WhiteKhakis | 04. [FPGA 4K] Dinosaurs for Hire (Genesis) - Level Four @WhiteKhakis | Uploaded 1 year ago | Updated 6 minutes ago
No Commentary / 4k60 (x9 Integer9 Upscale) / High Res Audio / Capable Player
Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR47cFeVP5ZPojNHCpuwcSEUX
Full Title: "Tom Mason's Dinosaurs for Hire"
This is being played on an "Analogue Mega Sg" FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
----
Originally a comic book, this game is about 3 wisecracking dinosaurs that are actually aliens who LOOK like small dinosaurs running a mercenary gig while wielding ginormous firearms.
It's better not to worry about it.
This is contra-esque run and gun with some wonky platforming and design choices - but - overall is a fine brainless time once you know what's coming.
----
Technical Notes:
------
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Audio is "high resolution" compared to a Genesis system due to no processing constraints. Watch in 4k or 1440p if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! It's a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, it's a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 320 x 224 resolution, the native "square pixel" resolution of most NTSC Genesis games, and then integer upscaled x9 times to 2880 x 2016 with black borders added along the outside for a clean 4k display!
This results in a "pixel perfect" output that is slightly wider than what you might have seen on your old CRT TV set! However, the pixels are sharp this way AND the art was designed in this "pixel perfect" resolution before being squashed to 4:3 back in the day. In short: Pixels are sharp AND circles are circles and squares are squares.
Some games were a 256 x 224 resolution, originally. These will be uploaded in 1440p to fill the screen as much as possible and maintain a pixel perfect integer upscale. The native resolution is far too thin for what the game looked like on a CRT OR for the art, so the width is integer scaled a step higher to result in a 4:3 aspect ratio (256 x 7 for 1792 and 224 x 6 for 1344 = 1792 x 1344). These will look a little thinner than the 320 x 224 games I'm uploading, but the art will be crisp AND be how it looked in the old days!
Some games switch between 320 x 224 resolution and 256 x 224 resolution (Sonic 2 special stage, Lion King Stampede level, etc.). I will generally upload levels containing large sections in 256 x 224 resolution as 1440p to maintain perfect integer upscales and preferred ratios. 320 x 224 does not change ratio between 4k or 1440p. You will know when the genesis is using 256 x 224 'cause the screen will shrink a little in these videos!
About the Mega SG... It's a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in layman's terms (BY a layman): It's a "chip" dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another "chip". Basically, if you can reverse engineer a genesis exactly, you can pretty much program this "chip" to behave like a genesis exactly. Which is what this is.
I'm playing in "Zero Delay" mode so the game is running marginally faster. 0.15%, to be exact. That's less than 1/7th of a single percent. I've also cropped out the colored border Genesis games tend to have.
The sound has been tweaked slightly per FirebrandX's recommendations, I've enabled "YM2612 High Quality Mode" for uncompressed audio, and I have not engaged the ladder effect or lowpass filter. This will definitely sound different than a normal genesis because of the latter option. It's essentially listening closer to what the source sound would be like before the Genesis muffles it a bit.
I also want to mention dithering for just a moment here. In Genesis games you'll often see lines of color alternating here and there, this is because on an old CRT tv the screen would be a bit blurry resulting in those colors bleeding together and becoming a mix of the two. This can also result in transparencies if used correctly. Unfortunately with a clean digital image this won't happen. The only way to enable these "extra colors" is to blur the digital image and this certainly would not be "pixel perfect" as is my goal. I like to think that we are now able to see how the artists tried to achieve their effect! You can always squint your eyes a bit if you want to try to replicate the blurriness!
No Commentary / 4k60 (x9 Integer9 Upscale) / High Res Audio / Capable Player
Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR47cFeVP5ZPojNHCpuwcSEUX
Full Title: "Tom Mason's Dinosaurs for Hire"
This is being played on an "Analogue Mega Sg" FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
----
Originally a comic book, this game is about 3 wisecracking dinosaurs that are actually aliens who LOOK like small dinosaurs running a mercenary gig while wielding ginormous firearms.
It's better not to worry about it.
This is contra-esque run and gun with some wonky platforming and design choices - but - overall is a fine brainless time once you know what's coming.
