New features update:
* Everything running in real NES resolution. All done at NES native 256*240 then double scaled at render-time to 512*480, snugly fitting our 640*480 screen/window, with a 64-pixel wide border at each side.
* Finally reworked my street background to use NES capable tiled graphics.
* All sprites now use 16 colours.
* Added in a sprite flicker routine. So that when more than 64 sprite cells (8*8 ) are visible, it rotates which ones get dropped out, just like games had to do, in order to deal with the 64 cell limitation of the NES OAM-Hardware-sprite memory.
This afternoon I had a few hours free to work on a new spangley feature:
THE OLD 80’s PORTABLE TV EFFECT!The problem for me whenever I play an old game on an emulator is that it just doesn’t
feel the same. A large part of this is because you see it on a monitor with crystal clear colours and razor sharp pixels.
So let’s not just emulate the old console hardware. Let’s emulate what it was actually like to play in the 80’s on a crappy portable TV.
When I was playing on my c64 or NES back in the 80’s, it was very rare that I was ever allowed to use the
BIG TELLY in the family living room. In fact it was only when my parent’s were out and the babysitter was taking care of us.
So I always played on the old crappy portable TV with a wobbly v-sync. Due to the crappy RF cables leading to the TV, the image was always screwed by anything emitting a radio pulse. The major culprits were my mam with the hoover (constantly), my sister with the hair-dryer or my dad with the lawnmower.
So now this game doesn’t just emulate the NES hardware, it also emulates 80’s portable TV’s and the experience of being a kid in the 80’s, trying to get a good reception with everything else in the house buggering up the picture. That’s just about as retro as I can make it.
Some screens, with the portable-TV effect going nuts:
Cheers,
Nick
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