New NEOGEO / Dreamcast game: "NEO XYX" NG: DEV.TEAM 2013

[ptoing]

Just checked, it does have it. And I think even 1942 which is from '84 has it as well.
And Star Force which is '84 as well has it too.

[LordHypnos]

Mars Matrix seems to have normalized diagonal movement as well :S Though it's a bit tricky to tell...
That explains part of why control doesn't feel quite so tight in the NGDEV games (Fast Striker Definately doesn't normalize the diagonal movement).

[trap15]

Just about any decent game does normalize movement vectors. Because it feels and is fucked up if you don't.

[pestro87]

Got the Collectors Edition today. I tried to credit feed through the game 5 times and the screen froze on 4 out of those 5 attempts :/ I am using the official DC Arcade Stick but I mapped the Buttons to X, Y and Z so I suppose that might be why the game froze on me. Will try again later with the default button mappings but this left a sour taste in my mouth.

[chempop]

I'm nearly certain the game struggles with DIGITAL L/R buttons. Definitely the reason it was freaking on me while I was setting it up with a jamma padhack, in addition to Vertical-S mode being broken. No troubles with stock DC pads and tate mode or using the jamma padhack now that I've disabled (and unplugged) the digital L/R buttons.

Also, don't hold down any buttons in between stages lol

[LordHypnos]

I'm nearly certain the game struggles with DIGITAL L/R buttons. Definitely the reason it was freaking on me while I was setting it up with a jamma padhack, in addition to Vertical-S mode being broken. No troubles with stock DC pads and tate mode or using the jamma padhack now that I've disabled (and unplugged) the digital L/R buttons.

Also, don't hold down any buttons in between stages lol

I definately haven't had any issues using the R-button on the saturn pad yet, even though it's digital. Could be a problem though in later stages, as I haven't made it that far.

[chempop]

That's good to hear it's working with your saturn pad. Honestly my troubles should be taken for what they are, I'm using some rather unofficial control box hack, not exactly a setup NG:DEV would have tested. If it wasn't for all the other reports, I'd feel it might even be an isolated situation.

[LordHypnos]

That's good to hear it's working with your saturn pad. Honestly my troubles should be taken for what they are, I'm using some rather unofficial control box hack, not exactly a setup NG:DEV would have tested. If it wasn't for all the other reports, I'd feel it might even be an isolated situation.

The Total Control 3 (Saturn to DC adapter) is also an unlicensed peripheral, as far as I know, but yeah. I imagine it will vary somewhat from unlicensed peripheral to unlicensed peripheral. Maybe I'll try to reproduce the holding down buttons between levels bug tomorrow or something though. I'm curious if that's more widespread (easy to avoid, of course)

[pestro87]

I tried with the default button mappings and the game still froze, however, I stopped pressing buttons in between the stages and I haven't had any issues with the "freeze bug" so far!

Also, this game is amazing!

[Zosite]

This... thing... no matter how amazing it looks is botched beyond all hopes in "Vertical.S" mode. It's freeze after freeze for me in about 9 out of 10 runs, I tell you.

I tried your method, pestro87, of not pressing any buttons between stages but it was to no avail though I admit I didn't use default button mappings (DC stock pad). Besides, how did it come to this that we need to be THIS gently with a 30+ bucks game settings in order to have a chance for a whole run?

And yes, all other screen modes seem to work flawlessly without freezes but alas! I'm also one of those who picked the DC version in order to NOT play in TATE (shame on me I know...).

BTW, did any of you notice there's also a bug with medal counters between stages? The upmost number which I take it's there to count numbered medals is ALWAYS zero! (Still zero. Seems like it's ALWAYS zero on this game... <Guybrush dixit>)

In the end I'm tempted to ask for a refund to NG:DEV guys and the only things stopping me from doing so are the outstanding artwork, on-your-face difficult and... Gunlord, which is definitely among my 3 top DC games, not to mention it was *MUCH* more polished gameplay-wise than this one... diagonal speed is a joke to the point that I've been trying to learn and dodge with diagonal movements only... *sigh*

[Strider77]

Lies...

[spadgy]

It is staggering that they missed the Vertical.S problem. It's barely an obscure glitch. Praise be I'm a tatist.

[TransatlanticFoe]

I can only assume the vertical.s mode was an afterthought and not tested beyond "hey, here's the first level. Test passed". Regular vertical mode seems to work fine, so I guess it's an issue with the scaling. Planning on fashioning a cradle for my TV tomorrow so hopefully getting some tate action in (and some Saturn love).

[pestro87]

This... thing... no matter how amazing it looks is botched beyond all hopes in "Vertical.S" mode. It's freeze after freeze for me in about 9 out of 10 runs, I tell you.

I tried your method, pestro87, of not pressing any buttons between stages but it was to no avail though I admit I didn't use default button mappings (DC stock pad).

Maybe it's a combination of the settings that you use and not pressing buttons in-between stages? I haven't had any issues with the game on Vertical.S during the past two days. I'm using the official DC Arcade Stick and the following in-game settings:

Controls
Default (Stick)

Video
Mode: Vertical.S
Filter: OFF

[Zosite]

Worth a try (or a few of them for that matter). I'll test your exact settings tonight, though I'll need to use default pad settings for I don't have the arcade stick.

