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Valkyria Chronicles PC |OT| May the bloodline live forever

Sykotik

Member
I'm glad I have this to play as I just got sick something fierce.

Also, A Rank is some difficult shit if you want to kill all the leaders/aces/tanks, but oh-so-satisfying once you manage it. I hope it stays possible to do so.
 
So killing the red units lower the enemies' turns? I think that's what the CP shattering animation implies. The game should have brought it up at some point.
 
Is there any sense in upgrading Engineer class?
Seems to me it's just a weaker Scout.

It's a situational unit that is nowhere near as effective as the scout (well nothing in this game is as good as the scout), but the XP required to level scales enough that it's worth upgrading everything and there are some maps where engineers are really useful.
 

wmlk

Member
Yeah, this isn't about realism.

The tank running over your people and causing no damage can be really useful. I've actually crowded some units by running them over with the tank.

Saved me a couple times.
 

yatesl

Member
zukhEcd.png

:(
 

baterism

Member
Yeah, this isn't about realism.

The tank running over your people and causing no damage can be really useful. I've actually crowded some units by running them over with the tank.

Saved me a couple times.

Put engineer behind tank, drove tank, scream heard.
 
I really want to run this at 4k all the time, but I find the buffering of the vsync and the general high GPU utilzation on a single 570 to be too much. I love how snappy the menus and screen transitions are at 120 fps, so for now it will be 1440p.

I will do some fiddling to try and get a (yes, rather unnecessary) SLI profile for the game (laugh all you want Durante).
 

patapuf

Member
Is there any sense in upgrading Engineer class?
Seems to me it's just a weaker Scout.

Egineers have good utility:

They have more grenades (mission 7)

They replenish ammo, which is especially important if you have a sniper or a lancer that has to shoot a lot

They remove mines (also critical in some missions) iirc removing mines doesn't use a turn either.

They repair your tank

you can build cover (though that's rarely useful).
 

Durante

Member
They replenish ammo, which is especially important if you have a sniper or a lancer that has to shoot a lot
Right, forgot about this. Marina needs her own personal engineer.

They remove mines (also critical in some missions) iirc removing mines doesn't use a turn either.
It doesn't, that's pretty neat.

you can build cover (though that's rarely useful).
I also forgot about this one. But yeah, not too useful in most missions considering that you are always on the move.
 
Finally got some time between work to play through the first couple of missions. Really impressed by how good it looks in-game with downsampling. The maps are just a revelation - never knew there was that much detail being rendered!

Such a pity this was the only game using the full-fat version of the CANVAS engine.
 

TaroYamada

Member
My biggest complaint is still the rankings being based on how long it takes. Too simple for a game with this much depth and potential as regards its combat mechanics.
 

Shiina

Member
My biggest complaint is still the rankings being based on how long it takes. Too simple for a game with this much depth and potential as regards its combat mechanics.

Yeah I don't like it either. I went for A ranks for the first three chapters but I don't feel like continuing to go for them because playing the game normally is much more fun. It's too bad you miss out on EXP and money for not rushing to the mission objective.
 
Well I only had time playing the tutorial mission but wow was this a nostalgic flashback :eek: As others said the game is still every bit as good as I remember and the game looks absolutely glorious downsampled! :D

I'm currently running at 3840x2160 and the game keeps a constant 80fps, not sure why it's 80 though as I limited it to my refresh rate and that's 75hz o.o But oh well, that's as far as I should push it right? If I remember right Durante, you said that starting with 4480x2520 it gets unstable? Or was that 7680x4320? :p

Anyways I'm really glad that this game does so well as it does, together with the Clanned Kickstarter I hope these are signs for even more glorious times to come to Steam! :)
 
My biggest complaint is still the rankings being based on how long it takes. Too simple for a game with this much depth and potential as regards its combat mechanics.

Surely once we figure out the mission scripts it ought not be too hard to adjust the turncount rankings? Though I suppose once we do that it would be obligatory to figure out ways to compensate for that so it doesn't just simply make A-Rank scout rushes easier.
 

Durante

Member
Well I only had time playing the tutorial mission but wow was this a nostalgic flashback :eek: As others said the game is still every bit as good as I remember and the game looks absolutely glorious downsampled! :D

I'm currently running at 3840x2160 and the game keeps a constant 80fps, not sure why it's 80 though as I limited it to my refresh rate and that's 75hz o.o But oh well, that's as far as I should push it right? If I remember right Durante, you said that starting with 4480x2520 it gets unstable? Or was that 7680x4320? :p

Anyways I'm really glad that this game does so well as it does, together with the Clanned Kickstarter I hope these are signs for even more glorious times to come to steam! :)
4480x2520 is still stable for me, I play at that. Everything I tried above that has been unstable.
 

yatesl

Member
I can only get to 4k with the new DSR - I need to use gedosato to go higher.

