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Captain Rufus posted:For a whopping 5 whole dollars I now have Archon, Alternate Reality City and Dungeon, Barbarian (Deathsword), Black Magic, Bruce Lee, Emlyn Huges International Soccer, Infiltrator, Monty on the Run, Summer Games, Ultima 1-4. And I can play them all on the go or at home on my glorious tiny arcade cabinet. (That I should see about getting cooler sideart made for.) Those iCades are great, I picked one up cheap from Bed Bath and Beyond when they were on clearance. They work just fine with Android tablets too, I've got mine still running with an old HP Touchpad running CyanogenMod. Mame4droid works great with it. God Emlyn Hughes soccer, don't think I've thought about that one since getting it off a cover tape from CF or Zzap. I had a multi-game cartridge with Microprose Soccer on it that was the most played footy game I had.
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Dec 17, 2013 16:59
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Got Mechwarrior 3 running perfectly on a older laptop(dell studio 1555) running Windows 7 64bit today. Win98 compatibility mode used, and a fix for ATI GPU graphics issues applied. APCs correctly attack & follow scripted action sequence in mission 1(blowing up a ramp if not stopped). Getting Mechwarrior 3 running on Windows7 also allowed me to fix one of the controls issues I had been experiencing with Linux/WINE & Mechwarrior 3. Basically, constant input on left arrow was being detected in-game, and causing the mech to constant veer left/constantly spin in a circle. Intially thought the constant input was caused by mouse detection & X11 GUI-framework problems, but getting MW3 running properly in Windows allowed me to rule that out. Constant input issue was ultimately caused by Linux detecting the keyboard as a keyboard AND a joystick. removal of bogus joystick hardware mapping fixed this. bugtracker gives details if anyone is interested in retro-gaming with Linux & WINE. http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=23641 MW3 under Linux/WINE current status: it runs....SLOWLY. mouse-input issues still present. Might dedicate another CPU core to linux VM, and recompile WINE w/ another X11-mouse detection patch. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Dec 23, 2013 |
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Dec 18, 2013 04:08
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Tuluk you are doing good work here. Which leads me to my next topic: Hobby Games Gone Computer One machine had more hobby games than any other. THE COMPUTER. I guess computer gamers were a better and more receptive market for these sorts of games, and developers who might like to make such titles are also the sort that would play them more often, especially in the 80s and early 90s where much of the console development was taking place in Japan whose hobby game market is absurdly small and unconnected. (Earlier consoles couldn't exactly do anything resembling a proper go of a classic hobby game. Look at the Intellivision AD&D games. Take the name off the box and you really can't tell what it is at all!) And since my hobby games on console machines and portables will show up during said collection posts, the mighty computer platform gets it as a subgenre all to itself. (Which also helps make my massive PC game collection a bit less massive in scope. My living room was covered in boxes waiting to be photographed but even with the hobby games translations removed it is DAUNTING.)  Let's start with Battletech! Crescent Hawk's Inception was one of the earliest Battletech computer games and one of Infocom's first non text adventure titles. Made by Westwood Studios (they of the lazy Order of the Griffon D&D game on the TG 16 infamy) it is sloppy, lazy, and a bit of a failure that could have been good. Battletech Powerhits contains this game alongside its RTS sequel (Crescent Hawk's Revenge. It.. isn't very good.), and the first Mechwarrior game in glorious 16 color EGA. Mechwarrior 2 is where the Battletech universe got made popular and the real birth of the Mech Sim subgenre. I also have the cluebook, and the expansion pack. Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries was a standalone sequel that didn't involve playing a Clan Mechwarrior. Mechwarrior 3 is another VS Clans game and not very good at all in my opinion. The Gold Edition also contained the super rare expansion pack.  Activision ended up losing the BT rights to Microsoft who basically owns Battletech's IP now. They made Mechwarrior 4 which was good, the Black Knight expansion which had an absolutely terrible story that turned all your party from 4 into cartoonishly evil villains, and their own Mercenary stand alone which was AMAZING and I have replayed it a ton. They also made 2 mech packs for multiplayer games and a little use in the solo campaign. (Other one in my BT megapost series.) Mechcommander (Gold) was a RTS game based around controlling small unit tactics instead of the Command & Conquer/Warcraft style of base building. Mechcommander 2 is the sequel. I enjoyed both.  The Mech 3 Expansion and Mech 4 cluebooks I got cheap. Mage Knight Apocalypse is an action RPG I got cheap just for the collection. Magic Battlegrounds was a really interesting action strategy title. The Microprose Magic game and expansion was an attempt to mesh an RPG with classic Magic the Gathering and almost succeeded given the tech of the era. Heavy Gear 2 is a mech sim based on the hobby game and is the series Activision tried to use when they lost the BT rights. It only got two titles so I guess we see how well that worked out.  Alone in the Dark & Prisoner of Ice are adventure games (the former being really the first Survival Horror game as we now know it) based on Call of Cthulhu. Starfleet Command & 2: Empires at War are real time translations of the Starfleet Battles game but with a closer connection to normal Star Trek lore. (3 is changed enough to not really be SFB at all.) Ticket to Ride is the legendary boardgame with multiplayer options. Realms of Arkania 1 and Drakensang are based off of the huge in Germany RPG series called The Dark Eye in English. King of Dragon Pass is based on the Glorantha setting used in a number of RPGs and board games, Runequest being the most popular. The GURPS Character Assistant is a character generator for GURPS. That I no longer have as I traded it off for more Battletech stuff. (I also found the very pretty manual for Realms 1 some time after this picture.) Now for Games Workshop translations!  Space Crusade is a near perfect to rules conversion of the not released in the UK Warhammer 40K game that was equivalent to Hero Quest. Space Hulk however is a real time version of that game and suffers for it. (As does the sequel below it.) Final Liberation used the Epic scale without using any of the actual Epic rule sets. Quite good even if it never got the planned expansions. Rites of War was basically Panzer General's engine but you play the Eldar primarily. Chaos Gate is sort of like X Com but you play Ultramarines fighting Chaos without the base building stuff. Space Marine is a quite fun third person action game. Sadly you play an Ultramarine in the solo campaign.  The Dawn of War RTS series! 1 and expansions are more of a traditional RTS game whereas 2 is more of a real time RPG where you control small units you upgrade and advance. I enjoy both of them, though Dark Crusade and Retribution have the best campaigns as I can play Chaos all the way through a campaign.  Shadow of the Horned Rat & Dark Omen were early RTS games where there was no base building involved ala Dawn of War 2, Mechcommander, and Crescent Hawk's Revenge. However they were both unfairly hard. The basic design would lead into the Total War franchise though. Hero Quest was.. Hero Quest but on a computer. The original Blood Bowl was a poor translation of the tabletop game, being limited as hell with even a single sprite for every player on your team and no expansion rules content. Mark of Chaos and its expansion were more modern and more enjoyable takes on the Horned Rat style of game. Warhammer Online is World of Warcraft in the WHFB universe. The new Blood Bowl and the Legendary Edition (Purchased at a discount online for owning original Dark Elf version so its just a DL file.) are better but not perfect versions of Blood Bowl as it really should have been the first time around. Of course one franchise owned the computer game space more than any other: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (Like Country AND Western its the games most non Magic players play! :v)  Eye of the Beholder 1-3 are good overall Dungeon Master clones. Dungeon Hack takes the same engine and turns the real time first person dungeon crawl into a single player randomly generated roguelike. Shadow Sorcerer is an odd isometric real time game using the Dragonlance original trilogy novel setting. The Gold Box series is the legendary turn based AD&D 1st ed rules RPG, with Unlimited Adventures being a Do It Yourself maker. That was somewhat limited in comparison to the 9 Gold Box titles...  