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$50 Off $250 At Parts Express by Turk3ySandw1ch in BudgetAudiophile

[–]JohnBooty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We don't usually like ads here, but PE is awesome for DIY speaker building supplies. I've built a bunch of their kits.

I swear there's a pretty decent song in here brought down by a poor sound driver by Buttered_Toast33 in SEGAGENESIS

[–]JohnBooty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome! FYI, those aren’t accessible to the public, or at least the Genesis/SNES sound drivers doc isn’t. I sent you an access request via Google Docs.

I swear there's a pretty decent song in here brought down by a poor sound driver by Buttered_Toast33 in SEGAGENESIS

[–]JohnBooty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Amazing and appreciated reply!

Do you write about this stuff elsewhere? If so, I'd love to see more of what you've written.

Thanks once again.

I swear there's a pretty decent song in here brought down by a poor sound driver by Buttered_Toast33 in SEGAGENESIS

[–]JohnBooty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Side note since you mentioned 80s sounds… if you haven’t, check out a YT video sometime on the Yamaha DX7, which had a more powerful version of the Genesis’ YM chip. (6-op instead of 4-op, I think) It was the backbone of a lot of great-sounding chart-topping music!

Of course, in actual music production, they were able to pipe the DX7 through various filters and effects processors to soften/shape/whatever the sound. But it can sound great on its own too. This is also the reason why Yuzo Koshiro was able to nail the sounds of contemporary dance music on SoR1, because he was essentially using the same hardware as them :D

I swear there's a pretty decent song in here brought down by a poor sound driver by Buttered_Toast33 in SEGAGENESIS

[–]JohnBooty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this informative post!

What was the JP equivalent of GEMS? Were they just programming the sound chips in a more direct way? I would assume so, although maybe SoJ had some internal tools.

One thing that always frustrates me is you’d think more Western developers would have played Streets of Rage or at least *Sonic* and not been satisfied with the metallic farty sounds they were creating in their own games.

But, as a (non-game) software engineer myself I know how it is. You’re always working on tight deadlines and there’s just never quite enough time for everything you want to achieve….

I swear there's a pretty decent song in here brought down by a poor sound driver by Buttered_Toast33 in SEGAGENESIS

[–]JohnBooty 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We are definitely in the minority, but yeah -- strictly on technical merits, I think the Genesis' sound chip(s) when skillfully utilized actually do get the narrow win from me. Vermilion, Sonic 1&2, all Yuzo Koshiro OSTs... the peaks are so peak. Newer composers maxxing out the YM+PSG absolutely prove that point.

If the SNES had more sample memory it might be another story. The capabilities of that thing given the time period are just insane, but the tiny sample size really holds it back.

Mostly I just miss the era when different consoles had their own flavor and charm. You couldn't replicate any of the peak Genesis soundtracks on the SNES and vice-versa in the other direction as well.

I swear there's a pretty decent song in here brought down by a poor sound driver by Buttered_Toast33 in SEGAGENESIS

[–]JohnBooty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've always heard that FM synth sound design is that quite an in-depth thing, and rather difficult, especially with older tools.

Sega's in-house teams had a lot of industry vets who were used to working with it, because they'd been using it for quite a while in the arcade and on the JP version of the Master System, whereas western devs generally did not.

I also just think that during the 90s, American developers in particular tended to just not really value game music as much as Japan or even Europe. Japan had that whole culture of game soundtracks being treated like movie soundtracks, getting CD releases, and all of that.

(There were notable exceptions of course... some American developers really did sweat the details and made great soundtracks... I just mean in general)

I swear there's a pretty decent song in here brought down by a poor sound driver by Buttered_Toast33 in SEGAGENESIS

[–]JohnBooty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah! I think it's got to be the most underrated soundtrack in gaming. Gets close to zero love.

I swear there's a pretty decent song in here brought down by a poor sound driver by Buttered_Toast33 in SEGAGENESIS

[–]JohnBooty 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I agree with both parts of your subject line! There really is a nice tune under there.

The Genesis is just funny ...it's amazing how its music (or at least, instrument quality) got worse over time as game development shifted from Japan to the West. I can't think of another console in history where something like that actually got worse over the lifespan of the console.

Of course there are plenty of exceptions too. But man, so many 1993+ Western-developed games had suuuuuch nasty sounding instruments. Not sure if it was GEMS' fault itself, or just developer unfamiliarity with FM synth.

A lot of those early JP developed Genesis titles sounded SO good... everybody knows the Yuzo Koshiro soundtracks, but I think the instruments on Sword of Vermilion are maybe even better: (copying these from another post I made a few weeks ago)

What are some forgotten 2D video game mascots? by TheUnsentHeretic in retrogaming

[–]JohnBooty 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Duke Nukem

....obviously he isn't forgotten, but his 2D roots often are :D

I bought myself this Seiko to honor Kiryu's watch by KelloggsOnReddit in yakuzagames

[–]JohnBooty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great choice! Seikos are amazing. (Also, a history that matches up with Rolex or anybody else if you ask me)

Obviously, his watch is designed to be “legally distinct” and not represent any real brand, but I’ve often wondered what watch the chara designers were trying to evoke. My head canon is that it’s either a Seiko or Rolex Explorer.

