Genesis games that use HAM for 128 colors onscreen?

[Anthony1]

I've heard that some Genesis games use a HAM mode (Hold & Modify), to get 128 colors onscreen simultaneously, rather than the normal 64 colors.


I was reading a interview in a old Die Hard Game Fan, the guy was talking to the guy that founded Treasure, and they were discussing Gunstar Heroes and how the game apears so colorful. Actually the guy said that they didn't use the HAM mode, instead they just added shadows and lighting effects to make it seem like it had much more color. He also said that Sonic didn't use HAM either. I'm not sure if he was just talking about Sonic 1 or 2 or what.


Anyways, I was just curious if anybody knew which Genesis games were the ones that used this "HAM" mode.

[atomicthumbs]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/atomicthumbs/segaham.jpg

Achika want a sandwich?

[NeoZeedeater]

I don't have an official list or anything but it seems a lot of games from past 1993 do the color enhancing, too many to count. I remember magazines saying Ranger-X was first although Shinobi III definitely looks like it does it too and it was released earlier(at least in North America).

As for Sonic, I'm guessing Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles use it. Ristar looks like it too.

[it290]

The Genesis doesn't actually support HAM. That is a mode on the Amiga that allows you to use 4096 colors (out of a palette of 4096). It's more or less useless for games because it's extremely slow and it causes color artifacts (depending on which colors are used). You hear it in reference to the Genesis a lot because the Gen is similar to eg an Amiga 500. What the Genesis does support is hilite/shadow mode. I'm not sure if Gunstar Heroes uses that, but some games that do use it include Castlevania Bloodlines (on the Versailles level where you're walking through a hallway with chandeliers on the ceiling), and Eternal Champions for the Sega CD (not sure about the Gen version). I think Ranger-X uses it also. This mode allows you to use either darker or lighter versions of the colors in the palette, similar to the 'Extra Halfbrite' mode available on the Amiga.

[suppafly]

I read that interview with the guy from treasure on diehard too.....

But sometime later I read more info about that HAM mode...and that it wasnt truly what everybody said it was....damn I cant remember the details.. :angry:


Anyway....most of the better looking genesis games dont use any techniques similar to that..they just pick the right colors from the available palette (A good example being super street fighter 2, which looks GREAT, using the genesis´ 64 colors-at-once)

[suppafly]

The Genesis doesn't actually support HAM. That is a mode on the Amiga that allows you to use 4096 colors (out of a palette of 4096). It's more or less useless for games because it's extremely slow and it causes color artifacts (depending on which colors are used). You hear it in reference to the Genesis a lot because the Gen is similar to eg an Amiga 500. What the Genesis does support is hilite/shadow mode. I'm not sure if Gunstar Heroes uses that, but some games that do use it include Castlevania Bloodlines (on the Versailles level where you're walking through a hallway with chandeliers on the ceiling), and Eternal Champions for the Sega CD (not sure about the Gen version). I think Ranger-X uses it also. This mode allows you to use either darker or lighter versions of the colors in the palette, similar to the 'Extra Halfbrite' mode available on the Amiga.

I was writing my message while you posted that. I think youre right...

[Anthony1]

I distinctively remember reading somewhere about certain Genesis games that did use some type of "HAM" mode to double the number of onscreen colors from 64 to 128.


Actually, it wasn't in that GameFan interview, not sure exactly where I read it, but they definitely were talking about a "hold and modify" mode that you could trick the Genesis into displaying 128 colors.

I'm sure that there were downsides to using this. Otherwise every single Genny game would use it.

It might not be like the Amiga HAM mode, but it could be somewhat similar.


Also now that you mention it, I remeber Ranger X being one of the games that used it.

[suppafly]

I just remembered. there was a long discussion about this over at segaxtreme....go visit them and make a search...you will find a lot more info...

http://www.segaxtreme.net/

[it290]

I used to think it was HAM mode too, but trust me, it isn't. HAM is a hardware feature specifically created for the Amiga's blitter chip (Agnus). The hilite/shadow mode does exactly what you're describing. If it were HAM, it would allow the use of all 512 colors, and it would also create visual artifacts. HAM mode, IIRC, needs at least 3 pixels horizontially to go from black to white.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

The Genesis doesn't actually support HAM.
Can it at least do me a pork roast? I'm hungry.

[it290]

No, but the original 3 button controllers are pretty beefy. </wank>