I think I'll leave it as is. I imagine there's only so much super sampling you can notice on a 23" screen
 

patapuf

Member
Surely once we figure out the mission scripts it ought not be too hard to adjust the turncount rankings? Though I suppose once we do that it would be obligatory to figure out ways to compensate for that so it doesn't just simply make A-Rank scout rushes easier.

They do try to compensate for this by giving aditional bounties for Ace soldiers and Tank kills, a more elaborate system of this could compensate the exp/gold advantage you get for being very quick to capture the objectives.

Tough, this may simply lead to beating the mission always giving the same amount of EXP (which isn't that bad in strategy game tbh).

The inherent problem is how you reward good strategic play. I don't think there's a good way to do this in a ranking system. Aditionally: whether you reward going for objectives, speed or killing everything (wich can be tactically nonsensical too) the scout rush tactic will still be the most effective in most scenarios.

The only way to "fix" this is by map design and some rebalance. I've not played much of the hard maps but i think scout rushing isn't nearly as effective there simply because there's too much reaction fire to just run pas everything with one charachter.
 
They do try to compensate for this by giving aditional bounties for Ace soldiers and Tank kills, a more elaborate system of this could compensate for having to rush for best ranking.

Tough, this may simply lead to beating the mission always giving the same amount of EXP (which isn't that bad in strategy game tbh).

The inherent problem is how you reward good strategic play. I don't think there's a good way to do this in a ranking system. Aditionally: whether you reward going for objectives, speed or killing everything (wich can be tactically nonsensical too) the scout rush tactic will still be the most effective in most scenarios.

The only way to "fix" this is by map design and some rebalance. I've not played much of the hard maps but i think scout rushing isn't nearly as effective there simply because there's too much reaction fire to just run pas everything with one charachter.

Rebalancing orders would be a great place to start. A lot of the rush tactics are dependent on them.
 
I'm still at early chapters. Should I aim for headshots or just take the bodies for more reliable outcome?
Overall accuracy of the squad is still low.
 

Durante

Member
I think a simple balancing change could be reducing Scout HP by 40% or so across the board. The problem is that this will also make them worse in "normal" play, where the are already not particularly great compared to other classes.

I'm still at early chapters. Should I aim for headshots or just take the bodies for more reliable outcome?
Overall accuracy of the squad is still low.
In the early chapters, "get closer" is usually the best option ;)
 

Chariot

Member
I'm still at early chapters. Should I aim for headshots or just take the bodies for more reliable outcome?
Overall accuracy of the squad is still low.
Just aim for the heads, everyone is hitting pretty good if you have the lower number of "Kill".
I think a simple balancing change could be reducing Scout HP by 40% or so across the board. The problem is that this will also make them worse in "normal" play, where the are already not particularly great compared to other classes.
How about giving them bonus evasion when running, so they can speed through enemies lines despite the much lower hp, but have trouble actually killing something.
 
If you ask me, the best way to balance it out is to decrease rank bonus EXP/DCT significantly and instead translate it all over into the special-enemy kill bonuses, as you said before.

Not an elegant solution, but until we know how to *really* mod the game up, it seems to be the best we can do.
 

Hastati

Member
Finally got some time between work to play through the first couple of missions. Really impressed by how good it looks in-game with downsampling. The maps are just a revelation - never knew there was that much detail being rendered!

Such a pity this was the only game using the full-fat version of the CANVAS engine.

It looks freakin' great! Just got it running. It kind of has a unique feeling to it, different from a lot of CG used in animation or cell-shading effects in a lot of other games. And it really stands out at higher resolutions. Would love for it to be revived, I really want more games that try to emulate sketching/brush strokes, it's such a cool effect in motion.
 

Durante

Member
If you ask me, the best way to balance it out is to decrease rank bonus EXP/DCT significantly and instead translate it all over into the special-enemy kill bonuses, as you said before.

Yeah, decreasing the rank bonus and increasing the kill bonus seems like a decent change that wouldn't break anything but discourage rushing strategies.
 

patapuf

Member
I'm still at early chapters. Should I aim for headshots or just take the bodies for more reliable outcome?
Overall accuracy of the squad is still low.

Headshots is almost always the better choice. If it isn't you should get in a position were they are anyway.

Stormtrooper is the only class that can be effective with bodyshots, but even they benefit from headshot bonus.
 
