Video Game Chat Thread - Pre-Alpha Experimental Version

[Scanline]

Im slowly starting to regret selling my PS3 along with a physical copy of gta san andreas

Fortunately you can buy a PS2 for dirt cheap and the original version of San Andreas is pretty readily available, as well.

Just uh

Make sure you've got a set of component cables and a CRT.

 

[DavidS877]

Make sure you've got a set of component cables and a CRT.

You can also use something like RetroTINK or Open Source Scan Converter for high quality HDMI, and fake scanlines if you want them. Still need the component cables.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

So, the good news is that I managed to have the Store option of Steam working on my end so I can one day get the Valve Steam Deck before my birthday next year.

The bad news is that I keep forgetting that the prices are not cheap.

Spoiler

Adding on to the already obvious fact that they might be sold out by the time I do want to get it. Perhaps it was wise not to wait until almost two years later to now starting to do more research on it.

Either way, it’s still a great handheld console. Valve really outdid themselves for sure.

I was thinking about getting a Steam Deck but after watching some reviews I decided the performance and battery life isn't all that great. I don't expect ultra settings at a steady 60 fps on a handheld system like the Steam Deck. The battery life isn't all that great either. You could have to keep it plugged into a wall outlet. I heard Steam will supposedly release a better version and I will wait for that. My original plan was wait and see how things go with the Steam Deck. If it takes off and is popular Valve will support so I will buy one eventually. But if it ends up as a failure, I can probably get one super cheap and play around with it.

My advice is just wait and see what happens.

You can also use something like RetroTINK or Open Source Scan Converter for high quality HDMI, and fake scanlines if you want them. Still need the component cablex.

Fake scanlines are shit.

 

[George Lucas]

What if angry video game reviewers died not because the genre got overplayed, but because younger gamers can’t relate to them? Modern games are a lot easier and kids never have those moments where they lose their last life and have to start all over from the very beginning of the game while screaming at the tinyass TV in a tardrage.

 

[George Lucas]

You can also use something like RetroTINK or Open Source Scan Converter for high quality HDMI, and fake scanlines if you want them. Still need the component cables.

The PS2 doesn’t have visible scanlines retard.

 

[Scanline]

The PS2 doesn’t have visible scanlines retard.

I could fight that on boring technicalities and corner cases but I won't.

Actually I will.

So a "scanline" on a CRT is actually the part that has the image drawn on it. What most people refer to as "scanlines" are actually the opposite - they're the blank lines in between the real scanlines. So in this regard, a PS2 does display its image with scanlines on a CRT.

Additionally, some games on the PS2 (such as ICO and I think the Mega Man X Collection) display in 240p as opposed to the console's traditional 480i output, which results in the visible scanline effect most people think of when they refer to "scanlines".

The RetroTINK 5x in particular also supports a function called "CRT Simulate" which attempts to recreate the look of interlaced content on a CRT while still outputting it to an HDTV. https://youtu.be/AZvEwGVYdRA?t=323

 

[George Lucas]

I could fight that on boring technicalities and corner cases but I won't.

Actually I will.

So a "scanline" on a CRT is actually the part that has the image drawn on it. What most people refer to as "scanlines" are actually the opposite - they're the blank lines in between the real scanlines. So in this regard, a PS2 does display its image with scanlines on a CRT.

Additionally, some games on the PS2 (such as ICO and I think the Mega Man X Collection) display in 240p as opposed to the console's traditional 480i output, which results in the visible scanline effect most people think of when they refer to "scanlines".

The RetroTINK 5x in particular also supports a function called "CRT Simulate" which attempts to recreate the look of interlaced content on a CRT while still outputting it to an HDTV. https://youtu.be/AZvEwGVYdRA?t=323

You’re right. I figured I’d just rather keep some retard from putting scanlines on a 480i/p game than try to explain how it works and the corner cases.