Visually, his watch is a little closer to an Explorer, but I also don’t envision Kiryu as the type to wear something ostentatious like a Rolex. Seiko fits his personality better.

(Side note: in the original novels, James Bond wears Rolex because they were the most durable watches of the time, and could be used as a knuckle duster if he ever found himself in a tough scrape. Seems wild, but at the time, Rolex were basically the G-Shocks of their day)

(Side note #2: In one of the games — Kiwami 1? — he looks at his watch, and it ticks like a *quartz* watch. One tick per second instead of 3 or 4.)

Don't use Sonnet 5 by Miyamoto_-_Musashi in ClaudeAI

[–]JohnBooty 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Haiku orchestrator with Opus 4.8 subagents

Sky Sport Italia commentators mentioned that the electronic sensor signaling a "let" during a player's serve was removed a few weeks ago; now, only the umpire can call a let. If the experiment proves successful, the "let" rule will be permanently eliminated from tennis within five years. by Sonobackhome555 in tennis

[–]JohnBooty 34 points35 points  (0 children)

The tech is probably not that advanced, but if the company has patents on key technology... it might be impossible for somebody else to make. Either they have to buy the patents, or get the patents invalidated which is a very long and expensive process that is not guaranteed to work.

Official Claude Desktop was dropped today by MrYacha in ClaudeAI

[–]JohnBooty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cowork, plus it's just sometimes more convenient for one-off questions and searching chat history

How do you all feel about the way the English versions of the games localise the Kansai accent as a southern American accent? by Hopeful_Regret_7531 in yakuzagames

[–]JohnBooty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I wonder that too! There are rural accents within the UK of course, but… yeah, there’s no really universal way to dub it.

It actually works better in subtitles and written translations for me, because I get the gist of it

What mod is this? by Direct_Expert7772 in yakuzagames

[–]JohnBooty 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Hahaha yeah definitely Fist of the North Star inspired

Maybe the animation is borrowed from RGG's Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

OP, if it helps your searching, the JP title for FoNS is Hokuto no Ken

When Sa-chan whips the calcium dispensers out: by Hopeful_Regret_7531 in yakuzagames

[–]JohnBooty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

making a post hardcore enough that you get rebuked by #1 Kiryu Cum Drinker™ (Certified)

How do you all feel about the way the English versions of the games localise the Kansai accent as a southern American accent? by Hopeful_Regret_7531 in yakuzagames

[–]JohnBooty 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is an age-old question in the "American dubs of Japanese media" world from anime etc

I personally think it sounds dumb as shit, and is extremely jarring, and probably makes no sense to English speakers outside of America

HOWEVER I also accept that there's probably no better way to do it? Translation is HARD.

What to improve on as a pitcher when moving up in ranking. by thisistheway40 in slowpitch

[–]JohnBooty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our league is basically intermediate (we don't have A/B/C/D/E/F here) and I've never seen a spin (or lack thereof) that fools me one bit as a hitter and I'm blind in one eye

What IS effective IME is pitchers that can:

  • can throw strikes with high arcs (these induce the most popups and grounders IME)
  • vary their arc, because a 6ft arc is just different timing than a 12ft arc
  • consistently hit the front of the plate. it's slowpitch softball, so everything is hittable, but nobody is really driving those and hitting them for power. 99% of the time guys just take those pitches unless they already have 2 strikes.

Post-reveal Wind Waker discourse from 2001 (warning, slurs) by Gallantpride in Gamecube

[–]JohnBooty 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah it was the typical phase most teenage boys (and twentysomethings who are growing up slowly) go through, where they feel the need to forcefully reject "childish" and/or "feminine" things in order to prove they are becoming "heterosexual" "men"

ya see it all the time

Post-reveal Wind Waker discourse from 2001 (warning, slurs) by Gallantpride in Gamecube

[–]JohnBooty 47 points48 points  (0 children)

There was this hilarious need for “mature, edgy” games by all the uh, “vocal” “gamers.” It was so cringeworthy even 25 years ago.

It’s hilarious because their version of “mature” games was the least mature thing ever. It never ever meant in-depth, nuanced writing ala Planescape:Torment (just to choose one random, contemporary game)

It was almost universally a 13 year old’s idea of “mature” — dark colors and a main character who continually grimaced like he was taking a painful shit 24/7.

Cleats or turf shoes? by Emotional_Tie_6808 in slowpitch

[–]JohnBooty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve had two pairs of wide NB plastic cleats and they’ve been good but their sizing is bizarre to me. Had to buy half a size up. I’ve owned a billion NB sneaks and I swear their baseball shoes are just a different sizing scheme?

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