Jamestown Plus coming to PS4

[GSK]

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

New ships, replete with innovative special attacks and customizable weapon systems!

New levels, taking players on a swashbuckling adventure to the mysterious Martian moons of Phobos and Deimos!

A new chapter of the Jamestown story that spans space and time, adds new dimension to established characters and locations, and finishes what the original game started.

Out "this summer". Co-op still local-only.

[slk486]

Which is awesome as I never really took to the Steam version I bought. Controller input feels like an afterthought in that one.

[ACSeraph]

"Polished design rarely seen in the genre" - Destructiod

...

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/chokes-a-bitch

[LordHypnos]

"Polished design rarely seen in the genre" - Destructiod

...

...

/chokes-a-bitch

...Probably a good one for the bad shmup reviews thread. Not terribly amusing though, I don't suppose.

[Formless God]

It's talking about the "art design" (which is still really fucking wrong). Actually, the whole review stinks outside of the paragraph that talks about the game mechanics.

[Doctor Butler]

I got vanilla Jamestown Steam-free, from Groupees. I'd be willing to double-dip if this were ported to PS3 or PC.

It's talking about the "art design" (which is still really fucking wrong). Actually, the whole review stinks outside of the paragraph that talks about the game mechanics.

Destructoid is full of ignorant degenerates, so it comes as no surprise.

[KAI]

Big-eyed, large-breasted “moe” anime-girls might do something for Japanese Shmup fans, but the general cute-em-up aesthetic and attached childish storytelling (Otomedius, Trouble Witches) has turned away many Western gamers from exploring the genre. In contrast, Jamestown’s steampunk take on Colonial America is original and holds potential for crossover appeal. No large-breasted feline teens here, for better or worse.

[Special World]

Good. I enjoyed the game on PC, but it'd be *way* more at home on consoles.

[amdiggywhut]

Question from someone who's knows nothing about Jamestown: does it have a tate mode? It is vertical, correct? I'm guessing no. Would probably be enough for me to buy a PS4, considering there hasn't been anything else I've remotely wanted to play.

[CloudyMusic]

Question from someone who's knows nothing about Jamestown: does it have a tate mode? It is vertical, correct? I'm guessing no. Would probably be enough for me to buy a PS4, considering there hasn't been anything else I've remotely wanted to play.

It's purely vertizontal, as far as I know: vertical scrolling, but widescreen aspect ratio.

[amdiggywhut]

Oh nice, thanks for the info.

[Bonus!]

Does the Jamestown PC version have filter/scanline options?

[shmuppyLove]

Does the Jamestown PC version have filter/scanline options?

I believe there are a couple of different scaling options for full-screen play, but there are no scanlines or filters.

[shmuppyLove]

Controller input feels like an afterthought in that one.

This is definitely not the case. They built some very flexible and simple control options into the game, which allow any player to use any controller they want. The mapping options just have you hold a button or key down for a few seconds to assign it.

[Squire Grooktook]

The lack of online Co Op still really stings. Probably one of the best co op shmups out there, but 90% of the people who buy it probably won't be able to play it.

Also my favorite Youtube comment on the trailer

"Cool reminds me of medal slug"

[BulletMagnet]

Good to see the original did well enough to warrant an enhanced re-release, though hopefully they'll tweak the ship balance a bit for this one, since only the multi-directional craft ever struck me as particularly viable for single-player (to be fair I never got the extra DLC ships, so maybe they already semi-addressed it there).

[drunkninja24]

The lack of online Co Op still really stings. Probably one of the best co op shmups out there, but 90% of the people who buy it probably won't be able to play it.

Also my favorite Youtube comment on the trailer

"Cool reminds me of medal slug"

Yeah, it's really a shame, considering just how much focus the game puts on multiplayer. I'd love to be able to blast shit up with some of my Skype/Steam/PSN friends, but nope ;(

[slk486]

Controller input feels like an afterthought in that one.

This is definitely not the case. They built some very flexible and simple control options into the game, which allow any player to use any controller they want. The mapping options just have you hold a button or key down for a few seconds to assign it.

Controlling the menu with a mouse pointer, via an analogue stick, is definitely in my book of afterthoughtness

[blackoak]

I'm really excited about this, but no one I know has a PS4... hoping it eventually makes its way to PC or the ps3.

In 4P mode I found a use for most of the ships, with Charge and Gunpowder being surprisingly effective in a mixed team. I never saw much use in Treason (fast with homing missiles) or Ghost (weird sword/clone thing) though.

does anyone know the technical details of how feasible online co-op is for a shmup? I know latency has come a long way, but would it be possible to have a lag free experience? doesn't one of the psn shmups like hippogata have online co-op?

