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[nkarafo]

Remember Link's Awaking on the Game Boy? Did you know it has a native PC port? Well, it has and it also has a zoom in/out function like this:

You can zoom out even further and see the whole map while playing in real time. And the best thing about this is that all enemies and items are still visible. It's not like only the things that are near you exist. Every single thing is active and functional at any given time, there's no culling of distant objects.

This reminded me of Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Another 2D pixel art game that can be zoomed out:

I like how the low res 2D pixel art looks when you zoom out like this it. It's like the game now is taking full advantage of the higher res display.

This can even be useful and not just a visual gimmick. I'm playing the Zelda game and i often use the zoom out feature to see what's ahead, instead of the in-game map that show very little information. And maybe a game can be made with this in mind and be used for some interesting gameplay mechanics, dunno.

I would love to see more low res retro games with this feature. Here's a picture of the NES game Snake Rattle n Roll, but with all levels edited together so the whole play area is visible:

Did you know the whole game is about climbing this mountain? I didn't.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Yeah, the SRnR "world map" blew my mind the first time I saw it. That was very clever of the devs.

But wouldn't zooming out in, say, the Zelda dungeons kinda defeat the purpose? What challenge remains when you can see the entire dungeon at once?

 

[roosnam1980]

looks like OP is a fan of SNK fighting games

 

[nkarafo]

looks like OP is a fan of SNK fighting games

Actually no. Because i really dislike the sprite scaling artifacts when you zoom out in those games. The Neo-Geo doesn't have a high enough resolution to make the effect look clean.

 

[struggler_guts]

I loove when games let you do this. First discovered this when my brother had a poster of the entire zelda map

 

[nkarafo]

But wouldn't zooming out in, say, the Zelda dungeons kinda defeat the purpose? What challenge remains when you can see the entire dungeon at once?

You still need to solve the puzzles. Not sure what other aspects are spoiled with the zoom out function but maybe i don't remember much of the original game, it's been 20y since i played it on the Game Boy.

There could be secret rooms that are now visible at all times but i'm not sure if that;s the case. I remember a widescreen mod for Super Metroid having this issue.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

PC fan port of early Sonic games lets you zoom the camera way, way out

This is quite literally Sonic like you’ve never seen him before.

arstechnica.com

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

That does look cool. Never really thought about it but I dig it.

So not 2D but have you played Shadow Tactics or Desperados III most recently? I love the fact that the levels are basically dioramas you hover over that can be rotated and zoomed in and out of. Again, not the same thing but it's cool.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Eh, it seems like a nice gimmick, but these games were never designed to be played this way. IMO it just feels like it would break immersion if it's your first time, and throw pacing well off.

A nice little feature to have when it's your dozenth time through the game, though, and probably a good way to gauge just how far modern processing has come when you can run an entire 8 or 16-bit game's logic and game world at once in full view.

Though, it's not really all instances at once since certain events are scripted to happen when enough progression's reached, which would naturally overwrite the state of other things in the game world. Tho I guess there are ways to hack that, too.

EDIT: I agree with you tho that a modern 2D game intentionally designed with this feature in mind could be really cool, like a pseudo single-screen Gauntlet-type or Gain Ground sort of affair.

 

[kevboard]

Actually no. Because i really dislike the sprite scaling artifacts when you zoom out in those games. The Neo-Geo doesn't have a high enough resolution to make the effect look clean.

yup, I also never was a fan of the scaling SNK games for that exact reason.

 

[ReBurn]

I used to think it was so cool when Samurai Shodown would scale out as fighters moved farther apart.

 

[CrimsonTide]

I think it is cool just incase you want some type of map and you need to find something or whatever.

Looks cool no question

Could never play like that, unless the game was designed to be played such a way. Kinda makes the game feel smaller in scale and less like some open adventure that Zelda is.

 

[nkarafo]

Eh, it seems like a nice gimmick, but these games were never designed to be played this way. IMO it just feels like it would break immersion if it's your first time, and throw pacing well off.

EDIT: I agree with you tho that a modern 2D game intentionally designed with this feature in mind could be really cool, like a pseudo single-screen Gauntlet-type or Gain Ground sort of affair.

That Castlevania game i posted has this feature officially. It's not a mod/extra feature or anything so i assume it's useful in some way? I don't know, i haven't actually played it yet.

Could never play like that, unless the game was designed to be played such a way. Kinda makes the game feel smaller in scale and less like some open adventure that Zelda is.

In Zelda you can use two buttons to zoom in/out in real time whenever you want. You are not forced to play in any certain height. Thing is, if you have a massive 50 inch TV or bigger, a more zoomed out camera can actually be better than the default. Especially in a game like this that was made for a tiny screen. You can zoom out without having black bars or some overlay around the screen.

 

[calistan]

That Castlevania game i posted has this feature officially. It's not a mod/extra feature or anything so i assume it's useful in some way? I don't know, i haven't actually played it yet.