D&D Stronghold is a weird real time kingdom simulator, the Core Rules is an awesome tool for AD&D 2nd ed campaigns with all sorts of neato stuff. Masterpiece Collection contains multiple late DOS era D&D games. Ravenloft series/engine, Dark Sun, the Al Quadim action RPG.. a good little value. So much has been said of the Infinity Engine real time series I don't need to repeat it. Daggerdale is a poor action RPG I only got because it was cheap.  And we finish it up with the modern era. And the sought after Dragon Magazine Archives with the first 250 issues of that magazine on PDF. Plus my original editions of Baldur's Gate 2, Icewind Dale 2, the turn based but flawed Temple of Elemental Evil, the real time Neverwinter Nights series, and the collection of it including the few expansions I missed out on. Of course as always there are new pickups here and there, which given my wont tend to show up next to other games so just ignore those for the new hobby game titles:  These were a couple pickups I got from either the same seller, or around the same time frame. The D&D Starter kit is both 3.5 inch floppy editions of the low level AD&D Gold Box games AND their clue books all original and complete. I do not have Heavy Gear 1 as of yet but it and the Icewind Dale book were so super cheap I had to grab it. (In my collection aims I try to get the clue books as well as the game. I don't care as much for original packaging but I do want the manuals and stuff.) The Ultimate Fantasy was another cheapie hook up that I primarily bought to have Fantasy Empires but getting legit CD versions of a couple games I already have does not hurt given how floppies tend to die. (And the papers make the copy protection easier to get through. While still having my original manuals for gameplay use.)  Sadly this AD&D pack is from Wizard Works and isn't as rad as the SSI collection. While it is the original games there are no cluebooks included. However they are also older games now on 3.5 disk which at least helps me put them on the original machine. They each have their own manuals but they seem to be shrunk in dimensions and have the command summary cards combined with the manual. Curious. Renegade Legion Interceptor is a proper turn based version of FASA's "Machine Sheet" wargame that is even MORE spergy than Battletech (armor is now in blocks. Weapons do different damage to the blocks. Some a direct line internal. Others melt like a divot into it. Some dig in and expand. Others peel off the top. Yeah.) but works great in a computer version. Sadly they never made the capital ship or tank game in computer format. (Tell me this isnt the BEST ad for a game ever: )  One thing I have noted over the years is many of these translations didn't use the rulesets or for some reason took a turn based ruleset and made them real time. I never understood why as it rarely translates properly. I understand wanting to get the most people playing but.. the license is supposed to be for that product. Why make something turn based real time? Is it to get those people who won't play anything that isn't constantly moving? Am I just that messed up and slow thoughtful games are just for losers? I don't know. Anyhow there are plenty of games left to buy both console AND computer plus a couple hand held titles. (Let's not even start on the digital only titles. One of the reasons I bought an iPad Air was to play Eclipse.) There is this little mini post I am working on where I explain the basics of how to continue a retro collection without breaking the bank or screwing yourself over in glorious consumer whore-y bliss. One of the parts of it that I will like even if I decide the main subject is too preachy is where I list the TOP X titles I want and why. Since Hobby Games Gone Computer is sort of a sub collecting hobby of mine I may as well just list my top 5 future purchases for computer here. See part of this post I may or may not make in its current format says it is good to have goals to search for so these sorts of lists can keep you on some sort of track as opposed to running around like a chicken with your head cut off spraying blood all over the place. So knowing WHAT I want most will help me get it in some reasonable timeframe. Computer: 1: Tunnels & Trolls: Crusaders of Khazan: http://www.mobygames.com/game/tunnels-trolls-crusaders-of-khazan I am a big fan of the tabletop Tunnels & Trolls game. Of course I want the computer version! Hell, I did the Kickstarter for the next edition of the RPG. 2: War of the Lance: http://www.mobygames.com/game/war-of-the-lance It is a conversion of a long out of print and expensive D&D module. Where you get to basically fight out the War of the Lance from the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy. I had it on the Commodore 64 back in the day. I loved the Chronicles books as a teenager so it is also out of nostalgia. And I do love me some massive turn based wargaming. 3: Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor: http://www.mobygames.com/game/pool-of-radiance-ruins-of-myth-drannor The infamous game that is both known for playing badly AND messing up your C: drive if you uninstall it from the wrong place. There is a jewel case version that proclaims it is patched and a lot better. Also I have done some looking. It is pretty damned cheap overall. Its just a matter of getting the jewel case 1.3 edition version so I can actually play it for myself! 4: Space 1889: http://www.mobygames.com/game/space-1889 It might be one of the first steampunk computer games. Based off one of the first steampunk RPGs. (Which I do not own. I do however have the more fanciful but less gamey Castle Falkenstein.) From like 1990 or so. Before everyone thought it was cool to hate the genre. (Ok its mostly SA Goons who seem to despise it.) For King and Country! Fight the good fight for England! Cool. 5: Twilight 2000: http://www.mobygames.com/game/twilight-2000 Its from an RPG I DO own. Its basically post WW3. While widespread nuclear war never happened lots of chaos did erupt and it is 80s as hell. The default setting is the PCs being part of the US army in Eastern Europe. US command basically says "War is pretty much over. Y'all are on your own get back home any way you can". Its basically a sandbox in a setting somewhat less miserable than The Day After. Honorable Mentions: Megatraveller 1-2, the Renegade Legion Space Fighter games, Spelljammer, Descent to Undermountain, Birthright, Nuclear War, Heavy Gear, Buck Rogers 2, Dragonstrike, Crimson Skies, the Drakensang expansion, Realms of Arkania 2 and 3, Skyrealms of Jorune. (Not shown is Autoduel and Ogre as they are in my Atari 8 bit collection stuff at the moment.) Given my collection and list is there anything I am missing? I am pretty sure you UK folk probably know a ton I am missing. It is my goal to get ALL OF THEM. Eventually. Maybe. Plus their cluebooks. (A couple games are also listed in my console section but that doesn't belong in this thread. That god awful Ravenloft fighting game shouldn't sully this beautiful snowflake!) I will probably do a post in normal inferior retro gaming thread later on in the week and link them here for the other part. I figure most folks here read that one too so no need for me to link that one here when I do it. Also I need to like collate all my hobby games console titles for a picture. That way that thread can both laugh and be jealous at my N Gage titles that are apparently already worth a pretty penny as they were pretty much mail order ONLY. (And like the only Warhammer 40K to use the actual 40K ruleset. And the only Rifts game period!) Captain Rufus fucked around with this message at 10:24 on Dec 23, 2013 |
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Dec 23, 2013 10:17
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As well as the usual Christmas presents I also received one of these, fresh from its recent discovery in someone's loft (attic for American readers) ... Replacing the old tape recorder with a slightly more expensive Macbook Air running Audacity I immediately sprang in to BASIC coding action to create this masterpiece ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnwXngjmdHA Apparently it can run the majority of Tandy CoCo cartridges. However I'll need to track some down before I can put this to the test.
