Improvements to Retro Games

As someone who dabbles in indie shit and ROM hacking, and designs pen-and-paper games, I think about this sort of thing a lot. Actually, my ideas for and criticisms of retro games usually end up being the inspiration for future projects. Beyond ROM hacking, there's nothing I can do to "improve" upon an existing game, so it makes more sense to design a new game after a fashion.

Anyway, what I usually want to see in retro RPGs is more sidequests or post-game content. Very early RPGs like FF1 or FF2 really didn't have anything along these lines, and it wasn't until those god-awful GBA ports came along that they finally got some (shitty) post-game dungeons. It would have been nice if the original development team had come up with their own ideas and implemented them back in the day, not Square Enix and its gutted staff shoehorning misfit content 20 years down the line for the sake of a quick cash-in.

Once I've cleared a game 100%, it's difficult for me to pick it up again, so randomized content *can* be a good idea in theory, but it needs to be executed in a way that basically isn't half-assed like the aforementioned FF ports were.

So, to throw an idea out there, maybe it would be interesting to see Final Fantasy with a loot system similar to Diablo, where random items with random magical properties can be dropped. Square tried a similar maneuver with the Chocobo's Dungeon series, and I think the execution worked out pretty well. Aside from finding items of random quality, you could also forge and upgrade your equipment, going as far as to customize things like elemental affinities and unleashed skills.

Jrpg
>speed up fast forward battles.
>faster dialogue. Or less dialogue.

Save anywhere, and has a separate auto-save file.

A function/button on every controller to have an anywhere hip hop airhorn.

https://youtu.be/I4sc9rv_bNY

>>2916994
Shemue's best feature is turning off Shenmue.

File: dcstandbig.gif (35KB, 502x377px) Image search: [Google]

35KB, 502x377px

>>2917392
And the PS2s best feature is that it is a convenient, if expensive, Dreamcast stand.

>>2917409
Shit yeah.

I love the dreamcast. I just hate Shenmue.

>>2917409
good old uk resistance

I would have liked it if super metroid used the GBA game's control method. In particular, holding the shoulder button to go from beam to missiles. Just having all the special weapons in a linear list that you have to cycle through could've been done better. There's probably a hack that does this, for all I know.

>>2917429
There's a romhack that does just that, look it up

>Wario Land 3
>don't need to get all of the music coins in one run
>AND THE REWARD ISN'T A FUCKING GOLF COURSE

Alien Solider - Supernormal difficulty

>>2916994
>I'm on my second playthrough of Shenmue right now and I'm taking it much more slowly.
It gets slower?

Shenmue is a terrible game, I really regret buying it.

Maybe my expectations for it were too high..., seriously what's the point of having highly detailed enviroments if they are barely interactive? 98% of the items you can get are completely useless, and sure each character in the game has their own routine but that's it, I expected every character in the game to have their own lenghty sidequest where I could meet them better and have some interesting story to them or character development...

I expected dialog choices...

I expected multiple endings...

I expected romancing options with Nozomi...

I expected a memorable timeless soundtrack...

And don't let me even start on that voice acting...

The controls are the terrible, the "controls are perfect for this kind of game" argument is a complete lie...

I'm sorry I'm just mad at myself for being so hyped before I started to play the game, It is definitely not the masterpiece I had heard It was, its just a "hit or miss" game...

Add SNES Mouse support into games it would have been great for, like the SimCity games, or the sim part of Actraiser. Too bad Actraiser and SimCity came out before the SNES Mouse was released. At least they could have added Mouse support to Aerobiz Supersonic.

A 3D world worth really exploring and a level of complexity on par with Cataclysm in the old DOS game The Terminator. It wasn't a terrible game, just kinda meh, but if it had those two features it would be 10/10.

Romhacks have already done it, but put the save feature back into Metroid, and let you carry both ice and wave at the same time.

Give DuckTales a better final boss fight.

Remove the timer holdover from the arcade from the SMS port of Wonder Boy in Monster Land.

Redbook audio full orchestra FF6 soundtrack.

Far more sidequests and variety to jobs in the mega drive/genesis Shadowrun. And some better fucking balance so the grind isn't as horrible.

