TheMadPolarBear

@NINC0MPUTER If they can sort out the framepacing issues and get a locked 60 then Fortnite at 30 on the Switch will be fine. 60 would be idea but lets take it one step at a time.

Framepacing and the FPS dips are far more of an issue as this creates input latency spikes and stutter, which will have more of an impact than just the 33.3ms frametime target.

I'll believe it when I see it. They said cross-platform parties would be here almost 2 years ago. Then they say it would be out in the September update in a blog post yet here we are, yet again, without the update.

Pysonix frustratingly have promised cross-platform parties for years and have still done nothing. The last update claimed it would be out in September but oh look, here we are in September and no cross-platform parties.

Literally, the only reason I don't play Rocket League is because my friends that do own the game play the PC version. Whilst I own the PC version, playing it on the Switch in handheld is far more enjoyable to me than sitting at my desk.

I wish they would just hurry up and get the feature out. Fortnite does it, what's the hold up Psyonix.

I dunno about you folks but I've not seen the 3DS in stock for a while. They seem to be only producing the New 2DS's at the moment, at least in my humble part of the UK.

@tedko Yeah both Generations Ultimate and M3HU have caught my attention recently due to their cross-platform support (particularly MH3U with Wii U and 3DS). I feel like it's a series I will like but similar to how you felt with DS1, I need to learn it a bit and put time into it.

@SuperZeldaMaker Yep, but I suppose since it's a network test, do they really want people to run off to the Catacombs

Btw, has anyone had any invasions yet? I've only just got my internet back so i'm looking to try DS1 on Switch today.

@tedko Of course, it does sound like MH3U is similar (ironically, I couldn't get into the Wii U demo) so i'll try to make a few suggestions.

For beginners, I always recommend the Knight to learn the mechanics. Now, as you said you've tried the Knight but mentioned things feeling slow, this could be due to a few things but I think it's the following:

1. Weight

Dark Souls has a weight mechanic to the game. Your equip load affects the speed and responsiveness of your character and even affects your dodge roll invincibility frames. The lower your equip load, the faster your character will be. There are 3 stages of equip load - Light (fastest @ 0-25%), Medium (25-50%) and Heavy (50-100%). Anything over 100% causes your character to basically walk and unable to dodge. As a Knight just starting, your armour will put you in the heavy equip load, which means the slowest possible movement and something known as 'fat rolling' (next to no invincibility frames for dodging). I recommend removing the Chest/Helmet to be within the Medium category for a good balance of defence and movement. Your ability to play the game will make up the rest.

An additional note for the above, as your Endurance increases, you will be able to wear/wield heavier items and there is a ring (Havels ring) which will help change boundaries of the equip load percentage. Additionally, you may struggle to use some weapons one handed but using two hands can actually result in your character getting full movement. Experiment with the equip loads to see if this helps your 'speed' issue. Different players have different tastes and there is no right or wrong answer (except fat rolling!).

2. Stats

Depending on your playstyle, some weapons will handle differently and your 'build' will need to be built around certain weapon types. Typically, Broadswords and larger weapons (strength build) require two hands, attack slower but inflict much higher damage. Regular straight swords can be wielded one handed, with a shield or two handed and have a medium attack speed (strength build) whilst some prefer to go for faster attack speed (Dex build), which hit faster but not as hard and weapons like the Rapier and falchion.

Basically, these all affect the movement speed and how you will approach the game. The 'core' combat mechanic remains the same in the post I mentioned before but the weapons you use and what you can get away with changes based on the above as well. An example is heavier builds can reduce the chance of you being 'stunned' whilst heavier weapons can inflict stun damage to the enemy at the cost of risking your ability to dodge or defend.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, experiment with the equip loads and the play around with the weapons. You should eventually find something that fits your playstyle. Again as said, it's not for everyone and it does require you to play a bit until you find something that clicks but if not, it may just not be for you, which is perfectly fine.

