The Sinclair QL Forum

Derek_Stewart wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 3:39 pm Hi,

The SMSQ/E writers seem to just change and us poor users have figure out what they have done.

They did an amazing job with SMSQE.
The stipple issue is a minor bug that affects almost no one, and that is why it took so long to surface.

Derek_Stewart wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 2:08 pm Hi,

Could the problem be with QDOS having th Stipples in the wrong order and GD2 corrected the problem.

Could be. But in the end SMSQE should maintain compatibility with QDOS, not the other way round.

The issue is much easier to spot when using stipple=2 (vertical bars)

Have you tried older versions of smsq/e as it is astounding that this has not been spotted before, the GD2 colour drivers have been around for at least 20 years and smsq/e itself longer? Cheers No, I have not tried older versions. I have installed SMSQE on my SGC QL only last year - and I use v3.39...

Do you see the same swapped colour effect in other stipple patterns? Maybe SMSQ/E just uses a different 'chequerboard' stipple pattern, which would not effect the colour seen by the eye. Yes, I see the swapped colour effect in all stipple patterns. I played with all stipple patterns in QEmulator, Q...

Hi Andrew, I am running Q68 FPGA v1.05, SMSQ/E v3.39 in DISP_MODE 1: 512x256 Mode 4/8 See photos, on 23" monitor: IMG_20240504_132350519.jpg IMG_20240504_132356875.jpg IMG_20240504_132402780.jpg The game does not work in the Q68 Hi Colour modes. But I only use DISP_MODE 6: 512x384 Mode 33 Than...

Derek_Stewart wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2024 12:36 pm Dump the emulators and use a Q68...

I see the same issue when I run QSTAR on a real QL, in QDOS vs SMSQ/E - see above image

It seems that SMSQ/E is not defining the colour correctly. The color is defined as colour, contrast, stipple - in this example (see attached image) the background colour is defined as PAPER 5,4,3 It seems that SMSQ/E is reversing the colour and contrast, so on SMSQ/E systems the paper is actually 4,...

Derek_Stewart wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2024 12:31 pm I had to slow the Q68 down with a SLUG 50 cmmand.

Hi Derek - you can also slow down the animation using F1 command, while in game.
As you have a Q68 - please check if, while in game, the title (QSTAR) is aligned with the background .
It seems that there is a SMSQ/E bug in defining the colour

XorA wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2024 10:56 am I guess someone should check on q68 and see if this is an smsqe issue!

You are perfectly right! This is a SMSQ/E issue!
On real QL (SGC+QL-SD) running SMSQ/E the pixels are aligned.
On real QL (SGC+QL-SD) running QDOS the pixels are not aligned.

So this is a SMSQ/E issue!