Wide Screen / Play Area Shape

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infinite-recursion
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Wide Screen / Play Area Shape

Post by infinite-recursion »

Hi, I have just discovered Rocks'n'Diamonds, and it looks great. Until now, I had played the original Emerald Mine using WinUAE.

One question: The play area is square. In the original Amiga game, it is rectangular (about 20x15 tiles). Is it possible to change the shape in R'n'D so that it matches the original game? I have seen some old disussions on 'wide screen mode' on this forum which seem to suggest that it is possible in principle, but there does not seem to be a setting that is available on the frontend.

Thanks!
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Holger
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Re: Wide Screen / Play Area Shape

Post by Holger »

Hello infinite-recursion, welcome to the R'n'D forum! :)
One question: The play area is square. In the original Amiga game, it is rectangular (about 20x15 tiles). Is it possible to change the shape in R'n'D so that it matches the original game? I have seen some old disussions on 'wide screen mode' on this forum which seem to suggest that it is possible in principle, but there does not seem to be a setting that is available on the frontend.
Yes, that's right. The default screen settings are somewhat "special" with regard to the included classic level sets.

But at least when you want to play Emerald Mine level sets as close to the Amiga as possible, but with all those R'n'D features like tape recorder and central high score server, it's best to just use the "Emerald Mine Club level collection" from the R'n'D levels page:

https://www.artsoft.org/rocksndiamonds/levels/

It's the first level set on that page, and it includes not only the three original Emerald Mine level sets, but also those many Emerald Mine Club level sets, created by various players all over the world.

This level collection aims to be as close to the original game as possible. It uses not only the (nearly) "correct" playfield size, but also original graphics, sounds and music. You can even decide if you prefer the original graphics from the Amiga 500 (ECS chipset with less colors) or the Amiga 1200 (AGA chipset with more colors), and if you prefer the original sounds from the Amiga 500 (low-pass filtered sounds) or the Amiga 1200 (sounds without filter). :-D

Please give it a try and let me know if it works for your nostalgic requirements. ;-)
infinite-recursion
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2023 11:24 am

Re: Wide Screen / Play Area Shape

Post by infinite-recursion »

Oh, that's very nice! It really combines the look and feel of the original with the amenities of a modern software. Much appreciated! Also, the ability to skip that pesky level that has held up the teamwork campaign I'm doing with my son for months now is worth it alone...

One marked difference is that R'n'D does not seem to differentiate between single player and teamwork levels, i.e. there are not two different level sets depending on player number. I see that the teamwork levels appear as level 80+, so they are there and not much is lost. But of course, the progression is then slightly different, and you also run into single-player-only levels with only one exit or only one set of keys.

In the original game, when one player dies, pressing a button quits the level - here, all have to die first, or you have to use ESC. That has some advantages, and is not a major point in any case.

I'm generation A500, so it's low pass filter for me!
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