Highest on-screen colors screenshot

CrackTiger · 05/21/2007, 09:35 PM

What are some of the highest number-of-colors-on-screen-at-once screenshots that you can find?

Anyone know of any PC Engine games that display 100+ colors at a time?

From memory, I believe that Xanadu II's boss fights are 90'ish and thats around as high as I've counted for any PCE game.

awack · 05/21/2007, 10:04 PM

Some of the highest color counts i know of are for beyond shadowgate, you can get 100+ colors.
Fatal fury 2/special..mai's stage is also very high,i cant remember the count tho.
There are many other duo games with 80+ on screen colors like rondo of blood, lords of thunder, ai cho aniki, ect.

Keranu · 05/21/2007, 10:13 PM

The highest I've found in any official game is for Tokimeki Memorial, in which I found a screenshot that displays 124 colors on screen! I want to see someone else beat my find of that many colors in an official released game

. A couple other screenshots from the game that I counted ranged from 70 - 122. Another high colored screenshot I found was a map in Bomberman Panic Bomber, which displayed 101.

As far as nonofficial games go, Chris Covell's new puzzle game displays a crap load of colors, like over 200 I believe, not to mention his demos which displayed the entire 512 palette. Mindrec's new PC Gunjing and Xymati games will also be displaying a lot of colors, some of which in the 90's I think, as well as some of our Frozen Utopia games ;) .

CrackTiger · 05/21/2007, 10:33 PM

Quote from: awack on 05/21/2007, 10:04 PMSome of the highest color counts i know of are for beyond shadowgate, you can get 100+ colors.
Fatal fury 2/special..mai's stage is also very high,i cant remember the count tho.
There are many other duo games with 80+ on screen colors like rondo of blood, lords of thunder, ai cho aniki, ect.

Beyond Shadowgate is the least colorful PCE/Turbo game I've ever checked screenshots of. I remember that the bg's are 16 colors of less. What part of the game gets super colorful?

Quote from: Keranu on 05/21/2007, 10:13 PMThe highest I've found in any official game is for Tokimeki Memorial, in which I found a screenshot that displays 124 colors on screen! I want to see someone else beat my find of that many colors in an official released game . A couple other screenshots from the game that I counted ranged from 70 - 122. Another high colored screenshot I found was a map in Bomberman Panic Bomber, which displayed 101.

As far as nonofficial games go, Chris Covell's new puzzle game displays a crap load of colors, like over 200 I believe, not to mention his demos which displayed the entire 512 palette. Mindrec's new PC Gunjing and Xymati games will also be displaying a lot of colors, some of which in the 90's I think, as well as some of our Frozen Utopia games ;) .

Do you have any uber colorful screenshots from Tokimeki Memorial that you can post Keranu? I won't try beating something until I see proof.

Tongue Man's Logic's new menu screens get up over 100 colors, but I'm pretty sure the rest are under 100.

Joe Redifer · 05/21/2007, 10:54 PM

Don't post JPEGs, they totally mess up the color count (a screen with 12 colors will end up having 7,000 colors when converted to JPG). Once you have them in that format, there's no going back EVAR! So start out with the uncompressed stuff.

Use PNG or BMP.

ccovell · 05/21/2007, 11:05 PM

Quote from: guest on 05/21/2007, 10:33 PMTongue Man's Logic's new menu screens get up over 100 colors, but I'm pretty sure the rest are under 100.

That's not quite true...

There are 126 colours in this shot.

OldRover · 05/21/2007, 11:12 PM

There are some cutscenes in Mysterious Song that are over 50 uniques.

As for "official" games, I took a screenie at one point during Ys 4 that was over 70 uniques.

More colors != better graphics. Food for thought.

Keranu · 05/22/2007, 01:14 AM

Quote from: guest on 05/21/2007, 10:33 PMDo you have any uber colorful screenshots from Tokimeki Memorial that you can post Keranu? I won't try beating something until I see proof.

Of course ;)

I got these screenshots from NEC-Ro-Pole, if you guys remember that site. They're from the program the author made which catalogued all of those screenshots.

