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Post by jimnastics on Apr 19, 2023 17:35:21 GMT
I've treated myself to an old Pentium 75 computer to pretend I'm back in the 1995 again with my whole life ahead of me. It didn't occur to me that I might need some floppy disks to actually get the thing going  I need to create a Win98 boot floppy, which apparently will then let me install Win95 from CD (I have that ready, at least). Do any of you guys have the ability to make such a floppy for me and ping it my way?? I was thinking I'll just buy some floppies, but it occured to me that I still wouldn't be able to make the boot disk... |
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rajin
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Post by rajin on Apr 23, 2023 11:10:31 GMT
Any idea how expensive the most extensive mister set is? I still aim to have my old collection but can see the rapid improvements in 5 years time. For me the turning point would be PS2/Xbox/gamecube. Seeing as emulation is still not where I want it to be for these three (and I basicly have all consoles double with almost complete RPG collections).
My main concern now is to get my CRT repaired to top condition. I am fully satisfied with the colours (old couple thankfully used a super low contrast mode on accident so after all these years they are still pristine). I cant seem to find anyone in The Netherlands unfortunately. Frankly, outside some nice interactions, dutch retro community is rather frustatingly obsessed with profit. Someone rather tries to sell me some old PVM instead of repairing my CRT for equal money.
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addyb
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Post by addyb on Apr 23, 2023 11:36:13 GMT
Any idea how expensive the most extensive mister set is? I still aim to have my old collection but can see the rapid improvements in 5 years time. For me the turning point would be PS2/Xbox/gamecube. Seeing as emulation is still not where I want it to be for these three (and I basicly have all consoles double with almost complete RPG collections). My main concern now is to get my CRT repaired to top condition. I am fully satisfied with the colours (old couple thankfully used a super low contrast mode on accident so after all these years they are still pristine). I cant seem to find anyone in The Netherlands unfortunately. Frankly, outside some nice interactions, dutch retro community is rather frustatingly obsessed with profit. Someone rather tries to sell me some old PVM instead of repairing my CRT for equal money. I paid around £450 for mine. |
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Post by jimnastics on Apr 23, 2023 11:48:09 GMT
I've treated myself to an old Pentium 75 computer to pretend I'm back in the 1995 again with my whole life ahead of me. It didn't occur to me that I might need some floppy disks to actually get the thing going I need to create a Win98 boot floppy, which apparently will then let me install Win95 from CD (I have that ready, at least). Do any of you guys have the ability to make such a floppy for me and ping it my way?? I was thinking I'll just buy some floppies, but it occured to me that I still wouldn't be able to make the boot disk... This turned up with a fresh install of Windows 98 on it... I bought it as "untested - spares / parts", couldn't believe it when it booted up into Win98 first time! Was expecting a battle just to get it to turn on. Turns out it's been in the guy's loft for 20+ years, he installed Win98 in 2003 just to wipe the disk then stuck it up in the loft. It's a Gateway 2000 P5-75, our first ever family PC was a Gateway 2000 486 DX2-66 from the same era, even had the exact same case as this P5-75 so a nice little bit of nostalgia. Firing up some original Theme Park for the kids to play old-school style  |
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KD
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Post by KD on Apr 23, 2023 13:41:33 GMT
I seen a Vectrex the other day, would have asked to see it running but I felt like a dick without the cash to buy it. i.imgur.com/jN0Lwfe.jpeg |
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malek86
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Post by malek86 on Apr 23, 2023 14:12:51 GMT
I've seen a running Vectrex at an anime con last year. Sure looked impressive for 1980.
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mrpon
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Post by mrpon on Apr 24, 2023 10:24:00 GMT
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rajin
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Post by rajin on May 19, 2023 11:09:58 GMT
I just bought a DSi Xl, love the handheld, truely the best way to play most DS games (if you dont need a analogue stick).
One issue however, my top screen has a pink hue, is this normal? I read it has to do with the cable wearing down with time. So far I can live with it.
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Post by richyroo on May 19, 2023 11:39:11 GMT
I've been playing a lot of Sega Saturn games the past couple of weeks. Such an under-rated system. Everyone says how good the Dreamcast library was, but I think the Saturn arguably had an even bigger and better library of games. I bought a Steam Deck a couple of months ago when they were on sale and have been setting this up for emulation. I have been gradually adding new systems and games. However I am really fussy about what games I include, so every single system I have specially curated myself and downloaded and transferred each game manually. I will include games I know are good, ones I am fond of, and also research each system and the best games not to be missed. Generally I have anywhere between 30-80 games for each system. I have about 10 systems now set up on the Deck, most from my childhood and early twenties, i.e Master System, NES, Megadrive, SNES, PS1, Saturn. Also have a fair few Dreamcast games, NEO GEO, DS, GBA.