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Dec 27, 2013 20:53
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Ah yes, the finest Welsh microcomputer out there. There's so many weird microcomputers out there, I love it.
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Dec 27, 2013 23:00
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Captain Rufus posted:It is time for yet another effort post from me. Ha, this post reminds me of the sheer agony involved in trying to install the ST version of Ultima VI, which it turned out wasn't worth the hassle anyway as it was basically unplayable without a hard-drive. I think you had to swap a disk every time you wanted to engage someone in conversation, utterly ridiculous. On the subject of Ultima II, I did a thing recently: http://chasingthebumblebee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/4-ultima-ii-revenge-of-enchantress.html The ST & Mac got a weird Sierra port of the game that was mouse and menu controlled only. It feels very awkward at first, especially if you're used to the standard keyboard controls. In most other respects it plays the same as any other version, but takes longer to finish, as the stat requirements for equipping the best weapons are much higher. The Phaser needs something like 60 AG points rather than 41, for instance. And you can't trick the Hotel California guy into maxing out your stats like you can in some versions, more's the pity. While I'm rambling on about ST poo poo again, I might as well mention this very cool thing I'm considering investing in:  Ultrasatan. Essentially, it's an upgrade of Satandisk, an early attempt to produce an SD card reader compatible with the ST's HD drive interface. It seems like the sensible way to go, as 3.5" floppies are an increasingly scarce and unreliable medium. certainly in the case of the ones I've bought in the last decade rarely seem to last more than few years, and it would also solve a lot of storage space issues. There is pretty big outlay involved, as the only source at the moment is a dude in Poland who custom builds them. Including the case and leads it's going to be something like 110 euros. So...expensive, but possibly worth it in the long run.
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Dec 28, 2013 01:13
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If you end up getting one let us know how it runs. Retro addict Acid Police claims dey gonna hook me up with an STe cheap and if this thingie works I might invest in one. For some reason 3.5 disks and drives just suck compared to 5 1/4s. Also Ultima 2 goes for absurd amounts for being such a mediocre game. I just saw an ST disk loose listed for like 150 US. Misb is like 300 or so for the ST version and a bit less for most others. I shouldn't consider it lucky for paying like 25 or so for my loose with manual and command card Atari 8 bit/c64 edition. Especially sad considering the Apple 2 Trilogy release is the most advanced English language version of the game made by Origin. Yet with gently caress all info about it compared to the original. poo poo there is more Ultima 1 IIGS info out there! (Yes PC version with EGA and speed patch is overall best but that you know isn't default. And it still isn't very good. Better than 8 and 9 though. Kinda.) Luckily I can play Ultima 1-4 c64 versions on my iPad with sweet rear end iCade support so no terrible controls. I should probably get the 8 bitty control pad for it though. Seems wrong to have an RPG controlled with an arcade stick and looking like a giant Coleco tabletop only way more awesome.. As far as the Dragon goes I have a ton of Coco carts but no system even after a year. I still need Arkanoid and the Coco 3 compatible version of Downland though. Coco 3s come with 128k stock and modding them to 512k to play arcade perfect Donkey Kong is kind of a thing. I am pretty sure I have posted most of my Coco collection in the thread before but just in case if I haven't I can show it Sunday as Facebook and this iPad Air don't like cooperating with Facebook photos. Then I can work on TI 99 4a as I have one game and no controllers. (Tunnels of Doom) Or you know finish that Windows 98 rig project I was doing. Tuluk can't have all the Mechwarrior Windows fun. And to think it doesn't even need 500 dollar gold Clan mechs. poo poo you could buy two computers to run the old Mechwarrior series. A DOS one of the 286 Tandy 1000 variety for the original and a fast Athlon or Pentium 4 for Mercs 2 - Mercs 4. (Guess you could dual boot for MW2.) I insist that the Tandy 1000 line was a huge influence at getting the x86 platform into the home as a HOME computer and not just a way for the white collar businessman to do the work he should have been doing at the office as opposed to his secretary. It was the only real game standard out there until like 486 33s were kind of the default machine assumption for like a year or so circa 94. Otherwise you paid like 1000-3000 bucks for a machine a 125 dollar c64 could smoke in any game performance. (Ok 325 since at least in the US a 1541 was basically required from 1985 on. If not by 84.) Sure not productivity but a home computer has a different use than a business Micro. Of course the other reason was all the fuckups nearly every company made back then. IBM. Digital Research. Texas Instruments. Timex. Commodore. Atari. Coleco. Mattel. Apple. So many computer companies of the 80s just hosed up to the point DOS clones basically took over. Edit : in case y'all don't believe me in Ultima collectors being nutters here is Pix showing his collection : http://www.pixsoriginadventures.co.uk/the-horde-december-2013/ . Yeah. Note he says he barely gets to play any of it. Seems kinda pointless then. It is exactly why I am slowing down with game purchases over like 10-15 bucks. Hell any (passed up gobs of Steam and Gog sales) games really. I want to actually use this stuff and hoard it. Captain Rufus fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Dec 28, 2013 |
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Dec 28, 2013 11:32
