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[HiVision]

Could you please elaborate on that? Is this a PJS issue or a general PS3 issue? If so - why?

Just a general network issue, not even ps3 related really - wi-fi has higher latency and lower data-rates than cable - especially if you multiply it by the possibility that the other person is also on wi-fi.

Other things to consider while playing online is stopping bit-torrent or any other download activities that your router might give priority to, sapping your latency and bandwidth. (latency can be sapped if packets are dropped due to other transfers going on/router being overloaded/etc)

 

[r1chard]

Just got to play this some on the weekend. I'm so glad the difficulty seems to be just continuing on from the previous game. Straight into some hard stuff right from the start. Awesome.

 

[Brazil]

Oh my God, I now remember how good PJ Shooter is. This game is so fucking awesome. The fact that the difficulty starts high, as if the first and the second chapters are the same game, only helps it.

 

[DoomGyver]

Looks like I'll never get 100% of the trophies, I keep getting connection errors early into a match. All other psn games work fine for me too.

Edit: finally got another good match and made it to saturn. Not sure why I'm having connection issues it must be due to some odd ports or something being used?

 

[HiVision]

Are you NAT type 2 and connected via LAN not wi-fi?

 

[DoomGyver]

Are you NAT type 2 and connected via LAN not wi-fi?

NAT type 2, LAN, linksys cisco router and my connection is usually 1.5Mbps Download 1Mbps UPload with a ping of ~50

 

[HiVision]

that's definitely peculiar - I've been playing it over the weekend and have had no disconnects and I've played against a range of people from Russia to Australia.

Are you running any p2p stuff (torrent) on the same connection? Some routers prioritise that traffic and drop the UDP data the first moment they get.

There do seem to be some arsehat players out there who disconnect if they see themselves losing which is fairly ungracious. There is nothing lost if you lose, and you even earn some cash so the only reason to do this is some kind of weird misplaced pride :-( (and it ruins the game for the other person).

Luckily I haven't come across any, but if I do I might add their PSN ids to that scrolling message at the bottom, be warned! (only kidding )

 

[jvm]

Finally, all three online trophies. Also having to wait long time for connections. Also lag in two games. Oh well, fun SP, which is where I'm headed for the moment.

 

[DoomGyver]

that's definitely peculiar - I've been playing it over the weekend and have had no disconnects and I've played against a range of people from Russia to Australia.

Are you running any p2p stuff (torrent) on the same connection? Some routers prioritise that traffic and drop the UDP data the first moment they get.

There do seem to be some arsehat players out there who disconnect if they see themselves losing which is fairly ungracious. There is nothing lost if you lose, and you even earn some cash so the only reason to do this is some kind of weird misplaced pride :-( (and it ruins the game for the other person).

Luckily I haven't come across any, but if I do I might add their PSN ids to that scrolling message at the bottom, be warned! (only kidding )

Nothing else is being used when I play online. When matchmaking happens it's quick, a red x starts to flicker on the top left of the screen and when the game starts everything stutters as if the other player and I have a poor connection to each other. I have gotten two different error messages, one was "poor connection quality game aborted" and the other was "no data received" something like that. Again, sometimes this happens before either player has even had a chance to score/lose, so I doubt it's sore losers quitting out on purpose.

 

[HiVision]

mm.. sounds like your UDP packets are being lost somewhere en-route (the red cross signifies a lost packet.. it's ok if you get it occasionally but not if it is continuously flickering).

Have you tried playing against a friend you know is local?

Shooter 2 is peer to peer so you are opening a direct connection to the other person's PS3 for the duration of the match (as opposed to a game such as BF1943 where you connect to an EA server and that connects to everyone else).

 

[DoomGyver]

I just ran a packet test on pingtest.net and it finished with 0% packet loss. (250 sent, 250 received) So I don't know whats up. Has to be a blocked port or some data not being rerouted, but I'm not an expert on these things. Does your netcode use standard PSN ports?

 

[PhiLonius]

Some tips - Spin+R3 is your friend and it will take out multiple enemies in a row, sometimes you need to do it again quickly if it is a tough enemy but you'll have fun destroying meanies like this.

