Donpachi, few questions

This is the main shmups forum. Chat about shmups in here - keep it on-topic please!
Post Reply
User avatar
Neon
Posts: 3529
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:31 pm

Donpachi, few questions

Post by Neon »

I got the game this weekend, for Saturn (again). Curious about a few things...

1. Is the game properly emulated, the music sounds very scratchy in mame vs. the ports.

2. I haven't owned the PSX version in a long time, does it have the score attack mode (w/stage select?) Otherwise I'm fine with the Saturn version, all the important sound effects are intact. Longass loads, few other problems but the stage select is highly important for this game.

Also, does the PSX version feature the same options to switch the display to RGB optimised? (via pause menu on Saturn) otherwise the Saturn version might be better in RGB, unless PSX defaults to RGB settings...
User avatar
nZero
Posts: 2608
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 1:20 am
Location: DC Area
Contact:

Re: Donpachi, few questions

Post by nZero »

Neon wrote:1. Is the game properly emulated, the music sounds very scratchy in mame vs. the ports.
Yeah, the arcade one just plays back the whole song as one sample instead of generating it on the fly, so it's monoaural and compressed, and hence scratchy. The additional storage the CD format offers lets the Saturn and PSX versions use the same fidelity as the game's original soundtrack on playback. You'll notice most of the Cave PCBs of the era sound like crap compared to their respective OSTs and/or home ports.
Image
User avatar
system11
Posts: 6290
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:17 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Donpachi, few questions

Post by system11 »

nZero wrote:
Neon wrote:1. Is the game properly emulated, the music sounds very scratchy in mame vs. the ports.
You'll notice most of the Cave PCBs of the era sound like crap compared to their respective OSTs and/or home ports.
They also sound like crap compared to competitors offerings. The technology to use decent sampled music just wasn't around then. Lazy.
System11's random blog, with things - and stuff!
http://blog.system11.org
Valgar
Posts: 786
Joined: Sun Jan 30, 2005 3:40 pm
Location: Holy Diver
Contact:

Post by Valgar »

I was wondering why Uo Poko sounded scratchy.
Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun.
COWBOY-RJJ
AWJ
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 12:22 pm

Re: Donpachi, few questions

Post by AWJ »

bloodflowers wrote:They also sound like crap compared to competitors offerings. The technology to use decent sampled music just wasn't around then. Lazy.
Well, I don't think the technology to do, say, DDP's guitar riffs on a sequencer (let alone one you could afford to put on an arcade board) was around either.

DonPachi is just nasty, though. Streamed music on an OKI6295... Along with the AM radio audio quality, you'll also notice the music "skipping" in certain places--that's when the game is switching ROM banks.
User avatar
ResOGlas
Posts: 334
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2005 7:23 am

Re: Donpachi, few questions

Post by ResOGlas »

nZero wrote:
Neon wrote:1. Is the game properly emulated, the music sounds very scratchy in mame vs. the ports.
Yeah, the arcade one just plays back the whole song as one sample instead of generating it on the fly, so it's monoaural and compressed, and hence scratchy. The additional storage the CD format offers lets the Saturn and PSX versions use the same fidelity as the game's original soundtrack on playback. You'll notice most of the Cave PCBs of the era sound like crap compared to their respective OSTs and/or home ports.
Yeah, the DonPachi, DoDonPachi, EspRaDe, Dangun Feveron, and Guwange PCBs all suffer from "staticy" audio.
Hail Atlantis!
AWJ
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 12:22 pm

Post by AWJ »

The sound chip the later Cave games use (Dodonpachi and everything after) is capable of CD-quality output, but Cave digitized the music at a low quality in order to use fewer/smaller ROM chips. Listen to Battle Bakraid for what the games could have sounded like if they weren't so stingy.
User avatar
zlk
Posts: 562
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:10 pm

Post by zlk »

The donpachi music CD sounds low quality as well. It may not be the pcb sound chips fault that the music doesn't sound so great.
AWJ
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 12:22 pm

Post by AWJ »

zlk wrote:The donpachi music CD sounds low quality as well. It may not be the pcb sound chips fault that the music doesn't sound so great.
It may be intentionally recorded at low quality to get that "old war movie soundtrack" effect...
User avatar
ccovell
Posts: 203
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2005 3:03 am
Location: Japan
Contact:

Post by ccovell »

This is surprising... In the late '90s were there no more talented FM musicians? I noticed with Neo-Geo games like Pulstar and Blazing Star how the music was one long sample. It's good music, but sounds low-quality, repeats too soon, and just seems cheap.

Were all the FM musicians laid off when arcades started going bust?
User avatar
sven666
Posts: 4544
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 2:04 am
Location: sweden
Contact:

Post by sven666 »

ccovell wrote:This is surprising... In the late '90s were there no more talented FM musicians? I noticed with Neo-Geo games like Pulstar and Blazing Star how the music was one long sample. It's good music, but sounds low-quality, repeats too soon, and just seems cheap.

Were all the FM musicians laid off when arcades started going bust?
in the early 90s they could no longer suppress the airborne viruses with excessive cocain use and thus they all died.. just like war of the worlds.. but sadly. :cry:
the destruction of everything, is the beginning of something new. your whole world is on fire, and soon, you'll be too..
User avatar
Neon
Posts: 3529
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:31 pm

Post by Neon »

Shameless, rulebreaking bump. I'm still curious about the other two questions. Could anyone with the psx version tell me the next time they play it?
User avatar
Ghegs
Posts: 5075
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:18 am
Location: Finland
Contact:

Post by Ghegs »

Neon wrote:Shameless, rulebreaking bump. I'm still curious about the other two questions. Could anyone with the psx version tell me the next time they play it?
Sorry, no Stage Select or Score Attack.

PSX outputs RGB if you have the proper cable and make the appropiate changes in PSX's internal config.
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.

My videos
User avatar
Neon
Posts: 3529
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:31 pm

Post by Neon »

Ghegs wrote:
Neon wrote:Shameless, rulebreaking bump. I'm still curious about the other two questions. Could anyone with the psx version tell me the next time they play it?
Sorry, no Stage Select or Score Attack.

PSX outputs RGB if you have the proper cable and make the appropiate changes in PSX's internal config.
That sucks, but thanks anyways. Think I'll wait on picking it up then.
User avatar
dpful
Posts: 1205
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:19 pm
Location: SLC, UT, US
Contact:

Re: Donpachi, few questions

Post by dpful »

ResOGlas wrote:
nZero wrote:
Neon wrote:1. Is the game properly emulated, the music sounds very scratchy in mame vs. the ports.
Yeah, the arcade one just plays back the whole song as one sample instead of generating it on the fly, so it's monoaural and compressed, and hence scratchy. The additional storage the CD format offers lets the Saturn and PSX versions use the same fidelity as the game's original soundtrack on playback. You'll notice most of the Cave PCBs of the era sound like crap compared to their respective OSTs and/or home ports.
Yeah, the DonPachi, DoDonPachi, EspRaDe, Dangun Feveron, and Guwange PCBs all suffer from "staticy" audio.
For really great audio, try Taito F3 (or g-net, too).
User avatar
Neon
Posts: 3529
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:31 pm

Post by Neon »

I just got Dante's PSX copy...I'll do a pepsi challenge with the graphics next time I'm home from school.
Post Reply