Retro games and emulation - Discuss retro shit in case you're stuck in the past or a hipster

[Xarpho's Return]

I feel there's a sliding scale of authenticity which makes the experience better for me. I really never took the time to sit down and play Zelda 2 until I had a real cartridge and put it in my real NES, something about that package works better. I sit and try for longer with an Everdrive than I do an emulator. Somewhere along that scale plugging an SNES Classic Controller into a Wii using SNES9X RX on a CRT is certainly pretty good, but I'd still prefer using a SNES & a real cartridge when that's an option.

I'm inclined to agree, but I remember having more fun with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker when it was through Dolphin and not hooked up to a real GameCube (that I was able to route through my monitor in a bit of jank-tech).

I think the real difference is playing handheld, on a computer, and on a real TV, and the games are meant for those different systems. Subtle things like camera angles matter, as well as the nature of the game (I still think playing Pokémon, any game, on an emulator is awkward).

Even then, it's trade-offs between convenience, price, and practicality.

 

[AmpleApricots]

Here's an odd one I just stumbled across:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1470940/STAR_FLEET_II__Krellan_Commander_Version_20/

Star Fleet 2 Krellan Commander. This is basically what Derek Smart try to make (and failed). If you always wanted to be a Klingo- I mean Krellan Space Ship Commander with all that entails, I can highly recommend it. Don't let yourself be fooled by it's age and DOSness, it's actually a very deep game. One of my first PC games and I loved it.

The interesting thing and why I post this is that this game from 1989 is in active development again since 2018 by it's original developer. (yes, still DOS) If you are interested to play it, be aware that you really need to read the (massive) manual.

It's kinda like the original Pirates! Just in space, and a lot more complex.

 

[The I Scream Man]

Star Fleet 2 Krellan Commander

I still love those old DOS graphics, sign me the fuck up

 

[Xarpho's Return]

Here's an odd one I just stumbled across:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1470940/STAR_FLEET_II__Krellan_Commander_Version_20/
Star Fleet 2 Krellan Commander. This is basically what Derek Smart try to make (and failed). If you always wanted to be a Klingo- I mean Krellan Space Ship Commander with all that entails, I can highly recommend it. Don't let yourself be fooled by it's age and DOSness, it's actually a very deep game. One of my first PC games and I loved it.

The interesting thing and why I post this is that this game from 1989 is in active development again since 2018 by it's original developer. (yes, still DOS) If you are interested to play it, be aware that you really need to read the (massive) manual.

It's kinda like the original Pirates! Just in space, and a lot more complex.

I looked into that game just out of curiosity, it looks like the original 1989 version was buggy to the point of unplayability, and the 2018 version would've been the definitive version had it been released back years ago when that mattered.

As for retro gaming, I've been playing Ocarina of Time on SoH (Majora's Mask will come later), and while it's been discussed in these threads I wonder if they have a complete version of Ura Zelda or not. There's been a lot of discussion of what Ura Zelda was supposed to have and what we actually got, but according to this article, Ura Zelda was completed in 2000. "The 64DD upgrade title offers new items, levels and characters for those who already own Ocarina of Time. Miyamoto dispelled rumors that Ura-Zelda would offer online play, saying that Nintendo had never intended to incorporate such a feature into the title."

The N64DD had all these features that I imagine the 64DD game could take advantage of (real time clock, etc.) yet Master Quest has none of these, nor "new items, levels, and characters". So far, the most convincing piece of evidence that there isn't a "better" Ura Zelda out there (which there could be, who knows if it was in unreleased leaks) is that Master Quest has no juicy unreleased content. On the other hand, that could be the most convincing piece of evidence that there IS something missing, every Nintendo game has a collection of unused enemies, items, textures, and strings, which are all curiously absent from Master Quest.

 

[Carpenter Trout]

I still love those old DOS graphics, sign me the fuck up

For a minute I thought it was like the Duke Nukem or Commander Keen kind of DOS sprite graphics, that would've been nice, especially if not-CGA, since that is still horrifying even with all the nostalgia-goggles in the world.

It's called ASCII art. There's lots of games to this day being developed using this ASCII style, not kidding.