Feel free to stand back a bit and just fire a barrage of missiles at enemies - we tuned this from Shooter 1 so you fire at least twice as many missiles and your heat gauge doesn't go up as much, so it is far more usable and a lot of fun! (it charges quicker too)
(just watch out for those poor survivors )

I've done this plenty of times leading to many retrys lol

 

[HiVision]

I just ran a packet test on pingtest.net and it finished with 0% packet loss. (250 sent, 250 received) So I don't know whats up. Has to be a blocked port or some data not being rerouted, but I'm not an expert on these things. Does your netcode use standard PSN ports?

Yes, we use the standard PSN ports, hmm.. the only thing to do is try connecting with a friend and see if the problem persists. Of course, it might just be that the times you play coincide with the times some very very laggy people are playing. :-(

Add me as a friend on PSN and when I am online I'll give you a friend play to test.

 

[kassatsu]

Add me as a friend on PSN and when I am online I'll give you a friend play to test.

Your slots were full up when I tired earlier in the week Dylan.

 

[HiVision]

I cleared a few people out of my PSN friend list yesterday, to make room especially for Shooter 2 maniacs!

 

[paperheart]

Got all the trophies tonight. I loved this game. Episode 5 definitely reminded me how fun PixelJunk Shooter 1 was, and Episode 6 was awesome. The bosses were a bit challenging, and the extra surprise at the end was really cool.

Looks like I'll never get 100% of the trophies, I keep getting connection errors early into a match. All other psn games work fine for me too.

I never got disconnected, but when I was playing online tonight to get the trophies I kept getting a red X under my name as well. When that would happen the other ship would be invisible and all I could see was the smoke trails. Looks like I'm not going to be playing the online part of this game.

 

[DoomGyver]

I cleared a few people out of my PSN friend list yesterday, to make room especially for Shooter 2 maniacs!

PM me your psn ID and I'll add you, or you can add me PSN is Full-Recovery

 

[tearsofash]

I love it so far, but the continuous difficulty between games has me trudging through PJS2 at a much more casual rate.

 

[kenta]

The boss at the end of chapter 2 was legit, such a well-done homage

And then the gameplay mechanic for chapter 3 was rad, my wife said "this is actually pretty genius" as she watched it

 

[HiVision]

The boss at the end of chapter 2 was legit, such a well-done homage

And then the gameplay mechanic for chapter 3 was rad, my wife said "this is actually pretty genius" as she watched it

That's really cool to hear! The next best thing would be her feeling the urge to pick up the controller and join in! Have you tried a bit of co-op with her? (and no, that isn't an innuendo!)

 

[HiVision]

I never got disconnected, but when I was playing online tonight to get the trophies I kept getting a red X under my name as well. When that would happen the other ship would be invisible and all I could see was the smoke trails. Looks like I'm not going to be playing the online part of this game.

Ho ho, that's actually the game - ie. when you are on the offense you are invisible to the other player (apart from the smoke trails if you go too fast), unless you fall into his line of sight. As for the red cross, just ignore that unless the game is actually stuttering too much to play.

 

[kenta]

That's really cool to hear! The next best thing would be her feeling the urge to pick up the controller and join in! Have you tried a bit of co-op with her? (and no, that isn't an innuendo!)

She does indeed like to play co-op, usually with our 5-year old (you saw the picture on Twitter the other day

This one is markedly more difficult than the last game, so she typically prefers to just watch and help figure out the levels though

 

[HiVision]

She does indeed like to play co-op, usually with our 5-year old (you saw the picture on Twitter the other day

aha!

 

[kassatsu]

I cleared a few people out of my PSN friend list yesterday, to make room especially for Shooter 2 maniacs!

Crap missed again. Just tired tonight.

 

[HiVision]

kassatsu - I'll send you an invite tonight.

Tip for people who dislike the hungry suit - use both sticks to speed up the movement! In the same way you get thrust for the regular ship, if you push both sticks in the same direction you can nip around really quickly

 

[SolidusDave]

Feel free to stand back a bit and just fire a barrage of missiles at enemies - we tuned this from Shooter 1 so you fire at least twice as many missiles and your heat gauge doesn't go up as much, so it is far more usable and a lot of fun! (it charges quicker too)
(just watch out for those poor survivors )

Yeah I found this to be especially important if you can get a shield. With it your heat won't get up at all so you can spam this powerful attack endlessly. (also works if you're under water).

