Learning Pixel Art

[Sock Puppet]

I like the background. Very classic Mega Man.

[Theoretical Observation]

Originally Posted by Sock Puppet

I like the background. Very classic Mega Man.

I got into platformers though the itch.io bundle for racial justice and equality. I haven't played a Mega Man yet. There are a ton of ROMs. Which do you recommend?

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

YouTube should have many play through channels. I have no Megaman recommendation.

[Ari]

In rom form with modern emulator magic there isn’t as serious of a learning curve as on original NES although I would still recommend MegaMan 2 as where to start.

MegaMan I is difficult, extremely so when you had to do the whole thing in one play through. Megaman 2 added both a password system and health refill as well as a larger selection of secondary weapons.

The basic concept is that you can pick the stages to play in any order, as you defeat a robot boss you gain their power as a secondary weapon. While I think you can go through the whole thing with the blaster, each boss falls extremely fast to one of the other bosses’s powers so there is a best order the levels should be done in.

It’s also classic 8-bit music,

Nes Mega Man 2 Soundtrack - YouTube

[Sock Puppet]

Yep, Mega Man 2 is the one to start with. My favorite of those is probably 5. Of the SNES series, I believe it was #7 that was fun as hell as well as wretchedly adorable.

[Theoretical Observation]

For decades, I've been way more into pinball than video games. I've only recently tried the NES and have only been playing homebrew. I tried Mega Man 2, 5, and 7. I've learned that video gamers today might be a little soft. I wish there was a way to skip the dialog in 7. It's even long on fast forward. I don't need to read a hack story. I need to be dropped into the action. I'll figure out the rest. Instructions are for Intellivision. I don't understand the need for cut scenes either.

[viscousmemories]

Yeah, I get that some game designers are more into telling a story than providing a fully interactive experience but I get bored quickly with cut scenes too. I want to say I found the most recent version of Uncharted unplayable for that reason, despite loving the previous iterations of the franchise.

I played some pinball as a teen (in the 80's) but always preferred video games. That being said I would pay good money for a playable Eight Ball Deluxe machine. (But not 5-10k which is what they seem to go for on the rare occasions they pop up on the market!)

[Theoretical Observation]

I grew up around people who said things like, "Quit talking and start chalking." I'm an HSP, so they bullied me. That's why I didn't play that table. I did have a refurbished, by my father, Lucky Strike in my den when I was a kid.

[Theoretical Observation]

I was employed as a 3D CGI artist in the 80's by someone who was developing tech to record animation on 3/4 tape. 3D and the ad world felt cold to me. I left and then turned down another job offer. I just couldn't imagine living my life on cocaine in virtual reality.

[Ari]

Shhh no one tell em about quick time events!*

Back in the day being a playable movie was the dream, then we got them and everyone realized what a nyquil induced fever dream they were, and full screen multi color animations were both new and technically hard to do (a bit how classic 8-bit music probably sounds hissy and chunky because the tech limited the channels and waveforms.)

But yes, forced cut scenes are the worst especially if you’ve already sat through them several times.

*

show spoiler

QTEs are cut scenes that check your attention to by making you hit a button some time during them or they will insta-kill your character and restart the cutscene.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Originally Posted by Ari

But yes, forced cut scenes are the worst especially if you’ve already sat through them several times.

This could be resolved by making the cutscene more dramatic after each viewing.

Slow the scene 10% with each play through.

[viscousmemories]

I remember when this insanely frustrating game came out. It was beautiful and "cutting edge" but I could never get very far and it seemed like an insane waste of tokens to hit a few buttons while watching a cartoon I could never afford to finish.