Yeah, I guess I‘d rely on them to make sure something like this goes down… hopefully they’re on it! We‘ve sent folks to the diet for scans for SNK stuff, so I know it’s not too difficult.
[upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/KuKIIzQ.png]
Made with Adobe InDesign for the logotype, then Aseprite to fix color palette (16 color, indexed) and add the dithering gradients. I figure I've got a start here for how the Pasokon Deacon website will look.
What will said website have and host? Lots of Japanese PC-related stuff, kind of like Hardcore Gaming 101 but more focused on this subject and adjacent ones.
Oh, here's a better version of the logo:
[upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/pVJ4DSB.png]
Looks good! And I'd read a site like that!
In the meantime, I've got some late-era J-PC arcade shooters to try and 1CC, like Metal Force.
https://twitter.com/DragEnRegalia/status/1244373679225651204
Something tells me I should snoop around and see if anyone ever ported Tyrian or other Euro shooters to the PC-98, back when it would have fashionable.
Definitely some later euro shooters like scavenger made it over, not so sure about any of the uhhh good ones. heh.
one of the Big Purchases I need is Rayxanber for FM Towns. Some day...
Just in time for April Fools, I see that MAGFest's uploaded a (really underlit) video of the Japanese PC gaming panel I hosted just last January.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5GeghRp8nE
Watch me ramble about this subject for more than an hour, completely unscripted (aka managing to not fumble my words for the most part), while squinting at a similarly underlit projection of an overstuffed slide deck. I'm still surprised I had around 40 people or more show up at just around midnight for this!
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@PasokonDeacon#761 this looks like a thing I will definitely be watching while I should be getting work done tomorrow. Thanks!
I‘ve got to save this to watch for later… I’m on 12 hour days over here for quite a while ;_;
It's been too long since I tried any MSX games, which should be sacrilege for me, so I decided to try one of the earlier Disc Station puzzlers.
https://twitter.com/DragEnRegalia/status/1245459673211441152
not a huge sokoban fan, but cats are good.
you ever play the MSX valis? it looks like probably the worse one, but I like valis so I'm often curious about it.
Depends on which Valis. The original got a shoddy port to MSX, though the Big Three versions aren‘t a whole lot better. Whether on PC-88 or X1, you’re gonna have a janky, awesome mess of an action platformer. Granted, I like Valis and its sequel myself, flaws aside.
Telenet's definitely something I have a bit of experience with.
https://twitter.com/DragEnRegalia/status/1236760690632818689
wow, that‘s some sailor moon sounding music right there.I’d play this! Where's my PC Engine version >:(
I guess maybe it couldn't have done those tunnels...
When in doubt, take Die Bahnwelt for a spin. (I actually really wanted to get a certain FM Towns game running for this week's showcase, but those CD dumps are less reliable than I had hoped.)
https://twitter.com/DragEnRegalia/status/1246916774089486336
@exodus#857 These tunnels would likely run better on a PC Engine, though obviously not the same way. You'll notice the reliance on monochrome background elements for the walls, base, and backdrop. That's a very common technique used by programmers to make PC-88 games scroll better in software, as the platform does allow you to store multiple VRAM color planes for advance calculations. This presumably freed up Telenet's coders to focus on speeding up software sprites for enemies and projectiles.
Heck, Die Bahnwelt looks fun! put that on the god dang pc engine too! put everything on there.
The rest of your comment reminds me I want to make a post about impressive effects on older systems in commercial games. I'm gonna get on that... tomorrow!
Wow somehow I had completely missed that game's existence until now. Really nice take on Alien Syndrome.
Some have also compared Die Bahnwelt to The Chaos Machine on European PCs. It's got a lot in common with previous Glodia top-down shooters, though, like Lyrane and Testament (both for PC-88).
Meanwhile, I've been getting a handle on one of Compile's best yet most underrated JRPGs:
https://twitter.com/DragEnRegalia/status/1248022306955427846
Simple as it is, there's something very satisfying about healing and defending long enough to unleash that awesome laser beam in every battle.
@PasokonDeacon#949 The art in this is absolutely adorable.
There‘s a lot about the artistic conventions on the PC-98 that I really enjoy. The massive borders I’m sure have some excellent performance gains, and even simple ones like this create a really specific aesthetic that I haven‘t really seen outside of the Japanese PC library. It’s just such a good look.
@James-#956 Having to pare everything down to 16 unique colors on screen at a given time can really focus your aesthetic. It‘s obvious here in Wind’s Seed, what with its overpowering blues and greens, but other games also use a lot more dithering to get more color and a grittier look in turn. Static border frames, of course, helped for the same reason video compression algorithms work: it frees CPU cycles up for only the elements actively moving and/or being cached in VRAM.
In the meantime, I'm getting a little present ready for Friday, now that I've gotten better with video editing.
Wow I legitimately cannot tell if that wizard's seed logo is transparent or dithered :o
that kind of blows my brains
That‘s just an editing effect I did, actually. Next time I’ll just do Gaussian blur since that won‘t confuse anyone. But the game does have some nice effects, even if it’s definitely one of the less technically-polished Compile Disc Station games.