3 ms·

The evolution of C64 games 1982–2023

88 points by rcarmo 3y ago

kleiba 3y ago
Linus is awesome, I have really enjoyed a lot of his projects. Great nerd vibe in the most relatable way!
- temp0826 3y ago
  He's such a gem, the depth he goes to is just jaw dropping sometimes.
MichaelRo 3y ago
[flagged]
- kleiba 3y ago
  I think that is in parts because a few seconds of video material does not really give you a good idea about game play. Even within the 80s, there's a tremendous difference between early games and ones from the end of the decade. It's hard to see but very easy to notice when you actually play the games. Also, the graphics and sound evolved greatly from very simplistic to sophisticated. A lot of programmings tricks have been discovered over the years for the C64 that allowed to push the boundaries of what is possible on the machine.
blt 3y ago
Taken all together the color palette stands out as a limitation. It's pretty much impossible to make a vivid looking game on this machine. (Not a hater btw, the SID is amazing and I'd love to own a c64 some day.)
- bsder 3y ago
  I don't remember them being that washed out. Were they really that washed out or is it that whatever emulator they're using isn't doing the CRT colorspace and filtering conversion correctly?
  - jandrese 3y ago
    On real CRTs you could do quite a bit to increase the contrast by fiddling with the knob. I think someone just has their emulator set up wrong for the video.
  - lloda 3y ago
    if you compare the c64 palette to other ~16 color computers of the era, the c64 has a definite brownish/purplish tint to it, i don't think the video misrepresents it.
    - wkjagt 3y ago
      I read somewhere that the colour palette is pretty much a representation of the colours the designers of the chip liked.
  - melling 3y ago
    I remember Summer Games looking quite good. It was a big jump in graphics.
- wkjagt 3y ago
  It does seem to have an emphasis on not so saturated colours. Especially brownish colours. Compared to for example an NES it’s very limiting I find.
- Lerc 3y ago
  At the time it felt a lot superior to the alternatives. The low saturation wasn't so much of an issue when TVs tended to have a dial to adjust that. Most of the contemporaries used primary colour palettes which were definitely more vibrant but lacked any hues that worked together. The Atari systems were better when it came to producing colours but had their own quirks. If you wanted a horizontal gradient, Atari was king. It was a time of extremely rapid development. The changes from 1978 to 1988 make the changes 2008 to 2018 look positively stagnant.
rsaarelm 3y ago
The games from the 00s are pretty much just "that one random game someone released this year", but it's neat how in the 10s they actually start looking different again and often really cutting edge and something you wouldn't expect any pre-1993 game to look like.
TacticalCoder 3y ago
I see "linusakesson", I upvote. A mind is born, 256 bytes, is my favorite: https://www.linusakesson.net/scene/a-mind-is-born/ https://www.linusakesson.net/scene/a-mind-is-born/

88 points by rcarmo 3y ago

kleiba 3y ago

Linus is awesome, I have really enjoyed a lot of his projects. Great nerd vibe in the most relatable way!

temp0826 3y ago
He's such a gem, the depth he goes to is just jaw dropping sometimes.

MichaelRo 3y ago

[flagged]

kleiba 3y ago
I think that is in parts because a few seconds of video material does not really give you a good idea about game play. Even within the 80s, there's a tremendous difference between early games and ones from the end of the decade. It's hard to see but very easy to notice when you actually play the games. Also, the graphics and sound evolved greatly from very simplistic to sophisticated. A lot of programmings tricks have been discovered over the years for the C64 that allowed to push the boundaries of what is possible on the machine.

blt 3y ago

Taken all together the color palette stands out as a limitation. It's pretty much impossible to make a vivid looking game on this machine. (Not a hater btw, the SID is amazing and I'd love to own a c64 some day.)

bsder 3y ago
I don't remember them being that washed out. Were they really that washed out or is it that whatever emulator they're using isn't doing the CRT colorspace and filtering conversion correctly?
- jandrese 3y ago
  On real CRTs you could do quite a bit to increase the contrast by fiddling with the knob. I think someone just has their emulator set up wrong for the video.
- lloda 3y ago
  if you compare the c64 palette to other ~16 color computers of the era, the c64 has a definite brownish/purplish tint to it, i don't think the video misrepresents it.
  - wkjagt 3y ago
    I read somewhere that the colour palette is pretty much a representation of the colours the designers of the chip liked.
- melling 3y ago
  I remember Summer Games looking quite good. It was a big jump in graphics.
wkjagt 3y ago
It does seem to have an emphasis on not so saturated colours. Especially brownish colours. Compared to for example an NES it’s very limiting I find.
Lerc 3y ago
At the time it felt a lot superior to the alternatives. The low saturation wasn't so much of an issue when TVs tended to have a dial to adjust that. Most of the contemporaries used primary colour palettes which were definitely more vibrant but lacked any hues that worked together. The Atari systems were better when it came to producing colours but had their own quirks. If you wanted a horizontal gradient, Atari was king. It was a time of extremely rapid development. The changes from 1978 to 1988 make the changes 2008 to 2018 look positively stagnant.

rsaarelm 3y ago

The games from the 00s are pretty much just "that one random game someone released this year", but it's neat how in the 10s they actually start looking different again and often really cutting edge and something you wouldn't expect any pre-1993 game to look like.

TacticalCoder 3y ago

I see "linusakesson", I upvote. A mind is born, 256 bytes, is my favorite: https://www.linusakesson.net/scene/a-mind-is-born/ https://www.linusakesson.net/scene/a-mind-is-born/