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Dyad (PSN) |OT| - Psychedelic Sensory Overload

wouwie

Member
I'm enjoying the game a lot. Great audio visual experience and nice gameplay. I should probably re-read the entire thread to pick up some tips though since i'm not that good a the game.
 
Glad to finally get my hands on Dyad. Holy shit it's been a while since a game scrambled my brain like this :eek:

Sometimes it feels like there are too many mechanics going on at once, but the different elements are distinctive enough to concentrate on what matters. Right now I don't feel like I'll ever get three stars on some levels, though. Really tight gameplay and controls; awesome job Shawn. +1 for solid 60 fps.
 
Does this game have stereo sound only? Bought it from the german PSN store.
The inconsequential translation is a bit weird and the letter "ß" is missing.
Awesome game, 5.1 would have been nice, though.
 

ShawnMcGrath

Dyad Developer
Glad you like it!

5.1 is actually worse for Dyad... there's a few basic reason for this and a lot of complex ones. The sound mixing effects essentially break in 5.1 and a different design would have had to be adopted -- not impossible, but certainly not worth the effort, especially considering how good the sound mixing is in stereo. Positioning in 5.1 is kinda awkward w/o some doppler effect to smooth the sound movement. Doppler implies pitch shifting which would throw off all the precise harmonics in the dynamic mix.
 
Yeah, now after playing the game with my good stereo headphones, I totally get your point.
The last three stages really blew my mind. Fantastic work, sir.
 

spats

Member
Just beat all the normal levels and got the trophy for the first level. Think it's safe to say that this is one of the most visually titillating games I've ever experienced.
 

Skyzard

Banned
they all get moved here after a month

Oh I see, thanks.. seems a bit strange, is that after a month of no posts or something?


Excellent game, still got to sit down and load it up properly again as its been a while. EU release came at a little bit of a bad time but there isn't much like Dyad these days so can't forget about it this holiday.

Edit: The feeling from playing this game is actually great and manages to get you into a trance very quickly which is always a plus when trying to chill with a game. Cannot wait to see what comes next each level and I find myself having to tear myself away. I don't think I'd sleep if it was on the vita.
 
Just played this for the first time (two levels)... ah, yeah, this is better than Rez and Child of Eden already. Easily my most favorite game in ages. I need to sleep, but I can't wait to wake up to play it again.

Whoa.

More people need to know about and play this game.
 

ShawnMcGrath

Dyad Developer
Just played this for the first time (two levels)... ah, yeah, this is better than Rez and Child of Eden already. Easily my most favorite game in ages. I need to sleep, but I can't wait to wake up to play it again.

Whoa.

More people need to know about and play this game.

Thanks :) Super glad that you and others have reactions like this =)
 
Thanks :) Super glad that you and others have reactions like this =)

I knew almost nothing about the game when I made my previous post. But afterwards I read every post in this thread and loved learning about the game from your posts. I feel gutted when games like this get such little love on this forum (compared to the amount of discussion other games get)... I'm curious how did the game do sales wise?

I played some more this morning and had a blast. My first tryout was on my computer monitor, where I did the Gamma calibration. But later I tried the game on the Sony HMZ-T1 head-mounted display, and I couldn't access the GAMMA calibration within the game (it was nowhere to be found under Configuration). So I exited the game, deleted the Save File, went back in, it still didn't show up.

I continued to play the game on the HMZ and it was intense and I enjoyed it, but then I switched to the monitor again, and the Gamma calibration popped up! I was confused why I couldn't access it on the HMZ, I thought perhaps it has to do with the display being set to 720p on the HMZ vs. 1080p on the monitor... anyway, I'll try to figure it out.

My monitor is a professional grade 30-bit wide-gamut LCD, and although this is something I'd never try for any other game, but since the visuals in Dyad are all about the intense colors, I thought it might benefit from using the wide-gamut setting on the monitor, which makes colors much more vibrant on a standard signal. This normally looks awful for any signal that is not color managed properly for the wider-gamut, but for Dyad it kinda works, it enhances the "sensory overload" feeling... I kept switching back and forth between wide-gamut and sRGB while playing, trying to decide which I like better, and I'm leaning towards the more vibrant one... although I might feel bad about it if you think that would destroy's the "director's intent" :)
 

ShawnMcGrath

Dyad Developer
I can't comment on sales, sorry!

The gamma works only in 1080p.. which is dumb, but the calibration graphics are different for each resolution, and really annoying to get right.. the pixel density : view distance ratio needs to be at least a certain number or the gamma correction won't work. Figuring all that out and coding specific versions for multiple resolutions was too much work. I figured if you didn't have a 1080p tv, then your tv probably didn't have the colour precision to warrant gamma correction anyway. I clearly did not take head-mounted displays into consideration!

I did the colour work on a dell ultrasharp 2410 with factory standard adobe rgb... but feel free to play it however you want! It's fun to fuck around with the gamma sliders and play with completely fucked up colours.
 
I can't comment on sales, sorry!

The gamma works only in 1080p.. which is dumb, but the calibration graphics are different for each resolution, and really annoying to get right.. the pixel density : view distance ratio needs to be at least a certain number or the gamma correction won't work. Figuring all that out and coding specific versions for multiple resolutions was too much work. I figured if you didn't have a 1080p tv, then your tv probably didn't have the colour precision to warrant gamma correction anyway. I clearly did not take head-mounted displays into consideration!

