The PS Vita Thread - Remote Play for all PS4 Games

[Friendly]

Oh, sorry, I'm using an Japanese PSN-Account, there it is called "Star Strike Delta". But thanks, then I'll buy the bundle

Greetings

Interesting, I had no idea they changed the name for Japan; I wonder why? Super Stardust is an old series dating back to the days of Amiga 500.

[stryc9]

They changed the name because I think 'dust' has negative connotations in Japan. As in dust = rubbish.

[null1024]

yessss

My Vita finally arrived in the mail. Apparently it's a 3G model even though the listing said it was WiFi only [even had a sim in the slot].

Quite a sexy piece of kit. Sure, I'd seen it in demo kiosks, and a guy I know owns one, but I'm still mighty impressed. No model of the PSP looks this slick. Of course, the UI is the exact opposite -- XMB just looks nicer.

I'm waiting for updates to install so I can connect to PSN and then go play Ys.

Also, just got 3 months of PS+ and am downloading Gravity Rush and Wipeout 2048.

[edit]
the shadows in Ys are driving me nuts with how awful they look, and since they keep moving and re-rendering, it's hard to just ignore them

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The PSVita is a pretty impressive piece of gaming hardware...there's no external switch to turn on/off the Wi-Fi functionality (like with the PSP's handy Wi-Fi external switch layout) to mar/blemish the overall Vita's outer shell & is all done via the touch screen setup. Playing various PSP & PSX games on the Vita looks gorgeous with the slick OLED screen setup. Even playing some of the Playstation Mobile based games bought off of the USA-based PSN site such as the stunning Mega Blast shmup runs at a solid arcade-spec 60fps framerate (a plus in my book) on the ol' Vita.

Jeff Minter's upcoming TxK will be a must-have Vita killer app to d/l on February 11th...only three more days until it's finally released.

Ol' PCE-FX will do a proper game review of TxK here on the hallowed Shmups site...can it hold a candle to the classic Atari Jaguar Tempest 2000 game? I can see the reasoning of going with the TxK moniker in relation to the earlier T2K & T3K games...sounds cooler than going with T4K, right?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Skykid]

Of course, the UI is the exact opposite -- XMB just looks nicer.

Indeed, the Vita's XMB is the only blemish on its all-round polish I'd say. It's actually very functional though, moreso than the PSP XMB, and extremely handy for switching between apps open on tabs. Stylistically, it sucks though.

the shadows in Ys are driving me nuts with how awful they look, and since they keep moving and re-rendering, it's hard to just ignore them

I have no problem with Celceta's graphics. I keep hearing adverse comments, but I think they're nicely accomplished and adhere well to Falcom's style.

I think the shadows are atmospheric: cast by trees catching the wind and giving that nice sun-scattered effect.

[null1024]

the shadows in Ys are driving me nuts with how awful they look, and since they keep moving and re-rendering, it's hard to just ignore them

I have no problem with Celceta's graphics. I keep hearing adverse comments, but I think they're nicely accomplished and adhere well to Falcom's style.

I think the shadows are atmospheric: cast by trees catching the wind and giving that nice sun-scattered effect.

It's just the shadows bothering me in Ys, same with Gravity Rush. No point in doing real time shadows if they're just going to be a blocky juddery mess.
Other than there being a bit too much bloom, Celceta looks nice [although the game's intro doesn't help with people saying the graphics aren't good -- look at Adol's animation when he stumbles into town and the cat that walks by just before -- hideous]

also, I am having too much fun trying to pick people up and throw them around in Gravity Rush

I really wish file management on the thing was more like on the PSP, where I'd just drag all my music in folders on. Since I need to return the PSP I recently got, I kind of wanted to use the Vita for that in the meantime [the biggest problem is that space is at a premium on the thing, whereas I have a 32GB microSD card working fine on the PSP...].

and damn that OLED screen is gorgeous -- like my phone, but not Pentile, so it's better.

