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Cake day: November 21st, 2024

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  • I did find something which did use CRT effects. However the Dosbox Staging one is still a bad one. Elder Scrolls Arena.

    With.

    Without.

    I will make the edit clarifying the mistake.

    However it does not change that the others do not use the effects (there is no indication the pixels in might and magic book one were for the CRT effects, unlike here. The pixels in Might and Magic Book One are also too sharp), and the problem has always, and solely, been the title of the post and nothing more.

    And as I stated it is not too much of a problem for me, already. Not something I cannot ignore.


  • No-CRT filter screenshots that I have available. I do not have screenshots for the CRT filter. I suppose I could boot up and try to put the filter for this one; I have Heroes 2 installed too but it is currently a pre-configuration I do not want to mess with in case I possibly mess it up. It feels like a pain to do so though as I’m already occupied for the day, and would like my PC time to, you know, play. Since this is unrelated to help requests, in which case I may have made time for it (I’d usually do it in the past, but not for a while).

    Edit: Changed No CRT to No-CRT for clarity


  • Which one? There a dozens commonly used ones

    Dosbox Staging has one CRT filter which is the one I’ve used. The town wall graphics (edit: In might and magic book one) get completely messed up with it. It is possible the bad effects for each of the 4 games mentioned was caused by a bad CRT filter.

    That said it would’ve been better to include screenshots which do use the CRT filter. I have played all 4 of these games with and with Dosbox Staging’s CRT filter and they all have had black lines obscuring the screen. Not having it enabled, on the other hand, the games looked like these screenshots.




  • Might and Magic Book One does not. Heroes of Might and Magic 2 does not. Carmageddon does not. Elder Scrolls Arena does not. (It does, the pixels are designed for CRT effects but the Dosbox staging filter adds black lines to the game still).

    I played them. With the filter. That’s where I got the idea from.

    Edit: These are pre-2000’s games, sure. It isn’t big enough of a problem for me anyway, I can ignore the title.


  • “You’re emulating retro games wrong” is not the best title. For example, Dosbox Staging enabled the CRT filter by default at some point; there is no graphical interface, you need to open a file and change a line to revert it. Moreover, there was no indication that the black lines were not a bug but were a filter.

    Playing DOS games on operating systems which do not support DOS programs natively is still emulation. However, the number of DOS games which utilised CRT effects are much fewer such that I primarily played DOS games in 2022–23 and none of them made use of CRT. However, the black lines were enabled till I figured it out (because there were no support requests surprisingly, and the default filter being changed was mentioned in an unrelated request regarding bad performance issues—where it was made known and the recommendation was made to change the setting).

    The (slight) problem is with the title itself. It is not a big issue for me, but the statement made in the title is the problem because it is only in a comment that it was mentioned not all old games use CRT effects. Clickbait might not be the best word for describing the situation, but the title will be annoying for many who play old games which were not designed for CRT effects. But then, it is not a big problem and I more or less ignored it (to be clear, for being wrong as far as the title itself goes) before seeing this thread. It would’ve been better to state directly instead that many old console games and games of the adventure genre, among others, were designed with these filters in mind and for practical reasons (like actually having the graphics show what they were meant to show) because like in your other comment that specific scene does not show the background at all without the effect, and it will be a fairly common occurrence for games which were designed to use the CRT effect.

    Edit: spelling


  • Yeah, I’m at 1080p and have usually not had any issue with the games I’ve wanted to play. From Might and Magic Book One (1986) to Monster Hunter World/Iceborne. But I’m very selective with the games I play—usually do not tolerate bugs or unnecessarily resource intensive ones where it would’ve needed a lot less for the same thing with more care taken.








  • The problem stated here is an extreme oversimplification of an already extreme oversimplification, but at least it covers some individuals and political entities doing horrible things. As for any actual solution, it is punishable under the law for hurting religious sentiment, is going to attract the hatred of all who are not the most powerless (from every religion and group) for disrupting the economic way of life, and is going to attract the attention of the countless Trump-size trolls in the country (a popular example). In addition to that, it is going to attract the ire of those persons who feel that making India the next China is the solution to countering China. The population is no more than a resource in a classified labour intensive region, however flawed the system may be, and capital intensive is not as simple as it sounds. The whole country depends on the existence of a powerless segment, and parts of the world depend on those in the country who depend on the existence of a powerless segment.

