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albireogames · 3 years ago

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Ren’Py stuff and cool things I put in the demo (part 1)

This is the first game I’ve ever made for myself and I learned a ton from the past couple of demos, so I wanted to showcase them here!

Title screen

The title screen has a star field with a stereoscopic effect that follows the cursor, creating an illusion of depth.

This was done by putting a Creator-Defined Displayable in the main menu screen. To be honest I just copied the example CDD code from the Ren’Py docs and edited it to suit my needs (which in my opinion speaks to the importance of example code and how I wish documentation in general included more examples, but I digress). I replaced the child displayable with four layers of star images to create the depth effect and a constellation image that’s randomly chosen every time the main menu is displayed, and did a bit of trial and error to figure out the offsets for how much each layer should move relative to the change in cursor position. The effect is really satisfying and I’m proud of how well it ended up working… I also wanted to have the movement lag behind the cursor a bit so it feels smoother and more weighty, but I don’t know how to do that (yet) lol… I’m sure it’s possible though.

Fte system

The game features an unassuming-at-first-glance free-time event system that lets you view slice-of-life scenes at a range of locations and hang out with the dragon of your choice (as long as you’ve unlocked their events), all independently from the pace of the main story. Our goal was to increase interactivity and incentivize repeat playthroughs in addition to the five existing main routes, as it’s very likely you won’t see every event in one run. We also wanted to flesh out the world and show how the characters and protag exist within it, as it’s an important part of the story we want to tell.

This event system is actually held together by a veritable spaghetti mess of data structures and classes (that I need to refactor lol… when I haven’t looked at it in a while I get confused by my own naming conventions and some objects that are a little too multipurpose… plus I’ve been learning about good object-oriented design practices thru work recently so the jank is even more glaring). Right now it’s functional, but since I kinda took an ad hoc design-as-I-go approach, it could definitely be a lot cleaner and easier to understand…

Once I have it cleaned up I might discuss it in more detail, but for now it’s like taking the mess on the floor of my room and shoving it all into my closet so that the houseguests won’t see it… for now the most interesting snippets are these clones I made of Lark for easy testing.

Screens

Screens are your best friend. At first I hated it because the syntax felt so weird and loose and confusing (especially because it’s so similar between screens, ATL, and transitions but they’re not at all interchangeable) but it’s super powerful once you figure it out. Here are a few things that I wish I’d known sooner and would’ve saved me a lot of headache (read: sad debugging hours).

1. If you’re using an image as a background for something, especially for buttons that change appearance on interaction, wrap them in Frame() displayables!!! It takes five extra seconds to type “background Frame(“filepath/image.png”, Borders(2, 2, 2, 2))” instead of just the image name and will keep things from shifting around in unexpected ways.

2. However, if you’re lazy like me and like to use images as-is, and you have a parent screen element that has children whose contents will vary (like a frame containing an hbox), don’t use xalign and yalign to set the position of your parent displayable or it will scoot around every time the child changes and you’ll tear your hair out like I did when I was making the fte menu. Use xpos and ypos it will make everything better I promise. If you need to center something, take half your game resolution width/height and subtract half your image’s width/height to get your xpos/ypos.

3. If you ARE using xalign and yalign for something, make sure you use a float i.e., 0.0 instead of 0 and 1.0 instead of 1 or your shit will be fucked up

4. In my opinion the way that style prefixes are explained in the docs is kind of confusing, but basically they just save you some time on typing. For example, if I’m editing my choice menu screen and I have ��style prefix “choice””, and I have a frame, a vbox, and a button, it’ll automatically search for and apply the “choice_frame” style to my frame and the “choice_vbox” style to my vbox . For buttons it’s split into “_button” and “_button_text” suffixes, so putting font properties into the “choice_button” style wouldn’t change my button text appearance at all. The built-in choice screen already uses a style prefix, which makes it a convenient example:

5. This one might be obvious but it took me a while to figure out—wrapping your screen displayables in a transform (using the “at” property) renders any of its position style properties outside of the transform ineffectual.

Because of the transforms wrapping the frame and textbutton, those elements don’t have position properties defined. Strangely enough, this (thankfully) doesn’t apply to the button text properties. Adding these transforms results in a menu UI that moves on and off screen elegantly and feels responsive to the user, and I was pretty proud of being able to code it and bring the artist’s design to life.

6. You can use screens for literally anything. The demo has a screen that just overlays another instance of the background image on top of everything in order to create the effect of hiding every sprite on screen without having to a) figure out which sprites are being shown and hide them individually and b) keep track of where they were on screen so you can put them back afterwards. Shoutout to the users on Lemmasoft forums for this clever trick, it saved me hours of not having to hack together a stupid sprite hiding implementation lol

The stupid menu problem

If you set menu captions to be spoken by the narrator instead of displayed as an empty button, your menu choices will be shown at the same time as your menu caption. Unless you have text speed set to instantaneously appear, this results in the weird experience of seeing your dialogue options before the character even finishes talking, and there’s no way to change this in Ren’Py’s default options.

My first solution was to have two instances of the menu caption: one that was a normal say statement with a {nw} tag, placed right before the menu, and then in the menu itself, a menu caption that had {fast} on the end to make it appear instantaneously and {done} to keep the duplicate from showing up in the history. This way, it looks like the character finishes speaking before the menu seamlessly appears to give the player their options. However… the problem was that when I added a click sound effect that plays whenever the player clicks to advance the game, the menu textbox will click twice since it’s actually split over two textboxes (making the game Literally Unplayable).

The next idea was to rewrite the choice screen entirely to handle waiting for the caption to finish displaying, but I was worried that I’d no longer be able to use the typical menu statement with indented blocks (which I really like for readability) and I didn’t want to dig into stuff built into the Ren’Py engine… but honestly the solution was way easier than that.

In the screenshots for the choice screen in the previous section, you might’ve noticed a “wait” parameter—every time I use the menu statement, I pass in a call to my menu_caption function that takes the current text speed and the length of the dialogue to calculate how long the menu’s “on_show” transform should pause before it slides the dialogue choices in:

And it’s used like this:

BAM, easy. While I was brainstorming solutions and googling stuff I strangely didn’t find a single other person with this problem, so it could totally be that I just missed something obvious or the default design choice makes sense to everyone else, but hopefully this is helpful for anyone else that was frustrated by this.

I think that’s it for now—I might do a part 2 later focusing on ftes or specific screens, and another one on the writing process that went into the demo. If there’s a feature or function in the game you’re curious about, let me know and I’ll write about it!

#game dev #renpy #visual novel #perihelion vn

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goattypegirl · 4 years ago

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Harrow the Ninth Live Read: Chapter 6-11

Con: It’s been a while

Pro: We finished part 1!

Con: this post is hella long now.

Chapter 6

Eighth House icon. Oh no. Gotta say, not a fan of the characters from the Eight House in Gideon the Ninth, whose names I now forget. There was Big Dude and Mayonnaise Twink.

OH OK WE’RE STARTING OFF WITH SOME LOCKED IN SYNDROME SHIT.

So, panicked person wheeling Harrow is given the title “Sacred Hand.” I vaguely recall seeing that before; is that a title given to Lyctors? Is this one of the OG Lyctors finally making an appearance? Wheeling the frozen Harrow to the Emperor to “unfuck accordingly?” Well, maybe not. Presumably another Lyctor would be able to “unfuck accordingly” themselves.

Oh disregard it is a Lyctor! And if we go back to the Dramatis Personae, this should be... Mercymorn! Originally of the Eighth House! She seems nice.

“It was his order that she not be touched.” Did the Emperor do this? But hwhy?

Calling Harrow and Ianthe babies is kind of hilarious. Aaaand Mercymorn just knocked this random person unconscious. OH wait is this the person the Emperor said to make static-y noises at? Survey says... maybe? They were called the Saint of Joy, which seems a unique title?

The whole description of the Lyctor and the way she visually dissects Harrow is so poetic, but something else catches my eye here. Harrow says her eyes did not have such a startling transition, which helps confirm my theory that Harrow is suppressing or undid the Lyctor process.

Also using the power of Cringe, Harrow partially(?) undoes the paralysis spell done to her. “An emotion was playing out over her face that was- not unfamiliar to you- but nonsensical; you discarded it.” Eh? What emotion could this be referring to? Confusion over what Harrow did? Awe? Fear? All of the above?

OH okay before I forget, Harrow formed a bone hook inside of her to do that, and she made that bone sheath to hold on to the sword, so maybe her necromancy isn’t being suppressed? Well, maybe. That feels more... internal? Like she hasn’t grown any full ass skeletons from bone dust yet.

...Why is Harrow afraid of telling Mercymorn her actual age? Why is the Body telling her to lie? Why fifteen??

Relief? That’s what flashed across Mercymorn’s face? Oh, duh, because Harrow did that and didn’t immediately die. Duh. Also she straight up said “hiss”? That is weird. Also, thinking back, it is weird there wasn’t an age requirement in the Lyctor trials. Also Mercymorn took Ianthe too???

“You’re not as pretty as Anastasia.” Anastasia being the member of the Ninth House listed with the Lyctors, but not as one of the Saints. Doing this liveread has its advantages, namely that I can remember shit that happened earlier!

OH WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT. “AS Anastasia,” not “As Anastasia was.” Implying Anastasia’s still alive? Matches her name not being struck through in the Dramatis Personae, and Mercymorn said there were 3 OG Lyctors now. Which matches with Anastasia not having that line about being a Saint! I’ve connected the two dots!

Okay there’s a lot going on here. Why is this normal necromancer so fascinating to Ianthe and Harrow? What she’s doing is pretty dope to be fair. Mercymorn called Ianthe 12... which... huh. More on that in a second. First, I need to google what the fuck an animaphiliac is... probably in an incognito window. Oh, okay, it’s just a style of necromancy in this universe okay thank God. Mercymorn also said Ianthe wasn’t as attractive as Cyrus... which is weird... And it reminds Ianthe of being with Mummy... I assume she means her mother, comparing her to Coronabeth? Oof.

So, back to the lowballing age thing. Mercymorn assumes Ianthe is 12, probably because she’s super old and has forgotten how mortals age. Harrow seems to have subconsciously picked up on this, which is why she lied about her age. I’m still in the camp of the Body being non-supernatural in origin. Yes, she has Gideon’s eyes, BUT, she spoke in the voice of Harrow’s mother and Aiglamene. SO, my theory is that the Body is a product of the trauma Harrow’s gone through, that’s kind of externalizing Harrow’s inner thought process. Like I said earlier, I’ve read Twig, and this is reminiscent of that.

OH hey we’re headed to the frontline apparently? Because 3 warships got shot down suddenly? Which begs the question I’ve had in the back of my mind since first picking up this series, who the fuck are they fighting??? Probably not Ressurection Beasts, given what we know about them. Other humans, probably? Dominicus (probably) isn’t Earth or humanity’s home planet.

Okay, hold up. The Emperor is trying to get to the frontline now, Mercymorn wants him to return to “the Mithraeum”, which is presumably the capital of the Empire outside of the Dominicus system? Also, Emperor’s been on the ship for 80 years, and been away from the Mithraeum for 100... Once again, the math’s not adding up...

Okay, so God hugs Mercymorn, she freezes, he confirms that he is leaving, and that he knows exactly who shot down 3 warships???

Okay cool we’re not headed to the fronline, we’re headed to the Mithraeum, whatever the fuck that is.

Ohhh and the Cohort necromancer girl died, or committed suicide? And the Emperor brought her back? ...There’s a story there.

Ohhhh Mom and Dad are fighting.

OKAY ONCE AGAIN A LOT TO UNPACK HERE BUT THE MITHRAEUM CAN ONLY BE REACHED BY ONE MEANS???? AND IT MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH BEING A LYCTOR???

...Hey. So. Here’s something. In the description of Mercy’s sword, it says it has a white knob at the end of, and I quote “-you didn’t know the exact technical word. It was a pommel though.” There’s a disconnect there, between Harrow’s knowledge, and the narrator’s knowledge. This has happened a few other times, like just a few pages ago, Harrow says a room is used for bodily functions, but the narrator jumps in and says no one in the universe would call it that, it’s a toilet. And this is going to sound kind of batshit, but like 6 years ago i was in to Undertale, and there was a popular theory that the narrator in that game was a separate character from the PC and... a lot of the points used in that theory kinda ring true here... even the use of second person narration...

So the narrator is a separate character from Harrow? Now, whether this narrator exists in-universe, or if this is a really cool stylistic choice, is another story. Right now I’m leaning towards... I don’t know. Well, hm. If the Body is a kind of externalization of Harrow’s inner thought process, maybe the narrator is an internalization?

That makes no sense.

Something to keep in mind.

Anyway, the shuttle detaches. There’s a sort of irony, in God being tired of people martyring themselves for him, but giving a speech saying “hey if you die in my service I love you.”

OKAY I think we’re about to go faster than light using necromancy? This should be good. OH OKAY WE’RE TAKING A SHORTCUT THROUGH HELL. COOL.

...so what was their original method of faster than light travel that turned out to be unusable? did it have to do with neutrinos in italy?

okay I love Mercy and the Emperor’s dialogue here. Again, objectively, I’m sure they’re bad people who have committed several warcrimes... but the way they bicker is just hilarious.

I’m googling hyperpotamus, and i’m only getting other Harrow the Ninth livereads, so it appears to be a term made for the book. But I have a terrible feeling it’s a pun on hippopotamus.

There are so many quotes here that I absolutely love, including “said the Lord of the Nine Houses, who apparently existed within a complex power dynamic.” and “The magma metaphor falls apart from here.”

...Oh. Okay, serious time. Even at the very start, just post-Resurrection, two of the Lyctors fell to the Resurrection Beasts. Well, one died, and one was “removed from play.” Which sounds horrifying.

So we’re dipping into Hell because you can move fast there. Hell is full of angry ghosts. This explains the ghost ward. Lyctors have hacked the system, and so can kind of survive there. And we learn what happened to Cassiopeia, one of the deceased Lyctors. (Interestingly enough it says she baited physical portions of the Ressurection Beast. Not a beast. Nor is it given a number...)

ALright so entering the River physically sounds fucking horrifying. I’m very glad we only have to do it this once and it definitely won’t come back later in the book nope definitely not.

“and that you felt alone in your head.” ;_;

Chapter 7

Sixth House icon.

There’s not a lot to say here, besides how freaky this is. How much do you want to bet that the faint wail Harrow hears is coming from the coffin with Cyntherea’s body?

JOHN. GOD’S NAME IS JOHN?? #NAME LORE UNLOCKED. IM JUST SO HAPPY I FINALLY HAVE A WAY TO REFER TO HIM WITHOUT STRUGGLING TO SPELL EMPORER EVERY FUCKIN TIME.

Also, Mercymorn knowing his like actual human name further implies some stuff about the timeline of the Ressurection, which I was wondering about previously... but that’s a discussion for later because Harrow’s in Hell!

Not a lot to say here besides

fuck.

A few things. One. I think they’re going to get out of this okay? And by okay I mean alive? We know Ianthe, the Emperor, and Harrow live up to the point of the Prologue, and I don’t think Mercymorn is going to die already.

Two. Cassiopeia was from the Sixth House, going by her Cavalier’s last name, which explains the chapter icon.