[Skykid]

I really wish file management on the thing was more like on the PSP, where I'd just drag all my music in folders on. Since I need to return the PSP I recently got, I kind of wanted to use the Vita for that in the meantime [the biggest problem is that space is at a premium on the thing, whereas I have a 32GB microSD card working fine on the PSP...].

Oh fuck yes. Been there and suffered with that. The fact you're so purposely limited in terms of file arranging is a helluva frustration.

also, I am having too much fun trying to pick people up and throw them around in Gravity Rush

Enjoy it while it lasts. Once the game's novelty wears off, it's very tiresome to try and finish.

[although the game's intro doesn't help with people saying the graphics aren't good -- look at Adol's animation when he stumbles into town and the cat that walks by just before -- hideous]

Bloody Flash isn't it! Compared to the sequences for Ys I & II and Felghana, it's just not up to scratch. Passable though. The game graphics are really nice I think, they've maintained Falcom's lovely candy stamp. It gets better as it goes along too.

[replayme]

also, I am having too much fun trying to pick people up and throw them around in Gravity Rush

Enjoy it while it lasts. Once the game's novelty wears off, it's very tiresome to try and finish.

Still think it's a bit rich for people to complain, especially as they are getting the game for "free".

In other news, there are a few Ys articles up on Eurogamer by none other than our Skykid. Going to read them when I get a chance...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-09-inside-ys

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- ... rospective

Edit: just read those articles.

I'd love to learn games development, if only to make an RPG of my own. But I don't think I have it within me to spend 3 years learning the craft to a professional degree. But if I did release a game, it would be for Steam/PC and Vita.

[BulletMagnet]

The "slim" model is officially US-bound, apparently.

[null1024]

also, I am having too much fun trying to pick people up and throw them around in Gravity Rush

Enjoy it while it lasts. Once the game's novelty wears off, it's very tiresome to try and finish.

Still think it's a bit rich for people to complain, especially as they are getting the game for "free".

Eh, it's still a paid title. I'm still enjoying it so far, but I'm early in.

I'd love to learn games development, if only to make an RPG of my own. But I don't think I have it within me to spend 3 years learning the craft to a professional degree. But if I did release a game, it would be for Steam/PC and Vita.

the biggest issue with independent game development is working on the damn thing -- you think of your idea, you start implementing it, you slowly fade away from working on it, final product is never released

That does remind me that I need to be less of a lazy bastard and learn how to use Unity though. Ten years of using GM [every time I think about how long I've been using that program, it bothers me ] is hard for me to break though, but Unity is just a better system [more optimized, better platform support, more flexible, cheaper, etc].

[Skykid]

I'd love to learn games development, if only to make an RPG of my own. But I don't think I have it within me to spend 3 years learning the craft to a professional degree. But if I did release a game, it would be for Steam/PC and Vita.

Ouch, RPG development. Were you still at CEX when I got poached for that Game Boy Color company way back? I was carted off as co-designer and lead graphics artist, you might remember.

Those boys (well, the boss) wanted to make an RPG - first game out the gate. He could code but knew nothing about game structure, and designing and RPG is more than a three-man job. It's a huge undertaking (certainly not smart if you have a financier deadline either) and very complicated.

I quit before the company's inevitable fold a month later, but it was a good learning experience: don't make an RPG!

[replayme]

I'd love to learn games development, if only to make an RPG of my own. But I don't think I have it within me to spend 3 years learning the craft to a professional degree. But if I did release a game, it would be for Steam/PC and Vita.

Ouch, RPG development. Were you still at CEX when I got poached for that Game Boy Color company way back? I was carted off as co-designer and lead graphics artist, you might remember.

Those boys (well, the boss) wanted to make an RPG - first game out the gate. He could code but knew nothing about game structure, and designing and RPG is more than a three-man job. It's a huge undertaking (certainly not smart if you have a financier deadline either) and very complicated.

I quit before the company's inevitable fold a month later, but it was a good learning experience: don't make an RPG!

I think you were still at Cex when I left the first time. But I think you had moved on by the time I came back...

