15. Functional Pause/Unpause key
Mod: A better Pause!
By Frankie
Link: None. Open the \LIB8086\VGA_DRVR.ASM and the CONTROL.ASM files. Then follow the code hack shown.
Description:The Pause key no now longer fades to black. This allows you to pause the game at the right moment to take in the sights.
I managed to remove the "fade down to black" effect when the Pause (P) key is hit/pressed, and the "fade up from black" effect when the unPause (P again) key is hit. Previously when the user paused the screen, a darker palette was displayed. Now when you pause the screen or the action, the details shown are the original colours. Now you can see the detail put into the game by the Digital Integration development team.
Here are three screenshots that I was able to take by pausing the game at the critical moment. All screenshots were taken while in Weapons View (V key). The missile travels so fast that the final moments is all but a blur, and you have as good a chance of getting a good close-up view of the target, as spotting the elusive clouded leopard in the wild. The chance is practically nil. Unless you use a screen recording software and then later play back the footage frame-by-frame. And unless you use my hack with lots of luck getting the pause at just the right moment. Even with my pause hack, getting the scene paused at just the right moment was one heck, pun intended, of a job. I did over 20 takes before landing the right 5 screenshots. Well, now you know.
My ALARM missile is about to turn a Russian-made ZSU-23-4 Shilka into toast.
Have you ever seen a Shilka this up close in Tornado?
For early 1990s graphics, I'd say the devs got the 3D model done just right
What looks like a ZRK ROMB (SA-8) amphibious mobile SAM system to me, is a split second away from disaster.
Seeing one close enough to identify it, is a rare moment indeed in this game.
Another Shilka on the receiving end of my ALARM missile. Remember this was 1990-1993 era graphics.
Again, these screenshot are something you probably have never seen before in all the years of playing Tornado. Made possible ... curtesy of this hack and Frankie Kam
Usually in the standard game, what you see is just a split-second glimpse of the target vehicle before it is reduced to a smoking earth-coloured crater. This is probably the first time you are looking at such screenshots of the game. The process of capturing the above three screenshots above was ONLY made possible by this hack.
The hack consists firstly of editing the FadeDown procedure of \LIB8086\ VGA_DRVR.ASM. Just add a ret command to exit the procedure at around line 4085
Edit the FadeDown procedure of VGA_DRVR.ASM
Secondly, edit the FadeUp procedure of the CONTROL.ASM source file. Make the changes shown in yellow highlight below. Basically, I changed 3 values and commented off 4 lines of code. This took me hours to find and to test
Edit the FadeUp procedure of the CONTROL.ASM
So that's it for Hack #15. The Pause key in Tornado is now much more functional compared to the original. It won't hide your screen from the Boss when he or she walks into your cubicle, but then again, should you be playing Tornado at work in 2017? I think not. :sweat_smile:
Two more screenshots from the game. Pause is KING!
Here's Laser-Guided-Bomb on its way towards the target.
Ever seen this up-close before? What? Still not close enough for you?
Okay! How about this now? Close enough for you NOW? It sure is for me!
Made possible because of the Functional Pause hack. Enjoy!
In closing, this hack allows you to pause the game at critical moments. With a dose of luck and sheer timing of your keypresses to pause and/or unpause, you should be able to capture moments never before viewed in the history of Digital Integration's Tornado. Enjoy!
Retro-Man Frankie, out.
Kaboom at dawn! This is an extremely rare screenshot of an ALARM hitting a enemy vehicle.
I hit the P(ause) key at just the right millisecond.
Postscript.
I have tested this on my iDOS2 beta build running on my iPad Air. The pause button works perfectly because if I press and hold down the P key, the screen pauses. Unpausing on the iPad is a bit more tricky. A press and hold won't unpause the screen. I have to quick light tap the P key with my finger tip to get the unpause to work. Still work in progress to achieve the right tatactile feeling.
An indirect ALARM cuts off its parachute and bears
down almost vertically onto a helpless SA-8 Gecko
For future enhancement, it would be nice to be able to rotate, Matrix Keanu Reeves style, the Tornado while in pause mode.