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Rare Commodore 64 (C-64, C64) pixel art unearthed!
While not exactly as monumental or groundbreaking as my tongue-in-cheek title would imply, in my small world it's something fun that I wanted to share--original pixel art (much like AA staffer Mark Vergeer's wonderful icons that we often use on blog posting headers, like the C-64 icon to the upper left) not seen since the mid-1980's. Without further ado, here's the public unveiling of original artwork done by myself and late friend, Ed Beck, done back in our youth on the Commodore 64, armed only with lots of time, a joystick and crude, but effective art programs.
[NOTE: All of this was captured directly from my Commodore 128D using a USB video capture device and my laptop.]
The above was by Ed Beck in DOODLE with a joystick (apologies for my not remembering how to remove the cursor when viewing images). He had utilized a neat technique to get a more striking visual effect in things like the planetary continents by essentially skipping drawn lines. It's similar to color techniques (which we also used) to get more than the allowable sixteen colors on-screen by placing certain colors in proximity to each other and the display essentially blending them for free. Ah, the beauty that can come from needing to work around limitations...
The above were inspired by the cover of the original 1950's version of one of my favorite books of all time, Half Magic. The colored one below, while to some maybe not as nice as the black and white one, was as close as I was able to get to the original coloring (which is pretty close considering the pallete options).
This was supposed to be a futuristic front page newspaper. I was in seventh grade at the time and one of the very first kids to use a computer for this type of thing. I seem to recall a version where I added text (in fact, I definitely did and that's what I turned in as my report on the book), but don't see it at the moment. You Star Blazers fans should recognize the spaceship...
Why would I create this you ask? Well, back in the "old days", there weren't necessarily computerized systems to keep score. There was also a version I did where I pasted some Print Shop clip art of a bowler on the bottom and photocopied the whole thing to make a seamless layout.
If I recall correctly, I created this as a character sheet for some paper role-playing game whose name slips my mind at the moment.
This is a color version of Big Pig. Again, I think I may prefer the black and white version.
I drew this from a tiny toy I got in a gumball machine. The proportions are actually about right to what the toy looked like.
Just like today, I was always hatching up schemes with my friends, which is probably what that was for.
I loved the original art of this, so I decided to make my own version. Again, the non-color version may do it more justice...
A marginal attempt at a disk title screen. I still occasionally do work under "Nu-Wave", though now it's "Nu-Wave Innovation, Inc.", officially.
Just a design. I'm not sure if this was me or Ed, though since it's unsigned and mediocre, it was almost certainly me. (this also looks a bit different on the monitor than it does here in the direct screen capture, interestingly (there's more color bleed on the monitor))
The above are shots of my drawing of Doctor Who's TARDIS, which I created in geoPaint, which was part of GEOS (by this time the 2.0 version). As with my lack of memory regarding how to get rid of the cursor when viewing pictures in DOODLE, I don't know how to get a full screen shot other than by doing a print preview, which isn't very helpful in this case. Still, you get the idea (and I don't recall if I used a mouse or stuck with a joystick, but the technique would have been the same). (By the way, I forgot how impressive looking the GeoPaint interface is - it's rather like a modern title)
Of course, there was plenty of other stuff I drew (more DOODLE stuff, Print Shop icons, etc.), but it's not handy at the moment. At the very least, though, you get the idea of what we did as kids/teenagers.
By the way, you might be wondering why we didn't use light pens or another alternative to a joystick. Well, these options (which we had available), simply weren't as accurate as doing the work pixel-by-pixel, click-by-click, zoomed in (and in 10 feet of snow).
We were obviously not professional artists by any means (though Ed's stuff was darn good!), but we sure had fun. I don't think you can have the same type of fun on a modern computer with modern art packages today since you really do need to be an artist to make decent use of the amazing tools available. Sadly, my computer art and drawing skills deteriorated after college due to lack of use (and more focus than ever on writing), much like my handwriting.
I eventually moved on to doing work on the Amiga with a mouse in the wonderful Deluxe Paint and have long since made available the following two images, here (1989) and here (1991). I did a few others that came out pretty good, like a muscular swordswoman and Tom Baker's Doctor Who, but again, neither is handy at the moment... After the Amiga, I really never found a pixel package or the time to do any work on the PC, though I'll surely have to out of necessity when I get a chance to make a few games.
