PATCH: Splitscreen Keen 1

Completed patches for Keen1.
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MultiMania
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PATCH: Splitscreen Keen 1

Post by MultiMania »

While Searching for Bits of code neccecary to make a 256 Colour Keen, I tried some random screen modes.

The result of this is that with this patch; you get a Hi-Res; Splitscreen Keen 1!

It does look wired though; and no Smooth Scrolling.

Code: Select all

%ext ck1

%version 1.31

#Change the Screen Mode to 0Eh
%patch 0x6E47 $0E

%end
Note: This will not work with the Palette Patch.
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CommanderSpleen
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Woo. Trippiness.

Post by CommanderSpleen »

Nice. I presume the double-screened effect is something to do with the page flipping.

It'll certainly be classy if you can get a 256-color mode (or even a high-res EGA mode) working glitch-free.

>Commander Spleen
KeenRush
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Post by KeenRush »

Indeed.. :) I'll try it today later when I get home.
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adurdin
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Post by adurdin »

Neat stuff -- 256 colour Keen would be a sight to behold!
I presume you're aiming to use one of the so-called "Mode X" modes? I don't see much hope for using mode 13, as you need multiple pages for the smooth scrolling, and for storing all the sprites and tiles in video memory. And speaking of which, don't forget that the sprites & tiles would take up twice the memory for the same size...
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levellord
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Post by levellord »

Mmmm, nice; but when yu think about it, not that useful. I don't like the compressed look.
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XkyRauh
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re: split

Post by XkyRauh »

It makes running left to right feel unnecissarily slow. What'd really be cool is if you could display different tiles on the two screens--say a maze that needed to be navigated using both screens in tandem. Block on the right, ceiling on the left, etc. :-)

--Xky
lemm
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Post by lemm »

If you enter SVGA 256 colour modes and enable "flat real" processor mode to use 32-bit offsets, then you can directly access the linear frame buffer.

I tried drawing a line to the screen (in DOSBOX) using that method and it worked. I suppose it would be possible to patch keen to do that, but it would take a lot of work.

Anyways it's just an idea...
levellass
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Post by levellass »

I personally don't think it will ever be utilized.
Stealthy71088
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Post by Stealthy71088 »

On some computers, if you minimize keen after you have it running, and reenter the program, it will go into split screen mode. But graphical copies of the sprites that appear on the screen get stuck in the middle bar, and its annoying.
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Flyingmouse
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Post by Flyingmouse »

As a random find, the screen size will squeeze upward if values higher than 0E are put. For example,

Code: Select all

#Change the Screen Mode to 12h 
%patch 0x6E47 $12
will appear to be 4-screen (with the vertical height of the screens changed), but the pallete is horribly messed up and the bottom two screens will flash with random gibberish. 13 will put multiple, flashing, near-impossible-to-view screens, and any value past 14 will not start the game at all.
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