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3dSen, an upcoming Emulator currently in development is now going through some Beta testing. Unlike some other Emulators, it doesn't just support old games, it aims to redefine them.

Allowing you to play the classics with an entirely new twist, in 3D with some depth to them and the results are pretty astonishing. The growing list of supported games is impressive, considering it needs a lot of tweaking to get them all right. It supports Linux too, and it's made with Unity so it works quite well already.

Here's a very quick look at Super Mario Bros. on Manjaro Linux with 3dSen:

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It's going to offer Steam Input support, Save States, Dynamic Skyboxes, more game support over time and of course the entirely different way to experience the games.

You can wishlist/follow the project on Steam. The developer is also looking for some testers, have a look in their Discord Channel for info.

Emulation is essential, I've said it before and I firmly believe that they are needed to prevent classic games being lost to history. With applications like this taking things a step further, it's quite exciting.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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8 comments

seanbutnotheard Mar 16, 2020
This is some impressive black magic.
kokoko3k Mar 16, 2020
Probably i'm over simplifying things, but basically it takes some layers, extrudes them and maps the same texture on the extruded part.
I'm certainly missing a ton of work/specific game quirks here :)


Last edited by kokoko3k on 16 March 2020 at 3:17 pm UTC
dpanter Mar 16, 2020
Holy crap those Mario skills!

You can rotate the viewport with the mouse, scroll zoom, even Logitech F710 gamepad works for me.
Screenshot in KDE, windowed, slightly rotated, mangohud enabled.
sub Mar 16, 2020
Quoting: kokoko3kProbably i'm over simplifying things, but basically it takes some layers, extrudes them and maps the same texture on the extruded part.
I'm certainly missing a ton of work/specific game quirks here :)

I agree, game specific stuff must be present.
Take the pipes in the video.
To accomplish this in a generic way,
the program would require the notion of
this object being a pipe and not just extrude it.
Also the placement of objects a different (fitting) z position
hints a lot of hand-tuned game-specific stuff.

Anyway. This is great and the list features Mega Man 1-3.
I'm in!

Btw, hope they'll get Castlevania 3 supported soon.
The Japanese version hacked with English text.
It featured a separated superior sound chip on the cartridge
(which wasn't technical possible on the US/EU NES).

Just listen to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqyoTvZ5cOE

(NES version for comparison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq3xvjofK7k)
Liam Dawe Mar 16, 2020
Quoting: dpanterHoly crap those Mario skills!
Look, it's not easy having five thumbs.
Oet_ Mar 16, 2020
A few months ago I tried 3dSenVR. Totally weird to play classic games of old in a present-day virtual 3D environment, but kinda fun anyway. :)
JREtro Mar 17, 2020
Retoarch support?..... yesterday?
PopeRigby Mar 19, 2020
Is it not open source?
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