camping_luna_marisa | Recent Entries

Music:
Jazz radio.

A few Gorillaz songs off the first album. Maaybe I listen to the new one soon? I actually need to go back and listen to Plastic Beach again to get a feel for it.

Tatsuro Yamashita - Moonglow
Kaoru Akimoto - Cologne
Been a while since I listened to those two albums on real speakers, was nice.

Anime:
Fun Fun Pharmacy: Still good, way behind the watch-along thread tepidsnake has but still enjoying. I love the low low budget CGI the show uses. Something about the music makes me wish this got an adventure game. I think this show's target age group is lower than what shows I've seen, but It’s so far one of the best kids anime I’ve put on the watch list. It's... how do I put it. It's neat. It's neat in a nice object kind of way. Well made show with interesting details fit in. (Honestly with how on/off the last month has been I've been getting this show in because it's short.)

Cooking videos, trying to get an idea of chinese ingredients to stock up in the pantry since the local places don’t have most of the food I’m craving. Good dim sum is too far, still missing items I want to eat. No good mapo tofu. Somehow, no good pork buns here. I have to learn how to make bao. There will still be things I can’t make, due to impractical ingredient pricing or some flavors still requiring real wok heat.

Game:
Booted up NeoGeo Pocket Color to play some games in bed. Played some Neo Turf Masters Pocket and somehow I’m worse at it on handheld. I think the game is more different than the arcade version than I thought. KoF and other fighters are fun with the click stick. Cotton almost plays well, but because it has a mash to fire shot it can get wobbly in some sitting positions. Too tired for RPGs. Metal Slug 2nd mission I'm still figuring out (read: I'm dying a lot) but need a brighter lamp to play. Maybe need to get a daylight/5000k lamp. (I refuse to IPS swap this system and Nintendo portables.)

Dug out my Wonderswan Color to test out before I set up a computer that talks to my flashcart correctly aaaaand the flash cart corrupted itself oops. Also having that power button issue, which is weird. I can turn it on just fine but can’t turn it off and Start button sometimes works. Anyway, hopefully a reflash is all it needs. Definitely needs a more solid flashcart option. Sorta same with NGPC but it’s way more usable.
Hopefully I can get it working, I do need to load a newer Klonoa patch and the SaGa 1 translation onto it.

Misc:

clothes sizing is hell. Also had to do a ton of clothes shopping. Can't find the right shit.

Current Mood: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Wrist was bad on/off for part of the week. Thankfully got well enough to clean up a bit. Did less drawing than I wanted tho.

Video:

Fun Fun Pharmacy: Still slowly catching up. Still fun. It could just be the mood I’m in but this show is just doing so much little cool well made stuff in a half time slot show?

Music:

Before Masaya Matsuura did nanaonsha (parappa, um jammer vib-ribbon, etc), there was Psy・S with the singer Chaka. Before that there was Playtechs with both of them, which some list as 83, some as 84 or 85. IIRC mostly done with samples and synthesizers. IIRC there’s a ton of Fairlight CMI? There’s some sounds I associate with early/mid 80’s synth pop but also sounds that do not sound out of place alongside late 80’s and 90’s stuff. There’s a few YT uploads of individuals songs and that one album with some other songs on his soundcloud.
To contrast that, I also listened to the album Two Bridges. This was released in 1996 and isn’t just a best hits album, it includes new mixes with added sounds. A bunch of the Psy S albums I own are not the best sounding mixes, all for slightly different dull reasons. This one is a different mix, a different filter, and sounds better on speakers. A lot of changes really make it sound like 90’s music. Guitar track changes and other small synth changes iirc. (I know i’m missing some details, I don’t have a good music vocabulary)

Finally got a proper speaker amp with a good volume knob for my bookshelf speakers. So I also listened to Syrup16g - delayedead, some Polysics, some rock, and jazz fusion I have on hand. The signal was noticeably clearer somehow, I think the previous amp was letting more noise go through maybe? New amp fixed lower volume listening so it’s already a win. I actually pulled the previous amp from the rack with all my old games on it so now I can go put it back so I can play them lol.

Computer:
I have mostly given up on macOS compatibility layer stuff and am trying to find a way to get an AMD gpu. I’ve had too many headaches with nvidia on linux.

