I've been working through Pool of Radiance, and also playing Iridis Alpha.8-bit home computers are peak gaming. Just limited enough to force developers to be skilled at working with certain constraints.
>nobody plays 8-bit computer games hereHow is it that each day a dozen Sega and Nintendo and Sony threads get made, yet nobody plays 8-bit games?Every single game enjoyed today has an 8-bit prototype, many of which are not just enjoyable, but objectively great even versus modern day games. Some remain fundamentally unchanged, just with better and more real-time and perhaps more irritating graphics and overly-complicated rule sets.
>>12751893Sidewize on Spectrum is a cool shmup. Great sound effects.
>>12752656
>>12752821When it comes to games, the Spectrum is the greatest and most essential 8-bit micro.
>>12752912C64 has more games and better colors.
>>12752960The C64 is a console in a computer’s shell. It’s not a real micro.
>>12752969They tried to make it into a console but failed. Ironically under different leadership, just like with C64, Amiga was made into a console and the farm was bet upon it.Too bad pic related was a "best of" CD32 title.
>>12752596You answered your own question. Nearly every 8-bit computer game worth playing or decently fun had a port to a 16/32-bit computer or a game console that was superior to the original.Yes, you can play the original Choplifter on Apple II, but you can also play the far superior SMS or even Arcade ports instead. You can play Wizardry 1 in it's original Apple II form, but why not play the SNES or PS1 ports of the game that made transferring your party to the next game effortless and added in improved monster graphics and actual graphics for the dungeon besides the wireframe? Wanna play the Infocom text adventures? They are z-machine, so they've all been ported to DOS and nearly every other platform.What is left is mostly turn-based strategy games from Avalon Hill, SSI, and other early publishers that typically required use of a map or other extras that came with the game, and where enemy turns would take 5-20 minutes since everything was coded in fucking BASIC. Eastern Front 1941 was some groundbreaking shit back when it released, but only the most grognard of grognard old-school strategy game players can stomach how limited and plain it is compared to turn-based strategy games released 5-6 years later on DOS. Oh, and the early 'graphical' adventure games from Sierra that look like they were drawn by a 6 year old, that were just meh text adventures with poor graphics to look at.
>>12752960sure about that, incel?
>>12753076>Nearly every 8-bit computer game worth playing or decently fun had a port to a 16/32-bit computer or a game console that was superior to the original.Didn't always mean the game play was better or even as good.That's the thing. Take Choplifter, it's nice. Smooth. Despite the Apple being crippled with no sprites or other graphics hardware, it's nice. An SNES version, if it existed, would hardly be worth it.
>>12753198The SMS and Arcade ports of Choplifter are superior though, the Apple II original only had the one level and was relatively easy to master since it didn't throw very many enemies at you. The Arcade port has 4 levels and the SMS port seems to be based off of that but cuts out the 4th level. Both run smoother than the Apple II original in addition to looking much nicer, as well as having much more challenge.
>>12753404>the Apple II original only had the one level and was relatively easy to master since it didn't throw very many enemies at you. The Arcade port has 4 levels and the SMS port seems to be based off of that but cuts out the 4th level. Both run smoother than the Apple II original in addition to looking much nicer, as well as having much more challenge.That's valid. But there are "+" versions of the Apple II version of the game which are endless.
OK my wife made me turn off Iridis Alpha because of the flashing and blinking.
>>12751893I've been playing some Darkhorn. It's a nifty little RTS game, fairly primitive but with some cool ideas. Instead of harvesting resources and building bases like in later RTSs it's all about gaining control of certain terrain areas where you can recruit units. It has a rock-paper-scissors unit triangle like The Ancient Art of War. But as each faction has different relations with different unit types, the maps play very differently depending on which faction you choose.The tactical battles suck though, but they can be opted out of (apart from the last mission in the single player campaign). And the controls aren't great, but I guess it had to compromise to accommodate the four-player mode.
>>12753468I like that font. Avalon Hill makes it promising. I will try it.
>>12751893Wasteland
>>12753461its one of the most dangerous games known to man. Jeff Minter has a nasty streak and that game is him trying to damage the player
>>12752821It's remarkable how much better looking games are on the Amstrad CPC
>>12752596Old computer games fucking suck. They are less fun than Atari games.
>>12753131
>>12752596Because vr is a bunch of zoomies who would have a stroke if having to actually read the manual.Plus, no major influencers and getting recommendations is too hard for them( v recs is garbage for anything not dos).But yeah, most modern stuff has a 8 bit prototype. My latest example is plague inc concept existing decades ago in the form of Epidemic!, made by ssi.
>>12754169Shame about the performance.
