Topics

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Hudson Soft games: actual developers]

Hudson Soft released a LOT of games for the PC Engine. They also contracted out development quite often. Dungeon Explorer to Atlus and Jacki Chan's Action Kung Fu to Now Productions, for example. Has anyone here or elsewhere bothered to compile a list of known contract developers for Hudson-published titles, or investigated and documented suspected contract developers?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Apple/early PC games worth porting to PCE]

So, after chatting in another thread about my love for the Apple II, it got me thinking about what Apple II or other early PC games would make fun conversions to PCE. I'm thinking more basic action games than RPGs and whatnot, because they would conceivably be easier to handle code-wise, much like the early arcade titles Arkhan and Touko favor. Here's what I've identified as good candidates so far.

Lode Runner: Yes, the PCE already has a version, but it's heavily altered. The original has a 28x13 grid for more complex levels. I think it would be fun to try to adapt that to the PCE with a more modern aesthetic, though dealing with tile compositing might be challenging, since a nonstandard 10x11 tile size would have to be recreated.

Boulderdash: Much easier than Lode Runner. Basic tile-based game with rudimentary "physics". Movement is grid-based. Would be important not to smooth that out too much or the game would be too hard to control.

Choplifter: pretty simple shooty game. Has a lot in common with Defender in some ways.

Any other fun suggestions?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Taito PCE chiptunes suck]

Subject says it all. Arkhan got me thinking about this in the Namco thread. I am pretty sure that Parasol Stars is the only Taito PC Engine game with chiptunes that I actually like. All their other stuff sounds super harsh and is a bad translation of Taito's characteristically harsh arcade tunes. When Taito's arcade stuff is good it's great, but when it's not good, it's kind of awful, and their PCE chiptune stuff is, for the most part, pretty awful.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Emulation accuracy: which software to use?]

Almost all of us have at least 1 way to play most PCE games on original hardware, but that doesn't mean emulation isn't still useful. So maybe it's time we collected our observations about the accuracy of various emulators and helped flesh out which ones are the most useful. My thoughts are below. I have not tested rigorously at all, so these are rather generalized. If you have more specific information, I would love to make a list that reflects communal knowledge instead of my own (mis?)perceptions.

I know Mednafen has the greatest accuracy, but it is the least friendly to use, and many won't touch it because of the command line.

I'm a big fan of Ootake. It's free and open source and is pretty accurate, though certainly not perfect.

I do not like Magic Engine, because not only is it closed source, the author charges money, and of the current, still-maintained emulators it has slightly lower accuracy than Ootake. It seems silly to charge money for an emulator that can't best the current free options.

BizHawk is the emulator I'm watching for the future. It uses the Mednafen core for PCE emulation, though it does sometimes pick up bugs not present in Mednafen due to it being designed specifically for the TAS crowd. The developers are pretty good about squashing bugs as they come up, though.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / More questions about PCE audio capabilities]

So, some random questions about PCE audio:

What's the lowest frequency the system can generate? I know bass often doesn't feel very bassy on the system, but is that because it can't generate low enough frequencies? Is it because they sound like ass that low? What's the deal, yo?

Can the PCE vary the pitch of samples? I know the NES has some limited ability to vary the pitch of samples, and is used sometimes for some drum effects. Can the PCE do the same thing, or would there have to be a separate sample for every different pitch?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Virtual Boy audio very closely resembles PC Engine audio]

So, someone posted, back in 2006, that they thought their VB sounded a lot like the PCE. Well, I was randomly reading about the Virtual Boy today and stumbled across the audio specs. Turns out it uses 6-bit wavetable sound across 5 channels, with a 6th channel for noise. The capabilities are very close to those of the PC Engine. Here's more info:

http://www.planetvb.com/modules/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=audio_overview

[Off-Topic / Spenoza Jr.]

Just wanted to give folks a heads-up. One of the reasons I have been posting very little lately is that I bought a house and my wife is now pregnant with our son-to-be (he's still working on the human part, as he looks more alien parasite-esque ATM). So we're both exhausted, because houses are hard and so is being pregnant (and being married to pregnant).