Three. The lights? The last page or so is very metaphorical, but, at the beginning it says Harrow perceived herself as a “sickly radiance”, and that she perceived the others on the ship as a light as well. She later said she was an “ova cluster of two hundred pinpricks of light.” So I think in this deep part of the River Harrow accidentally sent herself to, souls (maybe?) are displayed as lights. Harrow’s own soul is literally made up of the hundreds of dead House Nine kids, which is. Spooky. But then, at the end, when they jump out of the River, they bring 5 lights with them. So... either something hitched a ride with them, or it has something to do with Harrow suppressing Gideon and the Lyctor ritual. Everyone else on the ship has undergone the Lyctor ritual (or something similar, in John’s case), and they only have 1 light each. At least to Harrow’s eyes. BRUH IDK WHAT”S GOING ON.

Chapter 8

No further answers here, this is a flashback chapter! So, sheared skull = flashback. And this chapter is going to feature the Fourth House, apparently. Who was Fourth House again? Oh no it was the kids. Oh no. ;_;

So, we are continuing through Harrow’s re-imagination of the events of Canaan House, with her Ortus OC in tow.

Of course Harrow is overwhelmed by normal tea, and of course Harrow thinks dressing up skeletons is stupid.

AND of course Harrow would have a private prayer wishing doom on anyone that looks at her with any kind of emotion.

Hold up, the Anastasian tomb? Reserved for warriors? And presumably derived from the word Anastasia, the mysterious not-Lyctor of the Ninth House??

I can already tell Anastasia is going to become my Pepe Silvia.

Ohhh this is going to be a lore bomb about the timeline of the Ressurection and I’m going to need to pull out my copy of Gideon the Ninth to see if any of this shit actually happened.

TEN? TEN NORMAL ASS HUMANS? AND FIVE NECROMANCERS?? BUT THERE WERE SEVEN LYCTORS. THE MATH DOES NOT CHECK OUT.

Okay so I checked and none of this shit actually happened! In fact, Teacher actually said there were 16, 8 necromancers, 8 cavaliers. Where the fuck is Harrow getting 10 from? Who knows! And rather than explicitly saying “hey check out the basement labs to see how to become a Lyctor,” Teacher actually said fuck if I know. Not actually. But still.

Oh of course it’s called the Sleeper!! I had Kill Bill sirens playing in my head when I first read that.

So, had a whole ass monologue here, but this is already very long and im sleepy, so to very quickly summarize, the Parahumans series had an entity known as the Sleeper that was intentionally very mysterious and raised a lot of questions amongst fans, and the fact that there’s another entity here known as the Sleeper is flooding me.

So, I’m spooked. Again, this entire conversation did not actually happen. Teacher’s dialogue is precious. “go where I durst not go: because I love my life, and I love noise, also.” and “I do not know the answers to any of these questions, only that, already, you are being too loud.”

So, the rest of the chapter plays out with Ortus complaining to Harrow. Intriguingly, he says that Harrow doesn’t have much of an imagination, when she says there was no one else to choose as her Cavalier... And then one of the skeletons says, “Is this how it happens?” harkening back to Parodos, when the Body says something similar. There’s a lot to unpack here. One, like I said previously, because Ortus, and apparently the entirety of Canaan House, is a product of Harrow’s mind, they can maybe give some insight into Harrow herself. However, the fact that Ortus seems to break character and chastise her for her lack of imagination is... I don’t know.

Okay, theory time. “The Work” alluded to in the letters is not only the suppression of Lyctor-hood, it’s also the erasure of Gideon, and the creation of these false memories. Meaning Lyctor!Harrow somehow crafted them; there was conscious effort behind it. Which means we can totally pick these scenes apart to gain further insight into Harrow! The skeleton and the Body asking if this is what happened, and Ortus breaking character (maybe) are her subconscious breaking through... Maybe that ties into my idea of the narrator being an internalization or compartmentalization of Harrow’s trauma? Hmm...

Chapter 9

Seventh House skull, and not a flashback. I’m guessing this is because we’re going to inter Cyntherea’s body here.

Okay, so time seems to have passed. IDK how much of the River Harrow remembers here. It seems like she recalls it like a bad dream. Ianthe’s here, and they’re in a chapel made of bone. Or at least one absolutely covered in bone.

Here’s a question. The necromancy Harrow excels at, that’s creating a whole ass skeleton from a single bit of bone. Is she actually creating a new skeleton? Or is she reforming one. Like if she had two teeth from the same skeleton, could she use that to make two new skeletons? In the last chapter the Ressurection was described as not creating anything new... does that apply to all of necromancy, or just what the Emperor did?

Also another side note, Harrow says the stars glow with an unearthly light, which matches what the Emperor said, that they restarted the stars near the Mithraeum with thanergy, so they’re weird now. Except... wasn’t Dominicus restarted the same way? Or is the Dominicus system a hybrid of thanergy and thalergy? I’m getting my energies mixed up.

Anyway yep it’s Cyntherea’s funeral, and Harrow is checking the fuck out.

Okay we have a new Lyctor... and I’m guessing it’s Augustine, since he and Mercymorn are fighting.

Okay and John’s giving a speech and giving more lore about the pre-Ressurrection and it’s confirmed that this guy is Augustine and-

First gen? Second gen? Sixth installation?? Valancy? ANASTASIA?

bruh im so flooded and this is supposed to be such a reverent moment.

Ohhh this is awkward now that they’re pulling Ianthe and Harrow forward. Okay we get a formal introduction to Mercymorn and Augustine. Augustine trails off before the third... and asks if he, the third surviving Lyctor, knows about the missile strikes...Is the third Lyctor the one leading the people who shot down the warships, which is sounding increasingly like a rebellion rather than a battle against others? Who’s the third again ah fuck it’s ORTUS.

ORTUS is apparently interested in “you-know-what”. Which I don’t know what. Please elaborate.

ORTUS is here and he’s skeletal. OH AND SO IS RESSURECTION BEAST NUMBER SEVEN.

FUCK.

(bruh what the fuck is a pseudo-Beast)

Okay yep time to fight an eldritch god.

Speaking of which, God’s name is John confirmed.

And Harrow bled from the ear and fell unconscious, hearing the name ORTUS.

Chapter 10

Pog we’re almost done with part 1. Fifth skull, sheared, so it’s flashback time.

I don’t recognize immediately where we are; apparently this is in the library in Canaan House? Though I don’t remember one from Gideon the Ninth. We see a bit of personality from Ortus, when he complains about Fifth House poetry, which is nice.

Oh, wait, never mind, that was Magnus speaking. Ortus remains as boring as ever.

Hehehehe dick jokes.

Hey so no fake vow of silence in the false memories of Canaan House! That’s interesting. As is Magnus and Abagail being here, and them being pretty fleshed out characters. As are these cooking instructions from the Lyctors...

HOOOOOOOLD the phone here. The cooking notes mention an M and Nigella... which was the first name of Cassiopeia’s cavalier... How would Harrow know that? The easy explanation is that this is a note that Harrow actually found, and is placing here in her fake memories... The other explanation is that something funky is afoot...

Ooohkay Magnus is asking if this is how it happens now. The simulation is breaking down. AND ABAGAIL CAN TELL THAT HARROW IS A LIVING WAR CRIME. PANIC.

Okay now we’re getting Ortus emotion! He is a grown ass man Harrow. At least, he would be, were he not a figment of Harrow’s imagination.

HEEEEY

WHAT THE FUUUUCK

WE’RE CONTINUING ON THIS DYING EGGS THING

PROBABLY WILL BE RELEVANT LATER.

Okay and the simulation breaks down further when Ortus says “you did have a cavalier with a backbone, I’m not them.” Interestingly enough, it’s hours later Harrow realizes something’s weird... Huh...

Chapter 11

Seventh House skull.

Literally just a paragraph saying Harrow sleepwalked and stabbed Cyntherea’s body.

...She sleep walked... the Sleeper from the fake Canaan House...

#harrow the ninth #harrow the ninth liveread #harrow the ninth spoilers #the locked tomb

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outerloop · 5 years ago

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Porting Falcon Age to the Oculus Quest

There have already been several blog posts and articles on how to port an existing VR game to the Quest. So we figured what better way to celebrate Falcon Age coming to the Oculus Quest than to write another one!

So what we did was reduced the draw calls, reduced the poly counts, and removed some visual effects to lower the CPU and GPU usage allowing us to keep a constant 72 hz. Just like everyone else!

Thank you for coming to our Tech talk. See you next year!

...

Okay, you probably want more than that.

Falcon Age

So let's talk a bit about the original PlayStation VR and PC versions of the game and a couple of the things we thought were important about that experience we wanted to keep beyond the basics of the game play.

Loading Screens Once you’re past the main menu and into the game, Falcon Age has no loading screens. We felt this was important to make the world feel like a real place the player could explore. But this comes at some cost in needing to be mindful of the number of objects active at one time. And in some ways even more importantly the number of objects that are enabled or disabled at one time. In Unity there can be a not insignificant cost to enabling an object. So much so that this was a consideration we had to be mindful of on the PlayStation 4 as loading a new area could cause a massive spike in frame time causing the frame rate to drop. Going to the Quest this would be only more of an issue.

Lighting & Environmental Changes While the game doesn’t have a dynamic time of day, different areas have different environmental setups. We dynamically fade between different types of lighting, skies, fog, and post processing to give areas a unique feel. There are also events and actions the player does in the game that can cause these to happen. This meant all of our lighting and shadows were real time, along with having custom systems for handling transitioning between skies and our custom gradient fog.

Our skies are all hand painted clouds and horizons cube maps on top of Procedural Sky from the asset store that handles the sky color and sun circle with some minor tweaks to allow fading between different cube maps. Having the sun in the sky box be dynamic allowed the direction to change without requiring totally new sky boxes to be painted.

Our gradient fog works by having a color gradient ramp stored in a 1 by 64 pixel texture that is sampled using spherical distance exp2 fog opacity as the UVs. We can fade between different fog types just by blending between different textures and sampling the blended result. This is functionally similar to the fog technique popularized by Campo Santo’s Firewatch, though it is not applied as a post process as it was for that game. Instead all shaders used in the game were hand modified to use this custom fog instead of Unity’s built in fog.

Post processing was mostly handled by Unity’s own Post Processing Stack V2, which includes the ability to fade between volumes which the custom systems extended. While we knew not all of this would be able to translate to the Quest, we needed to retain as much of this as possible.

The Bird At its core, Falcon Age is about your interactions with your bird. Petting, feeding, playing, hunting, exploring, and cooperating with her. One of the subtle but important aspects of how she “felt” to the player was her feathers, and the ability for the player to pet her and have her and her feathers react. She also has special animations for perching on the player’s hand or even individual fingers, and head stabilization. If at all possible we wanted to retain as much of this aspect of the game, even if it came at the cost of other parts.

You can read more about the work we did on the bird interactions and AI in a previous dev blog posts here: https://outerloop.tumblr.com/post/177984549261/anatomy-of-a-falcon

Taking on the Quest

Now, there had to be some compromises, but how bad was it really? The first thing we did was we took the PC version of the game (which natively supports the Oculus Rift) and got that running on the Quest. We left things mostly unchanged, just with the graphics settings set to very low, similar to the base PlayStation 4 PSVR version of the game.

It ran at less than 5 fps. Then it crashed.

Ooph.

But there’s some obvious things we could do to fix a lot of that. Post processing had to go, just about any post processing is just too expensive on the Quest, so it was disabled entirely. We forced all the textures in the game to be at 1/8th resolution, that mostly stopped the game from crashing as we were running out of memory. Next up were real time shadows, they got disabled entirely. Then we turned off grass, and pulled in some of the LOD distances. These weren’t necessarily changes we would keep, just ones to see what it would take to get the performance better. And after that we were doing much better.

A real, solid … 50 fps.

Yeah, nope.

That is still a big divide between where we were and the 72 fps we needed to be at. It became clear that the game would not run on the Quest without more significant changes and removal of assets. Not to mention the game did not look especially nice at this point. So we made the choice of instead of trying to take the game as it was on the PlayStation VR and PC and try to make it look like a version of that with the quality sliders set to potato, we would need to go for a slightly different look. Something that would feel a little more deliberate while retaining the overall feel.

Something like this.

Optimize, Optimize, Optimize (and when that fails delete)

Vertex & Batch Count

One of the first and really obvious things we needed to do was to bring down the mesh complexity. On the PlayStation 4 we were pushing somewhere between 250,000 ~ 500,000 vertices each frame. The long time rule of thumb for mobile VR has been to be somewhere closer to 100,000 vertices, maybe 200,000 max for the Quest.

This was in some ways actually easier than it sounds for us. We turned off shadows. That cut the vertex count down significantly in many areas, as many of the total scene’s vertex count comes from rendering the shadow maps. But the worse case areas were still a problem.

We also needed to reduce the total number of objects and number of materials being used at one time to help with batching. If you’ve read any other “porting to Quest” posts by other developers this is all going to be familiar.

This means combining textures from multiple object into atlases and modifying the UVs of the meshes to match the new position in the atlas. In our case it meant completely re-texturing all of the rocks with a generic atlas rather than having every rock use a custom texture set.

Now you might think we would want also reduce the mesh complexity by a ton. And that’s true to an extent. Counter intuitively some of the environment meshes on the Quest are more complex than the original version. Why? Because as I said we were looking to change the look. To that end some meshes ended up being optimized to far low vertex counts, and others ended up needing a little more mesh detail to make up for the loss in shading detail and unique texturing. But we went from almost every mesh in the game having a unique texture to the majority of environment objects sharing a small handful of atlases. This improved batching significantly, which was a much bigger win than reducing the vertex count for most areas of the game.

That’s not to say vertex count wasn’t an issue still. A few select areas were completely pulled out and rebuilt as new custom merged meshes in cases where other optimizations weren’t enough. Most of the game’s areas are built using kit bashing, reusing sets of common parts to build out areas. Parts like those rocks above, or many bits of technical & mechanical detritus used to build out the refineries in the game. Making bespoke meshes let us remove more hidden geometry, further reduce object counts, and lower vertex counts in those problem areas.

We also saw a significant portion of the vertex count coming from the terrain. We are using Unity’s built in terrain system. And thankfully we didn’t have to start from total scratch here as simply increasing the terrain component's Pixel Error automatically reduces the complexity of the rendered terrain. That dropped the vertex count even more getting us closer to the target budget without significantly changing the appearance of the geometry.

After that many smaller details were removed entirely. I mentioned before we turned off grass entirely. We also removed several smaller meshes from the environment in various places where we didn’t think their absence would be noticed. As well as removed or more aggressively disabled out of view NPCs in some problem areas.

Shader Complexity

Another big cost was most of the game was using either a lightly modified version of Unity’s Standard shader, or the excellent Toony Colors Pro 2 PBR shader. The terrain also used the excellent and highly optimized MicroSplat. But these were just too expensive to use as they were. So I wrote custom simplified shaders for nearly everything.

The environment objects use a simplified diffuse shading only shader. It had support for an albedo, normal, and (rarely used) occlusion texture. Compared to how we were using the built in Standard shader this cut down the number of textures a single material could use by more than half in some cases. This still had support for the customized gradient fog we used throughout the game, as well as a few other unique options. Support for height fog was built into the shader to cover a few spots in the game where we’d previously used post processing style methods to achieve. I also added support for layering with the terrain’s texture to hide a few places where there were transitions from terrain to mesh.