----
Technical Notes:
------
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Audio is "high resolution" compared to a Genesis system due to no processing constraints. Watch in 4k or 1440p if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! It's a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, it's a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 320 x 224 resolution, the native "square pixel" resolution of most NTSC Genesis games, and then integer upscaled x9 times to 2880 x 2016 with black borders added along the outside for a clean 4k display!
This results in a "pixel perfect" output that is slightly wider than what you might have seen on your old CRT TV set! However, the pixels are sharp this way AND the art was designed in this "pixel perfect" resolution before being squashed to 4:3 back in the day. In short: Pixels are sharp AND circles are circles and squares are squares.
Some games were a 256 x 224 resolution, originally. These will be uploaded in 1440p to fill the screen as much as possible and maintain a pixel perfect integer upscale. The native resolution is far too thin for what the game looked like on a CRT OR for the art, so the width is integer scaled a step higher to result in a 4:3 aspect ratio (256 x 7 for 1792 and 224 x 6 for 1344 = 1792 x 1344). These will look a little thinner than the 320 x 224 games I'm uploading, but the art will be crisp AND be how it looked in the old days!
Some games switch between 320 x 224 resolution and 256 x 224 resolution (Sonic 2 special stage, Lion King Stampede level, etc.). I will generally upload levels containing large sections in 256 x 224 resolution as 1440p to maintain perfect integer upscales and preferred ratios. 320 x 224 does not change ratio between 4k or 1440p. You will know when the genesis is using 256 x 224 'cause the screen will shrink a little in these videos!
About the Mega SG... It's a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in layman's terms (BY a layman): It's a "chip" dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another "chip". Basically, if you can reverse engineer a genesis exactly, you can pretty much program this "chip" to behave like a genesis exactly. Which is what this is.
I'm playing in "Zero Delay" mode so the game is running marginally faster. 0.15%, to be exact. That's less than 1/7th of a single percent. I've also cropped out the colored border Genesis games tend to have.
The sound has been tweaked slightly per FirebrandX's recommendations, I've enabled "YM2612 High Quality Mode" for uncompressed audio, and I have not engaged the ladder effect or lowpass filter. This will definitely sound different than a normal genesis because of the latter option. It's essentially listening closer to what the source sound would be like before the Genesis muffles it a bit.
I also want to mention dithering for just a moment here. In Genesis games you'll often see lines of color alternating here and there, this is because on an old CRT tv the screen would be a bit blurry resulting in those colors bleeding together and becoming a mix of the two. This can also result in transparencies if used correctly. Unfortunately with a clean digital image this won't happen. The only way to enable these "extra colors" is to blur the digital image and this certainly would not be "pixel perfect" as is my goal. I like to think that we are now able to see how the artists tried to achieve their effect! You can always squint your eyes a bit if you want to try to replicate the blurriness!
![04. [FPGA 4K] Dinosaurs for Hire (Genesis) - Level Four](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R9GvhSSLB2U/hqdefault.jpg "04. [FPGA 4K] Dinosaurs for Hire (Genesis) - Level Four
No Commentary / 4k60 (x9 Integer9 Upscale) / High Res Audio / Capable Player
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR47cFeVP5ZPojNHCpuwcSEUX
Full Title: Tom Masons Dinosaurs for Hire
This is being played on an Analogue Mega Sg FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
Originally a comic book, this game is about 3 wisecracking dinosaurs that are actually aliens who LOOK like small dinosaurs running a mercenary gig while wielding ginormous firearms.
Its better not to worry about it.
This is contra-esque run and gun with some wonky platforming and design choices - but - overall is a fine brainless time once you know whats coming.
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Audio is high resolution compared to a Genesis system due to no processing constraints. Watch in 4k or 1440p if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 320 x 224 resolution, the native square pixel resolution of most NTSC Genesis games, and then integer upscaled x9 times to 2880 x 2016 with black borders added along the outside for a clean 4k display!
This results in a pixel perfect output that is slightly wider than what you might have seen on your old CRT TV set! However, the pixels are sharp this way AND the art was designed in this pixel perfect resolution before being squashed to 4:3 back in the day. In short: Pixels are sharp AND circles are circles and squares are squares.
