Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

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dai jou bu
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Post by dai jou bu »

I'll play this game when I get my own pair of twin sticks, as I have a feeling I will permanently disfigure my hands if I try to manipulate a VR with a stock Xbox 360 controller. Until then, I'll just randomly post Senko no Ronde matches or something.
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Post by Specineff »

MentholMoose wrote: Yes, Cypher is fragile to say the least! I was reminded of this over the weekend, when I played a bunch of CC-only rounds against a Japanese Cypher player. Using Grys-Vok, basic CC hits did about 60% damage to Cypher. Almost any CC hit from Grys was a knock-down, so I couldn't get any 2-hit combos in.
That's saying something, considering that Grys-Vok is usually ranked the lowest in CQC. :shock:
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Post by MentholMoose »

Specineff wrote:
MentholMoose wrote: Yes, Cypher is fragile to say the least! I was reminded of this over the weekend, when I played a bunch of CC-only rounds against a Japanese Cypher player. Using Grys-Vok, basic CC hits did about 60% damage to Cypher. Almost any CC hit from Grys was a knock-down, so I couldn't get any 2-hit combos in.
That's saying something, considering that Grys-Vok is usually ranked the lowest in CQC. :shock:
Grys-Vok isn't too bad in CC. It's range sucks, of course. But, it's CC RW is especially quick! You can also cancel LTRW into CC RW to give it a speed boost (also works with cLTRW into CC cRW). Also you can do cLTRW almost indefinitely, which is useful for ducking under various CC attacks (and can cancel it into a super quick CC cRW if the opportunity arises).
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by MentholMoose »

The update is out! The new graphics are a nice touch. I like the new spectator mode the most, though!
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Post by Shelcoof »

dai jou bu wrote:I'll play this game when I get my own pair of twin sticks, as I have a feeling I will permanently disfigure my hands if I try to manipulate a VR with a stock Xbox 360 controller. Until then, I'll just randomly post Senko no Ronde matches or something.
I play great with the Xbox 360 Pad. I don't really like the Analog vs the D-Pad but it does the job well enough.
MentholMoose wrote:The update is out! The new graphics are a nice touch. I like the new spectator mode the most, though!
I can't tell the difference between the graphics.. can some one point them out?
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by MentholMoose »

Shelcoof wrote:I play great with the Xbox 360 Pad. I don't really like the Analog vs the D-Pad but it does the job well enough.
With the update you can use either one with the Standard control scheme.
Shelcoof wrote:I can't tell the difference between the graphics.. can some one point them out?
Did you enable the graphics update it in the options? The main noticeable difference is the lighting on the VRs, and the shadows cast by the VRs. The maps don't look much difference; there are some subtle bloom effects, but that's about it.
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by Shelcoof »

MentholMoose wrote:
Shelcoof wrote:I play great with the Xbox 360 Pad. I don't really like the Analog vs the D-Pad but it does the job well enough.
With the update you can use either one with the Standard control scheme.
Shelcoof wrote:I can't tell the difference between the graphics.. can some one point them out?
Did you enable the graphics update it in the options? The main noticeable difference is the lighting on the VRs, and the shadows cast by the VRs. The maps don't look much difference; there are some subtle bloom effects, but that's about it.

I didn't know how to change the control settings though. I'll take a look at the control settings later when I log on.

Thanks for the info
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by MentholMoose »

Shelcoof wrote:
MentholMoose wrote:
Shelcoof wrote:I play great with the Xbox 360 Pad. I don't really like the Analog vs the D-Pad but it does the job well enough.
With the update you can use either one with the Standard control scheme.
Shelcoof wrote:I can't tell the difference between the graphics.. can some one point them out?
Did you enable the graphics update it in the options? The main noticeable difference is the lighting on the VRs, and the shadows cast by the VRs. The maps don't look much difference; there are some subtle bloom effects, but that's about it.

I didn't know how to change the control settings though. I'll take a look at the control settings later when I log on.

Thanks for the info
Go to "HELP & OPTIONS", then "SETTINGS". The official site has this info, but it is in Japanese.
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Post by Retri »

SAM wrote:The official Twin Sticks Controller open for pre-order now.

http://www.hori.jp/products/xbox360/con ... _stick_ex/

We guess right, Hori used a pairs Sanwa JLJ-PL2-8V mounting in a HRAP case.
Hmm, those sticks don't look anything like a Sanwa JLJ-PL2-8V, now do they? I got one of them on my arcade-stick (www.arcadeshop.de owner was nice enough to import one for me a couple months back) and I can easily tell the difference (see pics below), unless HORI switched out the original handles (wouldn't make much sense but meh, you never know, perhaps they did it to match the classic Virtual On cabinets sticks design), that's it.

