"Sparking! NEO" (PS2/Wii)

[NECPS]

They could only keep the characters..
and remake the game from scrap again.

It probably won't have many vests from each warrior.
Hell, why Budokai 4 will never exist ???????????????

[ngnikolaos]

I'm a bit confused. In the IGN videos, when Goku transforms you see his transformation in a close-up view. On the gamespot videos, Goku transforms just like in the Budokai series (with no camera angle change).

Is there a "control the camera' option or something? Hmmm...

The gamespot videos show a lot more characters.

4th Freeza ends his meteo with a Death's Ball.

Super Boo powers up to Gotenks-absorbed Buu. He doesn't absorb anyone.

[Xyex]

**NOT SURE IF THIS STANDS SINCE I HAVEN'T PLAYED TENKAICHI 1** Characters warp/teleport to pursue the opponent, rather than just evading attacks and blasts.

Nope, wasn't in BT1. Annoying that was. Chasing them was such a pain in the ass, teleporting is so much better.

Slugg sounded like Piccolo and #13 sounded like #17 but keep in mind these are videos from the unfinished product. 100% chance the voices will be fixed before release.

Ya. And if you'll notice, neither of their mouths move. So I don't even think they've finished programing the animations for the characters, let alone recording all the voices. They probably just stuffed Piccolo and 17's voice files in so that they would make SOME kind of sounds during the fight.

The attack that Slug used in one of those videos...

I am SURE Bebi uses it Final Bout!

But it was Giant Slug's long before it was Bebi's. Granted, his head was sticking out of a building when he did that in the movie... but ya. My complaint so far is that the giant guys are still too small. Slug should be able to hold 13 in one hand and hide all but his head. Oh well.

I think the A.I in BT 1 Was great but I want it to be even harder.

The A.I. in BT1 was someo of the cheapest ever created. Anyone who wants it harder is a maschoist. X_X

I can only pray to the lords above that we'll see some real- time weather change, and cool Geo- mod effects. Imagine... Just imagine a perfect game... *Goes into dream world*

<snip>

Keep dreaming. That wont happen even on the new gen systems. Well, ok, they might get close. But that's about it. What you're asking for takes a LOT of processing power. Trust me.

Why can't there be both? But anyways, if I had to choose between the alternates and battle damage I would have to choose the alternates.

They can have both. Except. That takes time. Lots of time. Alright, let's go with the first game and it's roster of 90 "characters". 90 Characters = 90 Normal Character Models. 90 Normal Character Models + Battle Damage = 180 Total Character Models. 90 Base Character Models + Battle Damage + at least 2 costumes per character = 360 Total Character Models.

So, ya. 360 different models (Normal, Alternate, Damaged Normal, Damaged Alternate for EACH character) takes a lot of time to make. A LOT of time. That's what the issue is. Sure, I was dissapointed that there weren't extra costumes but I did sort of expect it.

Personally, I'd rather have alternate costumes than battle damage. Especially if it was done like it was in BT. That was very poorly execute damage and, because of how the game plays, you couldn't really even notice it half the time anyway.

Man, the updates.

Found this at Gamespot. Preview and videos.

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/drag ... id=6148657

Ooooh, more vids. *downloads!*

[desirecampbell]

Keep dreaming. That wont happen even on the new gen systems. Well, ok, they might get close. But that's about it. What you're asking for takes a LOT of processing power. Trust me.

Well, not that much. Weather effects, true day/night cycles, volumetric fog ("good looking" fog), completly destructible environments - all easily doable with today's technology (all these effects, seen in games by 2002).

Things like "vaporizing the rain" and "causing a bruise" are harder to do (but still very possible). In fact, we've seen both of those very effects in games already, rain sizzling when it lands on a hot surface in WoW (or Fable, I think, I know I saw it in some RPG), Any boxing game in the last few years have had realistic bruising.

Things like "realistically damaged cloth" is just now becoming a reality, but that's being held up more by the software, than the hardware.


