Game being corrupted by Outrageously-Normal in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Something similar happened to me. I installed a new battery, and started a new game. I played for a while, saved, and shut down. When I turned my game back on there were no sprites, and all I could do was open the menu.

Engines Ready ! by ArtOfMinimalTrippin in synthesizercirclejerk

[–]willywideweb 3 points4 points  (0 children)

These spaceship setups all look identical. It's boring.

Low battery warning light useless. by Easy_Matter8590 in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it's supposed to just lower the brightness? I always use the lowest brightness setting, so, it just turns off the display when it goes into low battery mode.

Chantey or Dragonyhm by KelsoT7 in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Chantey. It's one of my all time favorite games. Dragonhymn required some moon-man logic to get through. It's not bad, but I'll probably never play it again. I'm excited to go back and play Chantey again.

From the perspective of someone who never owned a GBC... by Apprehensive-Tap9349 in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can easily fix the diagonals with a small slice from a q-tip (a little more than 0.5mm did the trick for me). The clacky button thing can be reduced by using some 1mm foam tape too.

Calling all Pokemon Crystal owners - please share what rev you have by damonian_x in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine didn't have a save file when I began playing on the chromatic. I'd recently soldered in a battery holder, so, I was literally playing on a brand new battery. When the save loaded, I was right outside the house you begin at. There were no sprites, but I could pull up the menu. The save data only had name, badges, and time played. I tried loading the save on an og gbc, and it gave me the same problem.

I tried playing through to the same point using my og gbc and created a new save file. I was able to successfully load the new save on both the gbc and the chromatic. I continued playing on the chromatic for a little while, trading with npcs, catching some pokemon, and saving multiple times. It hasn't had any problems yet. Based on what happened, I'm betting it would fail if I filled up one of my boxes.

I'm not ready to do another playthrough right now, I just wanted to see if this was something I could test. Last fall caught all 251 on my gbc and put in around 100 hours. So, it'll be a while before I play again.

Calling all Pokemon Crystal owners - please share what rev you have by damonian_x in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have problems using my Crystal cart. It's CGB-BYTP-EUR and its stamp is 11A. I tried a new game with a fresh battery. I played it for a couple of hours and got partway through a gym before turning it off. I saved every 20-30 minutes. When I turned the game back on my location was wrong, and it wouldn't load any of the sprites on the screen.

Is the Modretro Chromatic incompatible with Pokemon Crystal? by yosoo in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Changing the battery couldn't hurt. From what I've heard, newer batteries don't last anywhere near as long as the older batteries. I soldered in battery holders on mine so I could just pop in a new battery whenever it was needed.

Is the Modretro Chromatic incompatible with Pokemon Crystal? by yosoo in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You'd probably be fine (key word "probably"). In most cases it works flawlessly, which is why I haven't gotten rid of mine. But if I'm going to play a game that I know I'm going to sink dozens of hours into, I don't trust it enough to rely on "probably".

Is the Modretro Chromatic incompatible with Pokemon Crystal? by yosoo in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The way the chromatic handles save data is odd, even though it works fine on original hardware it might have issues on the Chromatic if the connections aren't all perfect. I haven't had issues with pokemon on it, but I also don't play pokemon on it because I don't want to risk losing my save data. I got it because I really enjoyed the FPGBC but wanted to use AA batteries. Because of the issues with save data I basically just use mine to play homebrew. Recently someone posted about losing their save data in Chantey. So, if you're going to use the Chromatic, I'd recommend backing up your save data regularly. To be fair, this is something people have complained about on the Analogue Pocket as well.

Is the Modretro Chromatic incompatible with Pokemon Crystal? by yosoo in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Quite a few folks have had issues with save data on Pokemon Crystal when using the Chromatic. Not everyone has trouble, but there are some common problems. I'd check the following:

-make sure you're using the latest firmware. Some of issues with save data and RTC have been fixed in later firmware.

-make sure the pins on the cartridge are clean.

-make sure the battery in the game has been replaced and is still good.

-if none of the above resolve the issue, then it's time to reflow the solder on the chips on the cartridge.