Everything has 3d box art and is tagged properly. I have OCD and if even 1 game doesn't display the correct boxart or info, it drives me crazy.
Its a fun project and I have already probably wasted a good amount of my life on it. I will add a couple more systems on here and then probably call it a day and back up the SD card for future.
A question for my fellow forumites.... I never played Vagrant Story on the PS1 and I know this got good reviews back in the day. Anyone here played it and would they recommend it?
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rajin
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Post by rajin on May 19, 2023 12:19:49 GMT
I've been playing a lot of Sega Saturn games the past couple of weeks. Such an under-rated system. Everyone says how good the Dreamcast library was, but I think the Saturn arguably had an even bigger and better library of games. I bought a Steam Deck a couple of months ago when they were on sale and have been setting this up for emulation. I have been gradually adding new systems and games. However I am really fussy about what games I include, so every singe system I have specially curated myself and downloaded and transferred each game manually. I will include games I know are good, ones I am fond of, and also research each system and the best games not to be missed. Generally I have anywhere between 30-80 games for each system. I have about 10 systems now set up on the Deck, most from my childhood and early twenties, i.e Master System, NES, Megadrive, SNES, PS1, Saturn. Also have a fair few Dreamcast games, NEO GEO, DS, GBA.
Everything has 3d box art and is tagged properly. I have OCD and if even 1 game doesn't display the correct boxart or info, it drives me crazy.
Its a fun project and I have already probably wasted a good amount of my life on it. I will add a couple more systems on here and then probably call it a day and back up the SD card for future.
A question for my fellow forumites.... I never played Vagrant Story on the PS1 and I know this got good reviews back in the day. Anyone here played it and would they recommend it?
I never finished Vagrant Story, but did play around 10 hours and have the game both physical and digital. The combat is definitely unique and enjoyable (strategies involving targetting parts). Music is allright, story is really good and definitely keeps you going. My main two issues are the dungeon designs, lack of towns and general monotony that can set in. I definitely recommend it and only did not finish it due to my brother borrowing my PS2 for years. If you like physical copies they are rather affordable as well compared to lets say, Threads of fate and Thousand Arms. |
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Post by richyroo on May 19, 2023 12:28:21 GMT
Good to hear it has a good story. I think this is one I will play at some point once I have completed a couple of games from my backlog.
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Post by uiruki on May 19, 2023 12:34:34 GMT
Vagrant Story's a game that really can benefit from speeded up emulation as there is a lot of friction in the interface which can get annoying. Also take care with your saves, especially when suspending and resuming the game - when I played some of it on an emulation handheld it was very very picky about the save file, especially when you're using the storage box. Unlike other games, if you resume without the exact same save file on the memory card it'll throw a wobbler and not save the file the next time. Ordinarily that wouldn't be a problem but it stops you from using the storage box which stops you from being able to smith items easily.
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malek86
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Post by malek86 on May 19, 2023 17:29:47 GMT
I've been playing a lot of Sega Saturn games the past couple of weeks. Such an under-rated system. Everyone says how good the Dreamcast library was, but I think the Saturn arguably had an even bigger and better library of games. The Saturn has a pretty good library, but only if you are willing to dabble in imported games. If not, well. And I can understand why most people wouldn't want to deal with that. Still, if you are going the length, then the Saturn has a few of my favorite games ever. |
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Psiloc
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Post by Psiloc on May 23, 2023 13:32:30 GMT
Woo my Dreamcast component cable has shipped from RGC.
I'd forgotten I'd ordered it...
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Psiloc
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Post by Psiloc on May 25, 2023 8:54:25 GMT
Woo my Dreamcast component cable has shipped from RGC. I'd forgotten I'd ordered it... Wow, it's actually really good. Finally Dreamcast sorted with just one cable. |
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Post by BeetrootBertie on Jul 31, 2023 9:05:22 GMT
Went to a place called Retrodome last week.
It's in Barnsley near the town centre and is basically an industrial unit with a load of arcade machines and a bar. There's also a room with maybe 10 pinball machines, one with some shuffleboards set up and a smaller couple of offshoot rooms with older cabinet games in. It's like a smaller version of Arcade Club with slightly more dinged up machines. Some are a little knackered (or well loved, if you like) and some have had replacement screens but most worked well enough.
