Swithin

Oh man, this only makes it funnier. XD Long story short, Pyro saw Robert's championship status for Othello in the 1EMU arcade and mistook "Othello Champ" for his name.

About Enja and Suija, I was just retracting my statement that SS6 didn't have 64 characters specifically because people might think their character designs were from SS5. IIRC, they're first referenced in SS4 literature. I really don't see the similarity between Shiki and Rei, though. Shiki's story is somewhat reactive, and she's got that detached thing going on, but she's also very aggressive and un-Rei-like. I always thought she was a riff on that purple-snake-tattoo motif that keeps popping up in Japan.

www.enworld.org seems to be the most popular place.

SS64 did give us some interesting stuff. Morozumi has got to be the coolest looking Samsho character ever. And I must correct myself for a previous statement: Enja and Suija are SS64 characters (their visual design is, at least,) and they're in SS6. Anyway, I'm not so much annoyed at the HNG64 so much as I am at the games' mechanics themselves. It's painful to think that SS went 3D at the same time Soul Calibur was in development, and 64-2 came out *after* Soul Calibur. For 2D, you *could* make an argument for a quality-gap between Cap and SNK, but I think it comes down to a matter of preference. For 3D, the 64 series wasn't even close to Soul Edge or Rival Schools, for instance, let alone Soul Calibur. That's an issue of design, not hardware. It's a shame the games were bad because they took the interesting character designs down with them (think how popular Shiki seems to be, and how much more SNK could use her if her debut game wasn't ass.)

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of D20 Modern stuff. I'm not the biggest fan of Shadowrun, either, but there are a lot of people out there who play. Fatal, have you looked online to find groups in your area? Starting off with people you know is always good, but my group of really close friends all came together about 5 years ago from forum posts and little sticky-notes in game-shops advertising a campaign. Playing with familiar faces can be a lot of fun, but it should also be easy to find a group in your area playing just about any setting you want to try. It's also a bit more exciting when you start off not knowing everyone else so well that you can expect their every action.

The "no sequel to Last Blade" seems odd, since there's still enough interest in the series to keep re-releasing the originals. I really wish SNKP were in a "Ok, let's make new games that are *definitive* versions of our old series, with tons of content, and move on from there," state of mind. Sure, they did a great job with SS6 (sadly with no 64-series characters, even though they have sprites for Shiki and Asura,) but according to Falcoon MOTW2 was %70 complete but there isn't any work being done on it anymore, a *decent* LB2 port with Musashi and no dropped frames *still* hasn't hit the American market (don't know how the PS2 LB1+2 is on the animation issue), and instead of incorporating great old characters (like Alfred or Rick Strowd) even in dream-matches like NGBC, they just keep adding a couple new characters every time out. In my mind, this just makes it that much harder for them to have that %100 game in the future. edit: Hey K', could you throw up a link to that new interview?

Well, I don't know that this is guaranteed to work with all games, but... in Samurai Shodown for instance you can "ramp up" the palette value in a cheat file past 1-4. This effectively gives you 256 different combinations of colors to work, although you'll have to go through them individually to make sure they look acceptable (it also affects things such as skin-tones.) There are normally 4-entry strings which work well amid 100s of entries of garishness (for instance, 64-67 might work brilliantly for Galford and Hanzo but not anyone else), but it does give you a bunch of extra colors, some of which are much prettier than the defaults.

