@GTV reviews the Cosmic Fantasy 1-2 Switch collection by Edia, provides examples of the poor English editing/localization work. It's much worse for CF1. Rated "D" for disappointment, finding that TurboGrafx CF2 is better & while CF1's the real draw, Edia screwed it up...
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Messages - FraGMarE

#51
I can't decide what to cover next, so I'm making a poll!  :)  Yes, Michirin, Dreamer is on the list...  ;)
#54
Quote from: Michirin9801 on 09/07/2017, 02:27 PMPCE PSG > YM2612 all day, every day!
Ehhh... only on Wednesdays.  And one Sunday every month.
#57
Quote from: Michirin9801 on 08/26/2017, 01:30 PMNice job Fragmare ^^
But umm, as I've already commented in the video, you seem to have sampled your drums from FM, and I kind of don't get why... I mean, if you're gonna use samples, why not use proper drum samples? I get that you're going for accuracy, but FM drums for the most part are just kind of 'eh >w>';
Personally, I think even the PSG drums the PCE can produce without samples are better, but whatever, you do you...
I disagree.  The FM percussion in Gaiares is amazing, imo, and anything but the original percussion just wouldn't sound like Gaiares.  Not everything needs lollified into a frothy meringue of cuteness... I like my music bassy, aggressive and angry.
#58
Quote from: ccovell on 08/26/2017, 01:12 AMFragmare, how on earth did you do that amazing bass in your Gaiares cover?  Share your secrets with us!  [-o<
Haha, check out this guy... postin' my new chiptunes to my own thread before I even get a chance.  :P

Glad you like it, Chris!  :)  The percussion is just a few tiny samples, the bassline and leads are wavetables.  This track is insanely simple.  It only uses 4 waveforms, plus the percussion.  Very elegant in its composition.
#60
Quote from: Michirin9801 on 08/10/2017, 10:37 PMGreat job Fragmare ^^
I'm still kinda 'eh on that wavetable though >w>';
Thanks.  I'm 'eh on a lot of things...

I think what you're looking for is a sample from the beginning of the original Genesis waveform... It's actually 2 waveforms playing from 2 different channels.  One channel is the YM2612 and the other channel is the SN chip (both playing the same note).  It starts out rather noisy and then smooths out via waveform phasing.  It changes and pitch slides downward simultaneously.  The first waveform you heard was sampled from near the end of the (combined) waveform.  The one I'm using now is sampled from the near the middle.  I sampled one from the beginning and it was similar in timbre to your custom wavetable you sent me.
#63
Quote from: guest on 04/19/2017, 01:56 PMThe thing is, steadfast determination and "I'm going to chip away at it and get it done" with regards to a project like that is a bit naive sounding. 

Especially when you also say things like "I am going to learn more HuC6280 asm".   

There's more to making a game than "learning asm" for whatever platform the game is on.   You have to know how to program.  When you are capable of that, the language in question is something that then just becomes a matter of learning it.    You can know 6502 assembly in and out and still have no goddamn clue how to write a game.   

The bulk of the Commodore 64 library will demonstrate that point for me.

I'm not sure how much programming you know that is non 6502 based that will be able to be applied.   

I am also not sure what other game programming and design experience you have.   

It's a lot of work.  You're talking about making a Musha caliber game by yourself with what I assume is basically no programming experience on a platform where the work is already harder because it lacks another BG plane, so you have to resort to more effort to get the screen effects you want.

Fortunately, you won't have to write a sound engine since we already did that for you.   

You won't be chipping away at it til it's done.   You'll be chipping away at it until you realize the foundation is goony, and then you have to start redoing everything. 

and then you'll probably do that again.

maybe again. 

"chipping away at it" is how you do art or music because it's easy to change as you go.   

It's not a great way to write software.


If you do want to write games, you should start out with simpler crap first and go from there.   


