• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze |OT| There's always money in the banana stand

The bit with the ice dragons being fired out of the horn towards the player was very Kaptain K,Rool, Lord Frederick is also a rotund but powerful looking leader that acts a bit goofy (occasionally dancing to avoid the thrown penguins) yet still has an intimidating air about him, basically he's kind of reminiscent of K.Rool himself in ways.
Yeah, I noticed that too. He's kind of like K. Rool 2.0, but not the genuine article!

This might be off on a tangent, but did you ever notice how King K. Rool is a king who lives on a pirate ship, and Kaptain K. Rool is a pirate who lives in a castle?
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Not disagreeing with that technically. No doubt, the reason for the noticeable load times is the larger data size being loaded.

Just saying that it could represent software bloat and lack of programming optimization.

The larger size of the game does not automatically represent more detailed textures and higher res backgrounds etc.

Right, it could represent bloat and poor programming, but think this is the case with Tropical Freeze. 3D World is gorgeous, but like Galaxy before it is heavily stylised and rather simplistic in asset complexity and density in order to capture the aesthetic vision. Many stages, while 3D play space, are built form simple blocks and cubes with rounded edges. The choice of colours and tones, as well as the great lighting/shadow shaders, really bring the image to life. This is a staple of Mario, really, and can be seen (to lesser effect, in my opinion) in the NSMB series too; lots of reused assets in a single stage to give environments that solid, repeated grounding look.

Tropical Freeze, like Returns, is stylised around an abundance of unique, detailed assets placed densely within levels. Playable space, like your ground and platforms, are stylised in such a way that it seems like you're running across a unique stretch of ground, set pieces and gimmicks cohesively blending together, the stage undergoing several visual and audio transformations. It's not like a series of pretty blocks and cubes and platforms finely laid out. And on top of this, you've usually got a sweeping vista of background assets also changing and diversifying as the level progresses.

It's really just a product of the aesthetic choice for each game, but I'm pretty confident you could go through an average stage in 3D World and count every unique visual assets, then do the same with Tropical Freeze, and find the latter has significantly more data in use. Mario doesn't need to be Tropical Freeze, but yeah.
 

Lathentar

Looking for Pants
Right, it could represent bloat and poor programming, but think this is the case with Tropical Freeze. 3D World is gorgeous, but like Galaxy before it is heavily stylised and rather simplistic in asset complexity and density in order to capture the aesthetic vision. Many stages, while 3D play space, are built form simple blocks and cubes with rounded edges. The choice of colours and tones, as well as the great lighting/shadow shaders, really bring the image to life. This is a staple of Mario, really, and can be seen (to lesser effect, in my opinion) in the NSMB series too; lots of reused assets in a single stage to give environments that solid, repeated grounding look.

Tropical Freeze, like Returns, is stylised around an abundance of unique, detailed assets placed densely within levels. Playable space, like your ground and platforms, are stylised in such a way that it seems like you're running across a unique stretch of ground, set pieces and gimmicks cohesively blending together, the stage undergoing several visual and audio transformations. It's not like a series of pretty blocks and cubes and platforms finely laid out. And on top of this, you've usually got a sweeping vista of background assets also changing and diversifying as the level progresses.

It's really just a product of the aesthetic choice for each game, but I'm pretty confident you could go through an average stage in 3D World and count every unique visual assets, then do the same with Tropical Freeze, and find the latter has significantly more data in use. Mario doesn't need to be Tropical Freeze, but yeah.
A better game to compare to would be Trine 2. Watching this Let's Play (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9IGcZlgQg8) the times seem to be pretty much inline from Launch -> Title screen and per area. Is there a map in Trine 2? Looks like you just go from one area to the next.
 

Lathentar

Looking for Pants
That's correct.

Which is a smart way to do it. They know what level you are going to and can start preloading the next level in the current level assuming they have free RAM space.

Does it have a quick level select from a menu somewhere? That would be the true test of loading times for that game.
 