And I'll be grateful to you if it works I tell you, but then again... I honestly think NG:DEV should release a fixed version and send it for free to those who bought the game, even if it's only under direct request (TATE guys should be happy already). And yes, I can picture ALL current game owners asking for a fixed version just for the sakes of it and NG:DEV needing to pay all shipments and losing a significant amount of money, but hey, that's what you get when knowing that fixes cannot be applied to your game you don't properly test your stuff to start with; in fact, that was the usual way to go many years ago. I still remember Origin sending me an english copy of Ultima VIII for free when I reported that the spanish version was botched on dubbing and game couldn't be finished because some dofus forgot to implement a few lines of dialogue and one of the main characters found funny to NOT tell you what you needed for a critical script to be run.

[chempop]

Oh yeah, what do you know, the diagonal movement is totally botched... I knew something felt "off".
I did notice the "1" medal count is always zero at the stage bonus screen, I don't really understand why it'd want to count those medals in the first place. Maybe the devs found a bag of crack halfway though development.

[ptoing]

I was watching the video by ghegs, and there the number on the small medal is not always 0. It seems to just be the amount of small medals in general collected. Maybe whether this is 0 or not also somehow gets fucked up depending on screen mode?

[Zosite]

I think it's 0 in ALL modes as it not being related to the screen mode used. However, I *know* such bug doesn't exist on MVS and AES ports. Is that video you mention a Dreamcast gameplay? If so I'd kinda LIKE to know if multiple versions of DC port exist; could it be that many CDs just happen to suffer from some manufacturing error? Now that'd be... interesting, though we must admit it doesn't make much sense...

And here goes another: opposing heads on GAME OVER screen aren't there on Horizontal mode.

And now let's test those settings suggested by pestro87... <praying mode on>

OK, confirmed: ghegs' video was a MVS gameplay, as stated on this first video he uploaded: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug5Uq0AUm-k

[LordHypnos]

They could actually send a cdi file upon request with a fixed version, and it would be a lot cheaper for them >_>. All you'd need is a cd burner and blank cd then (or emulator, which some people probably are already playing the game in. Jus' sayin'

[chempop]

I say we forget about it and think twice before giving them any more money.
Then again, there are those who are buying DUX for what, a 4th time?

[LordHypnos]

Yeah, I'm thinkin' that might be the way to go, at least depending on how they handle our bug reports and what not.

[ptoing]

@Zosite: Ah yeah, that vid seems to be MVS.

Then again, there are those who are buying DUX for what, a 4th time?

Dux, Dux 1.5, Redux, Dux 1.5 + 1.1... Yeah, crazy. Collectors who just buy everything for a system, esp from devs who pull shit like Hucast with Dux are comparable to people with stockholm syndrome.

[Zosite]

Been there. Done that. I've tried your method (including default stick controls, though I don't have a DC arcade stick but just the pad), pesto87, and it didn't work for me. I still got freezes, especially on level 4 and 5 bosses, though I admit they're not so usual now.

Could it be related to the DC official pad? Even in that case my previous claim about NG:DEV needing to do something about this stands.

They could actually send a cdi file upon request with a fixed version, and it would be a lot cheaper for them >_>. All you'd need is a cd burner and blank cd then (or emulator, which some people probably are already playing the game in. Jus' sayin'

Now that would be a good idea, especially for THEIR bucks, and it might prevent me and maybe others from...

In the end I'm tempted to ask for a refund to NG:DEV guys

BTW, it might be me but I'd say level 2 mid-boss looks buggy too, as not having its hit spots properly set because it's jolly hard to finish it off in time, even with bombs, not to mention it completely breaking the learning curve at that point. Just my 2 cents.

And, speaking about using emulators: know that this game will completely freeze/hang/mutilate/obliterate nullDC main process in just a couple minutes of gameplay but... wait for it, you won't believe it... on "Vertical.S" mode ONLY! All the rest screen modes work perfect under nullDC. Unbelievable I know... Obviously good ole' nullDC sees there's something wrong there even before the DC itself!

[emphatic]

If I was the developer of this game, I would wait for the first print to become sold out (if it's not already), then offer a bug fixed cdi for free for everyone, as people who buy this game want to own a physical copy and pirates will pirate anyway. They won't lose any money, and it would be great PR, but I just don't think they care about anything but the quick buck.

[pestro87]

Been there. Done that. I've tried your method (including default stick controls, though I don't have a DC arcade stick but just the pad), pesto87, and it didn't work for me. I still got freezes, especially on level 4 and 5 bosses, though I admit they're not so usual now.

Could it be related to the DC official pad? Even in that case my previous claim about NG:DEV needing to do something about this stands.

Thanks for the update! Sorry to hear that, I suppose that it has to be something else then. I'll try with the pad and see if that makes a difference.

[Erppo]

Plenty of other shmups use simple addition for the diagonal movmement speed. Like, you know, Garegga. Though I suspect it's magically not a bad thing in that game.

[ptoing]

Still a mistake in Garegga imo, but you can not fault Garegga on as many levels as Neo XYX, plus it does not crash.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Immediately beat my top score after playing in tate mode.

Vertical S is completely broken, not only the guaranteed crashes when things get busy but the control is really messed up. Just don't play that mode - pretend you have the NeoGeo version or something and pretend it's not there, because it might as well not be. There are three other modes which work perfectly fine (regular vertical works fine but is tiny, so you'll need a decent zoom function on your TV), so I don't see NG:Dev needing to issue a fixed version but at least let's have an apology. No point adding extra display modes if they're not going to be tested properly.

[LordHypnos]

Ha, that's funny that garegga uses simple addition for diagonal movement.

[chempop]

Plenty of other shmups use simple addition for the diagonal movmement speed. Like, you know, Garegga.

LOL I feel like an idiot, it does doesn't it.
Well that explains why it took me ages to get a grip on on the game.