70 colors
/tokimeki1jy9.png

122 colors
/tokimeki2ni5.png

And the grand finale, a whopping 124 colors on screen!
/tokimeki3xi2.png

Here is the Panic Bomberman screenshot with 100 colors.
/panicbombertp1.png

QuoteBeyond Shadowgate is the least colorful PCE/Turbo game I've ever checked screenshots of. I remember that the bg's are 16 colors of less. What part of the game gets super colorful?

The screenshots I've checked have over 60 colors on screen and they're not even in the more colorful spots of the game.

This one has 64
/bs1bi9.png

Joe Redifer · 05/22/2007, 04:12 AM

Quote from: ccovellThere are 126 colours in this shot.

I count 123.

Quote from: Keranu70 colors

69

Quote from: Keranu122 colors

121

Quote from: KeranuAnd the grand finale, a whopping 124 colors on screen!

123

Quote from: KeranuHere is the Panic Bomberman screenshot with 100 colors.

99. Methinks you are counting the alpha channel in the PNG file as a color.

Quote from: KeranuThis one has 64

62

Anyway I know this thread is about the PC Engine, but I just want to agree with the person who said that more colors doesn't necessarily mean better graphics. Take a look at Toy Story for the Sega Genesis:

86 colors

105 colors

163 colors

101 colors

ccovell · 05/22/2007, 09:51 AM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 05/22/2007, 04:12 AM
Quote from: ccovellThere are 126 colours in this shot.
I count 123.

Okay, 123 it is then. I'm still happy with it.

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 05/22/2007, 04:12 AM...Take a look at Toy Story for the Sega Genesis:
...

That's pretty impressive - technically. How do they manage that? Shadow/Highlight mode?

Seldane · 05/22/2007, 09:54 AM

That is an awesome picture, ccovell. Did you draw it?

termis · 05/22/2007, 01:00 PM

123 color count for the Tokimeki Memorial screenshot is letdown The street scene looks good, but most of the screen is the not-so-exciting mix of green checkerboard and status screens. Higher color count definitely doesn't necessarily look better. (Though I still say it's nice to have the option to go higher colors without resorting to all the software tricks!)

Keranu · 05/22/2007, 03:48 PM

It's not exactly displaying all of the PCE's 512 colors on screen at once that makes it such a great feature, but the fact that games practically won't suffer any background or sprite layer color limitation.

Seldane · 05/22/2007, 05:07 PM

In my opinion, less colors are almost always better. Many colors usually mean that there's a lot of shading used, and I hate shading!

Joe Redifer · 05/22/2007, 05:53 PM

Original GameBoy RULES! It makes the PC Engine sad.

Keranu · 05/22/2007, 05:58 PM

Quote from: Seldane on 05/22/2007, 05:07 PMIn my opinion, less colors are almost always better. Many colors usually mean that there's a lot of shading used, and I hate shading!

So does that mean Adventure for Atari 2600 with its three colors on screen looks better than Final Fantasy III for SNES with its 100+ colors ?

nat · 05/22/2007, 06:33 PM

Quote from: Seldane on 05/22/2007, 05:07 PMIn my opinion, less colors are almost always better. Many colors usually mean that there's a lot of shading used, and I hate shading!

Is there anything about video games you do like?

awack · 05/22/2007, 09:48 PM

Here are some of the counts i got for pc engine games

magical chase us version: 1 st level 110 (alot of the colors come from the ton of sprites in screenshot)
Fatal fury 2 mai stage: 114
beyond shadowgate: 125 (from one of the shops with item menu in view)

These are all in game color counts.

CrackTiger · 05/23/2007, 07:04 PM

Quote from: Keranu on 05/22/2007, 01:14 AM
Quote from: CrackTiger on 05/21/2007, 10:33 PMDo you have any uber colorful screenshots from Tokimeki Memorial that you can post Keranu? I won't try beating something until I see proof.
Of course ;)

I got these screenshots from NEC-Ro-Pole, if you guys remember that site. They're from the program the author made which catalogued all of those screenshots.

Keranu, these screenshots won't load for me. Can you please e-mail them to me or something?