Starting with a Compile or Konami caliber thing by yourself out the gate is a great way to join the ranks of "didn't get done" stuff.
Yea, well, i've stuck by Xymati up to now.  I don't see any reason to abandon it at this point.  And I, quite honestly, don't care if you (or anybody else) do or don't think it'll work out.  If i have to release Xymati for FREE and then keep updating it with new ISO versions from time to time... then that's what i'll do.  If I want to make a minor tweak or re-write the entire foundation of the game, then so what?  My point is, I'd be better off just teaching myself how to code HuC6280 than waiting on somebody else to code it, because that way, it *might* get finished before i die of old age... because i'm tellin' ya... if i keep waiting on these fuckers around this place to put their money where their mouth is, then i really WILL be waiting until i'm a dusty skeleton..................
#64
Quote from: guest on 04/19/2017, 10:56 AMI can understand how your own experiences have lead you to feel that way. But I'm glad SamIam and Elmer don't share that attitude, because their partnership is very close to giving us translated Xanadu I and II. They have found a great working relationship, which is awesome. Sounds like Rover and Sarumaru have found that as well. I hope you get your Xymati, because it looks like it might be awesome. But you're basically throwing shade on the entire community, despite evidence that the community isn't fundamentally broken. You've had some bad experiences, but others have not.

(And yes, you absolutely CAN help how people construe your words. What you meant to say is that you don't CARE how people misconstrue your words.)
Yay, good for them.  *thumbs up*   And you're right, I definitely don't care.
#65
Quote from: guest on 04/19/2017, 09:16 AMFragmare, if you have the passion to do this, then you may be able to see it through. I think this is really about semantics. I think your argument that determination is enough is being read by others here as, "if someone would just work harder this would get done," and they naturally see this as a flawed assertion. You clearly have a passion for your project, and passion is a motivator far more powerful than simple determination ("Just work harder, dude!").

You can't rely on someone else to have the same passion about your project that you do. That doesn't mean you can't rely on others to help you make it happen, but in hobbyist scenes like this where everyone has a home life and their own projects, you can't rely on someone else to carry the torch for your project. When you're talking about programming an entire game, no, you can't rely on someone else to program your game for you, not unless you can make them care about your game more than their own or anyone else's.

And given the size of the hobbyist scene for this underdog console, I think there are quite a few projects that have gone to completion. The PCE homebrew scene is actually relatively productive.
If people want to misconstrue what I say and get offended in the process, then I can't really help that.  I'm not saying somebody "just needs to work harder".  I'm saying somebody needs to show some fucking RESOLVE, stick with the goddamn project when they say they are going to, and not flake out and go MIA, then come back later and start 28 other projects lol.  And it has become clear, long ago, that the only person that's going do that is ME

Trust me... any future projects I might start, I will make it a point to NOT ask for help from ANYBODY here for ANYTHING.  Why?  Because, from my experience, no... you CAN'T rely on help from others.  Not in this scene, anyway.  ;)
#66
Quote from: elmer on 04/19/2017, 02:26 AM
Quote from: fragmare on 04/19/2017, 01:42 AM
Quote from: guest on 04/19/2017, 12:58 AMExpecting like one dude to do it in free time is a great way for it to never get done.
Depends entirely upon the determination of said individual.
I'm sorry Fragmare, I absolutely love the music that you've been doing, and the artwork that you've created ... but that's just a bit out-of-line.

I don't share Arkhan's perspectives on quite a few things, and we have, and almost-certainly will continue in the future, to butt-heads on various subjects.

But he's 100% correct on this one.

You can't force your passion for own project down someone else's throat.

Programming a game on these old-machines (PCE/MSX/Genesis/whatever) is a *LOT* of work.

Asking someone to do that after a hard-day's-effort-at-their-job, week-after-week, long-after all the fun-and-challenging aspects have been conquered, and the 50%+ of hum-drum coding starts, followed by the 30%+ of terminally-dull get-it-finished coding begins ...

... then determination isn't enough. It's going to take either "passion", or a large paycheck.

And nobody here is offering that "paycheck".

Arkhan has done what a lot, a huge lot, of people haven't ... he's finished things, and he's pushed the whole "scene" forward.

That's incredibly difficult, and one heck of an accomplishment.