But yeah. I still read, I just haven't had much time or energy for contribution, lately. I still intend to go to Origins and CCAG this summer, so maybe I'll see someone somewhere.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / US CD games: which did and did not have boxes?]

So, this came up over on Racketboy, and I didn't have a good answer, though I did have a couple corrections for the poster's partial list. Some Turbo CD games came in boxes and others did not. Which games didn't come in boxes, just in a jewel cast, and which did have an external box?

[Off-Topic / Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH]

Anybody going to Origins in Columbus? I am. If you're interested in a meetup over a board game or a beer, post here and we'll sort it out.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / R-Type I & II - Keepin' out the riff RAFFLE]

I have won a couple great raffles on here, and it's time again for me to give back to the community I love. So I'm offering up "player grade" copies of R-Type I and R-Type II on HuCard (card only) for the PC Engine. I is a bit dirty and scratched up, but both play just fine. I will pay shipping in the continental US*.

And now, a winner is chosen! Here's the Randomizer result!

Congrats to o.pwuaioc! Send my your addy and I'll get this out to you.

    o.pwuaioc
    Cjameslv
    VenomMacbeth
    Wildfruit
    EvilEvoIX
    Elmer
    Mitsuman


*I am willing to ship internationally for a few of our more awesome members as long as the cost isn't too great. PM me for eligibility.

Raffle end date now set! March 14, 2015!

To enter, make a reply in this thread indicating you are interested, and that you agree to follow the raffle rules below. If you think these rules are stupid and you aren't interested in adhering to them, DO NOT ENTER THE RAFFLE. See how easy that is?

• You must not already own R-Type TurboChip (US), R-Type Complete CD, or BOTH R-Type I and II HuCard. If you own only R-Type I or R-Type II, but not both, you may enter, but you must re-raffle the duplicate here on the forums.

• You may not sell, trade, or otherwise give away the raffle prize, with the following exceptions:
  • You may re-raffle here on the forums.
  • You may give to a Turbo/PCE noob who is still new to the console and doesn't already have R-Type (and has the necessary hardware to play it). Said noob must also agree to be bound by the no-sale/trade rules of the raffle and not be a dick.

• You may not intentionally feed R-Type to your dog (or cat [or cavy/rodent/bird/dinosaur/trained bear/younger siblings]).

• Valued/important members of the community will get an extra entry (or more, if they are super-awesome) at my discretion. (And just why on earth don't you have R-Type already?)

• You must be in good standing with the PCEFX community at large with a minimum post count of 250. If your most-posted forum or thread is a sales/raffle thread I reserve the right to exclude you.

• I reserve the right to exclude anyone I want from the raffle for whatever reason I want. Per Wil Wheaton, "Don't be a dick."

Participants! Who will be our lucky winner?

Wildfruit
VenomMacbeth
Mitsuman
Cjameslv
o.pwuaioc
Elmer
EvilEvoIX

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / How should I raffle R-Type PCE HuCard?]

I am looking to raffle my HuCard-only R-Type 1 and R-Type 2 in February. I want some advice as to how you guys think I should best approach this. R-Type is a weird beast in that the game is split across two different HuCards in the PCE version. I wouldn't want to raffle off half a game to someone unless it's pretty common for folks to be stuck with only one piece of this two-part game.

Whaddaya think?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / What related to the TG are you most thankful for?]

I am most thankful for the years spent with my old TG-CD rig, communicating on the Turbo List, occasionally borrowing and lending things. I got to try a homemade arcade joystick for the Turbo, mounted in a plastic briefcase, long before it was at all commonplace to have arcade parts for home joysticks. I got to play all sorts of games I didn't own, like Flash Hiders, thanks to fellow listers.

I am also thankful of the opportunity to hunt all over Japan (well, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Morioka, anyway) for a new copy of Drac X just as stores were starting to take PC Engine stuff off the shelves in their video game sections.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Hypothetical audio mod board and audio questions]

OK folks, since you guys are the experts in this little corner of the forum, help me out with this crazy hypothetical, please.

