4 ms·

This is awesome, but Stargate Defender II is really the real deal. Am I the only one that associates these games with the band Rush?

ddingus 5y ago
Nope. I am the same. This game is one I play on sight. The world could be imploding. Do not care. So great. Everything feels present, and all done at 1Mhz on my favorite 8bit CPU. Trivia: The Williams sound board is a 6800 running at .8'ish Mhz, connected to a DAC. It plays ONE sound at a time. It can be interrupted, and is all the time in Defender. Defender has a sound priority system that has always fascinated me. You get one sound, and that team made it count to the max. The player gets the sounds that matter most, when they matter most and it all just flows. Exemplary!
- cmrdporcupine 5y ago
  Interesting that they used the 6800 for the sound board, but 6809 for the main board. I guess the 6800 was far cheaper? And I guess they'd be assembly (but not opcode) level compatible to a certain extent.
  - ddingus 5y ago
    The 6800 predates the game. Defender used the standard Williams sound board from the pinball games. Basically, it received sound requests and blasted them out through a big, mono amp. These iconic sounds were used in Defender along with some new ones.
    - cmrdporcupine 5y ago
      Reading the source. It's amazing what this game does without sprite hardware, just pushing pixels.
      - ddingus 5y ago
        Seriously! The 6809 is a powerful 8 bit CPU. In addition to just pushing pixels, the higher level engine is a master class in priorities, tradeoffs to maximize player action, given arguably limited resources. The better features in that CPU were all employed to great effect. The sound system, plays one sound at a time. The right sounds happen at the right times, conveying a ton with just one sound channel. Baddies are moved out of the field of play at times to keep frame rates up. Single buffer, screen draw happening on alternating upper, lower regions to avoid display artifacts, tearing and such. So many great choices!

ddingus 5y ago

Nope. I am the same. This game is one I play on sight. The world could be imploding. Do not care. So great. Everything feels present, and all done at 1Mhz on my favorite 8bit CPU. Trivia: The Williams sound board is a 6800 running at .8'ish Mhz, connected to a DAC. It plays ONE sound at a time. It can be interrupted, and is all the time in Defender. Defender has a sound priority system that has always fascinated me. You get one sound, and that team made it count to the max. The player gets the sounds that matter most, when they matter most and it all just flows. Exemplary!

cmrdporcupine 5y ago
Interesting that they used the 6800 for the sound board, but 6809 for the main board. I guess the 6800 was far cheaper? And I guess they'd be assembly (but not opcode) level compatible to a certain extent.
- ddingus 5y ago
  The 6800 predates the game. Defender used the standard Williams sound board from the pinball games. Basically, it received sound requests and blasted them out through a big, mono amp. These iconic sounds were used in Defender along with some new ones.
  - cmrdporcupine 5y ago
    Reading the source. It's amazing what this game does without sprite hardware, just pushing pixels.
    - ddingus 5y ago
      Seriously! The 6809 is a powerful 8 bit CPU. In addition to just pushing pixels, the higher level engine is a master class in priorities, tradeoffs to maximize player action, given arguably limited resources. The better features in that CPU were all employed to great effect. The sound system, plays one sound at a time. The right sounds happen at the right times, conveying a ton with just one sound channel. Baddies are moved out of the field of play at times to keep frame rates up. Single buffer, screen draw happening on alternating upper, lower regions to avoid display artifacts, tearing and such. So many great choices!