I'm going to have to side wtih him on this one.
Lol what, exactly, is out of line?  Saying if you want something done around here, you might as well do it all yourself?  That's no exaggeration.  Fuck, I think you could probably dig up a quote of Arkhan's on this forum that's almost verbatim to that, said to me in regards to Xymati, no less.  This "scene" is generally full of doe-eyed, eagerly anticipating ingenues and overly gung-ho guys that start 9239847 projects simultaneously, but finish 0.  Not saying there aren't exceptions;  Meteor Blaster DX, Mysterious Song, Arkhan's Retrocade pack, Ys IV translation, etc.... but the general rule around here is: SHIT DOESN'T GET FINISHED.  Some kind of community GitHub like system COULD work, if there's a person directing the show and deciding what to keep/trash.  But that brings out the whiners when they're goofball, left-field idea doesn't get included.

Or was it saying it depends on the determination of the individual working on the project?  I'm telling you, in all seriousness, that if I had started learning HuC6280 ASM 10+ years ago when ideas for Xymati started getting tossed around, I'd probably have a playable version of it by now, drawn, designed and coded by yours truly.  It's not about slaving at your day job and then coming home and slaving on some other project until you're bleary eyed... it's about chipping away at it when you can, over years, and until you've created something masterful... think of a bonsai tree or a car restoration.  Hell, man, I'm a single dad with two kids i raise BY MYSELF, have a day job and occasional night job and i still find the time for PCE dev.  What I am saying is, one person, given enough determination, patience and time, CAN make it happen... even if it takes years.  If you disagree, then I'm sorry, you don't really understand the drive one person can have when they want something bad enough.

I'm honestly considering saying fuck making any more chiptunes or pixel art after the Super Raiden 25th Anniversary release and just concentrating on learning more HuC6280 ASM... that's really about the only sure-fire way Xymati would ever get finished, that I see.  Might take another decade, but fuck it... what's another few years?

I mean, i know you had kind of openly offered to maybe code Xymati when you have the time.  And believe me, you're more than welcome to.  Knock yourself out, dude.  But, quite frankly, I've heard it all before and I don't really know you all that well yet, so I just kind of file it under the "Yea ok, we'll see..." folder.  ;)  No offense.
#67
Quote from: guest on 04/19/2017, 12:58 AMExpecting like one dude to do it in free time is a great way for it to never get done.
Depends entirely upon the determination of said individual.
#68
Quote from: elmer on 04/18/2017, 04:36 PM
Quote from: Michirin9801 on 04/18/2017, 03:25 PM
Quote from: fragmare on 04/18/2017, 02:43 PMIMG

Me waiting for somebody to code Xymati lol
That's pretty sad actually >w>
Yep, extremely sad after all of these years!  :(

There just aren't that many programmer-types around here, and even when there are people with free-time, they've actually got to have the passion (and skill) to want to create the same type of game.
Lol you'd think a Nexr clone and a run-n-gun game would garner some genuine interest at some point, but whatever.  If there's one thing I've learned here, it's that people will blow all kinds of smoke up your ass, but at the end of the day you can't depend on people for shit.  And if you want something done, you're probably better off just doing it all yourself... ZING  :)
#69
IMG

Me waiting for somebody to code Xymati lol
#70
Quote from: guest on 04/18/2017, 01:30 PMSome people won't think that, though. They'll just think, "I didn't own this game at all, and I paid Tobias for the trouble of providing me the game and the upgrades." But so long as you give them a little reminder on the title screen, I think it's good enough. Not something rude, but something that tells them Tobias might just be profiting off of work others are doing for free.
I'd rather troll Tobias on the title screen.  I'm petty and don't give a fuck.  ;)
#71
'IF YOU PAID FOR THIS MOD, YOU GOT F--KED'  <- i think there's enough room for that  :D
#72
Quote from: guest on 04/11/2017, 02:58 AMIt's coming right after Xymati and PC Gunjin, lol.
I just draw the graphics and design the levels, dude.  I can't help it if people flake out on the coding.  You're welcome to code 'em, if you want.  ;)
#73
Quote from: ccovell on 04/17/2017, 09:20 PMThis version is absolutely amazing.  Certainly a level above Hudson's renditions of the original Raiden tunes.
Thanks, Chris!