I've heard from various sources on how RPG games are one of the most difficult undertakings in terms of complexity. Certainly not for the faint of heart.

But yeah, that's another problem. I don't have an idea that I am passionate enough about in order to justify spending 3 years on it.

Edit:
Back OT... Sly trilogy and God of War collection are both coming to Vita.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- ... -announced

Man, I love my Vita...

[Friendly]

DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc has been released in the US today, European release is on Friday.
Worth buying? I have no clue what it's about.

[null1024]

I just bought TxK.
It's great! Looks pretty cool, bangin' soundtrack, good Tempest 2000 style fun.

Probably my only real issue with it so far is that sometimes the inter-round tilt sections don't seem to work. It'd be nice to have tilt control for those be optional, especially since it means the back of the Vita needs to be perpendicular to the ground [even though I want to play with my Vita upright].

[boagman]

I just bought TxK.
It's great! Looks pretty cool, bangin' soundtrack, good Tempest 2000 style fun.

Oh, it's out, is it? I'll have to check it out tonight...perhaps it'll be my first online game purchase for the system.

EDIT: intriguing, but I'll probably wait for it to be half price.

[wariomona]

Probably my only real issue with it so far is that sometimes the inter-round tilt sections don't seem to work. It'd be nice to have tilt control for those be optional, especially since it means the back of the Vita needs to be perpendicular to the ground [even though I want to play with my Vita upright].

Oh dear. I wondered why those sections would always just push me off in one direction. I might leave playing this game until the option to disable tilt is added.

[BryanM]

Those boys (well, the boss) wanted to make an RPG - first game out the gate. He could code but knew nothing about game structure, and designing and RPG is more than a three-man job. It's a huge undertaking (certainly not smart if you have a financier deadline either) and very complicated.

I quit before the company's inevitable fold a month later, but it was a good learning experience: don't make an RPG!

It isn't really complicated at all, just three simple subgames: Map screen, Battle screen, and Menus. If I can get a Dragon Quest style map screen with little wandering NPC people you can talk to and a random dungeon generator up from scratch in DirectX within a couple months... well, it really helps having an idea of how to do it to begin with I guess. If you don't know how to crawl, walking and running is going to look like magic. It's not like AI in a platformer is going to be easier to implement than that stuff.

Just, a very content hungry genre. Making Dragon Quest 1 is trivial and can be done in ~3-6 months from absolute scratch by one person, or a couple of months if you already have an engine. Making Dragon Quest 3... now that's much more of a grind.

[Skykid]

It isn't really complicated at all, just three simple subgames: Map screen, Battle screen, and Menus. If I can get a Dragon Quest style map screen with little wandering NPC people you can talk to and a random dungeon generator up from scratch in DirectX within a couple months... well, it really helps having an idea of how to do it to begin with I guess.

Which is very much what the crux of the problem was lol.

Boss: "We're going to make an RPG"

Me: "Okay, I've played plenty of those. Where do we start?"

Boss: "I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me."

Me: "I'm the art guy...?"

Boss: "We're all in this together."

And so it went. Much hilarity ensued. I think by the time I left we'd designed the entire first map and created all the graphics, characters and architecture (I was very proud of my church). The opening event and night to day switching was in too I think. The process I'd created to kick start things was all established, but we hadn't finished the first requirement, which was to earn enough cash to purchase a train ticket out of the town.

Also, we had financier backing and pressure from them to deliver in about 6 months or so, which was basically impossible from the start, because the project was too ambitious (2 disagreeing coders, 3 disagreeing people). We spent 3 months in-fighting while me and my other colleague tried to convince the boss of the downward spiral and to change genre to a game we knew we could complete at speed (proposed as being akin to KikiKaiKai 2, with dem mild RPG overtones to keep him happy.)

But it was fun while it lasted *ah memories.*

[BryanM]

Me: "Okay, I've played plenty of those. Where do we start?"

Boss: "I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me."

Me: "I'm the art guy...?"

Haha, oh you poor bastard. A great "I think I want to quit now" moment.