Quote from: awack on 05/22/2007, 09:48 PMHere are some of the counts i got for pc engine games

magical chase us version: 1 st level 110 (alot of the colors come from the ton of sprites in screenshot)
Fatal fury 2 mai stage: 114
beyond shadowgate: 125 (from one of the shops with item menu in view)

These are all in game color counts.

Can you post the screenshots?

Keranu · 05/23/2007, 09:01 PM

Quote from: guest on 05/23/2007, 07:04 PMKeranu, these screenshots won't load for me. Can you please e-mail them to me or something?

I emailed the screenshots to the email in your profile.

ccovell · 05/23/2007, 11:19 PM

Quote from: Seldane on 05/22/2007, 09:54 AMThat is an awesome picture, ccovell. Did you draw it?

Thanks for the compliment! Yes, I drew all the art in the pic (minus the sake puzzle graphic...)

awack · 05/23/2007, 11:30 PM

Shadowgate 125 with menu 115 without.

Keranu · 05/23/2007, 11:42 PM

Welp, I guess awack beat my find. 125 is the new record.

Tatsujin · 05/24/2007, 12:34 AM

can someone check some rayxanber III screenshots? i believe there have to be used a lot of colors in some stages, altough the palette is kept in narrow variations.

how about sapphire?

Joe Redifer · 05/24/2007, 12:54 AM

There's got to be an official Turbo or PCE game that beats the Genesis' 160+ colors onscreen for Toy Story. I don't care if it is "in-game" or a static shot. We must find it! Didn't Ys 3 have some high-color screens during the intro?

termis · 05/24/2007, 01:27 AM

Anyone know how the genesis actually got around the color limitation? (software tricks, but how does it fool the hardware?)

Tatsujin · 05/24/2007, 01:44 AM

static pictures (titlescreen etc) are much easier to trick than ingame backgrounds/sprites.

Keranu · 05/24/2007, 02:07 AM

Quote from: Tatsujin on 05/24/2007, 12:34 AMcan someone check some rayxanber III screenshots? i believe there have to be used a lot of colors in some stages, altough the palette is kept in narrow variations.

how about sapphire?

I remember checking Rayxamber III before and recalling it being around the 70 color range. I've checked Sapphire before also and got mixed results, but can't remember any high point. I'd imagine Sapphire can get up to 90.

Tatsujin · 05/24/2007, 02:21 AM

Quote from: Keranu on 05/24/2007, 02:07 AMI'd imagine Sapphire can get up to 90.

but which is quite high, regarded to the sheer incredible action which goes on the screen

Keranu · 05/24/2007, 02:28 AM

Rayxamber III just looks awesome period.

akamichi · 05/24/2007, 06:02 AM

Quote from: thumpin_termis on 05/24/2007, 01:27 AMAnyone know how the genesis actually got around the color limitation? (software tricks, but how does it fool the hardware?)

Don't know for sure, but probably some kind of palette modifications during h-blank. Seems to be a common technique to display more colors than usual per frame.

I believe Ex-Ranza (Ranger X?) used this trick to get 128 or so colors on screen in game. However, don't quote me on that since I've never seen the game in action. I just read about it in a book I have.

Tatsujin · 05/24/2007, 06:53 AM

btw. did someone check out some of the highest on-screen colors for SFC & NG AES games? how much do they bring on the scales?

ccovell · 05/24/2007, 09:51 AM

The SFC will of course win with colours going into the thousands. Transparencies and colour blending multiply the on-screen colour amounts pretty quickly.

Tatsujin · 05/24/2007, 12:28 PM

yeah..thousands..but i'm not interested in the possibilities, i want to know the facts

how much the best games used?

a garou on the NG and a garou on the PCE doesn't look that much different in terms of colours on-screen, altough the NG can display thousends of them as well, the PCE can't.

Keranu · 05/24/2007, 03:57 PM

Quote from: akamichi on 05/24/2007, 06:02 AMI believe Ex-Ranza (Ranger X?) used this trick to get 128 or so colors on screen in game. However, don't quote me on that since I've never seen the game in action. I just read about it in a book I have.

I've messed with the color counts in Ranger X before briefly and remember counting around 40 or so. I don't know what book you read that says it can get 128, but color wise the game is a bit messy overall.