Here it is: kof99.dat [0] Name=Infinite Time Limit 0=Off,0,0 1=On,10A7E7,99 Default=0 [1] Name=P1 Health 0=Off,0,0 1=Infinite,108238,65 2=Red,108238,10 Default=0 [2] Name=P2 Health 0=Off,0,0 1=Infinite,108438,65 2=Red,108438,10 Default=0 [3] Name=P1 Power Gauge 0=Off,0,0 1=0 Stock and Blank,1081E9,00 2=0 Stock and Full,1081E9,30 3=1 Stock and Blank,1081E9,31 4=1 Stock and Full,1081E9,60 5=2 Stock and Blank,1081E9,61 6=2 Stock and Full,1081E9,90 Default=0 [4] Name=P2 Power Gauge 0=Off,0,0 1=0 Stock and Blank,1083E9,00 2=0 Stock and Full,1083E9,30 3=1 Stock and Blank,1083E9,31 4=1 Stock and Full,1083E9,60 5=2 Stock and Blank,1083E9,61 6=2 Stock and Full,1083E9,90 Default=0 [5] Name=Infinite Support Attack 0=Off,0,0 1=P1 On,1082E2,05 2=P2 On,1084E2,05 3=P1&P2,1081E2,05,1084E2,05 Default=0 [6] Name=P1 Mode Select 0=Off,0,0 1=Normal Mode,1082EE,00 2=Counter Mode,1082EE,01 3=Armor Mode,1082EE,02 4=Ultimate Mode,1082EE,03 Default=0 [7] Name=P2 Mode Select 0=Off,0,0 1=Normal Mode,1084EE,00 2=Counter Mode,1084EE,01 3=Armor Mode,1084EE,02 4=Ultimate Mode,1084EE,03 Default=0 [8] Name=No Gauge Abandon Time 0=Off,0,0 1=P1 On,10823A,01,10823B,00 2=P2 On,10843A,01,10843B,00 3=P1&P2,10823A,01,10823B,00,10843A,01,10843B,00 Default=0 [9] Name=Action Speed Up 0=Off,0,0 1=P1 On,10817B,00 2=P2 On,10837B,00 3=P1&P2,10817B,00,10837B,00 Default=0 [10] Name=No Hit Stop 0=Off,0,0 1=P1 On,108225,00 2=P2 On,108425,00 3=P1&P2,108225,00,108425,00 Default=0 [11] Name=No Special Effect 0=Off,0,0 1=On,10257B,00,10237B,01 Default=0 [12] Name=P1 Character 1 Select 0=Off,0,0 1=k,10A7FB,00 2=Maxima,10A7FB,01 3=Benimaru,10A7FB,02 4=Shingo,10A7FB,03 5=Terry,10A7FB,04 6=Andy,10A7FB,05 7=Joe,10A7FB,06 8=Mai,10A7FB,07 9=Ryo,10A7FB,08 10=Robert,10A7FB,09 11=Yuri,10A7FB,0a 12=Takuma,10A7FB,0b 13=Leona,10A7FB,0c 14=Ralf,10A7FB,0d 15=Clark,10A7FB,0e 16=Whip,10A7FB,0f 17=Athena,10A7FB,10 18=Kensou,10A7FB,11 19=Chin,10A7FB,12 20=Bao,10A7FB,13 21=King,10A7FB,14 22=Mary,10A7FB,15 23=Kasumi,10A7FB,16 24=Xiangfei,10A7FB,17 25=Kim,10A7FB,18 26=Chang,10A7FB,19 27=Choi,10A7FB,1a 28=Jhun,10A7FB,1b 29=Kyo Type.KOF94,10A7FB,1c 30=Kyo-1,10A7FB,1d 31=Iori,10A7FB,1e 32=Kyo-2,10A7FB,21 