nesdev.org

A thunder spirit patch which removes all the slowdowns would be good too .

I got my patch working again. I expanded the ROM size and moved several routines into a new bank.

Well Gradius III did end up getting the SA-1 treatment.

https://github.com/VitorVilela7/SA1-Roo ... radius-III

The guy who started the project found out that the bubbles in stage 2 use a grid for collision instead of using circular collision.

psycopathicteen wrote:The guy who started the project found out that the bubbles in stage 2 use a grid for collision instead of using circular collision.

Do you mean that the collisions used several boxes for each bubble ?

Yeah:

http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.p ... c=27609.60

incredible, thanks for the link .

I was sure this game was coded with the ass, now it's confirmed .

If Konami made a Sega Genesis port of the game, and they used their grid based algorithm the conversation would be like:

Boss: "fix this slowdown immediately"
Programmer: "you didn't tell me to fix it on the SNES version"
Boss: "but this is the Sega Genesis version, people have bigger expectations for the Sega Genesis"

TOUKO wrote:incredible, thanks for the link .

I was sure this game was coded with the ass, now it's confirmed . :P

Gradius 3 was a first-generation SNES title, RTM'd December 1990 (JP). The Super Famicom was RTM'd November 1990 (JP). We can safely assume third-party developers like Konami were given 1 year to work on/make titles, even despite their established relationship with Nintendo by that point. I would be very surprised if it was more than that.

Thus in conclusion: let me know when you work for a game company that has strict deadlines, is responsible for a console launch title, with only limited documentation provided by the console manufacturer. "Coded with ass".

And back then there wasn't quite as much chance of an optimized "Game of the Year Edition" rerelease featuring more efficient code, more detailed eye candy, and some levels that had been originally cut for space.

koitsu wrote:

TOUKO wrote:incredible, thanks for the link .

I was sure this game was coded with the ass, now it's confirmed .

Gradius 3 was a first-generation SNES title, RTM'd December 1990 (JP). The Super Famicom was RTM'd November 1990 (JP). We can safely assume third-party developers like Konami were given 1 year to work on/make titles, even despite their established relationship with Nintendo by that point. I would be very surprised if it was more than that.

Thus in conclusion: let me know when you work for a game company that has strict deadlines, is responsible for a console launch title, with only limited documentation provided by the console manufacturer. "Coded with ass".

I never knew grid based sprite collision was an actual thing. I always assumed every game just used rectangles, and in some cases circles. It's just not something I would think about when I think about object collision.

My very first colission stuff was based on a grid in one PC game I did long time ago. I had no clue how one was supposed to make things nor did i have access to internet and books on the matter. I was 15 at that time I think.

And as far as the MD comment goes, that probably wouldn't hold any water. Konami had rough past with Sega and if anything they'd intentionally make crap stuff there and get away with it lol.

I imagine it's more likely that Konami had more experience with the 68000 processor on some of its arcade system boards. The 65816 may have been as foreign to Konami programmers as the Intel 8080 (and Game Boy's Sharp SM83) is to long-time NES and Super NES homebrew programmers.

Grid based collision is slower than circular collision on ANY cpu. They could've used grid based collision in the arcade version of gradius III, because that game even has slowdown during the bubble level, but it looks like Konami took their time with Contra Hard Corps optimizing the hell out of it.

Thus in conclusion: let me know when you work for a game company that has strict deadlines, is responsible for a console launch title, with only limited documentation provided by the console manufacturer. "Coded with ass".

Of course, I agree, but if you put an inexperienced coder on a processor that did not know, i will not expect from him which made some good coding practices, and more with the dead lines imposed by companies .
And gradius 3 's code, seems to show this.

They could've used grid based collision in the arcade version of gradius III, because that game even has slowdown during the bubble level

i agree, good remark,on arcade systems that are overpowered, you can code almost as badly as you want, your game will be "always" smooth.