I did the colour work on a dell ultrasharp 2410 with factory standard adobe rgb... but feel free to play it however you want! It's fun to fuck around with the gamma sliders and play with completely fucked up colours.

I see. Well the HMD supports 1080p (and downscales to 720p, since that's its native resolution), I just prefer to set the PS3 display settings to 720p when using it to avoid any possible latency delay from the downscaling (I don't really know if there is any, just in case)... I guess I can get the gamma correction to show up on the HMD if I send it a 1080p signal, but not sure if it would result in accurate calibration given what you said. Anyway I guess it's not a crucial point considering the nature of the visuals :)

I'm surprised that you did the color work on Adobe RGB color space, which is a wider gamut than 99% of HDTVs out there...
 
When I finish my current backlog of games I'll try to get back into Dyad, which will be a month or so from now. I thought it was difficult, maybe its my eyes. Game looks and sounds great, if only I was skilled at it. :(
 
Played some more today, game is getting tougher.

I wish there was an easier way to know when your Lance bars are full without having to avert your eyes from the center of the screen to look at them, like perhaps an audio cue or something. Because pretty much every time I hit an enemy is right after I check if my Lance bars are full.

Also I can't seem to know exactly when a Lancing run has ended. Sometimes I over estimate its duration and end up taking a hit from an enemy. Not sure if there is a clear indication to know when you are in a Lance (i.e. invincible), maybe it will come naturally with more playtime.

Shawn said he did the color work in Adobe RGB color space, and since luckily my monitor has a factory setting for exactly that, I decided to try the game on it, and it's beautiful. I think it strikes the perfect balance in color saturation between the standard sRGB and the full-gamut setting on my monitor. It should also be the closest I can get to how Shawn intended the colors to look :)
 
So i finally got this game a few days ago. As a big fan of Rez and all the other lightshow type games, i knew i would love it going in. And i was not disappointed!

I'm playing in a blacked out room on a 100" projection screen, with either big headphones or a nice sound system (shame about the lack of 5.1 by the way). SO MUCH FUN. I just played through eye of the duck and was completely hypnotized by the end. It was beautiful! It's probably also relevant to mention that i've been super sick for like two weeks, on various meds, and haven't been able to eat much at all, which made the whole experience so much more crazy.

I love that this game has the pretty psychedelic visuals and the dynamic music, but then it also has the gameplay mechanics to totally back all that up. I love Rez, but i get it when people say it's all presentation on top of very simple gameplay (though i don't agree). Dyad, however, really had me puzzling with the mechanics, and constantly learning new ones too. The gameplay stands on its own and would likely even be fun without the awesome presentation. Well done i say!

Hopefully it will get some new attention on game of the year lists soon, so more people play it. The bombcast and 8-4 cast were all hyped around release time but it seems like they quickly forgot about the game.

EDIT OH I FORGOT TO MENTION: i LOVE LOVE LOVE how the menu music builds layers and changes depending on what you select and how you move the cursor. And also how you can manipulate it by hitting various buttons and the sticks. SO COOL. Developers: When i'm already having fun on your menu before i even start playing the game, you're doing it right. Ridge Racer 7 also did this, (music layers building up as you got into deeper menus) and i remember making guitar sounds with the menu for Everyday Shooter as well. That kind of sense of style and attention to detail is much appreciated.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I bought this and played it for like an hour (fucking damnit trophy level #1 OMG) and I think I'm going to puke :eek:

FUN GAME THOUGH!
 
I bought this and played it for like an hour (fucking damnit trophy level #1 OMG) and I think I'm going to puke :eek:

FUN GAME THOUGH!

Do the trophy levels after you finish the regular ones! Otherwise the difficulty curve is fucked.

I'm slowly making my way through the trophies and i'm having a great time. Really love this game a lot.
 

i-Jest

Member
Just got my hands on the demo. It's a fun game. No sensory overload yet. That could be due to the fact of me playing a crap TV.
 

Reese-015

Member
I just wanna say, having gotten this on PC release and now nearing end of the year, this is still my GOTY.

It's a great game to play through. It's an amazing game when you 3-star everything. It's a flat-out incredible and completely unique gaming experience when you try to also beat all trophy levels on top of this.

Incomparable with anything else. Just brilliant. One of my favorite games of all time.
 

Reese-015

Member
I didn't know it was out on PC, I'm curious if there are any differences/additions compared to PS3 version.

It's pretty much identical save for some additional configuration settings and such. Also works surprisingly well with keyboard, arguably better (McGrath himself prefers kb) though I think I prefer controller.
 
Got this game from PS Plus. Holy crap it is absolutely incredible. Just got the Trophy for the first level and looked at the best scores only to see Wario 64 and the #2 spot
 
any hope for oculus rift support?!

edit: nvm, read somewhere else that you were planning on playing with the rift, what are your current thoughts with integrating this with the rift if you havent already and i'm just being ignorant??
 

Consumer

Member
Any Dyad love in 2016?

Great game, but man it really tests your patience & perseverance. Just started the other day; only 4 trophies left.

I'm currently finding myself stuck on the 3-star game level for A Subliminal Reprise. There's nobody else struggling with that level anywhere on the internet from what I've seen, so I apparently just suck. :/

This would make a good re-release on the Ps4.
 
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