>>12754169>lower resI thought the opposite, it’s remarkable how well the Spectrum holds up as a computer released years earlier at half the price
>>12754169
>>12754654its funny how not a single version looks remotely alike, even basic numeral fonts are completely different
>>12754940Jeff Minter said when he made a new game he would make the font first because it 'set the tone for the game.'His book's free on his site. It's a good book because he's pretty smart and also, humble. And he was there at the time, doing it.
>>12754169>>12754654but only one of these actually scrolls and plays worth a damn and its the one with the ugly palette, so it wins by default.
>>12751893
>>12753076>chatgpt slop>>12754940it's not easy to port assets from machine to machine when the graphics formats are entirely different, if they were given any by the original developers. most times the people doing the ports aren't given shit to work with except the original game to play. assets are reused from other projects to make up for it.
>>12755337yeah, of the original ones the c64 is the smoothest:https://youtu.be/jqVXuBfEW-gif we cheat a bit and include modern homebrews (the MSX is one, and not even finished yet), the other micros have very respectable showings.CPC: https://youtu.be/2-klEY7vsxcMSX: https://youtu.be/j0T0l9bleRMSpectrum: https://youtu.be/REa6UJ0Y1so
>>12755350>it's not easy to port assets from machine to machine when the graphics formats are entirely differentGetting the right shape for a 1bpp numeral should be easy. More like the devs said, "I don't like this so I'll do it my way"
Cool thing I found about today:A Xenon 2 Spectrum port prototype that failed to find a publisher in 1991, released in 2024 & modded with an AY tune from the Atari ST version.The spam filter doesn't let me link to the download page / online emu, the URL can be found on the youtube video description.https://youtu.be/zamqKMWx8Qg
>>12754326what about old Atari computer games
>>12756503Retro-pill me on Atari computers, I know the 800 was hot stuff.
>>12754169Not in movement lmao
>>12757080The 800 exclusives were great. The ports were shit.Same as Atari st.Best atari st game for me is the sundog remake, aka 8 bit starfield.
>>12755350>couldn't even follow the repliesSharty isn't sending their best.
>>12757273I wouldn't just say exclusives, but also most games that had the 800 as primary/development platform. Bruce Lee & Mercenary, both multiplatform, play great on the 800 for instance.Anon mentioned Stealth on another thread, haven't played it but it looks pretty good.
>>12757080see also >>12757371
Here's a couple of cool Atari 8bit demos:https://youtu.be/UuWEEms1IX4https://youtu.be/CYNItr19RUohttps://youtu.be/6ua8mZx-6sk
>>12757080>I know the 800 was hot stuff.it was, especially the Atari 800 XL.if you do a like for like comparison against the Commodore 64 with the same game then the 800XL version wins, every time.
>>12757573Is there any case where the same game was implemented specifically for both machines and neither is a port, so to speak?
>>12751893I don't know if this counts because it shipped with the Ultimate, but I've been playing Jupiter Fracture and it's a lot of fun. The music and graphics are really impressive for a C64.
>>12759013Try Axis Assassin. You can get it if you use the Spiffy alternate firmware, from the online search utility. I just got a huge games pack from Internet Archive and put that in the internal SD card slot along with the High Voltage SID Collection.
>>12759016I don't want to put alternative firmware on my machine but if you link me to the games pack you got from the archive I'll check it out.
>>12759019It's a soft patch, so you don't have to mess with the official firmware. Trust me it's good, the whole community uses it.
>>12759024Got any more info?
>>12759064Just search for C64U spiffy patch, but there's a newer patch some people are trying called perkele patch which is a fork of the spiffy patch.
>>12756360honestly very impressive for a spec. Better than the lumpy 8x8 character block movement of r-type which is generally considered a 'great' port.
>>12759592Yeah, it's pretty amazing for the time. Also check out what a modern homebrew can do:https://youtu.be/GAEP5593amo
>>12759592Spectrum ports are always shit, but it has some incredible original games. Lords of Midnight is done entirely in BASIC, so is Doomdark's Revenge. If you haven't played those games you're missing out.
>>12759626>Spectrum ports are always shitNah, there's many competent ports even if they weren't the definitive versions.Bruce Lee, Chase HQ & Rodland, to name a couple.
>>12759631*there are
>>12759626yeah well aware, im a c64 oldfag so the spec was 'the enemy' at the time but even now I can appreciate it had some belters. 'Chaos' is in my top 10 of all time. Also have soft spots for skool daze and Wheelie which is fundamentally shit but I enjoy it for some reason.
>>12759601>Someone posts some cool looking Spectrum homebrew>Its 128k only
>>12753076>remakes are ok so long as the remake itself is also retro
>>12757080>Retro-pill me on Atari computersLightyears ahead of its contemporaries but got wrecked by Atari's horrific management. I'd even argue Atari's 8-bit computers were even more mismanaged than the 2600 was.
