Messages

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Akumajō Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (PC-Engine) Vs. Castlevania: Dracula X (SNES)]

For what's it worth Haunted Castle is the broken version.  The Japanese PCB (which is worth an INSANE amount these days) is much more fun, still unfinished, but actually fun.

[General Gaming / Re: Recommend me Sharp X68000 games!]

Most doujins are simple.  Angel Dive is a special case though.  The floppy image on the net is some pirate shit a hacker made.  Its missing the final stage and has no sound.  Game was never meant to run off floppies.

To play it correctly, you need the original lzh archive that came on a cd rom based fan magazine.  Must be installed properly on an HDD.  You have to manually add sound drivers, and music is MIDI only.  So you need to get that setup as well.  Great game, but requires quite a bit of work.

[General Gaming / Re: Recommend me Sharp X68000 games!]

That was Pole Position II, but for Super Cassette Vision.  Super Cassette Vision was a Famicom era console.  The original Cassette Vision was a completely different console from the Atari 2600 era.  Power wise, slightly weaker then the Atari even.  Only 12 games released.

Dual mice wise.  PC's have never supported this feature.  afaik only the Amiha and X68000 allowed it.  The Atari computer versions of Lemmings also had 2 players, but used digital joysticks, not analog mice.  The DOS/Windows versions of Lemmings all had the 2 player mode removed.

On X68000, Lemmings, Marble Madness, Shufflepuck Cafe, and others all have this feature.

[General Gaming / Re: Recommend me Sharp X68000 games!]

Scorpius is excellent, but hard as balls.  Recommended for those who find R-Type too easy.
Goddess Blazon is a rather "meh" doujin fighter.  Graphics look very PCE-ish though.
Ajax was a great port for it's time, but since he's emulating, may as well stick to the arcade version.
Angel Dive is wonderful, but not so n00b friendly as you have to HDD install it, and music is MIDI only, no FM.
Code Zero is all about the music, love it.

177 does exist on X68K, but it's actually a doujin port of the X1 version, not official.  Same goes for Laydock, which is actually a port of the obscure as hell SuperMZ version.  There is even a doujin port of Yosaku, the best game on the original Cassette Vision.

In general, the X68000 is just an excellent machine for making things more badass.
For example, Missile Command Special Version:

Sharp X68000 - Missile Command Special Version Intro & Gameplay (HD) (6:58)

Regarding the Amiha, the X68K port of Lemmings retains the weirdo 2 player split-screen option with dual mice support.  Yay.

[General Gaming / Re: Recommend me Sharp X68000 games!]

Got a decent run on Choujin last night.

[Off-Topic / Re: Castlevania series coming to Netflix]

How will this even work?  It's one dude with a cursed whip killing shit, then killing dracula.  Even the later games really have minimal plot.  Unless they base this off of Lords of Shadow, which I never played lol.

[General Gaming / Re: Recommend me Sharp X68000 games!]

Emulation?  No analog/unique setup games then:
Major retail releases not on your list:

Genjuuki: Undeadline
Geograph Seal
Choujin
Metal Orange EX
Star Wars:  Attack on the Death Star
Wanders from Ys
Valis 2

[General Gaming / Re: Recommend me Sharp X68000 games!]

Yeah, I have done a LOT of x68k videos, all on real hardware already.
There is pretty much no end to the doujin fighters on this system, there are hundreds of them, and most are garbage lol.

VS. Memorial is probably my favorite though.

Are you emulating?  Some of the best games require rather special setups.  Neural Gear is fantastic with a Cyberstick, but otherwise borderline unplayable.

Oh and play Choujin.  Everyone must play Choujin.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

So does the 3D for the Peke also run off the composite line or whatever then?

No the system has 3d support built into it.  It has a dedicated 3d sync output, hence the effect is perfect.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Wired up a minidin to a spare Famicom 3D System Adapter I had in the closet.  Not totally finished so it looks a bit ghetto, but it works.  This is for use on the X68000.  Playing Castlevania in 3D is mind-blowing with it's multiple layers of parallax.  Totally worth it if you have a real system.

[General Gaming / Re: NES classic]

Just added the Sweet Home English Translation to my FamiMini, so far works perfectly.  Yay!