The point is, everything you've ever wanted in a video game is possible, and probably was possible on the last generation of consoles.

[Thanos6]

I hope they retool some movesets while they're at it. Kamesen'nin should have had his "Bangkok Surprise Prize" electric thingy from the 21st Budokai, instead of doubling up on Kamehamehas...

[Demi]

To those who had the impression that this game would start from the beggining of Dragonball, it won't. According to the interview in the above link it will start from the Saiyan Saga.

[Xyex]

Keep dreaming. That wont happen even on the new gen systems. Well, ok, they might get close. But that's about it. What you're asking for takes a LOT of processing power. Trust me.

Well, not that much. Weather effects, true day/night cycles, volumetric fog ("good looking" fog), completly destructible environments - all easily doable with today's technology (all these effects, seen in games by 2002).

Things like "vaporizing the rain" and "causing a bruise" are harder to do (but still very possible). In fact, we've seen both of those very effects in games already, rain sizzling when it lands on a hot surface in WoW (or Fable, I think, I know I saw it in some RPG), Any boxing game in the last few years have had realistic bruising.

Things like "realistically damaged cloth" is just now becoming a reality, but that's being held up more by the software, than the hardware.


The point is, everything you've ever wanted in a video game is possible, and probably was possible on the last generation of consoles.

Yes, yes, yes. I know all of this. You, however, are not considering several key facts. First of all, we shall utterly and entirely ignore WoW as that is a PC game and, thus, not included in a disscussion about consoles. Secondly, let's look at the examples we *do* have. Have you seen ANY game that can do ALL of the above? You haven't? Didn't think so.

Don't forget, consoles have finite ammounts of power and memory. (Yes, I forget to mention memory before.) The more you do the more it takes of both. Notice how much faster BT's loading times were over B3? The reason was there was so much LESS data in it. Less detailed characters, environments, and animations. Less ammount of voice data, character data, and move data. Etc.

However, something like that dream game would take, at the least, 4 times the memory. Like I said. We can get close now, on the newer systems. But they care too damn much about looks over ability to actually pull it off perfectly.

PC's, sure. A state of the art system could probably do it without much difficulty. If not now, then soon. But the newest generation of consoles? Nope.

Er, anyway, I've sidetracked the conversation enough. To get back on topic... Anyone else thing that Slug's aura looks.... funky?

Oh, and who are you hoping for out of the (possibly) 6 remaning character slots? I want Pikkon, Pan, and the Supreme Kai. Other than that, no real prefrences that I can think of....

[Leotaku]

**NOT SURE IF THIS STANDS SINCE I HAVEN'T PLAYED TENKAICHI 1**

...

Easier CPU A.I.

But, you haven't played it. I know a lot of people say it's a hard game, but you never tried it yourself.

I was scared of all the talk of the difficulty too, but then I got to play it myself. It took a couple hours to get used to initially, and some embarassing defeats, but I eventually learned it and worked my way up to tougher and tougher opponents with relative ease.

It can be hard at first, but it just takes some time. In certain cases, I even found ways to exploit patterns in the AI to kick its ass without a care in the world.

I'm not even that great a gamer these days. I'd say I'm about average.

I hope that you're able to dodge, like in Budokai 3! How can they not do that?

What dodge do you mean?

[Xyex]

I was scared of all the talk of the difficulty too, but then I got to play it myself. It took a couple hours to get used to initially, and some embarassing defeats, but I eventually learned it and worked my way up to tougher and tougher opponents with relative ease.

It can be hard at first, but it just takes some time. In certain cases, I even found ways to exploit patterns in the AI to kick its ass without a care in the world.

I'm not even that great a gamer these days. I'd say I'm about average.

You're a lucky one then. I'm rather good at games of all kinds. Above average with most. And BT's A.I. annoys the hell out of me. I refuse to take it above the lowest settings anymore because, at least on those, I win 75% of the matches, instead of 0.75% x.x

[Sebastian (SB)]

I was scared of all the talk of the difficulty too, but then I got to play it myself. It took a couple hours to get used to initially, and some embarassing defeats, but I eventually learned it and worked my way up to tougher and tougher opponents with relative ease.

It can be hard at first, but it just takes some time. In certain cases, I even found ways to exploit patterns in the AI to kick its ass without a care in the world.

I'm not even that great a gamer these days. I'd say I'm about average.

You're a lucky one then. I'm rather good at games of all kinds. Above average with most. And BT's A.I. annoys the hell out of me. I refuse to take it above the lowest settings anymore because, at least on those, I win 75% of the matches, instead of 0.75% x.x

That's one of my qualms with the Sparking! game, I just find the A.I. a bit too challenging & on top of that I never got the handle on the controls. It was a total letdown for me, even after throughly watching the tutorials, I just never got a good feel for the game. I can only hope Sparking! NEO has a tutorial where they actually let you try getting a good feel for the controls (like in DragonBall Z 3).

[desirecampbell]

Yes, yes, yes. I know all of this. You, however, are not considering several key facts. First of all, we shall utterly and entirely ignore WoW as that is a PC game and, thus, not included in a disscussion about consoles. Secondly, let's look at the examples we *do* have. Have you seen ANY game that can do ALL of the above? You haven't? Didn't think so.

Well, no other game has ever used any kind of 'GeoMod', but we saw Red Faction at the very start of the PS2 cycle, and it played fine on my old Pentium 3 300MHz machine So integrating that into another game (even for the current generation of consoles) wouldn't be very resource consuming.
And for an example of everything else, look at GTA-SA. Good (not great) weather effects, true day/night cycle. Also, that tattoo system in the game is exactly the same technology needed to put "bruises" and "cuts" on a character model. Also, GTA-SA has one loading screen. It shows up when the game loads, for 10 seconds - and then there are no more load screens, ever. It's very satisfing to drive accross the state without a clip or load screen in sight (though it takes a freakin' hour to do it).

Don't forget, consoles have finite ammounts of power and memory. (Yes, I forget to mention memory before.) The more you do the more it takes of both. Notice how much faster BT's loading times were over B3? The reason was there was so much LESS data in it. Less detailed characters, environments, and animations. Less ammount of voice data, character data, and move data. Etc.

Consoles have finite amounts of memory and power, just like a PC does Console games are programed to take advantage of their hardware. You know what GTA-SA's PC system requirements are?

If you want be able to run GTA: San Andreas, the game has to find on your PC the following: 1 GHz CPU, 256 MB of RAM, graphics card with 64 MB RAM and 3.6 GB of free space on the hard disk. These are the minimum requirements.
For a smooth gaming experience, Rockstar recommends a Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP, 384 MB RAM and a 128 MB graphics card. An Audigy2 soundblaster and a gamepad are also recommended.

And the Playstation 2's system specs?

Proc: 300MHz
RAM: 32MB
Video RAM: 4MB (wow, I really thought it was more than that)

Just remember, if it takes 'X' to run it on a PC, it'll take waaaaay less to run it on a console.

However, something like that dream game would take, at the least, 4 times the memory. Like I said. We can get close now, on the newer systems. But they care too damn much about looks over ability to actually pull it off perfectly.

Not neccessarily - it all depends on how the game is programmed. Especcially the new generation of consoles - the Xbox 360 and the PS3 have such huge harware specs it makes any PC look pretty lame

PC's, sure. A state of the art system could probably do it without much difficulty. If not now, then soon. But the newest generation of consoles? Nope.

I'm pretty sure it'd be possible to do with the current generation of consoles. The only bottleneck would be the ammount of character models - that's a lot of space on a DVD - of course there's HDDVD and BluRay (no way that wouldn't have enough space).

Er, anyway, I've sidetracked the conversation enough. To get back on topic... Anyone else thing that Slug's aura looks.... funky?

Oh, and who are you hoping for out of the (possibly) 6 remaning character slots? I want Paikuhan, Pan, and the Supreme Kai. Other than that, no real prefrences that I can think of....

Other than it being terribly clashing with his yellow coat, it seems fine to me.
And I'd love to have Pan in Sparking! NEO - but she better have a SSj transformation

[Thanos6]

It'd be rather amusing to have both Pan and Bardock in one game; guy beating up his great-granddaughter.

[Steven Perry]

Why can't there be both? But anyways, if I had to choose between the alternates and battle damage I would have to choose the alternates.

They can have both. Except. That takes time. Lots of time. Alright, let's go with the first game and it's roster of 90 "characters". 90 Characters = 90 Normal Character Models. 90 Normal Character Models + Battle Damage = 180 Total Character Models. 90 Base Character Models + Battle Damage + at least 2 costumes per character = 360 Total Character Models.

So, ya. 360 different models (Normal, Alternate, Damaged Normal, Damaged Alternate for EACH character) takes a lot of time to make. A LOT of time.

Instead of there being predetermined battle damage for each character (like in BT1, where they would end up being damaged the same way), why can't the damage appear depending on where you attack? Every time a punch has landed, a "sticker" could be placed on the opponent (get what I mean?). Get smacked in the face, and a red mark/ bruise is placed there. It's a freestyle form (like Red Faction's "leave your mark anywhere" engine). Desire mentioned it also:

Also, that tattoo system in the game is exactly the same technology needed to put "bruises" and "cuts" on a character model.

So, what've you got to say about that, Mr. Expert? (Xyex)

Weather effects, true day/night cycles, volumetric fog ("good looking" fog), completely destructible environments - all easily doable with today's technology (all these effects, seen in games by 2002).

As much as I'd love Geo- Mod, we have to face the facts: It's unstable. I've played Red Faction to death, and there are quite a lot of glitches. Have you tried destroying that bridge on the Mars multi-player level (destroy it from the bottom)? You'll get what I mean. If I could somehow record the game... Wait a second- Is it me, or are you floating in that video?

Er, anyway, I've sidetracked the conversation enough. To get back on topic... Anyone else thing that Slug's aura looks.... funky?

Yup, sure looks funky. I've also just realised that there's pretty cool weather effects in the "Rocky mountains" arena. Can the dream become a... Reality?

[Xyex]

Well, no other game has ever used any kind of 'GeoMod', but we saw Red Faction at the very start of the PS2 cycle, and it played fine on my old Pentium 3 300MHz machine So integrating that into another game (even for the current generation of consoles) wouldn't be very resource consuming.
Also, GTA-SA has one loading screen. It shows up when the game loads, for 10 seconds - and then there are no more load screens, ever. It's very satisfing to drive accross the state without a clip or load screen in sight (though it takes a freakin' hour to do it).

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 has one 10-15 second loading screen upon start up and then runs without another load screen, ever, as well. The number of games that do this? Very few. How they do this? Direct feed reading and some nifty memory management. Notice you can crash a car on one side of SA, drive to the other, then go back to where you started, and not see the car? Ya, erased from memory. Not something that would work with the terrain of the battle field.

Also GeoMod on a Red Faction scale and GeoMod on a DBZ scale are two very different things. Red Faction doesn't make hundreds of mile large craters.

Just remember, if it takes 'X' to run it on a PC, it'll take waaaaay less to run it on a console.

And looks just as less detailed. However, detail aside. The newest gen of consoles are powerful. But most of that power is being directed to visuals. There's actually a few things (can't remember of the top of my head) that the older consoles (including N64/PS1) could do that the newest systems (PS3/Xbox360) apparently can't do to configurations and such.

Not neccessarily - it all depends on how the game is programmed. Especcially the new generation of consoles - the Xbox 360 and the PS3 have such huge harware specs it makes any PC look pretty lame

Not really. Both systems are fairly equal when compared to a top-of-the-line gaming PC.

I'm pretty sure it'd be possible to do with the current generation of consoles. The only bottleneck would be the ammount of character models - that's a lot of space on a DVD - of course there's HDDVD and BluRay (no way that wouldn't have enough space).

Ah, but you forget. There's a reason a larger storage medium is being used for the new systems. They need it to store all those pixels for the graphics. The more detailed, visually, a game gets, and the more complex it gets mechanically, the more space it takes. In all actuality, it'll about average out in the end.

Other than it being terribly clashing with his yellow coat, it seems fine to me.
And I'd love to have Pan in Sparking! NEO - but she better have a SSj transformation

Well, I thought he looked like some sort of glow stick thing. The aura didn't really look like much of an aura. Not by DBZ standards. Saw the same thing with 13 so maybe it's just an early build issue. Like the voices, and 13 even having an arua....

And I doubt she'd get SSJ (though it'd be awesome). So far Trunks has been the only person awarded a 'what-if' transformation... and only in Budokai.

It'd be rather amusing to have both Pan and Bardock in one game; guy beating up his great-granddaughter.

Don't you mean some girl betaing up her great-grandfather.

EDIT:

So, what've you got to say about that, Mr. Expert? (Xyex)

crappy quality on that sort of thing typically. Also notice that the tattoo's are in pre-set locations, you just pick which one goes there. So the burises would still appear in the same place. Most you could get would be varriations deepending on hit type.

[Rocketman]

Don't you mean some girl betaing up her great-grandfather.

Not in this house.


Along the same vein, we need the option to shatter bones.

[Xyex]

Don't you mean some girl betaing up her great-grandfather.

Not in this house.


Along the same vein, we need the option to shatter bones.

Not gonna happen in a DBZ game. XD

And, while Bardock's great and all... Pan just kicks ass beyond all measure.

[Rocketman]

Not gonna happen in a DBZ game. XD

Aww....

And, while Bardock's great and all... Pan just kicks ass beyond all measure.

Pan kicks ass? Are we talking about Gohan's daughter here, or some other Pan?

[Dominator]

I think the A.I in BT 1 Was great but I want it to be even harder.

(spits drink) -cough cough- ptui! WHAT!?!?


Dominator: Actually, many Buus use it in Tenkaichi 1. But the mouth blast is used by tons of other characters (saiyans, nameks, boos, etc.)

I wasn't actually talking about the mouth blast.

[ngnikolaos]

My two cents on the gamespot videos.

Majin Vegeta is now a regular transformation, which means it's easy to play as him.

1st form Freeza looks taller than the one in T1 (he was Chiaotzu sized if I remember correctly) NIIIICE!

The music clip in the video where Freeza fights Majin Vegeta seems to be brand new. Haven't heard it on ANY of the Budokais. (nice)


So far, so good. If (in the ign videos) the 2P character is controlled by the CPU, the A.I. is now helluva lot easier. I think I'll buy this one as soon as it's released.

GO SPIKE GO!!!!

[DBZ MAN]

I was scared of all the talk of the difficulty too, but then I got to play it myself. It took a couple hours to get used to initially, and some embarassing defeats, but I eventually learned it and worked my way up to tougher and tougher opponents with relative ease.

It can be hard at first, but it just takes some time. In certain cases, I even found ways to exploit patterns in the AI to kick its ass without a care in the world.

I'm not even that great a gamer these days. I'd say I'm about average.

You're a lucky one then. I'm rather good at games of all kinds. Above average with most. And BT's A.I. annoys the hell out of me. I refuse to take it above the lowest settings anymore because, at least on those, I win 75% of the matches, instead of 0.75% x.x

I'm not boasting or anything but I can beat most of the characters in the 60 second survival battles. So there should be an extra setting where the characters are harder to defeat.
I'm still want a PS3 DBZ game out of anything else.