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[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Weird happenings in Miraculum]

Welcome to the forums. Now, what exactly are you talking about?

PC-FX images are not compromised like many PCE-CD archives are. WAV audio tracks are not converted to MP3 or anything like that, because the custom formatting of the discs pretty much doesn't allow it. Also, the FMV isn't downgraded one bit. Trust me, my friends and I have personally extracted the FMV of a game, hard-subtitled it, and put it back in the game so that it works on real hardware. Basically, rips of PC-FX games are 100% accurate and there is no difference between a CD-R burn and a real disc.

And then there's the FMV itself, which is hardly remarkable. The maximum resolution is 256x240, compared to 320x240 on the Saturn and Playstation, and even though 30 FPS is supported, virtually everything released on the system runs at 12 FPS. I have checked this personally.

The sound hardware is literally the same as the PCE-CD, with only moderately improved ADPCM capabilities. I love the PCE, but that sound chip is decrepit on a 1993/94 system. The Saturn had 32 channels and 44.1khz playback, and plenty of other technology that is far superior to what's in the sound chip in the PC-FX.

I'm sorry, but for the most part, the PC-FX hardware really does kind of suck. They were nuts to release it two weeks after the Saturn and Playstation at the same price point.

Much appreciated.

I've managed to find bad images, but mostly from inherently questionable sources. One of the titles in question was Zenki, and I am aware that many of the sound samples are generated by the PCE-CD hardware, as you call it, but the image was corrupt in such a way that the CDDA audio appeared to be of poor quality. After finding a few other images for comparison, I realized that it was a simply poor rip, either on behalf of the creator's process, or was the victim of bad sectors on an aging hard drive at some point in its delivery. Granted, this is anomalous by comparison to the erroneous archival of libraries of such disc-based systems as the PCE-CD and the Dreamcast.

My personal intrigue with the hardware is its hybrid nature and capability for its time, not its (lack) of hardware competition with its contemporaries. The inclusion of PCE-CD audio hardware was originally intended for compatibility, but was also made usable for current titles, if I remember correctly. (I would, however, like to correct myself in saying that it utilizes wavetable synthesis, and not FM synthesis.) If it truly does not support at least 24FPS FMV playback, then I have been acceptably fooled.

Evidently I need to do some more reading on the hardware; would you kindly point me in the right direction as to what resources are available for further study?

[PC-FX Discussion / Re: Weird happenings in Miraculum]

I was shocked by how crappy the graphics and sound on the FX was.  I don't know what the hell NEC was thinking releasing that ancient hardware to compete with the ps1 and mighty Saturn.  I read that the FX hardware was the hardware that was meant to release after the Super Grafx but because of its failure, it was scrapped.  I will never understand why they never added the SGX hardware to the DUO personally.

The hardware was reportedly finished in '93, (and in a similar situation to what Sega experienced with the Dreamcast and the Saturn) it was too early to release a new console because they were experiencing sustained sales on the older hardware. Putting out new hardware then would detract income from their current line and would make it more difficult to return on the investment of development for next-gen.

By the time they released, it was more a response to the other companies who were rolling out the new generation, and NEC didn't want to get left behind.

This in mind, the graphics are far from "crappy", and the FMV playback that the FX supports is remarkable for its time. As for the sound hardware, it sports both CDDA (digital) playback and a 6+2 channel hardware synth. This is astounding, and hybrid hardware like this is a real treat for both developers and anyone who appreciates traditional FM synthesis.

Obviously the application of these features varies between developers, so I suggest you check out some more titles, played on the real hardware, and with real discs. A lot of the rips online are of subpar quality, compressed in various ways to save space (CDDA audio compression, ugh!).

In general (not directed to anyone in particular here), unless you know enough to make your own images (i.e. editing an optimizing a disc image), I suggest you don't judge any one system based on its performance with them.