Toony Colors Pro 2 is a great tool, and is deservedly popular. But the PBR shader we were using for characters is more expensive than even the Standard shader! This is because the way it’s implemented is it’s mostly the original Standard Shader with some code on top to modify the output. Toony Colors Pro 2 has a large number of options for modifying and optimizing what settings to use. But in the end I wrote a new shader from scratch that mimicked some of the aspects we liked about it. Like the environment shader it was limited to diffuse shading, but added a Fresnel shine.

The PSVR and PC terrain used MicroSplat with 12 different terrain layers. MicroSplat makes these very fast and much cheaper to render than the built in terrain rendering. But after some testing we found we couldn’t support more than 4 terrain layers at a time without really significant drops in performance. So we had to go through and completely repaint the entire terrain, limiting ourselves to only 4 texture layers.

Also, like the other shaders mentioned above, the terrain was limited to diffuse only shading. MicroSplat’s built in shader options made this easy, and apart from the same custom fog support added for the original version, it didn’t require any modifications.

Post Processing, Lighting, and Fog

The PSVR and PC versions of Falcon Age makes use of color grading, ambient occlusion, bloom, and depth of field. The Quest is extremely fill rate limited, meaning full screen passes of anything are extremely expensive, regardless of how simple the shader is. So instead of trying to get this working we opted to disable all post processing. However this resulted in the game being significantly less saturated. And in extreme cases completely different. To make up for this the color of the lighting and the gradient fog was tweaked to make up for this. This is probably the single biggest factor in the overall appearance of the original versions of the game and the Quest version not looking quite the same.

Also as mentioned before we disabled real time shadows. We discussed doing what many other games have done which is move to baked lighting, or at least pre-baked shadows. We decided against this for a number of reasons. Not the least of which was our game is mostly outdoors so shadows weren’t as important as it might have been for many other games. We’ve also found that simple real time lighting can often be faster than baked lighting, and that certainly proved to be true for this game.

However the lack of shadows and screen space ambient occlusion meant that there was a bit of a disconnect between characters in the world and the ground. So we added simple old school blob shadows. These are simple sprites that float just above the terrain or collision geometry, using a raycast from a character’s center of mass, and sometimes from individual feet. There’s a small selection of basic blob shapes and a few unique shapes for certain feet shapes to add a little extra bit of ground connection. These are faded out quickly in the distance to reduce the number of raycasts needed.

Falcon

Apart from the aforementioned changes to the shading, which was also applied to the falcon’s custom shaders, we did almost nothing to the bird. All the original animations, reaction systems, and feather interactions remained. The only thing we did to the bird was simplify a few of the bird equipment and toy models. The bird models themselves remained intact.

I did say we thought this was important at the start. And we early on basically put a line in the sand and said we were going to keep everything enabled on the bird unless absolutely forced to disable it.

There was one single sacrifice to the optimization gods we couldn’t avoid though. That’s the trails on the bird’s wings. We were making use of Ara Trails, which produce very high quality and configurable trails with a lot more control than Unity’s built in systems. These weren’t really a problem for rendering on the GPU, but CPU usage was enough that it made sense to pull them.

Selection Highlights

This is perhaps an odd thing to call out, but the original game used a multi pass post process based effect to draw the highlight outlines on objects for both interaction feedback and damage indication. These proved to be far too expensive to use on the Quest. So I had to come up with a different approach. Something like your basic inverted shell outline, like so many toon stylized games use, would seem like the perfect approach. However we never built the meshes to work with that kind of technique, and even though we were rebuilding large numbers of the meshes in the game anyway, some objects we wanted to highlight proved difficult for this style of outline.

With some more work it would have been possible to make this an option. But instead I found an easier to implement approach that, on the face, should have been super slow. But it turns out the Quest is very efficient at handling stencil masking. This is a technique that lets you mark certain pixels of the screen so that subsequent meshes being rendered can ask to not be rendered in. So I render the highlighted object 6 times! With 4 of those times slightly offset in screen space in the 4 diagonal directions. The result is a fairly decent looking outline that works on arbitrary objects, and was cheap enough to be left enabled on everything that it had been on before, including objects that might cover the entire screen when being highlighted.

Particles and General VFX

For the PSVR version of the game, we already had two levels of VFX in the game to support the base Playstation 4 and Playstation 4 Pro with different kinds of particle systems. The Quest version started out with these lower end particle systems to begin with, but it wasn’t enough. Across the board the number and size of particles had to be reduced. With some effects removed or replaced entirely. This was both for CPU performance as the sheer number of particles was a problem and GPU performance as the screen area the particles covered became a problem for the Quest’s reduced fill rate limitations.

For example the baton had an effect that included a few very simple circular glows on top of electrical arcs and trailing embers. The glows covered enough of the screen to cause a noticeable drop in framerate even just holding it by your side. Holding it up in front of your face proved too expensive to keep framerate in even the simplest of scenes.

Similar the number of embers had to be reduced to improve the CPU impact. The above comparison image only shows the removal of the glow and already has the reduced particle count applied.

Another more substantive change was the large smoke plumes. You may have already noticed the difference in some of the previous comparisons above. In the original game these used regular sprites. But even reducing the particle count in half the rendering cost was too much. So these were replaced with mesh cylinders using a shader that makes them ripple and fade out. Before changing how they were done the areas where the smoke plumes are were unable to keep the frame rate above 72 fps any time they were in view. Sometimes dipping as low as 48 hz. Afterwards they ceased to be a performance concern.

Those smoke plumes originally made use of a stylized smoke / explosion effect. That same style of effect is reused frequently in the game for any kind of smoke puff or explosion. So while they were removed for the smoke stacks, they still appeared frequently. Every time you take out a sentry or drone your entire screen was filled with these smoke effects, and the frame rate would dip below the target. With some experimentation we found that counter to a lot of information out there, using alpha tested (or more specifically alpha to coverage) particles proved to be far more efficient to render than the original alpha blended particles with a very similar overall appearance. So that plus some other optimizations to those shaders and the particle counts of those effects mean multiple full screen explosions did not cause a loss in frame rate.

The two effects are virtually identical in appearance, ignoring the difference in lighting and post processing. The main difference here is the Quest explosion smoke is using dithered alpha to coverage transparency. You can see if you look close enough, even with the gif color dithering.

Success!

So after all that we finally got to the goal of a 72hz frame rate! Coming soon to an Oculus Quest near you!

https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2327302830679091/

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noddytheornithopod · 5 years ago

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Holy shit my thoughts on Mind over Mutant got surprisingly complicated so uh here’s a massive discussion under the cut, lol.

Out of all the main post Naughty Dog games... this might be my favourite after all? It’s far from perfect, but I think I had the most satisfying experience overall.

To start, visually everything looks pretty good. Granted I’m using the PS2 version which has a few visual bugs because it was designed for Wii and X360 graphics more, but generally I like how it holds up? Shame 360 emulators aren’t a thing as of now, and I’m not buying some old console just for one game, lol. Speaking of PS2, there’s no Coco option because apparently her moves were too complex for the system, RIP.

To start... yes, fuck the backtracking. It’s perfectly reasonably why this pisses people off. For me, it’s mainly the transition between Wumpa Island and the Ratcicle Kingdom since you have to go through AND back twice, with little variation. Other paths at least have you only needing to retread once for the story or there’s a new extra path in it that unlocks. At least some of the enemies change up I guess? But honestly, I think what bugs me more is that it’s not exactly consistent in its implementation. Because for a while, yeah you’re going back and forth retreading old ground, but then you get the key for the Junkyard on Wumpa Island and you’re just teleported to the Junkyard gate. Same thing happens when you get the Uka Uka bones. And of course, there’s the teleporters to find said bones, which is kind of striking a middle ground. Basically... it’s kinda inconsistent. Tedious when it is, but when you suddenly start to get used to it, you’re given massive leaps lol.

There’s stuff from Titans that was changed that I don’t really understand why? For example, the block with Crash no longer has a dodge, and dodging is now purely responding to mutant attacks. I like the addition to help even out things between Crash and mutants, but why no dodge normally? There’s no board sliding anymore, nothing calls for it obviously so it may have been pointless but it is kinda funny. Also Crash’s glide is replaced with the spin drill, which of course has its uses, but I miss having that glide too (you could have both, maybe the drill is by holding square or even pressing triangle, IDK).

On the topic of Crash, I kinda feel like Crash’s gameplay is oddly sidelined? I think it’s because of the mutant storing. Even if there’s less combat, much of the platforming now uses the mutants, and because there’s only some sections where you have to be Crash, it means you end up being Crash rather sparingly unless you really want to stick to him. Like, mutant storing is a good idea and works with the kind of game, but compare to Titans where even if it was more combat focused, the fact you had to use Crash in more parts meant you end up playing as him more than this game, and thus it feels like he has more of a presence with his own move set.

The combat felt off at first, but I ended up realising it’s because I became used to the Titans system... to start, it’s less intense and slower paced. You’re rarely gonna be swarmed so you actually have a chance against enemies. There’s also the mutant mojo upgrades, which means your mutant actually grows stronger with each upgrade, making combat different each time.

I like how they use mojo... for the most part. I like that the mutants can now be upgraded, and Crash of course grows stronger. My one reservation is that the upgrades don’t feel that diverse? In Crash’s case it’s probably because he keeps most of his moves from Titans, but still, only strength and spin upgrades isn’t the most exciting. Same with the mutants, getting stronger and the occasional special attack boost is cool, but it’s not the most exciting. I guess I need to view it like a Ratchet and Clank situation, because that’s what this is more like... including the multiplier. Including a multiplier with your combo level to make mojo worth more helps a lot with upgrading.

Because mutant gameplay is now more diverse instead of just a few classes that do their job, it also comes across as more inconsistent? I like that there’s improvements like them being able to jump now and more attack variations eg from when you block or jump and hit attack, but I also find some of it a bit awkward. Like, many of these attack variations are cool, but the tutorials give fuck all clues to them, so it’s hard to figure everything out.

For example... seriously, it took me ages to figure out how to use the TK in combat. TK is a pretty fun mutant, but until you figure out how to shoot and combine attacks with their telekinesis, you’re gonna be stuck to slow heavy attacks and awkwardly throwing enemies around.

I also find the Rhinoroller awkward. Because of the new moveset compared to Titans, it’s on one hand less slow, but on the other, it can get pretty annoying to control.

Ratcicle feels kind of overdeveloped. They can freeze stuff AND surf on shallow water. I mean, it’s great, but it kinda makes the other mutants look less exciting, lol. But yeah, one of the best mutants in this game because they definitely thought of much.

There’s a few mutants that are fun to play as like Spike, Sludge, and Battler, but unless you go outside the main story, they don’t really feel like they have much of a presence. The introduction pacing feels off, basically.

Snipe and Stench are back as ranged mutants. Snipe suddenly gets an upgrade and is pretty fun to play. Stench I’m not so crazy about, like now their special attack isn’t ranged anymore so that kinda messes up the gameplay with them, and while the fire rate is improved from Titans, every now and then they do a reload animation which I assume was meant to add detail, but all it does is slow the gameplay down and make the rhythm of firing off.

Magmadon is around, and while they aren’t underused, I do think it’s a bit of a missed opportunity with this game’s increased platforming focus that it doesn’t have any fire/lava abilities. There’s only one place that’s too hot for other characters and thus making them necessary too. Like, imagine if you could use it to melt through ice or even metal, eg a door that must be melted down to progress. Sludge’s shrinking ability is only used like two or three times (and I think only one is mandatory), so I think there’s missed opportunities there too. The shapeshifting and extendable arms stuff could’ve made for some cool mechanics. Adding more platforming abilities for mutants might overcomplicate the game of course, but... still. Especially with Sludge, give them some more use, even for secrets and such. Speaking of secrets... Spike needing to use the special attack on that one spiky part on the way to Mt Grimly is pretty random, huh?

Scorporilla and Yuktopus serve their role as the massive powerhouses (and Scorporilla even gets a beefed up melee combo), though I must admit it’s odd Yuktopus is now demoted to a regular enemy/sub-boss class (seeing two in the minigames was surreal when I was young lol). And I mean, random changes in design and stuff is something I find odd in general. I mean, the returning mutants mostly have improved designs, but for others I’m not as sure on, eg Rhinoroller looking less rhino-y, and Sludge suddenly being a boar instead of an frog or chameleon or whatever it was in Titans. Guess some is NV mutations but whatever, lol.

On the topic of enemy design, one thing I miss from Titans is the colour and outfit variations. Maybe they had less time to do it and at least the single models they get look good, but still, it’s a shame. We do get the hero mutants, but the PS2 version fucks up their looks for some reason, lol (and for some reason their mojo upgrades separately from the standard of their species, which is weird, especially since it’s not counted in the game’s completion).

Grimlys are cool, probably my favourite mutant in the game. Kinda funny how they don’t have a block and instead a lock on function, but it makes sense given they’re meant to be used faster than other close range mutants. But yeah, time slowing is so cool it’s even back in Crash 4 with one of the new Quantum Masks. Really helps you rake up that combo count to get all that mojo too.

The minions are... interesting. They mostly do their job, but then suddenly you have Doom Monkeys and Znu that have these massive stun attacks that can get annoying if there’s a lot of them. Slap-Es can block but as long as you’re not Crash they’re as quick as any others. The Doom Monkeys are less annoying in speech too, thankfully.

I get a few audio bugs. Most annoying of which is being unable to hear enemy conversations. But sometimes I just got sound effects cut out for no reason. On the inverse... some of the mutants are very noisy and need to shut up. Aku Aku also sometimes adds commentary when unnecessary, making him feel a bit handholdy. Yes, I’m going to the damn roller village, be patient, dude.

Probably the thing to impress me most revisiting the game is actually the continuity and worldbuilding. I mean, to start, you have all the mutants becoming free and forming their own societies, only for the NVs to turn them into evil warriors again. Said societies are pretty interesting as well.

Wumpa Island is mostly the same (sans all the stranded Ratinicians gone wild lol), but then you have the Ratcicle Kingdom. A Kingdom formed mostly out of ice, and also near Cortex’s evil public school. Nothing like this was in Titans, so was there always a cold part of Wumpa Island, or did the concentration of Ratcicles allow them to make enough ice to form a cold climate and society despite this being tropical nearby? All the designers and stuff are cool, and some of the characters are quite peculiar (I love that one masochist Ratcicle lol).

Then there’s the Ice Prison and Evil School. IDK how the Ice Prison was made, but it seems like it’s Cortex’s doing since the Brat Girls run it AND Evil School (while also being students?). As one of those lore junkies that headcanons Wumpa Island is the second island from the original Crash games, this fits oddly well, because in Twinsanity Cortex suddenly has a massive floating Iceberg lab. Maybe Cortex also made the school and prison nearby, and the Ratcicles took their Wumpa Island residence and connected Cortex’s base. Yeah, I’m getting crazy with my speculation, but the game letting you fuel this is fun. Also cool how the Brat Girls leave Nina after she loses in Titans and end up as Cortex’s grunts, ironically.

