Just remember the guys, the PC version was not as good as it could have been, as it was simply running on an emulator at a higher resolution.

It was a source code port, not an emulator.

It was still a good port though considering it was rare back then for PSX games to be on the PC. Of course the original will always be better - It had better sound atmosphere for one.

Yeah, I love the secret area chime from the PSX, whereas on the PC it makes me want to rip my ears off.

Yeah, they randomly decided to use MIDI for some of the sounds - but not all of them. Very very odd design choices...

Anyway, we've kinda derailed this. Lets just say, use the PSX version as your reference guide, not the PC version (especially in the controls department, but lets not go there)

Speaking of controls. What will they be like? The same? There shouldn't be any need to change them.

We'll likely have two controller options. One that fits with the standardized controls that have evolved since AO was first released (for example, jump on PlayStation X), one that will feel comfortable to players familiar with the old setup (with jump back on Triangle).

Will you be keeping the keypad arrows or use the analog sticks? I would prefer the old way.

It would be good to be able to use either. Especially as the D pad on the Xbox is so unpredictable. You press up and go down!

Never did like the Xbox, these guys mastered the game by selecting the perfect platform. Although sometimes you can over step left or right when you release the arrow button

Really? I'm sure it was running on an emulator, I even remember once when the game crashed it showed an address which had PSX as part of the path.

It is a source port. What you saw was probably just a result of the coders not being arsed renaming things.

why should they anyway,
it was never intended for people to see the message anyway.

Controls wise, (for the Vita version which I am still hoping is a thing) there are a few ways to go. Obvious would be a TouchScreen based Gamespeak, but I personally wouldn't like that, but its one way. I quite like the idea of a Gamespeak wheel for each analogue stick - so, if you flick the left analogue stick upward Abe says Hello, that sort of thing.

Hell, there are many ways to do it, and I'm sure you guys will do what is best in the end :3

I have a question about emulators, as I know absolutely fuck all about them. Do you just stick a PS1 game in your PC then run the emulator?

You are supposed to rip your PSX BIOS and stick that in the Emulator too, but basically yes (And you can get the BIOS off the internet from just about everywhere too, if you don't mind being slightly illegal about it).

The only reason I saw it was because I placed too many mines on a scree, when they all exploded, the game crashed and thats when I saw the path.

It sounds like it but they haven't - MIDI is never used. Just some sounds and sprites didn't survive being ported very well, especially the jingles and explosion sprites in Abe's Exoddus PC.

Also regarding emulators - If you already own a PS1 console and the games, then it's not illegal to own an emulator I think.

Emulators are always legal - unless there is copyrighted software involved. For instance, a SNES emulator doesn't use a BIOS, so that is perfectly legal as all it is doing is adapting CPU or GPU calls from the SNES software to CPU or GPU calls on the PC (the software you run on it isn't if you don't own a hard copy, but that is another story). However, if you grab a PS2 emulator and don't own a PS2, and nick the BIOS off the interwebs, then that IS illegal (though no one is ever gonna chase you up for it).

Exceptions to this are releases made by the publisher or developer of the games. Sega is one for releasing their old games on new systems, all running in emulators (often derived from OpenSource works if you look in the credits of some recent Sonic re-releases :3). Another example is the POPS emulator on the PSP - the PSX BIOS is inside pops.prx in the system firmware (I think it includes all three main BIOSes, JP, EU and US). The POPS emulator is an official Sony thing, though people found how to package their own PSX games from ISOs, with only about 6 games not currently working through it.


Back on topic... :3

Please please please get rid of the Red Rings of Death. It kinda ruins the thrill of the Shrykull when you have a power that is near identical in practical use (though it does fry enemies, it blows everything else up and probably blows up the enemies nearby).

Another suggestion that is more for an Exoddus remake, but I'll bring it up here - Why are there no chant suppressors in the Glukkon rooms (I guess that goes for the Boardroom in AO as well)? There are suppressors everywhere else protecting Sligs and stuff, but not the top brass? Something is up there, methinks.

Wait, really? How on earth were Digital Dialect allowed to port Exoddus!? Did OWI even try the PC version of AO that they shat out?

EDIT: Wow, I just realized how mean I'm being to Digital Dialect. It was a poor port, but from what I know the A.L.I.V.E engine wasn't easy to work with, and I'm willing to bet that getting this working on PCs wasn't fun.

Neither. It uses some kind of PSX emulator to emulate system calls, graphics etc., but it runs native x86 code. Sort of like compiling Windows app to Linux with Winelib.


AO and AE use MIDI for all music, but it doesn't use the crappy gm.dls that comes with Windows but custom soundfonts created for the game (They're a part of sounds.dat). MIDI is, in fact, a very good format as long as you use good soundfonts.

Also, can someone explain what's wrong with the PC port of AO/AE? I find it pretty accurate and well made...

I agree. The PC ports are graphically and technically superior to the PSX versions. The MIDI music is the same as what runs on the PSX too (SEQ is midi with a soundfont).

I only find that the music sounds better on PSX due to the PC SEQ player being buggy.

Its buggier than the PSX version being quite crash prone, many animated elements don't actually line up with the CAMs, the colours are messed up on many things, the controls are sloppy, some sprites have unnecessary modifications from the PSX version, lots of sounds do not translate well, sounding awful (the Mud escape noise for instance, and the Secret Sound), and many sprites don't display properly (especially in AE)

EDIT: One thing that is good in the PC version, or should be, is the CAMs are less compressed. However, the compression they use is HIDEOUS, having stripes to blend colours. It looks like some kind of GIF image.

TBH I don't remember the last time I had a crash in AO/AE under legitimate play, and buggy controls were fixed in AE. Some (very very rare) PC versions use the original PSX graphics, and I don't find the new graphics a disadvantage (Although I like the PC levers better than the PSX ones, the PSX ones are too saturated IMO), just plain weird and unnecessary. After comparing a few of the sounds to the PSX version, I do have to admit they sound better in there, but as Paul said it's the PC SEQ player to be blamed. I never noticed any of the other issues, could you point me to something more specific? The alignment issue could be because of the higher resolution the PC version had.

Edit: The stripes aren't an artifact of compression but an effect added after scaling the 240 pixels high image to 480 pixel high.

Alright, I have found a few (though the ones I remember most were actually in Exoddus). These are probably in the PSX version too, but they stick out more due to the higher resolution in the PC version. The compression thing too is easier to see in AE. I also noticed that many animations get stuck at the edges of the screen (and it isn't an object, it is part of the first frame of the animations)

If you screen shot the PSX version you'll notice thats wrong by a pixel too, but its so low res its hard to notice.

Edit: Btw if you think the PSX version had less bugs then check this awesome speed run out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kISMhs2JvtQ

I can't say I'm surprised

One thing, I always felt that getting back in to RuptureFarms through an Abe Portal was a cop out. I would have much rathered rolling through a vent or something, or going back through the Stockyards. I was just annoyed that you had to go though all those Slogs, Sligs and mines just to jump in to a Portal that could have easily just flown closer to you.

I could have sworn we have already covered vents and sewers leading back to RuptureFarms earlier in this thread..

We did? Thats good, it means we are thinking along the same lines.

Another thought, perhaps RuptureFarms should actually be shut down by the Shrykull? I mean, it was described as 'the power to shut down RuptureFarms' but then Abe just used a switch to do it... which he used RROD to get to...

How will the rings be dealt with? I hope that instead of rings, they're like bubbles, if you know what I mean.

Could be some sort of aura.

Thats kind of what I mean.

I think we also mentioned shrykull shutting the factory down, anyway, I didn't like the Red Rings, it seemed kind of cheap unlike the shrykull. Maybe if there was more emphasis for example: Abe forms a red orb between his his hands infront of him and releases it causing the orb to expand obliterating all explosives on screen. That would look more epic than just a red ring expanding.

I don't like the idea of Abe doing a hadouken.

Abe could get into a control room situated below the boardroom, and that could be the last screen before the boardroom as the final part of the game. he could use the Shryskull in there with a ton of electricity and explosions for a really epic ending.

I found it sort of strange that despite Abe shutting down "most of the power" by flipping the handswitch, everything still worked fine. Are we chalking this up to backup generators or what? I'd like if it was a little more obvious that RuptureFarms was running on auxiliary power beyond that point.

Perhaps the Boardroom was an “inner sanctum” of sorts and ran on its own isolated power supply.

Certainly the executives wouldn’t want to be in the dark in event of power failure.

Never heard of Hadouken. Anyway if the switch it's most of the power we should atleast see lights go out, background conveyors grinding to a halt and meat grinders stopped halfway down. We now have the technology to fit in more aesthetics to games so let's make every penny count!

That's another thing. Why exactly were the executives there? I assumed they were Magog representatives, but the screen displayed different colored symbols that all varied slightly from the octopoidal Magog insignia. Made me wonder if they were investors from other cartels.

Either way, RuptureFarms was established as a lowly post that Molluck regretted, so it stands to reason they would only gather there for important matters. Perhaps it can be established that they're having a follow-up meeting to discuss Abe, or Mudokon Pop distribution. I'm just thinking about story development here. Sorry to ramble.

Hadouken is basically what you described Abe doing.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__.../HADOUKEN!.jpg

I'm sure there were some Glukkons permanantly posted at RuptureFarms... and they were probably locked in the Boardroom for their safety.

Power wise, Abe did say "most of the power". Maybe that switch just turns off manufacturing lines.

EDIT: I'm more a Kamehameha fan myself.

EDIT 2: Holy crap, Kamehameha is in my Phone dictionary by default what is this sorcery