Some games were a 256 x 224 resolution, originally. These will be uploaded in 1440p to fill the screen as much as possible and maintain a pixel perfect integer upscale. The native resolution is far too thin for what the game looked like on a CRT OR for the art, so the width is integer scaled a step higher to result in a 4:3 aspect ratio (256 x 7 for 1792 and 224 x 6 for 1344 = 1792 x 1344). These will look a little thinner than the 320 x 224 games Im uploading, but the art will be crisp AND be how it looked in the old days!
Some games switch between 320 x 224 resolution and 256 x 224 resolution (Sonic 2 special stage, Lion King Stampede level, etc.). I will generally upload levels containing large sections in 256 x 224 resolution as 1440p to maintain perfect integer upscales and preferred ratios. 320 x 224 does not change ratio between 4k or 1440p. You will know when the genesis is using 256 x 224 cause the screen will shrink a little in these videos!
About the Mega SG... Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a genesis exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a genesis exactly. Which is what this is.
Im playing in Zero Delay mode so the game is running marginally faster. 0.15%, to be exact. Thats less than 1/7th of a single percent. Ive also cropped out the colored border Genesis games tend to have.
The sound has been tweaked slightly per FirebrandXs recommendations, Ive enabled YM2612 High Quality Mode for uncompressed audio, and I have not engaged the ladder effect or lowpass filter. This will definitely sound different than a normal genesis because of the latter option. Its essentially listening closer to what the source sound would be like before the Genesis muffles it a bit.
I also want to mention dithering for just a moment here. In Genesis games youll often see lines of color alternating here and there, this is because on an old CRT tv the screen would be a bit blurry resulting in those colors bleeding together and becoming a mix of the two. This can also result in transparencies if used correctly. Unfortunately with a clean digital image this wont happen. The only way to enable these extra colors is to blur the digital image and this certainly would not be pixel perfect as is my goal. I like to think that we are now able to see how the artists tried to achieve their effect! You can always squint your eyes a bit if you want to try to replicate the blurriness!")
![08. [4k60] Darq (PC) - DLC: The Tower](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RPxg9c9Hnb4/hqdefault.jpg "08. [4k60] Darq (PC) - DLC: The Tower
No Commentary / Blind Run / 4k60
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR47Npz28houZEJDK9w9U6kv7
The creator of Darq released some free DLC to help combat the short game length - neat!
Looks like an monochromatically spooky time! The puzzles are fairly standard but get a twist due to the rotating nature of the game (which surprisingly isnt too overplayed). Its overall a short length and does not overstay its welcome. Definitely the kind of quick entertainment I was looking for!
Technical Notes
This game has fairly simple puzzles so everything is pretty much captured as played. I do make a couple cuts in later levels if its me just doubling back and fumbling around. And I THINK on the level with the horn-guy I spliced in my first encounter with him which is why you may see an item I used still in my inventory. Uh... also sped up a puzzle in the DLC.")
![03. [FPGA 4K] The Castlevania Adventure - Stage 03](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/S1eoyurka_E/hqdefault.jpg "03. [FPGA 4K] The Castlevania Adventure - Stage 03
No Commentary / 4k60 (x15 Integer Upscale) / Near-Expert
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45aZ1TACwvzzUzOVKKTcbEy
***This game is FULL of bad scrolling and graphical artifacts. Maybe the amazing music will distract you from the rushed programming!***
This is being played on an AnaloguePocket FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
As mentioned above, this game has issues but it was my first title on the system so I didnt mind! Except the ignored whip/jump inputs could be a bother. ...and the slow pacing. And the weird physics. And the ENTIRE MISSING PLATFORMS ON AUTOSCROLLING SEGMENTS.
I still loved it.
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Watch in 4k if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 160 x 144 resolution, the native resolution of Game Boy, and then integer upscaled x15 times to 2400 x 2160 for a clean 4k display!
About the Analogue Pocket: Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a Game Boy exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a Game Boy exactly. Which is what this is.
Ive turned off Frame Blending in the options because it overall softens the picture with the minimal benefit of making transparencies not flicker. Ive also chosen not to use the really cool video mode which makes it look like a Game Boy Screen because that would mess up the lossless video Im capturing. I can always add a filter later if I want to!")
