(Retro) What have you been playing this week?

[nakamura]

I recently finished Seiken Densetsu III which i certainly enjoyed although the last ten hours seemed a bit tacked on to give it extra content with no plot advancement - i'm pretty sure Secret Of Mana was shorter, or at least felt it! Can't really decide which one of the two i prefer though.

Brilliant! Was that the repro cart? I have yet to play mine but have completed the Terranigma one and I recommend it. Incredible game for the time,.

[dataDave]

Isn't it the same guy? Maybe you should give FFT Advance a go? Or any of the Ogre Battle games. I've got Person of Lordly Calibre waiting in the post.

Well, I finished FFT. I hear it's the best out of the bunch so I'm not going to bother with the others.

I got about 60hrs into Ogre Battle 64 before and then hit a brick wall somewhere before getting distracted. I have it on VC so may start it again soon. I'm also looking for a dodgy DL of Chrono Trigger and FF3(6).

[Cepp]

Spent the last few hours playing through the second half of Dark Forces, getting lost in the maze like levels, figuring out some actually decent puzzles and getting lost in the Star Wars setting. Loved it and I don't normally say this, but I would have loved more cutscenes, there's just something about the way they do them with the game's tech that I cant get enough of.

[chojin]

Most definitely! DKC2 is a masterpiece with some of the best music in any videogame ever. DKC3 doesn't quite reach the same heights but is excellent nonetheless. Both give a decent challenge too if you want to access all the hidden levels and gain 100% completion (well, I think it is actually 102% and 103% actually!)

see the "post everytime retro" thread, these arrived for the weekends fun, DKC2 is awesome, really enjoying it, also received Yossy Island which I have to say saw the majority of my attention this weekend, such a wonderful game, seems I missed loads of top quality games when I jumped ship from snes gaming to the PSone in the 90's.

[Atticus]

Tempest 2000. It's the game I always go back to and never get tired of. The alternate rotary controller I bought a couple of months back is ace (already owned a Chaos Reins, this time picked up a Jonathan Ascough build with a detented/clicky spinner). The faster speed of the Chaos Reins is a bit better for earlier & easier webs but when they get tougher & tighter I prefer the precision of the new one.

Also set the NUON up for some Tempest 3000 action. In many ways I prefer it to 2000; the music & sounds are outstanding, as are the trippy visuals and warping webs, but it wouldn't be my desert island Tempest purely because of control. Tempest with a rotary controller is perfection and it's not possible on the NUON (not sure why JM didn't include this like he did for the Jag game). Saying that, 3k is the best 'in the zone' gaming experience available and for that I love it, but for scoring and precision play 2000 + the right controller beats it.

[_SD_]

Last Blade 2 and MotW. As well as helping my boy with Klonoa on the Wii.

[Papercut]

Rotary controller was included in Tempest 3000, and supposedly the Nuon controller chip supports it. I think the problem is no one has any idea how to wire one up - I think JM has said he has a prototype rotary Nuon controller in the past, though.

... he has a modified Sidewinder controller with a rotary dial on it that someone from VM Labs made that works with NUON T3K.

http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php/24723-Controller-technical-question

All controllers have to have the so-call "Polyface" chip in it. You will find it in any NUON controller. This chip is somehow coded to identify itself to the NUON BIOS as certain type of controller. I believe this is simply done by setting some of the Polyface pins to high or low voltage. In addition the Polyface chip has various input and output pins for different controller parts buttons, pots, rumble pack, spinner etc.).

I believe that every available NUON controller can be turned into a rotary controller with some small HW modifications plus a rotary controller hardware. The NUON BIOS will automatically load the right driver and make it available to T3K.

What's really missing is a documentation of the Polyface chip.

http://www.nuon-dome.com/narchive/arc8-2003.html

*edit* which Jonathan Ascough did you go for - mk1, or mk2 with the d-pad intact?

[Atticus]

Had no idea about that, there's hope yet In truth I'd be more than happy with a HPI Stealth controller. I got sniped on one on ebay a year or so back and I've not seen one since

which Jonathan Ascough did you go for - mk1, or mk2 with the d-pad intact?