One of my complaints about PCE/TG audio is that, despite good specs, sometimes the audio sounds a little rougher around the edges than I think it should. An unrelated complaint I have is that the PSG audio always seems mixed a little too loudly against the CD audio for CD titles.

As to the former, I was wondering what folks thought about a low-pass filter mod for PSG audio, with or without a higher-quality, cleaner amp circuit.

Also, has anyone toyed with the idea of adjusting down the PSG just a hair along the line that takes it to be mixed with the CD audio?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Favorite chip tunes for in-game listening]

Here is part 2 of my chip tunes inquiry.

Which chip tunes do you enjoy the most in the context of the game? They don't have to be chip tunes you would like listening to independently. I'm talking about the music that adds the best game atmosphere, and fits the gameplay or mood of the game like a glove and elevates the playing experience.

I think Splatterhouse has great music that really enhances the gameplay. The same for Ankoku Densetsu (Leg. Axe II). I don't know that I would want to listen to that music on its own, but the entire soundtracks are fantastically atmospheric.

Geez, almost left out Makyou Densetsu (Leg. Axe). I find that music to actually be some of the best-tuned to the game of almost any title on the system. The jungle-style tune matches the level it is paired with perfectly and really adds tons of atmosphere that the graphics alone can't handle. Same for the cave track. It literally oozes subterranean feel. I don't know that I'd put those tracks on my iPhone to listen to jetting about town, but I just can't imagine the game without those tracks. It would become a whole different beast.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Favorite chip tunes for out-of-game listening]

This is part 1 of a chip tunes inquiry.

I am curious to know which chip tunes you guys most enjoy for general listening, outside of the game. The chip tune does not have to be appropriate where it is in the game. It just has to be something you like listening to without the backdrop of the game influencing you.

Soldier Blade and Magical Chase are two chip soundtracks that I really enjoy independent of the game. Especially the last level music of MC. While they certainly add to the quality of the game, they are fantastic in their own right and good listening. I don't need nostalgia from playing the game to enjoy those tunes.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / 7th Saga SNES cart only]

I have a cart only copy of 7th Saga. I would like to trade it for something happy for the TG-16, PCE, or Genesis. Here's my current want list:

Gunhed / Blazing Lazers
McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure
One of the Soldier series games
Sagaia
Just about any good shmup on the TG-16/PCE I don't already have.

Any takers?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Observation about Magical Chase's soundtrack]

So, I'm a HUGE fan of Magical Chase's soundtrack, and while listening to a long YouTube playlist of the various musics I noticed something. The music doesn't appear to use any samples. All the percussion is chip-generated, for example. Not only is the composition extremely competent, but the technical accomplishment of generating such a high-quality soundtrack with no sampling only contributes to my respect for this game.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / AeroBlasters observation]

So, while watching a longplay of the arcade AeroBlasters on YouTube, it became apparent how little the PC Engine port suffers, and how the red missile's tracking was improved on the PC Engine. I'll take the PCE's red missile over the arcade's any day.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Rampage and other missed opportunities]

It occurs to me that the TG-16 REALLY needed a port of Rampage. It would've fit on a chip pretty easily. They probably could've one-upped the arcade in some areas, like animation, as well.

Almost makes me have to mull over what other great titles were probably never even in the running.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Feasibility of a particular graphical effect]

OK, so, I thought of an interesting way to simulate two background layers, but I wonder if it's really feasible. I know you can flicker sprites on and off to get more on a line. Can you flicker background tiles? If you could somehow swap them out quickly enough, and if there was enough VRAM space available, you could create two separate background layers and just rapidly switch between them.

Possible? Impossible? Pointless?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Best PC Engine sound effects and jingles for cell phone alerts and ringers]

There's also a best music for cell phone ringers thread, but this is a little different. I don't like to have 30 seconds of a 2 minute long track as a ringer. I like something short and repeatable. And since phones these days alert us to this, that, and the other thing all the time, we also need little short alert sounds.

So what PC Engine sound effects, jingles, and short music loops do you think would make the best ringers and alerts?