Image

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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by MentholMoose »

Retri wrote:Hmm, those sticks don't look anything like a Sanwa JLJ-PL2-8V, now do they?
Hori has recently updated their design for the Twin Stick EX. The prototype did appear to use JLJ-PL2-8V. A lot of people complained, so the updated design has grips that are a closer match to arcade VOOT. They may be identical, but it's hard to tell from the photos.
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by undamned »

Being as this thread has veered into the hardware realm, I found this interesting:

Image

It's a home-made Virtual On Force setup: http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w41448791
-ud
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by MentholMoose »

undamned wrote:Being as this thread has veered into the hardware realm, I found this interesting:

http://img265.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/user ... m55789.jpg

It's a home-made Virtual On Force setup: http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w41448791
-ud
Wow, just... wow. It sold for nearly US $4,500!!!!!
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

What kind of hardware is the Virtual On Force PCB running on? Is it a Sega Model 2 or Model 3 board?

It seems that the seller used an adapter to extract the 24kHz sync out and boost it up to 31kHz with the extra PCB in the far right-hand corner. Wow, 41 bids and over $4,200 easily. Damn. It sure must have been a labor of love to get all the necessary components to get it up & running properly. ^_~

I can sorta see the major components of this Virtual On Force PCB setup:

*Virtual On Force PCB version 7.77

*Jamma adapter

*arcade PSU

*noise filter going into the arcade PSU

*24kHz to 31kHz (EGA to VGA) PCB adapter to display on a LCD TV monitor via VGA input

*a surge protector strip for AC power

*A pair of tricked out PC cooling fans with blue LED lighting effects

*A blue neon light bar underneath the arcade spec Twin Sticks

*An all-in-one soundbar speaker setup along with seperate powered subwoofer (all the Virtual On PCBs output in 4.1 surround sound with the actual subwoofer mounted directly underneath the player(s) seat on the original VO & VO:OT dual link-up cabinets) ^_~

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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by MentholMoose »

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:What kind of hardware is the Virtual On Force PCB running on? Is it a Sega Model 2 or Model 3 board?
Force uses the Hikaru board. Like the Naomi, It actually features native 31 KHz video output. I'm not sure what all the boards on the right are... the one in the front appears to be a card reader (Force has a card-based upgrade system), but I'm not sure what is behind that.

With the recent release of VOOT on Xbox Live, and the soon-to-be released Xbox 360 Twin Stick peripheral, it seems likely that Force will finally see a console release, making this setup less useful and likely to drop in value. Also, Force is a 4-player fighting game, so I'm surprised that someone was actually willing to pay so much for a single-player Force setup. I can understand the desire for such as setup... I am a VOOT fanatic, so I did build a similar single-layer setup for arcade VOOT. But, the cost was dramatically lower (about 1/10th the cost). The Hikaru hardware is not particularly expensive or rare. This setup does not even include a real Force control panel, just the joysticks and buttons mounted on a box (although it does include the manuals, extra sticks, and I think the card reader). Really the only rare and expensive part is the Force ROM.

If I was going to build this, I don't think I would have much trouble finding all the parts for $2,000 (heck, I could vacation in Tokyo and find everything in Akihabara myself for under $4,000 :D ). I may be underestimating the difficultly of obtaining the Force ROM, though, considering I've only seen a few sell on Yahoo! Japan Auctions (for $1000 or so). VOOT ROMs are a bit more common since a lot of the machines were gutted for conversion to Force.

IIRC, the VOOT to Force conversion kit was something like $12,000 back in 2001. That included everything to convert two VOOT cabinets into a 4-player Force setup (4x Hikarus, Force ROMs, control panels, marquees, etc.). IIRC the full 4-player cabinet was $45,000 (I forget if it included the separate cabinet for buying pilot cards). This is what I remember seeing at River Service.

Anyway, I think the high price guarantees it will be going to a good home. :)
PC Engine Fan X! wrote:*An all-in-one soundbar speaker setup along with seperate powered subwoofer (all the Virtual On PCBs output in 4.1 surround sound with the actual subwoofer mounted directly underneath the player(s) seat on the original VO & VO:OT dual link-up cabinets) ^_~
I'm not sure about this one. The last version of VOOT was on Naomi, which AFAIK only supports 2.0.
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by MentholMoose »

There's an online tournament coming up, on Sunday September 27. The winner gets a bye into the round of 16 of the Japanese tournament on Sunday October 3!!

Rules/Details

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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by Shelcoof »

Isn't VOOT the preffered game out of the entire Virtual On series?
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by Davey »

Shelcoof wrote:Isn't VOOT the preffered game out of the entire Virtual On series?
For most Virtual On fans, yes. Although VOOM still gets a lot of respect and is preferred by some players. I think a lot of it depends on which one you played first; I can't think of anybody that played VOOT before VOOM who prefers VOOM. Either way, very few people would rate Force or Marz over VOOT (Marz especially).

There was a Japanese survey about this, the results are in a thread over at oratan.com. I'd link to it if Websense wasn't blocking it.
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by Davey »

Bump!

VOOT Ladder is now in place:

http://virtualon.org/ladder/index.php
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

So how is the new XBox 360 Twin Sticks controller? Anyone get one?