The Wasteland seems new, and I assume it’s the evolution of the Lumberyard from Titans. We also have rhinoroller elders even if it’s only two years of existing lol.

The Junkyard is apparently born out of the remains of N Gin’s weapons factory (I heard somewhere the Weapons factory was apparently on N Sanity Island but IDK if that was ever confirmed, it makes more sense it was on Wumpa Island TBH but if it was imagine all that junk moved there lol, TBH Cortex Island could work for the weapons factory too, it would make things less cluttered and it’s possible there’s still unpolluted beaches but whatever). It’s a pretty cool setting, and the Doom Monkeys being in the remains of their old location but under new leadership (and somehow with rockets removed from their heads... maybe they were merely aesthetic? lol) is nice continuity. Judging from the concept art it also seems to be around that volcanic area in Titans, which makes sense given that had more machinery.

Mt Grimly is completely new. Surprisingly it’s not an evolution of the Uka tree (though there is one creepy tree place with the hero Grimly on Wumpa Island), and as a result it’s much harder to work into my 2nd island headcanon (I mean, at least that island always had a giant tree lol). Cool location, but unfortunately we don’t really learn much about its normal state compared to the other worlds, unless it’s permanently inhabited by evil dudes, lol. Also I still wonder what the heck the Znu and Grimlys are. Are the Znu supposed to be the same thing as Grimlies? Are the Grimlys NV transoformed Znu??? Who knows.

Even the changing enemies in revisiting locations relates to the story. For example, the sludges in the Junkyard will say how Slap-Es and Stenches have appeared from “the sky”. Besides random occasional appearances from different mutants in various locations, you also have the Znu and Doom Monkeys moving out of their home levels to the previous ones after you make it through said levels the first time. I’m very perplexed by the sudden increase of Battlers when you revisit evil school and the ice prison paths though... either they’re also favourites of Cortex, or the Brat Girls disappointed Cortex after he saw Crash break into school and Nina helped him and he... used NVs on them to make new Battlers. Other stuff like Snipes in the Wasteland because of the Snipe hero are clear enough, but this one is... interesting.

There are some inconsistencies that bug me though. For one, it feels like nobody acknowledges Cortex’s blog video. Aku Aku acts surprised that N Brio is back and working with Cortex, and later wonders how Brio gets dark mojo even though Cortex explicitly says he’s using Uka for that. IDK, I guess Aku Aku doesn’t like watching internet videos and expected Crash and Coco to do everything, lol (I mean, he doesn’t really acknowledge it after watching anyway). Also a bit confused on how evil school works... it’s implied the Brat Girls are the main students, especially when one NPC says it’s all girls, but the intro video includes all genders and shows non-Brat Girls so... something’s up (maybe the NPC misheard or the ad was lying and only had girls because EVIL). Also apparently there’s another evil school somewhere besides Madame Amberly’s (is it also public? how is it public, is there a government funding these evil schools? did Cortex declare some regime?).

The humour and cutscenes are mostly pretty fun and there’s many funny moments. There are a few jokes that are... questionable at best (Uka I know you’re evil, but you don’t need to be ableist), and some of it probably seems outdated, but I actually appreciate most of it. The 2D cutscenes in different styles simulating changing channels like you have an NV is cool and has some pretty fun jokes with them, though it does suck you don’t see some character models well if at all as a result. The whole satire of consumerism and the latest tech fads was a nice addition (between this and the different mutant powers and stuff, it’s almost a classic Ratchet and Clank type game), not to mention wild stuff like evil recycling (and I mean, green movements ARE co-opted soooo) and many edgy but still mostly jokes I doubt would pass today.

Bosses are fine. Cortex was fun, but Coco was too easy (plus she’s freed from NV control a bit too soon, they could’ve saved her for the Ice Prison or even Evil School or something to raise the stakes, I mean if you’re not gonna fully commit to playable Coco then you may as well go the N Tranced route). Crunch wasn’t as hard as I remember, in fact he was kinda underwhelming. If anything the Scorporilla and Yuktopus acting as sorta sub-bosses in-story were better fights than saving the bandicoots (also one of the sludges says Crunch is Crash’s brother... confirmed?). Also small nitpick but why doesn’t Coco have her evil model in the enemy profiles, even as she has her boss lines?

Music is legit one of my favourite soundtracks in the series, Marc Baril doesn’t get enough credit. He manages to have such a range and it all works so well even as it has a distinct and fitting style.

Voodoo doll collecting is more involved which is cool, and there’s also golden wumpa now serving as health upgrades because we don’t have lives anymore. Yeah, Titans and MoM did gold wumpa first, not CTR:NF and Crash 4. At this rate I wouldn’t be surprised if it showed up even earlier. Minigames are optional too which means less stress for 100% completion, though there’s also the arena minigames (oh hey, more Ratchet and Clank similarities), and they unlock enemy skins... unfortunately unlike Titans which had skins for every enemy, there’s only a few skins here (one for each world’s games), which is disappointing.

Anyway... yeah. Mind over Mutant isn’t as polished as Titans and is a bit messy and inconsistent in some places (most likely because this game has less time than Titans), and some of the backtracking is tedious, but in general I had a pretty good time with it, and was actually pleasantly surprised by some things.

#crash bandicoot #crash: mind over mutant #mind over mutant

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killscreencinema · 5 years ago

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The Outer Worlds (PS4)

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Even in space you can’t escape the claws of corporate greed and rampant capitalism gone amuck!

Such is the case in The Outer Worlds, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Take-Two Interactive in 2019, where you play as a mysterious “stranger”, thawed out of cryogenic stasis on a lost colony ship by a mad scientist named Phineas Wells, who barely introduces himself before dispatching you to an exotic world named Terra 2. Here you begin your quest either to help Dr. Welles shake off the chains of corporate tyranny that has run down the colony of the Halcyon star system or you can choose to assist “The Board” in catching the fugitive scientist and reestablishing its authority.

The Outer Worlds is kind of a mash-up of several sci-fi fantasy properties, most notably Joss Whedon’s Firefly, with a cup of Star Wars, a tablespoon of Mass Effect, with a big ol’ heaping of BioShock folded in for good measure. That’s not to say it’s a ripoff of those things so much as a loving homage that manages to use those influences to create its own universe.

Okay, well, your socially awkward engineer, Parvarti, who speaks in politely educated, old west vernacular is straight up Kaylee from Firefly but still not a ripoff!

Okay, well, there’s the preacher on your ship, Vicar Max, who may or may not have been an expertly trained assassin and secret agent in a former life, just like Shepard Book in Firefly, but still not a ripoff!

Anyway, I do enjoy the art direction and aesthetics of The Outer Worlds, which has the “steam punky” yet futuristic vibe of BioShock, mixed with the obnoxious inundation of advertising by all the corporate factions vying for your attention and you hard earned “bits”. Say what you will about advertising, but that’s when you know humanity has reached the final frontier - when the well-lit billboards and signs start going up all over space. That kind of stuff does make these sci-fi universes feel “lived in”. It’s one of many reasons I love the show Cowboy Bebop - the future it depicts seems realistic and believable because it’s not really that far removed from our present, to point of including commercials, tacky eye sore ads everywhere, etc.

I digress - The Outer Worlds is a first-person shooter, with RPG elements similar to the Fallout games. The game also has that really annoying RPG element of having to constantly clean out your inventory from the constant crap that you loot from vanquished foes, shipping containers, and random safes that you can crack if your lockpicking skills are high enough. This shit in particular really reminds me of the first Mass Effect, which often felt like I spent more time in the menu equipping new weapons and armor than actually playing the game. Thankfully, becoming over-encumbered is rarely an issue as the game gives you a pretty generous weight threshold, but you will still have to eventually halt everything to offload all the useless crap that has accumulated in your inventory.

The combat is twitchy, FPS style fighting but your character has the ability to slow down time in order to fire precise shots at vulnerable enemy spots. I found this “Tactical Time Dilation”, or TTD, to be a useless waste of a mechanic as your character slows down along with the enemy, making it rather pointless and annoying. There are “perks” your character can earn to make you slightly move faster while using TTD, but not enough to make it worth using a lot in my opinion.

The majority of the story plays out via dialogue trees, and this is where I derived a lot of fun from The Outer Worlds, as you can opt to give your character low intelligence, which opens up “Dumb” dialogue options. I can’t recommend this option enough, as the way characters react to your dumb responses is hilarious, and ultimately leads to an optional secret ending for the game. Using the dumb dialogue options made me feel like I was playing the game as an “Ash Williams” type hero - tough, effective, and cunning in his own way, but ultimately kind of an idiot who bumbles into victory. It really made the game all the more compelling for me, because I happen to love characters like that.

While overall I enjoyed The Outer Worlds, I was also disappointed by how the universe of the game didn’t feel very expansive. You only travel to a handful of worlds, and even then, you’re relegated to a small patch of the planet. A game like this should feel more epic, kind of like No Man’s Sky, but still a functional game (yeah, I know, the update makes it supposedly better but you get my point). There are worlds on your map you NEVER get to visit, except via DLC, but even then you travel to a space station in orbit above that world that looks like every OTHER space station. So in summary, for a game called The Outer Worlds, I found the lack of variety in said worlds to be deflating. This isn’t helped by how often the same character models, with the same exact haircuts, and odd smirks, is recycled throughout the game. Do all of these characters go to the same barber or what?

Ultimately, these are all minor gripes compared to my biggest complaint of all - the loading times. Jesus and Mary, the loading times are the worst. When I signed up to be a console gamer in the great “Console vs PC Wars”, I knew I was going to have to deal with loading screens, but The Outer Worlds is ridiculous. I actually dreaded going into my ship, or transitioning to another map, because I knew I’d have to sit through a nearly 1-minute long loading screen every goddamn time. It’s unacceptable even by console standards and I understand it’s not much better on PC.

If you can get over obnoxious loading times, though, The Outer Worlds is worth a playthrough, especially if you’re a fan of the sci-fi genre.

#the outer worlds #obsidian entertainment #ps4 #playtation 4 #sony #take two interactive #scifi #firefly #star wars #bioshock #mass effect

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pandoriasbox · 5 years ago

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Jade’s SSO Rambles - 3 Archaeology (Current System)

(Please keep in mind that these are my thoughts and opinions at the time of writing these rambles. I may change my mind in the future.)

Star Stable Online’s archaeology isn’t for everyone and that’s absolutely fine as it is a completely optional part of the game. However it does have a large impact on gameplay and not only because of Nic Stoneground and the AAE. It offers additional gameplay and a means of making shillings outside of the limited number of daily quests available. I also feel that if the game is expanded to include crafting that archaeology should play a large part in that and other future optional features. (I have some notes on ideas in the works that may link back to this but I won’t be covering anything in regards to potential future systems/mechanics and such in this particular post.)

Personally I love the idea of archaeology in SSO and I especially like how Epona’s archaeology functions. However the way the player is initially introduced to the archaeology system via Dino Valley feels incredibly outdated and I think it could be changed to better match Epona and improve the initial experience both to new players and the current digging experience for returning ones. I also have some notes on how Epona could be tweaked as well.

Also please note that there are technically minor spoilers in terms of Dino Valley/Epona and archaeology for those who haven’t unlocked these areas. (Nothing story wise though, just locations, names and game mechanics.)

Epona Praise

Epona has 4 collections and 4 areas you can find these items within. Each area is its own self contained section of Epona that doesn’t overlap with the others. This helps avoid confusion when hunting for specific collections and makes planning routes far simpler in my opinion. Each area has a “transition” between them such as the field and roads between Dews and the Marshes.

The layout of the dig sites and the general level design of each area is interesting to navigate without being excruciatingly frustrating. I do think that the Mirror Marshes and Shipwreck Shores could be improved (I will discuss this in my Epona suggestions) but once the player has established a route these are mostly negligible issues.

The available item pool from archaeology is relatively small and even with all the items filling your inventory stacked you still have 2-3 full inventory rows free. There are 4 collections with 4 items each, 4 junk items and 4 “interesting find” items. All of these make sense to find in Epona and the collections also give a hint to the history of Epona. In total if you had at least one of each item in your inventory it would take up 24 slots. I highly prefer the maximum of 4 junk items as this means I can repeatedly stack the junk to avoid taking up more space. I also greatly appreciate that only the tradable items can be pulled from golden dig sites and doesn’t include extra “valuable junk.”

While you can make a full run of Epona without having to stop and sell if you have 24 slots available the overall design of the region lends itself to doing so. There are two major areas you can go to for this, New Hillcrest and Crescent Moon Village both of which are located between major areas as transitions and optional pit stops in routes. Trailering is also really nice when it comes to planning routes as you can easily start at Wolf Hall Inn to begin with Dews or Crescent Moon Village to begin at Shipwreck Shores. There’s also the trailer at New Hillcrest for when you need closer access to Mirror Marshes or you want to turn in items for rewards to Chiron and Winterwell.

Overall I feel the pricing of the items picked up from Epona is pretty fair especially to end game players. At the levels where you unlock Epona there’s hardly anything the player is locked out of (besides due to reputation) and therefore the player often must pay the highest prices for apparel and tack. Epona gives end game players a means of grinding currency outside of the limited daily races and quests. For me personally I make most of my money off of Epona because I do work a full time job and I often only have time to run through the area on a semi daily basis to collect interesting finds and turn them in so I can sell the rewards for high shilling payouts. I think this is extremely fair for end game players and works perfectly with Epona’s archaeology. It is also optional and requires the player to hunt out each golden/interesting find dig spot across the entire map in order to earn it. Often meaning the player must plan a route and figure out how to navigate then adjust if they don’t run the full route. This also plays a huge part into why I personally love archaeology in the game as I adore more explorative features. (Such as hunting for stars, token photos and memories.)

Winterwell’s interesting find rewards I especially feel are well balanced both in how many you turn in as well as pricing. You have a chance of receiving higher priced items that could hit up to around 1,000-2,000 shillings or you can get something that is only worth 250-500 shillings. It’s a gamble and makes it so the player needs to keep hunting every day to find the interesting golden dig sites. I also greatly prefer the setup of having 2 single trade items and 2 double trade items. This means that the player has a 50/50 chance of getting something they can immediately turn in but also doesn’t clog up their inventory with 4 different items if you don’t find enough of each that day. In general Winterwell’s interesting find system and rewards feel far fairer and more interesting to me than Dino Valley’s.

I actually prefer the fact that after you get the Jones apparel the game won’t let you turn in items again to Chiron as it means I can simply chose to either skip or sell all of the excess items I receive from Epona. (I think if it were tack instead it should unlock the ability to buy additional ones after the first freebies.) I also really appreciate that both Chiron and Winterwell are within New Hillcrest and don’t require me to go outside of Epona or even the general area to turn everything in after I’m done.

Epona Suggestions

When Epona is updated I would love to see some adjustments made to the overall model/terrain and movement flow of the Mirror Marshes especially and to a lesser extent Shipwreck Shores.