[General Gaming / Re: NES classic]

Yeah the Mini is getting better and better.  Besides having an almost unlimited amount of games now, the silly Nintendo anti-epileptic filter can be disabled, and you can even program a key combo to turn on auto-fire.  Of course many games like Crisis Force will probably never work on it, the FM emulation is a bit off, and no cool extras like 3D Goggles.  But, as a parent with young children who aren't ready to play with the real deal, the $60 I spent on the unit was an excellent deal.

[General Gaming / Re: For esteban]

Depends on the stage.  The small monochrome enemies always go down in one hit.  So if you aren't spaming shots you can take them out at the same rate you bullets recharge.  But after stage 1 they move at you much faster. Making it a lot harder.  On Stage 1 big enemies take 2 shots, Stage 2, 3 shots, etc.  Stage 3 is damn hard, you really need to stock up on bombs and shields on the previous stages.

On Stage 3 dodging big enemies by the map is a must.

[Off-Topic / Re: What are YOU watching on YouTube.com?]

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

The PS2 version of Ys VI is decent.  Just be sure to use cheat codes and play the game in "Japanese PC Mode."  So you get the proper animated scenes and the original music.  If you just start a new game you get fugly CG FMV scenes and crap music created directly by Konami.

[General Gaming / Re: For esteban]

Dungeon layout and enemy locations is randomly generated every time.  Even if you get Game Over and continue it will rerandomize the stage you are on.

Enemies in the "big rooms" (graveyard) are the only ones that will drop scrolls.  Pickup a scroll and the game will tell you which big room contains the key.  Once you have the key, if you picked up a 2nd scroll, the map will tell you where the boss room is.  You don't actually need any scrolls to finish the stage, but you have to kill everything in the key room to make the key appear, so it makes things a lot quicker.

[General Gaming / Re: NES classic]

The amount of games you can add is determined based on the Game Save States.  If you want to have all games being able to use 4 save state files at the same time, 32 games is the limit, any more and you get error messages.

If you don't intend to use every single save state block, you can add more.  97 seems to be the magic number.  But be aware, the emulator this thing uses is kinda crap, and a lot of games will have issues.  I wanted to add Zoda's Revenge, but it can't get past the Name Input screen.  Battletoads will always freeze on the 2nd stage.  It's due to the emulator, not the hack.

I'd say until more testing is done, and compatibility is confirmed, go slowly and only add games you intend to actually play-through.

[General Gaming / Re: NES classic]

So just tried the latest version of the hack.  Worked on my first try on my Famicom Mini.  Yay, I can finally play StarTropics like the rest of the world.

[General Gaming / For esteban]

As requested, footage of Dungeon Hunter.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: uh... wut?]

Besides Metamor, Image Fight II also "officially supports it."  I did a youtube vid on this thing a looong time ago if you search for it.

[General Gaming / Re: what is the cheaper option?]

Well, really old Playstations could play imports by simply swapping the disc at the right time during boot, removed from the next revision.

Playstations with the parallel port on the back can usually play imports by plugging in one of the various GameShark/ProAction Replay devices, but later Playstations removed that port.  For the PSOne, there were import boot discs that came with a little plastic sticker to fool the console into always being closed, so that it can boot imports using just the special boot cd in the package.

[General Gaming / Re: Virtual Cameraman]

Deadite, have you cleared both VC and VC2 on the LA?

I remember you saying the key to the first game is knowing the order to go through the girls, since some are basically impossible to clear out of order.

Haven't cleared VC1, as it is much more annoying.
1.  Yes, girl interview parts have to be completed in order.  The very first girl on the menu's interview is impossible to pass until you have completed some of the others first.  Hint, the girl's on the first 3DO release are the first girls you can pass with.

2.  The game doesn't tell you how many points you need to clear each video, making it a lot more guess work and frustrating then VC2.

3.  Unlike VC2 which had a bigger budget and hired actual pr0n stars.  VC1 were actually just random girls they picked up off the street, and you can really see the quality difference.

