What are you playing this weekend/these days?

[Null]

The Third Wish by George Broussard

A sci-fi adventure reminiscent of 90s era Lucasarts.

georgebroussard.itch.io

 

[PowerGod]

I did the wrong choice of start playing VAMPIRE SURVIVORS... they call it "Bullet-Heaven" because instead to dodge a lot of bullets, you are the one dispensing them... and it's super fun !!
Unluckily it is one of those games that works like a drug, you feel rewarded at everything you unlock, and in the end you keep doing again and again the same few levels just to try a new character or to obtain something new, beating one of the many challenges.
There is anyway a humor that most people out there will most probably not recognize, for example the majority of characters names are just distortions of jargon (dialect) words of the south of Italy, mostly bad words, written in a way that when pronounced in English they will have the same original sound.

Also played a bit Dungeon of the Endless... man, this is difficult stuff !!!
It is a very cute little rogue-like (or rogue-lite, as they call it), with tower defense, but the very limited resources coupled with the randomness of the game makes the things very hard... I became very aware of the strategy needed to advance, but even in "too easy" difficulty, around the 10th level my squad of upgraded characters finds death... and even if one or two survive, I already know that I will never be able to finish the next levels with so few men...
It reminds to me the difficulty of "UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994)", but in that case I was at least able to save/reload at every single turn... but with Dungeon of the Endless, instead, there is only a save game constantly overwritten automatically, and I should physically copy and substitute constantly the file... as far as I don't like it, I'm very tempted to use Cheat Engine...

 

[λ the β-Redex Reducer]

I played Frogatto a few days ago. It was pretty cool. I also like Bounce, the accelerometer and 3D graphics demo for the N900. The game is unfortunately very short but what you get is pretty good. It is played solely by accelerometer and is 3D. This game is a perfect test and training for body, mind, and spirit. It tests not only physical skill and mental fortitude, but it also requires moral finesse in order to navigate the world of Bounce and collect all apples.


Strangely, both Super Tux and Frogatto work mostly lagless on the N900 with it's old OMAP3 but lag constantly on the Pyra with the newer OMAP5. I guess the Pyra really is slow due to software issues only, because it seems to me that it's hardware ought to be more than enough to run those games properly if even the N900 can. Though the N900 probably has old versions of those games, from the time when games were really good.

 

[Djoga'Ro]

It reminds to me the difficulty of "UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994)", but in that case I was at least able to save/reload at every single turn... but with Dungeon of the Endless, instead, there is only a save game constantly overwritten automatically, and I should physically copy and substitute constantly the file... as far as I don't like it, I'm very tempted to use Cheat Engine...

Make it a git directory and make a watchdog that commits every change, maybe with datetime as version tag.

 

[PowerGod]

Make it a git directory and make a watchdog that commits every change, maybe with datetime as version tag.

It's not the versioning that gives trouble, but the fact that you have to quit and launch again the game every time you need to use a previous save...

 

[Djoga'Ro]

There's no
- >Return to title screen<
- "You sure? If you do, you'll lose all progress since last save!"
or something?

 

[PowerGod]

There's no
- >Return to title screen<
- "You sure? If you do, you'll lose all progress since last save!"
or something?

There is only a "Save & Quit" option, it's the only way to save, and the only way to quit.
It works exactly like the original Rogue, but in that case was way faster (almost immediate) to restart the game with an old save switched by a batch after quitting.

 

[netcat]

Today is one of those days where I put on grüne brille, draw the curtains and game all day. OoT Fire Temple to be precise.

Hey: do you guys use scanline emulation? Of course this is fake gimmickry, but I’m kind of liking it.

 

[PowerGod]

Hey: do you guys use scanline emulation? Of course this is fake gimmickry, but I’m kind of liking it.

I do, for old games and for new games made with a retro aspect in mind.
I also use CRT distortion or at least rounded angles when available... in RetroArch the games I play are inside an image of a CRT monitor with fake reflections and scratches,

I took the screenshot with the game running, but it wasn't captured... maybe it's because of hardware acceleration... anyway, the games run inside the frame of the monitor, distorted to match its shape, with scanlines on.
Unluckily not all the cores are able to use all these functions.

Spoiler: RetroArch

 

[λ the β-Redex Reducer]

Why do you do that? I thought scanline emulation was just to make things like the NES Zapper work.

 

[netcat]

SNES9XGX was exhibiting aliasing so I decided to experiment with the filters. Scanlines seem to enhance the pixels somehow. I thought I just wanted the crispest image (like I always have) but all those old graphics were designed on and for CRTs so emulating them makes sense actually. Now I have both my OSSC's setup for light scanlines.

 

[Null]

Word Factori, because: https://stargardengames.itch.io/word-factori/devlog/569833/the-word-factori-full-version-here

 

[λ the β-Redex Reducer]

SNES9XGX was exhibiting aliasing so I decided to experiment with the filters. Scanlines seem to enhance the pixels somehow. I thought I just wanted the crispest image (like I always have) but all those old graphics were designed on and for CRTs so emulating them makes sense actually. Now I have both my OSSC's setup for light scanlines.

I have heard of that and it makes sense to me. I guess it is kind of like how DS graphics look terrible on big screens. It causes your pixels to show. Sometimes that is even worse than when your balls are showing. And I have worn pants with holes in it so I know. But what is the point of reflections, scratches, and distortions?

 

[netcat]

You just admitted to not wearing underwear.

But what is the point of reflections, scratches, and distortions?

More spatial context.

 

[TeDaDeS]

I played and completed an interactive video game named The Bunker. It was okay.

 

[λ the β-Redex Reducer]

You just admitted to not wearing underwear.

Or my underwear might just be very loose or also have holes in it. You may never know.

 

[spud42]

spent half the day playing Elder Scrolls Online. got it in a Fanatical sale for $5.58 AUD.... still working through the tutorial/start. so much to learn its not too different to Skyrim so far. i missed so many steps in the character creatiion because i didnt click on the extra icons... so no idea what stats my character has..lol i'm too stuborn to start again now that im over level 3. too lazy to go through the begining again.

 

[TeDaDeS]

I played this a lot in the past, also making my own levels. This is the n-th version I play but I still enjoy it.
There was already a demo available, now the full game was released.


Also in the past I worked on making the MIDI music sound a bit nicer compared to the Windows build-in basic MIDI sound:

btw. I think this song in RotT was inspired by the movie A Clockwork Orange (1975) which used a Moog adaptation, while I adapted it again to sound more like the original 1695 classical version.

 

[Null]

I've been revisiting Baba is You and realising how far I still have to go to finish it.

 

[netcat]

Or my underwear might just be very loose or also have holes in it. You may never know.

Remember how Mario can turn into a balloon in SMW? I imagine one of your testicles like that. Floating upwards, discovering new secret areas.