![07. [FPGA 4K] Steel Empire (Genesis) - Stage 7 - Lunar Space](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/S5uCNc9G8e8/hqdefault.jpg "07. [FPGA 4K] Steel Empire (Genesis) - Stage 7 - Lunar Space
No Commentary / 4k60 (x9 Integer9 Upscale) / High Res Audio / Good Player
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR46PbQZRbXzsF6W-iBldSbyx
This is being played on an Analogue Mega Sg FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
A steam-punk shooter on the Genesis! This one is neat because its all made in the conceit that its an old-timey war-film, so dont adjust your sets! The cutscenes are meant to flicker.
Besides the aesthetic, the game has a couple uncommon shooter mechanics: The ability to shoot in either direction, and a persistent level-up system. Each time you grab an EX item you fill up one of three slots in your status bar. Once that fills and rolls over you gain a level giving you and your wingmen additional firepower. Even if you lose a life your weapons keep their strength!
Other items include an S for addional speed, an O which grants you wingmen (options), and a B for an additional smart bomb!
Bosses with multiple weapons that van be individually wrecked are featured and are destroyed once you demolish their core!
I choose to pilot the blimp for the first couple levels simply because it has more health. I dont care much for the way it lobs bombs or its mobility. The smaller craft you can pilot zips around and can fit between projectiles more readily. Once youve leveled up a bit the health is more than satisfactory!
Technical Notes:
Check out the demo video for the explanation here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPfN6ZHJR84")
![06. [FPGA 4K] Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 - All Treasures! - World 06: Stove Canyon](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SrnKRLbeJno/hqdefault.jpg "06. [FPGA 4K] Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 - All Treasures! - World 06: Stove Canyon
No Commentary / 4k60 (x15 Integer Upscale) / Experienced Player
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45ZPut_wX53gpziSb7z1vEe
This is being played on an AnaloguePocket FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
(Wario didnt have time to tell you all about his amazing adventure so he made this video instead. Maybe therell be a description here later!)
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Watch in 4k if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 160 x 144 resolution, the native resolution of Game Boy, and then integer upscaled x15 times to 2400 x 2160 for a clean 4k display!
About the Analogue Pocket: Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a Game Boy exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a Game Boy exactly. Which is what this is.
Ive turned off Frame Blending in the options because it overall softens the picture with the minimal benefit of making transparencies not flicker. Ive also chosen not to use the really cool video mode which makes it look like a Game Boy Screen because that would mess up the lossless video Im capturing. I can always add a filter later if I want to!")
![04a. [QHD] XCOM ABRIDGED! - Enemy Within (PC) - Council Mission: Operation Red Dream (Bomb Disposal)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/T5asZtPT-4U/hqdefault.jpg "04a. [QHD] XCOM ABRIDGED! - Enemy Within (PC) - Council Mission: Operation Red Dream (Bomb Disposal)
No Commentary / Edited Dynamically* / Classic Difficulty / 1440p60
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR44G2wWcVD13Q891zTPTOjOk
ONE LOAD AT 6:05 DUE TO GLITCHY UI - EXPLAINED BELOW
*Wait times, overplanning, and dead time is edited out to make viewing much more interesting! I do try to include moments of forethought so it makes some sense and isnt just constant shooting.
At 6:05 I loaded the game after I moved my assault unit because the UI made it unclear whether it was a dash or not (ending her turn). I loaded the game and it was more clear and there was also the DASH! indicator. I then used the Run & Gun ability as I would have had I known it was a dash.
I also shot a random-looking rocket at the end becuase I hadnt noticed the target up there was killed during an Overwatch earlier.
To be fully transparent, I had played much of this mission already but started it over after a series of glitches tanked my run. This video is a bit jumpy as a result because I was constantly paranoid something would go wrong.
First Video Description Follows
Quick breakdown for you: XCOM is a long running series that set a definitive style of turn based battles using ranged weapons, various powers, and other equipment to repel the aliens menacing Earth!
Whew.
