Another thing what i can't stand about the cpc464 is the awfull loading times..I mean for even the most basic of games, why the hell do they take so damn long to load, i loaded predator on the amstrad and c64 aswell as ghosts 'n goblins , ghost hunters, wonderboy, 1946, paperboy and the great giana sisters and it was pathetic to see how much longer it took the 464 to load and to top all that they were all worse versions with no atmosphere whatsoever!
@azshaw123 The producers of the original games are the ones who chose the loading speeds and they usually chose the safest rute (aka 1000 bps and multiple blocks). This is also the most userfiendly way as if something loads wrongly you can always just rewind one block back and wont have to reload from the beginning. Of cause if you dont like safe, then you could always just load the game and save it back at 3500-4000 bps (or faster but the limit of tapes being reliable ends there). Also you ..
@CholoCPC Yes i suppose you have a point there as i have that block problem often especially with games by firebird..Thanks for that bit of knowledge now i am starting to understand how the amstrad operates a lot more...Nice to speak to someone with a bit of knowledge!
@azshaw123 can choose to not save in multiple blocks of cause and just 1-2 blocks/records instead (depending on size). I recall playing a couple of original c64 games back then those wasnt exactly fast either ;D Of cause today we know that the amstrad 6128 can cope with upto 12000 bps using the tape input. Check the "decicoder" or "otla" on youtube or google code, its a nice project for most 8bits to load faster. Of cause i think most people only loaded tapes once (to put the game onto 3" disc).
C64 version has far more atmosphere in game..I played both last night on original machines and cant understand why the amstrad version wasted the music on the intro's and was allmost silent in the game.
@azshaw123 Well, with cpc its quite common to have no music ingame. It isnt because the cpc cant do it all in one go (gameplay+music+sfx all at the same time as its supported by the hardware), but usually because of space management. The screen is a wopping 16k at all times and 32k in overscan. A good tune usually also takes up a good 8-16k too. Many games are actually ported from spectrum (has 3k-ish screens) so recoding to the cpc they have to limit something or load it first like in a intro.
@CholoCPC Good answer..Just another quicky...I have been comparing a few games which i have on both amstrad and commodore and have another issue which you maybe able to explain on one game in particular...Ghosts n' goblins..Why is the scrolling so damn bad..Was it just bad programming?
@azshaw123 Amstrads dont have any hardware sprite/scrooling unlike the C64. So programmers had to program a software scrool themselves EVERY time someone made a game. Not that the amstrad cant do good scrooling (especially now 25 years later when we know much more). but back in the 80' the poor people had to invent the wheel again and again. Ghost & Goblins and Green Beret is indeed not the best scroolers on the amstrad that is for sure. The Plus range of amstrad did have hardware scrooling tho.
@azshaw123 Games with scrooling usually also have a smaller "action" window and/or is unusally slow too. Doing software scrooling usually mean that you can visually see where the screen is being drawn/cleared but if you "blackout" the right and left sides you can hide this (looks smoother). The small screen also mean that you are actually playing a emulated spec game like R-type. Seriously you can se the code has been directly copied over as it even has the 3k gap where the spec screen is :D
Hmm, the graphics aren't as good as I remembered them to be.
CaptainBanglawala 1 month ago
im 38 now and use to play this game back when i was 12 i think lol...anyway thanx for uploading magical memories..
milfhunter841 10 months ago
i remember the time i used to get through this game - i was simply just beyond godlike and thats no lie - i shot all the birds blindfolded
Thyrill 1 year ago
Another thing what i can't stand about the cpc464 is the awfull loading times..I mean for even the most basic of games, why the hell do they take so damn long to load, i loaded predator on the amstrad and c64 aswell as ghosts 'n goblins , ghost hunters, wonderboy, 1946, paperboy and the great giana sisters and it was pathetic to see how much longer it took the 464 to load and to top all that they were all worse versions with no atmosphere whatsoever!
azshaw123 1 year ago
@azshaw123 The producers of the original games are the ones who chose the loading speeds and they usually chose the safest rute (aka 1000 bps and multiple blocks). This is also the most userfiendly way as if something loads wrongly you can always just rewind one block back and wont have to reload from the beginning. Of cause if you dont like safe, then you could always just load the game and save it back at 3500-4000 bps (or faster but the limit of tapes being reliable ends there). Also you ..
CholoCPC 1 year ago
@CholoCPC Yes i suppose you have a point there as i have that block problem often especially with games by firebird..Thanks for that bit of knowledge now i am starting to understand how the amstrad operates a lot more...Nice to speak to someone with a bit of knowledge!
azshaw123 1 year ago
@azshaw123 can choose to not save in multiple blocks of cause and just 1-2 blocks/records instead (depending on size). I recall playing a couple of original c64 games back then those wasnt exactly fast either ;D Of cause today we know that the amstrad 6128 can cope with upto 12000 bps using the tape input. Check the "decicoder" or "otla" on youtube or google code, its a nice project for most 8bits to load faster. Of cause i think most people only loaded tapes once (to put the game onto 3" disc).
CholoCPC 1 year ago
@CholoCPC you are british?
Prolia13 1 month ago
@Prolia13 Im danish actually. But the amstrad game and cumputer is of english origin but was sold in the most of europe.
CholoCPC 1 month ago
Comment removed
azshaw123 1 year ago
C64 version has far more atmosphere in game..I played both last night on original machines and cant understand why the amstrad version wasted the music on the intro's and was allmost silent in the game.
azshaw123 1 year ago
@azshaw123 Well, with cpc its quite common to have no music ingame. It isnt because the cpc cant do it all in one go (gameplay+music+sfx all at the same time as its supported by the hardware), but usually because of space management. The screen is a wopping 16k at all times and 32k in overscan. A good tune usually also takes up a good 8-16k too. Many games are actually ported from spectrum (has 3k-ish screens) so recoding to the cpc they have to limit something or load it first like in a intro.
CholoCPC 1 year ago
@CholoCPC Good answer..Just another quicky...I have been comparing a few games which i have on both amstrad and commodore and have another issue which you maybe able to explain on one game in particular...Ghosts n' goblins..Why is the scrolling so damn bad..Was it just bad programming?
azshaw123 1 year ago
@azshaw123 Amstrads dont have any hardware sprite/scrooling unlike the C64. So programmers had to program a software scrool themselves EVERY time someone made a game. Not that the amstrad cant do good scrooling (especially now 25 years later when we know much more). but back in the 80' the poor people had to invent the wheel again and again. Ghost & Goblins and Green Beret is indeed not the best scroolers on the amstrad that is for sure. The Plus range of amstrad did have hardware scrooling tho.
CholoCPC 1 year ago
@azshaw123 Games with scrooling usually also have a smaller "action" window and/or is unusally slow too. Doing software scrooling usually mean that you can visually see where the screen is being drawn/cleared but if you "blackout" the right and left sides you can hide this (looks smoother). The small screen also mean that you are actually playing a emulated spec game like R-type. Seriously you can se the code has been directly copied over as it even has the 3k gap where the spec screen is :D
CholoCPC 1 year ago
Comment removed
azshaw123 1 year ago
Comment removed
azshaw123 1 year ago
I spent so many hours on this game! The sound effects brought it all back, thanks!
sydneytheduck 1 year ago
So many memories are coming back watching this.
Thanx nate.
alex76gr 1 year ago
Wow. this one looks like real gem, the animations really impressive for a budget title
VEGITA9000 2 years ago