I actually went for the Pro. The face buttons are much nicer and the whole thing feels slightly better in the hands. I use it over the Chaos Reins now.



Just bought a replacement Jaguar (Pal, brand new) as I've been having problems with my ntsc one. It came with a 3rd party UK PSU which I think has eventually toasted it. In the past 6 months the system has started going off after about an hours play; either resets to a blank screen or powers down completely and stays dead for a few minutes. So now I'll be playing T2K at 50hz (not a bad thing from what I've read) ... though I won't be able to put it through the xrgb-3 now.

[Papercut]

Cool - I switched my PAL Jaguar for 50/60Hz, but preferred T2K @ 50Hz, the game is well optimised for it.

You could try your official PAL PSU with your NTSC Jaguar maybe - my guess would be the third party one was unregulated, and pumping too much current through. The voltage regulator may have been overheating in the Jag.

I prefer the Logitech Nuon controller to the HPI Stealth, the analog stick is much nicer, but there are problems with both. I ended up using the bundled d-pad controller half the time. The HPI Stealth has incredibly cheap casing, mine cracked through normal use. The Logitech controller is much nicer, but has trouble in that the analog stick range is limited by the casing - doh! It doesn't hurt T3K though, so might be the best option.

Re: rotary controller, do you need to switch to something with a d-pad for the bonus levels?

[Atticus]

That's encouraging regarding the 50Hz factor, really pleased about that.

I did consider trying the official UK PSU with the ntsc Jag. When the new system arrives I'll be giving it a go. Nothing to lose really. Hoping it works

Good to hear your thoughts on controllers having used them both. I've never had a problem with the Logitech (I use the digital pad) but always unterstood the Stealth was a better, more responsive controller. Interesting. I'll obsess about it less now Amazon.com have brand new Logitechs @ $6 each at present, I've been thinking about stocking up but the postage fees are around ?30.

Regarding rotary use and bonus levels, yes, I plug a regular controller into port 2 and switch to that.

I did clock the Jonathan Ascough rotary/d-pad model but I can't see how it can deliver both if the option in game is set to 'Joypad 1 - rotary'. My set up works fine for me.

[losersclub]

Brilliant! Was that the repro cart? I have yet to play mine but have completed the Terranigma one and I recommend it. Incredible game for the time,.

Yes it was! It was lovely to be able to play through the game on a US Snes/CRT rather than via emu etc

Going to have a little break before i play Terranigma though, Goemon 2 is in the Snes at the mo

[Papercut]

Re: rotary and d-pad for T2K, supposedly you can use the same controller if the d-pad is intact. Having an extra controller is no big deal though, eh. The pro controller buttons do look nicer, hmm. I've been meaning to get one of those for years.

For the HPI Stealth, some people do prefer that still. For me, the analog stick on it was pretty poor, but I don't think its worth spending more to get hold of one.

Reading up on the T3K rotary controller, the system definitely supports it, but how to make the polyface controller chip send spinner data isn't documented anywhere. There are 5 unlabelled pins, and the controller input pins are not fully documented. There is always the chance that the production chips don't support it, but if they do, it sounds like a hacked 2600 spinner should work. Its almost worth trying out, and guessing how to switch the chip into spinner mode (probably holding some pins high or low).

[Atticus]

Hmm, the dual controler is quite tempting in that case. Think I'll just stick with what I've got for now but that's well worth knowing.

If a T3K rotary is possible then I'd have thought someone would have made it work by now. Wonder how many attempts there have been? It'd be a dream come true if it ever happened.

[nakamura]

I've been playing Cybernator and Stunt Race FX.

Cybernator is superb, brilliant to play and something totally new for me. Stunt Race is something I love but it is almost unplayable now. In time trial mode the frame rate is good enough but the main race mode is not so good now.

[Decider-VT]

Glad to hear you're enjoying Cybernator. It's funny to think that a 2D platformer can convey the hulk of a giant mech moving around but the slow, almost delayed movements really make it seem like you're only just in control of a massive machine. Absolutely fantastic music too, it's a real shame that the soundtrack album contains poor alternate versions of the same tracks.