If you ask me, the best way to balance it out is to decrease rank bonus EXP/DCT significantly and instead translate it all over into the special-enemy kill bonuses, as you said before.

Not an elegant solution, but until we know how to *really* mod the game up, it seems to be the best we can do.

Some sort of bonus for not having any of your units killed would be nice too.
 
Now, that said - Are the kill bonuses set per mission or just game-wide? Because if the latter I'd say that has the potential to do more harm than good to game balance if the player is drowning in EXP or is anemic of it.
 

Simply remaining in the top 5 like it has is astounding and better than anyone could have hoped for. People were talking earlier about whether or not is release has beaten VC1's PS3 NA release figures (33,000 units in November 2008) - if my napkin math is at all correct, especially based on the competition, then yes, by volume it's already outsold the PS3 version between launch periods. Revenue and profit are obviously different questions since VC1 PS3 was a full-price disc release versus a digital lower-price release. But by raw copies sold, I'm pretty confident VC1PC has already outdone VC1PS3 over similar periods of time, or is at least very close to doing so with no sign of slowing down...

... and VC1PC has not yet participated in a seasonal sale. If VC1 is even, like, 25% or 33% off for this Christmas, the results will be comical.

In short, this is going to turn a lot of heads, not just at Sega. This is a six-year-old game ripping up the charts on Steam and holding its own against industry ultraweights like Call of Duty. It's even holding out against the massive daily deals, which is enormous. Those always dominate the charts. And VC1 is fending them off.

TLDR: be excited. This will lead to good things.

(Though like the thread discussed and I touched on with Twitter, not VC2/3 on PC; really doing those to VC1 quality would basically involve making new games, so if anything, Sega may as well make a new game.)


In game news: decided to restart and blaze through things to reroll my initial roster. Took a reload or two, but Vyse, Aika, Marina, Jann, Juno, Catherine, Dallas, Edy and Karl, awwww yeah. The way the game is meant to be played.

Although it does make Chapter 4 kind of goofy. "Welkin! The platoon is tearing itself apart! Rosie and Largo don't think they can trust you or Isara and seem to be speaking for the platoon as a whole!" Well, uh...
- Vyse and Aika probably ain't gonna care about working with "a Darcsen" and in fact might have something to say about racism;
- Juno would follow Welks into the mouth of hell right off the bat;
- Dallas, even at an early stage, would probably side with Alicia, and thus Welkin;
- Karl probably also doesn't exactly care too much about working with a Darcsen, just a guess;
- Jann would probably ultimately be on Largo's side but he's such a friendly guy that I can't help but think he'd tell Largo to chill;
- Marina I think wouldn't give a damn one way or another so long as Welks gets results, so neutral I guess;
- Catherine's probably seen enough fighting to know that singling out Darcsens is dumb so I doubt she'd really be on board.

So out of all of them, Edy is the only one who I could possibly see having a big initial problem with Isara and Welkin at the start. What I'm trying to say is, Chapter 4 comes across as a little goofy because it's more like it's just a problem with your NCOs being insubordinate, despite being presented as "the squad" as a whole having a problem with the Gunthers. It's not killer, but it is one of those little plot quibbles I always had (and, for all the heat VC2 gets, the individual soldier stories do feel like they flesh this out a bit and avoid this sort of situation).
 
Some sort of bonus for not having any of your units killed would be nice too.

That'd be nice, but we'd need to find a way to completely overhaul the system first. Last I recall, we still haven't figured out adjusting the existing system yet.


Now that's one thing that gets me, I can't help but wish that the game had a better way of acknowledging who was alive in your squad than just a credits blurb.

Apparently there's animal-house endings for the squad members in NG+, looks like I'll have to try NG+ this time around.
 
Well SLI appears to be an absolute no go.

The game does something very similar to Dark Souls PC (a game where SLI really never worked), where instead of balancing the load on multiple cards, each card is loaded up with a similar amount as single card mode. So single card 80% is about like 65 to 70 % on each card in SLI. This whilst also running at about 10 fps or so lower on average (if not more).

So, unless Nvidia step in here (hah, Nvidia doing positive things for SLI users!), everyone for the love of god play with Single GPU.

EDIT: beyond technical stuff this game is just freaking awesome. The art is just so wonderful on top of the gameplay elements I have been introduced to. I am looking forward to the game no longer holding my hand though (just got my barracks).
 