I'm going to offer up one for the fan with thick skin. The Extra Life sound from Gunhed / Blazing Lazers. Obnoxious as fuck, but you'll never miss a text with that going off in your ear.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Free homebrew marketing]

I'm revamping the TurboGrafx 16 101 article for Racketboy. I'm correcting some of the errors I made when I originally wrote it (the ones I know about, at least) and I'm adding in all sorts of info about the PC Engine that wasn't included in the original article. But here's the important bit for this particular forum area: I'm including a short section on the homebrew scene (and I'm planning a larger article on the homebrew, translation, and hacks and mods scene). I'm only listing current releases, but I'm including links to the developers so that people can purchase them. I have some small hope that maybe some of you will get a little extra business as a result. Fingers crossed, OK?

If any of you have a one-sentence blurb/bio to describe your studio/team, whatever, I would happily replace the descriptions I've already penned.

Note that I'm only listing the 6 current commercial releases:

Mindrec's Implode and MB DX
Atlantean's Insanity and PP
FU's Mysterious Song
Touko's Revival Chase

[Buy/Sell/Trade / FT for PCE stuff: Axelay, 7th Saga, anime/game music CDs]

So, I've basically copied most of my BST thread from another forum and removed prices. This is all stuff for trade only for PCE goods.
I'm only interested in JPN HuCards because I don't have any CD hardware at this time, though if you want to trade me some CD hardware I'd be cool with that. You can see my collection at PCE Daisakusen via the link in my sig at the bottom. I am not picky about case and manual. Loosies and dupes are fine. I am big on shooters.

My really wants are:
Gunhed and PC Genjin 2
6-button controller

On to this list of stuff I have for trade:

Playstation
Vagrant Story
Disc, Square demo disc, case, no manual.

Genesis:
Aladdin
Cart only. Some stickers and sticker residue. Label worn. Could use a little cleaning.

Saturn - JPN:
Blue Breaker
CIB w/ spine card, registration card. Attractive 2D RPG.

Touge King the Spirits 2
CIB. Mountain driving game.

Roommate in Summer Vacation
CIB w/ spine card, registration card, 3 scene cards.

SNES:
Axelay
Cart only. In good shape. Slight yellowing on back half. Label clean and nice. "Lee Taylor" written in black marker across bottom of front.

The 7th Saga
Cart only. Label intact. Price sticker across back label. Minor cleaning needed.

Windows/PC:
Riven
Unreal Gold
Unreal Tournament: GOTY
Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2
Soldier of Fortune

Manga:
Gunsmith Cats Burst, vol. 3, new in shrinkwrap, US Darkhorse release
Rurouni Kenshin, Japanese language, tankobon v. 1 & 11

VHS (yup, you read that right) (would prefer not to split them up)
Dreamcast promotional videos distributed at the Tokyo Game Show Spring of 1999, discussing the Dreamcast with video of upcoming software releases. Excellent stuff for a Dreamcast enthusiast or collector. One of the videos has a small crack in the plastic but it isn't especially noticeable and doesn't affect the operation of the the video cassette at all. See pictures below for more details. I should also note that I got these in person at the Spring TGS 1999. I was in Japan studying and picked these up with a lot of other swag (which may eventually turn up here). A lot of what's documented on this video was stuff that was being shown at that TGS for the first time.

Anime and video game music CDs (all legit JPN releases, include cases and booklets - No SM releases!)
Fatal Fury the Motion Picture BGM collection
Samurai Spirits Image Album
X original soundtrack
Samurai Spirits III Arrange Sound Trax
Animax Animation Hits Collection by Meu
Patlabor 2 Movie soundtrack

[Buy/Sell/Trade / WTT: The Kung Fu - JPN China Warrior / with case and manual]

I have a copy of The Kung Fu with case, manual, and HuCard sleeve.

