# Vespertino world racing **URL:** \ **Category:** Games!\ **Tags:** game\ **Created:** [September 7, 2026, 11:32am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334 "2026-09-07T11:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 9:46am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/83 "2026-10-17T09:46:55Z")
That second idea also seems interesting, though I’m not sure I’ve fully grasped it… How many of those short routines would be required to draw a road line in screen, and how would performance be affected by managing that dual table along with the increased number of subroutine calls and returns? An estimate of the CPU cycles needed to draw the road this way adding the calculations for road gradient and curvature shed some light on the matter. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![SagaDS](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/sagads/32/160_2.png) [@SagaDS](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/SagaDS)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 9:56am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/84 "2026-10-17T09:56:39Z")
Maybe by using full size line methods for each kind of displayed element (left border / roadedge / left road / center / right road / right road edge / right border) and jumping inside to get correct amount of border / edge / road / center displayed. ---
**Author:** ![AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/andycadley/32/177_2.png) [@AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/AndyCadley)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 10:09am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/85 "2026-10-17T10:09:07Z")
The tricky part would be avoiding all the “have I drawn enough” checks from slowing everything down. But maybe you just need tight loops of Draw X bytes grass, then road boundary, then Y bytes road, then boundary, the Z bytes grass etc ---
**Author:** ![rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/rexbeng/32/356_2.png) [@rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/rexbeng)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 10:42am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/86 "2026-10-17T10:42:55Z")
The nice part about this ‘social media post’ (a trailer is just that) in comparison to all the previous ones, is that the game is coming out in a given date not very far from now. So, there’s no need for die-hard speculations. Most people who have created software (ok, mostly games or demos) understand how graphics on the CPC work and how much of a benefit a ram expansion of any size can be (just think of the difference between 464 and 6128 and try to imagine the multiplier of everything at 4MB). I believe the true difference from the very first announcement of the game and today is Toto’s involvement (remember Alcon 2020). If Vespertino is a game that requires a _very special_ hardware expansion (‘cartridge’ if you are a gamer) with tons of ROM to run, then the technical comparison to ANY other game from the past (as shown in the video) is rather pointless. I am very curious to see if the game will run under any circumstances on a regular 6128 (and I mean the actual game, not the fancy menus). Ofcourse, all the above are curiosities coming from a person who’s more interested in the ‘sciences and the arts’ behind Vespertino rather than the game itself. I do hope it’s a nice game and fun to play and I’ll give it a try as a fan of racing games back in the day. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![RETO\_AMSTRAD](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/reto_amstrad/32/61_2.png) [@RETO\_AMSTRAD](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/RETO_AMSTRAD)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 11:01am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/87 "2026-10-17T11:01:39Z")
“Aha, seeing how things are, I completely understand why you don’t want anything to do with social media. You show the Pyramids of Giza twice, PINBALL DREAMS, and VESPERTINO, and they’ll still say it doesn’t have a kitchen or a bathroom. @Rhino, you’re the Duke of Alba of AMSTRAD. But you made the trailer with AI 😘” ---
**Author:** ![Chinnyhill10](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/chinnyhill10/32/574_2.png) [@Chinnyhill10](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Chinnyhill10)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/88 "2026-10-17T11:33:09Z")
The problem is going to be if the game is only playable on an emulator and only accessible to CPC owners who have extra hardware, is it the achievement it claimed to be at the start? Pinball Dreams was a ‘wow’ moment as it loaded into my 6128. If it turns out this needs extra hardware to run on the same hardware as Pinball Dreams then that’s like putting roller skates on your grandma, pushing her down a hill and claiming she can do 30mph! Grandma never came fitted with roller-skates! It’s an achievement but not the same achievement as Pinball Dreams. Will there even be a CRT image? Don’t get me wrong, it looks amazing but I was under the misunderstanding this was going to be ‘standard hardware’. A huge ROM isn’t standard hardware. ---
**Author:** ![AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/andycadley/32/177_2.png) [@AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/AndyCadley)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/89 "2026-10-17T12:39:20Z")
Yeah, it skirts very close to the question of how much it is really a “standard” CPC game at that point. There was a guy not too long back who built a hardware expansion that ran Bioshock on a Pi like device, but rendered the graphics on the Spectrum - not exactly what id call a Speccy game. It’s an extreme case, but if you add too much additional hardware it’s hard to really consider it to be running on the original hardware even if it _technically_ is. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/90 "2026-10-17T12:52:17Z")
