Raybee has announced a highly ambitious project to bring the iconic 1994 PC DOS shoot-'em-up Raptor: Call of the Shadows over to the Commodore Amiga. Fuelled by 1990s computer science class nostalgia, the creator is spearheading the development process by using AI assistance to translate the original game code and write the necessary Amiga-specific backend. Technically, the project builds upon the open-source skynettx/raptor repository under a GPL-2.0 license, which itself relies on the impressive reverse-engineering work originally achieved by programmer nukeykt.
The port has already hit major milestones, successfully booting into its native 320x200 resolution on a Picasso96 RTG graphics screen with fully working menus, keyboard, and mouse support. While it runs smoothly under WinUAE emulation on a heavy-duty 68060 setup with JIT enabled, performance on an actual Amiga 1200 equipped with a PiStorm is a bit sluggish as the developer shifts focus toward audio stabilization using the AHI system. The ultimate goal is to optimize the shooter so it glides smoothly on standard "sixties" accelerators and PiStorm systems alike. Testing will soon open to the community on real hardware once a few audio bugs are flattened, though players will need to supply their own original game data files—such as the 1994 Classic Edition available on Steam—to jump into the cockpit.
- The original game files are required to run it. Raptor: Call of the Shadows (1994 Classic Edition) on Steam.
[UPDATE] A new build has been released with the following being said "After unpacking, Raptor should launch with sound and music by default!!! For me, it runs smoothly on winUAE and on an A1200 with PiStorm + CaffeineOS. On an A2k 060 + CV64/3D, when everything is turned on, it can't cope, but with the NOMUSIC parameter – full speed. There are still a few shortcomings, but I must admit that I’ve already played it quite a bit on both the A2k and winUAE. Remember to only use Raptor file versions 1.2 and make sure only one music parameter is without brackets."
Links :1) Source 2) Download 0.9.6
Also on the topic of Raptor Call of the Shadows. There's another version that might be worth trying out and that's from Astair86. An RTG version that should be playable on high end Amiga's such as a Vampire/PiStorm. Although he does state you will need to copy over the required GLB files as Sound files are 8-bit already converted.
An 060.. wow.
ReplyDeleteI recently bought this game on steam for a few bucks.
Cool to see it has been ported to an Amiga too but jeez..those hardware requirements are steep
AmigaFrance is reporting this "Works perfectly on a simple 68030 and 4MB of fast RAM"
DeleteWe need a proper Amiga conversion at 50Hz.
ReplyDeleterelatively easy to port to Vampire game, it's already cool. Vampire users must be very happy. Probably hard to port to classic amigas without a lot of rework & downscaling.
ReplyDeleteAmigaFrance is reporting this "Works perfectly on a simple 68030 and 4MB of fast RAM"
DeleteNice graphics.... but once again, the hardware requirements of Amiga games these days are just extraordinary. This game appears to run at 16fps at the moment - far below the 50fps of Hybris and the 50/25 mixed fps of Battle Squadron. Those two games require only a basic OCS Amiga with 512K RAM. And although one might say that the graphics in Raptor are somewhat better than Hybris/Battle Squadron, they are not dramatically so. You got way more bang for your buck in the days of the OCS Amiga.
ReplyDeleteOn PC, Raptor needed at least a 386/40 MHz for smooth action, that means on Amiga side at least a 68030/25 MHz. The 68030 CPUs are still clearly faster than 386's. I remember some had already Pentiums when they played Raptor on their PCs. Although graphics are not great, there are more objects on screen than in typical amiga games, like Hybris, and also shadows of each objects. Moreover, a direct conversion of 256 colors VGA graphics is not going to be fast on Amigas, which used less bitplanes and copper, blitter and hardware sprites to make all drawing (copper for more colors), and not needing a fast CPU. Unlike on PC's where CPU is used to draw all gfx on screen.
DeleteI agree, the requirements of some new titles are insane. These days, not many people have the skill and determination to utilize all the OCS tricks. The best titles from the heyday were coded by people who were absolutely brilliant at squeezing every bit out of OCS. I consider those old titles great art. While we cant expect the same quality from free homebrew titles, I appreciate that at least the Amiga scene is still alive.
ReplyDelete