Due to the tougher combat I'm trying to use the R3 attack more often, but I often feel not save to do it (e.g. the fear of touching one of the enemies just after the dash ends = instant death).

 

[HiVision]

Yeah I found this to be especially important if you can get a shield. With it your heat won't get up at all so you can spam this powerful attack endlessly. (also works if you're under water).

Due to the tougher combat I'm trying to use the R3 attack more often, but I often feel not save to do it (e.g. the fear of touching one of the enemies just after the dash ends = instant death).

have confidence.. you are invincible for a fraction of a second after the dash ends so you can chain them easily, it comes through practice though, and if you are still worried just blast them like han solo.

 

[Tntnnbltn]

have confidence.. you are invincible for a fraction of a second after the dash ends so you can chain them easily, it comes through practice though, and if you are still worried just blast them like han solo.

You just have to be careful the path of the dash doesn't lead you to a pool of lava.

 

[Thrakier]

Just a general network issue, not even ps3 related really - wi-fi has higher latency and lower data-rates than cable - especially if you multiply it by the possibility that the other person is also on wi-fi.

Hm, sure, cable is a bit better than WLAN, but really, WLAN normally should be more than enough. I have ping times around 15 with WLAN and like 12 with cable. Every game should work with those latencies.

 

[Tntnnbltn]

Best in Australia, and now -- as far as I know -- best on GAF.

 

[Tntnnbltn]

I'm having a (new) problem with PJS2 matchmaking.

Of the last 6 times I have looked for a match, 4 of them have caused the game to hang. When I click 'Matching', the UI on the current screen is cleared off to reveal the background image of the planets, but the 'Searching for an opponent...' box and the ship/collectable dots do not appear. The background continues to animate, but there is no way to leave except by exiting to the XMB.

 

[HiVision]

That sounds serious! Have you managed to play at all since it started doing that?

 

[Tntnnbltn]

That sounds serious! Have you managed to play at all since it started doing that?

I rebooted a fourth time after posting, and the search screen has been working since. Just got a connection now.

Edit: It did the same thing again when I searched for a new match after my game.

 

[duckroll]

Hm, sure, cable is a bit better than WLAN, but really, WLAN normally should be more than enough. I have ping times around 15 with WLAN and like 12 with cable. Every game should work with those latencies.

This isn't a specific science that applies to every single connection, but Dylan is right. A wired connection is always more stable and consistent. For many people wireless could be great, and I know that personally my wireless connection is just as good as a wired one. But in certain cases there are other factors to consider. The quality of the wireless signal to the router, the location of the wireless device, other possible conflicting devices in the household/area, etc.

There are more potential problems with a wireless connection than a wired one, so when doing a general troubleshooting for latency, it's always best to advice people to try a wired connection if possible, to minimize the factors which could be influencing a bad connection.

Edit: Congrats Tntnnbltn!

 

[HiVision]

I asked the programmer in charge of that section and he says the other person might be disconnecting before it finishes the connection which means you need to wait a minute for it to time out naturally.

 

[Tntnnbltn]

I asked the programmer in charge of that section and he says the other person might be disconnecting before it finishes the connection which means you need to wait a minute for it to time out naturally.

It has been sitting on that screen for 10 minutes so far. No change.

PS3 is connected wirelessly, don't know if I even own an ethernet cable. But I wasn't experiencing this problem over the weekend and haven't changed any setting in between then and now.

I don't know if this is relevant, but while on that screen it came up with the scroll bar announcement saying "Keep an eye on this space for future announcements .If you are looking for a challenge, try out Online Battle!". I presume this is an earlier announcement message than the usual 'One million missiles fired' announcement.

 

[Edeuinu]

My hungover ass played this all yesterday morning, finished 4 & 5, patiently awaiting Shooter 3 =)

 

[HiVision]

That is certainly odd - we did change the message from the 1 million/weekend one, but the message you are seeing is the default one that loads when it can't connect to the net.

 

[thcsquad]

Didn't realize this was coming out so soon. Loved the first, looks like I'll need to be adding some money to my PSN wallet...