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There are other wonderful retro computery things I am rocking out instead of working on my Win 98 rig project: Alien Breed remake for a dollar! Includes 4 new levels, original, and Special Edition levels.  We all remember the classic Trek game. This is possibly the classiest version of a computer classic. And you can't beat FREE.  Akalabeth was Ultima 0. And this version was an iPhone version and is thus a bit fuzzy in full screen on my Air. Getting to freely redownload games from my Apple account and have them here too is nice.  Another game that did take a serious hit in Pad full screen mode. The classic Archon!  The little #x in the corner lets you shrink it down to original iPhone size if you want.  Some games even have dual modes or got them patched in. Giana Sisters looks fantastic even if it's a tad buggy from time to time. Its still light years more playable than it was on the iPod Touch Gen 1 I have though. Bigger, you can see stuff, all those CHEEVO options with Apple's Game Center stuff.  Pinball Dreams has an HD version but I am too cheap to rebuy the same game. Bad enough I owned it for the Amiga and own it on the Snes. I may get the HD sequel though. As this was an unaltered screenshot on the iPad it is upside down. I didn't mess with any photo editing. Uploading it to my blog also didn't give me any image tweaking options. Hell, going back to the PC blog program did not. So one of the best original video pinball tables is upside down in this photo.  The first Commodore 64 collection program was nearly unplayable on the iPod Touch I own. Like many games the extra screen size helps a ton. As does games with ICade support. More on that another time... iCade (or is it ICade? Who cares?) is an amazing doohickey. Its a nearly arcade quality joystick in a giant arcade style mini cabinet. Its like a Coleco tabletop game gone Ludicrous Speed!  The fan made game Soulless for free and showing portrait mode. When you want more correct aspect ratio and visible keys or controls.  Elite's C64 collection has iCade support as well. And options to tweak controls and screen dimensions and positions.  Ultima 1-4 are available for free in this program. I am so hoping for Ultima 5 and 6 here too.  The Elite front end showing a game part of their 3 game packs you can upgrade to for 2 bucks each. Creatures 3 is a game I have always wanted to try. Here is where I will save this post made entirely with the iPad without any Bluetooth keyboards or anything and jump back in with the PC... And I am back! While obviously the pictures taken quickly without any form of in device editing (which I can do by the way..) are not ultimate or anything they come off well and Blogger's app for blogging from said iPad Air works well enough. (I had to come into normal PC Blogspot site to resize the pictures to merely Xtra Large though.) Typing on screen is.. ok but doesn't beat a proper keyboard. (In my case a Logitech G710+ I got for 110ish instead of its normal 150 dollar pricetag. A fine keyboard.) So far I am very happy with the amount and quality of games available and the power and speed of this iPad. It makes a fine device to get some retro computer gaming going on the cheap. Heck, Ultima 2-4 get joystick control with the iCade instead of keyboard controls. There is more than one way to play them old computer classics. And not even be a dirty pirate. I still have more game packs to buy on the two C64 collections, more old computer games to get remakes and ports of too. (MULE! SINCLAIR SPECTRUM!) Edit: I DID say I was gonna show my CoCo collection earlier didn't I?  Well this picture with Dungeons of Daggorath and Pooyan I have shown earlier in this thread yes. But here is my meager CoCo collection of the rest:   This game showed up SEALED on Christmas Eve. 2012. Yeah.  How can you NOT want to play this heat? (Because the Tandy 1000 version is best looking, the IIGS is best sounding and lets you continue off your last level, and the PSP/PS3 remake turns it to an actual good game instead of an abusive neo 80s UK Micro game that hates you and doesn't want you to have fun.) But that is my CoCo stuff. I have been lazy on looking for Arkanoid and Downland. And passed up a LOT of fair deals on TI 99 games and accessories. Captain Rufus fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Dec 30, 2013 |
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Dec 30, 2013 10:56
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I don't have a ton of new content today but I do have some new retro computer game pickups from the last month or so to show off. Buy two get one free at this one retro store on certain platforms. So C64 Times of Lore boxed for free? Yes I will take that. Plus a Quake II campaign pack for my ID collection and KOTOR on the PC because gently caress pulling out my X Box 1 for KOTOR, and gently caress even more trying to play the mess it is on the 360's BC.  Ignore the 15 dollar Skyrim. We have two cheap and loose Atari 8 bit computer carts, Age of Adventure in all it's glory (sans box of course. Has manual, command card, and the back cover of the box though. And for a LOT cheaper than it usually goes.), and SSI's answer to the Squad Leader board game.  Not exactly computer related, but the BEST version of Shadow of the Beast. On one of the least loved consoles of the 8-32 bit era. Now with continues! Variable Life Points! Better graphics! An already great soundtrack remixed into CD Audio GREATNESS! Oh, and some cinemas if you are into that sort of thing.. See most people know of Shadow of the Beast from the terrible Genesis port. Which is too hard, and running entirely too fast because EA didn't care or know any better. (You can see the same thing with Gods on the Genny. It just runs too fast. They didn't bother accounting for PAL speed in the UK Amigas when they ported them to the US Genesis. Which is really a shame with Gods as the Genesis version has in game music whereas the Amiga does not. Sure its got that Nation 12 track the Genesis does not but.. in game music isn't a BAD thing. I should probably check out the SNES version of Gods and see if it keeps the music and correct speed when I don't want to play Gods in a Genesis emulator for proper speed. Not that even proper speed helps Genesis SotB be any less brutally UK Microcomputer Game mind you...) Hell, let's see some pictures! (I tried getting some Amiga shots but Amiga emulation is fussy. I really need to invest in Amiga Forever. I bought a version way back when but like a real Amiga emulating it can be trying. Its like the Genesis version pretty much just your character is more grey and turns around SLOWLY. And 1 button control meaning Up on the joystick is Jump as was the wont of so many UK Microcomputer games.)  Genesis version which is very close in looks to the Amiga original. (Running it at PAL speed so it is somewhat playable.)  Turbo version! More colors and detail to the sprites! Tighter control! More forgiving collision detection! MUCH faster turning than the Amiga original! More animation frames on everything! My only complaint is sometimes the trap stuff like those hands pop up a LOT faster.  Not only that, but in Genesis and Amiga Shadow of the Beast Life Points are maxed at 12. In Turbo you can start with more or less and either way some healing potions take you beyond your starting level. Plus Credits for extra continues! Sadly Beast 3 never went beyond the Amiga IIRC so I can't have the whole trilogy in formats that don't die if you look at it funny as 3.5 disks and drives seem wont to do. 
Captain Rufus fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 06:53
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I have an iPad Air and it's a fantastic device with a surprising amount of retro games available for it. I've basically been using mine to browse these forums and to play Raiden Legacy (an app that has Raiden 1 and all the Raiden Fighters games) ,Galaga, and Carmageddon. Kinda hard playing retro games on a touch screen though, I may have to get one of those iCades. Pretty neat to see all those ancient computer games as well. Truly we love in a glorious time.