Misc:
I feel like I need to write down or record something about my history with scalers and upscan converters. I realized at some point I had been looking at RGB, scan converters, and displays that could receive those signals since 2003. Possibly 02. For basically most of the time I thought of video games as a hobby, and not as a fun thing to play occasionally, I had been looking for higher quality signals. The idea that because composite was common it should be considered most accurate has never sat well with me because I already knew people were talking about ways to get rgb converted to vga because they had an RGB display before 2nd hand PVMs were cheap or available (and then got expensive). It was a computer monitor. Some people even saw DOS or windows games and went "hey, why's it sharper?" Sega PC Sonic games bundle? Yeah, I was asking why it looked better than my cousin's Genesis. I remember asking my dad to find some chips to build a scan converter with me. (We never found those chips on that schematic.) I know of people who got S-Video sets because that was enough of an upgrade over composite.

Not much this time, was a weird week with ups and downs. More errands than usual, too. Had to make up for some supplies we didn't get last month.

Video:

Fun Fun Pharmacy: More episodes in, this looks really good. Like, yes. It does have a budget, simpler anime look to it but they're making everything just look great. The colorful design is perfect.

Momo2 35: Good to seem them using their characters, many return in shots at the start. It is a show about Momo and the people and their dreams in a city. And other places. I still like Mama's design, big round glasses lady. Also this episode seems to be following one of the 2nd Momo designs I like more. (Some episodes she looks a little different, just like the first one. And other cartoons.) This episode is about puppies. And a father son argument. Momo fixes? the problem in a perfectly normal way. By turning into an adult as usual. I think she helped? Aaaa those puppies are cute.

Computers:

Was using an old mac mini I have to try some old stuff on the CRT monitor. That one 2011 model that did come with a mobile radeon. I think something went super hot or super wrong with it cuz it just kept on full on crashing. no input response. macOS side was also running into issues. I basically used it for “will it run?” fun hobby stuff in the past and got used as a lower power draw box for old games. (Sometimes this office can trip the breaker if too many computers are on somehow? Wiring sucks.) It's a mid-era OSX compatibility box, bridges my older macs with new machines should I need to xfer larger files. Will still talk to some accessories made for PPC era OSX. See, after a certain point a bunch of laptop and mobile gpu drivers just pretend everything is an lcd monitor/projector and has custom display modes disabled. Or scales everything. I can't make newer-ish laptops n' such out put a 640x480 game at that resolution. Also, this monitor will get more refresh options on old computers but at some point Windows or the driver just goes “oh, it only works at 75hz or 85hz”. It forgot the era of ranges. The time of drop down menus and sliders.

The reason I plugged it back in was because I couldn’t get WINE and compatibility layer shit on (arm) macOS to run. Get (windows) steam working again, refuses to run the few games I feel like playing on this laptop. Definitely painted myself into a corner with this one. You would think F/SN would just run? nop. probably used to. Or will work if I slap down cash for CrossOver. Also new remaster fate on steam seems to actually use steam drm so I can't just pull it out of the steam folder like some indie shmups and other smaller games I own. But I basically only use this because I can play a few light things on the machine I normally type and watch online video on. Next laptop definitely will be linux.
Also, I had a few older games that are on GoG/Steam that still work in 4:3 and they look nice on CRTs. Also maybe I bought something on another storefront that still came with its original old windows version with dithered 640x480 artwork. That early Windows stuff right after PC98 era ended…. Anyway, Zwei I works at a weird fixed resolution because they didn't make 4:3 aspect a toggle so it only runs in widescreen even though everything was designed for 4:3. sucks for trying to put the nice art on a crt to dodge all that but oh well.

Trying dreamwidth more this year so changing up what blog gets what! Someday I'll sit down and streamline my personal site to go back to updating that regularly, but right now my ancient Dreamweaver install is on a machine that takes too long to get to.

Neck been hurting so also not a lot this week. hard to stay focused when your neck is like "lol have a little soreness" randomly.

Misc:

It took two nights to stop me from deep diving on projectors. It appears 3DLP, 3LCOS are so high end there's barely any lag data. 3LCD is in the consumer zone, but projectors are a wacky world where 50ms is low latency apparently. or 70ms... 1DLP rainbow bothers me, so no good. Don't even get me started on resolution, I'd be fine with lower res but it feels like everyone just expects to scale whatever you input and don't want to treat it like a monitor.

Video:

A bunch of train videos on youtube. Really blah during the day this last week and had some stuff to take care of. Keio has a new train and I kinda like it. The Keio offwhite/cream looks good on it. Some other Japanese routes and obscure stations. A blur of rail transit videos around NA.

Anime:

Started Fun Fun Pharmacy cuz Tepidsnake is watching. I looked it up a year ago and I can't remember why. It could've been because it's a short (half time slot) anime. I think anyone into animation or anime should watch a few of these short ones, even a 3DCG one. A few of those really short 3 or 5 minute ones too. It could've been because of the character designs/designer. So far, still seems fun! I love the color palette here. Also, I too wish I had magic.

