Should be easier to communicate while the character is actually moving:
Camelot scale the overworld and golf courses at a slight angle, it’s mode-7 style even if the GBA hardware doesn’t do mode-7.
Going back to the antialiasing - as soon as the player character or camera stops moving the scaled image of the overworld/golf course has visibly less pixelation/aliasing due to the use of flickering between the last moving frame and the current frame as a form of temporal antialiasing. I’m not quite sure how it works since, going back to the Mario Golf recording, only parts of the image exhibit flickering, like the palm trees?
Interesting revisiting that blog post though - the Super Mario Bros Famicom Classic screenshot is very telling. Game looks nothing like that through my hardware, the HUD text in particular is antialiased in a way that is almost unauthentic to an actual Famicom’s output.
Sorry, only read from the thread bump onwards! The article is great though, really clever that they could target particular sprites or parts of the screen and leave everything else unaffected if so chosen.
That explains a lot, especially with Golden Sun and Mario Golf it should only be rendering a single large image in mode-7 style, yet the antialiasing effects certain parts of the screen (like the palm trees in Mario Golf). Really cool.
I’m seriously impressed by the Afterburner mod! Do you still have this GBA? Would you consider selling it? That’s definitely something I’d drive hours to get if possible.
This post inspired me to attempt installing an AGS-001 frontlight to an AGB screen. I’m still gathering the necessary parts, but I’ll see how laminating the frontlight to the screen with LOCA might help reduce the washing-out of colors.
It’s a shame that Afterburners aren’t produced anymore, as their white frontlight is definitely preferable to the very blue LEDs of the AGS-001.
I’m not planning to sell the AB mod right now, despite recently being on the fence regarding what to do with it. Glad you like it, it’s a neat piece of mobile gaming history.
the GBC is quite lovely with the right lighting (admittedly can be a hassle). I was thinking of getting an Analogue Pocket to enjoy the console but it’s not worth all the money and time spent waiting for a preorder, especially when original hardware can look this good
Was lucky enough to spot this Japan-exclusive midnight blue Game Boy Color in Kurume, Japan, on Monday! Must be one of the early systems with the foil Game Boy logo on the box, as it’s made in Japan before production moved to China.
With my childhood GBC (my first console!) being out of commission this is the first time I’ve played GBC since probably early 2000s…
…and as mentioned on the other thread, the screen is incredible.
Even in low light conditions like indoors or under a cloudy sky it’s clear and readable. And under sunlight it’s perfect. I wasn’t prepared for this but I should have been, since I don’t remember a lack of reflectivity hampering my enjoyment of the system as a kid. I do for GBA, of course.
It also brings to my attention how the Analogue Pocket Original GBC filter still isn’t accurate, as the hues here are more pastel like.
I want to find good lighting conditions for my GBC as outdoors soon won’t be feasible. it doesn’t fare so well indoors unfortunately, which is why I caved and got a Pocket recently
It is a shame the colours still aren’t right on the Pocket, white point is too warm and what appears to be grey on the stock screen has a purple/blue hue, gamma needs adjusting on midtones. It’s far better than IPS mods with (I think) are sRGB colour space though and reason I’d play something like Zelda DX on a stock GBC over Pocket/IPS modded.
The stock GBC shares similar reflective characteristics of the 40pin GBA screen, which appear to be fine in most lighting conditions except close LED lighting where it struggles a bit.
This was posted back in 2019 but I 100% agree with all the colour differences you’ve observed, Zelda is a game that really feels tuned for the GBC screen.
Compared with previous years there’s been a stark contrast in how retro games are sold and displayed here…and I haven’t touched base in any of the tourist hot spots yet. Even in Shimane prefecture it seems the days of cheap hardware are over. Will need to make a post, for sure.
