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

[Two Dollars]

I got to the first item
> It makes the bulk of the 151 original pokemon all more obtainable and usable in the early game, with better movesets and more balanced stats.

"purist"

Outright replacing moves with new ones and adding overworld events to make specific species permanently stronger and more resistant to specific types is okay but he refuses to add the “caught Pokemon” indicator that’s in every single other game because it would go against the spirit of gen 1

Thankfully the readme links to an actual pure hack, Shin Pokemon. It still takes some liberties, but there’s a lite branch that seems to be even more pure than that.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

Outright replacing moves with new ones and adding overworld events to make specific species permanently stronger and more resistant to specific types is okay but he refuses to add the “caught Pokemon” indicator that’s in every single other game because it would go against the spirit of gen 1

Thankfully the readme links to an actual pure hack, Shin Pokemon. It still takes some liberties, but there’s a lite branch that seems to be even more pure than that.

There's a lot of complaints I have about the game and how it's not a "purist" hack at all but the Cinnabar Island area is not a "cut area" (not even discussed in early plans, much less a map), TCRF doesn't have it and I couldn't find it elsewhere.

The most disappointing thing, arguably, it was just a hack and not a full port. Granted, there's not much you can do with Gen I that would really benefit from a full port on computers, but...

 

[Two Dollars]

There's a lot of complaints I have about the game and how it's not a "purist" hack at all but the Cinnabar Island area is not a "cut area" (not even discussed in early plans, much less a map), TCRF doesn't have it and I couldn't find it elsewhere.

Exactly, the readme devolves from “fixing bugs and adding optional QoL features” to “adding completely new things that I thought would be cool as a kid and changing things I don’t like”. Which is fine, just don’t pretend it’s a hack made for purists when it clearly isn’t.

The most disappointing thing, arguably, it was just a hack and not a full port. Granted, there's not much you can do with Gen I that would really benefit from a full port on computers, but...

It really wouldn’t benefit like 3D games do, and it would be tedious. That’s why projects like the Zelda 2 PC “port” usually opt for remaking the games in a modern engine rather than trying to make them run natively. Sometimes you’ll get something like the Zelda LttP or Super Metroid ports where you get imperfect widescreen and some QoL additions that can be toggled from a config file, or you’ll get the Super Mario World port where it plays 1:1 with the original but now you get to say “ I can’t believe it’s not emulation!”

 

[Xarpho's Return]

It really wouldn’t benefit like 3D games do, and it would be tedious. That’s why projects like the Zelda 2 PC “port” usually opt for remaking the games in a modern engine rather than trying to make them run natively. Sometimes you’ll get something like the Zelda LttP or Super Metroid ports where you get imperfect widescreen and some QoL additions that can be toggled from a config file, or you’ll get the Super Mario World port where it plays 1:1 with the original but now you get to say “ I can’t believe it’s not emulation!”

Honestly, if I were to play with Kanto again I'd play FR/LG, which I started to do until my miniSD card self-destructed...and I think FR/LG is relatively complete anyway (so no need to fuck around with hacks). Would be nice if FR/LG had a PC port to not deal with the GBA color palette and all that, but...

 

[Two Dollars]

Honestly, if I were to play with Kanto again I'd play FR/LG, which I started to do until my miniSD card self-destructed...and I think FR/LG is relatively complete anyway (so no need to fuck around with hacks). Would be nice if FR/LG had a PC port to not deal with the GBA color palette and all that, but...

A lot of GBA games have color correction hacks, and even if FR/LG doesn’t (the closest I could find was this), it’s built into a lot of emulators as an option.

It’s not that the GBA couldn’t handle different colors, but early games used brighter palettes to increase visibility on a no-backlight original GBA. It’s pretty interesting seeing the NES/SNES ports modded to use their original colors.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

my left hand is mildly fucked
in efforts to unfuck things I'm gonna try some old basic stuff like mario 1 on a basic wii emote to keep it simple since I'm stuck in rehab for a minute
wife and me might go at some golden axe

is there something that works on chromebooks in android that does online co-op thats golden axe ish?
online coop in the same room is great lazy coop
paying a buck or two isnt too bad in this case?

 

[UsoppBrain]

Question. What version of the DS is considered the best? I’ve been looking at the DS lite for a while, but I’ve heard the New 2DS and 3DS are also really good. It just a shame they cost $200. Regardless, any answer is appreciated.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Question. What version of the DS is considered the best? I’ve been looking at the DS lite for a while, but I’ve heard the New 2DS and 3DS are also really good. It just a shame they cost $200. Regardless, any answer is appreciated.

Depends on if you care about 3D or not and what you value more between portability and screen size. Depending on those factors, any of these are best:

New 2DS
New DS XL
New 3DS
New 3DS XL

It's worth noting there's different screen types Nintendo used in production, with one type allegedly looking noticeably better than the other, though you'd need to look into the details yourself if you care.