Anyway, this is the reboot which brought nice graphics and other doodads. The Enemy Within expansion pack is being used on the base game XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It basically tightens up the mechanics and adds a couple new classes and the meld pickup to reward people for quickly moving through maps rather than biding their time.
Hopefully this abridged playthrough will be a refreshing way to view the series!")
![03. [FPGA 4K] Steel Empire (Genesis) - Stage 3 - Sky District Zektor](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/THKgs1LZUQI/hqdefault.jpg "03. [FPGA 4K] Steel Empire (Genesis) - Stage 3 - Sky District Zektor
No Commentary / 4k60 (x9 Integer9 Upscale) / High Res Audio / Good Player
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR46PbQZRbXzsF6W-iBldSbyx
This is being played on an Analogue Mega Sg FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
A steam-punk shooter on the Genesis! This one is neat because its all made in the conceit that its an old-timey war-film, so dont adjust your sets! The cutscenes are meant to flicker.
Besides the aesthetic, the game has a couple uncommon shooter mechanics: The ability to shoot in either direction, and a persistent level-up system. Each time you grab an EX item you fill up one of three slots in your status bar. Once that fills and rolls over you gain a level giving you and your wingmen additional firepower. Even if you lose a life your weapons keep their strength!
Other items include an S for addional speed, an O which grants you wingmen (options), and a B for an additional smart bomb!
Bosses with multiple weapons that van be individually wrecked are featured and are destroyed once you demolish their core!
I choose to pilot the blimp for the first couple levels simply because it has more health. I dont care much for the way it lobs bombs or its mobility. The smaller craft you can pilot zips around and can fit between projectiles more readily. Once youve leveled up a bit the health is more than satisfactory!
Technical Notes:
Check out the demo video for the explanation here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPfN6ZHJR84")
![01. [FPGA 4K] QuackShot (Genesis) - Through Mexico](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TIns1s2z92c/hqdefault.jpg "01. [FPGA 4K] QuackShot (Genesis) - Through Mexico
No Commentary / 4k60 (x9 Integer9 Upscale) / High Res Audio / Experienced Player
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45YP4HVy8IN0stGHJCUmwOm
Full Title: QuackShot Starring Donald Duck
This is being played on an Analogue Mega Sg FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
Donald finds a hidden treasure map among Uncle Scrooges books and does he share the find? Aw, phooey! That old bags got enough money as is! So Donald charters a plane and gears up for an adventure to claim it himself! With all the money he doesnt have!
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Audio is high resolution compared to a Genesis system due to no processing constraints. Watch in 4k or 1440p if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 320 x 224 resolution, the native square pixel resolution of most NTSC Genesis games, and then integer upscaled x9 times to 2880 x 2016 with black borders added along the outside for a clean 4k display!
This results in a pixel perfect output that is slightly wider than what you might have seen on your old CRT TV set! However, the pixels are sharp this way AND the art was designed in this pixel perfect resolution before being squashed to 4:3 back in the day. In short: Pixels are sharp AND circles are circles and squares are squares.
Some games were a 256 x 224 resolution, originally. These will be uploaded in 1440p to fill the screen as much as possible and maintain a pixel perfect integer upscale. The native resolution is far too thin for what the game looked like on a CRT OR for the art, so the width is integer scaled a step higher to result in a 4:3 aspect ratio (256 x 7 for 1792 and 224 x 6 for 1344 = 1792 x 1344). These will look a little thinner than the 320 x 224 games Im uploading, but the art will be crisp AND be how it looked in the old days!
Some games switch between 320 x 224 resolution and 256 x 224 resolution (Sonic 2 special stage, Lion King Stampede level, etc.). I will generally upload levels containing large sections in 256 x 224 resolution as 1440p to maintain perfect integer upscales and preferred ratios. 320 x 224 does not change ratio between 4k or 1440p. You will know when the genesis is using 256 x 224 cause the screen will shrink a little in these videos!
About the Mega SG... Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a genesis exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a genesis exactly. Which is what this is.
Im playing in Zero Delay mode so the game is running marginally faster. 0.15%, to be exact. Thats less than 1/7th of a single percent. Ive also cropped out the colored border Genesis games tend to have.