Considering the worryingly low mentions of Racing Games and RTS games; You people should seriously consider playing Command And Conquers: Generals - Zero Hour, especially with a mod called "Rise of the Reds". It's basically Generals 2 if EA didn't fucked Westwood over, in my opinion.
The installing process is pretty easy. Just download Zero Hour from whenever (Origin, Steam, DRM-Free, CD), then install GenPatcher and let it install everything, from there also install GenTool and GenLauncher. Use GenLauncher to install Rise of the Reds and that's it. It's harder to explain than to execute. The game is pretty hard, I could hold my self on Zero Hour against Hard Bots, but in ROTR, even the Easy Bot gave me some trouble. There is to say, it has nearly nothing in common with Generals and ZH in terms of units. Gameplay is still the same. There is to say, there are no more subfactions (superweapon, toxin, nuke generals). You make your subfaction with the general promotions.
ModDB page (But you should really download it through the GenLauncher as it has the updated version unlike ModDB)

(1v2 USA vs Russia);

For racing games... I still got nothing. Go play GTR2, Automobilista/2 or modded Assetto Corsa. Really, the racing games are fucking dying, there's only Forza that sucked ass, Gran turismo got messed up by Snoy, and all the other games are either too sim-like/tryhard, or too retarded. I just want a game that's like Gran turismo 4, damnit.

 

[The I Scream Man]

It's called ASCII art. There's lots of games to this day being developed using this ASCII style, not kidding.

Oh yeah, I love it, its what I grew up with I'm just super glad that people are still using it

 

[Stasi]

I've been going through some old PC games myself and playing through Jagged Alliance 2, for those who don't know its a turn based tactical game, similar to X-Com but with South American militants instead of aliens and real guns instead of pew pew lasers. Having fun with it so far, sank 20 hours into the game without even realising. Kind of regretting not checking it out sooner as I really like turn based tactics games (I checked and I originally got the game on GOG in 2010, took me a while to get around to it lol).

Did some research online before I start and the general consensus seemed to be that a fan patch (1.13) is the definitive way to play it but other than some QoL improvements and improved AI the patch seems to crank the autism and micro management to 11 and I decided to go through the game vanilla instead.

For example here is the vanilla inventory screen for your mercenaries

And here it is in the patched version

Fuck that, I'm not micro managing 20 fucking pockets and backpacks. The game is apparently very popular in Germany, I'm not surprised, it would take a German to find joy in endless autistic inventory management.

 

[Lone MacReady II]

it would take a German to find joy in endless autistic inventory management.

It's called Stereotypical Prussian Exactitude.

 

[Carpenter Trout]

I want to kill the faggots that shilled me a switch. I bought that shit, bought 1 game and never used it again. Fym I can't use keyboard and mouse on splatoon? And I need a subscription to play a game that has the majority of it's content being multiplayer?

Wait until it's softmoddable and then you'll have a decent console. It was the same for the Wii U and 3DS, overpriced games and small library.

---

Going for a small tangent, I own a Steam deck.
I never got that "Battery life lasts less 3 petoseconds." I usually charge it like, once a week and then it's ready to go for the rest of the week. I also don't play any slop like nu-Doom Eternal on it, that may be of help, although I do play some other resource intensive game and it goes decently. It's a mid-tier laptop with an integrated controller and no keyboard, big deal. I still wish I got a GPD Win Mini, I don't care if the keyboard is small, that would've been amazing with the SDR to hunt radios on the go without using a fucking phone. fuck phones, the only one I tollerate was that pinephone pro with the keyboard attachment

Also Retroarch, PlayStation 1, Mame and PlayStation 2 work greatly in there, I still haven't got a game that was unplayable on the deck. But again, your mileage may vary, as with anything.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

I have HORI pads that look and function like GameCube controllers (officially licensed) with extra buttons but they don't have the pressure pads like the original GameCube controller did. How is that going to make Luigi's Mansion/Super Mario Sunshine function? Already both seem a bit awkward with the "full/off" mode. Should I buy something even more GameCube-esque (or dig out my GameCube controller and get a USB adapter) just for that function?

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

Freekstyle for the PS2 is still one of the best examples of a fun motocross game that I’m very grateful did not get a remake or remastered version in current day. It’s reminiscent of the SSX series, at least SSX 3 and SSX Tricky for me.

Though, one of the best parts about the game in question was the one thing that I miss in current day video games: in game reaction between the characters that you would get ready to race against:

It’s a nice little detail that you just don’t see in games like this, and I have to give credit to the old EA SPORTS BIG studio for actually making this happen. It also helps that the game soundtrack made these kinds of things impactful.