The Mirror Marshes while it is supposed to be somewhat difficult to navigate should keep the actual digs arranged to allow for routing without too much trouble to players who are familiar with the area. I personally think adding more “underwater land bridges” would greatly help avoid water slow down (if this isn’t fixed in some other way.) There are some throughout the rivers and such where the player isn’t slowed down but I think some more mindful placing would be nice in terms of directions players will naturally move between dig spots. Or could do fallen logs if the collision isn’t difficult to path over. I would also avoid making dig spots that are extremely far out of the way. For example I have a problem with the current layout when it comes to the single dig spot over by the Moon Spring as there’s no natural reason to go in that direction.

Shipwreck Shores actually works fine as is since you can run through it with minimal getting stuck in the bigger holes thanks to the race course. However I feel it’s worth mentioning as the race course will likely get a change if the area does. Overall I like the idea of Shipwreck Shores being this location that may have once been underwater and now we’re moving over this jagged terrain that gave it its name. However I think the team can definitely adjust it so there’s less painful collision and getting stuck in holes while maintaining this feel and keeping a reasonable digging route.

For all areas of Epona (and Dino Valley) I think that the dig spots should be relatively in plain sight. Brush shouldn’t be mostly or partially covering them and placement should avoid having the spot in a very open area that makes it extremely difficult to find. It’s one thing where you go in a straight line between a few dig spots (like in the Mirror Marshes) but another to find those two dig spots in the red/pink dino bone area that are by the portal and tree amongst the dead brush/brambles. I’m not opposed to making it a little more difficult to spot in terms of a cursory glance, it’s fun to hunt down everything but it shouldn’t be difficult to spot when you know where to look. (Unlike the Dino ones I mentioned.)

There appears to be a bug with the coins received from Winterwell where sometimes they are called “Weird Object.” I might actually submit a bug report on this but thank you Cen for bringing this up.

Dino Valley Suggestions

Dino Valley in general I feel needs to be updated to match Epona as a bare minimum. A large part of the issues with it will likely have to be addressed with an entire update to the whole area. However I think the team should focus first on adjusting the item pools, payout and turning items in until they are able to do more with the entirety of Dino Valley.

Item pools should have their “junk” reduced down to 4 items max and should remain related to the valley’s history. I could see items such as dino eggs, used up kalter stone, ice crystal and broken pickaxes making sense. I would avoid using too many human tools or other items personally.

The golden “interesting find” sites need to have only the 4 tradable items available to be pulled from them instead of a chance of random higher paying junk. I would like to see the counts for trading these items match Epona’s 2 single and 2 double as I think this is better for inventory management and player interest/game feel. I’d also replace the tradable items with things that make more sense. At the very least I just don’t like having to turn in so many cellphones and action figures I dig out of the ice in a closed off valley that wouldn’t make sense to hold those. It’s really more of an immersion/lore nit pick.

Overall I think pricing should be adjusted for how much items in Dino are worth but this is something the team would need to decide the balance of based on the level the players who access Dino are at. Overall Dino doesn’t currently lend itself as well to regular archaeology like Epona does and I think that’s fine right now both as an early archaeology area as well as for grinding money for earlier leveled players. But I do think having it is a good boost for shillings grinding before players can access Epona. I would imagine most (non-end game) players who have access to Dino will be making a large amount of shillings from actual main/side quests instead of purely from world wide dailies like end game players do.

Small note on the dig sites I actually think the snow effect on them should be removed and the normal not gold interesting find ones should be more blue (like Epona’s) or otherwise made more noticeable for players. The current color scheme of Dino Valley makes it difficult to make the dig spots out against the ice/snow/rock that they are usually hidden against.

In general I would move many of the dig sites to more reasonable locations such as taking the ones off of the dangerous cliff side beside the elevator or in harder to reach (semi hidden is fine) areas such as the one you must fall down to get to the dig spot on the semi secret side path towards Icengate. If it’s possible to adjust the dig sites so they all have their own individual areas with transition points using the current appearance of the world that would be preferable but I wouldn’t expect it before a proper full terrain/area update. (The only area I think that works mostly well right now is the red/pink bone area. It could be tweaked a lot but I like how it’s sectioned off properly.)

I would like to see Professor Jura moved to Nic’s Camp so you can turn bones in right away in the same place as the interesting finds guy.

Update the Dino Valley dig site expression of “Nearby” vs “Close to” so it matches Epona’s. (Epona has it where nearby=junk, close to=collectable/tradable items.) Technically you could do the opposite and update Epona’s to match Dino since I guess Dino came first, it really doesn’t matter which as long as they match.

I made some notes in my Quality of Life UI rambles post as well, basically I would like to see it where when completing a dig there is no pop up pausing the player. It should do the items flying into your inventory and the shillings and rep you receive will float up and disappear much like after you turn in a race.

This may require a large inventory update/overhaul but I would like to see the game stacking items automatically in your inventory when you receive more than one of the same item. I’d also prefer this being implemented after we can remove items from a stack just in case.

I will have additional thoughts on the game’s archaeology system in the future and I plan on elaborating further on it in regards to potential new features as well as Dino Valley and Nic Stoneground. However I wanted to do a rambles post specifically about the current archaeology system and how I would like to see it upgraded before any new systems are introduced (or before updates to Nic’s quests and the terrain.) I also feel it’s important to point out how Epona has greatly improved not only the general archaeology experience but also the end game for players.

Again thank you for taking the time to read through this! If you have any thoughts of your own or questions feel free to reblog, reply or shoot me an ask!

#jaderambles #sso #sso talk #archaeology #archeology #3 #dino valley #epona #game mechanics #mechanics

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thewakingcloak · 6 years ago

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Building a ProtoDungeon

With the impending release of The Waking Cloak’s first demo, ProtoDungeon: Episode I, I thought it might be fun to write up a list of things I actually did to get this demo off the ground.

Since the demo is pretty small, and limited to a single main mechanic from The Waking Cloak, people might not realize just how much work went into this. The Waking Cloak is not feature complete at all, and so I couldn’t just copy+paste all my code, slap on some art, and call it done. I had to build tons of systems from the ground up, which will then be used in The Waking Cloak (and future ProtoDungeons). For example, The Waking Cloak doesn’t even have working doors!

This is what I started with:

Camera

Decoupled from player so that it wouldn’t break if the player wasn’t in the room (logo room, title room, etc.)

New state to follow the swap energy

Collision

Added “corner rounding”

Added “point collision” checking

Dialogue system

Added the ability for different dialogue box styles

HUD

Added the ability to show/hide it

Added displaying key and chapel seal count

State machine

Pixelated Pope created both versions of the state machine I use. The Waking Cloak was on the old version, and I updated this to the new version (which includes a draw portion for each state, very useful)

That’s it. Might seem like a lot, but let’s compare it to what I built brand new for the ProtoDungeon:

Designed the dungeon

A few weeks of messing with graph paper, sticky notes, and Tiled

Streamlined dungeon creation process

Rough sketches to graph paper to Tiled whitebox to GameMaker whitebox

Previously I just painstakingly built the final version directly in GameMaker, which was slow and difficult to find problems early on

Actually building the rooms in GameMaker

Swap mechanic

New states for player

Energy ball

Swappable object parent

Breakable swap objects (jars)

Non-breakable swap objects (blocks)

Several revisions to speed and mechanics

Originally the player could move around while the swap energy was out, but this proved 1) not all that fun, 2) difficult to keep the player out of trouble, 3) difficult for the player to focus on two things at once, especially while the swap energy was changing direction

The next revision, the player had to hold the spacebar to keep the swap out. This didn’t feel very fun.

The swap energy moved MUCH slower, then tweaked it and made it way too fast. Settled on a compromise for player control: press space and the swap energy goes really fast, hold and it goes slow.

Originally the camera did not follow the swap energy (since that would be weird if the player was moving and couldn’t see what they were doing), but changed this later on after I rethought that (and due to a suggestion from my first playtester).

Two levels: initial, and ability to change direction

Block pushing mechanics (the very first version of ProtoDungeon had this before The Waking Cloak as a prototype, but I also improved how collision, player push animations, and so forth worked)

Trigger/listener/broadcasting system (to hook up buttons and doors, mainly)

Buttons

Doors

Normal

Doors that close after you enter a room

Doors/gates that open when you press a button

Locked doors

Chapel door (requires special chapel seal)

Pits

These were working in the prototype earlier, but I added falling between floors

Cliffs and walls

Including one-way jump/slide down cliffs

Z-height--needed several things from this:

Player needs to be able to go up stairs within a room and be “above” the lower level

Swap energy fired at a lower level will hit walls

Swap energy fired at a higher level will go over walls

Essentially created a parent object that everything inherits from to add a “z” and a “height” variable, and then zones that modify objects’ z when they’re in those zones

Also added optional z-checking to collisions

This will also be nice for when I get to the jumping ProtoDungeon!

Player “teleportation” (stairs, doors, etc.)

Transition manager (for fades, wipes, etc.)

I have one of these in Genogatchi, but it’s not as robust and didn’t use the GUI layer

Added circle transitions

Added white transitions

Much easier transition triggering

Cutscenes

Had this in Genogatchi via FriendlyCosmonaut, but improved on it and added more functions (going to room, properly working with the transition manager, etc.)

Throne movement logic

This was extremely complicated/buggy and I still don’t know why

Swap mirrors

Resetting items when leaving the room and returning--tricky, because we don’t want to reset items if you’ve solved the puzzle

Art

Gosh, I thought I could just take all my art straight from TWC and recolor it, but it was a LIE... only thing that came over was grass/trees/walls/pits/gates and some HUD elements

I had to draw literally everything else from scratch--the player and all her animations (SO MANY ANIMATIONS), blocks, jars, jars falling down pits, three kinds of floors, tables, stools, arrows, arrow launchers, doors, buttons, rugs, swap energy, scrolls, keys, chapel seal (HUD and in-game versions), chapel seal pieces (HUD and in-game versions), bookshelves, dressers, stairs up and down and in-room, the final item, throne, exterior windows, braziers, and more

Of course adding the art to all the rooms took a while, though it helped to have the whitebox

Getting hurt

Arrows, pit

Getting reset in the room when you fell down a pit

Player health system

Writing

Intro

Outro

NPCs

Etc.

Audio

I was surprised at how much there was to do here

Designing and creating the sounds (probably 25 or so of these?) in FamiTracker and Bfxr

Playing them consistently, balancing the volume, not looping/looping, etc.

Game over state

New control system to allow keyboard/controller

Juju’s GameMaker input system, but with a few tweaks--this is 1-player only, and I also needed to fix issues with my crazy joysticks which apparently constantly poll for input setup

Win “cutscene”

Logo

Music

The most intimidating thing I’ve done in gamedev, kept getting in my own head and getting discouraged. Took me about a week, and a lot of scrapped tunes.

Then had to put it in the game and get it looping seamlessly

Improvements to debugging display

Also hid some hotkeys behind the debugger so the player doesn’t mess up their experience

Title screen

Loads and loads and loads and loads and LOADS of bugfixes and tweaks

I counted 95+ of these on my Trello board, not including tons of bugs I fixed during the process of actually creating each feature, and not including the bugs left at the time of writing

All this took approximately 2-3 months. Not too shabby! And I’m very excited for the next ProtoDungeon, because even though the next dungeon won’t have the swap mechanic, I can build on this foundation instead of creating everything from scratch! That means I might even be able to include stuff like enemies and a boss, or menu settings. And then who knows what I’ll be able to do in the third and onward ProtoDungeons.

All of this loops back into The Waking Cloak. I’ll be able to get feedback as we progress through the ProtoDungeon and really make The Waking Cloak the best it can be.

That’s all for now. See y’all on the demo release on April 6 (or March 30, if you’re a patron!)

#devlog #devblog #The Waking Cloak #ProtoDungeon #game development #gamedev #indiedev #demo #changelog?

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thearkhound · 6 years ago

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CEDEC 2018 talk: 20 Years of Game Graphics Evolution and Beyond

The following is a translation of a speech that was held on the second day of the CEDEC 2018 conference held on August 23, 2018 at Kanagawa, in which three veteran developers, Takashi Atsushi of Sega Games, Yuji Yamada of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide and Yoshihito Iwanaga of Bandai-Namco Studios reflect on their various works in the industry during their past 20 years, focusing mainly on the sixth, seventh and eighth console generations, as well as their expectations of the upcoming ninth generation. The speech was moderated by Kazunobu Uehara of Konami Holdings (who returned to the company in 2017 to research new technology).

You can view the original article at the following page:

https://www.inside-games.jp/article/2018/08/28/117005.html

Looking Back At Gen 6

The session started with Mr. Uehara asking a different question to each speaker and getting an answer from each.

How do you feel about the transition from PlayStation (PS1) to PlayStation 2 (PS2)?

Yamada: The PS1 was a system that lacked features such as perspective correction on textures, so it still couldn’t 3D all that efficiently. However, the PS2 finally implemented them and had way better 3D capabilities. While the PS2 had simple functionalities, it also had tremendous bus width and access speed, so as a creator it was a fun machine to learn how to use.

What kind of platform was the Dreamcast (DC) like?

Atsu: The Dreamcast was capable of the perspective correction feature that was mentioned just now, so I’m proud to say that the Dreamcast was root of all the modern 3D consoles! Nevertheless, there were still some aspects in which the Dreamcast lost to the PS2 in terms of raw numbers. When I read that the PS2 was going to feature a DRAM bus width of 2560 bits, I thought that was a typo. However, the PowerVR2 GPU employed by the Dreamcast has pixel-sorting feature for semi-transparent polygons, which is a feature not available in modern consoles. In that sense, the Dreamcast truly a dream-like hardware.

How do you feel about working on all three of the aforementioned platforms (PS1, DC, PS2)?

Iwanaga: I was involved with the original arcade version of SoulCalibur released in 1998, which ran on the PS1-based System 12 board. We ended up porting the game to the Dreamcast, where every aspect of the game was remade from scratch. Then the PS2 came and I became involved with yet another completely different platform. We desperately build a program which could create beautiful graphics using the same algorithms... It was that sort-of era.

At this point, Mr. Uehara brings up a comment posted at the “respon” page which claims that the PS2 only had a hardware manual at first, so it took time for the developers to prepare the polygons.

Yamada: That’s right. The developer would be given a book containing all the commands of the current graphics driver as well. The developer would flip the thing page by page until they got to the command that they needed. (laughs) But back then I was glad to just have that book.

Iwanaga: It was a dictionary-like document that we nicknamed the “Blackbook”. I desperately wrote a program to control all the functions written there, since it was a pretty difficult book to memorize.

Atsu: Since the Dreamcast was based on Windows CE, it allowed for multi-platform development with Windows, but very few games utilized that feature. But if you think about it now, this Windows-compatibility would be carried over to the Xbox. Considering “blood” is the only thing that’s being left on the current consoles, there’s something deeply moving.

It seems as if graphics advanced a lot during the PS2-era. But what about struggles and breakthroughs of those days?

Yamada: It’s pretty surprising to think that we used to program the nearClipping of polygons myself... I did the best I could at the beginning, but then a compiler came out halfway during the generation that made it easier to program .

Iwanaga: I wanted to create visuals with a bit of elegance, so I created a pseudo-gradient by using alpha-blending on two screens and blurring it upwards and downwards, which made it possible to display 180,000 semi-colors. SoulCalibur III was made with such a strange method.

The colors of the Dreamcast feels a lot different from those of other consoles from the same generation. Why is that?