---

The correct answer, if you're a startup with five bux and zero games, is you start with a design document (this part can be shortcut somewhat if you happen to be the lead source guy and the guy writing the story and flag events and shit. But only a little, you can't be like the writers of Lost and Dexter. There does have to be an actual plan in there somewhere), then you write out an engine in someone's basement, along with the tools required to integrate content (really only a little more than a map editor and a stat editor for monsters+items), and then you can hire an art and muzak guy. You'll still need programmers after that step for adding features and fixing broken shit. Don't, don't fire them once you reach this point, Overly Ambitious Imaginary Business Guy.

It's always worth remembering Dragon Quest didn't start off with Dragon Quest 10. It started with Dragon Quest 1. Dragon Quest 1 didn't even have sprite facings. What a hedonistic feature it is, to be able to face in more than one direction. Pure luxury.

[Skykid]

Me: "Okay, I've played plenty of those. Where do we start?"

Boss: "I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me."

Me: "I'm the art guy...?"

Haha, oh you poor bastard. A great "I think I want to quit now" moment.

Oh absolutely. That was the first twenty minutes of day one.

The problem is there was real money behind the company. We saw new investors regularly, during which time I'd want to sink into a hole and die because I knew the guy leading the show - nice as he was - didn't actually have any idea what he was doing, and subsequently it was doomed from the start.

I have a real problem with taking people's money when I know there won't be anything to show for it, which is the reason I did quit eventually.

[brentsg]

Which is very much what the crux of the problem was lol.

Boss: "We're going to make an RPG"

Me: "Okay, I've played plenty of those. Where do we start?"

Boss: "I don't know, I was hoping you could tell me."

Me: "I'm the art guy...?"

Boss: "We're all in this together."

Believe it or not, I had a good friend that I graduated engineering school with.. he went to work at a company that was going to make a personal helicopter under exactly the same circumstances... straight out of school.

[BryanM]

he went to work at a company that was going to make a personal helicopter under exactly the same circumstances... straight out of school.

: DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

That would be the greatest news story ever. The resulting tragedy of the pilot and 30,000 innocent bystanders during the test flight.

[brentsg]

As I recall they crashed a prototype trying to get photos for a magazine spread.

The best part of the story was that he convinced himself he was having a normal post college first job experience.

[replayme]

Just bought TxK on Vita. And my "The Last of Us" (PS3) game finally popped through the post today.

No more games for this month I think...

Edit: TxK is brrrrrrrilllllllliant! Such a superb little game. Soundtrack is sooooo good, and complements the trippy LSD style visuals perfectly.

[BulletMagnet]

DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc has been released in the US today, European release is on Friday.
Worth buying? I have no clue what it's about.

Apparently it's primarily an "analyze the evidence, solve the mystery" kind of game a la Phoenix Wright or 999, though with a handful of other bits and pieces thrown in. I'm absolutely horrible at those types of games (my sense of self-worth was all but completely pounded into an unrecognizable mush by that bearded judge's gavel), but decided against my better judgement to take a gamble on this one, as it's earned itself something of a following. My copy's en route in the mail, will hopefully arrive within the next few days.

[iconoclast]

I just finished the first case in Danganronpa and I'm enjoying it. I guess you could describe the game as Ace Attorney (gameplay) meets Zero Escape (concept) meets Persona (social links & style), with a few more unique twists. Seems like a recipe for success.

The only thing that's bugging me so far is how they use asterisks to emphasize certain words, like *this*. Why not just use italics?

[BryanM]

Why not just use italics?

Too subtle, more work, not a thing Japanese people do afaik, video game traditions, never occurred to anyone, etc

[Skykid]

Edit: TxK is brrrrrrrilllllllliant! Such a superb little game. Soundtrack is sooooo good, and complements the trippy LSD style visuals perfectly.

For me this is the Vita's first must buy game. How much did it cost you? I assume it's a download only?

[replayme]

With PS+? About £4.something.... And you're right. It's a killer app for sure.

[Skykid]

I'll have to find out if it's on the US store yet.