>>12760238atari was such a shit company, then again so were all the other american companies
>>12760032That's the vast majority of quality speccy homebrews, mate.
>>12760761No, 128k sucks, there’s a reason Sam Coupe didn’t bother adding compatibility for it. Only people who don’t actually like the Spectrum focus all their attention on 128k.
>>12761217>official ZX Spectrum model made by Sinclair Research in the 80s is for people who don’t actually like the Spectrum
>>12760238There are some demo crews making Atari 800 stuff now that's pretty impressive, even to C64 sceners. >>12761217How active is the Speccy scene these days? C64 scene sees 20-50+ releases a week or more now.
>>12760751>then again so were all the other american companiesExcept for Microsoft but that's because Billy Boy was a devious motherfucker. He cucked IBM hard with the whole PC-DOS/MS-DOS thing, even selling MS-DOS to IBM's clone competitors
>>12761346Something happened to him one day, he was always a nepobaby but his BASIC was solid. DOS as a standard was related to the death of a real gentleman who had the pre-existing competitor of which DOS was only a bare semi-clone.RIP Gary. IMHO Bill knows more about this than anybody.
>>12761281Yes. The inclusion of the AY-3, while a good chip, just made the computer more derative, almost every 8-bit machine already had it. The beeper is the heart and soul of the Spectrum in my view, it’s a far more striking feature. And the AY-3 was clearly added to make the computer more viable as a gaming machine, going against the original spirit of the computer as far as I’m concerned.
>>12761346>He cucked IBM hard with the whole PC-DOS/MS-DOS thing, even selling MS-DOS to IBM's clone competitorsIBM cucked themselves. They viewed software the same way car manufacturers view motor oil, the stuff you have to bundle with your product to make it go. They genuinely couldn't comprehend that it was possible for a software company to fuck them over. They also believed their BIOS couldn't be cloned, and customers would always stick with them just because of their name. It's impossible to overstate how arrogant IBM was in the 80s. They thought they could just waltz in the microcomputer market, BTFO all the minnows, monopolize everything the way they were monopolizing mainframes, and nobody would have any objections because they were fucking IBM and fighting them is futile.It's ironic that modern Microsoft is behaving in the exact same way.
>>12761506Why did they go full retard again with OS/2 after this?
>>12761506No no, Bill Gates' mom was a board member of IBM and a protege of Warren Buffet. It was pure nepotism.
>>12761517Cause Topview was a shitshow and they thought they still take back control of the PC somehow. Wishful thinking basically.>>12761519His mom got him though the door but the PC/MS-DOS deal was all them. The fact that no eyebrows were raised when Bill asked for non-exclusivity is pure incompetence.
>>12761525>but the PC/MS-DOS deal was all themWhat? They bought it at the last second from some dude.BASIC was all them, I'll give you that. But DOS? No.
>>12761532>but the PC/MS-DOS deal was all them>What? They bought it at the last second from some dude.By "all them," I meant IBM. They were they ones who got bamboozled and signed an obviously shit deal. DOS was literally some dude's CP/M copy.
>>12761217>No, 128k sucksI wasn't being facetious, most of the best games released in the past decade (Spectral Interlude, Sword of Ianna, Aliens Neoplasma, Northern Lights...) are for the 128k, so you're missing out. Mister Kung Fu does have a 48k version, though.>>12761490>And the AY-3 was clearly added to make the computer more viable as a gaming machine, going against the original spirit of the computer as far as I’m concerned.You're exaggerating. You could buy external AY soundcards (Fuller Box, DK'Tronics, etc...) for the 48k and some games supported them.Anyhow, I get what you're saying about the beeper so here's some Tim Follin:https://youtu.be/z8cRpB1TYB4>>12761319>How active is the Speccy scene these days?Not as big as the c64 one, but pretty healthy. The Spanish & Russian scenes are particularly strong, with yearly gamedev contests and the like. In terms of raw numbers, spectrumcomputing lists 174 software releases (mostly games) in 2026 so far.
>>12752912Clive hated video games btw
>>12761346>raped IBM>raped MSX>raped Apple>raped Netscape>raped Sega>raped RarewareWhat the fuck was Bill's problem?
>>12762010Yet he inadvertently made the best gaming machine of the era. Based
>>12762235Speccy might be OK at best but the best, really? Let's not get carried away. Everybody knows the C64 was the best gaming machine of the era.
>>12762226>What the fuck was Bill's problem?Ask Epstein or the WEF. But my guess is "being deeply evil".
>>12761752>spectrumcomputingbased i am checking this out
