WIP August 13, 2009

8/13/2009 3:38:59 PM

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Well what a week so far. As mentioned in the BETA I want to get out regular releases from now on as it not only puts a deadline on things for me, but allows everyone else something new to play with.

The last few days I've been working on getting a 3D television into RetroCopy. The old 2D version whilst cool in some ways, simply didn't do all that it needed to do. On high resolution displays it only took up a fraction of the real estate which made it look quite amateur hour.

So what do you need in a 3D television? Well lots probably, but here is what I added :-

1) A 3D TV, goes without saying I guess. The model has a curved screen which the emulated display goes on.
2) The ability to move around a virtual world so you can choose the angle you want
3) Phosphor glow emulation. The screen actually emits light which lights up the environment, including the TV itself.

Check it out in the video below.

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10 responses to WIP August 13, 2009

MarshMellow wrote:

8/14/2009 10:42:21 AM

Wow looks cool good work! I like the way it glows. So this will be in the next beta this friday?

RetroRalph wrote:

8/14/2009 6:57:15 PM

Yep it will be in v0.200b, which should be released today if things go well.

tommy1983 wrote:

8/16/2009 7:58:27 PM

The virtual world and 3D TV look great! A few other things I would like to see in the virtual world: The console you're playing (and gamepad) - with the cartridge of the game you're playing inserted. We should also be able to select which version of the Master System we want to use. A virtual bookcase where you can see the boxes of all the games you have, would also be cool. With a few clicks, you would be able to take the game you want to play out of the bookcase, look at the box - and open it, and then take out the cartridge and insert it into the console. There are also scans of SMS manuals on Internet, so it would be cool if you were also able to take the manual out of the box and read in it - in the same way you can with the boxes.

Perhaps it would also be interesting to have more than one TV in the virtual world? Play SMS on one TV and NES on the other... :)

RetroRalph wrote:

8/17/2009 8:44:50 AM

Hey that's quite a feature list there Tommy. Feel like helping with getting the scans on the site? ;)

tommy1983 wrote:

8/17/2009 3:20:04 PM

Sure, I'll be glad to help in any way I can! But I don't have that many manuals myself to scan. As you probably know, many manuals can be found at http://www.smstributes.co.uk/allgameswithmanuals.asp and http://www.smspower.org/scans/

One extra feature on my wish-list: The option to control the volume. In the virtual world, this could be done by using one of the buttons on the TV. And one bug I'm not sure if you are aware of: Rewinding with FM sound does not always work so well. If starting to rewind when there is no sound (for example after you've lost a life) the music does not come back when you're gone back to the point before you were hit. This is at least the case with both Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars and Captain Silver. In Wonder Boy in Monster Land the music does not disappear, but there is a beeping sound until you use your sword or jump, which makes it go away.

RetroRalph wrote:

8/17/2009 7:43:20 PM

Well basically someone, at sometime is going to have to collect all the relevant images and put them somewhere that is reliable and that has available bandwidth. This server fits both the bills so it might as well be used like that.

The images will also need to resized and ensure they fit into RetroCopy's 3D world nicely (most will by default). At the moment the SMS box size is 1248x800 . So basically , each cover will be 1248x800 , and 200-250KB in size (you can adjust jpg quality to find the right balance). So if you want to get started on collecting them from various sites and resizing/adjusting them then it would be a big help.

I'm going to have to write a program which allows multiple covers and things of this nature, but the actual collection process has to be done first. The more help the better!

tommy1983 wrote:

8/18/2009 1:49:35 PM

I have now started the process of collecting, adjusting and resizing all SMS box-scans to 1248x800. But what size should I use for Japanese Mark III "Gold Cartridge"-scans? Since I don't own one of these, I'm not sure of the actual size of these compared to the export boxes, only that they are much smaller... If you plan to use this in the virtual world, they should be smaller there too. Also, scans of the Japanaese boxes only show the front, and sometimes the back of the box. That can be a problem when making 3D models of them. I guess the solution is to just colour the sides in the 3D model with the same gold colour the front and backside use...

RetroRalph wrote:

8/18/2009 8:37:54 PM

For incomplete images the best solution is to simply color in a blank image as best as possible. In the SMS case if you only had the front cover then you would make a 1248x800 image, place the front cover in appropriate position and just fill the rest with black or something. However don't worry about cases like this yet.

The japanese ones will have to be investigated also, knowing real world units is certainly important when fitting them. Could you post an example 1248x800 cover you've done on imageshack so I can just make sure you're going on the right path. That way if there are any issues they can be corrected now, I might have forgotten to say something special about it and it would be better to find out now than after you've done a 100 images. :)

tommy1983 wrote:

8/19/2009 5:04:35 PM

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/2634/euractionfighterv2.jpg

RetroRalph wrote:

8/19/2009 6:47:10 PM

Yeah that is fine, I just put it into RC and it looked good. So keep up the good work. :)

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