Comment by spicyjpeg | Hacker News Reader

Comment by spicyjpeg | Hacker News Reader

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That post introduced me to both WebGL and reverse engineering back in the day. I remember reading it years ago and asking myself "seriously, is it that easy to do 3D in a browser???". The web as an app platform is not without its issues, sure, but for quick prototyping being able to just write some JS and have instant access to plenty of APIs is awesome.

Last year I decided to finally break out of the browser and get into actual PS1 homebrew. Unfortunately the state of the scene wasn't, and to some extent still isn't, that great: most homebrew games are still made using what's basically a modded version of the original Psy-Q SDK, which is rather limited in many ways. I started contributing to an open-source PS1 SDK instead [1] by first adding a dynamic linker, then revamping the build system entirely and now building a custom high efficiency FMV playback library (totally not inspired by pl_mpeg of course) that combines the hardware accelerated MJPEG-like decoder with the GPU's alpha blending capabilities. I'm also working with a few other people on reverse engineering one of the most famous PS1-based arcade systems, the Konami System 573.

It's a shame the PS1 isn't receiving the attention other consoles are getting in the homebrew scene. The hardware is architecturally simple yet powerful [2], but I guess nobody wants to fiddle with 120mm polycarbonate circles anymore.

[1] https://github.com/Lameguy64/PSn00bSDK [2] https://www.copetti.org/writings/consoles/playstation

I've noticed that too, the PS1 just doesn't seem to inspire the same passion that other popular consoles do. I think it's because most of the top games on it were part of franchises that flowed on to the PS2 and Xbox. Other than Final Fantasy 7-9 and Castlevania SOTN, there's not really that much to do on the PS1 that you can't do better with a sequel on a later console, and even FF7 had a PC release back in its day and now other remakes. And the internet was becoming common by then, so the PS1 never had the "my uncle works at Nintendo" air of mystery.

And from a developer perspective, it's not all that constraining enough to be interesting. It's just low-res and slow. The architectural simplicity works against it. There's not all that much to do by cleverly arranging tiles and sprites or banging hardware registers like on the earlier 2D consoles. And nobody is really going to be impressed by any 3d lighting or animation wizardry that's still going to fall short of what even the N64 can do. The PS1 dominated its market at the time, but that market just moved on to the newer generations rather than capturing much nostalgia.

I don't feel that way. The limitations of the PSX do generate an aesthetic that does invoke strong nostalgia. This includes flaws like texture distortion, wobbly geometry, integer texture filtering and dithering. You may even see it reproduced in indie games, here and there.

I also disagree that there isn't "much to do", many popular games remain exclusives to the PSX and this is reflected in the prices they fetch:

https://www.pricecharting.com/console/playstation

That may be true, but maybe people just want the graphics and nostalgia rather than 120mm polycarbonate circles. For example, check out BallisticNG, or for some horror titles -- Fatum Betula, most games by Puppet Combo, or Compound Fracture (not out yet).

Because once you go 3D, you might as well just go modern 3D.

It's why, amusingly, the PS1 game that is probably the most highly regarded today is a 2D game (Symphony of the Night).

3D games just age like milk and people have no interest in old ones.

This is definitely it and impacts even later games. I've been playing through the Yakuze series and been loving it. Once I got to the oldest non-remastered game, Yakuza 3, I just couldn't get myself to play it. That game came out on PS3 in 2009. Yet graphics and controls made this a pain.

If the look of early 3D doesn't appeal to you, sure. You probably would have had to experience it at the time.

That said, I do feel the mix of 2D sprites and basic 3D that many of the JRPGs (like Xenogears) went for did age well and works best at that resolution, without texture filtering.

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