I have a nice filter for emulators that adds scanlines/interlacing and scales depending on horizontal resolutions. You have to use a custom refresh rate though, otherwise it doesn’t flicker right. Black frame insertion also helps a lot, IMO. Then you have to increase the backlight on the TV to get an acceptable brightness. Transparent scanlines just don’t do it for me (I grew up with Sony TVs and still use them; they had sharp lines), so the difference in brightness is huge. What’s great is that the brightness with scanlines on and with interlacing is exactly the same, so I only need to adjust the brightness when going back to regular content.

 

[IDanceonTrannyGraves]

Good news everyone!

https://www.pcgamer.com/knights-of-the-old-republic-remake-is-delayed-indefinitely-according-to-report/

 

[Coolio55]

Did anyone catch Jon Burton's announcement? It was something to do with his new studio "10:10 Games" partnering with Funko and it was deleted. My personal theory is that it was another stinkbomb in the vein of AntStream.

There was also some unsubstantiated rumours on reddit a while back with people claiming that he was horrible to work with but considering that his new studio is largely comprised of ex-TT Games staff it calls those rumours into question. Something bizarre is certainly going on with all the upheaval though.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

You’re right. I figured I’d just rather keep some retard from putting scanlines on a 480i/p game than try to explain how it works and the corner cases.

I have a nice filter for emulators that adds scanlines/interlacing and scales depending on horizontal resolutions. You have to use a custom refresh rate though, otherwise it doesn’t flicker right. Black frame insertion also helps a lot, IMO. Then you have to increase the backlight on the TV to get an acceptable brightness. Transparent scanlines just don’t do it for me (I grew up with Sony TVs and still use them; they had sharp lines), so the difference in brightness is huge. What’s great is that the brightness with scanlines on and with interlacing is exactly the same, so I only need to adjust the brightness when going back to regular content.

I made an effort post about my annoyance with fake scanlines on emulators darkening everything because the devs are morons.


On the darker picture there is no white as can be seen here, even though Sagat's wraps are clearly white.


Poke it a little bit and...

 

[ArthuriusMartyrius]

While browsing my Steam the other day, I had the sudden realization that Klei Entertainment is the video game version of Republica, a one-hit wonder. Much like Republica has Ready To Go and nothing else of note, Klei has Mark of the Ninja and a whole heap of shitty games that nobody really cares about.

Also played Sniper Elite 4: Zombie Hitler Expansion, better known as Zombie Army 4. Not a bad way to spend a few hours but once again I am left wondering why they didn't make this series into a proper single-player campaign experience like the mainline Sniper Elite games instead of a poorly-designed co-op shooter featuring Karl Fairburne and a bunch of random cliche OCs.

 

[Least Concern]

While browsing my Steam the other day, I had the sudden realization that Klei Entertainment is the video game version of Republica, a one-hit wonder. Much like Republica has Ready To Go and nothing else of note, Klei has Mark of the Ninja and a whole heap of shitty games that nobody really cares about.

Don't Starve/Don't Starve Together? Oxygen Not Included? Pretty sure each of those two have more fans than Mask of the Ninja, which I had never heard of before reading your post.

 

[broners]

Klei had Shank which I liked when it originally came out. Then they updated it a while after release to heavily censor it for some reason. In response to complaints about it, instead of properly reversing the censorship, they added a beta branch on Steam to let you download the original unpatched version of the game, which is uncensored, but also fairly buggy.
They can go fuck themselves after that, don't really care about their newer games.

 

[ArthuriusMartyrius]

Don't Starve/Don't Starve Together? Oxygen Not Included? Pretty sure each of those two have more fans than Mask of the Ninja, which I had never heard of before reading your post.

I've never gotten the impression that the Don't Starve series is all that popular. Oxygen Not Included, similar. You're pretty much the first person I've seen that hasn't heard of Mark of the Ninja, it's like the one game from them that everyone I've encountered knows about.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

You’re right. I figured I’d just rather keep some retard from putting scanlines on a 480i/p game than try to explain how it works and the corner cases.