Super Cub late thought: There's a bgm that sounds like a song from Chrono Trigger for a little bit. It took me an extra week to figure out what.

Game:

Played a little bit of Tetris Effect to test a display and some audio. Still good, but honestly... it emphasizes what I don't like about the DS5. Accidental directions, a controller that almost feels OK but just feels off in practice. It's Fine when playing Gran Turismo, but like... I'm only using the analogs for that lol. I didn't have a fightstick on hand, but I'm going to be pissed if I now need a PS5 cert stick cuz I paid for the upgrade lmao.

Draw:

uhhh I still feel too shy to upload something. I've literally been too brain fogged to draw faces right. Like, I wasn't GOOD, but they didn't look this awkward before. It feels like I traded less awkward freehand hips for getting worse at faces for a while lol. Ah well, I try to do one small doodle a day at minimum so maybe I'll work thru it.

Anyway, I had a dream. Occasionally during some dreams I see a lady in a window or mirror and it's been vague details. Recently her outfit and hair looked clearer so I tried to draw it. Though, its been fuzzy if it was someone else or a reflection. ah well. After drawing I realized this looked closer to a sona/avatar I've been redesigning but more casual. like a more realistic outfit.

Hey guess waht. I can't focus on games either.

Vampire Survivors:
Been a long time since I booted it up. Played random DLC with the new Castlevania stuff. Those Contra weapons sure are useful but SUUUPER annoying to evolve in other stages or with other characters. I think the unlock stuff is a little tiring. Still lost 6 hours into the night twice playing this. Will play more soon. Julius Belmont is funny here.

Witching Stone:
Puzzle game where you make paths to do damage? SOLD! So I had several really bad runs early on and was about to instant drop it but Noelle's OST kept me going. Like... awkward spell gets and gem boards for three or four runs where I couldn't even beat the first boss somehow. Then I got like 5 good runs then I've been getting some real "lul get fucked" final bosses alongside some meh runs and now I'm taking a break. I think the time investment per run is a little high for me personally. Especially with how game overs can just happen. Had a few where it was clear "I played bad." but some are like "oh, btw. thanks to chance here's the exact counter to anything you could've built. bye" Honestly really fun most of the time but some losses are just me saying "fuck off" quietly at my monitor. Oh and use nice headphones or a speaker setup with something resembling bass.

DEVIL BLADE REBOOT:
Hell yeah finally de-rusted enough to not completely flop before the 1st boss finally. This mayyyy be in part to whatever update, game or driver who knows, just playing nicer with vsync.

ASTLIBRA:
I need to play this more. played the tutorial but then the computer was doing funny things so I'll return to this later.

MOCO MOCO FRIENDS:
Watching people stream Pokemon but booting up a Pokemon game makes me feel a little burnt out still, so I decide to play the 3DS game I regret not turning into a speculative investment. (Don't look up the price. it hurts a lil.) This is not like Pokemon but it is a monster team RPG. All the monsters are little plushies. Super cute. Aesthetically and battle wise feels very simplified for a potential elementary girl audience. This was near peak Yokai Watch era in Japan, after all. However, there's so much kinda bland item grinding stuff that I think some kids would've been fine with but it's just a ton of boring menus. Weird item management. And waiting for animations to finish so you can get to the next dialogue box. There's a tiny hub world and some generated dungeons that remind me more of Shiren but without Shiren/mystery dungeon movement. (No traps either. I should play a shiren.) No interesting places to visit here. This game is fairly slim on stuff to do and lacks variety. Every character is silly cute in a way I like, but honestly the game makes them a little annoying. The localization is "American Otaku" flavored enough I don't know who is this for. The few generic voice clips are Japanese which feels odd for a kids game sometimes. I'm fine with it but there are lines that make me go "heh... wait. Who the heck is this for? These are lines for people who watched subbed anime." Do the kids know "tsundere"? Would they understand these character tropes? Would they understand the things other JP media has filled the gaps in the localization for me? I might fall off this game eventually but I do want to see what it looks like in the end. Poor college student who likes cute stuff would need to REALLY like cute stuff for even its original price to feel okay. It feels like someone went to shave corners for design reasons and then was told to shave more for budget reasons. Unlike 3DS Pokemon, the 3D slider is actually normal performance and is available quite a lot of the time.

Blue Revolver Double Action beta:
Heck yeah. This game is cool. I just need to de-rust on shmups in general. Lots o gameovers. I am just getting hit too much, need to get my eye for bullets back. All the ships feel good. Going to be putting this in a shmup rotation with Batrider and Devil Blade Reboot. And a touhou. gotta have a touhou.