Atsu: The Dreamcast has a very bright output. The startup screen looks very gray if you use an RGB connection, but when you use a video output it will look bright enough to be white. That creates the impression of producing vivid colors.

Looking Back At Gen 7

What are your thoughts on the transition from PS2 to PlayStation 3 (PS3)?

Yamada: I was concerned over what to do use the added computing powers for. With the added memory and pixel shaders, the creative width expands. Most things became feasible when we asked “can we made this?” That’s why the deciding on what to create and what direction to take became important.

Atsu: Although it was possible to use shaders on the original Xbox during the previous generation, it became a characteristic feature of the 7th console generation. The degree of freedom during development changed tremendously. Up to that point we worked really hard on making the graphics by combining fixed functions, but now we were only limited by a programmer’s skills. Of course, resources were still limited, so we had to decided on what was effective.

Iwanaga: If you try to output a 6th gen game on 7th gen hardware, the results are pretty strange. What resembled depth of field (DOF) on a blurry CRT television set suddenly became voids of space thanks to the increased resolution that made the graphics sharper and clearer. (laughs) From that point on I was told not to adjust the DOF too firmly.

It seems Deferred Rendering became popular around that period and that felt like a real turning point. What are your thoughts on that?

Atsu: Our company (Sega) took a while to come to deal with Deferred Rendering, but because the PS3 is capable of anything as a hardware, many developers had a problem with combinatorial explosions due to gradually increasing shaders. Deferred Rendering became the solution to that issue.

Yamada: I was shocked at how much Deferred Rendering changed visual-making. Until then lightning was something you focus on when design the appearance, but afterward it became an actual element that you had to be conscious of.

Iwanaga: When Deferred Rendering became too commonplace, I had to think of another method to devise unique graphics... To that end, I wanted to employ more Forward Rendering... It was an age in which I felt conflicted about many things we did.

Were there any western-developed titles that made a strong impression to you?

Atsu: Everything Naughty Dog was putting out by the end of the PS3′s lifespan. There was a point where I felt troubled over what I’ve done thus far when seeing their games.

Yamada: I was also impressed by Uncharted, but Killzone by Guerrilla Games, which employed Deferred Rendering, was pretty impressive too. I felt strongly that I had to make something that matched.

Iwanaga: Even though it just came out, when I saw Horizon: Zero Dawn, I thought it was over for me... But then I realize I must go on and keep trying my best no matter what.

The Current State of Gen 8

What are your thoughts on the transition from PS3 to PS4?

Atsu: While the PS3 was pretty flexible, it was also pretty difficult to work in terms of performance, so we had to rely on tricky techniques during development. So when it came to finally develop for the PS4, it felt like an era where we can finally focus only on the content creation finally came.

Yamada: The things we can do now has since expanded, so the direction of what to focus on has become difficult. One of the current trend in graphics is physical-based rendering (PBR). As for game genres, open world is what’s popular now, so the amount of effort in development is pretty tremendous. We now struggle to create efficient assets and building the flow on an actual machine.

Iwanaga: The method of development is now the same as it is on PC. The difference in performance now depends on recognizing the limits of your hardware.

What are your methods of creating visuals?

Atsu: The visuals we aim for are photorealistic, so the first step is to have proper PBR. It is our company’s policy to aim for what direction the post-processing will be done from there. It’s just like the post-production of a movie, in which you create and edit visual effects on already-filmed footage.

Yamada: The introduction of the Unreal Engine also made creating realistic imagery much easier. The big issue now is how to differentiate your visuals. Do you do it by post-processing? Or by your camera work? The strength of your own content has become more important than ever.

Iwanaga: Because there will always be developers in Japan who to express everything in their games like how they envisioned things in their mind, I believe it’s crucial to know how to draw in your own visual styles after mastering realistic rendering techniques such as PBR.

What about the possibilities of non-realistic and toon-shaded graphics?

Yamada: Our company (Sony) released a game titled Gravity Rush, which has a strong fan-following. Many people, in Japan in particular, like that sort of graphic style. I think there’s room for even non-photorealistic styles through the use of photorealistic technology.

Iwanaga: I think you can only use photorealistic technology up to a certain point for non-realistic imagery. Although it’s not necessary to do everything from scratch, I think it’s important to add your own flavor too.

Atsu: Here at Sega we prefer the term “manga dimension” over “toon-shading”. We came up with the term “manga dimension” in Jet Set Radio, which we like to think as the originator of modern toon-shading. Anyway, regardless of whether the final seasoning is non-photorealistic or anime-style, the raw ingredient underneath is always PBR.

What To Expect From The Future

On August 21, Nvidia presented the raytracing technology that will be employed in their GeForce RTX graphic cards. How do you feel about raytracing?

Atsu: I felt satisfied that we couldn’t achieve what we couldn’t see (on-screen) before, but after seeing Nvidia’ s presentation, I feel like we have no choice but to start our research and learn how to do raytracing.

Yamada: I think raytracing will become commonplace thanks to Nvidia’s presentation. As a developer I am looking forward to the new platforms that will bring raytracing to the market and how it will affect the industry.

Iwatani: I’ve been doing things similar to raytracing lately, so I’m not particularly intimidated. Perhaps raytracing is not that far off into the future.

Is it better to make your own game engine or use an existing commercial one?

Atsu: We at Sega are doing our best with our in-house engines. You could say that as a former hardware manufacturer ourselves there is a sense of pride that if you want to do achieve innovations ahead of everyone else, you must take the reins ourselves.

Yamada: The game engine we used tend to depend on the title we’re working on. However we want to create our own game engines as our technological capabilities expands.

Iwanaga: If a game needs massive reworking then a new engine will come into play. I believe new game engines had to be made on a regular basis for such situations. If you’re working on a game that isn’t suitable on an existing engine, it’s best to create one as quickly as possible, if you can.

What are your expectations for the next console generation?

Atsu:I think games will be easier to make, not just in terms of graphics. The leap from PS3 to PS4 was tremendous, which is why I love the PS4! In the future, when 4k or 8k become standard and raytracing is commonplace, I hope that there won’t be an era in which machine power is insufficient.

Yamada: Many developers have told us that the PS4 is easy to develop for, so we want to maintain such an environment for our next console. What we need to do next specifically is something I want to know.

Iwanaga: Since graphics have improved considerably, I want to focus on other aspects, such as sound. The HD rumble employed by the Nintendo Switch is another thing. I would like to make better games by using the machine power for such “feel.”

The session eventually ended with the speakers giving words of encouragement to the young audience.

Atsu: There was a sense that the generation has moved on to a younger one during the transition from 2D to 3D presentation. I think we will feel such a shift again as new technologies such as raytracing are introduced. The younger generation are currently training and preparing themselves for such an era. I’m looking forward to it. (laughs)

Yamada: There was a time when using only 20 or 30 polygons was enough to create a character, but I feel tired as an old man, having to use thousand of polygons and applying techniques such as a PBR. (laughs) Now the boundaries between videogames and movies are gone, as there many overlapping aspects in terms of technology. I think it’s an exciting genre in which new cutting-edge technologies are being developed every year, so I encourage more people to join.

Iwanaga: You may find it difficult at first, since there are many things you might need to learn. But the progress of technology has made things a lot easier too, so I wish you would face those challenges. People who can render are in great demand, even within corporations. I hope all sorts of companies will make great games.

From left to right: Takashi Atsu of Sega, Yuji Yamada of Sega, and Yoshihito Iwanaga of Bandai-Namco

#CEDEC2018 #Sega #Sony #Bandai-Namco #Konami

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gataela · 7 years ago

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Progress Update - 4/1/19 - 79.2% Complete

Completed:

Final Overworld Maps - 14.2% in progress; 71.7% complete

Worked on adding new music

Worked on updating the UI

Worked on updating and adding new animations

Worked on updating older maps

Worked on a new website

Optimized the new shaders

Added Battle Screen Transitions

Revealed more new characters

Added a file version number to save files

Added location popup information to some maps

Added shadows to Wynoa houses in the overworld

Add a dev mode that will identify objects which will cause the player to be stuck into on map load/spawn (i.e. this shouldn’t happen anymore)

Changed the run button to be a toggle between running/walking for hand comfort

Changed Pharyon and Klatchez town layouts completely

Modified some of the opening sequence changes back to the original

Set the max number of file saves for the game to 10

Worked on updating more dialogue for older cutscenes

Fixed a bug where the new opening cutscene would lag on computers with 8GB of RAM or less

Fixed a bug where loaded skills would be drawn off screen except in certain situations where they were on screen

Fixed a bug where switching between the main menu and the overworld would have roofs, water, grass effects, house shading and other effects disappear

Fixed a problem where some cutscenes would freeze

Fixed a shader issue which caused more complicated screen transitions to draw incorrectly

Coming up next:

Bug fixes

Graphical Update

This past month focused on optimization, bug fixes, updating older maps, new music, new art, and some much needed polish.

Also this update is unfortunately very late due to a lack of internet.

2018 in Review

Now that we’re firmly in 2019 land, I wanted to talk a bit about 2018 and how much we actually got done!

I know for a lot of people who have been following the development for a long time that it doesn’t feel like much has happened the last couple of years. As you may or may not be aware, due to family situations I had to stop all work in 2017 shortly after the Steam greenlight.

When I started up work again in 2018, I spent a lot of time thinking about the feedback from everyone from the demo, how to make the game better, and how to finish it faster. Most of this year was putting everyone’s feedback into the game.

So 2018 was a really big transitional period. I’ve been working a full-time job since that time in 2017, so all my work on Gataela has been part-time since then, not to mention most of the Gataela team work part-time to begin with.

And with all that going on, here’s how 2018 went for the game:

468 commits; 284,735 additions; 260,291 deletions; 1 programmer

328 programming JIRAs completed

Finished all of the skit/debate images, including updating older ones

Changed all of the animations to be 8-frame+ instead of 4-frame

Changed the turn-based battles to be from the side view instead of top-down

New pixel art style for the characters!

Added new character battle animations

Re-did over half of the battle skill animations, and all of the character battle animations

Re-did all of the overworld sprites

Re-did all of the UI (25+ screens)

Added a new screen for summarizing known debate facts

Went to two conventions (Anime North, Otakuthon) and showed off a sneak preview of the new demo

Added run animations + the highly requested run button

Doubled Gataela’s soundtrack (~70 minutes long now)

Added a screenshot function to the game

Added a unit test framework (i.e. more future stability)

Added more polish to debate battles: a countdown sfx, debate images with more expressions, the character profiles will animate more based on what was said

Updated Vuni’s layout to make it easier to get around

Redid Pharyon and Klatchez, and other in between maps

Created a new opening sequence, with new animations and music

Moved beta testing to Steam

Optimized the heck out of the game, including reducing textures, switching to using shaders, optimizing shaders, etc.

Saving is now instant (1 second or less)

Map transitions for larger scenes are now almost instant 1-3 seconds

Converted older methods of map making to shaders, added new cool shader effects such as walking through grass, time of day, etc.

Download size for the game is stable around 250-300MB. (Final game size was originally estimated to be 2GB)

RAM usage down, i.e. lower end devices can now run chrome, OBS and Gataela at the same time.

Reworked a lot of dialogue and debates, removing a lot of it, adding new scenes

Debate system was upgraded from strictly being talk-to-npc based to include facts, testimonies and evidence gathering (i.e. a little bit more detective-like)

Revealed new characters!

New logo

Fancy battle screen transitions

New Quest pop-up and Location pop-up was added to the overworld

So TL;DR a super busy year.

2019?

So what’s up for 2019? I’m not going to promise anything in particular, but there’s a few high-level goals which I will touch on below:

New Website: We’ve been working on a new website for a little while that will give us more support for writing longer-form posts, and act more of a hub of information for the game which will be easier to search through. We really want to post more technical posts, like the shader work, how we approach the level design or some of the changes we’ve made and why, etc. Tumblr is a site focused more on micro-blogging, which makes posts, particularly with code, difficult to organize nicely.

80% Hump: We’ve been at 79% completion for a long time. Let’s get past that.

New Demo: There will be a new demo published this year showing off all of the above work. It will be the same length as the older one, but with all of the improvements, and obviously the new dialogue/story segment.

Beta-Testing Schedule: This year I would like to get to a point where every quarter (after the demo comes out) there is at least one new beta release to the beta testers.

Other than that, we’ll see!

Happy New Year everyone!

#indie dev #game dev #game development #gaming #jrpg #progress

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frankly-art · 6 years ago

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Frankly-Art’s Top 10 Video Games of 2018

Also available to read on my deviantArt!

With every New Year comes another year’s worth of video games to look forward to, and 2019 promise to be a good one in that regard: the release of Kingdom Hearts III is only days away, Piranha Plant and Joker are certain to be innovative and entertaining additions to the Smash Ultimate roster, Animal Crossing is coming to the Switch… and those mark only a small fraction of the many things 2019 has in store for us in terms of gaming. Amid all of this hype, I got to thinking about the varied gameplay experiences I had over the past year; so, I figured this would be as good an opportunity as any for me to reflect on them with a bit of a critical eye and definitively rank each of the video games I managed to get to during 2018!

Keep in mind while reading that, even though this is a list featuring games I played in 2018, many of these games were ones released in years past that I never got around to until last year—so, if you were expecting a list of the top 10 games that were released in 2018, I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere (but not until after you read my oh-so-important list first! I crave validation!); expect a healthy mix of new and old titles in the list below. Additionally, this list will rank downloadable content (DLC) separately from standalone titles, as I don’t find it fair to compare a DLC add-on to a fully-fledged game. I’ll be weighing the score of each DLC depending on how well it improves and expands upon the narrative and gameplay of its original game.

Without further ado (and with no better means of transitioning from this introduction to the list itself than to use a somewhat tired expression in the realm of video games), let’s-a go! (Please forgive me.)

-SPOILER WARNING IN EFFECT-

Favorite Characters: Revali, Urbosa, Kass Favorite Tracks: Monk Maz Koshia (all phases)

It might come as somewhat of a shock that a game with “Breath of the Wild” in its title would rank lowest on my list, but hear me out: no matter how much fun it was to be able to return to Hyrule in this DLC expansion, in my opinion, Champions’ Ballad just felt like more of the same of what we got in the main game.

Despite the nigh perfection that was Breath of the Wild, I have to agree with critics who said that the lack of aesthetic variation between segments of dungeon crawling and puzzle solving was a monotonous bore when compared to the varied themes and aesthetics of the dungeons in Zelda games past, and Champions’ Ballad did nothing to vary the atmosphere in its new shrines and dungeon from those of the main game. This disappointment was compounded with the fact that Champions’ Ballad added no new weapons to your arsenal (aside from a risky-to-use fork that functioned virtually like every other sword in the game) to allow for new types of puzzle solving or exploration. The unicorn motorcycle was certainly a cool reward for completing the DLC (the fact that I got to write the words “unicorn” and “motorcycle” next to each other is reward enough), but I had very little use for it since I’d already combed through the entirety of Hyrule during my first playthrough of the game. I simply believe it would have been nice for Champions’ Ballad to have given players something a little fresher to explore, even if it were just an aesthetic change of scenery.

