CS
6464
How many times have I heard this ! As I have said
all along, we can never reproduce graphics like you can get on
a PC but we can have something very special when we use a 20Mhz
SuperCPU with 16mb ram capacity. When you get your head around
this fact then the possibilities are just mind blowing. A super
fast playing environment with nice graphics and smooth gameplay
is well within our grasp. So lets grab it now ! On this page we
have various attempts and components that 'could' form the basis
of a great game on the c64. I'm not suggesting for a minute that
all these features are possible when combined together but surely
some of them are ? In particular I'd like you to pay close attention
to the fully working version of MOOD, this has been done
on a stock c64 running at 1mhz - just imagine what could be accomplished
with 20mhz !
While we are here lets just bear in mind what would make a good/acceptable DOOM game on the c64. Personally, the graphics in MOOD are acceptable as we are dealing with an 8-bit computer so lets not get too carried away with secondary graphics processors or extra hardware which we don't need. If we could add to this the other key elements of DOOM such as the earie music and a bit more speed then I think we will be nearly there. Both these requirements are well with the scope of the c64 without any additional hardware (apart from the SuperCPU of course).
After all these years I can't believe we have gone backwards, we were nearly there in the late 90's and now we appear to be squabbling over minor details.
I don't want to hear from people who say "it can't be done" because it already has been done - it just needs tweaking ;-)
MOOD (by No Name) is - by far - the best attempt at a DOOM game. Utilizing a stock c64 machine the playability and smoothness of this are truly superb. Unfortunately no further development has been made on this since 2001 (I think). The features of this version are quite staggering with things like these : 100% Realtime 2000 Pixel Fullscreen 16 Color 3D Texture Mapping, 10 frames per second on a standard 1MHz C64, animated enemies, animated textures, animated objects, animated guns, collectable ammo, collectable objects, collectable guns, lockable doors, message printer and even sound effects. Future enhancements that were being worked on at the time were : A map function, options screen, new levels / textures / guns / enemies and improved sound effects. It is a real shame that this standard of programming genius has been lost over the years as this a superbly playable demo. Perhaps someone could pick up where these guys left of ?
RAY is by Ami Dog. Just as I begin to think everybody else may be right about it not being possible, something comes along to prove that it just 'may' be possible after all. Recently we had a get together and on discusion was how DOOM can't be done, one mention was that even if a 3D rendering maze could be done it would be too slow to use. But then this superbly smooth running 3D rendering maze came along. These are just a couple of screenshots from the superb 3D maze rendering engine. You will notice the added shading in this more recent 4bit / 16 colour FLI version (RAY4.PRG - on the disk). You'll need a SuperCPU to see it running but it is definately worth it.
Baccy's Nightmare is by The Dreams. This is only the maze part of it but if you have a SuperCPU then you are in for a treat, in fact, you will have to turn the speed down to make it playable. The walls are textured to a VERY high standard, in fact, some of them even move and have cycling graphics on them. The 'face' in the first two screenshots is constantly cycling vertically. The 'vines' twitch. If you run this in an emulator, run it at full speed to get the effect of the SuperCPU.
It doesn't appear that this version (which is actually newer in construction than MOOD) is currently being worked on. It is not easy to compare the two versions anyway as the programmers are not going in the same direction. Of the two, MOOD is clearly the more advanced for the type of game we are aiming for.
or NETHER (alpha 0.9) 
Despite the drawbacks that these games would have for a programmer to add 'baddies' and other features, these are truly awe inspiring worlds to move around in. A bit slow on a stock c64 but add the SuperCPU and then you are in a different universe altogether. The screenshots shown are : Castle Master 2, Total Eclipse and Driller.
and Castle Master 2 here
