Greetings Shoot Em Up Construction Kit fanatics and enthusiasts out there.

I am very pleased to announce a new update which should be coming its way some time in December 2023, or early 2024. This time it is a brand new update of the S.E.U.C.K Title Screen Maker. In fact it will be version 1.6. Also V1.6 intends to be something very special as well. Please read on to find out more about what is in store.

So then, what is in store for version 1.6 of the SEUCK Title Screen Maker?  Well, for a start off, the SEUCK Title Maker will have its own regular features (Screen designer, hi score table editor, scroll text writer) however there are some great new features in store.

Logo row size increased
The specific logo size in SEUCK Title Maker V1.0 all the way to V1.5 was set to be limited to a width of 40 characters and a height of 7 characters. Instead, in V1.6 the user will have one extra row available for the logo. The dimensions this time will be width of 40 characters, and height of 8 characters. It will still be possible to use hi-resolution or multi colour bitmap logos. 

Charset file type flexibility 
The second additional feature will be flexibility to load any 1x1 or 1x2/2x1 character set. Versions 1.0 all the way to V1.5 support use of character sets that were made in native C64 format. Version 1.6 will be able to load in raw binary format character sets, used in PC applications such as Charpad, Ultrafont PC, etc. There will be questions on the type of font that is to be loaded (and has been loaded) and then the program will automatically setup the scroll text layout that is suitable for the font size. 1x2 and 2x1 fonts will not be able to use animated characters.

Reduced hi score table width
Although the names and scores will consist of the same number of characters, the hi score table has been reduced in width in order to give more room for adding cool decoration beside it. Either static characters or animated characters. The hi score table will still use flashing colours (unless all colour has been set as one specific colour) . The flash routine has also been improved in order to allow the page flip directly on to the colour flash without displaying a single colour character over the hi score table beforehand. Hi score tables cannot be used for 1x2 / 2x1 character set based title screens.

Game border colour setup
SEUCK Games have always had used the black side border. There is now an option in which you can type in the colour of the border, which you feel would suit your game. 

Room for enhancements
The SEUCK Title Screen Maker V1.6 frees some code memory room in which is reserved for up to three enhancement initialising and playing subroutines. This makes it more possible for you to push your SEUCK game even further by coding your own subroutines or using the example Turbo Assembler game subroutines (Complete with instructions on how to use them). This means that it will be possible to transform your old Shoot Em Up Construction Kit Game into something more presentable and possibly incredible. You will need a freezer cartridge with machine code monitor such as a Super Snapshot, Action Replay or Retro Replay and of course a copy of Turbo Assembler or Turbo Macro Pro from The Turbo Assembler web site. The TASS routines will be explained in the new documentation.

So hopefully in the future it will be possible to add new sprite score panels, animate background and even do full boss explosions and additional power ups (Based on bullet speed and sprite tables). It is hoped that in the future further enhancement subroutines will be added.

I do hope you are looking forward to V1.6 of the SEUCK Title Screen Maker soon to be launched near to the end of December or some time at the start of 2024.

Richard / The New Dimension