ptoing wrote:I was not talking about PC ports, I was talking about arcade and older console (cartridge) stuff.
Those had even less RAM handy. I'm sure games like Eliminate Down and RayForce (PCB) sporting long, varied stages utilise data streaming. Why wouldn't they? Faster ROM does not eliminate the RAM bottleneck.
ptoing wrote:There probably is some streaming in Gradius V, the question is whether those cutscenes are needed for it. I would guess no.
Of course they aren't, but I'm guessing you'd still have to wait for the data to load (i.e. skipping the cutscene would reward you with the loading screen instead).
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off
gradius v is kind of big and fat and loud. it doesnt surprise me that it wont let you skip a cutscene... it takes its time doing whatever the hell it wants
ptoing wrote:Most classic shmups are not on disk, hence no streaming required, and it's not like the amount of stuff loaded in most shmups is a lot anyway.
Most classic shmups don't have unlimited RAM. Neither has Gradius V.
Try playing cracked Taito Type X shmups (technically comparable to Gradius V and - in case of Homura anyways - well portable to PS2) on a PC with less RAM than PCBs have and you'll see what I'm talking about. PC versions of Raiden III an and Shikigami no Shiro III are optimised to not load everything at once when there's not enough RAM it seems. Minuscule hiccups Raiden III (PC) gives me now and then with 1 GB's worth of RAM would indicate it.
I was not talking about PC ports, I was talking about arcade and older console (cartridge) stuff.
There probably is some streaming in Gradius V, the question is whether those cutscenes are needed for it. I would guess no.
Also Treasure did some funky tricks in the past, like having the data on the Ikaruga disc for DC on the very outside so that the laser does not need to move as much resulting in faster loading. HAX!
That's actually a very standard trick in the cd based console world. it's called "dummy files". any time something loads too slow, they move it towards the outer end of the disc.
As for those elevator workarounds they no longer fool me. Whenever i run into one of those full screen elevators i think "loading screen." Particularly annoying when I have the game installed to hard drive and it loads much faster, but the elevator still takes just as long to travel.