I had also hoped that Champions’ Ballad might have expanded on the lore sprinkled throughout Hyrule and, even though we learned more about the four champions, I was a little let down that they didn’t really expand on anything else (Why can’t I climb to the top of Mount Agaat? Why does the entirety of the Akkala region fill me with a confusing sense of serene dread?? What the hell happened at the Typhlo Ruins???) I appreciate that, by not explaining everything, Nintendo give players the chance to interpret these things for themselves, but, when compared to the lore provided in previous Zelda games, I feel as though Champions’ Ballad fell short in fleshing out the history of this ruined Hyrule.

Favorite Characters: Prompto, Ignis Favorite Tracks: A Retainer’s Resolve, Apocalypsis Magnatus

Given how much of a beautiful mess Final Fantasy XV was upon its initial release, it’s certainly a consolation to the main game to see how well Square Enix supplemented its (rather disjointed) story and expanded upon its (frankly, lacking) gameplay through its various DLC expansion chapters featuring Noctis’ loyal Chocobros. And while I may not love Ignis quite as much as other chocobros like Prompto or Noctis, Episode Ignis was definitely an engaging and welcome addition to the enigma that is the Final Fantasy XV.

Particular highlights of Episode Ignis include its soundtrack, which features a heroic leitmotif for Ignis that really underscores the dire circumstances he and his teammates find themselves in during this segment of the story, and its addition of gameplay modes (Motorboat Simulator 2018 being one of them) are a welcome change of pace to the somewhat rudimentary battle and exploration systems found in the main game. However, a point of contention I have with Episode Ignis is with its narrative: while I appreciate that this DLC chapter finally explains how Ignis becomes blind, its multiple endings completely undermine the storyline of the main game itself. Does Ignis’ sacrifice save Noctis from having to make a sacrifice of his own in order to save the world? Does Ignis regain his sight after Noctis defeats Ardyn? Do Noctis and Luna finally realize that they’d be better off with other people (as it’s obvious that Noctis is already too preoccupied with his three boyfriends to make room for anyone else)? I need answers, Square!

Favorite Characters: Elizabeth, Atlas/Frank Fontaine Favorite Tracks: Patsy Cline – She’s Got You, Johnny Mathis – Wonderful! Wonderful!

I claimed to be a fan of the BioShock series for so long, even though I’d only ever played the first game in the series until the summer of 2017 when I finally bought a PS4 and, with it, the BioShock Collection. Now, I can call myself a fan of the series without reservation, having explored and discovered all that Rapture and Columbia have to offer. To me, BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episodes 1 & 2 are a love letter to the entire series itself, featuring elements from the three main-series games and tying together each of their narratives (save for maybe BioShock 2, which is absolutely criminal, considering 2 is my favorite game in the series) in a way that, while forced in some aspects, felt like Ken Levine actually cared about clearing up some of the more confusing questions that remained at the end of BioShock: Infinite.

Burial at Sea really came into itself during Episode 2, where gameplay was switched up to feature more fleshed-out stealth mechanics that made sneaking around Rapture and Columbia both exhilarating and terrifying. It was also refreshing to be able to finally take control of Elizabeth, one of the most iconic characters of the series after the Big Daddies of BioShocks 1 and 2, and learn more of her own personal motivations and desires as she maneuvers through hostile environments. As I already mentioned briefly, I know some took issue with the way Burial at Sea wove the first two BioShock games together with the third, but, considering the mess that was made when BioShock Infinite introduced multiverse science into its mythos (and the narrative mess that Infinite was in general—I took great issue with the way they framed the oppressed populations of Columbia as “just as bad” as the ruling populations simply because they used violence to, you know, try and liberate themselves from their oppression), I feel that Burial at Sea did the best job it could considering that the setting of Infinite differed so greatly from that of the first two games.

Also, fun fact: I studied this game as a part of my Master’s Project and played it through a total of three times: once in English and twice in French! Isn’t academia weird?

Favorite Characters: Rando, Buddy, Vega Van Dam Favorite Tracks: 666 Kill Chop Deluxe, He’s My Dad, Brokentooth March

Anyone who reads TV Tropes is likely familiar with the trope “Gameplay and Story Segregation” and its less-frequent counterpart, “Gameplay and Story Integration”. In the case of LISA: The Joyful, this DLC game (which could practically be its own standalone title if it weren’t for the fact Steam labels it as “DLC” and won’t let you play it without first purchasing LISA: The Painful) absolutely excels in the latter and completely subverts the gameplay mechanics and narrative structure of the base game, and this can all be attributed to the way both games focus on your use of the cure-all drug that makes you feel nothing: Joy.

Indeed, where LISA: The Painful makes you question your use of the drug Joy, LISA: The Joyful (Joyful) is nigh impossible to complete without taking it in nearly every battle after you’re left to your own devices when the muscle of your party abandons you. As anyone who’s played the LISA trilogy will know, Joy is a dangerous substance, mutating its addicts and twisting the minds of anyone who uses it, and that Joy is an integral piece of the trilogy’s social and philosophical commentary on the freedom and restriction of choice, the commitment and devotion one carries for a person or cause, and the inherent, inevitable grey area of any and all actions one may take. Despite these themes, LISA: The Joyful is far from a demoralizing experience: if anything, the way the game simulates the feeling of being backed into a corner and the refusal to give up despite the odds only affirms whatever moral code by which you may already live, or is at least an opportunity to feel relief that you yourself aren’t forced to make such drastic decisions for your own survivability and freedom.

That’s it for the DLC games I played in 2018; now, the real fun begins! Brace yourself for my list of the top standalone titles I played last year!

Favorite Characters: Katie

This game was recommended to me by a friend, and, as much as I wanted to enjoy it, this game wound up being my lowlight of 2018, with its simplistic, seemingly rudimentary gameplay and conspicuous lack of any compelling narrative. Put bluntly, this game was like a forgettable rendition of Animal Crossing, only without any cute animal neighbors to run errands for. The game’s environment threatened absolutely no danger to your player character, yet still didn’t offer any engaging or challenging puzzles to solve to make up for this lack of danger (most “puzzles” involved figuring out how to get to a particular point on the map… and that was it). Despite this being an open-world game that offered endless opportunities for customization, I found myself hurrying to complete the game’s main (5-hour) campaign so I could feel justified to move on to other gaming experiences. The most unfortunate part of this to me is that I know there’s still more to the game’s world for me to explore, but I’m in no way compelled to do so.

In all fairness, though, I think that I’m a little older than the target demographic this game was aiming for. This game was never meant to be challenging or stressful, it was made to be a relaxing escape for anyone looking to pass the time exploring and discovering a beautifully modeled and brightly colored world. This game also wins serious points for inclusivity, especially considering the age group this game was most likely made for; my fondest memory of this game is of a quest where a woman requests that you find her the ingredients to make a potion that stimulates beard growth because she wants to grow a beard of her own, and not once during this campaign is she ridiculed or belittled for wanting one. Since Yonder seems to be a game for kids, I believe quests such as this are an excellent step to socializing them into a world that’s less judgmental and more receptive to other people. So, despite my earlier critiques of this game, Yonder would be a great game to consider if you’re looking for a low-key and off-beat (and all-human) alternative to Animal Crossing.

Favorite Veteran Fighters: Peach, Zelda, Zero Suit Samus Favorite Newcomers: Daisy, Ridley, Richter Favorite Stages: Fountain of Dreams, Fourside, Hyrule Temple Favorite Tracks: All-Star Rest Area (Melee), Destroyed Skyworld, Athletic (Yoshi’s Island)

We all knew another installment in the Smash series was coming ever since the Switch was first announced back in March of 2017. In fact, you might even say that the quality of each console’s iteration of Smash reflects the quality of the console itself, with Melee demonstrating the power and potential of the GameCube, Brawl being a gimmicky romp on an equally gimmicky console, and Wii U/3DS (what a title, right?) completely failing to capture player interest for longer than a few rounds of Smash (the Wii U era feels like a fever dream to me at this point). It’s a letdown, then, that with the Switch being such a commercial and technical success, Smash Ultimate seems somewhat of a disappointment when weighed against the hype that surrounded it up until its release back in early December.

It’s true that Smash Ultimate really delivers in regard to the character roster (everyone is here!) and stage selection (almost everything is here!), but the cuts that were made to series staples like trophies, event matches, and the like, detract from Smash Ultimate becoming the be-all end-all title in the series that it could have been. Trophy mode was where I learned much about video game history and was introduced to obscure series I would have never discovered otherwise, and their replacement with spirits feels a bit cheap, especially since spirits don’t come with any kind of information to contextualize them. Event Matches were hybridized with Melee’s Adventure mode and Brawl’s Subspace Emissary, creating the “World of Light”; while the World of Light has grown on me the more that I play it, it’s somewhat discouraging to me that, by combining so many modes of Smash games past into one, there will be nothing left for me to do with the game once I reach its end.

Still, Smash Ultimate offers plenty to look forward to. I’m more-than-hyped about the additions of Piranha Plant and Joker from Persona 5 to the character roster, and I can’t wait to see who might be announced next (unless it’s another Fire Emblem character… please God [Sakurai] don’t let it be another Fire Emblem character).

Favorite Tracks: The Bridge, Touching the Stars, Up to the Nest

I could never have prepared myself for the beautiful-yet-heart-wrenching experience this game would put me through, but I’m oh-so-glad that it did. On the surface, RiME is a relaxing exploration and puzzle game that takes place in a beautifully rendered in-game world, with a brilliantly orchestrated soundtrack and a plethora of diverse landscapes to get lost in. And yet, every moment of your adventure is permeated by an inescapable sense of isolation and dread, making you ask questions like “Where is everyone?”, “Just who is that man in the red cloak?,” and, “Is he stalking me, or are I stalking him?”.

Indeed, RiME’s narrative unfolds wordlessly as you explore and leaves you to discover and interpret on your own exactly what tragedies transpired before the events of the game, tragedies of which are far more poignant and moving if you were to discover them yourself. I know I’ve put a spoiler warning in effect, but I highly recommend you play this game on your own (or at least watch a decent Let’s Play of it) if you’re curious to know what unfolds during the game’s narrative. RiME is a relatively short game, too, lasting only between 5-10 hours, so it would be an easy one to fit into your queue if you’re looking for a fun gameplay experience with a story that will haunt you for weeks and months on end after completing it.

Favorite Characters: Terry Hintz, Buzzo, Wally Favorite Tracks: Men’s Hair Club, The End is Nigh, Summer Love

Having already talked about this game’s DLC expansion of LISA: The Joyful, you’re already aware that I hold the LISA trilogy in high regard—it also means I can make this entry somewhat brief, since a lot of what I said about Joyful can also be applied to its parent title, LISA: The Painful. You see, it’s in LISA: The Painful where the conflict in Joyful begins, and where we learn more of how the world came to be so depraved after the White Flash, an extinction event that inexplicably killed all women on the planet (at least, as far as the characters in the game know). The game considers what the repercussions of such an event would be on our society (aside from dooming humanity to die off within a generation) and really explores the darkest depths of toxic masculinity to call into question the detrimental effects it has on our self-esteem, our relationships, and our will to survive. Gameplay-wise, it’s a fairly traditional JRPG, though as I mentioned with Joyful, LISA: The Painful integrates its story with its gameplay by permanently increasing (but mainly decreasing) your stats depending on whatever injuries you escape or sustain throughout your journey. All in all, LISA: The Painful is a truly harrowing experience from beginning to end, but a must-play for anyone with an interest in the more macabre aspects of human nature.

Favorite Characters: Aloy, Erend, Vanasha Favorite Tracks: Louder

You know a game’s going to be good when its title screen holds you in awe before even pressing start. Imagine a sunlit vignette over purple mountains and a glistening river, a haunting and triumphant melody underscoring it all, as the title slowly fades into view in white in the center of the screen: Horizon Zero Dawn. O.K., I’m in. This game just did so many things right as an open-world game during an era where the genre was oversaturated by mediocre games that rehashed the same tired tropes and mechanics in its gameplay and world building. Horizon Zero Dawn truly set itself apart from the crowd for a variety of reasons: its beautifully detailed setting (being a microcosmic interpretation of Western North America), its intricate combat system with a graciously forgiving learning curve, and its compelling and socially-conscious narrative all worked together to distinguish this game within the open-world genre.

What really sets this game apart most of all, though, is the game’s protagonist, Aloy: a rare female protagonist who is a breath of fresh air in a sea of male heroes, whose capabilities and intellect don’t come at the cost of her physical appearance and femininity. Aloy set an example for other game developers that female protagonists are more than viable (and are in fact, overdue) in the video games of today, and her status as a female character never felt gratuitous or shoehorned (e.g. Battlefield V’s inclusion of a female protagonist as an enlisted soldier in the British Army and serving in the line of duty during World War II). It’s difficult (read: impossible) to play Horizon Zero Dawn and not fall in love with Aloy for her wit, her strength, and her general stick-to-itiveness in the face of adversity (not to mention, she’s just really cute and knows how to work a belly shirt). With Aloy as the protagonist, you’ll never tire of adventuring through Horizon Zero Dawn’s 70-hours+ worth of gameplay as you explore the in-game world to learn just what happened to “The Old Ones” and their society all those millennia ago.

Favorite Party Members: Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Makoto Niijima Favorite Confidants: Hifumi Togo, Sadayo Kawakami, Sae Niijima, Toranosuke Yoshida, Chihaya Mifune Favorite Targets/Boss Battles: Ichiryusai Madarame, Kunikazu Okumura, Leviathan, Yaldabaoth Favorite Tracks: Blooming Villain, Rivers in the Desert, A Woman, Aria of the Soul

I’ll bet no one saw this one coming! Just kidding—anyone who’s exchanged more than a few words with me since the fall of 2018 knows how much this game absolutely consumed my life over the span of, I don’t know, I think it was four months? Indeed, I wound up sinking a total of 123 hours into this game, and there’s still a loud part of me that wants to return to it to begin a New Game+ (you’ll even notice that it was too difficult for me to contain my favorite characters into one category, instead having to split them up in order to represent all of my favorites because of how much I love them all). I’m already a fan of JRPGs, so it didn’t take much for Persona 5 to win me over with its turn-based combat, but the addition of certain gameplay mechanics—like earning an extra turn for exploiting enemy weaknesses or improving your relationship with your friends outside of battle to unlock gameplay bonuses—prevent battles and exploration in Persona 5 from ever becoming stale. Indeed, Persona 5 was truly a masterpiece from start to finish and an experience that I never wanted to end.

Frankly, any drawbacks I could mention about this game feel almost nitpicky, like the way the status ailment “Envy” is represented during the final boss fight by the color indigo instead of green, or how Kawakami can only manage to make me one cup of very useful, SP-restoring coffee over the course of an entire evening. Still, Persona 5 isn’t without its faults: for one, Persona 5 loses significant points for its questionable representation of LGBT groups (the camp gay men who openly harass Ryuji on multiple occasions being the most glaring example), and this isn’t helped by the queerbaiting that’s prevalent in a lot of character dialogue and relationships. Additionally, the fact that you can’t romance any of your male confidants comes across as erasive at best and homophobic at worst, especially considering that 1) all but one of your female confidants are eligible girlfriends, 2) you can two-time all of them at once if you so desire (which isn’t just disrespectful, it’s also flippantly misogynistic), and, most importantly, 3) one of this game’s main themes includes rebelling against oppressive societal norms (a theme that will resonate deeply with any LGBT+ player). Female representation in Persona 5 is also somewhat of a mixed bag: while the game features a large cast of diverse female characters, its constant and blatant objectification of Ann is not only creepy, it’s incredibly obtuse considering the sexual harassment and abuse she suffers by one of her teachers during the game’s first story arc. Fortunately, each of these drawbacks is easy enough to ignore when discussing the game as a whole, but I hope Atlus improves upon them in future installments: considering how incredible an experience Persona 5 was, imagine how much more incredible Persona 6 could be if these issues were fixed!