Street Uni X:
Backyard Tony Hawk but for Unicycles. Need more time but it's great. Classic graphics but I think I need to turn off a few of them to reduce motion sickness for me. (Some PS1 games will give me motion sickness, some won't. Spyro 1 will more often than Spyro 2 and 3 somehow.)

White Knight Chronicles I&II:
I have not finished II. The first game is included in the sequel and upgraded! It's a very Level 5 game. The carnival guy is evil. There's always an evil carnival guy. Time travel. Magic with consequences. Also extremely MMO for console. No idea how the online multiplayer was but I'm going to bet it barely touched PSO tier and they were chasing monster hunter quest style. After finishing part I to have a character for part II and to refresh my memory I wanted to take a break after seeing the first bit of II. At this point it feels like the people who should hunt it down are those who want to see one of the largest gaps between the early preview (pre-rendered) trailer and release game, a weird ps3 rpg, or are desperate Dark Cloud 2/Dark Chronicle fans.

Gran Turismo 5 and 6:
Didn't play these when they were new. Got 5 prologue and decided I needed a wheel. Never bought the wheel. Mostly got to fool around and try out cars I'll never buy/import. Been on a car research bit. Wanted a good list of cars to get (used) so that I won't complain as much. Cars kinda suck in the US so I'm throwing a 1st gen prius with better tires around tracks. Just doing all the weird things with cars they don't make anymore. Sport wagons, hatchbacks, sub-compacts. Got a sub 10min nurburgring with multiple minimally tuned early hybrids. Setting lap times with a tuned Odyssey. Driving an old Lexus we probably won't get for insurance reasons. Still don't own the wheel and now just occasionally boot up to set a time at Motegi since it's the one track I've been to. (Also technically part of that Tokyo track, any part based on a Tokyo highway,) Still don't own that wheel. People who say get 6 are right, I got 5 for messing with.

Soulcalibur IIHD, IV, V, VI:
I had that Create-a-Soul urge so I booted up VI. Still hate the rock paper scissors stuff. Meter stuff coulda been better. Finally unlocked Inferno and the bunny suit. Put (I think?) every character in a bunnygirl suit and made genderbent versions for some. Then booted up V. Then played II HD because I couldn't remember how that game felt anymore and it got me into this series. II feels different but honestly I think this series is the reason why I didn't play 3D fighters nor even Capcom 2D games for a while. Or just thought I couldn't learn them for like a decade. The single player stuff and the way characters just handle in general make it hard to figure out where you're going wrong or if it is the game so often. I know people bring up the older games for their "good fighting game single player" but honestly. Some of this stuff is just annoying or gambling. I bought IV cuz I needed the weirdest game in the series. Vader? Yoda? Guest character designers? Honestly if I had to go back for fun It'd be IV. IV doubles down on some stuff I don't like in the series single player stuff, but honestly I think there is something here to be polished into something better.

Megaman X Dive:
Wrote more elsewhere, but just needed to zone out so gacha free version of a mobile gacha worked. Also couldn't get legacy collection 2 to vsync. No, I have not played the X series yet. Nor beaten a Megaman classic. Sometimes I like a robot girl and thats enough to play game.They knew what they were doing designing Rico. Oh yeah, Magical Girl Roll is powerful and that's good.

UFO50:
Not beaten these games, I'm bad at them. These are soooo gooood tho. It really felt like getting 50 new games from 1985-1991. Going to be working through Mini & Max first. I keep on playing when I'm tired so I just mess up a buncha stuff. I think I can relax and play Mini and Max tho.

Parking Garage Rally Circuit:
Need more time but racing around a parking lot is greaaat. Always wanted a game like that.

Victory Heat Rally:
Super fast superscaler style racing game. Really cool. I wish this got more polish. I thought the game was being forgiving because power drift type games can be hard to control but to unlock the last character it actually expects me to Gold medal everything in the game and I can't do it. The difficulty just spiked part way through. Though Grand Prix is easy right up until the end. Some Golds just feel like it's tuned for speedrunners. Expectation of perfect fine control in one of these is just weird. I think I'll fall off this right before the last event because the last character to unlock is gothy and I want to beat the game with gothy and if I can't I just won't. There's already some weird stuff the minute the game adds jumps. There some tracks where most of the CPUs are just exploding. Can't figure out consistently which character is good at what.

YEAH! YOU WANT "THOSE GAMES," RIGHT? 2:
Much better than 1. Still some tough oddballs but was getting through more games in this one.

Next: Back to Void Stranger, maybe pickup a PS2 rpg, X8, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and/or Kitsune Tails. Also some fighters, Castlevanias. Mahvel. I play games at a weird pace so could also be nothing before the end of the year.