Due to the more frustrating gameplay, fugly faces, lack of extra unlockables, and no 3D support, VC1 really feels more like a prototype that gets annoying quickly.  VC2 is actually fun, and the one I recommend to all LA owners.

[General Gaming / Re: what is the cheaper option?]

Well with a modchip, you can play burns, so then you don't need to buy original jp games which will save the most money in the long run.  Though if you are planning to play originals only, then a JP ps1 is simply the easiest and best experience.  However if you already have a USA ps1 there are many ways to play original JP games without internal mods, depends on what model of PS or PSOne you have.

If you are going to go the import route, spending a bit more for JP PS2 will also allow for imported PS2 games as well, though a few of the popular ones like Gradius Gaiden have issues on a PS2.

[General Gaming / Re: Virtual Cameraman]

Mandatory video:

Video needed more jugs.

Also, for those who have not played before, this game is NOT easy.  My friends and I played for hours one night and did not clear all the stages.

Then you clearly suck.  Generally any shot where she is looking at camera with eyes open is + points.  Just find the money shots and remember them.  Do not spam shots as bad ones penalize you by subtracting points. 

Anyway, for those wanting boobs, I recorded the final section of VC2 years ago.  You have to clear all 3 girls 100% to unlock this section, and it only exists on the LA original, none of the 3DO versions have it afaik.  PM me if you want the link...

[General Gaming / Re: Virtual Cameraman]

Don't bother.  iirc on 3DO there are 7 games.  But, they are just the 2 LA games split up into more parts, as you can only fit so much on a CD as opposed to an LD.  The 3DO versions only have 2 girls per disc.  So if you have the LA games you already have everything from the 3DO games in better quality video plus 3D goggle support.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Minty NEC MidiWorld]

All X68K emulators support MIDI output to real modules.  You just need an interface that is compatible with your version of Windows, and a lot of the cheapo generic cables will not work on anything past XP, some will work on V/7, but not all.

When MIDI is enabled in the emulators, they simply send MIDI data to the windows default midi device, which will be the awful WindowsGS SoftSynth.  So you need something like Putzlowitschs Vista-MIDI Mapper Control Panel addon to actually tell Windows to use your real MIDI interface as the default MIDI device.

Regarding X68K MIDI support, it depends on the game.  Most games are meant for Roland LA (MT-32) or Roland GS (SC-55).  The Akai does not support either of these formats, it's pure GM, so it will not function correctly with most games.  SuperSFII is one of the few games on the system to use pure GM with no extra enhancements.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Tower of MIDI Power has grown again.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Minty NEC MidiWorld]

Burn your favorite Midi files to a cdr and rock out like it's 1995 dude!  Does the unit have a MIDI input port?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Minty NEC MidiWorld]

And it seems Korg used HuCards as dataroms at one point!

http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r163888585

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Minty NEC MidiWorld]

GM = General MIDI.  Meaning any standard MIDI file you find will play on this.
Now, 90% of GM modules are simply a collection of sound samples on a ROM chip, meaning each module
will sound different.  (MIDI files are essentially digital sheet music.)

As for the MidiWorld, NEC was not a music company, but they partnered with Roland quite a bit on PC-98 series.  Considering this device is pure GM and does not support GS, I would guess it is actually a Roland SC-7 on the inside.

If you are curious about MIDI, here is a simple example.  Both videos are playing the X68000 version of Super Street Fighter 2.  You are hearing the exact same MIDI files, but you will notice they sound very different from each other, as they are played on modules from two different companies.

Yamaha TG100 (1993)

Akai SG01k (1996)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Minty NEC MidiWorld]

Not exactly PCE, but where else to put this?
This is GM midi module attached to a CD player for reading midi data cds.
But, as you can see, it uses yet again the good old CD-ROM2.
Never seen one in such pristine condition.

auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x466359126

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB Laseractive NEC PAC.]

ROAD BLASTER PEOPLE.
ROAD BLASTER

Silly USA name change does not exist.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Found an old SG01k locally. 



Testing with Doom:

[General Gaming / Re: NES classic]

Hmm, no Punch Out on the Fami mini, but I had no trouble clearing Super Contra on it.  Only game I find annoying to play is Ninja Gaiden, simply because on the Fami Mini the d-pad is sooo damn tiny, that it makes wall jumping a lot harder then it should be.