Durante

Member
Simply remaining in the top 5 like it has is astounding and better than anyone could have hoped for. People were talking earlier about whether or not is release has beaten VC1's PS3 NA release figures (33,000 units in November 2008) - if my napkin math is at all correct, especially based on the competition, then yes, by volume it's already outsold the PS3 version between launch periods.
The "average" factor of concurrent playing to copies sold on Steam at launch is also usually around 10:1, which would indicate around 50k sold at launch. Given the timing of this release, I'd assume the ratio is at least that.
 

Shengar

Member
VC is perfect for support conversation from FEA.
Not the marriage mechanic, but just the simple side-conversation between characters. This feature have fleshed some character in FEA from "hated" to "respectable" for me.
 

Knurek

Member
In short, this is going to turn a lot of heads, not just at Sega. This is a six-year-old game ripping up the charts on Steam and holding its own against industry ultraweights like Call of Duty. It's even holding out against the massive daily deals, which is enormous. Those always dominate the charts. And VC1 is fending them off.
TLDR: be excited. This will lead to good things.

stop_penis_erect_archer.gif

I can't wait for Durante's 2015 Year of the jRPG thread...
 
I've got a 560ti (4ghz+i7 fwiw) and want to partake in some downsampling goodness. I've got the latest GeDoSato fresh on my PC, but not sure what are the best settings to try.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
 
The "average" factor of concurrent playing to copies sold on Steam at launch is also usually around 10:1, which would indicate around 50k sold at launch. Given the timing of this release, I'd assume the ratio is at least that.

Yup. And it's still in the top 5, which means it's still selling substantially. 75k or even 100k for the month is not completely out of the question, which would be mad. And then you factor in the possibility of Christmas...

If VC1PC clears, like, the hundreds-of-thousands sold mark by the new year, talk of a totally new CANVAS VC game or the PSP VCs being ported to PC CANVAS start to seem significantly less crazy. This is amazing to watch.

VC is perfect for support conversation from FEA.
Not the marriage mechanic, but just the simple side-conversation between characters. This feature have fleshed some character in FEA from "hated" to "respectable" for me.

Like I said, one of the good marks for the PSP Valkyrias is that they do something a bit like this since Sega realized the characters are the real heart of a story like this; instead of "just" extra paragraphs in the book description, each and every soldier gets a little "page event" unlocked for them. Not always a mission, but at least a few cutscenes that help tell their story and flesh them out. It's still not quite as in-depth or character-interaction heavy as FEA's support system was, but it did help a lot.


Also, what would be a good downsample for a 460GTX and i5-2500 with 4GB of RAM? I'll actually be putting together a totally new PC next month, but I'd like to at least poke my toe into downsampling the game before then. Probably just limit myself to 2560x1440?
 
Did the first story mission with a full squad. I think I get why this game is so critically lauded. The way that map set up to teach you how elevated area can give you scouts huge vision around the map was very satisfying. Or how you can use one unit to keep the enemies distracted whole you use other units to flank them. Or how you can use the tank as a moving cover for your units. Everything just clicks. Really satisfying mission and great introduction to the meat of the game. Unless the game throws curve balls that don't sit with me well, of course.

My only issue is that I don't see any immediate benefit from picking between specific units. I got like 20 of then but I just randomly took some from the 5 classes and nothing significantly changes. Maybe it becomes more important later in the game?

That's my initial impression of VC. Gonna take a break for now.

Rosie is pretty cute.
 

Durante

Member
Did the first story mission with a full squad. I think I get why this game is so critically lauded. The way that map set up to teach you how elevated area can give you scouts huge vision around the map was very satisfying. Or how you can use one unit to keep the enemies distracted whole you use other units to flank them. Or how you can use the tank as a moving cover for your units. Everything just clicks.
Are you talking about the wildwoods mission?

Because if so, I was also impressed upon re-playing it just how well it teaches you not just the mechanics but also basic strategies, without hitting you over the head with them.
 
VC is perfect for support conversation from FEA.
Not the marriage mechanic, but just the simple side-conversation between characters. This feature have fleshed some character in FEA from "hated" to "respectable" for me.

Valkyria 3 does a decent job with that.

The character side-quest that you unlock gives a significant amount of character interaction among the core cast, and at the same time, tell a different scenario within the story.
 
Are you talking about the wildwoods mission?

Because if so, I was also impressed upon re-playing it just how well it teaches you not just the mechanics but also basic strategies, without hitting you over the head with them.

I'm referring to the mission you take as soon as your uniformed up. Chapter 2 I think?
 

Seanspeed

Banned
So sandbags are the only things I can 'crouch' behind, right? I've made a mistake several times running out to an object I thought I could use as cover, but then not being able to and getting shot the hell down afterwards.
 
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