33=Krizarid 1,10A7FB,1f 34=Krizarid 2,10A7FB,20 Default=0 [13] Name=P1 Character 2 Select 0=Off,0,0 1=k,10A7FA,00 2=Maxima,10A7FA,01 3=Benimaru,10A7FA,02 4=Shingo,10A7FA,03 5=Terry,10A7FA,04 6=Andy,10A7FA,05 7=Joe,10A7FA,06 8=Mai,10A7FA,07 9=Ryo,10A7FA,08 10=Robert,10A7FA,09 11=Yuri,10A7FA,0a 12=Takuma,10A7FA,0b 13=Leona,10A7FA,0c 14=Ralf,10A7FA,0d 15=Clark,10A7FA,0e 16=Whip,10A7FA,0f 17=Athena,10A7FA,10 18=Kensou,10A7FA,11 19=Chin,10A7FA,12 20=Bao,10A7FA,13 21=King,10A7FA,14 22=Mary,10A7FA,15 23=Kasumi,10A7FA,16 24=Xiangfei,10A7FA,17 25=Kim,10A7FA,18 26=Chang,10A7FA,19 27=Choi,10A7FA,1a 28=Jhun,10A7FA,1b 29=Kyo Type.KOF94,10A7FA,1c 30=Kyo-1,10A7FA,1d 31=Iori,10A7FA,1e 32=Kyo-2,10A7FA,21 33=Krizarid 1,10A7FA,1f 34=Krizarid 2,10A7FA,20 Default=0 [14] Name=P1 Character 3 Select 0=Off,0,0 1=k,10A7FD,00 2=Maxima,10A7FD,01 3=Benimaru,10A7FD,02 4=Shingo,10A7FD,03 5=Terry,10A7FD,04 6=Andy,10A7FD,05 7=Joe,10A7FD,06 8=Mai,10A7FD,07 9=Ryo,10A7FD,08 10=Robert,10A7FD,09 11=Yuri,10A7FD,0a 12=Takuma,10A7FD,0b 13=Leona,10A7FD,0c 14=Ralf,10A7FD,0d 15=Clark,10A7FD,0e 16=Whip,10A7FD,0f 17=Athena,10A7FD,10 18=Kensou,10A7FD,11 19=Chin,10A7FD,12 20=Bao,10A7FD,13 21=King,10A7FD,14 22=Mary,10A7FD,15 23=Kasumi,10A7FD,16 24=Xiangfei,10A7FD,17 25=Kim,10A7FD,18 26=Chang,10A7FD,19 27=Choi,10A7FD,1a 28=Jhun,10A7FD,1b 29=Kyo Type.KOF94,10A7FD,1c 30=Kyo-1,10A7FD,1d 31=Iori,10A7FD,1e 32=Kyo-2,10A7FD,21 33=Krizarid 1,10A7FD,1f 34=Krizarid 2,10A7FD,20 Default=0 [15] Name=P1 Striker Select 0=Off,0,0 1=k,10A7FC,00 2=Maxima,10A7FC,01 3=Benimaru,10A7FC,02 4=Shingo,10A7FC,03 5=Terry,10A7FC,04 6=Andy,10A7FC,05 7=Joe,10A7FC,06 8=Mai,10A7FC,07 9=Ryo,10A7FC,08 10=Robert,10A7FC,09 11=Yuri,10A7FC,0a 12=Takuma,10A7FC,0b 13=Leona,10A7FC,0c 14=Ralf,10A7FC,0d 15=Clark,10A7FC,0e 16=Whip,10A7FC,0f 17=Athena,10A7FC,10 18=Kensou,10A7FC,11 19=Chin,10A7FC,12 20=Bao,10A7FC,13 21=King,10A7FC,14 22=Mary,10A7FC,15 23=Kasumi,10A7FC,16 24=Xiangfei,10A7FC,17 25=Kim,10A7FC,18 26=Chang,10A7FC,19 27=Choi,10A7FC,1a 28=Jhun,10A7FC,1b 29=Kyo Type.KOF94,10A7FC,1c 30=Kyo-1,10A7FC,1d 31=Iori,10A7FC,1e 32=Kyo-2,10A7FC,21 33=Krizarid 1,10A7FC,1f 34=Krizarid 2,10A7FC,20 Default=0 [Region] Default=0

