8-bit video mode updates?

AspiringSquire · Post by **AspiringSquire** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:52 pm

Will the 8-bit video mode ever be updated? Has it been updated in "recent times"? There are numerous problems that make it very difficult to play certain games and cause annoyances in others (e.g. transparency effects). I know the Windows version doesn't need to support this mode, really, but for DOS it is quite useful to achieve a desirable speed (due to being run on slower machines, generally).

Noxious Ninja · Post by **Noxious Ninja** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:05 pm

8-bit modes will never support transparency. Well, I take that back. It would have to render into a 16-bit software buffer and then be software-dithered to 8 bits. Probably too slow for the only old PCs it would be useful on.

Dmog · Post by **Dmog** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:12 pm

AspiringSquire wrote:Will the 8-bit video mode ever be updated? Has it been updated in "recent times"? There are numerous problems that make it very difficult to play certain games and cause annoyances in others (e.g. transparency effects). I know the Windows version doesn't need to support this mode, really, but for DOS it is quite useful to achieve a desirable speed (due to being run on slower machines, generally).

I'd say what you ask for is impossible (a person with the actual knowledge may correct me) There's plenty of stuff other than transparencies that 8-bit modes don't support besides.

Basically I think that -because- the Snes use 16bit to render stuff (I've also heard something about 15bit) you'll loss some effects if you downgrade the engine to 8bit. You're asking for an 8-bit engine to support 16bit FX iow.Where do you think the gain in performance comes from?

AspiringSquire · Post by **AspiringSquire** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 12:46 am

Transparency isn't the only issue. Kirby Super Star displays freaky pixelated colors seemingly at random all over the backgrounds. Also, in FF3/FF6, sometimes there are layers (that don't exist in 16-bit mode) covering up the main play area (an example I know of is in Kohlingen, in the house where you find Rachel).

I was just thinking that since there are games that are perfectly functional in 8-bit, maybe a few more could be moved closer to that goal. SFII, Mario All-Stars, Mario World, Rock 'n Roll Racing, and others have no problems affecting visibility during gameplay.

I'd still like to know when it was last updated...

Mexandrew · Post by **Mexandrew** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 12:47 am

Just disable the troublesome layers when in 8 bit mode.

Dmog · Post by **Dmog** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 12:50 am

AspiringSquire wrote:Transparency isn't the only issue. Kirby Super Star displays freaky pixelated colors seemingly at random all over the backgrounds. Also, in FF3/FF6, sometimes there are layers (that don't exist in 16-bit mode) covering up the main play area (an example I know of is in Kohlingen, in the house where you find Rachel).

I was just thinking that since there are games that are perfectly functional in 8-bit, maybe a few more could be moved closer to that goal. SFII, Mario All-Stars, Mario World, Rock 'n Roll Racing, and others have no problems affecting visibility during gameplay.

I'd still like to know when it was last updated...

That's because those games don't make full use of the Snes 16/15 bit engine.Those that do(i.e: the vast majority of Snes games), will always have some things missing/screwed up with them gfx-wise.

What you describe are not bugs with the 8-bit modes, but an inevitable consequence.

AspiringSquire · Post by **AspiringSquire** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:50 am

Does anyone have a specific explanation for either of the two problematic instances that I mentioned (in Kirby Super Star and FF6)?

Noxious Ninja · Post by **Noxious Ninja** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 5:01 am

AspiringSquire wrote:Does anyone have a specific explanation for either of the two problematic instances that I mentioned (in Kirby Super Star and FF6)?

Sure. The graphics engine knows it can't do certain things in 8-bit mode, so it acts differently.

illegal eagle · Post by **illegal eagle** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 1:50 pm

Dmog wrote:Basically I think that -because- the Snes use 16bit to render stuff (I've also heard something about 15bit) you'll loss some effects if you downgrade the engine to 8bit.

The SNES uses a palette of 256 15-bit colors, and a "fixed" color that also uses 15 bits.
The color combination feature (which is not possible in a 8-bit gfx mode, only indirect via dithering) also crops the results to 5 bits per color channel.

Then there's a "Direct Color" mode, but I haven't looked much into that one. The 8-bit gfx modes should've the same problems with that one.

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8-bit video mode updates?

8-bit video mode updates?

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