SherbertWest wrote on 2021-08-03, 16:42:

With the caveat that I haven't tested it yet, this looks promising: […]
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NovaCN wrote on 2021-08-03, 14:53:

I am very much looking forward to Curse though, since it was a childhood favorite of mine. If anyone has recommendations for visual settings or anything in ScummVM to make it look nicer or more authentic, now would be the time to share.

With the caveat that I haven't tested it yet, this looks promising:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/xbrz/files/ScummVM/

Before and After

The downside is that it involves reverting your ScummVM installation to an earlier version, if that's an issue. There's also been some concern about the stability, so YMMV.

This thread over at the ScummVM forums also has an alternative solution (check the last two posts).

Honestly I think both of those are kind of hideous. Pixel smoothing filters just feel viscerally wrong to me. Wish it was easier to emulate the effect of a CRT, but fake scanlines can only do so much.

NovaCN wrote on 2021-08-04, 12:56:

Wish it was easier to emulate the effect of a CRT, but fake scanlines can only do so much.

This was one of the reasons why I got into retro gaming on real hardware. Those CRT shaders look decent enough, but they can't approximate that warm background glow of the real thing. To me, the resulting image feels kinda lifeless without it.

It's why I use a real CRT TV for retro console gaming (27" Sony Trinitron) and a CRT monitor for retro PC gaming (17" Samsung SyncMaster). I realize that one day they will become too worn out to use, but by that time, technology will hopefully have advanced enough to give us a good substitute.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-08-04, 13:10:

NovaCN wrote on 2021-08-04, 12:56:

Wish it was easier to emulate the effect of a CRT, but fake scanlines can only do so much.

This was one of the reasons why I got into retro gaming on real hardware. Those CRT shaders look decent enough, but they can't approximate that warm background glow of the real thing. To me, the resulting image feels kinda lifeless without it.

It's why I use a real CRT TV for retro console gaming (27" Sony Trinitron) and a CRT monitor for retro PC gaming (17" Samsung SyncMaster). I realize that one day they will become too worn out to use, but by that time, technology will hopefully have advanced enough to give us a good substitute.

You know, I used to take a very dim view of anything surpassing CRTs. I mean my bullet points for CRT superiority, especially for games designed with them in mind, are no motion blur, no input lag, fantastic contrast, and no native resolution. Where as flat panels are generally lighter, brighter, larger, with a higher refresh rate.

I doubt response times will ever get quite as good as CRTs were. But they are getting better about motion blur with strobing backlights. Nvidia and AMD both have some promising resolution scaling tech that kind of moots the native resolution issue. And the contrast issue is being addressed from various angles like local dimming zones. So I guess we'll see what happens. Still kind of sad that in many ways, display technology backslid so much for so long chasing cheaper, lighter and brighter.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-08-04, 13:10:

NovaCN wrote on 2021-08-04, 12:56:

Wish it was easier to emulate the effect of a CRT, but fake scanlines can only do so much.

This was one of the reasons why I got into retro gaming on real hardware. Those CRT shaders look decent enough, but they can't approximate that warm background glow of the real thing. To me, the resulting image feels kinda lifeless without it.

It's why I use a real CRT TV for retro console gaming (27" Sony Trinitron) and a CRT monitor for retro PC gaming (17" Samsung SyncMaster). I realize that one day they will become too worn out to use, but by that time, technology will hopefully have advanced enough to give us a good substitute.

Unfortunately my apartment doesn't have room for another whole desk to set up a proper retro computer, so even though I still have the very Dell Dimension tower from the turn of the millennium that I grew up with sitting in my closet, I can't really use it. So it's emulation and virtual machines or nothing.

Hoping to finish DKII this time, back then I could not progress past a certain mission because the game would crash. Even with GOG's DKII-DX version on Windows 10 it is not very stable, still need some patches to fix GOG's release.. using the in-game screenshot function would crash the game, also sometimes crashes randomly mid game. I suppose it would perform better on a single core CPU, would have to wait till I set up my P3 1Ghz with either Voodoo3 2000 or Radeon 9550 AGP.

Enabled bump mapping and can't really tell the difference, I guess it doesn't work properly. Already used Bumpmap=1, enabled in registry and using -enablebumpmapping -enablebumpluminance.

Sine Wave Water looks nice though.

NovaCN wrote on 2021-08-04, 12:56:

Honestly I think both of those are kind of hideous. Pixel smoothing filters just feel viscerally wrong to me. Wish it was easier to emulate the effect of a CRT, but fake scanlines can only do so much.

Then you should never play the Mac OS versions of a lot of those games if you ever get the hardware. Plenty of them have smoothing enforces.

I often for strange reasons get to the end mission of various games at the same time. Right now that includes:
Bioshock1
Freedom Fighters
Pool of Radiance (1988)

The other games I am part way through:
Warlords Battlecry1
Gab Knight 2

NovaCN wrote on 2021-08-04, 12:56:

Honestly I think both of those are kind of hideous. Pixel smoothing filters just feel viscerally wrong to me. Wish it was easier to emulate the effect of a CRT, but fake scanlines can only do so much.

