(To save you a click: the games include Wing Commanders 1 through 5, Privateer 2, and Road Rash. The FMV master tapes were found, digitized, and integrated into the original games.)
HN has showed interest in a number of LLM-assisted game ports lately, but I think folks might find it refreshing to read about a game restoration project that didn't depend on coding agents. It's remarkable to read about the six months of lunch breaks Jim spent swapping Betamax tapes and cutting video segments by hand back in 2024. (How much of this could this be automated today, to the level of perfection Jim seems to have desired?)
Also note that, for some of these re-releases, there appear to be four versions of the video to choose from: original, raw re-scan, recolor, and upscale. Most commercial remasters give you only one or two options. I think that's indicative of a this being a true fan-led passion project.
kderbe•12m ago
HN has showed interest in a number of LLM-assisted game ports lately, but I think folks might find it refreshing to read about a game restoration project that didn't depend on coding agents. It's remarkable to read about the six months of lunch breaks Jim spent swapping Betamax tapes and cutting video segments by hand back in 2024. (How much of this could this be automated today, to the level of perfection Jim seems to have desired?)
Also note that, for some of these re-releases, there appear to be four versions of the video to choose from: original, raw re-scan, recolor, and upscale. Most commercial remasters give you only one or two options. I think that's indicative of a this being a true fan-led passion project.