Ultimate International Karate Commodore 64(new release game)

[@MexboroughBuildings]

Those backgrounds are definitely going on my desktop. Just sublime!

[@madcommodore]

Yeah I was really impressed by most of them, might even do an animated version of a couple with ripples in the water.

[@h_g_not_wells5461]

This is great, thanks for the heads up. I do prefer International Karate historically and some nice improvements here for one of my fav 8bit fighting games.

[@speedysandisk78]

Stunning new backgrounds... Very nice

[@andy6576]

With the exception of Ayres Rock (which is very boring in real life too), these new backgrounds look amazing. I like the repositioned and animated judge, too :o)

[@madcommodore]

I thought the same, perhaps a nicer version of Sydney Opera house would have been better but it is very well drawn with blue haze for shadow and a nice sky, trouble is a desert is a desert lol. the subject matter is the issue. The more you look at it the more you appreciate it's probably the best you can draw that scene on C64.

[@andy6576]

Oh yeah, I agree completely that it's very well drawn, it's just a massively boring subject matter! At least Australia is already represented with the original backgrounds.

[@madcommodore]

Would be interested if IK fans on C64 would agree about it being better, but the new backgrounds are nice.

[@Midwinter2]

Hi, I just discovered this video. Beautiful work. The background graphics are indeed much better than the original. However, in some cases this leads to a new problem: the background graphics being overly prominent and upstaging the foreground fighters. I hate to say it, but the worst offender is the scene of the Inca pyramid and statue. It's astonishingly good artwork! However, it's so dominant and intrusive that it almost looks like the statues and pyramid are hovering in the air over the fighters' heads rather than being in the background. The reason is that it is highly contrasted, intensely coloured, very detailed - and very big! By contrast, the New York cityscape is better integrated due to the light greys used for the skyscrapers and the blue sky being allowed to come through (nice effect!). This causes the city to recede more into the background. To better integrate the Inca scene, I would suggest the following strategies: - shrink the pyramid and statues to about half their size, filling in the gaps on the edge of the screen by continuing the horizontal tree line. - simplify the detail by removing the textured effect - but having to shrink the picture will probably result in that anyway. - removing the dark brown, the black and possibly the dark grey to reduce the contrast. - remove the purple from the sky and the red from the pyramid to reduce the colour intensity. Replace the orange dot pattern in the grass with light grey to reduce the intensity of the green. A mixture of the above strategies should calm the background down so that it doesn't intrude on the foreground. Unfortunately, the price to pay is that you can't showcase your brilliant artwork as much - but overall the game will be easier on the eye. Anyway, you've done amazing work. Best of luck!

[@madcommodore]

@@Midwinter2 It's not 'my' work, I was just uploading a video to compare the new release with the old one. I can see what you mean about the new graphics being 'too close' due to the same palette colours being everywhere with no fogging/distant haze effects or even colour rasters for the floor but I think they are an improvement on the old ones. The music however.....I prefer Mr Hubbard's original for my choice of music (as I do with updated Commando and Ghosts n Goblins original music so perhaps that's really just nostalgia).

[@fradd182]

Same game, with some new beautiful backgrounds, why not? And, if im not mistaken, with some new multiplexed colours.

[@madcommodore]

I think they are just stock C64 bitmap multicolor mode screens I think but the artwork is really nicely done.