I don't have any modern examples, but this post is not in the Retro Forum on purpose, as I want every era to be on the table here. The most modern I have is the iOS ports of COD: Zombies modes, and id's RAGE.

What I'm after here are two/three different versions of the same game (or a sequel), on either consoles or PC, where a specific hardware update makes a drastic difference of what can be done in said game.

A few examples that come to mind is Metroid Prime 3 having vaster levels than Prime 2 due to the Wii's extra RAM, and the XBOX port of DOOM 3 needing to be cut down due to its lack of RAM.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and the campaign for Perfect Dark, similarly couldn't have functioned as intended without the N64's expansion back. Whether or not those games could be scaled back is speculative.

Does anyone else remember any "version differences" of games or sequels that benefitted greatly from a change of hardware? It doesn't have to be exclusively RAM related - those are just the examples I can remember.

@04dcarraher: I wouldn't doubt that. I've always been heavy handed with my Windows usage. I'm definitely going to have to be more careful not bork down this installation just to keep performance how I like it. Could be related to drivers too, but junking the OS down seems equally likely in my use case.

It's not like I don't know the best practices for managing your install, but I'm much less strict with my own computers than I'd be with someone else's. It's a slacker's hypocrisy thing, I'm not gonna lie.

Not exactly by 200%, but a 15 - 20 FPS boost across the board with more tolerable frame pacing is nothing to scoff at. Am I alone on this, or have other early-adopters had similar experiences? I didn't even do a clean install, just upgraded the OS while keeping my file structure the same. Even so, my games are installed on an external HDD, not the main SSD. Even load times got better.

Maybe it's because my CPU is a Ryzen 5 5600X with 32gb of DDR4-3600, but my ancient GTX 1080ti can enjoyably play things in native 4K at higher settings that I just couldn't tolerate before, like RDR2. Flight Simulator 2020 is still a bit too much for this GPU at 4K though.

I don't know what the cause of my performance boost is. Hardware bottlenecks aren't like they were when I went to college for IT. For someone who, up 'til now, was used to the gen 3 - 7 intel Core lineup, this is like wizardry to me.

Can anyone more up-to-date with modern technology explain what's going on under the hood?

Edit: Previous OS was Windows 10 Pro, in case anyone's confused.

The source system doesn't matter, nor does the system being ported to, as long as it's actually a port of some kind, and not a full on remake.

My pick would be the homebrew port of Wolfenstein 3D on the Sega Genesis. I have no idea what technical wizardry was involved here, but it sure is impressive.

Another pick (as a bundle of sorts) are the iD software games (and The Witcher 3) being ported to the Nintendo Switch. Everything is in tact, downgraded just to the point that is doesn't hurt the presentation on Nintendo's handheld.

What are your picks?

This issue isn't specifically game related, but I do play games on this machine.

I've confirmed that the dimming issue is not related to my display itself, and tied to the physical windows setting. This is confirmed as going back into the HDR Color Balance settings after the screen has already dimmed, the slider is still set to 100. Clicking down on the slider and holding it, the screen is still dim, but as soon as I move it 1 notch to the left to 99%, the brightness returns.

Is there a way I can just set the slider to 100% and actually have the brightness stay there across all content?
HDR Content I have will always be full screened, so it's a bit counter-intuitive to have the SDR content forcefully so dark in comparison.

@brimmul777: Could you elaborate your reasoning, for my friend and I's understanding?

My main argument of why her failure isn't her fault boils down to this (excerpt from wiki page linked below)

"(When in a 1 Star Wanted Level,) The player is unable to buy any items (weapons, clothes, or food, except from vending machines and street vendors),"

I argue it's the game's fault as the game making it impossible to buy food when wanted is not my grandma's fault, and not outlined in the original bet.

https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Wanted_Level_in_GTA_IV

A friend bet me $100 my grandma wouldn't be skilled enough at video games to drive to a Cluck N' Bell in GTA IV and order a sandwich.

She accidentally hit a cop car on the way, blew up her car near the restaurant in her wanted phase, but was able to run on foot, all the way inside the Cluck N' Bell up to the cashier. However, there was no prompt to order as she was still in Wanted mode, and a cop arrested her at gunpoint before she had enough time to push A if there was a prompt, taking control away from her as Niko held his hands up.

The final decision on who won the bet depends on this... My grandma did make it all the way from the Center Island across the bridge to the Cluck N' Bell in Broker, but failed to order a sandwich before the cop arrested her. Is this failure due to her lack of skill, or a quirk with the game's design that had nothing to do with her?

Who won the $100? Me, or my friend?

UPDATE (Sorry for the three post streak:)

I followed this guide to restore some of the broken content from the dreamcast version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR_GmG0bcro

It's not perfect - some scene specific shadows aren't present (Sonic's jail cell bars for example), and it would be nice to keep the Gamecube/hi-poly character models with the fixed cutscene rigs, but the GUN-Mech's window transparencies are back, the emeralds are refracting properly, characters are properly lit, missing light sources have been restored to their original look, and while I haven't gotten to an Eggman stage yet, one of the mods in that list tries its best to darken his stages the closest possible to the DC original.

Now if only I could get the spin-dash to work, I could escape prison island.

After playing the game on Steam again, I can confirm. The controls are indeed more precise than the Dreamcast originals. There's no comparison.

And, I think I get the hype now. Playing it semi-properly, it's really fun, especially on a good run.

@Telekill: It's the same controller I was using for SA1 on Dreamcast before that, both on the PS Classic. There's a Youtuber (Rookervision) who did a comparison of the versions, who also commented that the Steam controls were somehow better than both the Dreamcast and GC versions.

I can't speak for the GC port, as I've never played it, but Steam would be fine, as long as I can find a mod to fix the broken graphics as they were as intended on the DC. I'll have to do some more searching on that. I only know of the DC restoration mod for Sonic Adventure 1 DX.

@judaspete: These Steam mods you speak of... Do they happen to restore broken effects, lighting, and cutscenes from the Dreamcast version? If so, that seems like the best bet. I know there's a restoration project for SA1 for the PC port, but haven't heard of one for SA2.