The sound has been tweaked slightly per FirebrandXs recommendations, Ive enabled YM2612 High Quality Mode for uncompressed audio, and I have not engaged the ladder effect or lowpass filter. This will definitely sound different than a normal genesis because of the latter option. Its essentially listening closer to what the source sound would be like before the Genesis muffles it a bit.
I also want to mention dithering for just a moment here. In Genesis games youll often see lines of color alternating here and there, this is because on an old CRT tv the screen would be a bit blurry resulting in those colors bleeding together and becoming a mix of the two. This can also result in transparencies if used correctly. Unfortunately with a clean digital image this wont happen. The only way to enable these extra colors is to blur the digital image and this certainly would not be pixel perfect as is my goal. I like to think that we are now able to see how the artists tried to achieve their effect! You can always squint your eyes a bit if you want to try to replicate the blurriness!")
![06. [FPGA 4K] Blades of Vengeance (Genesis) - All Treasure/Secrets - The City](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TdGmg72NgdA/hqdefault.jpg "06. [FPGA 4K] Blades of Vengeance (Genesis) - All Treasure/Secrets - The City
No Commentary / 4k60 (x9 Integer Upscale) / High Res Audio
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR47pFjCqAKmP4MlsltjL3Bvo
This is being played on an Analogue Mega Sg FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
Im gonna make this description a little bit of an information dump for game mechanics, here goes:
Ducking. BLOCKS. Which is crazy. You are pretty much entirely invulnerable in the direction you are facing when ducking. This is a super important mechanic which makes the game far more easy to complete.
If you attack near the peak of your jump the momentum swings you up a bit higher. This isnt nearly as important for the Huntress who is already the most capable at jumping but its a neat touch nonetheless.
When paused you can select your items and also hold C (see?) and then use the d-pad to look around. This can help find pitfalls.
Speaking of pitfalls, there are no bottomless pits and perhaps only one drop which will result in an inescapable death in the game. Very odd for a platformer, but very cool from an exploratory standpoint. (Beware of fall damage, however.)
75k points nets you an extra continue. A really bombastic jingle plays once this occurs. I didnt check to see if the continue screen is unique but the Game Over screen is!
I havent mentioned the sparkles yet. There are, uh... sparkles. In the levels. Let me see what the manual calls them... Perhaps, its simply Power Ups. They kinda dance around the exact name of the sparkle itself just saying its a sparkling area.
ANYWAY
Touch the sparkle and you get a Power Up shown as a filled in diamond on top of your character bar. This makes your damage output stronger. You can hold two Power Ups at most (at first) and LOSE one if you lose a life! They are few and far between, so be careful!
If you buy the armor (and you should) in the store after the 3rd (or is it 4th?) area you character basically levels up into an entirely new class! You keep your title but the Huntress becomes a ranged attacker with a crossbow! The Barbarian trades in his axe for a really wonky looking flail. And the Wizard throws his hobo outfit away and steps into something more Sagely (He gets a stronger strong attack).
Oh, Strong Attacks. Hold Up while pressing the attack button and you do a...strong attack! Really useful for the Huntress when she has sword since its a far reaching overhead swing. Less useful when she has the crossbow because you have to hold to charge the attack for a bit and then release it for a spread shot. Its just better to rapid fire your normal shot unless you need a weird angle.
I think thats it. The items are fairly self explanatory - one blows things up, another turns them into money, one heals, one makes you invincible, etc. Again, I picked Huntress because she has the most interesting attack set whereas the Barbarian is just melee and the Wizard only ranged. Also she is center and front on the box art!
I liked my experience with this game and it was fun mapping out how to get all the treasures, its definitely worth a play if you get your hands on it!
Original Overview Description:
Its not too often you find a brainless hack and slash platformer that has some depth!
The level design is strong giving you what feels like plenty of options but still keeping you on track to reach the end. There are many secrets as well, all of which I catalogued here! I had some bullet points on my other screen telling me how to get to the next treasure so that I can complete the whole affair live - I didnt want to keep stopping the video, especially since the music continues even when paused. So if you see me standing still for a moment, thats probably why.
I chose to play as the Huntress because she is the most balanced and has the most drastic style change partway through.
