Ring around the World received an update yesterday. Today is ArtPazz's and Follix's turn - but first comes the library they're built on: ALS.

v1.100 & v2.4 (18.3.2023)
* Removed dependency on mathtrans.library by replacing CN=2^LD with CN=1 : Rol.l LD,CN.

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

A couple of experiments done while brainstorming about a new game made with ALS.
The first effect is obtained basically at no processing cost, while the second one requires only the minimal cost of blitting a 2 bit mask. A stock Amiga 1200 can handle this without breaking a sweat.

VIDEO

To be honest, I'm at a loss regarding which game to make.
It all started with the itch of remaking the second game I ever made (and never publicly released), but while fiddling with ALS these effects came to mind - and they don't happen to be very suitable for that game.
So, I tried to think of alternatives, and the best idea I came up is a game where: there are two parallel worlds, a real (dangerous/dark) one and an illusory (pleasant/nice) one; the screen mostly shows the illusory world, but the character controlled by the player is inside a bubble around it that shows the real world or there's some mechanism that allows the player to somehow reveal the real world - e.g. with a sort of torch light. The problem with this idea is designing the game and producing the content (double graphics work!) - it's something I can't undertake now.
Also, a sports game is sorely missing from my catalogue, but so far I couldn't think of anything interesting.

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

@saimo

The first part of the video is quite impressive, feature and artistic wise. Congratulations

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Indigo 3D Lounge, my second home.
The Illusion of Choice | Am*ga

@pixie

Thanks!
(Just for the record, both effects are obtained with the same technique.)

Last edited by saimo on 23-May-2023 at 12:20 PM.

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

More experiments with ALS...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNVDGbproek

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

@saimo

Those are really nice. I especially liked the cross-fade effects.

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Doing stupid things for fun...

@Karlos

Quote:

Those are really nice.

Thanks!

Quote:

I especially liked the cross-fade effects.

Funny how that's the least interesting side to me - had I known, I'd have added cross-fading everywhere

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

@saimo

That's always the way though. The other examples are very cool too, no doubt about it.

I think that the cross-fade caught my eye because superficially at least it seems like something that would be very computationally intensive if done without some clever technique. It's clearly not using per pixel alpha blending but gives a similar visual effect.

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Doing stupid things for fun...

I get SCALA vibes from watching that :)

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B5D6A1D019D5D45BCC56F4782AC220D8B3E2A6CC

@saimo

That is awesome!

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@Karlos

Quote:

I think that the cross-fade caught my eye because superficially at least it seems like something that would be very computationally intensive if done without some clever technique. It's clearly not using per pixel alpha blending but gives a similar visual effect.

Correct, the blending isn't per-pixel, but per-layer and per-color (each layer has an alpha value of its own and each color of each layer has an alpha value of its own; the alpha values are in the range [0, 256]).
The calculations are indeed expensive, so the trick is to precalculate the palettes and then to simply write them to the COLORxx registers during the execution of the effects.


@kolla

I had no idea - never seen SCALA in action :D


@Yssing

Thanks!

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

Just released an update.

https://retream.itch.io/als

v1.101 and v2.5 (06.06.2023)
* Updated the documentation: expanded the sprites section in the manual (now it is a full crash course so that also who does not know how sprites work can use them); replaced a leftover with ALS_DISPLAYEDPLANESNUMBER; replaced bullet points (·) with asterisks (*).

v1.101 and v2.5 (05.06.2023)
* Removed ALS_GET_LAYER_DEPTH[].
* Renamed ALS_BUILD_DISPLAY_COPPERLIST*[] as ALS_BUILD_COPPERLIST*[].
* Replaced ALS_WAIT_NEXT_FRAME[] with ALS_WAIT_FRAME_END[] (it does the same thing, but it does in a better way, no longer requires the display to be on, no longer uses ADKCON.PRECOMP0 and the name reflects more accurately what it does).
* Added ALS_SET_PLANES_POINTERS_IN_COPPERLIST[].
* Optimized ALS_MAKE_DISPLAY_DESCRIPTOR[].
* Added ALS_DISPLAYEDPLANESNUMBER.
* Speed-optimized a few loops by replacing Repeat...Until with While...Wend.
* Updated demos: used ALS_SET_PLANES_POINTERS_IN_COPPERLIST[] in place of ALS_BUILD_COPPERLIST[] where appropriate; simplified font handling.
* Touched up the comments in the code.
* Revised/extended manual (in particular, added extensive information about using sprites with ALS).

Last edited by saimo on 08-Jun-2023 at 10:51 PM.

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC

Hotfix release.

https://retream.itch.io/als

v1.102 and v2.6 (08.06.2023)
* Fixed ALS_SET_PLANES_POINTERS_IN_COPPERLIST[] (due to a typo, it contained a division by 65535 instead of 65536).
* Optimized inner loops of ALS_BUILD_COPPERLIST[], ALS_BUILD_COPPERLIST_HEAD[] and ALS_SET_PLANES_POINTERS_IN_COPPERLIST[] (replaced Repeat...Until with a more efficient While...Wend).
* Improved a paragraph in the sprites section of the manual.

Last edited by saimo on 08-Jun-2023 at 10:51 PM.

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RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC