Dragon Ball Z : Sparking

Tanooki Kuribo · Post by **Tanooki Kuribo** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:09 pm

I always liked split screen for Dragonball games. It works better and gives you almost unlimited amount of space to fight.

karemsicle69_2 · Post by **karemsicle69_2** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:19 pm

Seem's like it would get annoying.

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 5:38 pm

Someone said before that the split screen there may not always be there. It could be because of an ultimate, or due to distance. We can't really tell. If it is constant, it'll take some getting used to. Even the Super Butoden games weren't contstantly split screened...

Pedro The Hutt · Post by **Pedro The Hutt** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:05 pm

Seems like it will be like playing good ol' Virtual On on the Saturn. ^.^ Back then you'd also have a vertical splitscreen (or horizontal if you preferred), and you would both have a camera nicely fixed on the back of your mecha.

If that's the case, it'll probably mean that it'll be a free roaming.

omae no kaasan · Post by **omae no kaasan** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:07 pm

Just FYI -- "Japs" is usually taken as derogatory. It's better (and not much more effort) to write "Japanese."

*off topic

Interestingly enough, many Japanese people with a good knowledge of English use the term jap for themselves or others because of the ease and speed. Much of this stemmed from a famous line in a Beat Takeshi film which even used the word in a derogatory sense, but they don't seem to mind.

just trivia.

All 4 of my Budokai games were gifts ^_^

See, if you waited for this you could have gotten One Piece Grand Battle games instead

The S · Post by **The S** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:26 pm

See, if you waited for this you could have gotten One Piece Grand Battle games instead

That is, if I actually WANTED the One Piece GB games... which is not the case. That, and the fact that I have no way currently to play import games.

Oh, and the OFFICIAL abbreviation for Japan/Japanese is "JPN".

ngnikolaos · Post by **ngnikolaos** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:10 am

mmkay. Anyway, about the split screen, I don't like it, I don't hate it. I must admit that it could be a bit tricky when both you and the cpu were dashing against each other back in the Butoden games, and suddenly WHAM! he was grappling with me and throwing me away. Of course, there were two dots in the upper part of the screen to pinpoint locations, but even for half a second you could lose an edge due to the speed.

Thankfully, in Shin Butoden for the Saturn, the split line would gradually change color based on the fighters distance, so you could be better prepared for the screen merging. That's all nitpicks though.

Oh, and I think that the split screen in Sparking! is going to be constantly "existent" in versus mode (against a human player).

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:15 am

It's possible. But I'm thinking it'l do just a single screen when you're closer, and then split if the two of you pull back, or someone does a big move. That makes more sense to me at least. I just wish we'd get some more info... and a US release date...

omae no kaasan · Post by **omae no kaasan** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:02 pm

That shot of Brolly......*drools*

That is, if I actually WANTED the One Piece GB games... which is not the case. That, and the fact that I have no way currently to play import games.

Your loss both ways

Oh, and the OFFICIAL abbreviation for Japan/Japanese is "JPN".

That's for the country, not people. People don't ask, "Hey! Are you JPN?" Japanese people will literally say, "So are you jap?", in plain English.

mAcChaos · Post by **mAcChaos** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:57 pm

It's about time.

Tanooki Kuribo · Post by **Tanooki Kuribo** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 3:27 pm

Well, Its all a matter of opinion. Once the game comes out and you actually play it you might change your mind, you might not.

ngnikolaos · Post by **ngnikolaos** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:36 pm

It's possible. But I'm thinking it'l do just a single screen when you're closer, and then split if the two of you pull back, or someone does a big move.

Xyex, I think that would work when the characters are in a setup of left-to-right. In Sparking! however, since player 2 would use Up for Forward, when the screen joins Player 2's controls would probably get reversed (since you cease to see the character's back, and now see him from the front). If combos involve Up and Down this could be a bit problematic.

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:58 pm

Perhaps. But I've seen games before that have delayed 'control switching' until buttons were released. And add that the fact I we don't know the control scheme yet, it's entirely plausible it wouldn't matter. For all we know, the sticks are the directional controls (right for forwad, back, turning and left for up, down, straffing) while the shoulder buttons are used for combat, and all moves only require button input and no directions.

Until we have more info we can't really know. :/

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 6:51 pm

Sorry for the double post, but it's been over an hour so...

Take a look at this image again (it's one you've seen, but just look). Someone brought this up on GameFAQs and it's a good question... Notice the water? Notice the transparency? Notice they're flying over the water?

Now, if they were to go down, what would be the options? Hit and invisible floor? Hit the 'concrete' water? Or, perhaps, go under the water? So far, it's all speculation, but that does seem likely, since there's space there for characters... It would definately be cool... Haven't been able to go completely underwater since the SNES. Though the little stream in B1 was fun to fight in. ^^

ngnikolaos · Post by **ngnikolaos** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:14 am

Hmm... you're right Xyex, it's only speculation, so I'll give mine.

Perhaps the characters cannot go up or down. That is, like in the Budokai games, characters can only hit their opponent in a way that either throws them to the ground, or flies them to the air. And the other character simply follows his opponent with forward, and gets away from him with the "back" button. But Spike promised "freedom of movement", so this probably won't happen.

I've seen games before that have delayed 'control switching' until buttons were released

Like Devil May Cry, I'll bet. Or Resident Evil Outbreak. But it sucked bigtime, though. I would prefer a fast (but also steady) re-position of the camera so that you could steadily see the direction (the character is facing) change, but I guess that could be very hard in small places, like tight corridors (there would be no graphics for a 360 turn).

P.S: Oh, and I think that I was wrong back there about the Metal Cooler portrait. It probably IS Majin Vegeta's after all.

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:30 am

Indeed, the 'freedom of movement' implies ZoE style control. Going up, down, left, right, back, forward, or any combonation thereof. It is an interesting speculation, and now that it's come up I'll be rather miffed if the water turns out to be made of concrete. An invisible floor at the level of the land I'll accept, but not concrete water.

And ya, the RE games were good sources of delayed control swtiching, DMC did too I think, but it's been a while since I've played that. There were other games as well that did that, and while it was odd for prolonged periods of time (down, left, or right making me go up the screen/hall for five or six seconds just felt strange) it is a concievable method.

I must admit though, I hadn't considered the fact that during split screen the view would be from behind on both, and need to flip for one or the other upon merger. That said, we still don't know if the split screen is a permanent feature, or an ultimate related construct.

ZoE's camera wasn't locked securely behind player 1. In fact, most of the time, I found myself staring at the backside of the CPU. It took some getting used to but I found it rather hand at time for discerning distances better, and for getting a better idea of my position on the field. Though it made ducking behind buildings and still keeping myself under control a bit difficult.

ngnikolaos · Post by **ngnikolaos** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:32 am

Haven't played ZOE, so I really can't tell. I want to buy ZOE Second Runner sometime though.

Heh, concrete water would be kinda lame... but I keep my hopes up that I will finally be able to make the Super Vegeta / 2nd Stage Cell underwater battle in my PS2 one day. Hope Sparking! will do it.

I'll make you a bet Xyex

I'll give you 5 bucks through Paypal if the screens merge when both players are close, and you'll give me 5 if the screen is split throughout the whole match (victory announcement and pose of winning player excluded of course).

What do you say?

Pedro The Hutt · Post by **Pedro The Hutt** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:25 am

Xyex wrote:It's possible. But I'm thinking it'l do just a single screen when you're closer, and then split if the two of you pull back, or someone does a big move.

Doubt it, as one picture shows Vegeta kicking Goku square in the face and it's still in sound split-screen.

Mugenmidget · Post by **Mugenmidget** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:54 am

I'm definitely jumping on the "always split" wagon.

In a 3D game, I think it's too "trying" on the system if they were to keep switching between two different screen types. And I imagine since the framerate will most likely be lower in VS. games, they wouldn't have it switching between the "smoother" rate and the chopfest.

In Gotcha Force, which is pretty much Virtual On in a lot of ways, the game was definitely smoother as a one screen single player experience. Once you hit multiplayer, the framerate changed noticeably.

I'm hoping that if they ever port this game to another system, perhaps it can hold a simiar framerate in both single-screen and split-screen.

omae no kaasan · Post by **omae no kaasan** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:07 pm

I'll take, "I probably shouldn't say shyt until details come out because the possibility of an entirely new system exists" for 500 Alex.