 

[HiVision]

I checked here and we managed to play a lot of games - I think it must be something to do with your connection or the person you are connecting against. Our code should produce an error though so we will look into why this isn't happening.

btw, if you exit from the matching once and go back in you should leave it for a minute or so and it should connect to someone. It's only the first time you go into the matching screen after you've played a match that there is a bug. (or so it would appear)

 

[Brazil]

This ping-based matchmaking will be the end of me. Haven't gotten into a single multiplayer game yet...

 

[Spotless Mind]

This ping-based matchmaking will be the end of me. Haven't gotten into a single multiplayer game yet...

Yeah, there's so few players in some regions that it takes forever to find anyone. I've only been matched 3 times so far (after a LOT of waiting) and two of those games disconnected halfway through. Honestly, i'd rather play some laggy matches with people in the US than none at all.

 

[W1SSY]

I finally got past the asteroid league in multiplayer. Sadly it seems that the person with more bonuses usually win. I don't really know if I will be going back to play anymore multiplayer but single player is more then enough for me alone. I like how each of the sections have differing mechanics. Hopefully I can finish the game up this week and attempt to collect all the survivors and diamonds.

 

[HiVision]

We loosened the ping restriction by 30ms or so today as a test so you should connect to a wider range of people, hopefully this helps!

W1SSY - you can only have a max of 3 items in one game and you can buy the basic 3 items after just a few matches which are actually very good, the radar+reverse controls+homing missile is a combo I still use occasionally now, sometimes simple is best. Give it a few more whirls and you'll get addicted.

 

[Tntnnbltn]

We loosened the ping restriction by 30ms or so today as a test so you should connect to a wider range of people, hopefully this helps!

For me at least, the match making has been much better tonight than in the past. Just had ~5 or 6 matches with people from Japan, which is much better than previous nights. There was no noticeable lag in the matches either, so anecdotally at least the new ping restriction seems good.

I also didn't have the same freezing problems as I did last night, which is nice.


Edit: Speaking of anecdotes...

The game I just played was against a rookie in Japan. They only had 1 weapon so probably hadn't won a single game yet. I ended up getting them 7-0 by the end of my offensive Turn 2. The last play was them offensive, me defensive. I had cloak as one of my abilities, so -- given that every single survivor was in my scoring circle -- I sat myself in the middle of the survivors and cloaked myself. I saw them flying around for a bit (probably wondering what to do / where to find survivors). Finally, they figured out to steal my survivors. I saw the one next to me wiggle, decloaked and launched a barrage of missiles in his face. Poor guy never saw it coming.


Also, played two games against someone in Earth league. They did a killer combo of tidal wave followed my water/lava swap. They didn't manage to get my ship icon though because they were overheating from the lava themselves.

I've been planning to work towards a similar strategy myself. I'm saving up for the ship swap ability, so I can dive into a pool of water, swap ships, and then switch it to lava. I don't know if the ship swap comes with a short term of invulnerability afterwards though.

 

[HiVision]

The strategies available are seriously good fun aren't they.

For me it feels like a strategy game more than an action game at times and even if I lose - especially to a good opponent - I don't mind (much the same way I feel when playing a game such as Red Alert 3 against Brutal AI - I just boot it up and try a different strategy). It's as if the strategic thinking part is where the true fun is and winning/losing is actually secondary to the enjoying.

I had some epic battles tonight - one guy was using fire resistance to quickly nip through all the falling magma without dying... b'stard! That came down to 4-3 (to him...).

I love firing reflective shots into small enclosed areas when I know the other guy is in there... it soon knocks him out

 

[Kinyou]

Endgame spoiler(?)

Spoiler

So is there a hidden level unlocked when you collect all the treasures? The ending seemed a bit in complete

 

[duckroll]

Missing only one treasure in episode 4 now. It's somewhere in Inner Space. I don't know where. I've played the stage 3 times now. ((

 

[Spotless Mind]

We loosened the ping restriction by 30ms or so today as a test so you should connect to a wider range of people, hopefully this helps!

Thanks a heap for listening. MASSIVE difference. No disconnects so far and i'm getting in lots of matches quickly.

 

[linsivvi]

Endgame spoiler(?)

Spoiler

So is there a hidden level unlocked when you collect all the treasures? The ending seemed a bit in complete

Yes.