Enjoyed some Sega Rally, Outrun 2 and Daytona 2 with a buddy and a bunch of lightgun games like House of the Dead and Time Crisis. It was great to play the sit-down Star Wars game again - the vector rendering still looks pretty neat to me. I don't know how it was achieved, but you notice where lines meet at anchor points, the spot is brighter so I wonder if the vectors are beamed on to the screen somehow.
Notable machines for me were Baby Pac-Man (with a mini pinball table built in), a modern Pong table with the bats and ball moving on the surface (as if magnetised from beneath) and snow boarding game with a physical board and rail you have to keep hold of while turning and tilting the board.
We also go to play some none-digital shuffleboard.
It was 12 quid for an all-day ticket and there enough there to keep you entertained for quite some time. I think I'm going to head back with my nephew and niece over the summer hols. I reckon it would keep them occupied for the best part of a day.
Might be of interest to some of you lot anywhere near Barnsley?
It nice to see more of these places crop up. Must be a nightmare maintaining some of these machines though.
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Psiloc
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Post by Psiloc on Jul 31, 2023 10:35:51 GMT
The lights are indeed beamed onto the screen with vector graphics. Despite the obvious lack of colour or textures, it actually still looks pretty appealing due to the complete lack of aliasing and the appearance of a high resolution and framerate. It took a long time for modern 3D rendering to match it so the technology occupies a unique space in gaming history.
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Psiloc
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Post by Psiloc on Jul 31, 2023 10:39:28 GMT
Anyone following the RetroTink 4K? Likely to be released this year, RRP to be around...
$1,000
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Post by BeetrootBertie on Jul 31, 2023 11:02:23 GMT
The lights are indeed beamed onto the screen with vector graphics. Despite the obvious lack of colour or textures, it actually still looks pretty appealing due to the complete lack of aliasing and the appearance of a high resolution and framerate. It took a long time for modern 3D rendering to match it so the technology occupies a unique space in gaming history. It was pretty great to experience it again. The fluidity and sharpness is really striking in retrospect. I had the home port on the Acorn Electron but that was pretty bad with chunky mode 2 graphics and a frame rate that chugged at single digits most of the time. They had an Asteroids cabinet there too, which was amazingly bright in the dots of the shots you fire. |
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rajin
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Post by rajin on Jul 31, 2023 12:32:25 GMT
Anyone following the RetroTink 4K? Likely to be released this year, RRP to be around... $1,000 Jezus.... I want that thing but 1k? Thats taking the piss no doubt. Feels like it must have a 400 euro profit margin. My highest estimate was 800..... Oh well time to buy a 5x cheap second hand when they get dumped before its release. |
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Psiloc
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Post by Psiloc on Jul 31, 2023 14:23:50 GMT
Well... Mike Chi, the guy behind it, is a bit of a tongue in cheek troll sort these days and I'm not ruling out the possibility it's some sort of Elon-style prank.
But yeah I should be the exact market for this sort of thing but it can suck my balls for $1,000
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Post by One_Vurfed_Gwrx on Jul 31, 2023 15:14:00 GMT
I still need to get cables etc set up (or found) for my 5X as the only machine I have got around to trying with it is a GC with a cable that despite saying it is an RGB clearly isn't and looked pretty poor...
I don't think I need a fancier more expensive box...
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Psiloc
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Post by Psiloc on Jul 31, 2023 16:09:07 GMT
I love my 5x. A firmware update is coming soon that adds support for a bigger remote control (or a programmed universal one) so that you can switch profiles with a single button press.
I would be interested in a 4k version. The various old school resolutions tend to fit more nicely into a 4k container for integer scaling and the CRT simulation effects look amazing. But the 5x is hardly poor in either regard so I doubt I'll be upgrading at that price. In fairness, this seems to be the official position, that the 5x is still the main product and the 4k is for rich enthusiasts
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Post by One_Vurfed_Gwrx on Aug 1, 2023 11:00:08 GMT
I haven't really read up on the 4K, what is its benefit over the 5X? Like you, I will stick with the 5X I bought at same time as TV... One day I willget to properly utilise it too  |
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Psiloc
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Post by Psiloc on Aug 1, 2023 11:30:10 GMT
The additional inputs like HDMI and VGA will probably be the main thing for most people. Unbelievably we're now at the point where upscaling PS3 and 360 era consoles (and also the Switch) is a legitimate thing, though the usefulness of this comes down to how well your TV can already scale 720p I guess. Conversely, there are use cases for downscaling HDMI consoles to 240p for emulating the CRT look (pixel art games, or HD remasters or ports of older games). You can already do this on the 5x but you have to use a component cable input or converter.