I have a nice filter for emulators that adds scanlines/interlacing and scales depending on horizontal resolutions. You have to use a custom refresh rate though, otherwise it doesn’t flicker right. Black frame insertion also helps a lot, IMO. Then you have to increase the backlight on the TV to get an acceptable brightness. Transparent scanlines just don’t do it for me (I grew up with Sony TVs and still use them; they had sharp lines), so the difference in brightness is huge. What’s great is that the brightness with scanlines on and with interlacing is exactly the same, so I only need to adjust the brightness when going back to regular content.

The only fake scan lines I have ever seen that were tolerable were the ones that Nintendo put on the SNES mini. I didn't use them. When I play old Genesis and SNES games I usually just use something that smooths them out a bit.

But I find it funny how people make a big deal out of those old 16-bit pixel games looking too pixelated on modern displays, but they will play some indie pixel art game with no complaints.

Yeah, the scanlines acted like a form of AA and would smooth the games out some. They also weren't being displayed at high resolutions.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

I've never gotten the impression that the Don't Starve series is all that popular. Oxygen Not Included, similar. You're pretty much the first person I've seen that hasn't heard of Mark of the Ninja, it's like the one game from them that everyone I've encountered knows about.

The Don't Starve games were extremely successful, they sold millions. Which really surprised me when I found out, it was a game that I thought might sink Klei.

I just fucking hate the art style, it is ugly as sin. Mark of the Ninja was very good though and I recommended it to someone binging stealth games in another thread and it shot up into their top 3 or something, it's really good and people that like stealthy games should definitely play it. Its sales were not nearly as good as Don't Starve though.

 

[Napoleon Bonerfart]

Nintendo's first software patch for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will remove the "Hear that, Noah? Lance says he wants something a bit meatier" phrase

 

[broners]

I'm finding this out nearly a month late but apparently Megaton Musashi is going free-to-play. By the looks of it the entire game which was previously about 6k yen will now be free, and people who bought it are compensated with the chance to pay 100 yen for roughly the game's price worth of premium items for the F2P version.
Good for getting more people to play it, bad for people who bought it. Level-5 seems increasingly desperate.
Game is pretty fun BTW and not hard to fumble through without knowing runes, it constantly shows you where to go.

 

[ZMOT]

Klei had Shank which I liked when it originally came out. Then they updated it a while after release to heavily censor it for some reason. In response to complaints about it, instead of properly reversing the censorship, they added a beta branch on Steam to let you download the original unpatched version of the game, which is uncensored, but also fairly buggy.
They can go fuck themselves after that, don't really care about their newer games.

iirc they did the same with don't starve together, except there's no beta branch.

The Don't Starve games were extremely successful, they sold millions. Which really surprised me when I found out, it was a game that I thought might sink Klei.

not successful enough apparently since they now belong to tencent.

Also played Sniper Elite 4: Zombie Hitler Expansion, better known as Zombie Army 4. Not a bad way to spend a few hours but once again I am left wondering why they didn't make this series into a proper single-player campaign experience like the mainline Sniper Elite games instead of a poorly-designed co-op shooter featuring Karl Fairburne and a bunch of random cliche OCs.

sniper elite is for SP (and coop), sniper zombies for coop. similar how a certain big FPS franchise does it.

dunno about 4, but trilogy was pretty good, especially with keeping the premise and gameplay simple and there's a noticeable progression in how the games developed over time (it also offered some nostalgia feels if you played it after sniper elite since it re-used some of those maps).
strange brigade was pretty good too and ramped up the co-op gameplay with puzzles and stuff, but I don't think it was that successful sadly. the engine also runs very nice considering what it offers.

imo the only think you can really shit on them for is making stuff wildly expensive with DLC, but otoh if you wait long enough you can usually get it for pretty cheap at some point (you can get strange brigade complete for under 10 bucks sometimes).

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

not successful enough apparently since they now belong to tencent.

That's them whores, not them being broke.