So that’s it for my top 10 games of 2018. What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with any of my commentary? What were some favorite games you played during 2018? I’d love to hear your responses and start a discussion, so please, leave your comments in the notes!

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chartreuse-gale · 7 years ago

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First Impressions: Blaster Master Zero

Picked up Blaster Master Zero today. The original Blaster Master was a true Metroidesque style game: Open world, exploration-focused, upgrades that let you access new areas, with none of that Symphony of the Night grind your levels till you curb stomp everything bullshit. It’s also neat in that it splits the gameplay between an overworld where you roll around in a jumping tank sidescrolling platformer (more metroid like), and caves/buildings that you explore from a birds eye view, sort of like Zelda I if you were geared up with a gun and grenades instead of a sword and bombs. |

The intro to the US version of Blaster Master showcases an 80s Saturday afternoon plot: You’re kid with a pet frog; Your pet frog hops out of their tank and into a giant whole in your backyard; you follow it in and find a powersuit and tank just lying around next to some barrels of nuclear tanks and set off through the underworld fighting off mutated creatures in your quest to reunite with your frog. | The Famicom version supposedly had a completely different plot revolving around alien invaders. | I haven’t caught the whole plot of Blaster Master Zero, but it seems to borrow elements from both NES Blaster Master and Famicom Blaster Master will adding in some original elements. |

The first thing I noticed about the game was the colors. The first Blaster Master really lacked variety in its use of colors, particularly for the mutants/aliens in the game (e.g. way too much white). Zero’s use of color is incredibly vibrant and lush by comparison.

All the art in this game was completely redone. The sprites look gorgeous, done up in something like 16 or 32 bit sprite-work. The game as a whole looks more distinct (The powersuit the main character wears on foot looked pretty close to Bomberman from the overhead perspective). The still shots used for the inventory screens, cutscenes, etc. all look fantastic.

The music and sound are excellent. I’ve currently got the 2nd top-down dungeon theme stuck in my head and not in a “fuck I wish I could get this out of my head,” kind of way, but in a “fuck yeah having this tune as a soundtrack for my day is making this a better day,” sort of way. The remix for the 1st region could have been better, but most of the new tunes outdo the original and it’s nice having different sounds the overworld and the buildings, makes the transition more notable and helps to pull me back into the game.

Gameplay-wise the game is a little too cake with the dungeon crawling. Zero, retains the multi-level system for your main gun. The max level is very powerful, pierces walls, has a good rate of fire, and stuns most enemies when you hit them. It’s really easy to plow through most enemies without taking a hit and eating a weapon downgrade. That said, this is one of those rare games that I don’t mind being a little cake. The mechanics and power ups are incredibly fun to employ despite the easy challenge (If you’ve ever played the first Megaman X, it feels a lot like that to me).

All-in-all, Blaster Master Zero is to Blaster Master like Super Metroid is to Metoid 1. The controls are tighter, the story is expanded, many new upgrades and mechanics are added, there are more kinds of enemies, more boss fights (now there are some you fight in the tank!), a map mechanic, a save function, better music, and better art all combined to make this one of heck of game. Also, it’s only, like, $10.

#Sunsoft #Inticreates #Blaster Master #Blaster Master Zero #Metroidesque #First Impressions #Good game

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globalmediacampaign · 4 years ago

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On AWS DocumentDB. Interview with Barry Morris

“We built DocumentDB to implement the Apache 2.0 open source MongoDB APIs, specifically by emulating the responses that a MongoDB client expects from a MongoDB server. We don’t support 100 percent of the APIs today, but we do support the vast majority that customers actually use. We continue to work back from customers and support additional APIs that customers ask for.” — Barry Morris. I have interviewed Barry Morris, GM ElastiCache, Timestream and DocumentDB at AWS. We talked about DocumentDB RVZ. Q1. AWS has many database services now. Why DocumentDB? Why did you build it? Barry Morris: At AWS we believe customers should choose the right tool for the right job, and we don’t believe there’s a one size fits all database given the variety and scale of applications out there. Customers using our purpose-built databases don’t have to compromise on the functionality, performance, or scale of their workloads because they have a tool that is expressly designed for the purpose at hand. In the case of Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility) we offer a fast, scalable, highly available, and fully managed document database service that is purpose-built to store and query JSON. We built Amazon DocumentDB because customers kept asking us for a flexible database service that could scale document workloads with ease. Amazon DocumentDB has made it simple for these customers to store, query, and index data in the same flexible JSON format that is generated in their applications, so it is highly intuitive for their developers. And it achieves this expressive document query support while also maintaining the high availability, performance, and durability required for modern enterprise applications in the cloud. Similar to our other AWS purpose-built database services, Amazon DocumentDB is fully managed, so customers can scale their databases with clicks in the console rather than executing a planning exercise that takes weeks. Finally, because many of our customers with document database needs are already enthusiastic about and familiar with the MongoDB APIs, we designed Amazon DocumentDB to implement the Apache 2.0 open source MongoDB APIs. This allows customers to use their existing MongoDB drivers and tools with Amazon DocumentDB, and to migrate directly from their self-managed MongoDB databases to Amazon DocumentDB. It also gives them the freedom to migrate data in and out of DocumentDB without fear of lock-in. Q2. Who is using DocumentDB and for what? Barry Morris: Amazon DocumentDB is being used today by a wide variety of customers, from longstanding global enterprises like Samsung and Capital One, to digital natives like Rappi and Zulily, to financial organizations like FINRA. In addition, several products that Amazon customers use, such as the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) experience on Amazon.com, are powered by Amazon DocumentDB. We have customers in virtually every industry, from financial services to retail, from gaming to manufacturing, from media and entertainment to publishing, and more. Many of our customers are software engineering teams who don’t want to deal with the “undifferentiated heavy lifting” of database administration, such as hardware provisioning, patching, setup, and configuration. These organizations would rather allocate their valuable engineering talent to building core application functionality, rather than deploying and managing MongoDB clusters. One of our customers, Plume, saved themselves the cost of “three to five approximately $150,000 Silicon Valley salaries” which both offset the managed service cost and allowed their team to focus on their core mission to deliver a superior wireless internet experience. Further, DocumentDB allows Plume to scale much more than their previous solution, with one of their clouds handling as many as 50,000 API calls per minute. You can read the full case study here. The customer use cases are wide and many, given that document databases offer both flexible schemas and extensive query capabilities. Some of the more traditional use cases for document databases include catalogs, user profiles, and content management systems; and with the scale that AWS and Amazon DocumentDB provide, we are seeing customers deploy document databases for a much wider range of internet-scale use cases, including critical customer-facing e-commerce applications and production telemetry. Q3. What has been the customer response? Barry Morris: As with all AWS services, we work very closely with DocumentDB customers to ensure we are building a service that works backward from their needs. To date, the feedback we get is that customers are thrilled by DocumentDB’s ease of scaling, its fully managed capabilities, its natural integration with other AWS offerings, its durability and general enterprise-readiness, and its straightforward API compatibility with MongoDB. Of course, we are always working to add capabilities and features that are highly requested. For example, we just improved our MongoDB compatibility by adding support for frequently requested APIs such as renameCollection, $natural, and $indexOfArray. In the coming months, we also plan to release one of our most-requested features, Global Clusters, for customers with cross-region disaster recovery and data locality requirements. We also continue to bolster our MongoDB compatibility by adding support for the APIs that customers use the most. Q4. What are the main design features of Amazon DocumentDB? Barry Morris: Amazon DocumentDB has been built from the ground up with a cloud native architecture designed for scaling JSON workloads with ease. An essential design feature of DocumentDB is that it decouples compute and storage, allowing each to scale independently. Because storage and compute are separate, customers can add replicas without putting additional load on the primary. This allows you to easily scale out read capacity to millions of requests per second by adding up to 15 low latency read replicas across three AWS Availability Zones (AZs) in minutes. DocumentDB’s distributed, fault-tolerant, self-healing storage system auto-scales storage up to 64 TB per database cluster without the need for sharding, and without any impact or downtime to a customer’s application. As I mentioned before, DocumentDB is built to be enterprise-ready. It provides strict network isolation with Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). All data is encrypted at rest with AWS Key Management Service (KMS) and encryption in transit is provided with Transport Layer Security (TLS). DocumentDB has compliance readiness with a wide range of industry standards, and automatically and continuously monitors and backs up to Amazon S3, which is highly durable. Q5. When would you suggest to use DocumentDB vs another purpose-built database? Barry Morris: At its core, DocumentDB is designed to store, index, and query rich and complex JSON documents with high availability and scalability. You can retrieve documents based on nested field values, join data across collections, and perform aggregation queries. So if you need schema flexibility and the ability to index and query rich structured and semi-structured documents, DocumentDB is a great choice. This is particularly true if you have JSON document workloads that are mission critical for your organization. A DocumentDB cluster provides 99.99% availability, can handle tens of thousands of writes per second and millions of reads per second, and supports up to 64 TiB of data. Finally, since DocumentDB supports MongoDB workloads and is compatible with the MongoDB API, it is a logical choice for MongoDB users who are looking to easily migrate to a fully managed database solution. Every use case is unique, and it is often a good idea to engage an AWS solution architect (SA) if you have questions about selecting the right database for your next application. Q6. What are the key advantages of DocumentDB vs managing your own cluster? Barry Morris: For many customers, fully managed is all about scale. We scale your database at the click of a button, saving you nights and weekends of scaling clusters manually. Customers don’t have to worry about provisioning hardware, running the service, configuring for high availability, or dealing with patching and durability. These concerns are shifted to AWS, so our customers can focus on their applications and innovate on behalf of their customers. Something as simple as backup and restore can be a drag on production. With DocumentDB, backup is on by default. Cost is also a big concern when managing your own clusters. This can include the cost of labor resources, hardware investments, vendor software solutions, support costs, and more. Cost becomes very transparent with DocumentDB, as it offers pay-as-you-go pricing with per second instance billing. You don’t have to worry about planning for future growth, because DocumentDB scales with your business. Q7. Tell me about “MongoDB compatibility” – what does that really mean in practice? Barry Morris: That’s a great question and one we get a lot from customers. We built DocumentDB to implement the Apache 2.0 open source MongoDB APIs, specifically by emulating the responses that a MongoDB client expects from a MongoDB server. We don’t support 100 percent of the APIs today, but we do support the vast majority that customers actually use. We continue to work back from customers and support additional APIs that customers ask for. Because we offer MongoDB API compatibility, it’s straightforward to migrate from the MongoDB databases you’re managing on premises or in EC2 today to DocumentDB. Updating the application is as easy as changing the database endpoint to the new Amazon DocumentDB cluster. Q8. Let’s hear about some exciting customer momentum. Can you please share some customer stories? Barry Morris: We have a lot of them! Customers including BBC, Capital One, Dow Jones, FINRA, Samsung, and The Washington Post have shared their success stories with us. Recently, we’ve done some deeper-dive case studies with customers in a range of industries. For example, Zulily presented their solution at AWS re:Invent 2020. The popular online retailer is using Amazon DocumentDB along with Amazon Kinesis Data Analytics to power its “suggested searches” feature. In this solution, Kinesis Data Analytics filters relevant events from clickstream analytics when a Zulily customer requests a search, a Lambda function performs a lookup for brands and categories relevant to those events, and the resulting enriched events — which populate the suggested search — are stored in DocumentDB. The feature has been a hit, with more than 75% of Zulily customers using suggested searches when they search the online store. A customer story that is particularly compelling given recent events is Rappi. Rappi is a successful Colombian delivery app startup that operates in nine Latin American countries. The company had been rearchitecting their monolithic application into a more flexible, microservices-driven architecture to help it scale as it grew. As part of this modernization effort, the startup selected DocumentDB as a fully managed, purpose-built JSON database service to replace its self-managed MongoDB clusters, which were becoming unwieldy to manage at scale. When Covid-19 hit, the company faced an unprecedented surge in orders and deliveries. DocumentDB enabled them to handle the surge because, as a highly scalable service, it operated as normal despite the change in volume. Overall, Rappi decreased management and operational overhead by more than 50% using Amazon DocumentDB. A final one I will mention is Asahi Shimbun, which is one of Japan’s oldest and largest-circulated newspapers. The company overhauled its digital app last year using AWS and selected Amazon DocumentDB as their content master database to store their articles. Since modernizing, Asahi Shimbun has seen a 30% reduction in monthly operation costs for extracting past articles and a 20% improvement in frequency of use for the app. This is one of many examples that showcase how essential AWS is for industries like publishing, retail, and banking that are evolving with new business models in the cloud. You can peruse these and many other customer case studies in full on our website. Q9. Anything else you wish to add? Barry Morris: Over the last decade, JSON/document-based workloads have become one of the primary alternatives to relational approaches, for a wide range of applications with requirements for flexible data management. We expect this trend to keep growing, particularly with cloud-native applications, and we’re excited to offer DocumentDB as a tool in the toolkit of modern builders leveraging JSON. It’s been great to see DocumentDB support the needs not only of customers who are migrating their existing MongoDB workloads to the cloud, but also the builders who are creating modern applications and choosing DocumentDB as the right “purpose-built database” for their needs. For anyone interested in learning more and getting hands-on with DocumentDB, we have a number of things coming up that may be of interest. We will be hosting two DocumentDB Focus Days, which are virtual workshops on best practices, in May and June. You can learn more and sign up on the registration page. Finally, we have an ongoing Twitch series where our solution architects (SAs) dive deeper on DocumentDB functionality, which you can learn more about on the website. Our DocumentDB product detail page is the best place to start for a general overview of the service and steps to get started, and you can refer to the documentation for an in-depth developer guide. …………………………. Barry Morris, GM ElastiCache, Timestream and DocumentDB. As General Manager of ElastiCache, Timestream and DocumentDB, Barry manages a number of businesses in the AWS database portfolio. He is focused on delivering value to AWS customers through trusted data management services, with a relentless commitment to database innovation. Prior to joining AWS in 2020, his career includes over 20 years as the CEO of international technology companies, both private and public, including Undo.io, NuoDB, StreamBase, Headway, and IONA Technologies. Barry has also had leadership roles in PROTEK, Metrica, Lotus Development and DEC. Born in South Africa, Barry lived in England and Ireland before moving to Boston. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree (BA) in engineering from Oxford University and an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from the IMCA. Resources – Get Started with Amazon DocumentDB Related Posts – From SQL to NoSQL. Interview with Carlos Fernández. by Roberto V. Zicari.ODBMS Industry Watch, April 30, 2021 Follow us on Twitter: @odbmsorg http://www.odbms.org/blog/2021/05/on-aws-documentdb-interview-with-barry-morris/

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