Quality of gameplay videos

[Hunchman801]

We are linking to Haruka's videos in the external links sections of level articles, which is great since no description can be as accurate as a playthrough video, however I've noticed that they lack in quality. For example, the one for A Madman's Creation!, which can be found here, is only 480p, while there are many others in full HD.

Haruka, do you intend to record (or upload, if you have them) 1080p versions of your playthroughs? Or should be find another channel?

[RayCarrot]

I personally have a Youtube channel with a bunch of Rayman walkthroughs which I've linked to a few articles. I have at least 720p on mine and the Rayman Legends ones are in 1080p, so those could be linked as well. So far I've only linked my Rayman 1 videos since I did ones of the GBA version as well.

[Haruka]

That's a good question. The only problem is that I can't guarantee anything and even less giving out dates. All the walkthroughs gave me a lot of work and I think to get them in HD I would need to start by scratch, but I question if the gameplay quality would be as good as the remakes. I can't really give an answer for now.

[Hunchman801]

I understand! It might be wise to use links to the highest quality versions in the meantime, then.

[Haruka]

I understand that. For now I am giving priority to record titles I did not take care of before, like N-Gage's version of Rayman 3 for example especially when there's none available on Youtube. I dunno which titles I could take care of next but if I record an existent walkthrough by scratch I would like to hear opinions on which ones should be prioritized with a HD version to help me out deciding.

[Hunchman801]

Yeah, recording the N-Gage version is a good idea. It would be good to add the links to the level articles as well, if anyone has the time.

[Adsolution]

As a heads-up, technology4617 and I are working on recording perfect walkthroughs of the games running on original hardware with high-quality capture setups (we've invested a decent amount of money into this). We've only started recently, and since we're trying to record perfect takes of every single area, it will take a while, but the results will be worth it.

The project hasn't been officially announced yet, but will be once we finish the first two versions of Rayman 1: tech is working on PS1, and I'm working on PC on an actual Windows 98 machine. Of course, they'll be at 1080p60 with nearest-neighbour scaling.

[Reese Riverson]

As a heads-up, technology4617 and I are working on recording perfect walkthroughs of the games running on original hardware with high-quality capture setups (we've invested a decent amount of money into this). We've only started recently, and since we're trying to record perfect takes of every single area, it will take a while, but the results will be worth it.

The project hasn't been officially announced yet, but will be once we finish the first two versions of Rayman 1: tech is working on PS1, and I'm working on PC on an actual Windows 98 machine. Of course, they'll be at 1080p60 with nearest-neighbour scaling.

That's perfectly great, Ad.

[Hunchman801]

Sounds great, I don't think I've ever seen a playthrough of the original game recorded in a way that looks like... what the game was originally supposed to look like.

[Haruka]

It has been since forever the last time I played Rayman 1 under a similar scenario (though I was using Windows ME back then). It will be interesting to see !

[Fifo]

running on original hardware

What about these two facts?

• play it from an actual PS1 (no PS2 load boosts/anything like that)
• play it from an actual CD (PC)

[Adsolution]

play it from an actual PS1 (no PS2 load boosts/anything like that)

It's being played on a PS2 because the experience is 100% identical, bar the following:

- The PS2's audio and video outputs are significantly higher quality
- The game lags badly in certain areas and will regularly hiccup and drop a frame here and there on PS1
- The heat gradient coming off the lava in the first phase of the Skops fight is very subtly dithered on PS2

The last point is the only downside, but it's only for a very brief moment. Everything else is better.

play it from an actual CD (PC)

Of course.

[Fifo]

play it from an actual PS1 (no PS2 load boosts/anything like that)

It's being played on a PS2 because the experience is 100% identical, bar the following:

- The PS2's audio and video outputs are significantly higher quality

Oh yeah, component/fiber-optic is indeed better.

- The game lags badly in certain areas and will regularly hiccup and drop a frame here and there on PS1

Never noticed lagging on my PSone. Maybe because I’m playing the UK version.

- The heat gradient coming off the lava in the first phase of the Skops fight is very subtly dithered on PS2

Good eye!

The last point is the only downside, but it's only for a very brief moment. Everything else is better.

Okay, I don’t mind. Thanks for the info.

[RibShark]

The PS2's audio and video outputs are significantly higher quality

Will you be using component or RGB SCART? The quality difference is minuscule, but RGB does have a slight advantage over YPbPr. For 480p games (Rayman Revolution with GS Mode Selector and Rayman 3), the PS2 does support RGsB sync on the SCART cable. Combining that with an OSSC (as that can cope with RGsB sync) will produce the best quality you can get out of a 480p game, even better than Component cables.

[Adsolution]

Yep, we're using both RGB and an OSSC.

As for Rayman 1 on PC, my graphics card has DVI-out so quality isn't an issue. What is an issue is actually the Framemeister detecting Rayman; whether that's the 640x400 resolution or something else I don't know, but it has no trouble reading anything else being output.

[Reese Riverson]

One of the very reasons I do stick with the PS2 is for running optical audio out.

Hmm, I'm guessing you've finally got your retro computer situation all settled by now, Ad?

[The Jonster]

Phew so far the gameplay videos I'm coming up with have been in perfect quality. Maybe someday when I have enough I'd like to contribute with those too

[Elite Piranha]

Does anyone know if Haruka plans to restore her videos or upload them to another platform?

[PluMGMK]

I don't. In fact, I only heard about the situation about a week ago.

[Elite Piranha]

I guess in the future, if we need to upload videos to preserve them, we should use the Internet Archive, I suppose it is more reliable than YouTube.