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Jan 8, 2014 18:40
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Unlimited Adventures had a surprising amount of third party material, largely crops from fantasy images available on the Internet, but also user-written adventures, adaptations of printed adventure modules and full-blown hacks for alternative fantasy and even science-fiction settings. There have been attempts to remake it in modern languages (and with vastly friendlier editing UIs), and some of the old sites are still floating around, but sadly Mycroft's site, the granddady of 'em all, seems to have 404ed.Captain Rufus posted:
I used to pick up fantasy game compilations at Staples when I was younger, and noticed this kind of thing a lot. Usually they'd just go through and print the copy protection answers for all of the games on a separate sheet, and there was almost never anything more than the most cursory installation instructions printed anywhere else. In the worst cases (like my replacement copy of Dungeon Hack) the manual was OCR scanned and jammed into some weird text viewer that inserted bad scans of the monster graphics at the appropriate points. If I was really fortunate, whoever did the prep work made a half-decent PDF instead.
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Jan 8, 2014 19:19
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Bieeardo posted:Unlimited Adventures had a surprising amount of third party material, largely crops from fantasy images available on the Internet, but also user-written adventures, adaptations of printed adventure modules and full-blown hacks for alternative fantasy and even science-fiction settings. There have been attempts to remake it in modern languages (and with vastly friendlier editing UIs), and some of the old sites are still floating around, but sadly Mycroft's site, the granddady of 'em all, seems to have 404ed. This was really bad with flight sims. It's kind of hard to play games like that without a manual and even just a command summary card will only take you so far. I ended up buying a boxed copy of Gunship 2000 on eBay for 5 bucks because of this. Also you know Microprose games had awesome manuals so you could learn the basics of flying and have nerdy levels of late Cold War era weapon systems. (Nerdy not spergy. That was for Falcon and Flight Simulator. Microprose knew the sweet spot between detail and fun.) Also there has been a UA remake in the works for years. I believe it's called Dungeon Craft. They just don't update the website or Sourceforge page even if it gets lots of updates. This annoys me to no end. To be fair at this point I would rather it just use D20 rules because Thac0 was always stupid and should have never survived out of the original 3 booklet D&D.. Course I am still mad that Pathfinder never made an Expert Box to go with their first one so I just have odd game opinions.
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Jan 8, 2014 22:13
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Oh jesus my 1541 Ultimate II is ready to be ordered  *runs to the bank with stacks of cash in hand* Also yeah Rufus whenever I see you I do have a STe and a Mac Plus for you.
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Jan 8, 2014 22:19
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Make sure to give us a review of it when you get it Acid! But I have a little special semi appropriate for the thread mostly effort post: More Fun With the Commodore 1084 Composite Monitor! I just cannot get over the mighty massive utility and quality of this little gizmo. While it is not the better looking and stereo S version it is just so damned GOOD. A good composite monitor is basically one of the least effort requiring display options you can get for your computing needs. And hell, as I have shown it even makes your console games look great. And given that some console titles were ports from computers you have even more effort light ways to play your favorites, in some cases much cheaper! Let's show some more stuff! (As always click for larger. And note this is me pointing a camera at a screen and using Sony Play Memories to do some light editing. In general they look so much better in person. But this ought to give you an idea.)  Here we have the SNES version of the Amiga classic GODS. It still runs fast like the Genesis port but it looks and controls nice and sweet. Plus in level music, something the Amiga original didn't do. For some reason a lot of UK made software in the 8 and 16 bit era were either sound effects or music in game, but never ever both...  And unlike a 1 button DB9 port controller I can use this mighty joystick with 6 action buttons, variable speed turbo and slow motion (on games that pause with START), and even have all 6 buttons at even autofire or normal button press independently. A very classy stick! I love my Epyx 500 XJ to death but the sheer volume of controllers for the consoles gives you some leeway. Heck, with the SNES you can even get away from terrible ancient portable game consoles with their tiny screens, no lighting, and passive matrix screens. Its called The Super Game Boy.  Some games such as Metroid II even have a default color palette though you can use various SGB menu options for various borders and color schemes. Some were even designed for the SGB and have exclusive colors and borders, which its bigger and more versatile brother never did. (More on it later.)  I generally go with the black and white palette for most games designed without any SGB support and a black border. Which is why I am zoomed in on this here Ultima Runes of Virtue game. (Yes kids, there were two exclusive Ultima games only on Nintendo consoles. Both of them are still better than Ultima 8 and 9 are.)  Even if Sherry the Mouse got kind of homicidal...  Shadowgate Classic is the Gameboy/Color dual cart translation of the Macintosh 68K adventure game. On a SGB black and white is ideal I would say.  Speaking of the black cart Game Boy Color titles, Dragon Warrior 1-2 have a custom border but they don't let you mess with palettes. But the Gamecube had its' own Game Boy player, one that also covered the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color, albeit losing some of the palette and background goody options the SGB had. Let's take a look eh?  Dragon Warrior in full color. But in widescreen mode it looks.. ungood to me.  Much better in proper aspect ratio.  You can also shrink the screen for a sharper image.  Widescreen is still butt though.  Shadowgate Classic now looks like a BOSS. It even looks superior to the NES port.  Most GB original games just go to some default color scheme I think is the same as the Game Boy Advance and GB Color auto palette options. You can change to a couple presets by holding directions and buttons but compared to the SGB it is a giant pain. No menus and you pretty much have to write down the combinations.  Sherry is green. With EVIL. I guess she was based off someone Lord British in real life was dating. Break ups can be rough man!  Metroid II looks AMAZING though. Great color selection trumping the SGB. Really folks. Never play Game Boy-Advance games on anything but a Super Game Boy or Gamecube Game Boy Player by and large. On a Commodore 1084 you get a crispy good picture and stuff! I only wished I could get a super rad camera perfectly stabilized on the screen with perfect focus and no camera photo issues to show you how damned solid it all is.  Its pretty good for actual Gamecube titles too! Resident Evil looks damned good and scary. But let's go back a bit. Show the enemy of the Commodore 64 and how it can utilize the 1084 for retro gaming glory.  My ancient NES manufactured in 1986 for said Christmas season. Still with many stickers 12-13 year old me was dumb enough to put on it, plus an original game pad, the original GREY Zapper light gun, and the magnificent NES Advantage.  See how old my rig is? 367K serial number. It should have been even lower but.. well when I get to a full NES retrospective I will talk more about that. (Remember this stuff also appears on my blog in a similar format. Also if I do more on the NES it will be at least here in SA in the other Retro Gaming thread that is about consoles primarily.)  It was a pain getting games to run but once I did it is sheer excellence thanks to the A/V cables on the side of the NES that the top loading machine of the later era skimped out on while making cartridges more reliable.  With many a great screw removal we see the internals of my NES. Its the US launch version. CPU 04 motherboard. I opened it up to give the internal contacts a good cleaning.  Also to clip this 4th pin on the 10NES lockout chip. The ceramic capacitor made it a doozy to get to. Clipping this pin allows for unlicensed games to be used and for legit games to work better without that constant blinking screen issue. You still need to clean your game and console contacts though.  