Kudos to pipper, who has gotten the somewhat infamous Alien Breed 3D 2 sources into a buildable, working state and has begun to fix and improve it.

See the thread on https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=111090

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@Karlos

Thanks for bringing this to my attention! AB3DII feels like a game that was released too soon, and any updated that can be done with it will only make it better.

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@amipal

Quote:

amipal wrote: @Karlos Thanks for bringing this to my attention! AB3DII feels like a game that was released too soon, and any updated that can be done with it will only make it better.

I concur.

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@amipal

Quote:

amipal wrote: @Karlos Thanks for bringing this to my attention! AB3DII feels like a game that was released too soon, and any updated that can be done with it will only make it better.

I agree. I made some inroads into getting it to build over 20 years ago, but gave up due to the seemingly intractable nature of it. For something that was a source release, it was very messy.

Essentially, it was just a directory dump, littered with different versions of code that followed no particularly logical naming convention other than prepending some bits with "new". Working out which bits are actually necessary and cleaning up the tree structure must've taken considerable effort but thanks to pipper's efforts that's done.

I haven't has time yet, but I can't wait to try it. A mod I'd written back then has also resurfaced which is very nostalgic because as far as I knew, I'd lost it.

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@Karlos

That is really awesome.

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@Karlos

That’s interesting regarding RTG, the simple solution is to stretch the graphics using composition. At least MorphOS and AmigaOS4, can do that, maybe not the same API, but at least it won’t look like a post it stamps in the middle of the screen. Not sure all OS4.1 API exposes to OS3.x applications/games, but small wrapper library won’t be too hard.

If it uses some kind copper interrupt, that code has to go, pritty sure its not supported.

Throw out any internal module player, and replace with ptreplay.library or something like that. And then fix sample effects.

Last edited by NutsAboutAmiga on 08-Aug-2022 at 08:40 PM.
Last edited by NutsAboutAmiga on 08-Aug-2022 at 08:39 PM.

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@NutsAboutAmiga

From an RTG perspective (no pun intended) I'm more interested to see if whatever interim colour value calculated for each pixel can be written to an RGB framebuffer directly rather than relying on rendering in 256 colours. Since the game made extensive use of shading, this seems like it could be quite a visual improvement.

Last edited by Karlos on 08-Aug-2022 at 10:07 PM.

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@amipal

Quote:

amipal wrote: @Karlos Thanks for bringing this to my attention! AB3DII feels like a game that was released too soon, and any updated that can be done with it will only make it better.

It was a glorified tech demo used to sell Blizzard accelerators with a game bolted on as an afterthought. I remember the press were using 1x1 pixel versions of AB3D1 levels to promote the game until quite soon before release! The AI and blood/robot grease explosions were shoddy!

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@BigD

I agree that the choice of gore explosion is just wrong for robots. That's why I changed it to an explosion in my mod.

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@Karlos

Quote:

Karlos wrote: I agree that the choice of gore explosion is just wrong for robots. That's why I changed it to an explosion in my mod.

Have you ever played NemacIV? It is IMHO one of the best FPS Games made for the Amiga, it has good RTG support, you will have only robots as opponents but great explosion effects.

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AB3D

I once played a demo version of AB3D and somehow it looked better and had more 'athmospere' than the final version ... I doesn't know why.

Last edited by OneTimer1 on 14-Aug-2022 at 07:57 PM.

@OneTimer1

I played the demo, it was fun. I think the best use of RTG was probably Genetic Species though. While the game engine and layout was simple, it took advantage of RGB display modes. When I get some time to look at the code properly rather than just skimming over it, I'd like to add RGB support to AB3D2. It has a lot of shading and blending effects that will look better without the 256 colour palette limitation.

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@OneTimer1

Quote:

AB3D I once played a demo version of AB3D and somehow it looked better and had more 'athmospere' than the final version ... I doesn't know why.

Project Osiris (yes I know it's PC only ) has a fleshed out tribute to the demo level. I haven't played it yet but I hear it's even got a boss battle!

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@BigD

The original Alien Breed 3D had two boss battles already. There was the walker thing that used to spam grenades all over the place (which I used to run backwards from so it would walk over it's own grenades) and the gigantic insectoid thing with rocket launchers at the end.

I completed the first game on an on unexpanded A1200. It was... Challenging. In later levels the frame rate was so poor you had to be psychic to know where some of the shots were coming from.

Later, when I got my first accelerator (was going to be a blizzard 1230-IV but then the Apollo 1240 appeared and I went for that), the game was completely different. Liquid smooth and much less difficult for it in those levels. Ever since, I've wanted to play it fullscreen 1x1. Going to need an RTG card to do it properly.

I've played Osiris. It's a fine homage but it also feels a little divorced, too. Although the irony of a doom clone ported to a doom port is somewhat nice.

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@Karlos

I competed it too and like you upgraded but while half way through the campaign. Played a lot of null modem 2-player deathmatch back in the day. The original bosses were fun but it can't harm to have one more! Especially since there was something unique about the atmosphere of the demo level! There was an open outside level towards the end of Doom 2 that reminds me of it!

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Here's a video of me sucking badly at the mod I wrote for TKG running on pipper's latest build:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qoA2IykmBc

First thing to note is that it's not running as fast as it can (using UAE), rather I've adjusted the performance to the point that the object animations are still sensible. It's running fullscreen 1x1 and full width at 320 (no borders). The speed is a little faster than as it was on my 040 at 2/3 screen size.

The most apparent bug is in the floor and ceiling textures which warp a bit. This is something to do with going to full 320 wide. Most likely a lookup table has values derived from the original width.

The controls have been modernised (set up for mouse and WASD) which I find a bit alien (no pun intended) and I'm blaming for my poor reflexes and shoddy aiming. Not being old or anything.

Also, the audio goes bad towards the end of the video. This was something in the capture and was not in the game.

Last edited by Karlos on 15-Aug-2022 at 03:52 PM.

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@Karlos

Very clever! However, please change the blood colour to red immediately! The robot explosions though are a marked improvement! Repetitive music but potential there.

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@Karlos

The big question is can we make this game fun?

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@BigD

How much music do you want for a 1 channel protracker mod with a total sample limit of less than 65K and no tempo control? Or at least that's how I remember it .. There was some other limitation on patterns too but I can't quite remember. It was decades ago.

Last edited by Karlos on 15-Aug-2022 at 03:54 PM.

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@Karlos

About the blood explosions, I think those are supposed to be aliens in mech suits, not robots, so, blood makes sense.

@vulture

I hadn't considered that. Anyway, the best bit about using explosions is they do damage. You will notice that I keep my distance from she shotgunner at the end. His death explosion causes splash damage. I use this for some of the weirder aliens that die sending out ball lightning plasma balls and similar nonsense.

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