I bought that Castlevania game last week on Xbox, it was dirt cheap and I'd never played it before.

The screen zooming seems to be so you can keep track of all the other players. It's built for six players simultaneously, and you can all go off to different parts of the level in search of loot. One player can go to the top and send down a lift for the players at the bottom. Then you all go and fight the boss together.

Obviously I have no friends playing this, and it's extremely difficult with just one player, so I've got nowhere with it.

 

[crazyriddler]

I made a wallpaper with the map from Links Awakening, 4K and pixel perfect, and it has been my wallpaper for months.

 

[nkarafo]

Btw, there's a whole Youtube channel that edits gameplay videos of old games to look like that.

Atlas Videos

🧙 Retro Gaming Remastered! Merging gameplay footage with atlas maps to create a unique retro gaming perspective in high definition.

www.youtube.com

 

[Bonfires Down]

I was obsessed with the Super Mario Bros 3 guide book with the entire levels drawn out when I was a kid.

 

[cireza]

Zooming destroys the pristine look of the native pixels in 2D pixel-art games. It was quite painful to see on early consoles, like SNES, Saturn, Neo Geo etc... Either you get ugly, zoomed in gigantic pixels, or you get uneven visuals because only some pixels are missing.

It rotates ! It gets bigger ! It gets smaller ! Wow !
Yeah, Wow, it looks like shit !

 

[nkarafo]

Zooming destroys the pristine look of the native pixels in 2D pixel-art games. It was quite painful to see on early consoles, like SNES, Saturn, Neo Geo etc... Either you get ugly, zoomed in gigantic pixels, or you get uneven visuals because only some pixels are missing.

It rotates ! It gets bigger ! It gets smaller ! Wow !
Yeah, Wow, it looks like shit !

It wasn't great in older, low res consoles because they would still need to keep the low resolution even when zooming out. But in this case, with modern consoles and PCs outputting 1080p and higher, zooming out is still very clean and pristine. And there's also integer scaling.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

That Castlevania game i posted has this feature officially. It's not a mod/extra feature or anything so i assume it's useful in some way? I don't know, i haven't actually played it yet.

Ah, that's quite interesting then actually. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Futaleufu]

Actually no. Because i really dislike the sprite scaling artifacts when you zoom out in those games. The Neo-Geo doesn't have a high enough resolution to make the effect look clean.

IIRC Samurai Shodown Collection has a setting that doubles the resolution when the games zoom out.

 

[IAmRei]

Remember Link's Awaking on the Game Boy? Did you know it has a native PC port? Well, it has and it also has a zoom in/out function like this:

You can zoom out even further and see the whole map while playing in real time. And the best thing about this is that all enemies and items are still visible. It's not like only the things that are near you exist. Every single thing is active and functional at any given time, there's no culling of distant objects.

This reminded me of Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Another 2D pixel art game that can be zoomed out:

I like how the low res 2D pixel art looks when you zoom out like this it. It's like the game now is taking full advantage of the higher res display.

This can even be useful and not just a visual gimmick. I'm playing the Zelda game and i often use the zoom out feature to see what's ahead, instead of the in-game map that show very little information. And maybe a game can be made with this in mind and be used for some interesting gameplay mechanics, dunno.

I would love to see more low res retro games with this feature. Here's a picture of the NES game Snake Rattle n Roll, but with all levels edited together so the whole play area is visible:

Did you know the whole game is about climbing this mountain? I didn't.

I can imagine, how much brainstorming to make something as tight this.
I currently playing First Zelda again, and now with guide, I was missing lot of items and tricks back when i was younger
I can only amazed with the work of people without much internet back then

 

[Trunx81]

I can imagine, how much brainstorming to make something as tight this.
I currently playing First Zelda again, and now with guide, I was missing lot of items and tricks back when i was younger
I can only amazed with the work of people without much internet back then

It´s very similar to the map of LTTP. Village, woods, water parts, Castle - everything at the same place. Only the desert doesn´t check out.

 

[IAmRei]

Yeah, the SRnR "world map" blew my mind the first time I saw it. That was very clever of the devs.

But wouldn't zooming out in, say, the Zelda dungeons kinda defeat the purpose? What challenge remains when you can see the entire dungeon at once?

I tested zelda link awakening barely, you can set it on the setting option. 1 - 10x

 

[IAmRei]

It´s very similar to the map of LTTP. Village, woods, water parts, Castle - everything at the same place. Only the desert doesn´t check out.

been years to not play LtTP, I guess I will do it again as I done LoZ

seeing this, makes me itchy to make a game like this
it can only be made by not thinking about money though, because publishers wont pick it, because it doesn't have unique selling point according to lot of indie publishers (sigh)

 

[ScHlAuChi]

You can find a similar feature like that in the Turrican Anthology Collection!