See Nintendo in their usual form of WE DO WHAT WE WANT AND YOU LIKE IT ways decided instead of plugging a cartridge in that they would slide into a slot like a VCR, then you would press it down to connect to the contacts. This makes for loose connections. And is also why NES cartridges are roughly twice as tall as their Japanese counterparts. OMG NINTENDO'S ISSUES CAUSE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES SOMEONE CALL SOME TREE HUGGERS!!  This sort of contact is called a Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) contact. This can make electrical connections shoddy in the long run. I am showing a cart inserted as before I screw a good 20 screws back in I want to make sure it works. Like with computer maintenance, repair, and upgrades it is always a good idea to give things a "smoke test" before you put it all fully back together.  Yep. While many games take a couple tries to work there is no more blinking and it requires a lot less effort.  Yes indeed. Ancient games that were rarely taken care of with tons of build up of ucky on their contacts are given a little rubbing alcohol cleaning with a cotton swab and it helps a bit. Once I get a proper bit to open these cartridges I will give them a super good cleaning and remove all issues. Plus new batteries for battery save games.  MULE on the NES is much cheaper to get than the computer edition. Mainly because NES fans don't know classics when they see them.  A bit more MULE screenage.  And Ultima 3 on the NES for more port action. While my photo has a bit to be desired it is all pretty and crisp in person. And blows the HELL out of the Atari 8 bit version. NES Advantage > Keyboard commands.  And one last thing. Your modern TVs cannot do light gun games but the Commodore 1084 CAN. This was my first game of Hogan's Alley B mode in... 20+ years. Got a fairly decent score. Gun seemed quite accurate in spite of me sitting awkwardly on a big comfy chair mostly full of my 26 NES carts. So what have we learned kids? Well we now know that a good composite monitor is one of the best investments for your computer AND console classic gaming unless you simply cannot get past using a 13" monitor and must have some enormous thing instead. That and we learned that sometimes a beloved computer classic is available in other formats which sometimes are superior though by NO MEANS ALWAYS. (You don't even want to see the THING Defender of the Crown is on the NES.) But this kind of is giving me an idea now that my retro collecting has been picking up as of late as my hobby gaming is slowly ending sadly. Not just buying games cheap, but PLAYING THEM. I am maybe thinking of taking all my games, all my systems and redoing my collection posts with a plan. A game a post. I HAVE to play each game I own for at least 45 minutes and talk about it. I can play it more but it has to get 45 minutes of play. Then I can say if I want to play it more immediately, when I have time, or if I am fine never playing it again or maybe just once in a blue moon. This is kind of why my hobby gaming has been dying. What is the point of buying this stuff to merely sit unused and unloved? And unlike hobby games a good videogame can be played without anyone else. Or even leaving the house. Great for our modern terrible work and life schedules where you gotta get your fun in whenever you can.
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Jan 17, 2014 09:09
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Captain Rufus posted:What is the point of buying this stuff to merely sit unused and unloved? This is what I wonder whenever I come across the guys who collect video games as if they were stamps or something, I never understood buying games you're not gonna play and probably wouldn't like if you did, and filling your house with that poo poo. If you honestly like games you've probably developed a specific taste and you should stick to that so you don't turn into a sad hoarder who lives an a flea market. EDIT: And yeah the 1084 is a great thing, that's what I used to use with my MSX before I sold all my MSX stuff (I really miss it!) d0s fucked around with this message at 12:26 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 12:20
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^ I have a general collecting requirement: Bills and essentials paid FIRST. Never pay more than I think something is worth, especially for the amount of games I own already, space to put them, and TIME/DESIRE TO PLAY IT ENOUGH TO BE WORTHWHILE. I might get a "Kusoge" (Hardcore Gaming 101 uses this Japanese term for lovely GAME. Aka: 90% of all Bandai, Acclaim/LJN, and Ocean titles.) title if its super cheap and fills a niche or I just want to play it for whatever reason but by and large I get games I really want to play. I collect a number of themes. Many of them will hit a brick wall sooner or later, especially for arcade only titles since do I really want to drop 30-100+ on a bloody board and then go through the hassle of getting a JAMMA rig or a Supergun? No. That would be STUPID. So is some of the titles I want for my Ultima, Batman, and 2d Castlevania focuses. Most of the CVs I still need are 50-200 dollar games at this point and well even if they were the best CV games ever made I would still not pay that. (And the ones I need are not the good ones.) I generally have a 25 max limit on any game, especially loose and incomplete. This includes shipping. There are so many people with more money than sense (I work at a casino I see em all the time. Or that dude in GBS last week who was proud he had a 20,000 dollar watch and says its a sign of SMART PEOPLE who waste money on such lunacy.) that I usually get outbid or laugh at store prices more often than not. But its OK. I collect to play them and enjoy them. Not to wave my wallet around or just poo poo money. I don't get GAME X? gently caress it. Oh well. Its a THING. I don't need it. I never needed it and I never will. I might want it but not need it.
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Jan 17, 2014 12:44
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I just make sure to judge old games the same way I would judge brand new ones: "does this look like something good?". I don't want to buy something for irony or kitsch, or rarely even for nostalgia. I can laugh at Bebe's Kids or the diabetes game in an emulator, I don't need them on my shelf reminding me that I spent actual money on them. If I find myself thinking "well, this was probably cool for the time" I usually put it back, something truly good is kinda timeless, nobody sits around complaining about SMB or Castlevania's graphics because those games are still fun. EDIT: It's not to say I don't only stick to the "classic" games that everyone knows are good, a lot of the fun in this hobby comes from discovering lesser known stuff that is really great. I just make sure to do all that research before spending any money, with Youtube longplays or emulation. I seriously go through a console or computer's entire library lists on Wikipedia or whatever, keeping an eye out for developers I like or game names that sound familiar that I've heard good things about, research those and find out what I like, then make a list in Evernote for that system that I can access anywhere on my phone and stick to it, rarely buying something without knowing exactly what I'm getting. Sometimes blind buying is fun, but I do it mostly on stuff like the Gameboy which has a huge library and many great games that can be found for a couple bucks, and if I end up not liking it I have something to give away or whatever. d0s fucked around with this message at 13:12 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 12:54
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Anyone happen to have an extra down arrow key for a Coleco Adam keyboard?
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Jan 17, 2014 21:31
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Sadly I cannot help you. However in a surprising move, the Game Sack YouTube channel has done a video on the greatest computer of Japan that even Japan never cared about. The Sharp x68000!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQPt69UCyIA It is a good and informative video and now I wish to find ways to make lots of money because I want one. But I could get an MSX2 , Tandy 1000, Color Computer 3, TI 99 4a and a bunch of goodies and gear for them for the cost of one of those sexy machines.
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Jan 19, 2014 12:02
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But none of those are a X68000  I'm really determined to bring a X68000 back whenever I go to Japan but I know even tracking one down is going to be a miserable nightmare.
