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What is this release of Ikaruga ??
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2024 7:43 am
by madmatt30
Proud owner of a dreamcast and a gdemu.
This is concerning something else though.
I also own a pndoras box ex2.It came preloaded with some DC titles the majority of most run terribly but Ikaruga runs oerfectly.
It is DC based as it has the splash screens etc but the backgrounds in game are full 4 x 3 and have much more detail .
horizontal mode 1
Horizontal mode 2
Makes the game seem way more interactive to me.
Been trying to replicate this with emulators and on the DC itself but to no avail.
This 'has' to be a different release ?? I can drag files from the box but they're encrypted in some way so there is no way of playing it on an emu or on the dreamcast itself - just produces errors .
I would love this version running on original sega hardware but can't find it anywhere - is there any other release apart from the official Japanese one ?
Apologies if in the wrong forum area but I'm new here.
Regards , Matt.
Re: What is this release of Ikaruga ??
Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2024 3:16 pm
by dark
I can't really tell from the pics, but if it "looks" better than on the DC, then the emulator is probably pumping out the video display in a higher resolution.
As far as being able to see more than the small viewing area, I have seen people come up with 16x9 widescreen hacks (gameshark/codebreaker codes) to allow more visible screen area. I don't know if this is a 16x9 hack per se, but it doesn't seem far fetched that someone could find the variables associated with the screen resolution and then make a code that would modify it for Ikaruga. There are ways to have that be part of the game on bootup as well. I think a few of the PC-based dreamcast emulators might have options for expanded video display too, so I bet these options could explain that.
When you move your ship, are you able to go to the far edges of the screen, or do you hit an invisible barrier a couple inches away from the screen edge, where the 3x4 edge would be? If its a gameshark/codebreaker code changing the visible screen area, you should still be hitting an invisible barrier where the original narrower screen barrier would be.
Re: What is this release of Ikaruga ??
Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2024 9:21 am
by madmatt30
dark wrote: ↑Mon Oct 14, 2024 3:16 pm
I can't really tell from the pics, but if it "looks" better than on the DC, then the emulator is probably pumping out the video display in a higher resolution.
As far as being able to see more than the small viewing area, I have seen people come up with 16x9 widescreen hacks (gameshark/codebreaker codes) to allow more visible screen area. I don't know if this is a 16x9 hack per se, but it doesn't seem far fetched that someone could find the variables associated with the screen resolution and then make a code that would modify it for Ikaruga. There are ways to have that be part of the game on bootup as well. I think a few of the PC-based dreamcast emulators might have options for expanded video display too, so I bet these options could explain that.
When you move your ship, are you able to go to the far edges of the screen, or do you hit an invisible barrier a couple inches away from the screen edge, where the 3x4 edge would be? If its a gameshark/codebreaker code changing the visible screen area, you should still be hitting an invisible barrier where the original narrower screen barrier would be.
There is indeed an invisible barrier , if you look at the top screenshot (horizontal mode 1) only the centre portion is playable , the second screenshot (horizontal mode2) just removes the black bars seperating the 3 screens.
The enemy ships however do fly out of the Central area right to the edges of the visible screen . The rendered background video also is not stretched , its actually rendering and showing extra stuff onscreen.
But yeah , playability wise from a practical standpoint it's no different at all , it just looks better with the extra screen real estate imo.