Genuine question because I like retro games, what is the point of 4k here? It’s blocky pixelated Mario kart, is there mods to update textures or something?
It just looks clean. Lowpoly games benefit from running at high resolutions to a surprising degree. The better the art, the more it benefits from being shown with as little obfuscation as possible. There are texture packs and shaders available for popular old games, but even without them, it’s often worth it to ramp up the resolution, even far beyond 4K. I’ve played some old games at ridiculous resolutions like 5k or more, eliminating even a hint of jagged edges. You can then add a touch of retro flair through scanline and bloom shaders.
I’m a bit in both worlds. I think that the split is at HD games. Up to SNES a CRT really makes things look as they were designed, but once you reach 3D games the low rez really feels like a limitation game designers had to deal with.
The textures themselves remain at their original resolution. But anything that was 3d rendered in the original console (like the karts and characters in Mario kart) will now have crisp lines. Additionally many emulators will support some form of texture scaling to make the original low texture stuff look marginally better. On a system like N64 it’s a toss up on looking significantly better. But on a PS3 emulator for example, since many environments are rendered in 3d, it’s a considerable improvement
Genuine question because I like retro games, what is the point of 4k here? It’s blocky pixelated Mario kart, is there mods to update textures or something?
It just looks clean. Lowpoly games benefit from running at high resolutions to a surprising degree. The better the art, the more it benefits from being shown with as little obfuscation as possible. There are texture packs and shaders available for popular old games, but even without them, it’s often worth it to ramp up the resolution, even far beyond 4K. I’ve played some old games at ridiculous resolutions like 5k or more, eliminating even a hint of jagged edges. You can then add a touch of retro flair through scanline and bloom shaders.
As others have mentioned, there are two schools of thought.
Crisp 4K rendering, no jagged lines, higher details added in textures, etc
Or emulating the look of a CRT by using high density displays to create the same look.
https://youtu.be/-B5ebucZ69s?si=0lDLAWdMlN77VQen goes into it a bit. This shows off a device for actual consoles. But the same principal applies when doing it in software for emulators.
I’m a bit in both worlds. I think that the split is at HD games. Up to SNES a CRT really makes things look as they were designed, but once you reach 3D games the low rez really feels like a limitation game designers had to deal with.
The textures themselves remain at their original resolution. But anything that was 3d rendered in the original console (like the karts and characters in Mario kart) will now have crisp lines. Additionally many emulators will support some form of texture scaling to make the original low texture stuff look marginally better. On a system like N64 it’s a toss up on looking significantly better. But on a PS3 emulator for example, since many environments are rendered in 3d, it’s a considerable improvement
Yea. There are Hd textures made by fans. And the 3D is generated in 4K. No pixels in sight!!!
If you play these old games in fullhd etc, it actually feels like the game you remember. If you play it in original resolution it’s nothing like that.
Agreed. That plus the fact that SD on an HD screen looks even worse. HD texture and up scaling really breathes a new life into the games.
It’s also because it’s missing that pattern CRT screens gave to old games
Modern LCD’s don’t have a pattern like CRT
I think their is an option for a simulated CRT pattern in some emulators but I’m not familiar with it
More info here for Mario Kart Double Dash. Including a demo video.