Having a button on the cart to use it as a regular memory expansion is a neat idea. I guess I’ll be able to load that screechy AI-coded Nascar game after all.
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“They made it very clear. It doesn’t need any expansion. Just the game, which comes on a cartridge or box that plugs into the standard expansion port found on all AMSTRAD CPCs, just like the Dandanator.
The rest is just an explanation of what it contains. A memory expansion where the game is stored, but this is nothing new. It was also used back in the commercial era, just not for games; however, games could have easily been programmed this way, but the price per title would have been sky-high. It’s neither a new invention nor does it add any features to the machine beyond the capabilities that weren’t utilized back then purely for profitability reasons.”
It’s a bit like saying that a game requiring 128KB is a disappointment…
For me, it’s amazing how they manage to move that much memory around, specially with an overscan screen mode, that being the Achilles heel of the CPC.
Memory expansions have always existed, and the cartridge does not add ant extra processing power whatsoever.
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My only disappointment is if there isn’t an adapter to make it work on the GX4000 as I don’t currently have a CPC…
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I feel like people forget that there were classic CPCs with Centronics connectors, so it must have been accounted for; I’m not worried.
Thank you very much for the feedback after the presentation!
I’d like to share some of my thoughts after skimming through the comments, not just here, but also on forums across various platforms.
One of my goals when I started programming for the CPC again, back in 2009, was to show that the CPC’s architecture was capable of more than many people thought. When I see people today who are disappointed that a CPC game can’t run something comparable to the best 16-bit games in its genre in just 64 KB, I realize that goal is more than achieved! 
I’ll try to explain by analyzing what it would mean if Vespertino could run in 64kb:
Since it’s a full overscan game, almost 48kb is video memory, which would leave 16kb for the rest of the code and resources. Some might think that fitting the entire game into 16kb is impossible, but if we look at some of the feats in the demoscene’s sizecoding, such as HellMood’s 256-byte demos “Memories” or “Party.DLL”, or 4kb demos like “Elevated” or “Cdak”, we might not be so sure.
The trick behind these feats, which manage to pack the impossible into such a small space, lies in replacing memory and resources with pure computing power, with mathematics and enough processing power, everything can be generated in real time using very little memory. Even so, if we were to do a detailed analysis of what it would take to fit Vespertino into 16 KB, we would realize that this is an impossible goal given the processing power of today’s computers, we would need computational power several orders of magnitude greater, perhaps even quantum computing.
Since I assume that the criticism from that part of the community, which is disappointed that Vespertino doesn’t run in 16 KB, comes from people with computer knowledge, I can only conclude that they hold the CPC’s capabilities in high regard and that their expectations of what a CPC should be capable of are higher than mine
@XeNoMoRPH Just a quick correction to your summary: we actually have more than 5,000 sprites stored in ROM!
Thanks!
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To be fair, I don’t think anyone expected it to fit into 64K. But for a lot of people 128K + disk is maybe their idea of what that upper limit looks like before you’re stretching the definition of “runs on original hardware” (and yes, theoretically, all this was available back in the day but it wasn’t necessarily practical).
I’m not exactly disappointed, I had a feeling it was going this way, but I think for me personally it’s probably going to be too big an investment to be worth the time I’d honestly spend on it. I could buy the Ocarina of Time remake and I’ll probably have more fun overall. That’s not a diss of Vespertino itself, just my overall feeling on this type of game (I spent a couple of quid on Outrun on the Switch and even that I only had a few goes on).
It’s an amazing achievement though and you should be proud of it. It stands out as a massive (quite literally) achievement in the 8-bit community that very few people developing on any platform have come even close to.
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We are talking about 512KB of RAM and 3.5 to 4MB of ROM.
Not quite 128K vs 64K, IMHO.
Besides, this is probably the most hyped CPC game ever.
What’s with all the negative Youtube comments on Vespertino videos? Seems there’s a bunch of people who are keen to find any excuse to run this down, and acting like this isn’t the result of a ton of hard work and ingenuity. Talk about sour grapes. Guess it must be doing well because nothing attracts haters like success.
Anybody who says it’s easy to make something impressive with all that extra memory: go for it, impress us.
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So it goes, but considering it will run on any old 464 you bung it into, that’s more accessible for most people than a GX. And I do like my GX/Pico combination too, very much. But there are sadly not so many GXs in the world (and you can’t access ram through their cartridge slot).
Whereas there must be a ton of old 464s with knackered tape decks kicking around loose and they will all play Vespertino straight off the cartridge. And afterwards you’ll have a 464 with a 512k memory expansion that you can use to play all the incoming masterpieces from the people who say it’s easy to make impressive games with extra memory.
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I completely understand that, and agree. Just being selfish, I don’t currently have a CPC…so will now be looking out for one before this releases 
Seems the old “software sells hardware” rule still applies for CPC even after four decades 
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Can’t be doing with all the fuss and hype. All that matters is when can we buy the game and how? I assume CPC Wiki will have an ordering link somewhere when its possible?
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I’ll post the Kickstarter link just for you when it’s up 
Since it’s going on KS, it might not be orderable any other way…but maybe @Rhino could confirm that.
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Of course, I’ll be raking in commissions
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" … Technical secrets of Vespertino: Black magic on your Amstrad CPC … "
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Do we have an estimated date for when the kickstarter campaign will start?
Imho it was no surprise that it comes in a cartridge format so I already expected that it will not be a free/cheap release. It might be a few € more now with it’s additional RAM but the extra IC(s) probably won’t have substantial impact on the price.
Vespertino is absolute genius, and personally, I cannot wait to get hold of a copy.
My preference for how the game works with RAM or different Amstrad models would have been something for everyone though. I always loved games growing up (on CPC, and later on Amiga) that detected the system specs, then utilised any extra RAM or Plus features if detected.
Ideally a cartridge version would be great for Plus owners, then a disc copy of the game that can still run on 464 with disc drive, 664 and 6128. Everyone then gets to play this fantastic game but those with lower specs get less cars, less colours, less tracks to race etc.
Fingers crossed Batman Group can still deliver something like that with the Kickstarter, so all CPC owners can enjoy a version of the game.
I wish them the very best with the project, and we’ll definitely be covering the game in Pixel Addict magazine once it’s released.
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I’m a bit lost as to why people keep talking about all CPC users not being able to play this due to it being a cartridge. It being on a cartridge allows exactly that. You can play the game on a base CPC464 with nothing other than the cartridge plugged in to it. In this instance it isn’t a Plus type cartridge but one that plugs in to the expansion port.
Given that in the video from last week the game was playing in WinApe I suspect the digital version may be playable using the CRT file format. Time will tell.
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