That's probably my best advice. There are more in-depth videos that can demonstrate the above but simply hopping on to the game and playing with the equip loads may even be enough to demonstrate for you. I hope you do enjoy it but if not, i'll have to learn MH3U as payback!

@Warioware I've only recently come to learn of the terms but I agree, bad cameras, time-padding filler and cheapness often cause more annoyances to me too. I also dislike bad business practices like Destiny's overpriced DLC but that's another story.

The Last of Us was amazing and a remarkable game, great at 30 or 60fps!

I think being an older gamer does help. The early 3D era with the N64/PS1/Saturn was full of low framerate games but it never stopped us having fun with Goldeneye now did it?

@Warioware Ah yes, it does make it clear thank you!

I agree with you. These days many people are quick to immediately put a game down due to framerate but it's in no way unplayable. However, I do think some game types have 'desirable' framerates.

60fps = higher response time. So for games like FPS's and racing or other twitch based games, 60fps could help or make a difference.

But people often overlook the other big elephant in the room, frame pacing. If a frame is not delivered consistently, then there will be stuttering and input latency spikes.

E.g. 30fps needs to have a new frame every 33.3ms. 60 needs 16.6ms. If a game has bad framepacing, it will not do this and the result will be stuttering on screen with input latency spikes in the controls. Best way to describe it would be a smooth road would be good framepacing and one with bad would be a road with potholes.

So in my opinion, a 30fps game can still be good like Dark Souls on the Switch, if it has consistent framepacing, otherwise, it could impact the experience. I do understand people's arguments surrounding a 60fps target though 30fps is by no means unplayable.

@Warioware Eh, 60fps was common before the 8th generation, or am I misinterpreting what you mean?

@tedko It’s a difficult game because people play it wrong to begin with.

The short version is - patience is highly rewarding. Your general attack plan would be this:

Encounter enemy/new enemy > check enemy attack pattern (they usually have 1-3) > bait enemy to attack and miss > counter attack (1-2 hits) > repeat.

As for exploration, you want to progress slower into new unexplored areas so you don’t get caught out.

Finally, it is advisable to try and bait enemies away from groups. An example may be to slowly get into an enemies ‘aggro’ range and then pull back with the one enemy chasing you to deal with it. Alternatively, a ranged weapon can help you get a single enemies attention to deal with.

Once you effectively nail this, the game basically becomes easy outside of a few, challenging areas. You’ll feel powerful, rewarded and realise that if you do die, you’ve made a mistake somewhere.

One final note - even early sections, there may be a single, unique, powerful enemy in the area. These, which are common enemies late game, will drop very powerful gear early on if you manage to take them down, making the early game even easier. You can however, avoid them completely and just progress as normal.

It’s not for everyone, but it’s certainly worth trying and giving another shot if you can. If not, then no worries!

@60frames-please wha? Your TV won’t magically make the game 60fps or change the input latency on the controller. That is all determined by the Switch’s hardware and how well optimised the game engine is for the console.

At ‘best’, your TV may have a good response time like my monitors 1ms but it won’t drastically improve the gameplay in the way you imply.

I heard it's actually a Panasonic Blu Ray player with a built in Nintendo Switch.

That’s not Android 17, that’s MVP17, the saviour of Universe 7!

What would be fantastic is if there is no mention of Waluigi and he is kept hidden from the public right up until Smash launches, when it is then revealed he is a part of the roster.

I'd imagine that would go viral pretty quick.

@Majora101 Different standards to now. Back then low fps for 5th generation consoles was acceptable due to 3D gaming being new. Goldeneye and Perfect Dark were in the low teens but some games like SM64 were close to a locked 25/30fps.

In a competitive shooter, especially in an era where online gaming allows you to connect to anyone, a stable framerate is a must. 30fps is a minimum because any lower and input latency will become a problem, as well as the smoothness of gameplay. We now understand that frame pacing can also impact the quality of a game if the frames are not delivered consistently, which results in stuttering. This can cause you to miss your shots against other players. An example would be if an explosion goes off behind a player you’re shooting at and it causes your game to drops fps and stutter, if even for a moment in a crucial firefight, it could lead to your loss. As the enemy has their back to said explosion, they still maintain smooth, precise controls and have an advantage.

I get where you’re coming from though. I didn’t mind it back then and I don’t mind mind low fps and bad frame pacing for older games now. But for newer games, performance should be a priority.

Optional would be nice for thise that use it.

Hopefully in time Epic and Nintendo will manage a locked 30fps with perfect frame pacing.

@SimplyCinnamon53 Yeah, this is exactly what I thought.

Uncharted - Peter Parker/Mary-Jane scenes and exposition echo Uncharted's gameplay + Nate and Elena's relationship

Ratchet & Clank - Insomniac's mastery of this series shows in its 'mini-games'. They don't feel annoying and actually further the games plot and Peter's character development.

Arkham Series - Combat system, gadgets, stealth, freedom to explore Arkham/New York. Grapple/Webzip feels very similar with counters being handled slightly differently (offensive in Batman, evasive in Spider-Man)

Spider-Man - Open world and side mission structure that was started in Spider-Man 2 is carried forward and improved upon. Side-missions all have a 'story' to them this time rather than pizza. Random crime can occur much like the older games. Web-slinging feels improved over previous games and I feel surpasses Spider-Man 2.

I'm sure Sunset Overdrive probably has a big influence too but it's the only Insomniac Games title I haven't played yet - something I'm going to rectify once I'm done with Spider-Man.

Overall, it feels like a good mashup of the 3 though I didn't like MJ's 'levels' for reasons I won't spoil. The rest of the game has been great so far though I have encountered 2 game-breaking glitches and 1 almost game-breaking glitch that randomly fixed itself a few story missions later.

Curious to see just how much performance has been improved - does it return to launch levels of performance or is it even better i.e closer to a locked 30fps? In any case, a higher, more consistent framerate will certainly help those of you who love gyro controls.

Good job Epic/Nintendo. Now if they can keep pushing for a locked 30fps and a slight increase in resolution then I’ll be overjoyed.

Treyarch can’t even get Black Ops 4 at a reasonable resolution and framerate on the base Xbox One and PS4, let alone a Switch version.

Treyarch just don’t seem to be as proficient at optimising their games. Either that or they’re using a much older heavily modified taped together game engine. The base Xbox One runs at sub 720p for Black Ops 4 - Xbox 360 and PS3 style. Yet recent COD games by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer hit higher resolutions whilst Treyarchs previous release, Black Ops 3 was also notorious for FPS dips and an incredibly low Xbox resolution.

If Infinity Ward or Sledgehammer built the game, then there’s possible there may be headroom to port the game to the Switch but as it stands with Treyarch at the helm, I laugh too, since they can’t produce results that their colleagues can.

@WinterIceFox The game certainly does not run perfectly in docked mode. It cannot maintain a locked 720p resolution or a locked 30fps with consistent framepacing (33.3ms), making the experience a stuttery, blurry one, with the stutter directly impacting the responsiveness of the controls, making the game difficult to play when the drops occur.

For the game to be perfect, it needs a locked resolution and stable framerate with perfect framepacing at all times for a smooth, consistent experience. I’m hopeful that Epic and Nintendo will be able to achieve this for both docked and handheld (via dynamic res for the latter).

Eh, expensive.

Still, I want Yooka-Laylee so there’s not much else I can do about it.

Impressive, though i’d like to see major third party performance as well e.g Bethesda

Have this on Steam, played it for half an hour in co-op with a friend and had a blast but never went back to it because my friend had already beaten the game multiple times.

I'll give it a go on the Switch. It's not a game i reckon i'll install on my PC right now but i'll likely play it on the go.

@Dramlin Everyone has their own opinions on what makes Dark Souls good. I’ll try to explain my reasons for liking the game.

1) Exploration and mystery. After you get to Firelink Shrine, the game basically says ‘go’ and you can go wherever you like. Do you head down the elevator to the sunkern, destroyed ruined city? Do you head to the Undead Abyss or do you go through a Graveyard down into the catacombs? That’s up to you. Each area has its own story, with lore being found in item descriptions of weapons, armour etc. The whole world is connected seamlessly, so it never feels disconnected and on a set path

2) Dark Souls is notorious for being challenging as it does not hold the players hand like modern games do. The game has a set rythm to it, which rewards observant and patient players. Once you learn that, you’ll soon feel awesome being able to just power your way through area’s and bosses and when you do die, you’ll understand that it was a case of you making a mistake and not the game being unfair.

Those are my reasons. Dark Souls may be overhyped (Dark souls memes) these days but it definitely warrants a full playthrough. It’s not going to be for everyone but your reasons for playing the game or enjoying it may be different to my own.

Whilst it cannot be argued that the Switch is not close to the base Xbox One or PS4 in terms of technical performance, I find it laughable that of all the people to discuss this, it is the head of Abstraction games.

ARK: Survival Evolved is one of the worst performing games i've seen on consoles. Check out DF's video for more details but the short version is that the game runs at sub 20fps most of the time. It even runs badly on PC. Just a technical mess on all platforms so yeah, they probably couldn't get the game to run on the Switch.

@Wanjia There's likely more to it than that. Developers often have a vision that they want for their games. In R6S, the game targets a locked 60fps on the consoles and has a solid online infrastructure. It has dynamic maps thanks to the heavy use of destructible environments.

Unfortunately, destructible environments are very CPU heavy and as a result, the game probably could not run at 60fps on the Switch. A developer like Panic Button might be able to get it running at an unlocked 30fps but that would compromise the 'twitch' based nature of the game, hence the 'not possible' comment.

Furthermore, the Switch's online infrastructure has not been tested yet and for a dedicated multiplayer title, this could make or break the game on Switch.

It's possible we may get it in the future but I doubt it.

In my opinion, if the game is NOT available to purchase i.e, the publisher/developer is no longer selling the game then downloading a ROM to play the games of yesteryear makes no difference as no losses are being incurred to the business.

In Nintendo’s case, a large number of Nintendo’s classics are still available to purchase from Nintendo themselves e.g Wii Shop Channel (for now), Wii U, 3DS, NES/SNES mini’s. This means that if you choose to download a ROM that is readily available to purchase, you are potentially harming Nintendo’s sales and in that case, I believe Nintendo or any publisher/developer would have a fair point.

Like I said, to me, if the games are available for purchase still then ROMs should not be distrubuted for those games. Games that are no longer sold I feel should be alright.

@GlennW You can see that right at the end of the video when the player gets to Viridian City. The Caterpie somehow flies back in a Pokeball and then immediately is set back out again.

@bratzdoll Nintendo first party only.

Bayonetta is 2nd party I believe because it’s made by Platonum Games

@Luke937 Games that need more memory or bandwidth as a result of textures, GPU effects will have an impact compared to the Wii U, which mostly received last gen games designed to run on consoles with low memory bandwidth and 512mb RAM. Even then, the Wii U barely had a stable framerate in third party games, with Black Ops 2, Ghosts and Mass Effect 3 to name a few all underperforming or running at lower than 720p. The Wii U's issue there, was its CPU.

Likewise, the Switch is trying to run games that are designed to run on the lowest denominator at the time - the base Xbox One. That means a 8 core Jaguar CPU (terrible by modern standards, a G4350 beats it), 8GB DDR3 RAM shared. The Switch on the other hand even in docked mode, is inferior in spec but devs also have to go a step further and tailor the games for handheld mode and scale up to docked.

Whilst the Wii U was superior to the 360/PS3 in some areas, its CPU let it down and most PS3/360 games were CPU intensive to compensate. The Switch doesn't have that benefit and as such, some games will need sacrifices to run, even if it means going below 720p.

I do have to admit, whilst Wolfenstein 2 is playable and impressive that it's running on the Switch, the low blurry resolution and somewhat input lag puts me off finishing it. I'll have to get round to it at some point.

I have no idea what happened but this 3DS stability update was so stable it stabilised my Wii U as well.

No Yooka-Laylee? It's listed by Limited Run Games as August of this year as per their website E3 announcement page.

This'll likely have been affected by the frame pacing issues Fortnite exhibits on Switch. Splatoon 2's got a mostly locked 60fps with almost perfect frame pacing for a buttery smooth experience.

A better comparison would be Doom's or Wolfenstein 2's more taxing areas since the gyro performance there would be comparable to Fortnite's.

That said, there are certainly some refinements that can be done to improve Fortnite's gyro performance but I think trying to stabilise the framerate and frame pacing would help alot.

For me, The Legend of Zelda: BOTW as I hunt down the remaining Shrines to get Link's tunic. Whilst I'm in the U.S, I'm also hunting down a Link Ocarina of Time Amiibo but not having much luck on that front.

Super Mario Odyssey is also seeing frequent playtime as I continue my hunt for the remaining Power Moons. I'm currently on 460 and I'm getting all the ones I can find relatively fast and will return to the ones I am missing later. Currently searching through New Donk City!

I'm also playing through Wolfenstein 2's campaign though it hasn't hooked me quite like I thought I would. Something seems off with it, perhaps the lack of analogue controls or the digital triggers. Nonetheless, I am still enjoying it in short bursts and it is still early days.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is proving to be more challenging than I thought. In some cases the game has felt a little frustrating but it is still satisfying and fun to play. Only halfway through world 3 so got a ways to go yet.

Finally, I plan to get Kirby Star Allies when I return to the UK as well as physical copies of Sonic Mania Plus, Rocket League and Yooka-Laylee (when it releases), with Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee rounding off my Switch purchases for this year.

On the 3DS side, I will be looking to purchase most of the Zelda, Pokemon, Mario and Kirby games that were on the system as I did not give the handheld as much attention as I should have done.

On the 'retro' side of things, I'm looking to finish my DS games whilst repurchasing many of my lost GB/GBA/N64 games that I lost over the years. Very frustrating but it happens as time goes on though I've made sure that it won't happen again. Got a handful of missing GC games too but there's only a handful missing there luckily. It's unlikely i'll be able to repurchase everything by the end of this year but it's something I'm excited to do over time.

@Cobalt Assets does not equal gameplay. You can re-use assets and increase the resolution/tweak them. It does not mean it will be identical and it is a common practice in the games industry.

The actual gameplay and feel of the game is what should be different. Unlike MK8DX, which is identical to MK8, numerous reports indicate that Smash Ultimate plays differently to other Smash games.

@Stocksy Yeah, all they said as per their website and tweets is ‘August’. I assume that means pre-order and sale.

I also asked them about how many copies will be made. They said for Yooka Laylee it’s supposedly going to be a 2 week window and they’ll make the amount that is ordered. They’ll also ship internationally.

For now, just keep an eye on their website and twitter, that’s what i’ve been doing every few days or so.

Unbelievable, completely unacceptable in this day and age.

Nice. Still waiting to give the game a shot because Limited Run Games are releasing a physical copy in August. Until then, i’ll have to wait.

@Not_Soos It's 1280x720 docked, which is surprising. I would have thought something between 720p and 1600x900 would be the target for docked with 720 or slightly below with adaptive resolution for handheld.

Ah well, it is what it is.

Looks like i'll give Warframe a go then.

It's strange, I'm playing games on Switch I would never consider playing normally, despite owning a powerful PC and all consoles.

As a side note, does Warframe have cross platform support? It seems like it would be a good title to support it on Switch.