Yea, I'm now sort of noticing a bit of a style/quality disparity between my covers and the HuCard PSG music... I'm actually considering re-covering the entire Raiden1 soundtrack just so everything sounds cohesive haha

Quote from: tbone3969 on 04/18/2017, 10:34 AMI'm hungry for this release.  Can I donate to your PayPal?
Hah!  Well, uh... sure?  :P
#74
And here's the Raiden II chiptune I just finished for the 25th Anniversary Project PSG soundtrack :)
#76
The correct answer is nowhere on this poll, and that is: Both games - back to back

8)
#77
Quote from: elmer on 04/09/2017, 12:18 PM
Quote from: fragmare on 04/09/2017, 05:54 AMYea, I'm getting that too!  So, I had a friend on IRC use TurboRip to rip the ISO straight from his retail disc... Get this; the checksum/filesize of the retail ripped ISO matches with the ISO floating around on the net, AND TurboRip says it checks out, BUT... when i try to apply the PPF patch to the retail ISO, it fails.
Which checksum(s) are the same? The MD5 or the CRC32 or both?

MD5 is very hard to fool ... but CRC32 could possibly match and still be different, although it's pretty unlikely.

Have you done a simple binary compare between the .iso track that your friend ripped and the one that you have?

The next thing that I'd do is dump that old PPF patcher and come into the modern era and try with modern tools like xdelta3 (an actual real internet standard) ...

https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/704/

Then you'd actually get an error message if you try to apply the patch to the retail  image and retail image is different to the original.
I'm not sure, I'll have to go back and recheck sometime.  I think I'll download that program you mentioned too.  I don't create many PPF patches, so I just did a quick google search for some program to create one with.  Nice to know there's something a bit better out there.
#78
Quote from: CrackTiger on 04/12/2017, 09:16 AM
Quote from: Michirin9801 on 04/11/2017, 10:30 PMI've been wanting to know what were the VB's audio specs for a while as I too have noticed the similarities in the sound, I knew it was wavetable but, well, now I know how it compares to the PCE!
Not bad at all, but let me tell you something from experience, having a channel that can switch between both white noise and wavetables really goes a long way when it comes to making good PSG drums, at least a whole lot better than a channel dedicated to playing just noise...
Do you know if the VB is capable of playing samples?
Yes:
How would you ever tell when the red fireball glitch happens?  :P

Interesting the VB's sound hardware is so close to the PCE's.  6-bit wavetables would be nice, less stair-stepping of the waveform.  Anybody know how many bytes of RAM each wavetable can use?  If it's 64 bytes, that should make a nice, square 64x64 sample grid to work with.
#79
Awesome!  :)  That was the only track I was worried might not play, since the samples make the ROM size relatively huge.  Nice to hear it on the real hardware
#80
Quote from: elmer on 04/08/2017, 03:07 PM
Quote from: fragmare on 04/08/2017, 01:27 PMAnother thing is that I don't think the ISO of the game floating around on the internet matches the CRC of the ISO ripped straight from the retail disc with TurboRip.

If somebody with the Super Raiden retail disc is willing to rip the Track02 ISO with TurboRip and send me the file, I can compare it to the two other ISOs I have, and I can determine which is the REAL ISO (and therefore which ISO the patch should be made for).  I'm hoping it's not like the Ys IV deal where there are two slightly different versions of the disc... that would complicate things.
I just went to the "Paradise for Australian Birds" and downloaded a copy to see if there was a problem.

After extracting the .wav & .iso files using my patched-and-fixed Windows version of bchunk, the files all match up with the sizes reported in NightWolve's TOCFixer.

Track-02.iso is 22,839,296 bytes long, and has an MD5 of "ca25dc973a01589d857e38b951f6f508", and a CRC32 of "3b67af74".

Is that what you're seeing on your copy of the original .iso?