Joe Redifer · 05/24/2007, 06:59 PM

I've seen nothing from Ranger-X that looks above average color-wise. Vectorman 1 sports about 70 colors on screen for nearly the entire game... during gameplay. Although the NeoGeo AES can supposedly put 4096 colors onscreen at once, I don't think I've ever seen more than a couple hundred from the machine.

CrackTiger · 05/24/2007, 08:46 PM

Quote from: ccovell on 05/24/2007, 09:51 AMThe SFC will of course win with colours going into the thousands. Transparencies and colour blending multiply the on-screen colour amounts pretty quickly.

Which is cool from a technical standpoint.

But they still look like 100+ color games with a simple transparency on top and not like graphics using thousands of colors for shading.

Keranu · 05/24/2007, 11:30 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 05/24/2007, 06:59 PMAlthough the NeoGeo AES can supposedly put 4096 colors onscreen at once, I don't think I've ever seen more than a couple hundred from the machine.

Man you have serious beef with the Neo Geo, shame on you

. Anyways, though I have color counted many Neo Geo games, the highest I've seen was over 500 in KoF'98.

Joe Redifer · 05/24/2007, 11:35 PM

Pffft... even the wimpy Saturn can do that. It's just a wiener. The Game Lord says the Neo Geo is a real hot dog!

SuperDeadite · 05/25/2007, 08:48 AM

What do you use to count color's anyway? I'd love to experiment myself. As for NeoGeo games, I have no clue on how many colors are being displayed, but Blazing Star looks quite bright and purdy.

JoshTurboTrollX · 05/25/2007, 08:54 AM

has anyone tried that one scene in Lords of thunder, when you beat all the normal levels and that one screen pops up connecting all the islands? It goes incredibly bright and looks really amazing. Anyway, has anyone looked at that shot? To me it looks like a ton of colours, much nicer than most SNES and Genny games!

I hope you guys know what shot I'm talking about...lol

GUTS · 05/25/2007, 03:12 PM

Yeah I bet Blazing Star puts tons of colors on screen, that game has some of the most amazing 2D graphics of all time.

CrackTiger · 05/25/2007, 07:16 PM

Quote from: turbo_sage on 05/25/2007, 08:54 AMhas anyone tried that one scene in Lords of thunder, when you beat all the normal levels and that one screen pops up connecting all the islands? It goes incredibly bright and looks really amazing. Anyway, has anyone looked at that shot? To me it looks like a ton of colours, much nicer than most SNES and Genny games!

I hope you guys know what shot I'm talking about...lol

I don't think that it has any more colors than the regular map screen.

They probably just color cycled it to the equivalent of being inverted in photoshop like this-

akamichi · 05/26/2007, 12:42 AM

Quote from: Keranu on 05/24/2007, 03:57 PM
Quote from: akamichi on 05/24/2007, 06:02 AMI believe Ex-Ranza (Ranger X?) used this trick to get 128 or so colors on screen in game. However, don't quote me on that since I've never seen the game in action. I just read about it in a book I have.
I've messed with the color counts in Ranger X before briefly and remember counting around 40 or so. I don't know what book you read that says it can get 128, but color wise the game is a bit messy overall.

Well, I looked thru the book again and basically it stated that this game could do up to 128 colors. Couldn't find much info on the book online (for the 5 minutes I tried looking

), but here's a here's a link to the book called MegaDrive Encyclopedia. It basically lists all JPN games released (MD, CD, 32X) by date, with a small blurb about the game. It also has some interviews from some old school MD game developers.

ccovell · 05/26/2007, 12:38 PM

Quote from: Keranu on 05/23/2007, 11:42 PMWelp, I guess awack beat my find. 125 is the new record.

It's not an official game, but TML tried valiantly to beat Toy Story's record of 160+...

129 colours .................................... 156 colours

Give the Turbo a shadow & highlight mode in hardware, and I'd be able to beat it!

BigusSchmuck · 10/26/2013, 02:04 PM

Sticky pretty please even if it's 6 years old?

Tatsujin · 10/27/2013, 01:55 AM

fuck yeawh