Hi, I just tried Vic-20 emulation a short time ago and have wondered about this:
I took some screens with Vice (2.1), which are 416x252 in size, which is, according what I've gathered here roughly the correct ratio, if borders are included. But this does not apply to the game area itself.
So if I'd wanted to remove the borders anyway, and resize like this, it would be more accurate, is this correct?
Not necessarily, some programs can modify the border area... so removing it wouldn't give a full picture of what's on the VIC screen. I'd just leave in the border, unless you have a specify reason not to.
So if I'd wanted to remove the borders anyway, and resize like this, it would be more accurate, is this correct?
Not necessarily, some programs can modify the border area... so removing it wouldn't give a full picture of what's on the VIC screen. I'd just leave in the border, unless you have a specify reason not to.
Right, of course if I'd remove the borders, then only to the extent there is nothing visible there that is game relevant, or alternatively leave them there completely. I'm not using "accurate" here in the sense of what would be seen on the VIC screen as a whole , it's just limited to the ratio of what I would call the game relevant area, illustrated by the shots.
Why remove the borders from the screenshots? They're part of the VIC 20's "look and feel" as far as I'm concerned; without them the screenshots just don't look right to me.
Bacon
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Das rubbernecken Sichtseeren keepen das cotton-pickenen Hands in die Pockets muss; relaxen und watschen die Blinkenlichten.
Another thing to consider, as previously pointed out is that the VIC-20 screen is highly flexible. You can alter the number of columns and rows within certain limits (PAL more flexible than NTSC). While most games may run in 22x23, some may use 24x21, 16x30 or even take advantage of a fully expanded screen about 26x31 or so. Of course you can remove the borders, but it will mean each image has different proportions and when scaled down, what usually would be equally sized characters will look smaller or bigger than normally. That reason on its own should merit keeping borders.
Bacon wrote:Why remove the borders from the screenshots? They're part of the VIC 20's "look and feel" as far as I'm concerned; without them the screenshots just don't look right to me.
If it was up to me I'd leave them, but there might be technical or arguments of consistency which will prevent to keep them for some games (i.e. like the ones above).
Bacon wrote:Why remove the borders from the screenshots? They're part of the VIC 20's "look and feel" as far as I'm concerned; without them the screenshots just don't look right to me.
If it was up to me I'd leave them, but there might be technical or arguments of consistency which will prevent to keep them for some games (i.e. like the ones above).
If anyone's going to provide relatively reliable technical arguments of consistency, it would be this crew and the so far everyone here says that you should probably leave them in to be as accurate as possible.
I understand it as if the webpage (game database, something like Moby?) in question has a policy to strip unnecessary borders from all screenshots, no matter the system. For systems with a fixed border that never can contain graphics, I'm sure it just can be omitted but the VIC border as mentioned is quite flexible.
carlsson wrote:I understand it as if the webpage (game database, something like Moby?) in question has a policy to strip unnecessary borders from all screenshots, no matter the system. For systems with a fixed border that never can contain graphics, I'm sure it just can be omitted but the VIC border as mentioned is quite flexible.
The game designers also most likely deliberately chose a border color that enhances the look of a particular game. Whether the border contains graphics or not it's still very often an integral part of the games.
Bacon
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Das rubbernecken Sichtseeren keepen das cotton-pickenen Hands in die Pockets muss; relaxen und watschen die Blinkenlichten.
carlsson wrote:I understand it as if the webpage (game database, something like Moby?) in question has a policy to strip unnecessary borders from all screenshots, no matter the system. For systems with a fixed border that never can contain graphics, I'm sure it just can be omitted but the VIC border as mentioned is quite flexible.
Sort of. It's thelegacy.de, which I would guess has a much more closed and smaller audience (almost all German I suppose), and has more of an "hobbyist" touch. I'm merely an occasionally contributor, sharing my "discoveries" so to speak.
I have to say I was a little too quick with my assumptions about the use of the VIC screen, initially I thought the vast majority of the games would look like the ones I posted above.
What Bacon suggests about the border screen colour is also what I noticed when taking a closer look at the gamebase entries. i.e. it's definitely part of the visuals.
and the so far everyone here says that you should probably leave them in to be as accurate as possible.
