Latest work on my #AtariSTE enhanced version of Lotus 2, now with a sky gradient similar to that featured in the #Amiga version. Still loads of work to do in various areas but it's looking good and performing well. 👍 🚗 I'll probably release as a single stage proof of concept.

Spent several hours last night rewriting and optimising the 68k code that draws the rev counter on the #AtariST version of Lotus 2 to use the Blitter chip instead. These are the lengths that us ST folks are willing to go to in order to compete with that other machine. 😉

Spent a couple of days progressing the #AtariSTE enhanced version of Lotus 2 using some of the knowledge and techniques gained while developing FaSTer. Still some way to go, but much closer to the #Amiga version than before. And yes, it's quite glitchy at the moment. 😄

I guess I should probably stop messing around with demo effects on the high score screen and get back to writing the damn game. 😄 #CaveyTaxi #AtariSTE

Thanks to Atari-Forum user ThorN for this "STOT Players Favourite new ST Game" award for Faster! 🥳 (STOT is the ST Offline Tournament - a high scores competition hosted on Atari-Forum and played using Atari ST games). Download Faster for Atari STE from retroracing.itch.io/faster-atari....

Cavey Taxi for Atari STE: high scores now being loaded from floppy and displayed on high score screen. Tons of raster time left, so I feel the urge to get a lot more colours on screen and more demo effects going on here. 😄 (Yes I'm aware of the glitch!) #CaveyTaxi #AtariSTE

As suggested by Angus over on X - raster bars underlying the wavy logo. Who needs one of them "copper" things anyway? 😄 (excuse the artifacts - it's next on my list...) #CaveyTaxi #AtariSTE

I'm supposed to be working on the core gameplay of Cavey Taxi for the Atari STE, but instead I've gotten caught up in creating this logo distorter for the high scores screen. 😄 Back to the game itself when I've got these demoscene urges off my chest! #AtariSTE #CaveyTaxi

Cavey Taxi for Atari STE - game is now booting from floppy and I'm working on mundane stuff like title screens and high score tables. I tend to implement things *very* roughly before going back to refine them - this video illustrates this idea very well. 😄 #AtariSTE #CaveyTaxi

Coming soon to an Atari STE near you, with another one of those tasty hi-colour title screens that does a great job of showing off the STE's 4096 colour palette. 😄 #CaveyTaxi #AtariSTE

Sometimes I get a bit bored of working on the game itself, and find myself going off on a bit of a tangent to add some demoscene-style magic into the mix. 😄

"Cavey Taxi" for Atari STE: activated scoring system and added notifications to indicate how many passengers are remaining to be picked up. At this rate of progress, I'll be looking for help with YM music and digital sound effects soon - please let me know if you'd like to help! #AtariSTE

2 minutes of gameplay from my upcoming Atari STE minigame "Cavey Taxi", running on real Atari STE hardware (with a badly calibrated modern monitor 😞). Look how effortlessly this powerhouse of a retro system handles that 2-layer parallax scroll and particle system! #AtariSTE

This is the latest build of the WIP Atari STE game I am now provisonally calling "Cavey Taxi". Pick up passengers in a tight cave complex and drop them off elsewhere, fighting gravity, time and fuel consumption. With pretty parallax scrolling and particle systems. What's not to like? 😀

Continued work on this upcoming minigame for the Atari STE. The gameplay is shaping up to be a bit Crazy Taxi-esque - pick up passengers and drop them off elsewhere in the cave without running out of time or fuel. Still lots of work to do but coming along nicely! #AtariSTE

Score/status display starting to take shape (yes, the masking around the timer isn't yet finished...). Working with hardware scrolling can be pretty mind bending at times. 🤯 #AtariSTE

Mockup of status display, including countdown timer, fuel remaining, score and high score. Hoping to implement this in the game in the coming days. #AtariSTE

Fixed colour palette and added pixel-perfect collision detection with foreground. Ship spawns back to a safe point when it crashes. All STE features except DMA sound on show here - Hardware scroll, Blitter and Enhanced palette! DMA sound to come soon to complete things. 😀 #AtariSTE

First signs of gameplay in this new Atari STE project - joystick left and right rotate the ship and up activates the thrusters. Gravity pulls the ship downwards. The particle system is looking really nice - there aren't nearly enough ST/Amiga era games with particle systems. 😀 #AtariSTE

Big thanks to @zeropagehomebrew.com for this exquisite award certificate and trophy for FASTER on the Atari STE! (Amiga OCS/ECS version of FASTER is still in the works - please bear with me...😃)

Here's a very informal comparison between the existing #AtariSTE version of FASTER and the (WIP) #Amiga OCS/ECS version, because I know you guys love this kind of thing. 😄 Atari left, Amiga right.

FASTER for #Amiga OCS/ECS: switched over to single pass (rather than 4 pass) rendering for car and scenery bobs, giving a noticeable increase in performance. Further evidence for any existing doubters out there that this is definitely not a lazy port from the ST! 😄

FASTER for #Amiga OCS/ECS: currently adding in some features that had to be left out of the STE version because they were too CPU intensive. This depth-cueing effect on the ground/road surface is a good example. I don't love everything about the Amiga, but I love the Copper! 😁

FASTER for #Amiga OCS/ECS: currently adding in bobs for top status display. Time digits will be hardware sprites. As with the STE version that came before it, each new feature requires a load of optimisation work in other areas to hold onto that all-important 50fps framerate!

FASTER for #Amiga OCS/ECS: Following much head scratching, the speedo in the bottom right has been switched from BoBs to hardware sprites, giving a nice performance boost and other cool benefits that I'll come to later. I did say this would be no lazy STE->Amiga conversion. 😄

FASTER for #Amiga OCS/ECS: copper sky gradient is now in, enabling reduced bitplane count in parts of screen for better performance. Still frame drops when screen busy but hoping to sort with optimisation. Next up: status display and speedo, using a mix of HW sprites and bobs.

FASTER for #Amiga OCS/ECS: still getting the right foundations in place to build upon. Switched to interleaved bitplanes to allow single-pass bob drawing. Considering best use of Copper and HW sprites to maximise framerate. Be assured: this is no lazy STE->Amiga conversion! 😄

FASTER for #Commodore #Amiga - a new WIP 50fps racer being ported from the existing Atari STE version. Game now playable with joystick. Lots of work left - HUD not implemented, no sound and tons of optimisation required to match the STE version. Very happy with progress though!

Here it is - the first in-development footage of the much-requested #Amiga OCS/ECS conversion of my #AtariSTE game FASTER. Weird/unexpected chipset behaviours and optimisation challenges are slowing things down somewhat, so no plans to talk about a release date just yet!

FASTER for #AtariSTE is the winner in the Atari ST(E)/TT/Falcon Best Homebrew category at the 7th Annual Atari Homebrew Awards! Thanks to all involved in the production of the game, along with the retro community for your support! Download FREE from retroracing.itch.io