 

[IAmRei]

You Can Zooming as close as this

You Can Zooming out to this

To this? WOOOOW

Thanks for the info nkarafo , I missed this great fanmade
I wish I can make something like this in the future

 

[nkarafo]

You Can Zooming as close as this

You Can Zooming out to this

To this? WOOOOW

Thanks for the info nkarafo , I missed this great fanmade
I wish I can make something like this in the future

Make sure you also get this patch that fixes a lot of issues and adds some nice ones (like a hotkey for the zooming)

GitHub - BigheadSMZ/Zelda-LA-DX-HD-Updated: A PC Port of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

A PC Port of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. - BigheadSMZ/Zelda-LA-DX-HD-Updated

github.com

 

[IAmRei]

Make sure you also get this patch that fixes a lot of issues and adds some nice ones (like a hotkey for the zooming)

GitHub - BigheadSMZ/Zelda-LA-DX-HD-Updated: A PC Port of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

A PC Port of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. - BigheadSMZ/Zelda-LA-DX-HD-Updated

github.com

thank You so much ; )
recently I played on my laptop with some skin (well actually i made the wallpaper and make the emulator borderless)
I found little happiness to create console look to playing emulator

I can share if You want the wallpaper, it's my own made : ))

I think I will make gameboy look for this Link Awakening HD ; )

 

[nkarafo]

You can find a similar feature like that in the Turrican Anthology Collection!

This is really cool. It's even helpful since there is no map

IMO, this feature is a very clever way for oldskhool, low-res 2D games to take advantage of the modern, massive HD displays. This would never work on an old SD TV because you wouldn't be able to see any details.

 

[Shifty1897]

This reminded me of a arcade-style indie PS+ game I used to play a lot on Vita called Pix the Cat. After every level was cleared, the entrance to the next level was already on the screen and the game zoomed in to show the level. At the end of the game you zoomed all the way back out, showing dozens of levels within levels that you beat. This video shows what I mean.

 

[IAmRei]

This reminded me of a arcade-style indie PS+ game I used to play a lot on Vita called Pix the Cat. After every level was cleared, the entrance to the next level was already on the screen and the game zoomed in to show the level. At the end of the game you zoomed all the way back out, showing dozens of levels within levels that you beat. This video shows what I mean.

is it only on Vita? Looks fun!

 

[ScHlAuChi]

IMO, this feature is a very clever way for oldskhool, low-res 2D games to take advantage of the modern, massive HD displays. This would never work on an old SD TV because you wouldn't be able to see any details.

It isnt perfect tho, as ultimately you still only emulate the game in a tiny little screen, and the map is basically just a scrolling image.
But creating those maps took me alot of time and effort, as often there is no easy way to rip map-data, which means alot of manual work.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

That Castlevania game i posted has this feature officially. It's not a mod/extra feature or anything so i assume it's useful in some way? I don't know, i haven't actually played it yet.

harmony of despair fucking rules and yeah it's a very useful feature, there's several levels to the zoom and it's great for plotting a route since it's time based, and seeing where the other players are.

 

[nkarafo]

It isnt perfect tho, as ultimately you still only emulate the game in a tiny little screen, and the map is basically just a scrolling image.
But creating those maps took me alot of time and effort, as often there is no easy way to rip map-data, which means alot of manual work.

Yeah, it's extra work but think of it this way: You are trying to convince people to re-buy an old game again. Or to not simply download it and play on an emulator.

Features like this (that can't be emulated) can make these releases far more valuable and act like selling points.

 

[Naked Lunch]

I always love the zooming in and out of the Saturn's Assault Suit Leynos 2 - and playing back then, thought that was the next evolution of 2D action gaming. But it didnt show up much since.

Samurai Shodown is memorable for the zooming in and out as well.

 

[ScHlAuChi]

Yeah, it's extra work but think of it this way: You are trying to convince people to re-by an old game again. Or to not simply download it and play on an emulator.
Features like this (that can't be emulated) can make these releases far more valuable and act like selling points.

Yep exactly thats the reason why I wanted to have features like this in.
If it doesnt offer any extras over the "free" emulated version, then why should people buy it!

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Obviously I have no friends playing this, and it's extremely difficult with just one player, so I've got nowhere with it.

I haven't played it in a while, but it's permanently installed on my series x, my characters are all tricked out to the max so I could easily carry you through the stages so you can get some good gear so you can solo it afterwards if you want.

 

[poppabk]

Not quite the same thing but most RTS's were ruined for me by Supreme Commanders strategic zoom that lets you zoom from this:

To this:

And everything inbetween.

 

[Shifty1897]

is it only on Vita? Looks fun!

Just checked, it's on PS4/PS5 and Switch as well!

 

[IAmRei]

Just checked, it's on PS4/PS5 and Switch as well!

Thanks for the info