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Albion wont run on MCGA, nor using VGA RGB-SCART cable 🙁
The only way to experience it like this back in the day might have been an ATI RAGE PCI card with build in Composite output, afaik those worked under DOS with no drivers/initialization needed.

@Jo22 Thanks for the subtle localized censoring in some of your screenshots. I was actually at work while scrolling through this thread. 😅

It's obvious that Albion was not published by an American company.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-30, 07:35:

Albion wont run on MCGA, nor using VGA RGB-SCART cable 🙁

+1 I think that sums it up pretty much.

MCGA/true mode 13h is really out of question. 🙁

The RGB cable (as such, electrically) may or may not work, I have little experience here.
From what I read, the normal low-resolution modes (about 200 lines) can work without issues using a generic VGA CRTC.

For anything 640x480 or higher, like Windows 3.1 desktop, the normal interlacing is required.
Which however, requires special chipset support by the TSR driver (special code for OAK, Trident, Tseng, Cirrus, ATI etc).

https://www.epanorama.net/circuits/vga2tv/driver_dos.html

And that's exactly where I'm uncertain. 🤷 In which category does Albion or a similarly tweaked VGA game belong to ? non-interlaced or interlaced ? 🙁
Regular TVs/Video monitors can handle about 240p (240 lines per field, NTSC/RS170 timings) or 288p (288 lines per field, PAL/CCIR timings).
Some game consoles (Sinclair QL) even use resolutions as high as 512x256, which are more than what Albion uses.

On the other hand, tweaked games like Albion do tend to mess with the CRTC registers, I assume.
So they may interfere with the 15 KHz TSR, which might be another source of incompatibility.

By contrast, a well behaved MCGA (mode 13h) game doesn't change such things.
That's why point&click adventure games seem to be rather safe, they don't need scrolling or custom timings.

However, on the other hand (again), some tweaked VGA modes do use VGA text-mode compatible timings.
Which are both rather CRTC/monitor-friendly. So they may not cause much trouble in practice.

This apparently isn't true for Albion, though. From what I read, the manual/box explicitly warned laptop users about an incompatibility.
So the game may not be considered LCD/TFT friendly. Which is a bit ironic, because I ran the game on a Compaq Armada series laptop from the 90s. 😁
And both the internal LCD, as well as the external 19" TFT had no issues displaying all the graphics and FMVs.

Anyway, maybe the issues existed with early 90s laptops. You know, 386/486 era laptops with monochrome LCDs or early colour LCDs.
On such screens, standard resolutions such as 320x200, 640x400 and 640x480 were being expected and there was no interpolation/conversion going on.
Maybe that's why the developers/publishers warned the users.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-30, 07:35:

The only way to experience it like this back in the day might have been an ATI RAGE PCI card with build in Composite output, afaik those worked under DOS with no drivers/initialization needed.

Yay! I remember these! ^^
An old S3 (ViRGE?) had such a yellow RCA connector, too, I vaguely remember.

Another thing that comes to mind is the "Video Cheese", a simple VGA-Composite converter box from the 90s.
I had one many moons ago.. It converted those classic VGA resolutions (max 640x480 60Hz) to Composite (and S-video, maybe).
It also had a pass-through feature, so a VGA monitor could be left installed.

Back in the day (1990), a website says, a special circuitry available to convert VGA to Composite.
It worked by converting 15 KHz RGB signals to CVBS; so it was more like a SCART-Composite circuit, really.
The VGA timings had to be altered in software, just like with a regular cable.

https://www.qsl.net/dh1dm/tv_50hz_svga/

Anyhow, I have little experience here. I don't meant to judge. 🙁
I really need to make a cable anytime soon.

digger wrote on 2023-08-30, 15:29:

@Jo22 Thanks for the subtle localized censoring in some of your screenshots. I was actually at work while scrolling through this thread. 😅

It's obvious that Albion was not published by an American company.

You're welcome! ^^ Glad that I could, err, help ?! 😁

Yeah, I can relate to that. Though the French, our neighbors, did beat "us" when it comes to such stuff, I'm afraid. 😅
But in general, in retrospect, the 90s were quite relaxed here. As long as something wasn't indexed..

We got some Japanimation (Japan Animation) with little to no censorship (except for strong violence/gore and uncensored Hentai, which always were +18 rated).
Some of them were even making their way via France to us, which explains why they weren't altered much. Apparently, the French didn't have a problem with, uh, Japanese "culture". 😁

As far as popular titles go, Sailor Moon and Ranma 1/2 come to mind. While others, like Dragonball got cut/censored a lot (but for their violent scenes).
And years ago, the TMNT were renamed TMHT, too, of course (but that's an 80s thing).

Speaking of Ranma 1/2, it had kept its very innocent, but nude opening Japanimation in one of our dubbed versions (opening, ca. 2002).
Which in retrospect, is very surprising and gives a weird feeling whenever being watched; the 90s seem so far away, like a fever dream.

It was in the early to mid 2000s when we got more visual censorship on TV, I vaguely remember.
But it's still possible to mail order things (games, comics, films), not unlike it is/was done in the states, I assume.

That MegaTech company from the US (Cobra Mission, Knights of Xentar, Metal&Lace etc) worked that way, I think.
They had sent the +18 versions/patches to their customers via mail. Speaking under correction, though.

Anyway, graphics aside, Albion is an interesting game on its own. I remembered it, because there were ads/articles in old magazines featuring it.
The weird screen resolution also was a reason as to why I did want to take some CRT shots. I was very curious. 😁
Like many other popular PC titles Albion was re-sold as a magazine with a cover disk.
-> See "Bestseller Games" series of magazines. 😀

Zone 66

Information:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/918/zone-66/

I've left out the breastfeeding scene (intro).

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WarCraft

Information:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/371/warcraft-orcs-humans/

Emerald Fantasy 2

Information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEHq3mzHfds

ZSNES (DOS)

Information:
https://www.zsnes.com/

Not a typical game per se, but a beloved memory of the DOS days.

Isn't using MCGA, strictly speaking, but can use ModeX (similar resolutions).
Screen photos taken in 640x480 16-Bit res due to transparency requiring it.

The Oregon Trail

Information:

Reserved

Violent Vengeance: The Universe Hero

Information:
https://epicversus.com/violent-myth-violent-vengeance/

An Korean/Chinese fighting game (different language releases available).

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Lollypop

Information:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/4808/lollypop/

Another classic. The demoscene group "The Vibrants" worked on it, too. Supports EMS.

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