>>2916994
I would like to rework the graphics of nes Castlevanias.
A save feature for your own levels in battle city and excite bike. Could be a password system.
More varied and polished finishers for Mortal Kombat 3 series.
Change the turning button into a jumping button and make turning auto for Mortal Kombat Mithologies.
Mouse support for graphic adventures
>>2917021
This.

Non-skippable cutscenes, especially right before a difficult boss fight.

>>2916994
Remove save point in retro RPGs.
It's a obnoxious concepts that only degrades the quality of the game, you should be able to save whenever and wherever you are.
I especially hate it in the late retro FF and most fifth gen console RPGs since it's pretty evident they're supposed to add another layer of difficulty that doesn't actually do anything because the games are already easy. What's the point of making me fight tons of worthless fights before I'm able to save? The only thing worn out at the end is my patience.

>>2917498
It is a masterpiece. But if you were expecting Mass Effect, oh boy of course you were fucking wrong about it.

>>2916994
Add support for 144fps and higher.
Increase resolution, even if it means "misaligning" pixel art, because motion quality depends on spatial resolution too unless you quantize all movement to integer pixels per frame, which is very limiting for game design.
Remove all time wasting (load times, unskippable cutscenes, scene transition animations, letter by letter text display, etc.).
Eliminate farming (random drops, grinding respawning enemies).
Add time limits.
Add difficulty selection, where "easy" is really genuinely easy (for casuals, and elderly/disabled people), "hard" is a challenge even for people who think they're good at gaming, and "impossible" or "nightmare" is like DDP:DOJ.
If you allow arbitrary saving, design the game such that you don't need it (eg. no unlucky instakills from enemy crits like in Fallout 1/2), and add an "Ironman" mode to disable saving other than save and quit.
Add cooldown/invincibility frames to set an easily reachable ceiling on button mashing, eg. 8Hz, and favor timing precision over mashing. Never reward extended mashing. People literally injure their hands playing mashing heavy games like Contra (NES), this is not fun.
Option to disable voice acting if any, and enable subtitles.
Remove all trap options in character customization (eg. useless skills in RPGs) unless they are clearly labeled as challenge options.
If it's 3D, always provide an option to set FOV. Some people get motion sickness if it's wrong, and correct value depends on your screen and viewing position as well as personal preference.

>>2916994

I would add time travel to every game ever made. Regardless of pre-existing plot or game mechanics.

>>2917498
You were expecting a modern game.

>>2918034

I would add support for a peripheral (of my own design). It would fit around the tip of any adult erect penis (child and asian sizes would be available at no additional cost, but there would be a $5 surcharge for extra-large angry black person sizes). It would function a lot like the NES lockout chip, only it would depend on contact with the end of your cock. It would have been marketed as a fashion accessory, to be worn while gaming proudly.

>>2918034
>>>/v/

>>2918043

I would force Nintendo to publish Naked Headless Mario vs the Dick Nazis as a legit licensed first-party game, optionally tying it in to established modern-day Mario canon and lore.

>>2918040
That's what's kinda funny about Shenmue. Reading such feedback makes me think people do not realize the game was released in 1999 - players seem to be judging it as if it was a 2005-ish game that aged a bit.

>>2918060

Imma take a break from shitposting to say that this guy is 100% right.

File: dscf6022.jpg (479KB, 1028x772px) Image search: [Google]

479KB, 1028x772px

>>2918034
>People literally injure their hands playing mashing heavy games like Contra (NES)
What are turbo buttons?

>>2918071
>What are turbo buttons?
An endless source of shitposting about whether they are cheating or not. Fix the problem at the source.

>>2918060
Good thing it wasn't shit then and still isn't shit now

>>2918073
Well, I remember game magazines contained game controls with Turbo buttons, so I don't think they can be considered as cheating in famiclone countries.

>>2917498
Wow... You really love... To use your elipses... Damn...

In all seriousness, going into Shenmue expecting the 2006-onward standard of dialog trees and multiple endings (no matter how shitty the dialog or how lazy the endings), of course you'll be let down. Hell, as the OP I wish there was more flavor dialog for world building, but it'd ruin the game's charm if it were just like Mass Effect.

In regards to the voice acting, if you went into Shenmue not knowing about the voice acting (or at least the fact there's an undub that replaces it with the Japanese voice clips), then that's your problem. As far as I can see, it's an interactive poorly-dubbed martial arts drama movie, and that's awesome.