Why is it important this year? Last year : 3 decades. This year: prime-number anniversary? Wtf? Why make a big deal about it now?

Thanks for replying! I read Mehdi Malekzandi's movelist on gamefaqs a couple years back, and collected as many pics as I could find on the net (and one movie with 15 seconds of Hanzo x Haoh), but your descriptions make me want to play the game even more. Knowing that Morosumi-san actually writes with that brush is just too cool. I'd use him. I definitely want to try out the REAL Suija, and Rasetsu Hanzo sounds like a beast. Well, there will be MAME for that, one of these years. The game sounds like a lot of fun, but it also sounds like it's one of those games where the difference in enjoyment between the solo experience and versus play is even more exaggerated than most fighters (especially when we've now got Soul Calibur and SCIII around the corner to train on - count me out on SCII, though.) One can't fault SNK for going with their own hardware (well, yes we can,) but it's a shame this won't be much more than an emulated curiosity when it finally becomes available to the masses. The really annoying thing is that I have several friends who would play this with me in a heartbeat, but none of us is a collector. We've got every major console except the Jaguar and PC-FX between us, but no arcade cabs. I missed out on SS!2, unfortunately, but I'm definitely going to look into it now. I just didn't know it was a port of this. Well, it's coming to the PS2 in January, and SNKP has stated that it's going to have "additional characters not in the arcade." Given that the existing game has every single 2D arcade SS character already, that narrows the field a bit. Asura and Shiki are the obvious choices, since they already have sprites done for SvC/NGBC. I have a sneaking suspicion that Reon may make it in... and it'd be nice to see her in a full, playable form. I wouldn't lay odds on Hanma or Taizan, or any of the Warriors' Rage 2 characters (though I wouldn't mind Seishiro, Tohma or Jushiro). I hadn't heard that. Shiki's SVC sprite wouldn't look *too* out of place or out of proportion, I guess. I've seen pics of Asura in NGBC, but no screen-caps to get a very good look at his sprites. I hope this thing gets a NA release, at the very least. Seeing they've released so many other games recently, I can't imagine it won't show up eventually. Ishiwatari Daisuke? On LB? Ugh. I like his art and all, but I wouldn't want him to touch the LB characters. It just wouldn't be the same without TONKO designs. Well, Tonko did the designs, but I thought Ishiwatari-san was the lead developer on LB1&2. Granted, he is the only listed developer I can find reference to, but from the stories I heard about LB's development and the subsequent formation of Arc System Works and GG1, I was pretty sure Ishiwatari came up with everything on LB, from concept to engine. Thanks again for the long reply. Btw - are you "just saying" NeoCD, Saturn, PSX, or just saying?

LB1's courtyard with the falling maple leaves has to be my favorite background ever, from any 2-D fighter. The color pallettes of LB2's BGs seemed off, somehow dead, and the animations (especially the dogs in Battlefield and the cowboys in Blue Sky) are woefully bad. Forest is awesome though. I've always wanted to at least *play* SS64-2. I take it you have the HNG hardware and boards... nice. Mostly, I'd love to see how Shiki, Asura, and Morosumi, play (that brush is such an awesome weapon.) Can you tell us a little about them? I was hoping the 64 characters would be added in SS6. Obviously, that didn't happen. I really hope SNKP hands Yuki free reign to make an SS that brings *all* the characters back into the fold (maybe even the PS exclusives as extras) for a massively-hyped home-console release. Also, now that Sammy's working with SNKP, it's not impossible to get Ishiwatari Daisuke working on LB3... one can dream. Nice whistling, btw.

Well, LB2 is still an awesome game! Your FAQ is pretty hot too, the best available, although Musashi's moves in the CD and DC versions would be an awesome addition. I just hope the PS2 release has the NeoCD music, but not the dropped frames from the CD or the ports. Musashi and EX immediately available would also be nice, as the ports, as would sharing the BGs in both games, which shouldn't be too hard to implement (I like the LB1 BGs better.) Anyway, I had a suspicion it was your rip of the game. Good you got it working, just wish it was in english.

It's Deuce! It's been 6 years (amazing, isn't it?), and I'm still passing your LB2 movelist around. Simply great work, thank you! As for SSRPG, I don't know why it's not working for you. I've got it going well in both Nebula 223 and 224. I think I might be able to help you out, just PM me and I'll get back to you. In the meantime, here's a savestate *just* past the loadscreen in Haohmaru's story: http://home.ripway.com/2005-10/481490/neocd00.STA If that works for you, let me know and I can make savestates for all the stories.

Hope your mom has a speedy recovery, K'dash. Take care of yourself, too. I've been through similar, I know it's not easy.

For some reason, turning the sound emulation on screws up STV games up for me. With the sound off, all the 2D games work OK. I don't have a top-spec pc, so everything goes really slowly... but Groove on Fight works brilliantly if I turn the sound off. Your mileage may vary (for the better.)