Either way, it’s a nice game to play for the Summer season. I wish more people would play it to this day.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

Direct3D 8 Support "D8VK" Merged Into DXVK (archive)

Direct3D 8 support by way of the D8VK project has now been merged into DXVK, the widely relied upon open-source software for mapping Direct3D 9/10/11 atop Vulkan that is used by Valve's Steam Play (Proton) for enjoying Windows games on Linux.

DirectX 8.0 as a reminder was introduced in late 2000 and went on to power games like Serious Sam: The FIrst Encounter, Max Payne, Star Wars: Starfighter, Grand Theft Auto III, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, and many other titles now hitting around the 20+ year mark.

Someone archived this article before I could, so I can see there's interest.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I have HORI pads that look and function like GameCube controllers (officially licensed) with extra buttons but they don't have the pressure pads like the original GameCube controller did. How is that going to make Luigi's Mansion/Super Mario Sunshine function? Already both seem a bit awkward with the "full/off" mode. Should I buy something even more GameCube-esque (or dig out my GameCube controller and get a USB adapter) just for that function?

What pressure pads? The triggers?

 

[Friendly Primarina]

Direct3D 8 Support "D8VK" Merged Into DXVK (archive)


Someone archived this article before I could, so I can see there's interest.

I thought it was already a part of DXVK. I wondered why winetricks listed it separately.

 

[Ukraine is Big Gay]

After seeing people pine about unlocking 3DSes and such made me want to also remind people that instead of dealing with scalpers or work arounds.

1) The steamdeck is a thing now and even if you think valve is just a slop factory store front their support for hardware is at least good. Out of all the "pocket PC" vendors it is a no brainer regardless of specs or whatnot VS bullshit asus or alienware product has if it's a paperweight if a part goes bad in it. And it can emulate up to switch at full speed. But it is also fuck huge as a downside.

2) You can buy el cheapo china special handhelds that are glorified android boxes most of the time that do the job quite adequately for a budget price too that are way more actual pocket f riendly. But the only headache is trying to sift through the dickhead "Retro Gaming" youtubers to figure out which model of which is the "good" one for your purposes or if it needs a little firmware tweak that is still less of a pain than sourcing and hacking actual hardware sometimes. Stuff like the miyoos and retroid pocket pros.

I have no particularly strong recommendation except the first can pretty much play 80 percent of all PC titles if you don't mind hucking around a brick like you just got a new atari lynx. And maybe something in the retroid family only because tech hipsters buying gameboy color shaped devices with no sticks to play gamecube or saturn might have brain damage.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

What pressure pads? The triggers?

Yeah, that's what I meant.

 

[Celebrate Nite]

if you don't mind hucking around a brick like you just got a new atari lynx

I used to carry bricks all the time as a kid. In fact, one of those bricks was called the GameGear.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

1) The steamdeck is a thing now and even if you think valve is just a slop factory store front their support for hardware is at least good. Out of all the "pocket PC" vendors it is a no brainer regardless of specs or whatnot VS bullshit asus or alienware product has if it's a paperweight if a part goes bad in it. And it can emulate up to switch at full speed. But it is also fuck huge as a downside.

I would definitely support Valve over any other company in the handheld space. They are improving Linux gaming significantly, and are putting a lot of thought into the hardware. I'm waiting for a second generation SoC first, but you can find benchmarks where it performs about as well or better than those 8-core, 12 CU Phoenix handhelds when both are limited to a 15 Watt TDP:

https://gamersnexus.net/handheld-pcs/valve-goes-hard-steam-deck-oled-review-benchmarks-vs-asus-rog-ally-z1-extreme-deck-lcd

There's a lot of "innovation" going on in the handheld space, and I do think something like the Ayaneo Flip DS looks cool, but you have to be careful with Chyna:

Foveated rendering on non-VR displays could become a thing (not just this handheld but also monitors):

 

[ZipDisk]

I went to the one game store in my area, SNES games are creeping up to the $40 range. It's not as crazy as some NES speculation, but I hate seeing it.
They also clearly went to a trade show, I'm seeing a lot more SNES boxes, and that bumps the price significantly.

 

[DavidS877]

I used to carry bricks all the time as a kid. In fact, one of those bricks was called the GameGear.

When I grew up we carried bricks around for fun.

Actual bricks.