Not my favorite game. Looking to see if I can get something I like a little better for it. Don't care about cases and manuals. Would be perfectly happy for a loose Huey. Will accept offers, but I'll list some of what I would like:

BeBall
Any of the Soldier titles
Gunhed (over the speed limit, yo!)
PC Genjin 2
Dragon Saber
Alien Crush
Devil's Crash
Time Cruise
Battle Load Runner
Columns
Altered Beast (HuCard)
Don Doko Don
Almost anything Konami
Fantasy Zone

I do like shooters and platformers.

Any takers?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Question about homebrew sales]

So, for those of you who've successfully put out a finished homebrew product, how has your product sold? Also, have you had any orders from Japanese customers?  I'm curious to know how broadly word has gotten around.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / RAFFLE: TG-CD instruction book - A winner is had!]

Winner declared! Info at the bottom of this first post!

I know, compared to some of the raffles going on around here this one is pretty dull.

I traded away my original TG rig over a decade ago for a Saturn setup, but I accidentally held onto the CD unit instruction booklet. I uncovered it recently and would like to pass it on to someone who maybe would like to complete their TG-CD setup or replace a missing manual.

It is in good shape, all bright orange and whatnot.

Running a short raffle on this since I imagine demand will be a little limited. I'll pick someone Feb. 1, so you can sign up through Jan. 31.

Participants:

rrob78
FiftyQuid
turboswimbz
Sparky
csgx1
CPTRAVE
Black Tiger
TheClash603
shabba
VestCunt
tpivette
SuperPlay

So, random.org gave me:

There were 12 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

    SuperPlay
    csgx1
    Sparky
    FiftyQuid
    CPTRAVE
    shabba
    tpivette
    VestCunt
    turboswimbz
    Black Tiger
    TheClash603
    rrob78

Timestamp: 2013-02-01 17:08:25 UTC

That means SuperPlay is teh winnarz!!111one!! PM me your address so I can get this item out to you. Thanks for participating, everyone!

[Off-Topic / Any PCE fans in Texas?]

I ask, because if I am offered a job there next week I will accept it, and will have to become a Texan. Would be within the Dallas/Ft. Worth extended area.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Neutopia JPN HuCard only for trade]

I have a JPN copy of Neutopia, HuCard only. I've beaten it. I'm unlikely to come back to it. So I'd like to trade it to someone for another JPN HuCard. I'm pretty open where offers are concerned. Best HuCard (thoroughly subject, based off what I think) offered in trade takes it. I do like shooters and platformers...

And yes, I know the photo sucks. I took it with an iPod Touch, which has a crappy camera.

[Off-Topic / Happy Independence Day, America!]

Yup, I said it. I'm not a traditional patriot, in the classic sense, but I still think it's important to think back to the founding of this fine nation and value what's really important going forward.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Advice on finding an afforable PCE core stereo AV cable]

Yup, cause I have just the mono cable and so I'm not getting half the audio. So I want a stereo one.

[Fighting Street / Mac vs Big Brother]

The classic Windows MIDI model had real problems with latency. That's why the Mac was the defacto professional MIDI platform for a long time. Now that there's USB MIDI adaptors and other fun stuff those problems have largely become a thing of the past.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Need research help: TG-16 game prices]

So, Racketboy is finally thinking about updating the TG-16 article about bargain games worth the cost. I know prices have pretty much gone up across the board, but what are the best deals $10 and under and $11 - $20?

With prices rising, the article may have to wander into import territory, but I'm hoping not.

[Off-Topic / Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio]

Anyone going to be at Origins in a week and a half? It's a convention for tabletop games. It used to be the second biggest RPG convention after GenCon, but they've opened up the scope quite a bit.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Cheapest good HuCards to track down]

So, my HuCard collection is still rather tiny. Which HuCard games are cheap, easy to find, and good, and are nice low-hanging fruit for someone starting at the bottom?

Thanks, guys!

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Text on the PCE]

Is text display sprites, tiles, or its own thing?

[Buy/Sell/Trade / I have non-PCE things to trade for PCE things]

I want more PCE games and hardware, and I have non-PCE stuff to trade for it. Here is the non-PCE stuff I have for trade. If you have any questions about a particular item, what's included, condition, etc... either post in the thread or PM. Make offers for what you want. I'm happy to bundle for good stuff.

