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Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 3:16 pm
by tepples
I updated Super Tilt Bro., added Ralph 4 and Lunar Limit, fixed patch processing in the builder, re-fixed autosubmulti's mirroring output, and began a refactor of game launching toward better RAM clearing and better separation of mapper-specific code. I also ran a check that all games at least boot.
infiniteneslives wrote:I don't feel that works which require licensing of that nature are fitting for the action53 project.
I was being a bit facetious to preempt others who would be similarly facetious, but thank you for clarifying policy about what INL does and doesn't want to handle. Now I have a post where I can point others who include unlicensed proprietary material in their entries.
dustmop wrote:
tepples wrote:New build.
Twin Dragons doesn't load at all for me in this build.
I noticed this too today when I was testing a refactoring related to RAM clearing. The cause was that this game sets the outer bank, which is fine (and desirable) alone but needs to be patched out when it's included in a multicart, and I made a mistaken change to a part of the builder that processes patches.
dustmop wrote:We should provide our own title screens, yes?
If you're referring to the picture displayed to the left of the game list or game description, preferably a representative in-game screenshot.
dustmop wrote:Looks like 3 colors, 56 tiles, drawn using sprites, correct?
Screenshots are 3 colors plus transparency, which is black. The builder assumes the same palette used by savtool.
dustmop wrote:Seems like the other 3 sprite palettes are unused. Would it be asking too much to use those as well?
One other sprite palette is used: the one for the arrow pointing at the tab for the active pane. As for making use of those two other sprite palettes, for a total of three, that might require changing the builder to allow manually specifying the palettes for each screenshot.

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 4:37 pm
by mikejmoffitt
Reposting this for clarification. Must the screenshot be a scaled representation of the full-screen, or can we do some editing and cropping so that it has a fighting chance to actually look good?

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 8:18 pm
by tepples
I forget what the consensus was, but the discussion began here.

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 9:02 pm
by pubby
I think the cropped screenshots look slightly better. Showing the main character of a game is really descriptive.

Also, I fixed a rarely-occurring crash in Lunar Limit so I'll attach a new rom to this post. Thank you for working on this, tepples.

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 11:32 pm
by na_th_an
That was my opinion, I'd rather have representative crops, but it seems that most people favoured the full screenshot. I produced and posted images for my games, just in case.

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 9:59 pm
by infiniteneslives
I feel creators should be more than welcome to provide their own graphic if they would like.

Perhaps this is something we could suggest/recommend entrants provide with their submission in the future.

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 4:27 am
by RogerBidon
Here Super Tilt Bros. previously made cropped screen.

It seems the discussion did not end on an explicit consensus. From what I understood:

Pro cropped screenshot:
  • Often look better
Pro scaled screenshot:
  • Like previous A53 editions
  • Like "PlayStation Interactive CD Sampler volumes 7" which inspired A53 menu
  • Easy to produce in semi-automated fashion
  • All screenshots following the same rules improve consistency
  • A screenshot for each game has actually been produced
Developers tend to prefer cropped, making the debate balanced: more supporters for crop, more arguments in favor of scaled.

I am personally now neutral on this matter.

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 7:36 am
by infiniteneslives
Do we need a consensus? Can entrants just make the decision for their own game as they see fit and everyone be okay with that? If they choose to not provide their own artwork then, the generic zoomed version that's already created will be used.

Feels like we're making a big deal about a relatively minor thing. Am I missing something?

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 7:44 am
by tepples
Mostly it's a matter of consistency: "Why are these zoomed in and these others zoomed out?"

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 7:52 am
by infiniteneslives
I don't see why creative work needs to be consistent I guess..

If someone complains/asks, telling them the choice was up to the game developer should be enough for them I'd think..

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 10:52 am
by rainwarrior
infiniteneslives wrote:Do we need a consensus? Can entrants just make the decision for their own game as they see fit and everyone be okay with that? If they choose to not provide their own artwork then, the generic zoomed version that's already created will be used.

Feels like we're making a big deal about a relatively minor thing. Am I missing something?
I agree with this completely, though I am not an entrant.

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 12:51 pm
by tokumaru
I'm also not an entrant, but my vote goes towards consistency, even though the full screenshots sometimes don't look very good or particularly representative of their respective games. It would maybe help if the game pictures themselves weren't under such severe color restrictions in favor of the surrounding interface, which isn't even that good looking TBH.

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 9:48 am
by JRoatch
I tried making cropped versions for the rest of the games for comparison.
fullscreen-vs-cropped.png

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 1:05 pm
by tepples
It was pointed out to me privately that like Slappin' Bitches from volume 1, Sinking Feeling has text in its intro that could wreck a hypothetical E10+ rating. So in the next build, I'll replace "GODDAMN" with "G.D." and "FUCKING" with "ONLY". I'll suggest something to a similar effect in the volume 4 planning topic as well.

And allow me to explain the placement of Wo xiang niao niao: Because each team can place only once, I have considered each team's entries as a unit. Thus if 4th place goes to The Mojon Twins, I put all their stuff in the 4th place slot, above 5th place and the runners-up.
tokumaru wrote:It would maybe help if the game pictures themselves weren't under such severe color restrictions in favor of the surrounding interface, which isn't even that good looking TBH.
Improving the appearance of the menu is something I'm willing to discuss for volume 4.

Re: Action 53 volume 3

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2017 2:07 pm
by Myask
You're using all four BG palettes for that black-gray-white menu & TV boundary?

Now, if we had some means of shrinking images into black+18 colors… (would require scroll split or a height increase of the TV to get around attribute clash of it being 8x7).

[hr]
It was pointed out to me privately that like Slappin' Bitches from volume 1, Sinking Feeling has text in its intro that could wreck a hypothetical E10+ rating.
And for those of us opposed to and offended by censorship?