[Jeneki]

Nice, Jamestown is great. An interesting thing about the game is the short trial minigames, not because they are overly interesting minigames by themselves, but rather they teach you scoring techniques that transfer directly back to the main game. More STGs need extras like that, to help showcase advanced strategies.

Hopefully the PC version gets the extra content as well, DLC or otherwise.

[Squire Grooktook]

does anyone know the technical details of how feasible online co-op is for a shmup? I know latency has come a long way, but would it be possible to have a lag free experience? doesn't one of the psn shmups like hippogata have online co-op?

If fighting games and run and gun shooters can be playable online, surely shmups can as well. As for an actual example, I did play Mars Matrix with a friend online with Supercade last year, and it was pretty much flawless. Not to mention he was streaming at the time.

[casualcoder]

It's great and all... But anyone else noticing a trend of these big powerful consoles being home to mostly 16-bit'ish titles that already exist in other venues? Its hard to get excited about things like this.

I've played this on steam a bit already and the ship with the 360-degree shot is fun to play. It kind of feels like Guwange to me.

[GSK]

does anyone know the technical details of how feasible online co-op is for a shmup? I know latency has come a long way, but would it be possible to have a lag free experience? doesn't one of the psn shmups like hippogata have online co-op?

I'd imagine that you could come up with something playable using GGPO, but it still wouldn't be perfect, and really, if it's not perfect, would serious players ever bother with it?

Here's what one of the devs had to say:

Oh, how we do wish it was! Sadly, it’s looking unlikely at this point.
We’ve tried to make it happen a few times now, but you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to port a local-only game to online multiplayer when it wasn’t designed that way in the first place! Not to mention, Jamestown is a twitchy, low-latency game where a single frame of error often means the difference between life and death.
That said, a big part of why we’re excited about PS4 is how much better it is for local co-op than PC. It will be way easier to get a local multiplayer game to happen with controllers, couch, and a big screen than it ever was with the original PC version.

[mastermx]

Glad to see Sony reaching out to indie devs.

[GSK]

It's great and all... But anyone else noticing a trend of these big powerful consoles being home to mostly 16-bit'ish titles that already exist in other venues? Its hard to get excited about things like this.

Indies, man. What can ya do?

I do think this is a good move for Jamestown and for other traditional STGs, primarily because most of the big PC-centric press outlets know nothing about the genre and can't tell a good game from a bad one. It's not like the console-centric press is necessarily much better, but most of those guys have at least a cursory knowledge of STGs and don't equate every new game with bottom-of-the-barrel Amiga horseshit.

[Squire Grooktook]

does anyone know the technical details of how feasible online co-op is for a shmup? I know latency has come a long way, but would it be possible to have a lag free experience? doesn't one of the psn shmups like hippogata have online co-op?

I'd imagine that you could come up with something playable using GGPO, but it still wouldn't be perfect, and really, if it's not perfect, would serious players ever bother with it?

Online play is never for serious play, the same thing applies to fighting games. It's always suited to casual play, but that's the point, as long as the netplay is good enough that it still feels playable and fun, than it'll be a huge bonus in allowing people to have some semi-casual fun with friends over the net.

Obviously if you're going for a co op world record or something, you'd want to have both players in the same room.

[GSK]

I guess the point I'm making is that there's no sense pouring time and money into a feature that's inevitably gonna serve as nothing more than a bullet point on a press release.

[Squire Grooktook]

I guess the point I'm making is that there's no sense pouring time and money into a feature that's inevitably gonna serve as nothing more than a bullet point on a press release.

If you're talking about netplay there, I have to disagree. I've personally found that co op is amazingly helpful for other arcade style games like Metal Slug, Beat Em Up's, etc. for getting friends into the game and introducing them to the games finer points of scoring and survival, and even if it is technically "casual" it does offer additional long term enjoyment in going for scores/1cc's with online friends.

Obviously it's not a deal breaker, but it's a shame that very few retail shmups have embraced the kind of genuinely polished and inventive co op that Jamestown has as a legitimate way to widen the appeal of the genre without interfering with its core appeals.

[Oniros]

I really hope this comes to PC as DLC.

[Phellan Wolf]

I really hope this comes to PC as DLC.

Damn how much damage has the console dlcs done
Before all this shitty DLC stuff existed it was called updates, and they were for free and that is the way it should be released on Pc and not for a few bucks.
Off topic aside If this port has some kind of succes, I see it probably coming to other systems.