[Cooljerk]

SANiK, on Apr 24 2008, 06:40 PM, said:

cooljerk - you're right but most of the stuff will have to be rewritten anyways.

E.g., no need for vsync timing to do palette effects to allow for more colors
Computers are powerful these days

I'd also go with using vectors/splines for collision data instead of using pixel maps
So this would require a rewrite as well

But another solution might be to just provide a flat-3D model of a map for use with the collision
And then a tilemap for the drawing

Mm, I agree with you, but that begs the question - is the aim of this project to be as accurate as possible? What amount of creative control will we exert in changing how the game works? Like, as you said, will we change the collision method, or leave it be?

[jman2050]

Cooljerk, on Apr 24 2008, 11:11 PM, said:

SANiK, on Apr 24 2008, 06:40 PM, said:

cooljerk - you're right but most of the stuff will have to be rewritten anyways.

E.g., no need for vsync timing to do palette effects to allow for more colors
Computers are powerful these days

I'd also go with using vectors/splines for collision data instead of using pixel maps
So this would require a rewrite as well

But another solution might be to just provide a flat-3D model of a map for use with the collision
And then a tilemap for the drawing

Mm, I agree with you, but that begs the question - is the aim of this project to be as accurate as possible? What amount of creative control will we exert in changing how the game works? Like, as you said, will we change the collision method, or leave it be?

If everyone is smart, we'll aim for perfect accuracy going strictly for improved graphics/music. Anything extra is just wasteful.

[Blue Streak]

I don't know offhand how many different palettes we'd need under your scheme, but the current thinking (as I recall) is 256 possible colors per 8x8 tile or 16x16 mapping. This would include at least one purely transparent color and would also imply a separate palette for each different tile I think. There must be a more efficient way to do it than that though. The other thing is that each color needs to be selectable from 255 R, G, B, and A values.

As for screen resolution, currently we're looking at 1280x960 or 1280x896 I think, four times what the Genesis uses.

[Cooljerk]

Blue Streak, on Apr 24 2008, 07:33 PM, said:

I don't know offhand how many different palettes we'd need under your scheme, but the current thinking (as I recall) is 256 possible colors per 8x8 tile or 16x16 mapping. This would include at least one purely transparent color and would also imply a separate palette for each different tile I think. There must be a more efficient way to do it than that though. The other thing is that each color needs to be selectable from 255 R, G, B, and A values.

As for screen resolution, currently we're looking at 1280x960 or 1280x896 I think, four times what the Genesis uses.

255 colors per tile map is doable, but it'll require some change.

The way I normally have it set up is one palette per layer, but like I said, it's flexible.

Also, each color under my graphics engine is already selectable from 255 R, G, and B values, with an additional 255 step being thrown in for alpha per layer. Additionally, when you draw a tile to a layer, you can choose to apply an alpha blend without blending the layer, but it's much slower.

[Athelstone]

jman2050, on Apr 25 2008, 04:30 AM, said:

If everyone is smart, we'll aim for perfect accuracy going strictly for improved graphics/music. Anything extra is just wasteful.

Yes, that is the aim of the project.

Quote

If he's not on the project (Taxman), why would I need to talk to him about anything?

Indeed, he is not programming for the project but very general advice from him might prove useful since he seems to have a lot of C++ experience.

[Athelstone]

Wow CJ, it looks like you've put some real effort into your graphics engine. Thanks for giving everyone the details of it, exciting stuff From the sounds of things it could serve the project very well indeed.

[Vincent]

That's indeed what we was looking for a graphics engine.

What about "video playback"?

[Cooljerk]

Vincent, on Apr 25 2008, 02:40 AM, said:

That's indeed what we was looking for a graphics engine.

What about "video playback"?

I believe SDL supports video playback, but I've never really used it.

looking it up real quick, it seems there are ways to play video using SDL, but they're all kinda wonky. Like, I can create an SDL_Layer as a YUV Overlay and then play video in the background using ffmpeg, but that's kinda run about. I guess I could let opengl handle video, but I'm not sure how openGL handles video.

Why would we need video, by the by.

[Vincent]

I asked this just for the curiosity of having a possible animated "ending" sequence with NeedleMouse.
There is no priority to implement it now, as this sequence will be drawn later on.

[Cooljerk]

Well, I'm sure I can do full video eventually, but the NeedleMouseImage (the editor) can create small scripted cutscenes. You just link animations together.

It'd be totally possible, and in fact extremely easy, to make something like Sonic 2's ending using nothing but the NeedleMouseImage.

For a long time, I've planned on including a tutorial with my graphics engine that'd teach people how to make various sega genesis logos using the editor.

[nineko]

Since I didn't read all the pages of the old long topic, did anyone figure out a good way to achieve Super Sonic's rotating palette?

[Quickman]

nineko, on Apr 25 2008, 01:11 PM, said:

Since I didn't read all the pages of the old long topic, did anyone figure out a good way to achieve Super Sonic's rotating palette?

I thought the best idea was to tint the sprite white and vary the opacity. Other people suggested other ideas.

[Cooljerk]

With my graphics engine, that's not necessary. You can simply change the palette entry for Sonic, just like you could with the genesis.

[JoseTB]

I could contribute to the project, but my time is quite limited right now to say the least.. I was actually planning about going open source with what I have, but well, I'd need quite some time to document it entirely to be honest.

I'm gonna suggest to let this project start open source from the very beginning - that way everyone will be able to add their part and eventually it might even get finished and everything.

[Athelstone]

JoseTB, on Apr 25 2008, 04:23 PM, said:

I'm gonna suggest to let this project start open source from the very beginning - that way everyone will be able to add their part and eventually it might even get finished and everything.

I'm quite happy to change the project plan to that, although before a final decision is made I wish first to see more advice or feedback on this issue from other programmers (Cooljerk and Jman in particular)