Why no HD Skins for Reicast?

Discussion of topics related to licensed games, software hacking/modification, prototypes, and development kits belongs here. Includes topics related to emulating the Dreamcast console on your computer or on another gaming console. Discussion of Reicast should go in the Official Reicast Forum.
Post Reply
ETheMan
DCEmu Newbie
DCEmu Newbie
Posts: 1
https://www.artistsworkshop.eu/meble-kuchenne-na-wymiar-warszawa-gdzie-zamowic/
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2016 12:58 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Why no HD Skins for Reicast?

Post by ETheMan »

So, Dreamcast emulation on the PC has been going on for years now. The Nintendo 64 and Gamecube both have HD skins for various popular games. The Dreamcast has a huge developer community (for a 17 year old console).

So why no HD skins? I understand, obviously, that you can't put HD skins into rips that will run on the Dreamcast because the GD-Rom disks won't have the space, the non-HD display would make it not worth it and I'm sure getting the hardware to even display it would be a challenge.

But what about PC emulators of Dreamcast? Surely Reicast or Chankast or similar could be made to do it. Is it just that most people who love dreamcast want to play their games on a Dreamcast so they don't bother with PC (or mobile) emulation much?

Or is there something else that makes it more difficult than modding a Gamecube game? I know there are some translation projects, so it doesn't seem that access the game's code to mod it is the issue.

Anyway, I'm not here to demand anyone make me anything (not that I could). Just wondering if any work has been done towards this, and I'm interested in hearing some theories on why it isn't as popular as Gamecube mods. Shenmue 1/2 in HD would be a fun way to prepare to Shenmue 3 and while I have a dreamcast, it would be nice to experience some of the great Dreamcast games with a modern visual flair.
User avatar
mankrip
DCEmu Ex-Mod
DCEmu Ex-Mod
Posts: 3712
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2001 5:12 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Why no HD Skins for Reicast?

Post by mankrip »

The usual resolution of DC games's textures was already pretty high for its time, due to the DC's video RAM (which is twice of the PS2 video RAM). The better a game's graphics ages, the less need for higher-definition updates is perceived.

Plus, the DC ended up being less popular than consoles such as the GC, due to Sega discontinuing it so early.

And DC emulation on the PC isn't advanced enough yet, AFAIK. Usability and accuracy are higher priorities.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh mankrip Hell's end wgah'nagl fhtagn.
==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==
Dev blog / Twitter / YouTube
Image
Post Reply