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Jan 19, 2014 21:55
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ACID POLICE posted:But none of those are a X68000 Getting any software for it is going to be pretty tricky too, though not quite as hard as the hardware. The X68000 is a great machine and if you're looking for a classic Japanese PC game, if there's an X68000 version, it's probably the best one. BUT! In terms of sheer bang-for-your-buck it really isn't as good as the NEC PC-98, which has a much larger library of games, and most of the X68000 games are available for it too. Or at least a very large chunk of them. The PC-98 was so big in Japan that when it died, the entire PC game industry outside of porn games pretty much died along with it.
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Jan 19, 2014 22:20
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I saw a review of the game Muri which is a new game made in a very faithful style of Duke Nukem and am really impressed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp-WeTNbLzM Are there any other modern games done in an old DOS game style?
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Jan 20, 2014 00:04
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Not only do I have one for you but it's FREE. http://www.piratehearts.com/blog/games/you-have-to-win-the-game/ There is also an EGA mode color set you can download if CGA isn't your bag. Except this game even has a virtual monitor. It's an amazing game and I completely recommend it.
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Jan 20, 2014 12:05
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Genpei Turtle posted:Getting any software for it is going to be pretty tricky too, though not quite as hard as the hardware. Lotharek's floppy emulator and a TOSEC set  As much as I would love to own real X68K games versus loading em up I don't have the $ or time
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Jan 21, 2014 07:41
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ACID POLICE posted:Lotharek's floppy emulator and a TOSEC set Time, money, and space are my worst enemies Acid. Its why even some newer games I haven't picked up yet. I haven't properly utilized the ones I have NOW. (Plus babbling on in #retrochat doesn't help either. There are days here and there where I don't log into IRC just so I am more forced to focus on other tasks!) But I finally DO have a little new content for this thread. (And yet another thing to play. Sigh.) See the semi local funnybook shop is rad. It is huge. It carries lots of stuff and is near a Naval Base and a Coast Guard base plus a number of local colleges. Sometimes they get in old stuff which is usually priced fairly if not a goddamned STEAL. Like this for 5 whole dollars:  This thing goes for like 10-40 times 5 dollars on ebay for this complete and condition level.Well they got in some computer games too. Now, one of the Myst family games I cared not for as I dislike normal Adventure games and find even the good ones to be lovely inventory puzzles ruining a perfectly good digital cartoon. (Kind of like Dragon's Lair only with slightly more illusions of freedom. Quest for Glory and the Survival Horror subgenre being exceptions to the Sierra and Lucasarts general rule. I am a bad retro computer gamer I know.) And speaking of Sierra a game I never even knew about though its' predecessors and its' hex based wargame I didn't bother with much because it was an early Win 95 game and thus insisted I drop colors to 256.  Yep. The makers of Mechwarrior 1's third attempt at a mech game IIRC. Complete (as far as I know)in box for 5 whole US dollars! (Laugh at the system specs if you like. Or my photography/lighting. Either have a flash or have a poor image.)  The box is enormous. And like those old boxes they simply needed more space to show off with gatefolds! 17 1/2 inches tall by 10 1/4 inches wide opened up. That's a big space hogging Twinkie! (From the days when you could actually get PC games in stores.)  Clearly the front runner. Clearly not so much. Also you know.. its a dead genre pretty much. MWO is kind of the final unfinished nail in the coffin.  Leaving out the brown cardboard box inside and some registration card stuff and an ad for the Prima Strategy Guide this is our contents. Like lots of games in the dial up age (ok mostly a handful I know of..) it had a Buddy Disk so you could lend the client to a pal and have some head to head gaming.  The huge mostly colored fluff book and the black and white instruction manual. They just don't make em like this any more and it saddens me. Of course this also means outside of GOG most games now can force us all to rebuy them every 5-10 years since we will lose our files or our reg key or what have you. So is the game actually any GOOD? Or did I mostly pay the price of an expensive latte and maker tip for a pretty color fluff booklet? And should I look for the previous games too? I do love me some robot nerd stuff: http://wargamedork.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-stuff-techmacrossrelated-stuff.html And yes I do still have my Win 98 rig pictures to make another real effortpost with. I am just lazy. And trying to do an MWO effort post but being stymied at getting the one new map so I can take some shots and then go back to not playing it while it has less actual gameplay content and mission types than our lovely Win 9x robot games do. Plus I wouldn't mind playing Power Dolls or the turn based Win 95 mech game I mentioned either.
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Jan 24, 2014 12:48
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Captain Rufus posted:Starseige I don't remember how good or bad this game plays, but I do remember it has awesome cd audio on those disks.
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Jan 24, 2014 13:26
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After reading the entire thread I am going to break up my post into two posts because, seriously, too many words. First, my responses specifically to Captain Rufus, as I know he has no choice but to read everything written about retro computer gaming: One of my author friends recently sent me the .jpg you have of those copies of Enchanted Realms you posted on the first page and asked if I knew anything about it because he is going crazy not being able to find anything out about it. He was just going on a hunch that I might be into that kind of thing, and of course he was totally right, and I was like THEY ARE A COMPUTER GAME ENIGMA BRO. Is it possible they started numbering their issues with 8 to try to seem more legit? What is EllisCon? I see it is a gaming thing held at a high school, but you speak of it as though it is relevant to this thread, certainly. I am relieved to learn about Vogons. I remember trying to get some advice on the DOSGames forums about the best way to get an MS-DOS laptop going, and everyone was like "lol use DOSBox" and I was like "... no, thanks?" Seriously, I understand DOSBox exists, it is a wonderful program, but I grew up with MS-DOS and have a 1995 Packard Bell Pentium/133 that I still use to play MS-DOS games and I kind of thought it would be awesome if I had a portable era-appropriate system. Captain Rufus posted:As a big RPG fan it is really annoying when the best versions of a game are either nigh impossible to find/play, or are only in Japanese. (Ultima has a LOT of this. Hell, Japan has their own SEQUELS to Phantasie and Dungeon Master we never got! And this is besides the definitive versions of Ultima Underworld, Wiz 1-3, 5, and 6!) I own complete boxed copies of 4 out of the 5 games on your "computer games top 5" wishlist. Most from having actually bought them new (Twilight 2000 I did pick up at the Gen-Con Auction Store a few years back though). I skipped the Pool of Radiance remake out of reformatting-C-drive terror. Of your honorable mention I only (only) have boxed copies of Megatraveller 1 & 2, Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed, and Dragonstrike. I am not sure if this makes me a hoarder or just means our tastes overlap. Relatedly again, I covet your Curse of Ra box, as I only ever found out about those games via Temple of Apshai Trilogy, and I was too young to understand what "trilogy" meant and thus it was another decade before I actually realized, you know, those games had once been separate. My saddest memory of my retro computing days from before it was retro (I was an Atari 8-bro) was going to Target with My Mom(tm) for my birthday or something and being excited to pick out a new game ... and in a wall of games for various computer formats was only one Atari game, Super Huey II. I remember processing for the first time that maybe, just maybe, I was going to stop seeing Atari games in the store. And indeed that may have legitimately been the last time I saw one.  Fortunately I had just been granted access to my parents' 8088(!) and I bought Wasteland not too long after that, and, well. Look at me now!Speaking of, I never in my life noticed there was a question mark on the Wasteland inventory screen. That is fascinating. This thread has also reminded me that I could almost always tell what game was loading based on the sounds the Atari disk drive made. I am sure that was not a unique ability to me, though.
