From: "Jim Leonard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > That is 100% incorrect. You have obviously not programmed in assembly > language for either platform to make a statement like this. The other > 20% of the real reason is because the Amiga's "copper" graphics > controller chip could do some really awesome things, like split-screen > into two different resolutions and color depths on the fly, something > VGA hardware could not do (you can split-screen on VGA but only the top > half has full display-start-address manipulation for scrolling). That, > coupled with the different screen modes they had to support, and the > VERY big limitation of only 1 mouse per IBM, was why they didn't code it > in.
Well the graphics modes wasn't an issue because Lemmings was a VGA only title. Also at the time the 386 wasn't even a standard machine (at least in Europe where the game was made), so we were talking bout VERY limited hardware specs... 50 lemmings on a 285 in VGA is not an easy feet... And yes the Amiga had some awesome custom chips which is what allowed it to survive as long as it did with such weak central processors... now if the A1200 had just had a special 3D accelerator or some kind of texture rotation hardware.... And did the IBM have a 1 button limitation at that time? And did Lemmings even use the second button for anything? > And to be fair to the IBM PC, I don't think the split-screen multiplayer > was available on very many platforms at all; it's not on my Lynx version > for obvious reasons, but there was nothing from stopping him (the guy > who originally did Lemmings himself did the Lynx version) from doing a > ComLynx 2-player version. I think that it was a feature nobody really > used and so was left out of future ports. The lynx was taxed as it was with the game... I mean it was only included on the ST and Amiga versions as far as I know because they were the only systems that could handle it. By the time Lemmings 2 came out, the PC was the target market and the old 1 mouse limitation kicked in making it unviable. > Argh, this bias against the IBM PC burns me. Would you like me to code > up a quick demonstration of just how many lemmings can fit onto a screen > without slowdown for IBM PCs? Kind of a "Lemming benchmark", as it > were? No doubt it could be done... but the hindsight factor is the big issue here. There is a wolfenstein clone for the C64 these days (Mood) and it would have been impossible in the systems hayday... but 10 years later, we can see how it was possible. I don't doubt the PC had a lot more power then was squeezed out of it at the time, but lets face it, the games we are discussing had that inexperience stone weighing them down and that is why the PC got such a bad rap in those days. First gen games almost always suck for the most part (with the big push game exceptions) and the PC had that phase as well when it went from workhorse to all purpose home computer. It's not something to be ashamed of, just a reality. Karl Kuras Visit Our House the online comic strip! http://ourhouse.trantornator.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
