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Post by Kazin on Nov 1, 2022 11:09:00 GMT -5
the curation aspect is just not there Unless having other people curate your library is somehow more valuable? 🤷♂️
Yes, actually - that's what I'm getting at. I'd have probably never booted up Truxton had it not been included in this collection - maybe I would have someday randomly, but somebody would have likely had to recommend it to me, whether it be Sega themselves, or someone from, say, Hardcore Retro Gaming haha. Is it worth the $100+? Not on it's own for most people, and I understand that. But as part of the value, I do like it.
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Post by Ex on Nov 1, 2022 11:28:14 GMT -5
Fair enough Kazin , I'm glad the curation aspect works out in your favor as such.
Truxton itself is a well known and popular shooter (in retro shmup gaming circles at least). Anecdotally, it's Mark Bussler's favorite game, he often talked about it on Classic Game Room.
Concerning the curation angle from a personal perspective, reading over the entirety of the USA and Japan Mini 2 lists, these are the games I've not played before:
Devi & Pii Harimanada Honou no Toukyuuji: Dodge Danpei Mahou no Shoujo: Silky Lip Majandojo Mansion of Hidden Souls Megapanel Night Striker Party Quiz Mega Q 2022 Party Quiz Sega Q Puyo Puyo Sun Puzzle & Action Ichidant-R Spatter Star Mobile Super Locomotive Tenka Fubu: Eiyutachi no Houkou Wondermega CollectionThe vast majority of those appear on the Japanese Mini 2.
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Post by Xeogred on Nov 3, 2022 22:12:20 GMT -5
I heard Joe's a SEGA fanboy.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 3, 2022 22:17:48 GMT -5
Just a little bit, haha. I didn't watch the whole thing RetroRGB did (long video), but I caught the snippet where it seems like there's about three frames of consistent lag (as opposed to the variable 3-7 of the original) and five frames of audio lag.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 5, 2022 23:45:44 GMT -5
So to clarify my previous post, that means that there are only two frames of audio lag, which isn't too bad at all. I know a lot of PC emulators that have a 32-64ms buffer, so two frames lines up with 32ms. This also means that I will likely make the Mini 2, with its likely extra space for games, my primary Genesis mini-system, and will toss on the games from the first Genesis Mini just to get more stable performance. (Although yes, one can also do RetroArch if they don't want to use M2's emulation core.) www.retrorgb.com/genesis-mini-2-lag-tested.html
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Post by Ex on Nov 6, 2022 21:11:47 GMT -5
So to clarify my previous post, that means that there are only two frames of audio lag, which isn't too bad at all. I know a lot of PC emulators that have a 32-64ms buffer, so two frames lines up with 32ms. This also means that I will likely make the Mini 2, with its likely extra space for games, my primary Genesis mini-system, and will toss on the games from the first Genesis Mini just to get more stable performance. (Although yes, one can also do RetroArch if they don't want to use M2's emulation core.) What's the audio/frame lag like on your MiSTer though?
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Post by Sarge on Nov 6, 2022 21:22:25 GMT -5
Zero and zero. Only lag there is with USB inputs, which can be extremely low (as low as 1ms), or match the original controllers via a SNAC adapter. One disadvantage, though, is a lack of save state support, so it's basically like playing on original hardware.
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Post by Kazin on Nov 7, 2022 10:54:14 GMT -5
So I played all the way through Shining Force II on this on Super difficulty, which due to a weird quirk, is the hardest difficulty in the game - for whatever reason, enemies don't do more damage than usual in Nightmare difficulty, whereas in Super mode they get better AI and higher damage. I think the only thing in Nightmare mode that's different is enemies have a much higher chance of dodging your attacks and also getting double attacks, both of which seemed to occur at a normal rate in Super mode.
It was tough! But very, very fun, and almost felt like a whole new game. Physical attackers are super dangerous for pretty much the whole game. Usually I just worry about getting hit by enemies with magic, but now, I was much more concerned about getting physically attacked, even by bosses. For pretty much the whole game, all your units can and will be one shot by non-magic attacks, so you have to be very careful about strategy, and you can't let anyone with low HP or defense get hit, ever, or they'll die. Even Jaha, usually my tankiest unit, could barely take a single normal attack from a regular enemy for most of the game, usually having single digit HP left after being attacked. All of this made the game much more about getting through battles, rather than managing experience levels or anything like that - you really can't, if you played it like I did, where you do no grinding and don't wait a ton of levels to promote (other than Chester, I promoted everyone either at level 20 or 21, 20 being the earliest level you can promote units in SF2. I only didn't do that with Chester because I wanted him to be a Pegasus Knight, which requires an item you have to wait quite a while for. IIRC, I promoted him at about level 28, which is far below what most people recommend for Super difficulty anyway, that being like level 40 pre-promotion for everyone. Not necessary!). I did use Karna, who has the Boost ability, which increases defense and agility for anyone in range, which also makes her easy to level up, too, but it was pretty natural because I basically had to boost my front line units to survive long enough to win battles. Without Karna, I would say leveling a lot pre-promotion would be necessary, but with her? It's a fun, challenging experience, where each move has to be carefully considered if you want to get through battles with minimum losses. I spent a ton of cash on reviving people, because one errant enemy could kill someone in one attack.
Because of all this, I used characters I usually don't in this run - I retired Gerhalt and Luke as soon as I could, since their attacks are so weak and they're both pretty fragile, and used Skreech for maybe a quarter of the game, until he got left behind in levels, when I replaced him with Sheela, who I almost never use, since she was another decent attacker with healing spells (though she learned Heal 3 in literally the last battle, so she never saved anyone's life, just topped them up lol). I even used Chaz, mainly because Higins, who himself had replaced Rick, was just not keeping up damagewise. He's actually pretty decent!
All of this is to say that the game is certainly possible, even on the hardest difficulties, without grinding. I told myself I'd only use Egress if I got into one of those pesky repeat battles, or if I forgot to revive people before a battle, and I stuck to that and got through the game just fine. Really had a great time.
Now to finally play all the way through Shining Force CD.
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Post by Ex on Nov 7, 2022 12:14:40 GMT -5
Kazin - Good to read Shining Force II's difficulty is a step up from its predecessor. I like harder modes in SRPGs that increase the AI's capability (as in better strategy for the computer). Not a fan of hard modes that simply make the enemies magically harder to hit, their defense goes through the roof, or they automatically get criticals all the time, stuff like that. That comes off as unfair to the player, rather than a legitimately more difficult challenge.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 7, 2022 12:37:28 GMT -5
Very interesting - I'm impressed that the game is put together well enough on the higher difficulties to not have to grind. And I'm also impressed you powered through it. Great job!
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