How are you extracting the individual .wav & .iso files from the download?
Yea, I'm getting that too!  So, I had a friend on IRC use TurboRip to rip the ISO straight from his retail disc... Get this; the checksum/filesize of the retail ripped ISO matches with the ISO floating around on the net, AND TurboRip says it checks out, BUT... when i try to apply the PPF patch to the retail ISO, it fails.  Furthermore, when I use PPF Studio to try and create a new patch from the retail ISO by comparing to the already-patched ISO to the retail ISO, PPF Studio tries to make some HUGE patch file that's bigger than the original ISO file!  There's definitely something weird going on.
#81
Quote from: guest on 04/07/2017, 12:18 PMI really am super excited for this patch! Bonknuts once gave me an old version of it a long time ago and I could never get it to work properly, I'm glad this is close to getting finished. The respawn toggle is a much welcomed addition considering the game's difficulty.
Ah, yea, this patch/hack has been mostly done for QUITE some time now.  Like, uh... 4 years i wanna say?  It's actually fully working and playable, as is, but it needs polished up a bit.  Another thing is that I don't think the ISO of the game floating around on the internet matches the CRC of the ISO ripped straight from the retail disc with TurboRip.

If somebody with the Super Raiden retail disc is willing to rip the Track02 ISO with TurboRip and send me the file, I can compare it to the two other ISOs I have, and I can determine which is the REAL ISO (and therefore which ISO the patch should be made for).  I'm hoping it's not like the Ys IV deal where there are two slightly different versions of the disc... that would complicate things.
#82
Ok, folks, here are all the ROM files.  These should work fine on Mednafen and Ootake.  They SHOULD work on real hardware too, assuming it fits on your EverDrive.  The Tempest 2000 cover has a lot of voice samples and longer drum samples, so it's kinda hefty (584kb?) and most of the tracks use fairly HQ samples (which i could downsample, if i wanted to).  The HES files Deflemask makes are notoriously un-optimized for any kind of game usage, and probably bigger than they need to be (148KB for the CV4 track?  really!?  there aren't even any samples!), but they *should* theoretically play fine on real hardware.  How about you all be my guinea pigs and let me know if they sound ok or not?     :lol:

>> Sendspace Link for TEH ROMZ  <<
#83
Quote from: Ex_Mosquito on 04/06/2017, 07:09 PMVery nice! I saw these on YouTube recently. Is it possible to play these on real hardware with an Everdrive?
Yea, for sure!  You guys want me to put up the links to the HES ROMs?
#84
Thanks, folks.  More stuff on the way.  Currently working on Tragedy Flame from the Raiden II OST, right now.
#85
Lol, yea, I was going to say... I'm sure the PCE could give you a near 1:1 port (or maybe even enhanced) of FZK.  The problem is finding somebody to code it.
#86
The thunder gods will be displeased if you stuck this tune in some cutesy shit like that, anyway.  Probably get struck down with lightning or something... I wouldn't advise it.  :P
#87
Marble Madness looks amazing on the PCE.  Peter Pack Rat has some really nice sprite animation!  Looks like it had promise.  The others... eh... kinda glad they didn't see the light of day.
#89
Quote from: Koa Zo on 04/05/2017, 03:27 AM
Quote from: fragmare on 04/02/2017, 08:27 PMThe project would add the following features:

*???
Tate mode?
What kind of programming feat would it take to re-proportion and rotate the display 90 degrees?
Kind of a bummer vertical oriented display didn't catch on in time for some PC-Engine games like Nexzr or Soldier Blade or Truxton etc.

Somewhat related, Raiden Project on PlayStation has been credited as the first home console game to offer vertical monitor orientation. (and a couple months later Super Famicom had Nichibutsu Arcade Classics 2: Heiankyo Alien with the option to turn your TV on it's side for arcade style display)
euh, for that, you're looking at basically a total reprogram of the game.  The PCE's middle mode is actually just about perfect for Raiden.  It's 22:15, which is super close to 4:3, so everything is more or less in the correct aspect ratio.  The only difference is, you wouldn't have the vertical scanlines and a few pixels at the top and bottom of the display get clipped >>

RaidenCompare.jpg
#90
Quote from: elmer on 04/04/2017, 02:15 PMThat's an amazing sound that you've created there ... those guitars are fantastic!  8)

It all sounds a bit "too gritty" for my personal taste right now ... but it's absolutely incredible to hear that sound coming out of a PCE.  :shock:

Great job!  :D
Thanks!  Re-uploading with 60fps Saturn game footage.  Please stand by.  :)
#91
Quote from: ccovell on 04/03/2017, 08:43 PMYes, the Neo-Geo has a single non-scrolling background, used mainly just for score and text display.  Everything else is Sprites.  It's sprites all the way down.

