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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Thu Mar 10, 2016 7:58 pm

Very long but very in-depth video from Shot97 on YouTube going through all of the ins and outs of the sometimes baffling world of PAL and NTSC modes on the Amiga.
Part 1 focuses on the discussion of aspect ratios, going into great detail about why these games are meant to be shown in a 4:3 aspect ratio. I also show examples on a real Amiga 500 and show you how even a PAL Amiga could display these games correctly.

Part 2 will show examples of Deluxe Paint videos made in the 1980's showing how the artists saw these games (in 4:3) back in the day and I will talk about an actual Amiga artist who says everyone is showing his games wrong. I will also go on WinUAE and show you how to display these games correctly on an emulator.

Part 2 has yet to be uploaded. But 45 minutes of Part 1 should do most folks just fine.

If you post screenshots or videos of Amiga software, or just want to know what the heck you're looking at, this is a must-watch.

So, have you been doing it wrong all this time? Spoiler: The default In WinUAE is wrong, according to Shot97.

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Shot97
Detroit, MI, USA

Posted Thu Mar 10, 2016 9:05 pm

Thanks for the post! :) Would love to answer any questions people might have. You're right, the video is long.. haha... All my videos are.... I cut out so much and it's of no use, I can't be short and to the point. haha. Screenshots will be another video all together... No matter what mode you are in, NTSC or PAL, 320x200 games will always be screenshoted to either 320x256 (with the 320x200 in widescreen inside of that) or 320x200 (which is technically wide) - The 320x200 was supposed to be stretched by NTSC video hardware into 4:3 - All DOS screenshots are wrong on sites like Moby because of that. In order to make a screenshot look right you'd have to take the 320x200 screenshot and stretch it into a 4:3 mode, like 320x256 or 640x480, 800x600 etc. - That's a whole different topic... Which will be discussed at some point as I recently attempted to send Moby and Hall of Light 4:3 corrected screenshots which they declined because of their 1:1 pixel for pixel lie they live off of. Anyway, thanks again and I'm looking forward to looking around this site!

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Thu Mar 10, 2016 10:23 pm

This is fascinating, man - I had no idea! Thanks for the technical info. I'll be putting that to use in the near future, for sure.

Now, if only there was a way to be sure which games/utils were meant for what, so I don't accidentally goof a UK piece of software and have the UK's Shot97 doppelganger after me! ;)

Looking forward to Part 2! Feel free to post it here whenever you get around to it. Or, I'll keep an eye out and get it here eventually.

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Shot97
Detroit, MI, USA

Posted Thu Mar 10, 2016 11:39 pm

It takes a bit of research and, most importantly, just a sharp eye. Most of the time I just try both modes and it becomes clear which mode is right. Much more so than looking at boxes or any of the other ways... I honestly try my best to get it right, most of the time they should be in NTSC. And... ya know what? Honestly even if they're not, it wouldn't kill the internet to have a few videos of NTSC mode stretching a PAL game quite honestly. Even in that case we might have had the better gameplay experience because the game would run 20% faster in NTSC mode. World Circuit/Formula One Grand Prix is one I'm not quite sure yet which one it is supposed to be in... I'm thinking it should be in PAL mode... But it sure as hell plays better in NTSC mode and because of that I'm going to show it in 4:3 when I do a review of it coming up. Even in the event NTSC mode is wrong, it would be worth showing these games as American's would have seen them, given that currently I'm the only one showing American games correctly.

When you see Sonic on a PAL Mega Drive with the music super slow and Sonic not looking quite right and the game just going slow... That's how the Europeans saw it. It's interesting to see how they saw it. Now, I would never want to see YouTube flooded with Sonic on the PAL Mega Drive because it's not how it should be. It should be faster and in 4:3 like it is on an American Genesis - Thankfully, emulators default to NTSC and most videos you see on YouTube show Sonic the right way. So Europeans now understand they never had the proper experience. Still, it's nice to see what they saw. It wouldn't kill anyone to see a PAL game on an NTSC machine if it runs. Because if it was "truly" a PAL game, it would be in 320x256 and it would crash on an NTSC machine. The only reason for European developers to make a game in 320x200 was so they could sell it in America. So, there are games made to look right in widescreen for the Amiga... But more often than not, they should be in 4:3 full screen just like 320x256 PAL games are in 4:3 full screen.

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Shot97
Detroit, MI, USA

Posted Fri Mar 18, 2016 2:14 am

Part 2 is up, haven't made it public just yet. I figured I would wait until the afternoon. But in case anyone here happens to see this, you're welcome to have the first crack at it.

https://youtu.be/D5hiwB7lzk8

The 2nd part is going to be me talking about the Deluxe Paint video from back in the day, Jim Sachs, the artist for Defender of the Crown, will say how everyone messes up his artwork. That right there is a big one for anyone that might think I'm full of it. The artist himself is very frustrated by the way people are showing his games.

I show off a very crazy resolution for the Amiga, 640x200, which is medium res. This is what Workbench ran off of. Seeing this pixel for pixel perfect should shut up anyone that thinks the Amiga was not meant to be stretched into 4:3

I also get a little personal against this one particular guy who said I was wrong from World of Longplays. He sent me "evidence" once to "prove" he was right... I use his exact evidence to show who's really right.

Also - Direct link for Jim Sachs talking about everyone getting his games wrong: https://youtu.be/zvdNZpHZsO4?t=11m12s

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Fri Mar 18, 2016 8:34 am

Great stuff @Shot97 - thanks for the update. I'll definitely check it out.

The post to Jim Sachs on YouTube discussing his art being distorted is stunning commentary. His passion about it - still - speaks volumes towards your argument.

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MOS6569
Sweden

Posted Wed Sep 29, 2021 10:44 am

Sorry for bringing up an old thread. But some days ago I started to play around trying to get games like Defender of the Crown (and other US NTSC-intended games) to look good on my Amiga 500 (PAL European rev 6a). I tried to choose NTSC in the early boot menu with mixed luck. Also tried "Newmode" to promto the games to NTSC-screen. It worked with some games, but far from all.

So I was about to go on with installing a switch to toggle PAL/NTSC.

Lucky me, I didn't have to do it, as I discovered that my ACA500+ turbo card have a "force NTSC/PAL" option. Setting it to NTSC behaves just like a switch, forcing everything to NTSC. Yay! Happy happy!

/thomas





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