Towards a Digital Simulacrum of "Filmation" Spatial Paradigm

Taxonomy of Virtual Spaces

In my last blog post, I explored the history of and defined the "Filmation" spatial paradigm, as pioneered in Ultimate Play the Game's Knight Lore (1984, ZX Spectrum game). This is currently my best-defined example of a spatial paradigm, one with a long history, especially in action/adventure platformers

My goal with my latest digital project is to be able to replicate various spatial paradigms seen in digital games, starting with the visuo-spatial configurations as defined by my "Taxonomy of Virtual Spaces" (Rowe, unpublished).

The "Filmation" visuo-spatial configuration:

• Gameworld
• Game Space
• Continuous Spatiality
• 3-D Game Space
• Mapping
• Rectangular Topology
• Modifiers
• Gravity - Down
• Framing Device
• Frame Mobility:Diagonal Direction
• Discrete (Page Flip)
• Three Conceptual Image Planes (angle and projection method)
• Agents - 30° Dimetric
• Environment - 30° Dimetric
• Background/Foreground - N/A

I began with a study of the original "Filmation" game, Knight Lore.

Studying Knight Lore

Playing Knight Lore on my ZX Spectrum Next (with HDMI output)

Like any game I am studying, I try to first play it on original hardware the game was designed for. I don't own an original Sinclair ZX Spectrum from the 1980s, but I do own a ZX Spectrum Next computer. It has an FPGA-implemented Z80-compatible processor that can replicate the functionality of a Spectrum or other Sinclair computer. It also sports an SD card reader, 512Mb RAM, joystick ports, HDMI and VGA output, and other amenities far above the original Spectrum's capabilities. The case and keyboard was designed by Rick Dickinson (RIP), who designed the some of Sinclair's original Spectrum cases. As a researcher and a gamer, it feels like a good mix of an authentic experience with enough modern conveniences to make my life easier (not worrying about a decaying keyboard membrane, a Kempston joystick interface, disintegrating cassette tape data, or PAL video formats). 

Playing the game reminds me that one thing I do not miss about old computer games: the wonky control schemes they often use. PC gamers owe so much to Thresh and his work to help standardize the WASD keyboard configuration scheme (though I am still a fan of ESDF). Knight Lore uses common-for-the-time "tank" style controls, where the player avatar can only move forward or rotate left/right by 90 degrees (and jump).

• Jump: Q, W, E, or R
• Forward: A, S, D, or F
• Left: Z, C, B, or M
• Right: X, V, N, or SYMBOL SHIFT

You can settle into a tight SZX control scheme, or widen your fingers out to a DZV to move without too much difficulty. The biggest problem is that jump is only on the top row of keys, not the standard space bar! If your left middle finger is on one of the ASDF keys to move forward, you need to move your other hand to one of the QWER positions to keep your other left hand figures to rotate left/right on the bottom row of keys. I think joystick controls are the way to go with this game.

Analyzing Knight Lore with the Spectrum Graphics Editor

I tried using the Spectrum Graphics Editor (still in development) to view Knight Lore's graphics data for analysis, but didn't have much luck. I found the graphics and image mask data, but it would take too long to extract the data into a useful format. I can see the graphics for the cauldron, crystal ball, boot, the ghost, the wizard, and the player sprites in the image above, but the pieces are still jumbled.

Knight Lore Cauldron Room showing 8 x 8 tile floor grid

As described in my previous blog post, Knight Lore rooms are 8 x 8 "tiles" in size along the floor plane. Each doorway is two tiles wide. The blocks the player often climbs onto are one tile in size and approximately 1/2 tile in height. The player can jump onto a block of this height.

Previsualization

Recreating the Cauldron Room in Unity 2019.4.40f1

I used the Cauldron Room as a previsualization target for the look of the digital game tool I'm creating. The initial pre-viz would also give me the opportunity to learn how to use Unity's isometric tilemap tools. I created a palette of tiles using the Kenney Isometric Prototype Tiles set (free to use under CC0 1.0) that I modified slightly.

I do like the gray and orange grid "under construction" palette used in these tiles. We used a similar texture on our prototype, graybox levels when using the Unreal 3 editor to create Legendary. It is very obviously not final art for the game, so it didn't pose much risk of accidentally being left in the shipping build for the final product. I like this look for my purposes as it does not really convey a specific architectural or artistic style. I need something that keeps the visualized spaces clear and distinct without giving the impression of a specific culture or genre.

Next Step: Create texture, material, and other assets based on a similar "prototype" look to use in order to build 3-D assets for replicating virtual spaces.