Got any classic computer art you'd like to share? Let us see it!
- Bill Loguidice's blog
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Comments
Deluxe Paint
Hmm, I guess there was a Deluxe Paint V (!) on Amiga and an Apple IIgs version of Deluxe Paint. So we have Deluxe Paint confirmed for Amiga, PC and Apple IIgs at this point. Very interesting!
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Productivity and Fun
Well, one possible way to make word processors more "fun" is to allow for absolute positioning and automatic flow, meaning you can drag and drop anything to a specific spot and it will stay there and other elements will automatically flow around it, text included. Right now it's actually tricky getting things just the way you want them when trying to a more advanced layout. OneNote (my preferred note-taking program) works a bit like this, but it has other uses and fairly limited functionality in regards to the actual full potential of that idea.
As for fun in Windows, there's not much I can recall off the top of my hand, save for Windows Movie Maker, which is actually very competent video editing package. I suppose Microsoft is in a Catch-22 with that stuff, though, as the more stuff they add like that, the more the competition screams "monopoly/anti-competitive". Apple seems immune from that call for the most part and seem free to add in whatever they wish.
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
producitivity apps and fun
One thing I definitely think is important about Dpaint (and to a much lesser extent the PAINT program that comes with windows) is that it's easy to use and fun. That's one area Mac is kicking Windows arse. Anyone with a Mac can play with Garageband, the DVD authoring tools, and so on--it's easy and fun. Windows Office is NOT fun; it's strictly business. Don't get me wrong--that's important, but it's not necessarily the most stimulating and doesn't encourage you to experiment. I do think the ribbon of 2007 helped with the problem a bit, but I'd still appreciate a more layered interface. Sadly, Linux has also been a loser in this regard; GIMP is certainly no easier to use than Photoshop, and Open Office doesn't in any way strike me as more aesthetically pleasing or creatively stimulating as MS Office.
Then again, I know a lot of people avoid the more simplistic versions of stuff like Photoshop (Elements, etc.) and either download illegal pro stuff (Pro Tools, Photoshop, etc.) or actually ante up for it. Since some of those programs cost as much as a complete system, I'm guessing many home users go with the first option.
Dpaint IV seemed to offer the best mix of features with accessibility; anything more and it'd be too complex for the hobbyist to tinker with. I have Photoshop on my Mac and have never been tempted to play around with it, but I have spent hours with Garageband. On the Amiga I had a similar experience with Sonix and DMCS; lousy for "real" use, of course, but a fun way to introduce the system's capabilities and get you invested enough to bother learning the less-fun programs like MED. Hell, there's probably thousands (millions?) of graphic artists who got their first taste with Mario Paint.
I think there's a market for more of these creative apps that blend gaming and productivity. I've seen it done successfully with music (Instant Music) and graphics (Mario Paint), but have yet to see it applied to word processing or spreadsheets. Hell, it seems easy enough to make a fun game that has you working with spreadsheets.
I recently saw a blend of the two (spreadsheet & word processing) that really interested me, but I promised I wouldn't talk about it. ;-)
How can we make word processors more fun???
Paint programs
I have the Advanced OCP Art Studio for the Atari ST, boxed/sealed, but have yet to use it. I suppose since I had so much fun with art on the Amiga, it would be logical to think I could have fun too on the ST. Besides the Amiga and PC, Deluxe Paint may have also been released on the Atari ST, but maybe only in Europe. I'd have to check on that.
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Advanced art studio!
Bill, it was Advanced Art Studio, Deluxe Paint was only out on Amiga to my knowledge. Sorry for that.
Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl
Geoworks, Gem on Dosbox
I've got Geoworks, Gem and Windows 3.11 working perfect on Dosbox 0.72. With Windows 3.11 you need to search for special drivers that support the 'hardware' provided by Dosbox.
