Lords of Thunder - the ultimate comparison

[Herr Schatten]

On PlasmaBLOOD's site http://www.shooterecke.de/ is a video that compares the two versions of RED's classic shooter. PlasmaBLOOD, me and a co-worker of mine created this video, so now you can compare for yourself rather than relying on that one website whose URL I can't seem to remember at the moment, but whose comparison struck me as rather inaccurate. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to perfectly sync the vids (sorry), but I think the outcome is still good enough to show the main differences.

The upper screen shows the TG16 version, the lower one the Mega Drive version. Left audio channel is TG16, right one is MD. Note that the MD version is a PAL version running at 60Hz, so the speech in the cutscenes cuts off, because it's meant to accompany cutscenes at 50Hz.

It's interesting to see that the MD version looks nearly as good as the TG16 version despite having less colours. Obviously some graphic artist put a lot of effort into that. There's even some additional layers of parallax in the MD version (most noticeable at some of the bosses) as well as some more special effects. Some of the little animations in the background and some enemy formations seem to be missing from the MD version, though.

It would be nice if only the people who are really interested in the comparison downloaded the video in order not to use up PlasmaBLOOD's traffic limit. If someone could mirror the file, he'd greatly appreciate that.


Now, who's gonna do a similar video for TFV?

[Ceph]

Cool, but why is that video is 1.5GB (!) in size?

[Kiken]

Cool, but why is that video is 1.5GB (!) in size?

Agreed. There's absolutely no reason for this video to be this large... unless it's in 640x480 at 60 frames per second with 44 kHz wave-table audio.

Seriously, Herr Schatten, this video needs to be recompressed. How long is it, what is the frame-rate, what is the resolution and what is the audio sampling?

[PlasmaBlooD]

Cool, but why is that video is 1.5GB (!) in size?

1.5 GB = good quality.You can t see the Graphicdetails with 300-500 MB.

[Kiken]

Cool, but why is that video is 1.5GB (!) in size?

1.5 GB = good quality.You can t see the Graphicdetails with 300-500 MB.

I strongly suggest you break it down into several smaller files then.

[PlasmaBlooD]

Cool, but why is that video is 1.5GB (!) in size?

1.5 GB = good quality.You can t see the Graphicdetails with 300-500 MB.

I strongly suggest you break it down into several smaller files then.

okay i make a 500 mb avi with Mpeg layer 3 Sound.

[Ceph]

IMO: The Sega CD version sure is impressive considering the hardware constraints; however PC Engine wins. 256 colors make the graphics look smoother. Often when the background changes, there is a nice effect in the PCE version like at 8:18 when the player enters a cave which is dark at first and becomes bright only after entering it. In the Sega CD version the cave is already lighted. Another example: 9:35, the Sega CD version lacks the water-layer. Also, some enemies don't flash when hit. Another cool barckground-change can be seen at 10:00 in the PCE version; the Sega CD version doesn't have it. And so on.

Last but not least, the sound of the PCE version is better, too.

[PlasmaBlooD]

In the MCD version the wormlike enemies in the penultimate stage take more hits. In the last level the passage with the morning stars is much more difficult, because parts of it are narrower and the enemies shoot more. In the MCD version the last boss dies much quicker and you don't have to move down to hit him with the wind armor's weapon.
In the PCE version you get more money for scoring more points. On MCD the bonus isn't limited to 10,000, though.

[ED-057]

I shrunk the file a bit and started a torrent http://www.hyakushiki.net/shmup/LOT_XviD.torrent

[icycalm]

I'd be willing to host it if nothing else works out. Just PM me if you want to do it.

[ED-057]

IMO: The Sega CD version sure is impressive considering the hardware constraints

Really both versions are. While the gfx people were working overtime on the Sega version to make the most of the color palette, the coders for the TG version must have been working on pulling off all the fancy scrolling with only one BG layer supported by the hardware.

[PlasmaBlooD]

Lords of Thunder Comparsion with 466 MB is online.