Giga Wing Generations website open now!

[icepick]

Next lot of impressions and it'll be down to 5 fps.

I've played it, man, and it's no FPS.

Seriously though; Do PS2 shmups get some sweet debug mode, where the FPS count is displayed onscreen? I know that I couldn't keep track when counting frames per second, unless it was like, one or two.

For really real, though; Don't most home ports run at a slightly smoother speed when in a scaled/pillarboxed format, as opposed to true TATE? Maybe this is why they kept the mode out of the PS2 port; If it's slower than the arcade version when it's pillarboxed, then a full-resolution display might've chugged along even more slowly.

[velocity7]

Just did the actual video capture and check. I retract my statement saying it was 15 and I'll say 30 now. But still 60 fps would have been a lot better.

[visuatrox]

Well I have also already played the PS2 port, and I actually really like the game. But it takes a bit of playing to get used to the techical letdowns..

So just to sum up my impressions of the game,

Positive:
- The music
- The game is a lot of fun

Negative:
- Seriously ugliest boss explotions I have ever seen in a game
- The presentation and menues, and overall look of the game is just plain mediocre.
- The framerate, In arcade mode the game runs maybe at 30fps at best, in original mode the game feels like it would run on a emulator with frameskip 2 (in other words playable, but an eyesore).


So basically pretty much what already has been said, except that I actually like the game even though it is not that polished. Considering the state the game is in, it should have been sold at a budget price.

[visuatrox]

Just did the actual video capture and check. I retract my statement saying it was 15 and I'll say 30 now. But still 60 fps would have been a lot better.

Goes that for both original mode and arcade?. The Original mode sure does not feel like 30fps, the updates of the bullets seem to be missing frames or something.

[velocity7]

http://click-stick.com/get/gwg_30fps.avi

Did a 20-second, 2.72 MB video of the 30 fps framecap in the game. Used AVISynth + TDeint to actually get the actual 30 fps (note this was measured by checking pattern of fields and not a guess-game).

EDIT: Well I guess Original mode does have a suckier frame-rate in a sense. If it does, it is most likely 15 fps.

[visuatrox]

I'm sure that there is some difference. When I compared the two modes the first time, I did not notice much difference. But then after playing on Original mode for an hour and changing to Arcade, I noticed a huge difference. In original mode some of the bullets flicker so much that they are difficult to see.

[velocity7]

Hm. In any case it's giving me more reason why Giga Wing Generations is so unenjoyable.

[TVG]

Next lot of impressions and it'll be down to 5 fps.

I've played it, man, and it's no FPS.

Seriously though; Do PS2 shmups get some sweet debug mode, where the FPS count is displayed onscreen? I know that I couldn't keep track when counting frames per second, unless it was like, one or two.

For really real, though; Don't most home ports run at a slightly smoother speed when in a scaled/pillarboxed format, as opposed to true TATE? Maybe this is why they kept the mode out of the PS2 port; If it's slower than the arcade version when it's pillarboxed, then a full-resolution display might've chugged along even more slowly.

people can tell if it's 60 or 30 because its either of the two in most games, and now i learn that it can run at 15? that must explain why some console first person shooteers are so damn fugly.
for example i was shocked that mgs3 ran at 30 fps, i could see it at first glance even if i didnt know it, i got over it eventually (would still take lower res and 60 fps anyday tho)
but in a shmup...yea the other people said it best, its like playing on mame with frameskip.

[Fighter17]

After finish seeing the video, the game is really "Giga Wing Light." The game is using the same "OK" voice from the last two Giga Wing games. The game used the Type X hardware there and there, but not good enough. In the end, this game is not really "Giga Wing." Which makes me sad because I was waiting to buy this game for about 4 months!!!!!!!! All that waiting down the drain!!!


Edit: Does Giga Wing 2 has the same deal with the frame rate, or it runs at 60 FPS?

[velocity7]

Giga Wing 2 has 60 fps.

Okay, let me just make it clear to everyone:

Original and Arcade modes run at 30 fps.
Menus and Ship Select run at 60 fps.

That is it.

[Rob]

The game is using the same "OK" voice from the last two Giga Wing games.

Maybe this thread is rubbing off on you and others, but this is getting really petty. Not the same "OK" voice! Seriously, look at that. You know it also has the same types of ships, too. Giga Wing 2 used the same or nearly the same voice (as you noted) and no one gives a shit. It's Giga Wing.

The game used the Type X hardware there and there, but not good enough. In the end, this game is not really "Giga Wing." Which makes me sad because I was waiting to buy this game for about 4 months!!!!!!!! All that waiting down the drain!!!

Wow, look at the damage a low quality 20 second video can do. Looks fine to me. Cheer up there.

[Fighter17]

Maybe this thread is rubbing off on you and others, but this is getting really petty. Not the same "OK" voice! Seriously, look at that. You know it also has the same types of ships, too. Giga Wing 2 used the same or nearly the same voice (as you noted) and no one gives a shit. It's Giga Wing.

The game used the Type X hardware there and there, but not good enough. In the end, this game is not really "Giga Wing." Which makes me sad because I was waiting to buy this game for about 4 months!!!!!!!! All that waiting down the drain!!!

Wow, look at the damage a low quality 20 second video can do. Looks fine to me. Cheer up there.

I wonder why I say the OK thing.

But I really want to see the game in action, I really want to see the game with a lot of bullets and the frame rate being bad. I want more video of the game please!

[Rob]

They weren't kidding when they said the presentation was mediocre... I just took a screenshot of the title screen. I mean look at this:



Cancel your orders if you already haven't, guys.