Please read the description in this video for detailed
Technical Notes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUbF6VssxOE")
![EXTRA 01. [FPGA 4K] Sub-Terrania (Genesis) - HARD Mode - Difficulty Differences in Gravity](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/U5CUJ9VwfvY/hqdefault.jpg "EXTRA 01. [FPGA 4K] Sub-Terrania (Genesis) - HARD Mode - Difficulty Differences in Gravity
No Commentary / 4k60 (x9 Integer9 Upscale) / High Res Audio
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45plDi7TC7PeBUFKsd7fjxv
***This video shows the differences in difficulties when it comes to thrust and momentum. You have the same amount of time in fuel for all difficulties, but the stronger gravity in hard makes it feel like you have less and is harder to manage. Not shown here is the max speed you can reach appears to be higher on harder difficulties. ALSO your ship takes longer to stop on its own.***
This is being played on an Analogue Mega Sg FPGA game console allowing for clear output in sound and audio! The video provided to YouTube is 4:4:4 and lossless! Details below in Technical Notes!
Technical Notes:
TL;DR: YouTube was provided a perfect video so pixels are sharp and shapes are correct. Audio is high resolution compared to a Genesis system due to no processing constraints. Watch in 4k or 1440p if your computer can handle it.
This video has suffered no lossy compression before reaching YouTube! Its a lossless video file with no chroma subsampling (4:4:4). Essentially, its a perfect copy until YouTube works its magic which now makes it a 4:2:0 video with lossy compression, yes. However, the better the initial copy... the better!
The video was originally captured in a 320 x 224 resolution, the native square pixel resolution of most NTSC Genesis games, and then integer upscaled x9 times to 2880 x 2016 with black borders added along the outside for a clean 4k display!
This results in a pixel perfect output that is slightly wider than what you might have seen on your old CRT TV set! However, the pixels are sharp this way AND the art was designed in this pixel perfect resolution before being squashed to 4:3 back in the day. In short: Pixels are sharp AND circles are circles and squares are squares.
Some games were a 256 x 224 resolution, originally. These will be uploaded in 1440p to fill the screen as much as possible and maintain a pixel perfect integer upscale. The native resolution is far too thin for what the game looked like on a CRT OR for the art, so the width is integer scaled a step higher to result in a 4:3 aspect ratio (256 x 7 for 1792 and 224 x 6 for 1344 = 1792 x 1344). These will look a little thinner than the 320 x 224 games Im uploading, but the art will be crisp AND be how it looked in the old days!
Some games switch between 320 x 224 resolution and 256 x 224 resolution (Sonic 2 special stage, Lion King Stampede level, etc.). I will generally upload levels containing large sections in 256 x 224 resolution as 1440p to maintain perfect integer upscales and preferred ratios. 320 x 224 does not change ratio between 4k or 1440p. You will know when the genesis is using 256 x 224 cause the screen will shrink a little in these videos!
About the Mega SG... Its a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based game system which to explain in laymans terms (BY a layman): Its a chip dense with circuits and stuff that can be programmed to use only so many in whatever ways necessary to replicate another chip. Basically, if you can reverse engineer a genesis exactly, you can pretty much program this chip to behave like a genesis exactly. Which is what this is.
Im playing in Zero Delay mode so the game is running marginally faster. 0.15%, to be exact. Thats less than 1/7th of a single percent. Ive also cropped out the colored border Genesis games tend to have.
The sound has been tweaked slightly per FirebrandXs recommendations, Ive enabled YM2612 High Quality Mode for uncompressed audio, and I have not engaged the ladder effect or lowpass filter. This will definitely sound different than a normal genesis because of the latter option. Its essentially listening closer to what the source sound would be like before the Genesis muffles it a bit.
I also want to mention dithering for just a moment here. In Genesis games youll often see lines of color alternating here and there, this is because on an old CRT tv the screen would be a bit blurry resulting in those colors bleeding together and becoming a mix of the two. This can also result in transparencies if used correctly. Unfortunately with a clean digital image this wont happen. The only way to enable these extra colors is to blur the digital image and this certainly would not be pixel perfect as is my goal. I like to think that we are now able to see how the artists tried to achieve their effect! You can always squint your eyes a bit if you want to try to replicate the blurriness!")