    In other words, get ready for many people with a vested interest in the cruel structure of the country to treat you like the most evil person in the world.

    Oppressed communities also have a tendency to oppress a segment of their own, so you will have those who believe that every oppressed side is composed of saint-like persons will also be against you—in this world where it is common to choose a ‘lesser evil’. It goes without saying that the oppression itself is unacceptable, of course.

    That is on a large scale. On an individual scale, those who does not follow the principle of harming others for personal gain are seen as fools, and as easy targets for harming for personal gain. It doesn’t matter how nice a person is, behind the niceness is usually hidden this acceptance. I would say that such persons who refuse to harm, however indirect the harm may be, are not fools but idiots who refuse to understand such a way of living which is dependent on cruelty. And I will continue to be such an idiot. If anyone is a fool, it is the persons with those acceptances. They mess around so much because they aren’t happy. And the most unfortunate cases are ones who try to co-operate with the ones who would harm them with the hope of reduced hostility, rather than wholly refuse to co-operate with them. Maybe even grouping up to pressurise rebelling forces to not disrupt the plans of the group. That said, the oppression itself does not get the slightest bit of justification. The attitude to harm another for gain is unacceptable to me.

    The current problem is a combination of multi-layered vested interest in cruelty, embarrassment even within the country over admitting to the occurrence of such a thing, and naivety which enables the hand which oppresses oneself—rather than denying it the aid it needs to do such a thing. In other words, political reliance mentioned in the article for the starving village was probably part of the problem rather than an improvement. If you are not respected as a human, you do not improve the situation by contributing to the functioning of those who were oppressing you. The situation seems no different from a group which had outlived its usefulness, and I think it is probably what happened. It is a horrible possibility which the vested interest group would have more interest in not knowing than not having it happen. What actually happened will be buried under layers of politics due to the embarrassment I mentioned before. Deducing things is the best one can do to know what happened. However, interested persons can also put in work to solve the problems faced by the village if they desire.

    Accepting accusations of being the worst human being around at the moment now…



  • Cool. I could still get Baba is You at some point, and I’ve never played a Zachtronics game before.

    I do know one game which 95% meets all conditions put—Heroes of Might and Magic 3’s base game without mods so far. The game has a ‘fan’ trap where they tell just about everyone that a popular mod is either the definitive or best way to play. I played that first. I later played without mods, it was many times more complex and somehow better balanced. I felt abusive because the mod, at that particular time, had a first time load screen which claimed the original makers did not know what they’re doing—and merely stating anytime that you prefer it without mods would incite open hostility from many, even when no reference was made to the horrible methods used. The game itself, however, fully utilises having practical knowledge and using it to strategise which method you’ll use against your enemies (for example counter attack, drain their armies and resources, or simply charge at them with full freedom of how to go there and to adapt) and giving you freedom with hundreds of possible strategies to play with, and the game involves the simulation of choosing any side who range between the most evil to the lesser evils all fighting each other as similarly minded factions (and doesn’t really play into the harm of civilians in the game itself). There is something really enjoyable about it even if some maps could last 10 hours at a moderate pace, and even longer if you simulate a show of force with complete map domination and capture (which can be useful when you can carry over the hero levels to the next map, which is stated beforehand).

    I’m playing this currently. I’m also looking into the enjoyability of wholesome sexual content, and the enjoyability of the comedic evasion of characters from people who want to do sexual acts with them but which will only lead to trouble later. But these come later and not from games.


  • There are ways to mitigate this.

    • Interact with software which had more to do with people doing technical work rather than being involved in ‘business’ or ‘employment’.
    • Reject the trend of legitimacy and embrace practicality.
    • Simply do not co-operate with the entities doing these things. This thing in particular works even in the most hopeless seeming situations. Also, casually disobey.
    • Move towards being more and more technically skilled yourself. It does not necessarily have to be with computers, if you prefer not to. You will find yourself not dependent on anything in an absolute manner, and these organisations will lose out on one more user they need to survive—because they work that inefficiently with their already less effective methods of operation.