Here's a little movie I made:
Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl
Productivity Today
Yep, there were early versions of WordPerfect on the ST and Amiga, as well, but the company chose to stop supporting both with new versions fairly early on. C-64 word processing (I used "Quick Brown Fox" on cartridge for a while and a few others, then mostly stuck with GeoWrite) was primitive and limited for obvious reasons (40-column screen, slow disk drives, etc.), but the Amiga didn't have as much of an excuse. Over the years, even with the major publishers pulling their productivity stuff from the Amiga, word processing software did advance feature-wise, but never really stability-wise. Probably a good portion of that had to do again with eventual memory limitations and being restricted to using a disk drive, all while trying to maintain a high-level GUI/WYSIWYG environment, with multi-tasking.
My first project-based job out of college used Word under Windows 3.1. My first real job after that, I had to use the non-GUI version of WordPerfect 5.1 on Unix. Obviously that was a huge shock to the system. While WordPerfect (it was the same as the DOS version) was quick, you had to master the function key and other key combinations in order to survive. It got the job done and you could see how people could appreciate it since it was a bit like coding in HTML by hand is today, but once GUI's evolved in productivity applications and to a usable and stable state, particularly under Windows, there was no real need to go back unless you were on a clunker of a system where performance would have been an issue. And I NEVER got into DOS Lotus 1-2-3, even though I tried. Spreadsheets scream for GUI interfaces and to me, that's where Microsoft probably made its smartest move to get everyone onto their productivity applications - Excel.
Again, there are some things that vintage computers did and still do just fine, but when it comes to certain productivity applications, particularly word processing and spreadsheets, today's stuff is simply better (not perfect by any means, but definitely better).
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Amiga Word Processing
Yes, word processing is one area that never impressed me on the C-64 or Amiga. I can remember using a program called Scribble! extensively in school (this would have been in the early 1990s), and tinkered with one named "Final Copy," but neither were anywhere close to Microsoft Word. Then again, I was never impressed with the early versions of Word Perfect, simply because I found the need to learn function keys annoying. That kind of thing definitely benefited from WYSIWYG and WIMP interfaces.
I used Dpaint IV for a lot of things, such as making a mock-up newspaper like the one you had up here earlier. I enjoyed playing with the color cycling and primitive animation. The Sci-Fi channel (this was right after it first appeared) was running an Amiga-only animation contest, and I made a little movie or spaceships fighting and sent it off. Of course, I didn't win (never heard anything back from them), but it was still fun.
I also had a program called Fantavision that was fun to play with. Here's a little info about it. Didn't know it had been released for other platforms.
GEOS-stuff
I did have Deluxe Paint for the c64 in the end but didn't use it that much. I was busy adjusting to my 8088 based EGA equipped 14Mhz PC-XT using Turbo Pascal/GEM/Windows.
Bill, you used Geos for PC? I used that too Geoworks Ensemble, but it was a very different beast on PC though.
Wow, the European market never ceases to amaze me. I would have never thought EA would have released Deluxe Paint on the C-64!
And yes, I used Geoworks Ensemble on the PC. I still have it in fact. I used it into the Windows 95-era because I liked some its features even then, like the DOS program launching. I also used GEOS on my Tandy Zoomer handheld around 1994/5, my first ever PDA and one of the first PDAs (Casio was the original maker I believe and Tandy rebranded as they used to do).
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Trick for hires multicolor screens on C64
Squeezing more out of the c64 than was thought possible by the designers was something most demo-groups were proud of. To get more than 4 colours per 8x8 pixel square in multicolor in still pictures I often used sprites (single and multicolour ones) and raster interrupts to display pictures that used more than 4 colours per 8x8 pixel square.
A similar technique was used by later demos using raster interrupts and quickly alternating colours combined with a pixel scroll (1/2 pixel hires multicolour). Hard to explain but you'll know what I am talking about when you see it.
O wait - this is a good site describing the c64 graphics modes I described above.
I did have Deluxe Paint for the c64 in the end but didn't use it that much. I was busy adjusting to my 8088 based EGA equipped 14Mhz PC-XT using Turbo Pascal/GEM/Windows. Whoops I meant Koala Painter - Deluxe Paint was for the Amiga, although I remember owning a version for C64 that came with the drawing of a King Tut - probably wasn't deluxe paint, will have to try and find what that was.
Bill, you used Geos for PC? I used that too Geoworks Ensemble, but it was a very different beast on PC though.
Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl