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Valkyria Chronicles PC |OT| May the bloodline live forever

Some of them are on linkedin.

I always try to keep LinkedIn limited to strictly business, though, even when I do use it. It would feel a little odd and unprofessional to send Fanboy Props over it.

(Still might end up doing it if it comes to that, though
emot-v.gif
)
 

Knurek

Member
I'm surprised they didn't just render these cut scenes at 1080p initially. There were no storage constraints on Bluray that would prevent that resolution, maybe they wanted parity with the gameplay visuals.

Even if the cut scenes were rendered in 1080p, they would still look objectively worse than the real time gameplay.

How prevalent were 1080p TVs in 2008?
 
Okay, I opted for some MSAA forced through Nvidia Inspector on top of downsampling from 4K. You will probably tell me that is redundant at best ;)

Hey Grief, what settings in inspector did you use to get MSAA Working?
What kind of hills are we talking about here?

Going up the
hill street in chapter 3 with Edelweiß whilst having to capture the one outpost with two split up teams
 

xBladeM6x

Member
Oh man Chapter 7 was way easier than I recalled.
Still annoying as hell and takes way too long.

I just tried the infamous chapter 7.
At first I was like "eh, ok, looked pretty threatening, but that's not that difficult to handle." And then Selvaria arrived and wrecked my troops. Her Lancers and the canon of the giant tank then destroyed the Edelweiss. :(

Welcome to my life of frustration years ago. I just reached this part in my playthrough and haven't even touched it yet, just because I don't want to get pissed. Lol
 

Grief.exe

Member
How prevalent were 1080p TVs in 2008?

They weren't exactly rare, 2009/2010 was when they became the majority. I'm fairly certain I had a 1080p monitor around then.

256925-chart.JPG


6a00d8341c630a53ef013488d7a3a7970c-800wi


No idea as to the legitimacy of these graphs, but they actually have similar numbers.

Hey Grief, what settings in inspector did you use to get MSAA Working?

I merely turned it on in Inspector. I'm thinking about just turning it off as the artstyle in the game doesn't really benefit from AA above downsampling.
 

Lesiroth

Member
I'm really pleased with how well optimized the game is. Running at 1920x1200 on my rMBP 15" with only the Intel Iris Pro and it seems to be holding a stable 60 FPS.

Though I have to say I expected more of a difference when changing from 720p to 1200p, but I guess the game looks pretty good as it is at any resolution.
 
How prevalent were 1080p TVs in 2008?

Not as prevalent as today. However, 720p seems to have been chosen to keep the resolution consistent across scenes and gameplay, and probably to avoid loading problems with the game resetting resolution constantly, as that can slow down things and VC PS3 needed all the help it could get load-speed-wise.

I was still on a 1990's Mitsubishi standard def set. It was nice. Sometimes I miss it. I could barely read Valkyria's text.

Oh god, there's also this. When I FIRST began using my PS3, I didn't yet own my big fancy Dell Ultrasharp, so I had to play VC on my SD CRT set. On reflection, this may have contributed further to my shock at the map details in the PC version
emot-v.gif
though even when I compare it against the PS3 version now in 720p the difference is still mindblowing.
 

Durante

Member
Thanks to whoever reminded me of Engineers replenishing ammo earlier in the thread. Just used it to good effect in a skirmish.
 

xBladeM6x

Member
Thanks to whoever reminded me of Engineers replenishing ammo earlier in the thread. Just used it to good effect in a skirmish.

The fact that they carry 3 grenades, and can run pretty far made me see just how useful they are when you want to bomb the shit out of someone, and have them keep up with scouts.
 

billsmugs

Member
Played the game for many hours yesterday, no bugs. Then today the first mission I do...

That happened after the first step I took. Seemingly kept falling indefinitely, fell so far in that moving the map moved his icon.
I found it amusing this happened with the guy with Sonic's VA.

I had the same issue on the second battle in the Selvaria DLC - it seems to happen every time you try and go down the middle ladder on the left hand side of the battlements:

Other than that my only problems have been the muffled voices, sped up firing animations and minor ragdoll glitches, all of which seem to have been fixed by capping the game at 30fps. I can't really tell the difference in VC and it gives my GPU a bit of a rest as well (it's a GTX980 so it doesn't go above ~65% GPU usage at 4k 30fps).
 
They weren't exactly rare, 2009/2010 was when they became the majority. I'm fairly certain I had a 1080p monitor around then.

256925-chart.JPG


6a00d8341c630a53ef013488d7a3a7970c-800wi


No idea as to the legitimacy of these graphs, but they actually have similar numbers.



I merely turned it on in Inspector. I'm thinking about just turning it off as the artstyle in the game doesn't really benefit from AA above downsampling.
Is it actually working? lol I am not sure if it is working on my end!
 

billsmugs

Member
Wait, so the game is "broken" in some ways at 60 FPS? :(

In very very minor ways. I'm not convinced that the muffled voices are anything to do with the framerate (as that seems weird) so it could just be the Edy DLC. The ragdolls are a brief twitch as the game zooms out from bodies every so often and the firing animations are just a cosmetic thing. There's nothing that affects gameplay (the fall through the floor issue happened at 30fps), but since I can't really tell the difference I decided to switch.

EDIT: I might try switching back to 60 when I start the main story (I completed it on PS3 so I'm doing DLC first) to see if the problems still exist there or if it's just a DLC thing.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
I've had the ragdoll glitch happen quite a few times now, but never with enemy units, only my own. Running 60fps here, though of course that could be inconclusive since I've never extensively tested at 30fps.
 

xBladeM6x

Member
In very very minor ways. I'm not convinced that the muffled voices are anything to do with the framerate (as that seems weird) so it could just be the Edy DLC. The ragdolls are a brief twitch as the game zooms out from bodies every so often and the firing animations are just a cosmetic thing. There's nothing that affects gameplay (the fall through the floor issue happened at 30fps), but since I can't really tell the difference I decided to switch.

Oh, alright. For some reason I've been getting this feeling that Edelweiss moves slower / shorter distance than I remember. Then again, it might just be because I'm used to VC2's tank movement.

No, it isn't. At least not in any way that I could notice in 16 hours of play, so effectively not at all.

That's good. :D
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Game works well with either. Mouse is superior for TPS (although for actual aiming the game pauses and enemies don't shoot back) but a little janky in menu till you get used to it
 
Yeah I've found the M/KB controls to be pretty good. It works exactly as you'd expect in TPS mode but on the map since there is a locked cursor it does feel a little off. In practice it works fine though.
 

cdViking

Member
Wow, only a couple of hours in, but this game is living up to everything I've heard about, and more. Would have been worth buying old hardware solely for this and one or two other PS3 games, but for $20, there couldn't be a better surprise release. I just bought 3 more copies as gifts for friends who love SRPGs... take my money Sega, and give me 2 on PC!

Noticed it's still outselling AC. That's awesome.
 
Wavy is still awesome, you guys. I hope you take the time to realize it.
That Imperial soldier sure sounds like Wolverine.

Empire is Canada CONFIRMED.

A little late, but one of the recruits also has Steve Blum's voice. He's in everything, with exactly the same voice.

My lancer guy just one shotted a tank :eek:

This is madness.

The glowy blue radiator is a legit weakness tanks have. I imagine the Edelweiss would be equally vulnerable.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
The glowy blue radiator is a legit weakness tanks have. I imagine the Edelweiss would be equally vulnerable.
Yea, I found that out the hard way. I knew it was a weak point. I did not know it could 1-shot a tank, though. I left an enemy Lancer alone that was behind me because I had an Engineer right by that I figured could just keep me healed up, but BAM and the past 15 minutes of progress in the battle went down the drain.

Lesson learned!
 

KiraFA37

Member
Just beat the dreaded chapter 7 on PC... on my first try... and got a B. Putting that down to my PS3 experience, took an entire afternoon to finish that chapter. I'm pretty sure I could've gotten A if the Batomys didn't stand still for 2 turns shooting the Edelweiss. Which was my fault since I parked it a bit too much in front of it. Reminder guys, want to get an A on chapter 7, keep the Edelwiess next to the Batomys the entire time.

Just beat chapter 7. Easy as pie. How did I do it? It was all thanks to my true hero, the one and only Jann Walker.

819496C9192A484B6A35FC95B0E7087A32FEBC14

This is my new response if I think a game has potential.
 

Skidd

Member
So what's up with the translation? I mean I don't know Japanese, but even during the first couple of cutscenes I could tell something was off. What is the best way to play this game anyway, because I feel like I'm losing some small details with the translation? Dub or sub?
 
Memh, yeah, you're probably right. It may be not worth to salvage VC2 when VC3 exists. But calling it VC2 would be super confusing. Maybe they should completely start a new line without numbers and just with subtitles as distinction. They should know now that there are plenty of people on the consoles and PC who love the gameplay and the franchise.
For now, a new sequel to the original based on unresolved plot elements (aka Radi Jaeger disappearing) would do best. VC2 and VC3 will always have its fans who can emulate the games at high resolutions and who have a fan translation patch for 3. Meanwhile, the casual VC fan probably skipped or didn't even know about the PSP games, and would like to play a sequel up to snuff or better than the original. VC sold around a million copies worldwide on PS3 with limited marketing, though such numbers didn't come quick; it was SEGA's unwillingness to wait and observe other markets that led to the PSP games being greenlit, and for the worse. I wouldn't mind SEGA forgetting about them, so long as sequels to VC1 acknowledge the major plot points of 2 and 3 when necessary.

The real problem here is that the game is designed in a way that encourages you to only make use of a few units per map. In most maps I ended up with a bunch of units just standing around the start location because actually using them was a waste of CP.
On the other hand, knowing how easily you can break each mission opens up possibilities for challenge runs. The best modus operandi for new players is to play how they wish on the first playthrough, then get 100%-complete in New Game+ when things are just plain easy. Not going to defend VC's horrid ranking system for confusing players and not rewarding them for sensible tactics—not scout rushing—but the game's very enjoyable once you have an idea of what's most enjoyable.

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.
Modifying the campaign and figuring out how to create new missions/campaigns will be a different beast entirely, but a very fun one if mod support's as decent as I hear. Changing in-game stats and behaviors would involve disassembly, I fear, which means it's out of the question for even the hardiest of hackers.

Yeah, decreasing the rank bonus and increasing the kill bonus seems like a decent change that wouldn't break anything but discourage rushing strategies.
Absolutely. Finding the aces in each map isn't easy when you're aiming for as few turns used as possible.

Whoa now, that sounds like it would be crazy hard to balance into the game. Let's just stick to tanks.
In Europa, planes are still an experimental showpiece of military R&D, not even having reached civilian levels of access. If sequels in Fhirald and elsewhere (we still don't know much about the Federation) take place just after or well before EWII, then we're not going to worry about planes anyhow. EWI might be a bit limited because of trench warfare and the subsequent emphasis on first-generation tank hardware and customization, though.
 
So what's up with the translation? I mean I don't know Japanese, but even during the first couple of cutscenes I could tell something was off. What is the best way to play this game anyway, because I feel like I'm losing some small details with the translation? Dub or sub?

I don't think you'll be missing a lot of small details. The dub itself is surprisingly good even for when it came out back in 2008. What I mean by that is that the voices for the characters all sounded spot on. It might be worth it to play one full chapter with the Japanese audio, and then the next one with the dub, just to get a taste of what both sound like.
 
So what's up with the translation? I mean I don't know Japanese, but even during the first couple of cutscenes I could tell something was off. What is the best way to play this game anyway, because I feel like I'm losing some small details with the translation? Dub or sub?

The onscreen text matches the dub, which differs from the original dialogue a bit (though generally not the point where the original meaning is lost). It was enough to get me to raise an eyebrow at parts but not enough to really bother me.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
In Europa, planes are still an experimental showpiece of military R&D, not even having reached civilian levels of access. If sequels in Fhirald and elsewhere (we still don't know much about the Federation) take place just after or well before EWII, then we're not going to worry about planes anyhow. EWI might be a bit limited because of trench warfare and the subsequent emphasis on first-generation tank hardware and customization, though.

Said it once, will say it again. While the events in and around Europa are of immediate interest, the franchise's setting can go well beyond just "Europe" and be pretty succesful.

Coastal/island-based territories, or deep jungle for example.

Although globetrotting for Valkyrur ruins might draw a few too many parallels with Assassin's Creed's meta-story and we all know how -that- turned out.
 

peakish

Member
Chapter 7 doesn't seem that difficult.
I just got wrecked because I didn't expect the massive damage Selvaria would deal, but it seems very exploitable to just damage all radiators as much as possible before that happens and finish it in one quick turn once the final radiator pops up. If I had saved one extra lancer from getting killed in her first turn the tank would have been dead, easy peasy. Multi-turn moves are just that powerful, it seems.
 
Said it once, will say it again. While the events in and around Europa are of immediate interest, the franchise's setting can go well beyond just "Europe" and be pretty succesful.

Coastal/island-based territories, or deep jungle for example.

Although globetrotting for Valkyrur ruins might draw a few too many parallels with Assassin's Creed's meta-story and we all know how -that- turned out.
What I want SEGA WOW/Red Company/Media.Vision to do with the franchise is examine an alternate history of our world circa this time-frame with traces of fantasy grounded in history. So we could and should get to fight in Africa or the Polynesian Islands; those would make for interesting settings for a Japanese strategy game, and writing characters of various ethnicities would be new and exciting for the developers (assuming they don't screw it all up). RIght now, exploring more of Europa beyond Gallia is a priority. There's plenty of room to write about civil wars, resource-driven feuds, independence rebellions, and more investigation of lore (Valkyrur against Darcsens being a dominant part of Europa's history).

As for time-frame, EW1 through a hypothetical cold war would have enough change in technology and social civics to entail this many stories. It's unknown whether or not any Europan countries are in contact with other continents, for example; exploring the "New World" with modern dreadnoughts and tanks would be an absurd premise for sure.
 

Durante

Member
Wow, only a couple of hours in, but this game is living up to everything I've heard about, and more. Would have been worth buying old hardware solely for this and one or two other PS3 games, but for $20, there couldn't be a better surprise release. I just bought 3 more copies as gifts for friends who love SRPGs... take my money Sega, and give me 2 on PC!
I love reading stuff like this.

Also, (Chapter 7 spoilers)
I just got wrecked by Selvaria even though I expected her :/. Really bad timing on taking making her appear, with no chance to make the last radiator pop up for 2 turns!
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
First time I play this, but going by what I read in this thread I think I got lucky with my first draw:


Also Nadine, saw her mentioned too but didn't screencap. (Actually all my picks were based on traits and if I liked the characters, but these were among them. :p)

No crashes at this part, thankfully (1080p, big picture mode).
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Edy isn't really that good, although she's hilarious

And has her own DLC wtf

(you really did luck out on the rest though)
 
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