Let's imagine: MYST on the Lynx

[Ninjabba]

That brings us to a whole different topic.. when can we expect a mouse that operates over comlynx?

[sage]

there is keyboards which works over cartridge slot, what else do you want?

[LordKraken]

4 hours ago, agradeneu said:

Not a good choice of a game for the Lynx. First, it's on 1000 systems. Second, its not that great. Third, it's surely not a great game for a handheld console that lacks a mouse.   

Hmm well... so many reasons to why IT IS interesting  Weird ports than nobody expect nor wait

[TheDevil'sCompass]

10 hours ago, LordKraken said:

Try that one if you dare

 

 

 

Here you go:

 

[JagChris]

Wait are guys actually converting Myst images to Lynx format? Hell this port should be done by Christmas ?

[TheDevil'sCompass]

1 hour ago, JagChris said:

Wait are guys actually converting Myst images to Lynx format? 

Essentially, yes. The images are reduced to 160x102 and then the colors are reduced to 16. As @karri pointed out, more processing of the images can yield different/better results. Some of the noise can be cleaned up manually afterwards if desired. Hand retouching the images could also bring out details that get lost in the conversance.

[JagChris]

10 minutes ago, TheDevil'sCompass said:

Essentially, yes. The images are reduced to 160x102 and then the colors are reduced to 16. As @karri pointed out, more processing of the images can yield different/better results. Some of the noise can be cleaned up manually afterwards if desired. Hand retouching the images could also bring out details that get lost in the conversance.

Any chance you can make a video of that process? That would be interesting.

[LordKraken]

7 hours ago, TheDevil'sCompass said:

Here you go:

 

Yes and... it looks REALLY bad compared to the previous image (and I would know, I spent an hour or two on that one too).

The aesthetic is bad, details are lost (do you still see the stairs?) etc.

 

When you have very different colors and a strong contrast, automatic conversion will always give terrible results. One can do a tiny bit better with slightly more complicated processes. For instance that's what is achieveable when using a predefined palette. Also the image would need to be cropped a bit as I used a 1:4 size reduction to have better resizing results.

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2022 by LordKraken

[LordKraken]

1 hour ago, JagChris said:

Any chance you can make a video of that process? That would be interesting.

Any decent image tool -> Image -> reduce colors to 16 colors. Done.

 

Simple process and it would be quite easy to take all the game screens, automatically convert them to 16 colors and stick them together, but for what result?

Edited March 25, 2022 by LordKraken

[JagChris]

11 minutes ago, LordKraken said:

Yes and... it looks REALLY bad compared to the previous image (and I would know, I spent an hour or two on that one too).

The aesthetic is bad, details are lost (do you still see the stairs?) etc.

 

When you have very different colors and a strong contrast, automatic conversion will always give terrible results. One can do a tiny bit better with slightly more complicated processes. For instance that's what is achieveable when predefining the palette.

 

So again, it would be very easy to take screens, automatically convert them to 16 colors and stick them together, but for what result?

Wait that ones a already done. Suppose to prove your point with a different one. So by the time you guys get though arguing it will all be done.

 

oh if only arguments in the Jag forum were this productive. ?

[LordKraken]

1 minute ago, JagChris said:

So by the time you guys get though arguing it will all be done.

Challenge accepted

 

So here is automatic conversion:

 

Compared to my process that I would call semi-automatic (need a bit of manual work, but that could be scripted)

[+karri]

I tried a workflow that could be automatic in Gimp.

 

1) scale the image to 160x102 with no interpolation.
The reason for this is to keep the noise we do not want a smooth image to start from.

 

2) Color->posterize 8 levels.

To bin the noise together

 

3) Image->mode->RGB

To prepare for setting it to 16 colours

 

4) Index to 16 colours.

 

[LordKraken]

Yep that's a good idea too what you did Karri. It will never be great but still a bit better than straight conversion to 16 colors.

 

Another last example (at least for today).

 

Automatic conversion on a "easier" image (from @TheDevil'sCompass)

 

Semi-automatic (see the door in the background now? and the additional details on the main house)

Edited March 25, 2022 by LordKraken

[Ninjabba]

The best outcome of this topic is someone collecting all these images and put them in a slideshow

 

 

[LordKraken]

4 minutes ago, Ninjabba said:

The best outcome of this topic is someone collecting all these images and put them in a slideshow

 

 

yeah... about that... the logic behind how the slideshow works... that's the part we're not gonna talk because coding puzzle is just not fun

Edited March 25, 2022 by LordKraken

[JagChris]

4 minutes ago, LordKraken said:

yeah... about that... the logic behind how the slideshow works... that's the part we're not gonna talk because coding puzzle is just not fun

Are you guys using pc screenshots? 

 

Well if I can get the sources from my frigging old dropbox account you won't have to code puzzles. It should largely be done already. 

 

Another idea is from sources grab the image files separate them into batches of a 100 and ask for volunteers to help convert a batch each.

 

I know nothing about art programs but I guess I could learn to help out.

[Fadest]

56 minutes ago, Ninjabba said:

The best outcome of this topic is someone collecting all these images and put them in a slideshow

And sell it as "Myst" on a green PCB on ebay...

[Ninjabba]

I was more thinking about "Le Tour De Myst" where you can walk around freely on that island with nothing else to do but enjoy the pixelated scenery.

 

This would blow the EotB slideshow out of the water!

[LordKraken]

14 minutes ago, Ninjabba said:

"Le Tour De Myst" where you can walk around freely

Hell yeah, the lynx needs a walking simulator

[JagChris]

We should port Pyst:

 

 

 

[roots.genoa]

But call it Mynx, or Lyst.

[Leonard Smith]

I thought the Saturn version of Myst was painful enough to play (with its slow loading times and terrible visuals), but here we are talking about a Lynx version.

 

Sad thing is, the game really isn't even that good.

 

[JagChris]

25 minutes ago, Leonard Smith said:

I thought the Saturn version of Myst was painful enough to play (with its slow loading times and terrible visuals), but here we are talking about a Lynx version.

 

Sad thing is, the game really isn't even that good.

 

 

This is just a for fun discussion. The Saturn version has terrible visuals?

 

Everyone has different opinions on what a good game is. I liked MYST. I thought the atmosphere(music was fantastic and set a great mood), exploring and sense of mystery were fantastic.

 

I sucked at the puzzles.

Edited March 27, 2022 by JagChris

[Leonard Smith]

5 minutes ago, JagChris said:

 

This is just a for fun discussion. The Saturn version has terrible visuals?

 

 

It absolutely does.  Especially when using RF or composite.

The weird font used in the various books and puzzles is quite hard to read on a proper CRT screen.

And the loading times.  My god, the loading...

 

[PFG 9000]

On 3/27/2022 at 2:07 PM, Leonard Smith said:

Sad thing is, the game really isn't even that good.

As popular as that opinion may be these days, Myst was a very fun game in its time.  The visuals of course were state of the art, but its greatest strength was its immersive atmosphere.  Obtuse puzzles are no fun if the world they're in isn't engaging.  But Cyan realized this and made the environments beautifully captivating.  There is some pretty thoughtful lore behind the series, even just with the first installment.  And Myst's soundtrack holds up well nearly 30 years later.

 

Maybe I'm just biased though.  I loved every second of Myst on the Jaguar CD back in the 90s.  But it was the best-selling PC game for years, so I can't be the only one who enjoyed it.