Outrun on GX4000

[karl100100]

Seem like Outrun was in development for the GX4000, anyone have more info or screenshots?


http://classicreplay.blogspot.com/2011/02/cancelled-games-amstrad-cpc.html

[Xyphoe]

Extremely unlikely.

Firstly US Gold weren't supporting the GX4000, or at least holding back until it see's it has been a success. Eg that's why World Of Sports became an Epyx release, where normally it would have been US Gold.

Secondly a lot of these came up from mistakes posted in magazines like Amstrad Action, eg mail order companies posting incorrect listings, press getting the wrong end of the stick from press releases, or just general wishful thinking starting rumours.

[AMSDOS]

I'd have to agree cause while there were a some good games specifically made for the GX4000, the games which did make it onto the GX4000 console which had previously been games available on Tape or Disc were generally considered as games which were quite popular. I simply cannot see how a game like Outrun would even be considered for GX4000 console given it was below average 

[Xyphoe]

I think some speculation got raised because Ocean re-made Double Dragon for the C64-GS (the C64 console) ... that could have been a possibility.
Maybe Shadow Warriors could have had a port of the Atari ST version

Beyond that both Toki and Spiderman was at least half finished with playable levels, Gazza II definitely did exist but maybe only on review copies, Chase HQ 2 obviously we now know was released fully, Robocop 3 had work done but probably not huge amounts before being quickly cancelled, and I think there's a couple more I'm forgetting and missing here.

[Gryzor]

All in all, a shame

[AMSDOS]

I remember ACU reviewing Mega Twins & The Amazing Spiderman(? which they splashed all over their front cover), so it would seem those games were going to be released long before the cancellation of games for the CPC.

There seems to be a few games which were planned for the CPC which never made the light of day I remember AA announcing "Atomic Robo Kid" from Activision, though the announcement came when Activision were going to cease producing CPC games and focus on the PC!    Unsure if that makes it a Cancelled Game - I guess it would since it was announced! How much production was ever done maybe another matter.

[Gryzor]

Atomic Robokid... for some reason I liked it on my ST. I don't know how well it could have been done on the CPC, though, too many things going on at once...

[AMSDOS]

Atomic Robokid... for some reason I liked it on my ST. I don't know how well it could have been done on the CPC, though, too many things going on at once...

That's the problem with 16bit Computers, one look at their games and you wonder how a CPC would manage it - obviously the CPC manages  .  While I was trying to find the right name for Atomic Robo Kid the other day I discovered there was a YouTube of the Spectrum version, so the game does exist on 8bit platforms.

[Xyphoe]

That's the problem with 16bit Computers, one look at their games and you wonder how a CPC would manage it - obviously the CPC manages  .  While I was trying to find the right name for Atomic Robo Kid the other day I discovered there was a YouTube of the Spectrum version, so the game does exist on 8bit platforms.

Nice find, although it looks like we're not missing out on much - ouch that jumpy scrolling and sprite movement! 
Looks like a really poor MrHeli.

[Gryzor]

Well, that's a travesty. Sure, you can convert anything, but the result is what matters...

By comparison:

[Nich]

While I was trying to find the right name for Atomic Robo Kid the other day I discovered there was a YouTube of the Spectrum version, so the game does exist on 8bit platforms.

According to the World of Spectrum entry, Atomic Robo-Kid was never released in full on the Spectrum. The YouTube video must have been taken from a playable demo version that featured on a Your Sinclair covertape.

[AMSDOS]

According to the World of Spectrum entry, Atomic Robo-Kid was never released in full on the Spectrum. The YouTube video must have been taken from a playable demo version that featured on a Your Sinclair covertape.

Yeah I was wondering about that, since the video has playable demo in the title. So I'm presuming what we're looking at is a crude copy of the game before being polished up for final release. However I thought the Spectrum version holds up to the 16bit version quite well (even if it hasn't been given the final tweaks) and given by the time that game was out there were CPC+'s it's a mystery why Activision didn't take advantage of those new computers.   

[MacDeath]

Seem like Outrun was in development for the GX4000, anyone have more info or screenshots?

Yeah...
So were toki and other games on "GX4000".

To announce a version is free... to actually develop it was... rare.
Even rarely started seriously.

[nitrofurano]

btw, would multiface dumps (or memory dumps of any kind, like from emulators that allows it) help on such amstrad game conversions to gx4000? (the ones i would be curious to see running would be those from Dinamic/Topo/Oprea)

[MacDeath]

you see the problem in a wrong way... it is actually developping on amstrad PLUS with minimalistic specs (no keyboards, no tape/disk, no expansion port) but yeah, so many amstradists active in coding don't bother about the PLUS, are actually CPC464 or 6128 coders...

as I told in another thread, GX4000 could actually be some sort or 464PLUS...

there was something developed enabling to play Tape-like games (CD based indeed) via the joystick port (vapor ware, sadly)

so re-doing that, also try to get the machine to write datas via its audio-out port, then get a converter "USB keyboard to analog port" and voilà...
USB keyboard+adapter USB to DB15 analog, an MP3 player, one jack to DB9 and one jack to mic... voilà, the marvelous GX464PLUS...

(also mouse ?)

now just need to put the right amount of drivers and homemade firmware + extra ROMs to fill the 512K EPROM... on a GX4000/PLUS board with ACID emulation.

[arnoldemu]

btw, would multiface dumps (or memory dumps of any kind, like from emulators that allows it) help on such amstrad game conversions to gx4000? (the ones i would be curious to see running would be those from Dinamic/Topo/Oprea)

I believe the easiest way for these is to modify them to use a kind of read-only cartridge filesystem.

I developed one and used it for my conversion of Stryker and the Crypts of Trojan.

The cartridge has a kind of directory, this describes the start and length of each file. The files are then put together and can go over more than 1 16KB cartridge page. You need to modify the game to use this new filesystem.

Of course, direct transfer to cartridge is not always good you also need to modify a lot to use joystick only.

[dcdrac]

You programmed Stryker in the Pits of trogan, I loved that game

[arnoldemu]

You programmed Stryker in the Pits of trogan, I loved that game

no.

I took the disc version and patched it to work on cartridge.