rexbeng is right that you can’t compare this game to other 8-bit games with a 64kb limit, and I have a lot of respect for those who took on the challenge of making a racing game with those limitations, but I think people expect a trailer to have some marketing appeal 🙂 The idea for the game came to us at a time when cartridge projects were being proposed following the release of Dandanator. Games like Sword of Ianna and the 3 titles that 4mhz announced in 2018 are a few examples. The shortage of discs and their rising prices also suggested that the cartridge format would become more widespread, as it had on other platforms. That’s when we realized that the projects being announced were simply presented as traditional games that just took advantage of the cartridge’s memory to add more content, and our goal was to show that, with the cartridge’s memory, the CPC could also shine in what had traditionally been the aspect most criticized by users of other platforms: the speed and frame rate of the games. And what better way to do that than with a racing game? I’ve always thought that the Amstrad’s design and graphics capabilities require more memory than other 8-bit machines to truly shine. What would Amiga games be like if they only had 64 KB? The idea we wanted to convey was that a memory-only cartridge can offer more than just longer games. With the right programming techniques, you can get more performance to the point of rivaling an Amiga and its all powerful coprocessors. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 1:02pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/91 "2026-10-17T13:02:35Z")
For example: I’m gathering data for the live stream we’ll be doing on Sunday 25th, and I’ve counted the number of different sprites in Lotus on the Amiga, there are between 80 and 90. They precalculate 16 scaling frames at the beginning of each level, which is a great idea for saving disk space, but it’s something I couldn’t do because of the sprite format and the lack of RAM, so instead, I have 28 scaled frames per gfx, which, when multiplied by the number of gfxs, result in more than 5000 sprites stored in ROM. That’s 55 times more sprites than in Lotus!, allowing for greater variety, smoother animation, and performance on par with the Amiga’s all powerful Blitter. But that improvement in performance doesn’t just happen on its own and I also had a great time with the challenge! ---
**Author:** ![SagaDS](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/sagads/32/160_2.png) [@SagaDS](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/SagaDS)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/92 "2026-10-17T13:13:46Z")
And maybe one day we will have a smaller version with less variety / less animations / less menus and still have speed with a ‘somewhat’ normal 6128 (maybe a 512K to be ‘fair’ and keep thing in upper memory)… Let’s call it “Vespertino Prologue” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/rexbeng/32/356_2.png) [@rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/rexbeng)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/93 "2026-10-17T13:14:17Z")
All cool, a lot of people understand how more memory benefits the CPC and that with clever programming (byte sized graphics, update only partly the objects you need, double buffering, preshifting, clipping, colour cycling, you name it) you can make good animations at good speeds; hell, even things considered ‘bugs’ can be used to create flashy animations if you use them cleverly. You come from the demoscene, so you know that additional hardware automatically sends the prod to the ‘wild’ category, rather than the platform it runs on. Hopefully there’s going to be a stripped down version of Vespertine running on a stock 6128, just for the sake of comparison. Ultimately, we all understand there’s no magic. Just human technology, smart ideas and clever programming. And solid pixelwork ofcourse, because graphicians often dont get the credit they deserve because there’s so much wired slop around. All other wild claims about aliens, CRTCFX ‘nVidia cards’, outdated comparisons etc are for people who expect them to have some marketing appeal 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chinnyhill10](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/chinnyhill10/32/574_2.png) [@Chinnyhill10](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Chinnyhill10)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 2:28pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/94 "2026-10-17T14:28:02Z")
More video memory is always nice. But we have what we have. My MSX 2’s both have 128k of video RAM but only 64k of main RAM. I can’t think of anything that even gets close to exploiting that huge video memory. Space Manbow possibly? Never managed to get it to run though. The CPC sharing video memory with the main memory is a design flaw but one they didn’t even consider important in 1983. ---
**Author:** ![AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/andycadley/32/177_2.png) [@AndyCadley](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/AndyCadley)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/95 "2026-10-17T14:52:16Z")
I’m inclined to agree on the memory issue, I think the platform would’ve been much better exploited if 128K had been the base model rather than 64K. The need for a 16K screen pretty much meant you were always on too tight a budget - no real opportunities for double buffering even though the hardware is perfectly capable etc. And as a big fan of the GX/Plus I’ve also advocated over the years for the benefits that cartridges gave you. Whilst Amstrad’s claims that the new hardware was _only_ accessible to carts were not true, it’s certainly _designed_ around the assumption that’s what you’ll do. I can see the argument that maybe you can go to far though. Is Vespertino the step _too_ far or just showing what can be done? I guess we’ll see how the result looks and whether it stays the distance. I think you’ll see a lot of fans of other platforms dismiss it in ways that things like R-Type 128 or Pinball Dreams couldn’t be criticised, simply because of the use of hardware expansions over the base machine. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/96 "2026-10-17T15:52:40Z")
