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Post by retr0gamer on Jun 26, 2024 8:30:57 GMT -5
Made some stupidly powerful weapons in Shiren and finally polished off the rest of the post game dungeons. Think I'll give the true rogue like final puzzle a few go's and wrap it up. Really enjoyed it.
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Post by lurker on Jun 26, 2024 13:03:45 GMT -5
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Post by lurker on Jun 26, 2024 20:00:33 GMT -5
Ever see Spirited Away and wish you could run your own fantasy bathhouse?
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Post by excelsior on Jun 29, 2024 4:22:47 GMT -5
Ever see Spirited Away and wish you could run your own fantasy bathhouse?
I think there may be an aspect of Spirited Away's story which you have missed.
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Post by dsparil on Jun 30, 2024 7:52:04 GMT -5
I recently replaced my aged 15” 2014 MacBook Pro with the base model Mac mini (8 core M2, 10 core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD). I had my hopes set on an updated Mac Studio to be announced at WWDC despite rumors to the contrary. When that didn’t happen (currently rumored for summer 2025), I went with the mini because I cannot go another summer with a space heater of a computer. I’m actually very impressed with it even with the low specs and especially for $600 although I quality for the education pricing of $500. The thing is literally silent, cooler internally at full tilt while also being physically cool externally and blowing out cold air. Compare this to the aforementioned space heater which topped out at 212F and sounded like a jet engine; it wasn't so bad idling and low use at about 150F and barely any noise. For the work I do, it’s 7x faster and normally hovers around 95F and tops out at around 112F; if the GPU is also being strained, then it goes up to 135F. Since the remake of Riven just came out a few days ago, that apropos game was the first fancy pants game I bought for it. I only played it a little bit for testing since I need to finish SMTVV (middle/end of the the third area), but I was absolutely floored by the graphics and performance and at 5K no less. Then I noticed that it was only at the lowest settings. At the highest settings, it chugs a bit too much for slightly better shadows, water and reflections but it’s still within a range that’s playable for an adventure game. It’s really remarkable how far things have come that such a humble system can put out better and higher resolution graphics in realtime than the $40K SGIs used to prerender the original. I’m sure that someone with a PS5 or something would look at the graphics and go pfft, but it’s doing a lot in literal silence and using only 25W of power. A PS5 uses twice that just to display the home screen. It’s a shame that Mac gaming is such an afterthought these days because the baseline performance is so much higher than it used to be. My old Oct. 08 unibody MacBook could only run Borderlands at the lowest settings. The ’14 MBP ran the 2014 Myst Masterpiece Edition okay, but trying the max settings was a joke and this was on the second best laptop Apple made. I’m curious to see how the RE ports fair since RE4 is iffy on an iPhone 15 Pro. Also the next Assassin’s Creed since that’d be more of a real high budget comparison. Just for fun, think about how we’ve gone from this to this on 1.5% of the price over 26 years. (5k 4MB JPEG down from a 24MB PNG)
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Post by retr0gamer on Jun 30, 2024 9:15:08 GMT -5
Apples walled garden approach to development is the issue. It blocks a lot of stuff like mods and you need a developers license to even do a lot of Dec stuff which wouldn't suit a lot of indie Devs.
It's a shame because apple silicon is very impressive and way ahead of aging x86000, although apple are more focused on low energy portable hardware.
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Post by dsparil on Jun 30, 2024 9:38:07 GMT -5
Apples walled garden approach to development is the issue. It blocks a lot of stuff like mods and you need a developers license to even do a lot of Dec stuff which wouldn't suit a lot of indie Devs. You mentioned having iOS development experience in the past, and macOS isn't anything like that. Indie gaming is the one place there's any kind of real parity. A developer only needs one paid account which is $99 and even then, it's only if they want Mac App Store distribution or code signing to get past the default "Do you really want to run this" warning for unsigned apps. GOG doesn't even bother. Their tooling only requires a regular Apple ID, and you don't have an absolute requirement for it. Even with a signed app, there's nothing stopping some (most?) mods because the signing is only for the actual executable and libraries.
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Post by retr0gamer on Jun 30, 2024 9:57:15 GMT -5
Been a long time since I did development so definitely rusty on the details. I was also using a engine, Corona, that was already signed off by apple for development and using script to control it. I imagine if you were building anything bespoke, like a game engine, there would be more hoops to jump through.
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Post by JoeQ on Jul 1, 2024 4:46:04 GMT -5
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Post by retr0gamer on Jul 2, 2024 18:46:35 GMT -5
Finished up Contra 4. Excellent little game and a loving homage to the series. I like how it played like a missing link between NES contra and Contra 3, and while I lover the boss rushes of the later games, it was nice that the game focused on run and gun stages. The last stage went on a little bit too long.
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Post by Kokoro on Jul 3, 2024 5:37:50 GMT -5
I've been playing Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door on the Switch. Despite being billed as a "remake," it feels more like an HD remaster. It's slightly better than the GameCube version for the few new things it has, but it should haves had a bit more. Like maybe a bonus chapter or something.
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Post by excelsior on Jul 3, 2024 5:58:25 GMT -5
Honestly, I don't think the distinction matters at this point. Personally, I like to have a faithful version of the game. I only see new content as beneficial if it is optional. This is the original game, with a new coat of paint and audio tracks. I think the way Nintendo have marketed it, without the remake or remaster wording in the title, is the way these releases should be done in future, especially since they aim to reach a new audience.
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Post by Kokoro on Jul 3, 2024 8:56:13 GMT -5
Honestly, I don't think the distinction matters at this point. Personally, I like to have a faithful version of the game. I only see new content as beneficial if it is optional. This is the original game, with a new coat of paint and audio tracks. I think the way Nintendo have marketed it, without the remake or remaster wording in the title, is the way these releases should be done in future, especially since they aim to reach a new audience. Either way, it's still nice to see the game on the Switch, since the GameCube still goes for over $100. To be honest, I didn't at all expect the game to come to the Switch, since Nintendo very rarely brings GameCube games to it. Now if only they could remaster or remake Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Switch or Switch 2.
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Post by retr0gamer on Jul 3, 2024 9:28:10 GMT -5
With Nintendo's refusal to not only acknowledge the competitive scene but actively try to sabotage it I expect they won't bother bringing out their most viable game in terms of the competitive fighting game scene.
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Post by excelsior on Jul 3, 2024 10:51:39 GMT -5
retr0gamer - That's not very fair. Sabotage is absolutely acknoledgement. Kokoro - Nintendo is dipping into Gamecube games for rereleases now, but they don't have a consistent approach. Pikmin 1+2, Super Mario Sunshine and Metroid Prime have all been revisited. New content seems to be off the table if that's what you're looking for, mind you. I expect they'll continue as they have been, but only considering single player games. I could see Melee perhaps happening on a future NSO service, but I don't think they'd want to muddy the waters when it comes to a wider release, since that would compete with their next Smash game.
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