 

[analrapist]

My DSi is great, if you don't mind having an OG DS instead of the 3DS BS.

 

[UsoppBrain]

My DSi is great, if you don't mind having an OG DS instead of the 3DS BS.

Yeah I think I agree, I had a DSi as a kid too. After watching some reviews and stuff the screen on the 3ds and 2ds looks kinda dull. The DSi has a brighter and more vibrant screen, albeit smaller. I’m gonna look in my basement and see if I still have it.

 

[Two Dollars]

Question. What version of the DS is considered the best? I’ve been looking at the DS lite for a while, but I’ve heard the New 2DS and 3DS are also really good. It just a shame they cost $200. Regardless, any answer is appreciated.

Get a 3DS (ideally New 3DS for homebrew) unless you don’t care about 3DS games, 3DS homebrew, and much better emulation of 8/16-bit systems. Original DS games look blurry on a 3DS because of the screen scaling unless you hold a button combination when starting a game to get integer scaling instead, which gives you crisp pixels but smaller screens.

3DS also has hacks for some DS games like using stick analog controls in games that originally used a d-pad (Super Mario 64 DS) or touch screen (Geometry Wars Galaxies), and widescreen hacks (don’t get too excited, screen scaling makes these look like ass), but these are more like perks than actual selling points.

 

[Baraka Obama]

Question. What version of the DS is considered the best? I’ve been looking at the DS lite for a while, but I’ve heard the New 2DS and 3DS are also really good. It just a shame they cost $200. Regardless, any answer is appreciated.

"Best" is a DSi XL for DS games, a New 3DS XL for 3DS games.

For "good enough" for DS the DS Lite or DSi are fine, not as premium as DSi XL but good systems on their own. I don't like playing DS games on 3DS because you're left with the choice of bad scaling or an awkwardly small screen 1:1.

Since New 3DS XL is expensive these days see what you can get in good condition, IMO you'd be happy with any 2DS or 3DS line system for 3DS games, the number that benefit from "New" enhancements are slim.

 

[UsoppBrain]

My DSi is great, if you don't mind having an OG DS instead of the 3DS BS.

I’m gonna look in my basement and see if I still have it.

I found it. I may have hit the jackpot.

 

[ovenmath]

Has anyone played that gzdoom Zelda fps? Is it worth playing?

 

[Baraka Obama]

I found it. I may have hit the jackpot.
View attachment 7575168

Hope the screens aren't yellowed.

Of my 3 two are fine, one looks like someone attached a piss filter.

 

[Sentient Computer]

Colored pixellated graphics are an interesting cultural artifact. Flappy Bird any many other "retro" games have tried to imitate that look. In reality, CRTs smooth things out a bit. If you're playing on a color LCD (i.e., GBC, GBA), the pixels would have clearly visible subpixels and borders, not uniform colors. The closest thing to the emulator look would be a black and white LCD like that of the Game Boy Pocket.

This is an anachronism, what you get if you display the colored pixels within uniform boxes, all sharp with each pixel having a uniform color. Ironically, it really only is possible on a modern high-DPI display to see pixels like that... precisely because you can't see the actual pixels of the display's native resolution.

It's a lot like the Beatles' stereo mixes. They weren't meant for headphones, and stereo in the home was relatively new. It definitely makes it sound like the four Beatles were in different parts of the family den, and the hard panning is less of an issue if the speakers are up high and not at ear level. But it makes you wonder what the hard-panned mix is doing to your brain if you listen over headphones or even over decent studio monitors.

 

[analrapist]

This is an anachronism, what you get if you display the colored pixels within uniform boxes, all sharp with each pixel having a uniform color. Ironically, it really only is possible on a modern high-DPI display to see pixels like that... precisely because you can't see the actual pixels of the display's native resolution.

This is my shader stack that gives me the sensation of gaming in the dark on a CRT, the glowing bars, the analog inter-channel aliasing, the weird blend of horizontal and vertical anisotropies.

 

[Sentient Computer]

This is my shader stack that gives me the sensation of gaming in the dark on a CRT, the glowing bars, the analog inter-channel aliasing, the weird blend of horizontal and vertical anisotropies.

This comforts me.

 

[CEO of Autism]

This is my shader stack that gives me the sensation of gaming in the dark on a CRT, the glowing bars, the analog inter-channel aliasing, the weird blend of horizontal and vertical anisotropies.

Daytona cabinets (and the majority of arcades, really) shipped with internal RGB connections, they should look crystal clear and not like you're using your NES RF cable.

 

[analrapist]

Daytona cabinets (and the majority of arcades, really) shipped with internal RGB connections, they should look crystal clear and not like you're using your NES RF cable.

This is the Saturn version that was bundled with the console.