[General Gaming / Re: NES classic]

I live in Japan, so I have the Famicom Mini.  Also sold out, but I preordered mine at the local mall, and just walked in and picked it up.

Sadly the Fami mini has no wii controller ports, so all you can use are the hardwired controllers, and they are seriously tiny, the exact length of my index finger.

But I bought this mostly as a family device, my real deals are getting too expensive to replace, and the kids are too young to care.  This small, easy to use, and cheap plastic box is just about perfect for them.  Also it includes a USB cable and HDMI cable, so for $50 I really cant complain.  Just weird that us in Japan dont even get an option of different controllers.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The Official Pioneer LaserActive Player thread-]

Personally I find the LA to be quite welcome on my game shelf.  Being a 100% front loading system that is built like a tank, I can stack things on it and it's still fully playable.  I RGB modded mine, so all my PCE and Sega games look purdy (LD games are composite only of course).  I even ended up with a USA Genny Pac to get around the SegaCD region lock for playing my Working Designs originals here on my Japanese LA unit.

And finally, while the actual LD game library is small it has some really good titles.  Sure price is insane for a lot of them, but I've gotten my money's worth.  Hell playing the absolute cheese fest Dr. Paolo in 3D is almost silly enough to justify the entire system imo.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

s17.postimg.cc/q5qu0z5an/IMG_2125.jpg

[General Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch Thread (previously NX)]

Just realized, this thing doesn't have a touchscreen either....
Now while I personally despise touch screens (I still use a 9-key 3G flip-phone ),
I can't imagine lugging something of this size around with me all day unless I could use it for
an all-in-one type device.  The official ads really seem to be going for the tablet based market too,
but without the touch screen that isn't going to work.

So while I'm sure it will have some excellent Nintendo games, I doubt it will have much else.
I'm sure initial sales will be good, but after a year or so, it's going to be awfully slow.

[General Gaming / Re: Nintendo Switch Thread (previously NX)]

256 CUDA cores?

My GTX770 has 1536, and it's like 5 years old now.

I really don't see how this is going to work, it doesn't have the power to compete with the
other consoles, and there's no way I'd give something like this to my 7 year old daughter, way
too complicated, she'd lose half the parts the first day.

This seems like it's really being marketed more towards the ipad crowd, but they all hate real buttons on their devices.  My prediction, sells very well at first cause it's new, but once the novelty starts to ware off, the next version of the DS will appear.

[General Gaming / Re: Do you have any consoles you own for just ONE game?]

I think that wanting to own a PCFX is the same as wanting to own a PCE PrintBooster or Virtual Cushion. It's more about wanting to own a curiosity than to play any kind of game in it.

Let's be honest, you're not buying one because you MUST see the anime boobies in Pia Carrot or play any other game from a genre that's dime a dozen on other "normal" consoles.

There are a handful of great FX games.  Those of us that bought the good stuff years ago are quite happy.

[General Gaming / Re: Inferno for MSX2]

Yay new rom!
I can actually move around in Stage 3 now yay!
But on Stage 3 M 004, there is a switch activated wall/door I can't open.
There is a room before this with 2 switches, regardless if I push the top one only, bottom one only, or both the wall/door does not open.  If I push any of the switches, then enter the room again they reset and I can push them again.  So it seems the game is forgetting I pushed the switches as soon as I exit the room.

Also, unless you are just fucking with me, I have figured out the "invincibility" bug.
Enemies and enemy projectiles will give me a proper game over.
However if I lose my last HP by jumping up into spikes, it actually resets my HP to 255!
This works on the very first screen of the game, and it works every single time.

Screenshots, notice I am at 0 HP and still alive, then one more jump into the spikes, and I'm now at 255 HP.   

[General Gaming / Re: Inferno for MSX2]

Alright on Stage 2  "m 015" I simply can't get through this room without taking multiple hits, since the hit boxes on everything are clearly larger then the sprites and the hearts are aimed at you, I always take at least 3 hits getting through here.  Maybe I just suck though.