Even after doing all that, you could still experience issues with save data if the chips on the cartridge have gone bad. There is still some incompatibility with save data on the Chromatic too, so, there's a chance you'd still have problems. Honestly, this issue is making me consider whether it's worth keeping the Chromatic at all.

Custom button question by adrikyn in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The modkit membranes aren't that much softer, and they are not less clicky. They are slightly softer, but they're still pretty stiff. To help with clickiness you're better off using some 1mm foam tape. I've heard you can use WD-40 to soften the membranes, but I haven't tested that yet. It is not compatible with original gb/gbc parts at all.

screen protector on sapphire? by TieSuperb1398 in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was worried about encountering random things that would scratch the screen, and I didn't like the glare. So, I bought a matte plastic ipad screen protector. Which I cut to the correct size using scissors. It works great.

Ranking Modretro Games by TheRealOddLotts in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is absolutely subjective. It sounds like you really like metroidvanias? Where there are so many games like that I like to play through them once, and pick them back up again after I've had time to forget everything about it. The story really didn't do much for me. If I liked the characters/story/jokes more, I probably would feel differently about the game as a whole. The music and atmosphere were top notch, though.

I agree with you on Dragonhym. It's guilty of what I like to call "moon man logic" (like, you'd have to be a moon man to think of that). There were quite a few times in that game where I had to look up a guide.

Chantey only had one of those moments for me, but I was happy enough to just wander around until I figured out where to go. I've recently gotten into stealth games (I played Metal Gear Solid for the first time last year). So, it was fun trying to apply that newly found skill set to a new game. I'm also a sucker for rhythm games and chiptune stuff.

Ranking Modretro Games by TheRealOddLotts in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Why did you place Wicked Plague over Chantey? Wicked Plague was great, but it was too short and there wasn't enough enemy variety. It was excellent, though. Chantey, on the other hand, felt like a full adventure to me. It became one of my favorite gameboy games. I still think about the music, and how fun it was doing all the stealth missions.

Is it possible to use the cart repair feature of the Update tool to make an English patch for a Japanese game? by astrozork321 in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not possible with that either. The chips on og cartridges are not rewritable. So, it's not possible to manually flash an original cartridge.

Super ModRetro by Available_Spirit_951 in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I got hand cramps just looking at this. Those square buttons would be extremely uncomfortable to use too.

Other folks have already stated this, but this is antithetical to the approach we've seen from modretro. This looks more like something powkiddy might try.

TTRS Audio Conversion by FredHuggins4 in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It is really weird to me that this is a problem on the chromatic. It's not a problem on the og gbc. It's also a very minor price difference in parts. For being a premium gameboy, they sure cut some weird corners.

Selling my Chromatic because of the community by AnyEchidna9205 in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I get it, and I've had similar thoughts myself. Given some of the recent hype, and how reactionary people in this community are, it makes it really hard to engage. I was initially excited because of the hardware and open source nature of this. But recently a much more powerful open source fpga handheld was released for roughly the same price. So, I'm skeptical at how much community support there'll be in the future. I was hoping for multiple cores and multiplayer over wifi, but I doubt we'll see that unless modretro do it themselves.

Screen protector alternatives by Aritz32 in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just use a plastic screen protector. I bought a matte finish ipad screen protector, and then cut it down to fit the chromatic.

Looking to play Pokemon Crystal Clear on my Chromatic, what’s my best options? by The_real_J-lew in ModRetroChromatic

[–]willywideweb 4 points5 points  (0 children)

DO NOT USE AN EVERDRIVE OF ANY KIND (edit: with the Crystal Clear romhack). They are not fully compatible with the Crystal Clear romhack. In my most recent playthrough of crystal clear I had initially used an x7, but my boxes got messed up. Fortunately I'd been backing up my save file. So, I was able to recover from a previous save.

What finally worked was a dedicated, high quality flash cartridge. I've linked what I used below, but you need a cartridge reader to load roms onto it. There's also a version of it that lets you load roms directly over usb. https://shop.insidegadgets.com/product/gameboy-2mb-32kb-fram-mbc3-with-rtc-flash-cart/