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

[Two Dollars]

I'm sure I read about this, but what's the best solution for forcing pillarboxing? I have an old game I bought on GOG I used to play with my brother but it stretches the screen to 16:9 (which it definitely wasn't designed for, it's from the year 1999-2000). It would be fun to play it with him when he comes over next week.

If the game has a windowed mode, it should use the right aspect ratio if you can accept that compromise. I had to do that for Peggle Nights recently (but not normal Peggle, strangely).

 

[Xarpho's Return]

If the game has a windowed mode, it should use the right aspect ratio if you can accept that compromise. I had to do that for Peggle Nights recently (but not normal Peggle, strangely).

No windowed mode. That's not a compromise.

Apparently per PC Gaming Wiki Peixoto's Patch is supposed to fix that sort of thing but he renamed it as WineHooks on his Github page, put support behind Patreon, and downloading the latest version from GitHub (directly linked from Patreon) was compromised with the Wacatac trojan, so no go, at least for now.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

No windowed mode. That's not a compromise.

Apparently per PC Gaming Wiki Peixoto's Patch is supposed to fix that sort of thing but he renamed it as WineHooks on his Github page, put support behind Patreon, and downloading the latest version from GitHub (directly linked from Patreon) was compromised with the Wacatac trojan, so no go, at least for now.

Can't DGVoodoo2 help with this?

 

[Haftag]

It’s the best controller ever made.

I thought so too until I used some PS style pads.

No windowed mode. That's not a compromise.

Apparently per PC Gaming Wiki Peixoto's Patch is supposed to fix that sort of thing but he renamed it as WineHooks on his Github page, put support behind Patreon, and downloading the latest version from GitHub (directly linked from Patreon) was compromised with the Wacatac trojan, so no go, at least for now.

That's horrible about Peixoto. I was about to name PCGW, maybe these can be helpful as well:

https://www.wsgf.org/

Emulation General Wiki

emulation.gametechwiki.com

and there's DGVoodoo as @Smaug's Smokey Hole 2 said, there's no one size fits all solution for this, you have to check for your specific case.

 

[gata]

>Suddenly in the mood to play some some casual games from gamehouse or popcap
>Find pirated copies
>Take a glance at the year of release of each game
>Many are from the early and late 2000s

It just hit me that these casual games are now considered retro.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

It just hit me that these casual games are now considered retro.

We need a better term than "retro". It used to mean "retro" was the oldest games, first Atari back in the early 2000s, then the NES, then gradually shifted over to N64. But it's like how classical music is classical music; big band music from the 1940s isn't "classical" and will never be "classical".

 

[gata]

We need a better term than "retro". It used to mean "retro" was the oldest games, first Atari back in the early 2000s, then the NES, then gradually shifted over to N64. But it's like how classical music is classical music; big band music from the 1940s isn't "classical" and will never be "classical".

I guess "old enough to drink" can still be used? Although younger zoomers and gen Alphas will consider anything from y2k and early 2000s as retro or boomerish
and from the early topic about the movies, that game can't even be played on modern PCs without annoying steps, so the only way to play it stress free is through virtual machine or having a computer that has windows XP or 7 to play it. Many 2000s games are slowly getting to that "retro" state (barring remakes or updated releases)

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

We need a better term than "retro". It used to mean "retro" was the oldest games, first Atari back in the early 2000s, then the NES, then gradually shifted over to N64. But it's like how classical music is classical music; big band music from the 1940s isn't "classical" and will never be "classical".

I've had the same thought. I can sort of accept that maybe the PS1/Saturn/N64 can be considered retro, but after that... The PS2 isn't retro. It's not something I can put my finger on but it has to do with the games themselves, a lot of them play and control in a modern and very familiar way. Halo CE isn't retro, it's just the grandpa of the series. Latest Halo shares the same familiar genes with CE while something like Kileak the Blood is the retarded cro-magnon of first person shooters. It's something that no longer really exists, it has gone extinct.

 

[Almighty Space Duck]

It's not something I can put my finger on but it has to do with the games themselves, a lot of them play and control in a modern and very familiar way.

The move to the dual analogue control scheme is what you’re getting at.

Edit:

Compare how games like Timesplitters, Goldeneye Rogue Agent or Medal of Honour Frontline all controlled and felt to play. All first person shooters and all from the same generation but each felt and controlled differently.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

The move to the dual analogue control scheme is what you’re getting at.

Not only that but more game devs agreed that [X] is shit. With the PS2 and onwards general design principles started to become homogenized. I don't mean that as a bad thing, games became better and as a result the tolerance for hacky jank lessened(with the exception of PC gaming *chefs kiss*). What I'm trying to say is that the PS2 and onwards can't be considered retro gaming because those consoles/games are firmly part of 'the modern era' of games that still exists.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

I've had the same thought. I can sort of accept that maybe the PS1/Saturn/N64 can be considered retro, but after that... The PS2 isn't retro. It's not something I can put my finger on but it has to do with the games themselves, a lot of them play and control in a modern and very familiar way. Halo CE isn't retro, it's just the grandpa of the series. Latest Halo shares the same familiar genes with CE while something like Kileak the Blood is the retarded cro-magnon of first person shooters. It's something that no longer really exists, it has gone extinct.