A lot of CRT shaders are pretty much Trinitrons and there's not much in the way of VGA signal shaders. I tried to hack a naive variable offset+ringing+pollution shader once (to recreate the 'warmth') and had hacked up the easymode CRT shader to add jitter, deeper scanlines from certain 350/400 height modes (would prefer by refresh rates, but that's not pushed out in emulators) and an optional out of sync shader. 1080p can only do so much with the moire at higher guest resolutions...

I gave up on trying too hard with CRT shaders. Simple integer scaling and a basic scanline shader gets me some of the way there, after which diminishing returns of efforts/results starts to kick in hard.

And then, after all the extra (theoretical) effort, you see a high quality macro photograph from real RGB-CRT aficionados (see, courtesy of Dan from RetroRGB/OCAU) and realise "nope, wasting my time" - only the real thing is the real thing.

Until new technology, anyway.

Shreddoc wrote on 2021-08-06, 01:14:

And then, after all the extra (theoretical) effort, you see a high quality macro photograph from real RGB-CRT aficionados (see, courtesy of Dan from RetroRGB/OCAU) and realise "nope, wasting my time" - only the real thing is the real thing.

I'm sure you're already aware (and I could swear I've mentioned it before in this very thread) but there's a whole Twitter account that does this, comparing old games on modern displays vs. CRTs, and the difference rarely fails to leave my gast well and truly flabbered.

That's also accounting for the blur coming from the composite signal. That's often forgotten about in a lot of pixel->CRT comparisons and often have the side effects of making colors 'bloom' or giving translucency if it's lossy enough *cough*SEGA*cough*. It's more important for CGA. 😀

was there any attempt to make a CRT that would draw every second frame with vertical lines?

leileilol wrote on 2021-08-06, 07:55:

That's also accounting for the blur coming from the composite signal. That's often forgotten about in a lot of pixel->CRT comparisons and often have the side effects of making colors 'bloom' or giving translucency if it's lossy enough *cough*SEGA*cough*.

Nothing untrue there in what you've said, afaik.

However, composite signal vagaries are not the primary common factor in CRT/non-CRT comparisons, given that CRT proponents will always use a component-type signal (S-Video, RGB, YPBPR) wherever possible and supported by the native systems. Sometimes involving aftermarket upgrades of consoles.

NovaCN wrote on 2021-08-06, 03:55:

Shreddoc wrote on 2021-08-06, 01:14:

And then, after all the extra (theoretical) effort, you see a high quality macro photograph from real RGB-CRT aficionados (see, courtesy of Dan from RetroRGB/OCAU) and realise "nope, wasting my time" - only the real thing is the real thing.

I'm sure you're already aware (and I could swear I've mentioned it before in this very thread) but there's a whole Twitter account that does this, comparing old games on modern displays vs. CRTs, and the difference rarely fails to leave my gast well and truly flabbered.

CRT Richter.png

Cheers for the timely reminder, I'm sure I've looked at it before but it's been awhile. Some nice shots there.

Lurking: Immortui (PC)
Finished!

This is a really fantastic classic style CRPG, heavily inspired by Ultima III through V.

The game allows for full party creation right from the start, and uses a character creation system based on skill points. Each character has a set of attributes (that mostly provide bonuses in combat) and a set of skills (which mostly determine your success at melee or ranged combat, disarming traps, casting spells, or playing music). Spellcasters should be given a few points in the RANGED skill so that they can help out in battle early on (and earn EXP) before you start finding the more powerful combat spells.

As with the Ultima games, a large part of the game involves exploring the land and talking to NPCs in town to gather crucial information. Most hints are provided by multiple NPCs, so you won't get stuck even if you miss someone here or there. You'll also equip your characters in town, and Lurking has an impressive array of weapons, armor, and equipment for you to purchase. The game is somewhat stingy with handing out gold, so you'll plenty of stuff on which to spend gold even at the very end of the game.

Once you've explored much of the land, you'll start exploring the dungeons. The game really excels here. In addition to smaller dungeons littering the surface of the world, you have a giant megadungeon with multiple entrances. You'll need to explore all of these to complete the game, but they would be worth exploring anyway because they are full of caches of powerful equipment. Magic equipment is almost always worth seeking out, as this equipment is almost always a clear upgrade over the stuff you can buy in towns.

Overall, simply a fantastic game. I'd reckon it took 25-30 hours to complete, but I had taken good notes and didn't get lost very often. If you love Ultima III-V, or classic CRPGs in general, definitely give it a try!