Stage 1 M 009, ok this is a bug or some kind of invisible invincibility power up here?  I climbed up into the spike cage area from below, hit the spikes and it made a weird sound effect, after that the heart meter seemed to reset to no damage status, after that nothing seemed to hurt me, I would get hit and flash, but I could stand on top of spikes for 10 mins and not die,  ended up just running through everything absorbing damage, continued on to stage 2, and the effect continued.  Just ran through stage 2 absorbing everything, made it to stage 3, then spawned inside the skull column, and could not continue as I am le stuck.

Ok, did a hard reset, tried this again, and it didn't happen, so yeah must have triggered a bug somehow.

And if I play legit, or use the keyboard warp, I always spawn stuck in the column on stage 3

[General Gaming / Re: Trying to create a list of PCE alternatives to GEN/MD top exclusives]

Gunstar Heroes is also pretty damn easy.  Just throw, throw, throw.

[General Gaming / Re: Inferno for MSX2]

Alright got it on the flash cart.

Music is teh awesome.
Graphics are teh cool.

However I have no idea how many times I can get hit before I die. 
If I use the keyboard to skip stages I always spawn in the column on stage 3.

[General Gaming / Re: Inferno for MSX2]

A1ST owner here.  I do have a flashcart someone gave me, but I've never actually used it.  Let me know if you want to test.  I can even make a shitty video for my shitty youtube channel if you want.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Been a long time since I've picked up anything at all, but this randomly appeared and was cheap.

Hattary Plus, this is actually a collection of 4 doujin games (plus an extras disk), from 2 different dev teams.  And oddly, it includes a home made soundtrack for Nemesis 90 Kai on cassette tape lol.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Two interesting things I have found]

The Japanese reaction seems to be, "Wow!  Upergrafx!  Wow again!"
The English-speaking consensus appears to be "Terrible value for money."

That's just a cultural thing though.  Society requires them to say something positive, but in reality 90% of the commenters have no interest in one. 

Noted.  But actually, silence is the main indicator of disapproval in Japan, so people don't automatically have to make positive comments if they don't want to.

Silence is more reserved for people that do something truly stupid, offensive, or rude.  Silence would be a bit too strong for a simple homebrew project like this.  For example, if your Japanese sucks, they will tell you your Japanese is great, because they want to encourage you to keep studying.  If your Japanese is actually really high-level, they will happily correct any mistake you make, since they know you can handle it.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Two interesting things I have found]

The Japanese reaction seems to be, "Wow!  Upergrafx!  Wow again!"
The English-speaking consensus appears to be "Terrible value for money."

That's just a cultural thing though.  Society requires them to say something positive, but in reality 90% of the commenters have no interest in one.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Magical Chase the Windows 95 version!!]

Yeah, it's nothing too special.  100% identical to the PCE game.  Only difference is that it runs in 640x480, so depending on your monitor/tv it might look better then when played on a PCE.  It runs totally fine for me in Win 7 64bit.   You just need to run the installer in compatibility mode and the game will only run in 256 colors...

Should run in 16bit color, at least it did for me on Win95 and XP.

For me if I run it in anything but 256 colors, the game gives me an error message to please use 256 color mode. (On Win 7)

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Magical Chase the Windows 95 version!!]

Yeah, it's nothing too special.  100% identical to the PCE game.  Only difference is that it runs in 640x480, so depending on your monitor/tv it might look better then when played on a PCE.  It runs totally fine for me in Win 7 64bit.   You just need to run the installer in compatibility mode and the game will only run in 256 colors.

Price wise, it pops up here in Japan often enough and usually goes for $100 or so.

Serious question: is the emulation really good, then?

Is this the earliest example of PCE emulation on a computer platform?

Do we have examples of other early emulation from the 90's?

Doesn't really feel like emulation to me.  The game is basically one big exe file and I'm no hacker, so I couldn't really tell you if it's emulated or not.  But it looks amazingly clean on my FG2421 in full-screen.  Also, while my copy of Magical Chase is in fact pirated, I do own an original Win 95/98 version of Growlanser (same publisher), which being a playstation 1 game, it must have been actually ported to Windows, as I can't really imagine a 133mhz Win 95 machine properly emulating a ps1...