RR #6 - The Stowaway

The graphics in the original version of Reckless Rufus were a joint effort by Mike Berry, Roy Fielding and David Green, and a very clever trick was used to get around the low-res appearance of the C64's high-colour mode. Essentially, each sprite is made up of two sprite layers: one sets down the colours according to the 160 x 200 resolution, the other overlays a high resolution monochrome outline, according to the 320 x 200 pixel resolution, to make it appear sharper. The same trick was used in several other C64 games, perhaps the most widely known being the highly stylised conversion of Target; Renegade.

Rufus himself is a comparatively large (22 x 21 pixel) green blob with two flat feet, two big, round eyes, a bobbly nose, and a cheeky smirk. I'm not normally a fan of C64 graphics, but there's certainly something engaging about this cheeky stowaway.

Weirdly, the animation of his vertical roll has fewer frames of animation than his horizontal roll... and this seems to be because he skips a frame right at the start: he goes straight from his 'bob' frame into a top-down view, but then he has a quarter position between his bottom-up view and his return to the 'bob' frame for his landing. While these animation frames were painstakingly transcribed with reference to several different YouTube videos, I did so by advancing frame-by-frame, so I'm convinced I haven't missed a frame - it just wasn't there - but it doesn't seem to discernibly affect the smoothness of the animation.

When the coder of the Spectrum conversion sent the cassette containing SCREEN$ of his first draft material, he warned me that most of his sprites had been based around circles. Consequently, his Rufus didn't quite hit the same note as the C64 version:

Not only is the basic shape wrong, but the animation works differently depending on which direction Rufus is moving. Horizontal movement gives him the appearance of a sphere with eyes and feet... Vertical movement gives more the impression that he's a flat disc, and then his 'fall' animation is more of a simple compression on a single axis. He's got that all-important smirk and a blink frame, but the rest of him just doesn't look like the original character. Something that wasn't immediately apparent, though, was that the sprite is an odd number of pixels in width, and comes in at just 13 x 14 pixels. If I'd given it a bit more thought at the time, I would have realised that this was to match to the platform tiles, and allow parts of them to remain visible 'behind' Rufus.

So, for my Spectrum version, I wanted to get a better handle on Rufus' shape, and make his movement more consistent. That was simple enough, and I soon had this 16 x 16 pixel sprite:

There are a few errors and omissions - for example, the default expression is a small, centralised smile, the smirk is somewhat harsher, and he doesn't bob before moving... but I think I captured the essentials. I am still quite pleased with the evenness of the movement and the extended 'fall' animation. However, it didn't occur to me, back then, that this version of Rufus was a whole pixel wider and taller than all of the tiles he needed to move around on. To this day, considering the likelihood that none of my other sprites were used, I'm a little surprised that my Rufus made it into the final release... Though, to be honest, I'm more inclined to be disappointed that the coder didn't immediately point out that I'd made him too large, and why it was too large, as it would have been simplicity itself to shave one pixel off his height and width. He looks pretty good and, if there was a complaint to be made about his in-game animation, it would be that it's just too slow. With the benefit of YouTube video of the C64 game, which I can advance frame-by-frame and see in greater detail than on the original VHS tape I was provided, there are all kinds of other improvements I would now be inclined to make before calling him 'done'.

And yet, when I first started thinking about a SAM Coupé adaptation of Reckless Rufus, I used my Spectrum version as the basis, not only in terms of size and shape, but in terms of the palette as well, so I ended up with this drab little fellow...

At this point, I can't even find any evidence that I bothered to animate him - the above animation was reworked from the Spectrum version in Photoshop, based upon the recoloured sprite in my adaptation of the Spectrum game's UI. I've not been able to find any SAM SCREEN$ showing the recoloured animation frames.

This early 90s version is more colourful than the Spectrum version and, loosely speaking, makes better use of MODE 4... but, with just the two default shades of green, and the brighter one used only to soften the edge between his green body and white shoes, he looks flat and basic... Not to say just plain ugly. Looking back on this now, I'm pleased to see how much my pixel art has improved over the years, thanks to ongoing study of both games on retro systems and the current trends in pixel art games, as well as a better understanding of palette optimisation, to get the most out of a mere 16 colours.

So, when I decided to take a fresh look at a SAM Coupé adaptation of Reckless Rufus, I deliberately chose to start from scratch, scrutinising the C64 version, and completely ignoring everything I'd done before, on the Spectrum and the SAM. There are just two style elements that I kept from my earlier SAM sprite: the pink nose, just to give him a bit more character, and the idea that he's wearing shoes... simply because I wanted to make as much use of the adapted 16 colour C64 palette as I possibly could.

This new version of Rufus comes in at 17 x 19 pixels - just a couple of pixels shy of the size of the original C64 sprite in either direction. That's not much bigger than the Spectrum version, or my earlier SAM 'upgrade' but, even so, I think I've managed to pack in a lot more character than was possible on the Spectrum, with more detail than was possible on the C64. Even the simple shading of his blobby body - using yellow rather than white for the highlights, and a darker green rather than grey for the shadows - gives him a greater sense of physical presence. I'm particularly proud of his eyeballs, with 'half pixel' shading bringing his pupils slightly closer to being truly forward-facing. The 'whistling' phase of his 'Idle' animation was inspired by a sound effect in the C64 game, which seems to occur if the player hasn't moved in a while, giving the impression that Rufus is whistling to regain the player's attention.

Looking at it now - a good few years since creating it - I have noticed that this version of Rufus is far more round than the C64 version, and even my original Spectrum version. That is to say, he's the same number of pixels across the 'waist' when viewed from the side as he is when viewed from the front... That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not quite as he should be. 

Nevertheless, I'm still pretty proud of the more subtle and weighted movement, with Rufus leaning slightly due to inertia as he starts and finishes a roll in either direction, and picking up his feet as he rolls sideways. I believe I've done a better job with his expressions this time, as well, quite apart from that extended 'Idle' animation I created. Furthermore, I was able to add the 'electrocution' animation that was absent from the Spectrum version because it never appeared on any of the VHS recordings I was working to...

 And a similar thing happened when it came to remaking the platform tiles at this new size.

Some additional tweaks will be required if and when the coder gets back on to this project but, if The Lower Caverns didn't exactly push me in terms of creative pixel art, this is what set me more firmly on the path toward improving my technique and making better use of a limited palette.