Niemann wrote:
In about a week, it will be ten years since this incarnation of MacScene launched. I've been brainstorming some ideas on how to "reboot" the site. Not sure what I plan on doing, but I'm guessing that on the tenth anniversary the site may be going down for a couple weeks while I archive what we have here and develop a new site.
I'm hoping to keep the site primarily forums based.
I don't believe I'll be keeping the "Emulators" database.
I'm hoping to provide archives of the forums and news articles.
Any general thoughts?
I have had an emulation blog idea in mind for a while that might fit this purpose.
Basically, a few seasoned members (myself included - be happy to kick it off) could do regular reflective blog posts for the frontpage that double as forum posts. That way the frontpage would look fresh, while encouraging people to contribute to a broader conversation about the emus/games that have been discussed.
For example, I could write about my recent experiences (using a modern Mac) could include:
- A para or two on getting FS-UAE to work with AmigaOS 3.1 and installing WHDLoad games (so no floppy swapping is needed), followed by a para or two of reflection on my favourite Amiga games from my childhood (e.g. Moonstone, Giana Sisters, Bloodmoney, Bandit Kings of Ancient China, The Third Courier, Legend...etc).
- Similar format to above but about MacOS 9.1 using Qemu and playing games like Weekend Warrior (which I don't think you can play on any other system).
- Compiling Mednafen and building a text-based 'GUI' for playing Saturn games on a Mac (also tips on adjusting the config file...etc as it a bit fiddly). Worth reflecting on how bloody hard it has been for people to emulate the Saturn so accurately though (and how IMO modern CPU power has helped devs to focus on accuracy/authenticity/compatibility rather than 'making the darn thing fast enough).
- Crack open Redream and reflect again... on how I'm so amazed that such a high quality Dreamcast emu came outta nowhere. It wasn't a very popular console and I retired from console gaming at about that age. However, I bought one in Japan, used it to learn Japanese and can reflect positively on a lot of titles from that era (including Shenmue, which has recently seen a 3rd iteration).
That's a few examples at least! Whether or not people wanna read that stuff from me I'd be happy to do some short blogs with the aim of opening the floor to discussion (and above all, making the site look fresh/maintained). I reckon if we could get a solid group to make such posts then setup a monthly queue, we could have have 1-3 years worth of content without too much effort.
Other ideas:
- Q&A sessions with techs (e.g. 'monthly tech letter for Richie B') where we can put a tech query out there. I've asked a few of these before but as a non-dev I'm always keen to hear answers to things like 'WTF did Apple choose metal?' or 'how do I go from coding websites + productivity utilities to porting over emus that rely heavily on Windows APIs?' Maybe we could hit up some commercial emu devs for 1-2 para semi-tech explanations to life's emu questions?
- Reflections on emulation development over time. For example PSX emulation from VGS -> PCSX -> now... how has the scene changed? What challenges were overcome?
Just a few ideas :)