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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by Davey »

AFAIK only a few people at the oratan.com forums got them. Nobody there has given any detailed impressions so far; the only thing I know is that they're really huge and that they use modified Sanwa JLJ-PL2-8V's.

These threads have some pics and links to videos:
http://www.oratan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=206
http://www.oratan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=210
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by WizShaw »

Here is the setup I made.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Reverse the up and down, I labeled them wrong.

Also, I am going to do a custom overlay using this.

Image

Added a red push button for start that I believe looks better then the orange one that was in there.

And I am going to add the xbox live button.

Up until recently everything worked great, however now the left stick is stuck in the up position and I am going to replace the PCB... But this time I am going to do it right and use an extra cheap 360 hori ex2 as this was my first mod ever. (Used a cheap madcatz SF4 pad)
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by jonny5 »

bring it to the next meet and i will have a look....

it looks like you just spliced and taped all your lines,ya?

might be an easy fix....i would bet the direction that is stuck is somehow grounding and causing the circuit to stay active

if you do have to get a new PCB for it, i would recommend soldering your lines to guarantee a clean connection...and track down a common ground PCB.....much easier to work and will cut down on the number of lines you have to run....you can just daisy chain your grounds

looks pretty slick tho....im pretty stoked to try this game out 8)

also...scary foot 8) :lol: joke :wink:
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by WizShaw »

Actually I am pretty sure its the PCB, as it doesnt properly read into my 360 anymore ether. I have to have another controller in the slot before it will do anything. Kinda weird, maybe I screwed it up. This is my first mod...

But I just bought this stick: The HRAP EX-SE 125 bucks (modded with same type buttons, but all white and a sanwa mesh ball, same stick)

Image

So I am going to just switch out the Mad Catz SF 4 PCB with my EX2 PCB. Should be a breeze actually, as there wont be any soldering, just attaching wires as the wires string off the PCB. Already had a look, actually this is what I should have done in the first place. I just didnt know enough about it back then.

It will be ready for your next one. Had a lot of fun meeting some new people.

Also my gf expressed interest in coming. But I just wanted to clarify with you first... (Those are her feet, lol)
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by jonny5 »

WizShaw wrote:Actually I am pretty sure its the PCB, as it doesnt properly read into my 360 anymore ether. I have to have another controller in the slot before it will do anything. Kinda weird, maybe I screwed it up. This is my first mod...

But I just bought this stick: The HRAP EX-SE 125 bucks (modded with same type buttons, but all white and a sanwa mesh ball, same stick)

Image

So I am going to just switch out the Mad Catz SF 4 PCB with my EX2 PCB. Should be a breeze actually, as there wont be any soldering, just attaching wires as the wires string off the PCB. Already had a look, actually this is what I should have done in the first place. I just didnt know enough about it back then.

It will be ready for your next one. Had a lot of fun meeting some new people.

Also my gf expressed interest in coming. But I just wanted to clarify with you first... (Those are her feet, lol)
lolz....she can come for sure....
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by undamned »

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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by WizShaw »

Im pissed off...

Been working on my 360 twinsticks for a few hours, replacing the PCB... and what happens... I think I fried the up and down circuit on the left stick while soldering all the wire connections... doesnt respond to anything after disassembling it. Every other button still works... and I was going to go print up the custom insert tomorrow...

So I ruin my hori EX stick...

I dont have any 360 twinsticks...

And I am considering doing it again with another controller...

Fuck...

Im just a little pissed right now... and need to vent...

I feel like smashing the thing and buying the official pair online. Christ.
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by jonny5 »

the official one is how much?
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by Shelcoof »

jonny5 wrote:the official one is how much?
400$+

I haven't read any reviews about it though. I just can't believe its soo damn expensive. Wonder if the people who bought it felt it was worth the price.
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by Davey »

The $440 price tag is inflated because of the monstrous shipping costs and weak US dollar; it's more like $300 in Japan. And considering that modded twin sticks were going for like $250 in Japan shortly after launch (not a fair comparison, I know), it's not quite as crazy as it sounds.

I'm surprised about how little discussion there has been over at oratan about the official sticks. A couple people mentioned buying them, but none of them are very active players ironically enough. I'm really curious how they compare to the SS and DC sticks.

As for whether or not they're worth it, it's hard to say. Regardless of quality, that's a steep price. Although I don't think it's unreasonable to buy a $300 (or $440 :|) controller if you're putting hundreds of hours into a game, which some players definitely have... I've played against guys with over 10,000 wins in ranked. It's kind of like DDR in that sense; there are $300+ metal pads for serious players and cheapo Mad Catz soft pads for casual players. But unfortunately for VOOT there aren't any cheap twin sticks. :?
NCSX wrote:NCS received an unexpectedly large amount of preorders for the sticks
I wonder how many were preordered and how many they were expecting.
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Re: Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram for the Xbox Live Arcade

Post by Davey »

n00b-only VOOT tournament January 3rd!

Cash prize :!: (sorta... winner gets 4800 MS Points)

http://www.oratan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=214

EDIT: Link updated
Last edited by Davey on Fri Dec 25, 2009 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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