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Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisited

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 5:38 am
by Raithos
phpBB [video]

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 5:46 am
by Yokosuka
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah I was waiting for this!

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 8:00 am
by dark1x
Hope you guys enjoy some of it. I gave a shout out to this very forum since, really, this is THE place for Shenmue info. I'm amazed at how in-depth some folks have gone into pulling the game apart. It's awesome!

If I had time, I would have gone into more depth on emulation and, perhaps, point out more of those weird Xbox/DC differences (like all the modified signs and whatnot). Ah well.

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 8:23 am
by Jibby
Fantastic video, thank you dark1x. It really does Shenmue II justice!

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 8:24 am
by celsowm
dark1x wrote: Hope you guys enjoy some of it. I gave a shout out to this very forum since, really, this is THE place for Shenmue info. I'm amazed at how in-depth some folks have gone into pulling the game apart. It's awesome!

If I had time, I would have gone into more depth on emulation and, perhaps, point out more of those weird Xbox/DC differences (like all the modified signs and whatnot). Ah well.


Thanks a lot Dark1x, Can I ask you some questions?

1- In your opinion, how long or how hard would be to port Shenmue 2 to current gen platforms?
2- The release of this video in this very week (PSX, S2 the movie) was a coincidence or have you chosen by a special reason?

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 8:43 am
by fittersau
dark1x wrote: Hope you guys enjoy some of it. I gave a shout out to this very forum since, really, this is THE place for Shenmue info. I'm amazed at how in-depth some folks have gone into pulling the game apart. It's awesome!

If I had time, I would have gone into more depth on emulation and, perhaps, point out more of those weird Xbox/DC differences (like all the modified signs and whatnot). Ah well.


Amazing work Dark! Thanks for the continuing Shenmue love!

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 8:47 am
by Esppiral
Thanks a lot @dark1x

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:31 am
by Kintor
Awesome video, I'm really impressed by the attention to detail that DF Retro has provided for all versions Shenmue 2.

As a game Shenmue 2 is a technical masterpiece and this video does a great job of explaining why it holds up so well even today.

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:44 am
by Yokosuka
dark1x wrote: Hope you guys enjoy some of it. I gave a shout out to this very forum since, really, this is THE place for Shenmue info. I'm amazed at how in-depth some folks have gone into pulling the game apart. It's awesome!

If I had time, I would have gone into more depth on emulation and, perhaps, point out more of those weird Xbox/DC differences (like all the modified signs and whatnot). Ah well.


Thanks for your work and your passion. Besides DF Retro, I love your gaming tastes (Quake, MDK, Unreal, Daytona...).

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 2:14 pm
by dark1x
celsowm wrote: Thanks a lot Dark1x, Can I ask you some questions?

1- In your opinion, how long or how hard would be to port Shenmue 2 to current gen platforms?
2- The release of this video in this very week (PSX, S2 the movie) was a coincidence or have you chosen by a special reason?

Thanks

1 - I think it is quite doable BUT I do think it might be challenging. I'm sure the game uses a lot of very low-level code designed for the Dreamcast (and Xbox, I suppose) which might be difficult to work with. I can't imagine there was a lot of documentation or record keeping done on that so the team might be challenged there. It uses a lot of old data formats as well which could be tough to deal with. Still, I'm positive it can be done. It just needs a decent budget and a talented developer. I have high hopes that it will happen some day!

2 - Heh, it was a mix of both. Really, though, I made a promise to those that enjoyed the first video that I would do one for Shenmue 2 before the year was out and I finally had the time to make it happen.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed it because I love highlighting games like this. I feel like a lot of the retro talk from large sites tends to be very Nintendo-centric but I was more of a Sega/PC guy back in the day and wanted to really highlight those types of games.

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 4:55 pm
by Shenmue_Trilogy
Great video with a lot of details. =D> Thanks! The shadow problem on XBOX 360 with shenmue 2 is new to me. I planed to buy xbox 360 to play shenmue 2 on it but now I will consider the original xbox.

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 7:04 pm
by GYO6161
Something to note is that Demul doesn't have as much slow down as OG hardware, despite Demul being super accurate, that example shown in the Golden Quarter never got as slow in my Demul playthrough.

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 9:16 am
by drunkensailor
dark1x wrote: Hope you guys enjoy some of it. I gave a shout out to this very forum since, really, this is THE place for Shenmue info. I'm amazed at how in-depth some folks have gone into pulling the game apart. It's awesome!

If I had time, I would have gone into more depth on emulation and, perhaps, point out more of those weird Xbox/DC differences (like all the modified signs and whatnot). Ah well.

I really love your videos. Please keep more retro ones coming!

One important factor that is not technical but makes the dreamcast version have a big plus imo is the ability to use your shenmue 1 savefile. that way the first game and everything you did doesn't feel like a waste.

Also why did you chose not to use much from disc 4 guilin? that is graphically the most amazing place and the differences there might be more interesting even

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 9:34 am
by drunkensailor
dark1x wrote:
celsowm wrote: Thanks a lot Dark1x, Can I ask you some questions?

1- In your opinion, how long or how hard would be to port Shenmue 2 to current gen platforms?
2- The release of this video in this very week (PSX, S2 the movie) was a coincidence or have you chosen by a special reason?

Thanks

1 - I think it is quite doable BUT I do think it might be challenging. I'm sure the game uses a lot of very low-level code designed for the Dreamcast (and Xbox, I suppose) which might be difficult to work with. I can't imagine there was a lot of documentation or record keeping done on that so the team might be challenged there. It uses a lot of old data formats as well which could be tough to deal with. Still, I'm positive it can be done. It just needs a decent budget and a talented developer. I have high hopes that it will happen some day!

2 - Heh, it was a mix of both. Really, though, I made a promise to those that enjoyed the first video that I would do one for Shenmue 2 before the year was out and I finally had the time to make it happen.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed it because I love highlighting games like this. I feel like a lot of the retro talk from large sites tends to be very Nintendo-centric but I was more of a Sega/PC guy back in the day and wanted to really highlight those types of games.

awesome. Are you European? I noticed that indeed everything is so nintendo-centric but it really depends where you grew up. In north-east of Netherlands I grew up with sega and amiga. love it to death

Re: Digital Foundry Retro: Shenmue 2 - A Masterpiece Revisit

PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 1:15 pm
by Gromber
yeah i needed in the video more info about widescreen fixes for shenmue on demul and real hardware.