No character development or interesting story? Fuck you. Did you even beat the game?

The soundtrack isn't timeless? Fuck you. It fits the tone of the game perfectly.

Shitty controls? Fuck you, you're doing it wrong. You're supposed to apply pressure to the left trigger to adjust your walking speed and steer with the D-pad, and that works fine. If you're unable to adapt to a control scheme that isn't just like a more popular game, then retro games probably aren't the hobby for you.

>>2917420
Has there been a website to fill the void? The archives don't even work properly any more.

>>2918176
No.

The world is just clickbait and screaming YouTubers now.

Would death be any worse?

>>2918060
Defender is shit now, though. Many games were good in their time but are shit now. Like most Atari games, or NES adventure games.

>>2918304
>Defender is shit now
It's not. It's nearly perfectly designed. It's fast paced and it requires you to keep track of a lot of information at once. Despite being simple, all the various parts interact in varied ways to make playing it well complicated. There are no Atari home console games anywhere near as good.

>>2916994
I like this, as someone who's playing for the first time (last I played I finally found some sailors), I find it bothersome that I can't go eat at restaurants or talk to people about their business or other things. A big part of that unfortunately is due to dialog, they just can't have enough VA to warrant that kind of thing, and sadly that means the only way to really get 'shenmue' interaction/immersion levels is to add a crapton of more VA, at no doubt high cost. The game already cost absurd money so I can see why they didn't do it, but it does bum me out that I can't actually get a hot dog or buy some flowers for Ine-san. Makes me feel like a NEET when I spend an entire afternoon in the arcade waiting for the bars to open.

>>2917438
Now we just need a total rebuild that stops the game from operating in moon gravity.

>>2917528
>redbook audio ff6

Sounds like a job for the Super CD!

>>2918000
I can agree, games should only force certain location saves if they carry the failure punishment to warrant their value.

>>2918040
I dunno, with how much it's hyped and hyped again I can see why they'd be disappointed. Like I said earlier in this thread, I am really impressed and enjoying it for how incredibly immersive I find it to be, but at the same time I am disappointed that it's not as deep as I expected.

I'm curious how Yu plans to rise to the challenge with 3, now that 15 years of games have come out following Shenmue's example. Still really skeptical about how it will be possible to make without a fountain of money coming in from all sides. Is Sony paying him to keep working now or is it still just ickstarter?

>>2918359
Oh, being able to buy flowers for Ine-san or Nozomi would be a great addition. It'd also be neat if you could plan get-togethers with your friends or dates with Nozomi over the phone and choose where to hang out. I feel as if a lot of these ideas are right up Yu Suzuki's alley, but you're right about the budget already being too rediculous to add such features in. I also wish you could alter the plot and go full NEET mode and just bum around Yokosuka with your friends and not avenge your dad, but that's just my style.

>>2917409
Heh, I remember using my PS2 as both a Dreamcast AND Gamecube stand.

>>2918392
>Is Sony paying him to keep working now or is it still just ickstarter?
He's getting cash from Sony. The kickstarter campaign was never big enough to fully fund a game of that level of ambition, and was simply used for free cash and to gauge audience anticipation.

A lot of people on the internet cried foul when they heard that it was going to be funded regardless of the kickstarter, but they're a bunch of mouth breathing numbskulls. The kickstarter goal was so small that it should have been obvious when coupled with the fact that it was announced at Sony's presentation. Plus, the kickstarter rewards included discounts on the game, so I'm not sure what all the bitching was about.

>>2918113
To his credit, it took me a while to figure out the hold L bit myself.

I think it would be better if the dreamcast controller didn't suck ass. They should have just made it more or less identical to the Saturn 3D pad.

Right analog stick camera control for the PS1 Spyro games.

Be able to aim with the C-buttons for N64 fps, so control them like a modern game on an emulator and Xbone controller.

>>2916994
An option to skip time like Shenmue 2. I like Shenmue but there's TOO MUCH WAITING. I can't even play Space Harrier this long before getting bored

>>2918397
That's starting to turn more into a tabletop game at that point, isn't it? I agree that it would be cool, though in a different game perhaps so as not to feel like we are abusing the character of Ryo by doing things out of line with how he 'should' behave.