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Jan 30, 2014 01:59
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I just want to take a brief moment to express my love for the ZX Spectrum's palette. I love the bold, primary colors and I love it even more when developers contrasted them with stark black backgrounds. The result is this striking look that's like pixely black velvet paintings. I kind of want to run a blog/tumblr where I just post screenshots of games I'm playing but ugh, time.         It certainly looked better than the CGA poo poo that IBM computers had in the 80s. al-azad fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Jan 30, 2014 |
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Jan 30, 2014 06:27
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Those are some great looking screenshots. Pretty sure this one is from the c64 or similar though, the Spectrum could never have managed a main character sprite that looked like that.
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Jan 30, 2014 06:43
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I think it's the Amstrad version of Dynamite Dan, somehow ended up in my folder.
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Jan 30, 2014 06:49
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al-azad posted:I just want to take a brief moment to express my love for the ZX Spectrum's palette. I love the bold, primary colors and I love it even more when developers contrasted them with stark black backgrounds. The result is this striking look that's like pixely black velvet paintings. I kind of want to run a blog/tumblr where I just post screenshots of games I'm playing but ugh, time. To be fair CGA was meant to be used with a composite monitor wherein it had artifacting tricks like the Apple II and selected Atari 8 bit games did. (Normally Apple II ports.) And once you gave it actual colors ala the PCJr/Tandy 1000 CGA looked plenty fine for the era. Maybe not C64 at it's best, but solid enough. (And then owned the PC 88/98 dithered hell graphics. Euuugh!) But what's funny is a dude is working on his own Ultima 3.5 game for the 128K Spectrum (and he is open to having it ported to other Z80 platforms hint hint Master System!!) and he has his tileset looking GOOD for the Speccie: https://www.facebook.com/zxodus Look at how good it looks. Maybe not EGA quality, but it looks light years better than what the Apple II and Atari 8 bit Ultima 3 and 4 looked, and in some ways better than the C64! See if the Speccie was a floppy disk system and based around text adventures and RPGs, things that don't really require great game animation, scrolling backgrounds, and sprite color clash, it could have been a damned great system. The problem is the UK was a land of tape loading and this mostly suited action games and arcade ports. Most of which tend to be their absolute WORST on this system, even making the Atari 2600 look like a boss in comparison. (A statement thrown at the Apple II as well. Which given how much the AII cost really made it look bad when a machine costing 10-20% of its' price had better looking and playing games! Honestly these days if you buy an Apple II its for adventure and RPG titles mostly. And generally the Commodore 64 has most of the RPG titles where they look light years better.) So these sorts of games weren't done as often. If you have to make a game over multiple platforms... some of them come out very poorly. And the Speccie is usually the biggest loser. Yet this game? This is what the Speccie could have been. Should have been. (Zedex isn't the only person making retro computer RPGs either. Lawless Legends for the C64 and Apple II which is a Cowboy Western RPG! The Realms of Quest series on the Vic 20! Look them up and maybe cheer them on!) Also thanks for the kind words Quarex! VVV Please do it! They are machines I have limited knowledge of at all. And like that 4 digit ebay bid for a Sharp X68000 this week shows there is some desire for info on these machines. (Though I have a feeling that Game Sack review did a LOT to up it.) Captain Rufus fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Jan 30, 2014 |
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Jan 30, 2014 07:00
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Funny you bring up the NEC PCs because I really like those graphics for different reasons. I was also planning on making a post about the evolution of graphics in Japanese PC games as they basically clung to the same hardware through most of the 90s.
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Jan 30, 2014 07:27
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al-azad posted:I just want to take a brief moment to express my love for the ZX Spectrum's palette. I love the bold, primary colors and I love it even more when developers contrasted them with stark black backgrounds. The result is this striking look that's like pixely black velvet paintings. I kind of want to run a blog/tumblr where I just post screenshots of games I'm playing but ugh, time. You've just reminded me that such a blog already exists for the FM Towns Marty, a Japanese console based on a home computer. There's also stuff on there from other computers, like the MSX, PC-98 and PC-88. (Warning: occasionally  depending on what games are being showcased.)
Thuryl fucked around with this message at 09:19 on Jan 30, 2014 |
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Jan 30, 2014 09:16
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Thuryl posted:You've just reminded me that such a blog already exists for the FM Towns Marty, a Japanese console based on a home computer. There's also stuff on there from other computers, like the MSX, PC-98 and PC-88. (Warning: occasionally Here's another that posts Japanese screencaps. Usually out of context and hilarious.
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Jan 31, 2014 04:49
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A kind soul redirected me to here. I'll just paste what I wrote in the other thread. While we're on the subject of retro games, (when aren't we ever) I figure this is a relevant thread. For the X68000, there was an exclusive Run and Gun game called "Die Bahnwelt". Finally finished translating it. I would give more information, but I'm about ready to crash. http://radicalr.pestermom.com/game.html#dw Also, thanks to a kind UK goon, I have the actual copy of the game on the way here! 
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Feb 1, 2014 01:36
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RadicalR posted:A kind soul redirected me to here. I'll just paste what I wrote in the other thread. Man I am super hype about this but I'm having all sorts of problems getting it to load 
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Feb 1, 2014 05:09
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So for reasons I can't quite understand, I've spent the last couple days combing Ebay listings for 800XL's. I've never laid hands on one much less seen it in person, but there's just something about it I can't get out of my head. Assuming my will does falter, what games should I be on the lookout for?
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Feb 1, 2014 05:28
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d0s posted:Man I am super hype about this but I'm having all sorts of problems getting it to load Ah, that's a MIDI error. Set your MIDI card to ID 1, Level 4. It should work now.
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Feb 1, 2014 05:36
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RadicalR posted:Ah, that's a MIDI error. Set your MIDI card to ID 1, Level 4. It should work now. That made the error go away but it still just hung on that screen lookin' all weird. Switched to WinX68K HS and it worked great though, I'm loving this!
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Feb 1, 2014 06:17
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 01:38 |
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You COULD use the emulator in the readme. There's a modified version of XM6 called XM6 Type G that works great.
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Feb 1, 2014 06:30
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