Deku Tree

Member
Right, it could represent bloat and poor programming, but think this is the case with Tropical Freeze. 3D World is gorgeous, but like Galaxy before it is heavily stylised and rather simplistic in asset complexity and density in order to capture the aesthetic vision. Many stages, while 3D play space, are built form simple blocks and cubes with rounded edges. The choice of colours and tones, as well as the great lighting/shadow shaders, really bring the image to life. This is a staple of Mario, really, and can be seen (to lesser effect, in my opinion) in the NSMB series too; lots of reused assets in a single stage to give environments that solid, repeated grounding look.

Tropical Freeze, like Returns, is stylised around an abundance of unique, detailed assets placed densely within levels. Playable space, like your ground and platforms, are stylised in such a way that it seems like you're running across a unique stretch of ground, set pieces and gimmicks cohesively blending together, the stage undergoing several visual and audio transformations. It's not like a series of pretty blocks and cubes and platforms finely laid out. And on top of this, you've usually got a sweeping vista of background assets also changing and diversifying as the level progresses.

It's really just a product of the aesthetic choice for each game, but I'm pretty confident you could go through an average stage in 3D World and count every unique visual assets, then do the same with Tropical Freeze, and find the latter has significantly more data in use. Mario doesn't need to be Tropical Freeze, but yeah.

Makes sense. The load times in Tropical Freeze aren't really that bad anyway... but they are noticeable.
 
Yeah it really is one of the best levels I have played so far. They're all so good though!
I got to it for the first time last night and immediately went back and played it two more times before I moved on. So good, and I'm usually not a big fan of the mine cart stages.
 

Deku Tree

Member
The only load time that really bothers me is when you boot up your game and the camera is going through the clouds.

Yeah I am not sure what is loading at that point which require all those long repeated cloud animations. That type of load situation makes me worry about bloat or poor programming.
 

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
Yeah I am not sure what is loading at that point which require all those long repeated cloud animations. That type of load situation makes me worry about bloat or poor programming.

The most bizarre thing to me is that it's the exact same cloud animation as the original game, with the exact same music. The music even cuts off at the start before entering the looping part, just like the first game. Straight up copy-paste shit right there. If we needed any more proof that this is the exact same engine as the original, just spruced way the hell up.
 

Linkhero1

Member
Yeah I am not sure what is loading at that point which require all those long repeated cloud animations. That type of load situation makes me worry about bloat or poor programming.

As Nocturnowl pointed out, the game is probably loading all of the islands simultaneously which could take a bit of time due to the unique assets each island use. I would assume that the game doesn't know which island you're on until after the game has loaded, so it will load all of them regardless of the current island you saved on.

The most bizarre thing to me is that it's the exact same cloud animation as the original game, with the exact same music. The music even cuts off at the start before entering the looping part, just like the first game. Straight up copy-paste shit right there.

I actually hate the music, which is why it's annoying.
 

daripad

Member
Okay Grassland Groove takes the caje so far. Such a beautiful combination of ellegance and beauty. The music there is orgasmic (bow David Wise) and the level was well designed.

Oh and world 2 boss wasn't that difficult, it took me three tries before beating him.

The only thing I hate about the game is the load times, they take so much even when booting the game and the animation in those screens freezes.
 

Deku Tree

Member
As Nocturnowl pointed out, the game is probably loading all of the islands simultaneously which could take a bit of time due to the unique assets each island use. I would assume that the game doesn't know which island you're on until after the game has loaded, so it will load all of them regardless of the current island you saved on.

If that is true, doesn't it sound like slightly poor programming to you?
 

emb

Member
The cloud thing is really blatantly bad. Halfway through the first cycle it actually feels like a transition, then for the last half of that cycle it's a really obvious loading mask. Then it feels like it stops or something, or just has a weak transition as it starts over. Like they expected it to load by then but it didn't or something. Then this goes on for 2 or 3 more cycles. Really annoying, but luckily we only have to do it once per session. The other load screens are fine, aside from the really annoying slow down.
 

Joqu

Member
Just got the game. I wish Nintendo would let us install games to the Wii U because those loading times, while manageable, certainly aren't what I'm used to from a Nintendo game. The stuttering is awful too, I can't use the gamepad for audio and I've been noticing input lag as well. On top of that I'm now hearing about a game breaking glitch? Any info on how I can avoid it?

Game's great overall but I'm not too happy about all of these issues. I'm also not too sure if those things will even get fixed, they never did patch Wind Waker HD for inverted camera controls did they?
 

Linkhero1

Member
What's odd is that the first time I played the game I remember it loading through the clouds rather quickly. I can't confirm but I might start a new file and try it out.
 

Deku Tree

Member
Just got the game. I wish Nintendo would let us install games to the Wii U because those loading times, while manageable, certainly aren't what I'm used to from a Nintendo game. The stuttering is awful too, I can't use the gamepad for audio and I've been noticing input lag as well. On top of that I'm now hearing about a game breaking glitch? Any info on how I can avoid it?

Game's great overall but I'm not too happy about all of these issues. I'm also not too sure if those things will even get fixed, they never did patch Wind Waker HD for inverted camera controls did they?


I did a google search and I found this from ryuu on miiverse...



Says that even after beating 3-3 four times 3-4 refuses to unlock. Not sure why. Poor guy had to start a new game file. It seemed to unlock after that.

EDIT: The game doesn't seem to have any input lag if you use the WiiMote+ Nunchuck. I actually like that control scheme better anyways.
 

canonj

Member
What's odd is that the first time I played the game I remember it loading through the clouds rather quickly. I can't confirm but I might start a new file and try it out.

If this is indeed the case, it would make sense since when you start a new game it only needs to load the first island.
 

Joqu

Member
Input lag on the U Pad?

I'm afraid I play on the TV so there'll always be an amount of lag, I know that, but Returns never gave me those issues so I'm thinking it's not just that. It's weird.


I did a google search and I found this from ryuu on miiverse...



Says that even after beating 3-3 four times 3-4 refuses to unlock. Not sure why.

EDIT: The game doesn't seem to have any input lag if you use the WiiMote+ Nunchuck. I actually like that control scheme better anyways.

Yeah that's what I'm talking about. I don't see anything that could've caused this so I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and pray.

Thanks for letting me know about the WiiMote thing, I guess I'll have to make the switch.
 
Just got the game. I wish Nintendo would let us install games to the Wii U because those loading times, while manageable, certainly aren't what I'm used to from a Nintendo game. The stuttering is awful too, I can't use the gamepad for audio and I've been noticing input lag as well. On top of that I'm now hearing about a game breaking glitch? Any info on how I can avoid it?

Game's great overall but I'm not too happy about all of these issues. I'm also not too sure if those things will even get fixed, they never did patch Wind Waker HD for inverted camera controls did they?
I have the game digitally and the load times are still really bad so installs wouldn't have helped. I'm actually much more disappointed by how badly the loading is being masked than the actual load times. Janky freezing animations everywhere. Surely they could have done better than this?

I'm holding out hope for a patch just to make the entire experience go down smoother because the levels themselves are flawless.
 

Kinsei

Banned
I'm afraid I play on the TV so there'll always be an amount of lag, I know that, but Returns never gave me those issues so I'm thinking it's not just that. It's weird.




Yeah that's what I'm talking about. I don't see anything that could've caused this so I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and pray.

Thanks for letting me know about the WiiMote thing, I guess I'll have to make the switch.

When you reach 3-3 you should copy your save file to all 3 slots to have backups just in case.
 

AdanVC

Member
Slowly starting to progress on this game. I'm still on world 2 (taking my time with pretty much two levels per day) and things are really starting to get epic, especially on the soundtrack side. I love how the music changes depending on wich area of the level you are and everything fits and sounds seamlessly great!
 

Joqu

Member
I have the game digitally and the load times are still really bad so installs wouldn't have helped. I'm actually much more disappointed by how badly the loading is being masked than the actual load times. Janky freezing animations everywhere. Surely they could have done better than this?

I'm holding out hope for a patch just to make the entire experience go down smoother because the levels themselves are flawless.

Ah that's disappointing to hear, I figured it wouldn't be as bad in the digital version. But yeah, it's the janky-ness that kills it. Dreadful stuff.

When you reach 3-3 you should copy your save file to all 3 slots to have backups just in case.

Will do. Let's hope this can't happen at other levels too. D:
 
First one is hyperbole, and the third one is a design choice, love it or hate it.

It's not a design choice, it's a game-breaking issue. When playing in co-op, the only way to switch characters for the second player (which is required to access some secrets and such) is to follow a mind-numblingly painful 10-step process of dropping and re-adding the second player. It makes us want to stop playing co-op altogether.
 

Koren

Member
I'm afraid I play on the TV so there'll always be an amount of lag, I know that, but Returns never gave me those issues so I'm thinking it's not just that. It's weird.
I see... I was wondering whether you were talking about input lag in the U Pad streaming process.


EDIT: The game doesn't seem to have any input lag if you use the WiiMote+ Nunchuck. I actually like that control scheme better anyways.
Really weird... The input lag depend on the input method?!
 

Koren

Member
Hoping the World 4 boss doesnt give me much trouble. I'm going to be taking it on tonight.
It shouldn't... Depends whether you like or not
swimming
, though.

Edit : not sure if it's considered a spoiler, so just to be safe...


I'm definitively not a big fan of water levels in DK games :/
 
I think the reward for most underrated track goes to Horn Top Hop. I hardly hear anyone talking about it but I have a stupid big grin on my face whenever I hear it. Reminds me of Winnie the Pooh for whatever reason.

Growing up in the alps, that level and song made me laugh throughout. The owls blowing the alp horns is just the cutest thing I've seen in a game ever, also the jazzy arangements of alpine horns, while the Tuba keeps the Polka rhythm, is just an amazing interpretation of alpine folk music.
 

emb

Member
It shouldn't... Depends whether you like or not
swimming
, though.

Edit : not sure if it's considered a spoiler, so just to be safe...


I'm definitively not a big fan of water levels in DK games :/
I'm not a fan of it either. Bringing those levels back is definitely the big flaw in this game.
 
As Nocturnowl pointed out, the game is probably loading all of the islands simultaneously which could take a bit of time due to the unique assets each island use. I would assume that the game doesn't know which island you're on until after the game has loaded, so it will load all of them regardless of the current island you saved on.

I assume it is also loading up the models, animations and sounds for Donkey, Diddy, Dixie, and Cranky, as well as common stage elements like balloons, barrels, coins, bananas, puzzle pieces, kong letters etc.

No reason to load and unload those every time you change between map and level.
 

Linkhero1

Member
Nobody seems to know. But some people report 3-4 refusing to unlock. See my post above. It is a good idea to keep save files of progress in all three slots.

Weird..what would suck is if the cause of this issue is from a previous level and not actually 3-3.

I assume it is also loading up the models, animations and sounds for Donkey, Diddy, Dixie, and Cranky, as well as common stage elements like balloons, barrels, coins, bananas, puzzle pieces, kong letters etc.

No reason to load and unload those every time you change between map and level.

This is true as well. Would have been odd to load and unload them each time you go to another stage.
 

Neiteio

Member
Growing up in the alps, that level and song made me laugh throughout. The owls blowing the alp horns is just the cutest thing I've seen in a game ever, also the jazzy arangements of alpine horns, while the Tuba keeps the Polka rhythm, is just an amazing interpretation of alpine folk music.
Horn Top Hop is probably one of my favorite levels and songs. :)
 

vazel

Banned
This game is amazing. It's probably too early to make this call since it's best to sit on a game first and reflect on it, but I think I'm going to rank this up there with SMB3 and SMW when it comes to platforming bliss.

I hope this game gets ported to the 3DS even if the framerate isn't stable because more people need to play this game.
 

Joqu

Member
I see... I was wondering whether you were talking about input lag in the U Pad streaming process.



Really weird... The input lag depend on the input method?!

The gamepad has generally had less input lag than modern TVs when streaming so yeah I doubt that'd happen. I'm definitely thinking something iffy is going on.
 
Loving those water levels :) probably my second favorite theme so far after level 2. Count me as one who really likes the swimming.....and those levels, the music and graphics have really stuck with me, I find myself sitting in bubble stacks and just letting the game run often :)
 
Top Bottom