And that's the thing, too. 2004 games have more in common with 2024 games (heck, WORLD OF WARCRAFT for starters) in terms of graphics, controls, and so on than 2004 games have with 1984 games (which is to say, basically nothing--you're dealing with Paperboy, ColecoVision, Commodore-64, and a few years removed from the original Pac-Man).

 

[Two Dollars]

Maybe something like a pre/early HD era to represent 6th/7th gen systems? Because some people still argue that they’re not retro, but they’re sure as hell not modern, and game design philosophies weren’t what they are now. And you can’t say that the Wii is the last system of this era without also including 360/PS3 since those are younger.

Look at Sonic. For a very long time, that was split between classic and modern, but now fans split it between classic (everything pre-Adventure), “modern” (Adventure-Generations), meta (Lost World-Forces), and “renaissance” (with the biggest set of air quotes imaginable, but that’s supposedly everything post-Forces).

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

And that's the thing, too. 2004 games have more in common with 2024 games (heck, WORLD OF WARCRAFT for starters) in terms of graphics, controls, and so on than 2004 games have with 1984 games (which is to say, basically nothing--you're dealing with Paperboy, ColecoVision, Commodore-64, and a few years removed from the original Pac-Man).

Spot on. I think part of the difference can be found in the game design question of "can we feasible make a game like this?" if it features certain elements/aspects. With the older generations(what I consider retro) the answer would be "not really..." or later on "...kind of, but..." while with the PS2 and onwards the answer becomes "probably".

Exaggerated example but: Can we create a racing game with realistic and dynamic deformation damage to the car?
SNES: No! But we can create different sets of sprites and add a health bar for the car. Maybe add a smoke sprite to the car if it's really busted.
PS1: Kind of... [15-20fps Destruction Derby with tiny tracks]
PS2: Burnout 3.

Something like that.

 

[TaimuRadiu]

I'm sure I read about this, but what's the best solution for forcing pillarboxing? I have an old game I bought on GOG I used to play with my brother but it stretches the screen to 16:9 (which it definitely wasn't designed for, it's from the year 1999-2000). It would be fun to play it with him when he comes over next week.

Could just find an old 4:3 monitor and play it on that.

 

[Maurice Maine]

Anybody knows how to start Windows 3.1 games? I have Hugo House Of Horrors for Windows (with a better UI and cool music, it's more Maniac Mansion this time around) and Admiral Sea Battles, but this boomer can't get them to run, i guess i could use a Windows emulator but is that the only way?

PCem/86box with Win9x (I recommend Windows 98 with 98lite but that's up to you). Windows 3.11 is a headache you don't want. 98 does it all for you.

 

[Baraka Obama]

I was looking at playing GTA4 and looking online I realized that game is now 16 years old.

I don't care if you are unwilling to describe it as a retro I'm happy to call it vintage but these things are so old. The unwillingness to talk about them as a separate category from current gaming seems really strange.

 

[Calandrino]

I was looking at playing GTA4 and looking online I realized that game is now 16 years old.

I don't care if you are unwilling to describe it as a retro I'm happy to call it vintage but these things are so old. The unwillingness to talk about them as a separate category from current gaming seems really strange.

16 years these days just doesn't go as far as it used to.

 

[ForgedBlades]

The PSP launched on this day 20 years ago.

 

[Enig]

So did anyone ever manage to dump the roms from the Genesis Mini 2? There were quite a few unreleased games and new Genesis ports.

The prob there is they let M2 do their fantasy console bit again by having them make a "what if Sega cut the useless SMS mode shit instead of the scaling hardware back in 1987" emulator so even with the roms there's no way of running them right now because no one's replicated whatever die layout reading fantasy gayming shit M2 got into.

 

[Rololowlo]

What's the best solution for forcing pillarboxing? I have an old game I bought on GOG I used to play with my brother but it stretches the screen to 16:9 (which it definitely wasn't designed for, it's from the year 1999-2000).

Three main solutions:

1) If it's a PC game, it's likely community tools exist to force correct aspect ratios, or sometimes (if you're lucky) a few .ini tweaks. Check out PCGW, WSGF, and retro forums.

2) ReShade has an aspect ratio shader (in the fubax submenu) that you control simply by clicking and moving a slider in real time. It's a good solution if the game only has a fullscreen mode.

3) Lossless Scaling will maximize a windowed game to a borderless fullscreen window, without changing its aspect ratio, with various optional enhancements like FSR, integer scaling, sharpening, even framegen.