, nor are the level layouts and all of the code is original. No-one's ever been done for copying the style of a game, but titles and names are more easily shown to be a breach of copyright.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
It's all just a bit of fun but I'm intrigued to see if something as trivial as a Spectrum game that's never going to be sold brings anyone from Rare out of the woodwork. Somehow I doubt it.
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
Ok I see where you're coming from about the price. Someone who is a bit dumb MIGHT think you might be able to go into Smiths or Menzies or Woolworths to buy a copy. Two of those shops no longer exist though so it might be a bit of a stumbling block to any buffoon looking to make a purchase.
* I've adjusted the 'price' now to ?0.00. No one can get their knickers in a twist about that!
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
Yes, now I see. Acknowledge that it's their IP, but that this creation is not their game.
Still, it does say 'Tardis Remakes' everywhere, so no one should have any doubts.
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
Hang on, did you say 'Tardis'?? I give up...
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
Not true.
If memory serves me right Nintendo were pretty quick to put down anything that came close to any of their products. For instance Blitz Bombers (Amiga) or Great Giana Sisters (Spectrum) were both quashed close to release. In both cases a cease and desist order and the threat of futher action was enough to stop the sale of the products.
My understanding is that, as no money had changed hands and neither game reached market, no damage was actually done to Nintendo's sales of Bomberman or Super Mario respectively, so they had no reason to pursue the matter further (e.g. to obtain financial renumeration for breach of copyright / loss of earnings etc). Blitz Bombers was subsequently released as freeware via the Amiga Format publication. I'm not sure what, if anything, happened after that.
The thing is, large corporations don't have to actually "win" a legal case to get their way. They can simply keep throwing money at a case, appealing rulings etc until the other party is financially unable to continue.
I'm not suggesting that the current copyright holders (The Stampers / Rare Ltd / Microsoft ?) of Dingo would do this though. They seem to have tolerated a large number of freely available remakes over the years so far (all of which acknowledge the original copyright). It's not like they are unaware of remakes. That said, I think they might have something more to say if anyone were to try to make money from it or pass off the concept / characters as an original idea though.
Nuff said.
Haha, yeah, if I'm not sued by one part I may be by another. :lol:
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
This.
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
True. You can't legally download Knight Lore for the Spectrum but you can play a remake with no problem?! Nonsensical.
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
I think the oddity dates back to when Rare Ltd envisaged incorporating their old games into new titles as subgames and adding cameo appearances (such as Sabrewullf in Killer Instinct).
Even so, they've always been mindful to keep their characters ownership secure. IIRC character rights were not part of the deal with US Gold. Someone will probably cite Pentagram at this point, but Pentagram was developed by A.C.G. themselves (check the inlay). :)
I've finally gotten the flicker hammered out of the enemies' movement, and put some colours on them, so this is a picture from Spectaculator that always makes it looks so much nicer. :D
...I may not keep the magenta colour though. I haven't decided yet.
Also new here (although is a small thing) - a view of Mark's koala from the front. It's pretty close to mine...just a bit better. :)
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
Let's have an example...put it into pixels. ;)
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
It may look better as is (without additional white lines) once it's moving, especially if there's some profile-to-portrait turning animation. What we need is a gif anim of it in play to be sure... or better yet, a released version to play (is my desperation to play this starting to show yet?) :)
I have exactly the same opinion. You don't want to seem misleading regarding copyright issues, even if there's a very small chance that anybody will care. If you receive a cease and desist letter, it may be too late to simply change the name and continue with the project, since the letter will probably refer to the entire project and not just the name, and you won't want to risk a legal dispute over this.
However this would be easy to fix. Instead of "DINGO Copyright 1983" (which seems to imply the copyright refers to this new release since it uses the same title) it could say "Original game copyright 1983". Also I would change the "Available from" sentence to only mention the shops that do not exist anymore, just to be safe too.
I cant see what you're on about. I can't see a pigs snout anywhere. There are no eyebrows, just eyes, nose, mouth & ears. It looks fine to me.
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
I can see what he means, but it's hard to say if it's really a problem since it depends on many other factors. Look at this:
Above you can see the current image (left), its generic shape that people will probably see the first time looking only at this single image before their eyes are trained to see the intended image (center), and the "corrected" version that somewhat fixes this problem (right).
However the "corrected" version may not be viable since it's higher than 16 pixels, it may not match the frames from other angles, and perhaps this is not really an issue anyway since it's hard to judge a single frame out of context.
Ex-Ocean Software graphic artist -
Download my FREE PDF 'LOAD DIJ DIJ' (180,000+ words): https://ko-fi.com/i/IG2G3BEJZP
ZX Art page: https://zxart.ee/eng/authors/m/mark-r-jones/
https://twitter.com/MarkRJones1970
https://www.facebook.com/OceanSoftwareLtd/
https://www.facebook.com/ultimateptg/
But that last one doesn't look any better. You'd have to move his ears up a pixel then draw that line over the top of the eyes one pixel lower. It's still too big for the sprite though.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
I don't think the "corrected" version looks any better either, I was merely explaining your post as Sokurah requested.
Personally I would keep the original image, it's probably the better possible choice for 16x16.