But apparently, the sprite RAM can be modified mid-screen, allowing for per-scanline scaling & scrolling effects.  (As in Ragnarok, intro to Sengoku 2)
Which I still think is hilarious.  I almost think of the PC-Engine as the 8-bit era's NeoGeo... technically an 8-bit system (like the NeoGeo is technically a 16-bit system), but it's sheer power allowed it to compete with other systems that came much later.
#93
I'm gonna call the vote for Tragedy Flame.  I'll start working on the cover tonight.  :)
#94
Quote from: esteban on 04/03/2017, 05:05 PMPUBLIC MESSAGE: Vote for the song "Depression" because it really is the one that needs the love.

Thank you.

VOTE HERE NOW:

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=22106.0
He meant to say "Decisive Battle", I'm sure of it!  ;)
#95
Well shit... I was hoping to call to the vote on this tonight since it's Super Raiden's birthday today, but there's a tie.  Hell, if you take away my vote(s) there's a 3 way tie!  (I voted for Flap Towards The Hope and Decisive Battle since those were the two i originally had in mind... seriously? no love for Decisive Battle?)

Anyway... I guess we need a tie breaker now.  Or more votes.
#96
Today is the 25th birthday of Super Raiden on the PC-Engine Super CD-ROM2!

If you don't already know, Bonknuts and I are creating a little ROM hack for Super Raiden that adds to and enhances numerous aspects of the game.  Actually, the bulk of this has been done for, uh, years?  It's just never really seen the light of day.  The project would add the following features:

*Choose Original Arcade Soundtrack, 25th Anniversary Arrangement Project soundtrack (already implemented) or remastered HuCard chiptune soundtrack
*Switch to either checkpoint or respawn death (already implemented, no power up spewing)
*Switch to either original PC-Engine stretched aspect ratio or proper-ish arcade aspect ratio. (already implemented)
*Choice between three difficulty levels - Easy, Normal (original), or Arcade (already implemented)
*Toggle the two Super Raiden exclusive stages on or off (already implemented)
*New title screen
*???

So, in light of Super Raiden's 25th birthday, and as soon as Bonknuts finds some free time to finish up some coding, I will be polishing this up and releasing it as the...

SUPER RAIDEN 25th ANNIVERSARY PROJECT

IMG IMG

P.S., there is a poll going on here to vote for the two tracks that should be covered in chiptune form for the Super Raiden extra stages.  Raiden II music is being used for the extra stages.  Last I looked, it's tied up, so more votes would be appreciated: https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=22106.0
#97
I love how the votes are fairly well spread out!  :)  Shows how solid this soundtrack is.  If it keeps up, looks like I'll be covering Tragedy Flame.
#98
Bit of an update on this one too.  Holding off on starting anything new, since I'm going to be starting the Raiden II track here soon.  New links in original post.
#99
Yes!  Moar votes for Flap Towards The Hope... I already covered that track!  Hah hah  :P
#100
Quote from: esteban on 03/28/2017, 02:08 AM
Quote from: fragmare on 03/28/2017, 01:03 AMDecided to totally redo this track as well.  Should sound quite a bit better now.  All percussion is now PSG, no samples.  The PSG kickbass has some really nice WOMP WOMP now.
I approve.

So clean.

Not dirty.

:)
Quote from: guest on 03/29/2017, 05:07 PMSounds great!
Quote from: Michirin9801 on 03/30/2017, 01:34 AM
Quote from: fragmare on 03/28/2017, 01:03 AMDecided to totally redo this track as well.  Should sound quite a bit better now.  All percussion is now PSG, no samples.  The PSG kickbass has some really nice WOMP WOMP now.
Oh yeah! Now THAT's more like it ;3
The waveforms you've used are much better! Now I have nothing to complain about, great job ^^
Good job on the PSG drums too!
Thanks, I'm glad you all like this one better.  I did a LOT of work on the waveforms, volume enveloping and the PSG percussion.  I could have thrown some samples in there, and they probably would have sounded good too, but I wanted to challenge myself and try to perfect the PSG percussion a bit.  At least to a point where I felt like samples were pointless to add.