@Not_Soos Really? That's a shame. It was to be my first Kirby game, despite owning all Nintendo consoles and handhelds since the N64 (a crime, i know!). I liked what I played of the demo but i'll take your advice and see if I can find a good price for it.

Yeah, I expect if your College experience is anything like the workload I got when I was at University then I completely understand why. Education first! I'd say just add to video projects of yours overtime bit by bit. It gets easier once you finish education!

That internet speed sounds rough, I guess I got lucky with mine since mine was never that bad at University. It may be a case that your file sizes are somewhat large, in which case you could try compressing the videos to reduce the file size and by extension, the upload time at the cost of some overall quality. Alternatively, you could perhaps try smaller video's to begin with? It may not be possible depending on what your projects are, which I respect.

If not, you could do what I did. I couldn't find the time so instead I opted to just script some videos, plan series and get some clips every so often. That way, you're still making progress bit by bit. On the upside, it gives you plenty of time to edit or review your ideas as well, which you can then tackle easier after College.

@Not_Soos It's actually a reference to the British stereotype, since I'm British I thought it would make for a humorous addition.

I may consider purchasing the Switch version after all then, though it's in line behind Kirby Star Allies, Minecraft Switch physical and the physical release of Yooka-Laylee at the moment! Glad to hear the performance of Crash is still up to scratch on the Switch!

And yes, my channel name for both is the same as my username. At the moment my content is all private as I'm trying to build a backlog of video's first to keep ahead of production of videos etc. Once I feel I have enough to keep ahead, I'll slowly release them to a schedule!

Twitch streaming on the other hand is erratic because my PC is not powerful enough to stream games like PUBG efficiently at a stable framerate (i deem anything that drops below 60 unplayable for FPS's on a PC) so I don't plan on committing to that regularly yet until I upgrade my PC later this year! I've yet to find a 'good' way to stream either as it's difficult to talk to people that aren't actually there. You look at all of these big Twitch streamers who've been doing it for years and it's all natural to them, to me it feels weird and unnerving, which doesn't help.

Still, it's a lot of work for a hobby!

@Not_Soos Haha yeah, I've already got every single Trophy on the N.Sane trilogy and I prefer the PS1 originals personally so it's one of the few games I've not repurchased for the Switch.

Also, you like my additions to the profile pic? I'm in the middle of designing a picture for my Youtube/Twitch channels but it's not finished yet. I guess you could call my current pic the prototype.

@JaxonH True. I'm curious to see the sales data you are referencing so could you provide a link regarding DOOM's and Skyrim's Switch performance? Without seeing the data, my assumptions in my original comment haven't changed because if they were successful, surely Bethesda would like to get as many games on the platform as possible rather than ending support for the time being.

To me, it still looks like the usual PR talk.

@JaxonH Wolfenstein 2 was already well into development and being ported for the Switch. A lot can change in a few months. Wolfenstein 2 was announced the same time DOOM was. It is possible that DOOM and Skyrim's performances left much to be desired or even turn a profit. By that point, it would be more cost effective to finish and release Wolfenstein 2 than to cancel it so they've released the game and no longer have to invest any further into the Switch.

Short version - Wolfenstein 2's release this week has no relevance whatsoever.

Unfortunately that doesn't fill me with much confidence in their future support. We've heard this before with devs on the Wii U.

Yes Bethesda have supported the Switch until now and provided some impressive ports for the hybrid console that could but it sounds like to me they're done with it for now.

Wolfenstein 2 on Switch for me with a chance of Fortnite and Rocket League.

On the PC side there will be more of the same - PUBG and Dota 2.

PS3 I may go hunt some trophies but I think I'll probably stick with Wolfenstein 2 on Switch primarily for the time being.

The day gaming becomes a streaming only service is the day i quit gaming for good.

@OorWullie Can confirm 7-8GB required download. Haven't had a chance to play the game yet but looking forward to it.

Thanks for the help!