In my opinion, technically, something is for CPC when it runs on the CPC’s processor, architecture, and chipsets, regardless of the memory and storage system. A 464 with 64kb and a tape is as much a CPC as a 6128 with 128kb and disk drive, of course, both offer different capabilities, but they share a common base of architecture, chipsets, and processor that we call CPC. In that sense, I think the term “hardware expansion” is too broad. On the Amiga, hardware expansion can range from a 512kb expansion to a PiStorm with a 1 GHz CPU. In the first case, not even the most die-hard demosceners would claim that adding that 512kb to an A500 turns it into a different machine, whereas everyone knows that a PiStorm does. Returning to the CPC, in my opinion, a cartridge that merely provides memory as a storage medium for software running on the CPC’s standard architecture, chipsets, and processor is CPC software running on CPC. It would be a different matter if the cartridge included a processor that replaced the Z80 or add graphics coprocessors. Of course, cartridge software isn’t comparable to 128kb software, as 128kb software isn’t comparable to 64kb software, but they’re all CPC in any case. When we released Pinball Dreams for 128KB, we received some criticism for not releasing it for 64kb, just as we’ll now receive criticism for releasing Vespertino on cartridge. All feedback is welcome! ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/97 "2026-10-17T16:03:21Z")
> [@rexbeng](#): > > All other wild claims about aliens Well, I wouldn’t completely rule out the whole alien thing… One morning, after waking up in a sweat from a nightmare in which I was abducted by aliens, the ideas that made the Vespertino engine possible suddenly popped into my head, so who knows, maybe it’s true after all xD ---
**Author:** ![Maniac](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/maniac/32/53_2.png) [@Maniac](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Maniac)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/98 "2026-10-17T17:00:05Z")
I was reflecting on the self same thing. Alcon 2020 as another example just wouldn’t be the same if released via another medium than cartridge/ROM. At the end of the day the ROM capabilities of the CPC are an inherent part of its design. They just weren’t used like this back in the day! Let’s be honest the Plus and GX cartridge format wouldn’t exist without that heritage. I wonder if some of this comes from the speculation that other features will be included in the cartridge? Sound was one of those features mentioned. I appreciate I’m speculating myself here but consider this. Toto was involved in the hardware design of the Alcon 2020 cartridge. That has some additional capabilities. But the sound enhancements come from the Play2CPC expansion required to play cartridges on a normal CPC. Could this be the same for Vespertino? ---
**Author:** ![RETO\_AMSTRAD](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/reto_amstrad/32/61_2.png) [@RETO\_AMSTRAD](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/RETO_AMSTRAD)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/99 "2026-10-17T17:24:21Z")
I really don’t understand the criticism. It’s a standard Amstrad CPC. It works on all machines. You just have to buy the game in the format it was designed for. Insisting on having a disk or tape version is absurd and unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/100 "2026-10-17T17:55:10Z")
At one point we considered adding 3 extra audio channels, but in the end we decided against it. We’ll go into all the details in the live stream. ---
**Author:** ![Anthony\_Flack](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/anthony_flack/32/35_2.png) [@Anthony\_Flack](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/Anthony_Flack)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/101 "2026-10-17T23:23:05Z")
I also feel that 64k was never enough for the CPC architecture but I guess it was better than the 32k BBC or 16k Spectrum, which were also not enough. The CPC architecture chews graphics memory and 64k is quite limiting. The computer wants at least 128k to make the most of its other features and get around its limitations; it’s too bad a 64k memory expansion wasn’t a more popular upgrade for 464 owners. Of course a large cartridge ROM opens up even more possibilities, something that is available to exploit on the GX as well. But it is very rare that we see anybody really take advantage of this, because it also takes a lot of extra work do something actually interesting and worthwhile with it. ---
**Author:** ![rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/user_avatar/forum.cpcwiki.eu/rexbeng/32/356_2.png) [@rexbeng](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/u/rexbeng)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2026, 7:21am UTC](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334/102 "2026-10-18T07:21:51Z")
Wait! Was that the day you decided to leave Batman Group? 😛 I don’t understand the reason for criticism about Pinball Dreams not being possible on 64K. The answer is that simple: it couldnt be made. Which is, as I understand, the case for Vespertino being on a cart and I’m all good with that. And the original Amiga only had 256KB or ram 🙂 [Previous page](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334.md?page=4) [Next page](https://forum.cpcwiki.eu/t/vespertino-world-racing/334.md?page=6)