Difference between revisions of "Galaxian-based hardware"

From Sega Retro
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** [[wikipedia:Tile engine|Tilemap]] plane: 8×8 tile sizes, scrolling
 
** [[wikipedia:Tile engine|Tilemap]] plane: 8×8 tile sizes, scrolling
 
** [[wikipedia:Bitmap|Bitmap]] plane: Star generator, scrolling
 
** [[wikipedia:Bitmap|Bitmap]] plane: Star generator, scrolling
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* [[Sprite]] plane: Line buffer, 4 colors per sprite, sprite flipping, sprite animation{{ref|[http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~%20sedwards/classes/2011/4840/reports/Galaxian.pdf Galaxian CSEE 4840 Embedded System Design (University of Columbia)]}}
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* [[Sprite]] plane: Line buffer, sprite flipping, sprite animation{{ref|[http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~%20sedwards/classes/2011/4840/reports/Galaxian.pdf Galaxian CSEE 4840 Embedded System Design (University of Columbia)]}}
 
** Sprites per scanline: 10 sprites (8 character sprites, 1 missile, 1 shell), 160 [[texel]]s
 
** Sprites per scanline: 10 sprites (8 character sprites, 1 missile, 1 shell), 160 [[texel]]s
 
** Sprites on screen: 65 sprites (57 character sprites,{{ref|1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhYVcwhSWjI Galaxian MAME Footage (YouTube)]}} 7 shells, 1 missile)
 
** Sprites on screen: 65 sprites (57 character sprites,{{ref|1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhYVcwhSWjI Galaxian MAME Footage (YouTube)]}} 7 shells, 1 missile)
 
** Player/Enemy sprite sizes: 8×8, 16×16
 
** Player/Enemy sprite sizes: 8×8, 16×16
 
** Shells/Missile sizes: 1×4, 4×1
 
** Shells/Missile sizes: 1×4, 4×1
 +
** Colors per player/enemy sprite: 4 colors (3 opaque, 1 transparent)
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** Colors per shell/missile: 2 colors (1 opaque, 1 transparent)
 
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Revision as of 22:27, 4 October 2016

Notavailable.svg
Galaxian-based hardware
Manufacturer: Namco (variants by Sega)
Release Date RRP Code

Galaxian-based hardware was used for several Sega licensed arcade games in the early 1980s, based on Namco's Galaxian arcade hardware, which debuted in 1979.[1]

Sega's hardware variants were based on the arcade hardware used by the companies it licensed from, such as Konami, Nihon Bussan, and Alpha Denshi, which all used Galaxian-based hardware at the time. Several modifications were made to the hardware, with Super Cobra (and its predecessor Scramble) adding side-scrolling capabilities, and Jump Bug adding multi-directional scrolling and parallax scrolling capabilities.

Technical Specifications

The technical specifications for this hardware include:[1][2][3][4]

  • Main CPU: Zilog Z80 @ 3.072 MHz (8-bit & 16-bit instructions @ 0.45 MIPS)
  • Sound chipset: Namco Galaxian sound hardware (one programmable 4/8-bit waveform channel, three 4-bit square wave channels, two 17-bit noise channels, one modulated noise pulse channel)
  • GPU chipset: Namco Galaxian video hardware
  • Display resolution: 256×224 (horizontal), 224×256 (vertical)
  • Overscan resolution: 384×264 (horizontal), 264×384 (vertical)
  • Refresh rate: 60.60606 Hz (V-sync)
  • Color model: RGB
  • Background planes:
    • Tilemap plane: 8×8 tile sizes, scrolling
    • Bitmap plane: Star generator, scrolling
  • Sprite plane: Line buffer, sprite flipping, sprite animation[6]
    • Sprites per scanline: 10 sprites (8 character sprites, 1 missile, 1 shell), 160 texels
    • Sprites on screen: 65 sprites (57 character sprites,[7] 7 shells, 1 missile)
    • Player/Enemy sprite sizes: 8×8, 16×16
    • Shells/Missile sizes: 1×4, 4×1
    • Colors per player/enemy sprite: 4 colors (3 opaque, 1 transparent)
    • Colors per shell/missile: 2 colors (1 opaque, 1 transparent)

Modifications

Super Cobra (and its predecessor Scramble) added the following upgrade to the hardware in early 1981:

  • Background planes: Side-scrolling

Jump Bug made the following modifications to the hardware later in 1981:

  • Sound chip: AY-3-8910 @ 1.78975 MHz
  • Background planes: Multi-directional scrolling, parallax scrolling[8]

List of Games

Sega licensed arcade games that ran on this hardware include:[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Namco Galaxian (MAME)
  2. ↑ Namco Galaxian video hardware (MAME)
  3. ↑ Sega Z80 Based Hardware (System 16)
  4. ↑ Namco Galaxian Hardware (System 16)
  5. ↑ Galaxian (Arcade Museum)
  6. ↑ Galaxian CSEE 4840 Embedded System Design (University of Columbia)
  7. ↑ Galaxian MAME Footage (YouTube)
  8. ↑ Games vs. Hardware. The History of PC video games: The 80's


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