I played through Golden Axe Warrior on my Sega Master System last month, a nice little RPG that I've been meaning to play through for many years. Now I've started on Tropico 4 which looks to be 95% the same game as Tropico 3.

null

Finished Bioshock. The final boss was a let-down, as was the ending sequence. Most Big Daddies were tougher kills than this guy.

Moved on to Dragon Age Origins on my now PC. I am not sure I am a fan of Bioware stuff since the Infinity Engine days. RPGs should be combat with a side of RP not the other way round (I'll make an exception for Torment).

kolderman wrote on 2021-08-08, 10:58:

Finished Bioshock. The final boss was a let-down, as was the ending sequence. Most Big Daddies were tougher kills than this guy.

Moved on to Dragon Age Origins on my now PC. I am not sure I am a fan of Bioware stuff since the Infinity Engine days. RPGs should be combat with a side of RP not the other way round (I'll make an exception for Torment).

If you haven't I'd play Bioshock 2. While disrespected at the time due to how much people liked the original story, the sequel is actually a far better playing game than the original ever was.

newtmonkey wrote on 2021-08-07, 14:44:

Lurking: Immortui (PC) Finished! […]
Show full quote

Lurking: Immortui (PC)
Finished!

This is a really fantastic classic style CRPG, heavily inspired by Ultima III through V.

The game allows for full party creation right from the start, and uses a character creation system based on skill points. Each character has a set of attributes (that mostly provide bonuses in combat) and a set of skills (which mostly determine your success at melee or ranged combat, disarming traps, casting spells, or playing music). Spellcasters should be given a few points in the RANGED skill so that they can help out in battle early on (and earn EXP) before you start finding the more powerful combat spells.

As with the Ultima games, a large part of the game involves exploring the land and talking to NPCs in town to gather crucial information. Most hints are provided by multiple NPCs, so you won't get stuck even if you miss someone here or there. You'll also equip your characters in town, and Lurking has an impressive array of weapons, armor, and equipment for you to purchase. The game is somewhat stingy with handing out gold, so you'll plenty of stuff on which to spend gold even at the very end of the game.

Once you've explored much of the land, you'll start exploring the dungeons. The game really excels here. In addition to smaller dungeons littering the surface of the world, you have a giant megadungeon with multiple entrances. You'll need to explore all of these to complete the game, but they would be worth exploring anyway because they are full of caches of powerful equipment. Magic equipment is almost always worth seeking out, as this equipment is almost always a clear upgrade over the stuff you can buy in towns.

Overall, simply a fantastic game. I'd reckon it took 25-30 hours to complete, but I had taken good notes and didn't get lost very often. If you love Ultima III-V, or classic CRPGs in general, definitely give it a try!

Thanks for the review. Does it have an auto note-taking feature, or do you need to do so manually to remember things for later quests? That's one thing I don't miss about old games: manual mapping and note-taking.

As for me, I've been gaming a lot less lately. I've only had time for ~5 hours a week, which means I've made very little progress on KCD since my last report. I just completed the Aquarius side quest, which pushed my character's main level over 14. I've been so caught up in bandit killing quests, looting, upgrading weapons and armor, and selling the rest for profit, that I STILL haven't advanced the next main quest in the game. I don't know why, but I'm really enjoying just exploring and completing side quests and activities. I think I'm now ready to move back onto the main quest line (Nest of Vipers). So far, I've sunk 118 hours in since I started this game back on March 25th. Oh, and since completing the last of the bandit killing quests, I've accumulated over 25,000 gold, which means I can now buy pretty much anything I want, including all the Savior Schnapps I want for game saves. There was a (I guess) buggy side quest that I managed to complete in a non-standard way. The quest involved talking to a Miller, finding out he was holding a captured Cuman soldier, and turning the solder in and splitting the reward with the Miller. After talking to the Miller, he said I needed to talk with his helping hands to get the Cuman, but they never gave me the option to do so in the dialogs. To top it off, they were guarding the Cuman 24/7, so I could never sneak in to break him out and take him to get turned in. So I had to sneak in the middle of the night, stealth-kill the helping hands, hide their bodies so the Miller didn't find them, then break the Cuman out to turn him in. After doing so, I came back to the Miller to split the reward with him and he never mentioned his two missing helping hands. 🤣.

Shagittarius wrote on 2021-08-08, 15:59:

kolderman wrote on 2021-08-08, 10:58:

Finished Bioshock. The final boss was a let-down, as was the ending sequence. Most Big Daddies were tougher kills than this guy.

Moved on to Dragon Age Origins on my now PC. I am not sure I am a fan of Bioware stuff since the Infinity Engine days. RPGs should be combat with a side of RP not the other way round (I'll make an exception for Torment).

If you haven't I'd play Bioshock 2. While disrespected at the time due to how much people liked the original story, the sequel is actually a far better playing game than the original ever was.

I liked bioshock 1, but maybe you are correct 2 was maybe better. Maybe it is time to visit Rapture again...

Oh and on the subject, Infinite had a cool story but gameplay was tedious imo.