[icepick]

http://click-stick.com/get/gwg_30fps.avi

Hey, that doesn't look too bad. I'd still get it, if the price was right.

I'm getting Trizeal, though.

(Which is good, since I have a DC and not a PS2. GWG looks like a decent game to me, though of course looks aren't everything.)

Cancel your orders if you already haven't, guys.

I'm really bad with sarcasm. Was that a joke? After seeing the supposed box art for Garou:MotW PS2, I'll believe almost anything.

[Fighter17]

My waiting for 4 months down the drain again!!!!

[Stormowl]

http://click-stick.com/get/gwg_30fps.avi

Did a 20-second, 2.72 MB video of the 30 fps framecap in the game. Used AVISynth + TDeint to actually get the actual 30 fps (note this was measured by checking pattern of fields and not a guess-game).

EDIT: Well I guess Original mode does have a suckier frame-rate in a sense. If it does, it is most likely 15 fps.

whoa, wait a second. is this what the fuss is all about?

if it looks like this most of the time then lack of tate is really the only problem, and i can deal with that.

[Fighter17]

Wow, look at the damage a low quality 20 second video can do. Looks fine to me. Cheer up there.

For a min, I though Rob likes this game, now he change his mind.

Where is more video of the game when the frame rate is like 10 fps, I want to see.

My waiting for 4 months down the drain again!!!!

[japtor]

From what I'm told, the arcade Type-X version originally had 60 fps with lots of slowdown.

i thought it was 60 with framedrops/frameskips. slowdown is one thing, but dropping frames is really bad.

http://click-stick.com/get/gwg_30fps.avi

Did a 20-second, 2.72 MB video of the 30 fps framecap in the game. Used AVISynth + TDeint to actually get the actual 30 fps (note this was measured by checking pattern of fields and not a guess-game).

EDIT: Well I guess Original mode does have a suckier frame-rate in a sense. If it does, it is most likely 15 fps.

whoa, wait a second. is this what the fuss is all about?

if it looks like this most of the time then lack of tate is really the only problem, and i can deal with that.

the problem is most capped videos are 30 fps, so compared to any other vid caps you might have seen online (ika, doj, mushi, whatever), it looks fine. but compared to a real 60 fps source, 30 is shit. for example, play progear in mame (if it can run full speed on your setup at least) with 0 skip for 60 fps, then try it at 6 skip for 30 fps (at least thats how the frameskip worked out for me, just keep the frame counter on screen to check). its playable and all, but compared to 60, its crap. for some other kinds of games 30 is fine, but for shooters it sucks.

[uwfan]

for example, play progear in mame (if it can run full speed on your setup at least) with 0 skip for 60 fps, then try it at 6 skip for 30 fps (at least thats how the frameskip worked out for me, just keep the frame counter on screen to check). its playable and all, but compared to 60, its crap. for some other kinds of games 30 is fine, but for shooters it sucks.

er, im not sure your logic is valid here. Progear was deisgned to run at 60 fps, so of course it would look crap at 30 fps.

the home port of GWG is designed to be only 30 fps, so it wont be skipping any frames when it plays at 30 fps.

maybe.

[japtor]

true. but i still stand by 30 fps being crap for shooters!

but if the arcade one runs at 60, how would they get it running at the same speed at 30 w/out skipping frames? or motion blending frames or some other technique i guess. if anyone that has it can compare to skipping a game down to 30 fps in mame, feel free to chime in on this.

[MASTER SATAN]

what is TATE?

[sffan]

what is TATE?

Look it up in the shmup glossary on this forum. It's a thread further down.

[BulletMagnet]

Look it up in the shmup glossary on this forum. It's a thread further down.

This plug paid for by BulletMagnet. Well, not really.

[Dylan1CC]

Hmmmm. Yeah, the speed in the video click posted does look pretty decent. I'm starting to lighten up a bit more on this. Oh well, doesn't matter until I actually get a modded PS2.

[Kiken]

Some additional comments:

I appreciate the fact that you can't credit-feed your way to the final stage. If you continue during a game, your mission ends at level 5. I got very close to opening up level 6 last night and will try again later.

Level 5 reminds me heavily of Night Raid; plenty of swirling objects set against this psuedo-organic purplish... stuff. This stage feels more like "classic" Giga Wing to me.

[BulletMagnet]

I appreciate the fact that you can't credit-feed your way to the final stage. If you continue during a game, your mission ends at level 5.

The first GW worked like that too, didn't it?

[Ganelon]

Yup.

[system11]

I will say that music in level 2 seems absolutely brilliant.

[Fighter17]

MOD EDIT: <snip>, you know why Fighter17... -TF

Now on my review of this game:


Score: 5 out of 10

Pros: Control is great
Music is good
Great level designs

Cons: FPS at 30 is not great at all
Because FPS is at 30, the bullets can sometimes be hard to see
No tate (well I don't care about tate)
The game is not full screen (unlike the last two Giga Wing games)
Yoko mode (borders) sucks in this game
Loading times reminds me of the Neo Geo CD, it's just bad

In the end: For the first Type X game to be ported on a video game system, GWG fails really bad for the shmups fans.

[Ghegs]

I don't know if it's because of the lack of tate or the 30 FPS thing, but I feel I really have to struggle to see the bullets, they seem so small. Maybe if the screen was bigger (that is, either in tate or just a bigger TV over my current 21'') it wouldn't be a problem. I'm constantly leaning towards the screen in an effort to see better, normally I can lean all the way back and still see the action comfortably. After 30 minutes of GWG my eyes feel tired and unfocused.

Such a shame since I really like the game otherwise.