And by all accounts the CRT effects are mind blowing and even simulate individual phosphors. This is the main thing that would get my interest.
It's also now true 4:4:4 colour depth unlike the 5x's 4:2:2
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rajin
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Post by rajin on Aug 1, 2023 15:13:01 GMT
The additional inputs like HDMI and VGA will probably be the main thing for most people. Unbelievably we're now at the point where upscaling PS3 and 360 era consoles (and also the Switch) is a legitimate thing, though the usefulness of this comes down to how well your TV can already scale 720p I guess. Conversely, there are use cases for downscaling HDMI consoles to 240p for emulating the CRT look (pixel art games, or HD remasters or ports of older games). You can already do this on the 5x but you have to use a component cable input or converter. And by all accounts the CRT effects are mind blowing and even simulate individual phosphors. This is the main thing that would get my interest. It's also now true 4:4:4 colour depth unlike the 5x's 4:2:2 I wish the second hand market was more generous with the 5x pricing. It is usually at or above the offical price. The import duties as a EU member also really hurt. I am constantly reminded of brexit when I try to buy anything from the UK. |
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Post by One_Vurfed_Gwrx on Aug 1, 2023 16:47:48 GMT
The additional inputs like HDMI and VGA will probably be the main thing for most people. Unbelievably we're now at the point where upscaling PS3 and 360 era consoles (and also the Switch) is a legitimate thing, though the usefulness of this comes down to how well your TV can already scale 720p I guess. Conversely, there are use cases for downscaling HDMI consoles to 240p for emulating the CRT look (pixel art games, or HD remasters or ports of older games). You can already do this on the 5x but you have to use a component cable input or converter. And by all accounts the CRT effects are mind blowing and even simulate individual phosphors. This is the main thing that would get my interest. It's also now true 4:4:4 colour depth unlike the 5x's 4:2:2 I wish the second hand market was more generous with the 5x pricing. It is usually at or above the offical price. The import duties as a EU member also really hurt. I am constantly reminded of brexit when I try to buy anything from the UK. I got the 5X direct from Retrotink, still had import fees in UK though (same as EU I would imagine). Unless you are looking at a reseller. As for using it on Switch, one nice thing avout my Sony OLED is Switch (and probably the PS3/360) looks nice on it, good upscaling, one of the reasons I went Sony over LG (better TV motion apparently being another bonus) |
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rajin
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Post by rajin on Aug 1, 2023 18:14:18 GMT
I wish the second hand market was more generous with the 5x pricing. It is usually at or above the offical price. The import duties as a EU member also really hurt. I am constantly reminded of brexit when I try to buy anything from the UK. I got the 5X direct from Retrotink, still had import fees in UK though (same as EU I would imagine). Unless you are looking at a reseller. As for using it on Switch, one nice thing avout my Sony OLED is Switch (and probably the PS3/360) looks nice on it, good upscaling, one of the reasons I went Sony over LG (better TV motion apparently being another bonus) Ah maybe it was for those great scart cables I bought from the UK. Retrotink is US based I see. I actually think upscaling for games is pretty good on the LG C1. Where it really is inferior is video upscaling and blue ray upscaling. I use my switch docked on the LG and as long as I do not engage Game Mode it looks great. I would in anycase, always recommend not to use game mode for switch. The 1 frame input lag is for most games definitely worth it. |
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Psiloc
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Post by Psiloc on Aug 4, 2023 9:31:56 GMT
Ugh, this is bad. Several outlets including Digital Foundry have gone hands-on with the Tink 4K and are saying it's amazing. Oh god, why can't I be rich
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rajin
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Post by rajin on Aug 4, 2023 22:00:27 GMT
Cant afford it so no use dreaming....
I will share the costs with my younger brother. But I will need to save up and by the time I have the money its sold out for 2 years...
I hope they have stock next year.
I dare not view the DF video. Can't afford to skip health appointments in favour for a upscaling device 😅
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I need to create a Win98 boot floppy, which apparently will then let me install Win95 from CD (I have that ready, at least). Do any of you guys have the ability to make such a floppy for me and ping it my way?? I was thinking I'll just buy some floppies, but it occured to me that I still wouldn't be able to make the boot disk...