Added an NES cart to the list.

PC hardware:
PowerColor Radeon HD4650 PC Express video card (box, manuals, cables, etc...)
     Pretty good budget card. I upgraded to a similarly priced HD6670 and have actually found very minimal improvement. Makes me kinda regret spending the money on the 6670...

NES games
Bionic Commando (cart only)

GBA games (cart only):
Lunar
Final Fantasy IV
Tales of Phantasia
Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Super Mario Brothers 3

DVD:
Volume 1 box (3 DVDs) of Maison Ikkoku, Viz release (not a pirate version)

Saturn games (I diversified too much in Japan 13 years ago and need to weed):
Blue Breaker
Touge King the Spirits 2
Samurai Spirits III
Slayers Royal
Roommate in Summer Vacation

Anime and VG game music CDs (all legit, no SM or Pirate CDs):
Fatal Fury the Motion Picture BGM collection
Samurai Spirits Image Album
SDF Macross soundtrack Vol. II
Slayers Great soundtrack
X original soundtrack
3x3 Eyes OVA sountrack
3x3 Eyes kanji I don't understand sountrack with mini drama CD in double case
Samurai Spirits III arange sound trax
Lodoss original soundtrack (not from the original OVA, so I don't know which Lodoss property)
Ranma 1/2 DoCo Second
Animax Animation Hits Collection by Meu (originals and covers, not bad)
Patlabor 2 Movie soundrack
Megumi Hayashibara Iravati w/ double-width cardboard sleeve and photo book
Dragon Quest IV soundtrack, 2 CDs (one orchestral arrangements, the other original version), plastic outer shell case, and vinyl sticker.


Want:
region mod for my PCE
CD unit of some sort (Super CD preferred)
PC Genjin 2
Just about any PCE hucard shooter that's half-decent
6 button pad of some kind
Suggest about any good PCE hucard game, I don't have much at all.

I know, I'm low on specifics, but I have so little at this point, I'm kinda starting from almost nothing. Here's what I already have and don't want:

PCE Core I
3 pads
tap
Dragon Spirit
The Kung Fu
R-Type I & II
Street Fighter II
Parasol Stars
Neutopia
PC Genjin
Bomberman 94
Galaga 88
F1 Circus '91 (will trade this)
World Stadium '91 (will trade this)

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Development goals]

I'm sharing this so that hopefully I'll have proper motivation. I think I want to eventually get good enough at HuC that I can make a Rolling Thunder knock-off for PCE. It is a game I've always loved, isn't super demanding on hardware, but has a nice aesthetic and decent animation. So, after finishing the tutorials (I've been busy lately) and creating a few simpler style games, I would like to eventually work my way up to this.

What do you folks thing. Setting my sights a little too high?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / PC Engine graphics sizes and compression]

I was wondering if PC Engine graphics are at all compressed. Does a 32x32 sprite of a single, solid color take up the same amount of space as a 32x32 sprite that uses 13 colors in complex shading, for example?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Playing with the ObeyBrew tutorials]

I tried the first tutorial. While the explanations are very detailed about why you do certain steps and of certain programming conventions, the explanations are often a tad lacking when it comes to what the various commands are actually doing (in terms of forward learning). Then again it may be that palettes and color assignments aren't appropriate to delve too deeply into in lesson 1.

The output I got from huc is hello.s, not hello.pce. Looks like assembly output. How to I actually get it to a PCE file?

[Off-Topic / Anyone in Japan willing to shop and ship?]

Yeah, it's one of those questions. Anyone in Japan right now willing to procure and ship items to the US which are prohibitively expensive to purchase inside the US or through more traditional international retail channels? Finders/service fee would be provided and payment in advance to those willing (and willing to be reliable).

Looking for some Japanese poster frames (JPN B1 posters are prohibitively expensive to frame in the US) and perhaps a few other odds and ends.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Prince of Persia - disappointing]

I've watched a longplay of the PCE version of PoP on YouTube, and I have to say I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed on a number of levels. Color use is pretty poor for one. Also, for all the different frames of animation, it still looks more jerky and stilted than it should. Other than a few interesting musical tracks, does this game have any redeeming qualities? How does it compare to other console ports of this title? Most of my experience is with the B&W Mac port, which I think was fantastic.

