u/ArtisticDiscount2802 — reddlx

Why do square waves sound so ethereal?

I don't know if it's just the echo/reverb effect these songs have, but music from older sound chips, in particular, creates this dreamlike feeling I can't explain; I don't know if it's just nostalgia or if it's really the square waves. I like to think about what these songs would sound like in arranged versions, but I can't think of an instrument that could replace these sounds. Can someone explain why this type of wave creates this feeling?

Prologue - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX OST

Zelda Link's Awakening Music - House

Bridge Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit) [OST]

Land of Illusion (Master System PSG) - BGM 02: Title Jingle

Golvellius: Valley of Doom - Overworld 1

Best Sega Genesis Music - Star Cruiser (Main Theme) (This last one also has FM sound, but the square waves are still there)

u/ArtisticDiscount2802 — 2 days ago

▲ 5 r/MAME

What file formats are these? What software can I use to rip them?

I extracted these files from the ROM of the 1993 Air Combat game, from the Namco System 21 board, and I mainly wanted to rip the 3D models. However, a bunch of files with strange formats appeared, like 1A, 3C, 5X, 12E, 4S. Does anyone know if there's any software to view these types of files?

u/ArtisticDiscount2802 — 9 days ago

▲ 9 r/retrogaming

Systems with hardware sprites had a limitation on how many sprites could be displayed on the screen, and also which of these could be displayed in a horizontal line. When there were more sprites than the system could handle, the following sprites were simply discarded in favor of sprites with higher priority. In 8-bit systems this limit was very strict, and therefore it was quite common to have this problem in games of that era. There was a method the developers used to constantly change the priority of the sprites, which generated this flicker effect.

Which games do you remember where this problem was most common or most severe? I remember the original Golvellius for MSX; you couldn't have your character and an enemy on the same horizontal line, or both would start flickering.

reddit.com

u/ArtisticDiscount2802 — 18 days ago