That's one neat thing I like about the game, is how Ryo's character can be defined through in-game actions, but it still sticks to how he 'should' be overall. That's what I would like about the enhanced interactivity, you could further define him as a character, like say, deciding that Ryo's favorite food is ramen, and going to the shop all the time.

I can practically see it in my head which is what's most disappointing. Like I can see how it could be done and hear what it would look like/how they would say the dialogue, just there's no way to really realize it now. I guess you could attempt a massive mod of the game, a total overhaul with hours upon hours of new voice acting, tons of new models and setpieces, etc. It'd be a hell of a task but it could be possible. Probably not as a simple game hack, more like an HD remake.

>>2918654
You can more or less do that even on original N64 games, provided you don't mind moving with C buttons and aiming with left stick. That's the only way to play IMO, but at the same time my right thumb is retarded when handling anything that isn't a button.

>>2918625
Emulate and you can use whatever controller you want.

>>2918182
Sucks. That site gave me the humour I was missing after Digitiser finished.

>>2918683
You can also set it up so that you're holding the N64 controller mirrored (left hand on left prong, right hand on middle prong) and use the actual d-pad for movement and the analogue stick for aiming. Hitting A and B is actually not hard at all (you just pull your thumb back) and in FPS games these buttons aren't used for much besides stuff like switching guns anyway.

That's how I play goldeneye

File: frame-perfect-jump.png (675B, 96x96px) Image search: [Google]

675B, 96x96px

>>2918034
This is a great list. I want to add a few.

Get rid of entropy sources like unassigned memory locations or system clock.
Provide nonlinear projections for field of view options.
Release developer kits with source code and other assets.
Remove mandatory frame-perfect tricks (as seen here).

>>2918815
I know that one too, but I personally like having my right thumb closer to the A/B buttons. Sometimes I even hit those with my finger in a claw-esque grip.

Also I can't use analogs with my right thumb, pretty much not at all. One of the main reasons I don't play a ton of console games past 6th gen, as the games that don't need to use it grow very slim in numbers after that.

>>2918815
I've tried these alternate control schemes before but muscle memory stops me playing any other style than 1.1 Honey.

>>2917016
>post-game content
no such thing

>>2917016
>cleared a game
That's your problem

>>2917021
You're effectively suggesting to remove genre-defining aspects. Maybe the genre just isn't for you.

>>2917979
>I would like to rework the graphics of nes Castlevanias.
You're still limited by NES hardware restrictions (3 colors per sprite tile, 4 colors per background tile, 64 fixed colors for anything and everything). Good luck.

>>2918000
>you should be able to save whenever and wherever you are
Only if you can restore a save state exactly once, and then it's invalidated. Death to save scumming.

>>2918034
>Add support for 144fps and higher.
That should go really well on engines coded to specific framerates

>"misaligning" pixel art
If you're don't doing you're graphics to the resolution of the output system you're doing hipster retro.

>even if it means "misaligning" pixel art, because motion quality
"motion quality" means fuckall when things don't move.

>time wasting
It's called pacing

>Eliminate farming
Yeah, fuck variable difficulty and player balance. Because balancing these games isn't difficult enough already.

>Add difficulty selection
Wrong direction, dude. Difficulty settings are the developers admitting defeat, their inability to actually produce a good game.

>no unlucky instakills
Don't like luck in games of chance? Maybe don't play games of chance then.

>disable saving other than save and quit.
That should be the default stance on saving, when developing a game. Force the player to deal with consequences. Otherwise decisions and luck in the game are meaningless, and may as well be removed.

>disable voice acting
Just no

>enable subtitles
That's an accessibility feature

>useless skills in RPGs
Your opinion is not representative

>>2918871
>Get rid of entropy sources
Can't handle luck? Part of luck based games is the player turning the odds in their favor. Doesn't mean the risk of failure, no matter how small, should be eliminated. A good hero's journey is not just the sum of their skills, but also their decisions, and a bit of luck.

>Provide nonlinear projections for field of view options.
Yeah, fuck math and reality

>Release developer kits with source code and other assets.
Got nothing to do with games. It's also a bit of a rude stance towards the developer.