And just reviewed some more YouTube footage. Even the original Apple II version somehow seems more smoothly animated and coherent than the PCE version. WTF, PCE? The Genny version seems pretty good. They preserved the Mac and PC sound effects, which were perfect, and though the backgrounds are a little busy at times, the animation seems to hold up well. The SNES version is just wonky and I don't like it. The animation looks weird, the sound effects were needlessly changed, and the music is annoying and takes away too much focus from the game. The PCE version should have looked more like the Genny version. There's nothing the Genny version does that the PCE couldn't.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Best beginner game]

OK, so, if I were to pick up HuC, my only previous programming experience having been Java (intro and intermediate) and just a touch of Pascal, and make a game, what style game would likely be the easiest to manage as a beginning project? Platformer? Puzzle? Shooter? I find myself most worried about enemy routines/AI, but should I be? What are the hardest parts? What kind of advice can you give me before wading in and drowning?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Scanline timer or equivalent in PCE hardware]

So, is there a scanline timer interrupt or a relatively accessible method of duplicating the function of one within the PCE hardware? Specifically, it would be nice to have a fixed tile area at the top or bottom of the screen that doesn't use sprites that can accommodate a playfield that can scroll in any direction, despite the playfield and the status area being comprised of tiles.

See Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES for a perfect example of this.

Is this something the PCE can replicate without too much trouble?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Advice for a Shape Shifter longplay]

I'm thinking about doing a longplay for Cubex55's longplay channel on YouTube of Shape Shifter. Any advice where I can look to make sure I don't waffle around too much getting lost so it doesn't get too boring?

Also, I'm going to try using BizHawk instead of PCEjin since PCEjin has screwed up PSG volume levels. Hopefully BizHawk won't have the same problems. If it does I'll just use mednafenRR.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Easy orchestral soundtracks]

It occurs to me that there are an increasing number of orchestral performance recordings being contributed to the public domain, and much of what's within the "classical" sphere is, at least from the sheet music angle, also in the public domain. So even if a performance isn't available in the PD, a good MIDI rendition could be constructed. This kinda stuff would make great soundtrack material for CD/SuperCD RPGs and the like.

Anyone thought of going this route?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Fake electric guitar in PSG]

OK, so you know the crappy electric guitar samples they used a lot on Amiga and SNES (think Mega Man X), and they try to approximate using FM synth on the Mega Drive? Well, are there any PC Engine PSG tracks (not CD, cause that's easy, yo) that attempt to in some way approximate electric guitar? What's your favorite and do you like how they do it?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Techno/Disco/Dance chiptunes on the PCE]

So, I was thinking about Streets of Rage today and how Yuzo Koshiro did some great techno-style tracks for the Genny for that series. Were there any PCE games that did techno-inspired chiptunes? I'm not talking about the CD stuff. I'm talking about working within the limits of chiptunes. Anyone know of any?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / CPU speed for homebrew games]

So, all you guys working on homebrew games, what CPU speed setting are you using? Are you all using the highest speed or the middle speed, and if you are using the highest speed, is it because you need that much juice or just because it's easier not to have to do constant optimization? Or is it something else altogether?

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Question about Download 2 special effects]

So, there's not a high-quality longplay of Download 2 up on YouTube, and I'm noticing it uses quite a lot of interesting background effects. I'm assuming it is mostly animated/dynamic tiles. Anyone have an idea what, from a programming perspective, is going on with some of this?

Putting it here instead of the PC Engine category in case there's something we can apply.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / L-Dis]

A longplay of L-Dis showed up on YouTube recently. That game looks fuck-all hard, but is quick colorful and well-animated for a regular CD-ROM game. Part of it is that they appear to keep sprite sizes small and palettes simple, but still, the attention to detail is nice. NCS was a pretty good PCE developer.