All they do is floating back and forth in an endless loop. Too inconvenient to use for getting around the castle, very convenient for intruders who want to get across to the other side.
I'm being half serious but anyone got an idea why they would even exist other than "because game".
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: Jop on November 01, 2017, 07:49:07 AM
If you think that the castle is something that is alive perhaps he is boring of most the time he dosnt make anything just stay there, This is his way to fun, or you can think like something inside a body, thats something normal to move inside him.
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: crisis on November 01, 2017, 08:16:16 AM
the platforms are possessed by spirits that seek to aid intruders of the castle
IGA kinda confirmed a similar thing, when he tried to explain why candles release items when destroyed. he said the candles contain the spirits of Dracula's victims, and by destroying them the spirits are freed, therefore they drop a specific item as a "thank you" to their hero
think of the floating platforms in a similar way
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: Dracula9 on November 01, 2017, 08:58:46 AM
one of two things
platform ghosts who are total bros
inherent vampire superiority complex demanding to provide human challengers a path to the big man, albeit a tough one, to see if they're worth a fight
(it's obviously platform brosts)
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: X on November 01, 2017, 09:49:30 AM
I tend not to overthink these things so I just go with game mechanics.
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: theplottwist on November 01, 2017, 10:00:28 AM
inherent vampire superiority complex demanding to provide human challengers a path to the big man, albeit a tough one, to see if they're worth a fight
Pretty much what I think too.
And it's not just convenient floating platforms. Dracula's entire castle on all games is structured in such a manner that it is possible to reach him, instead of just locking all doors permanently, or placing the strongest enemies early, or flat-out sealing Dracula's room altogether. When someone MAKES it impossible to reach the throne, it's a vampire with no relation to Dracula who thinks he is a failure of a vampire... and then the castle screws him up anyway by producing a vampire-vaccine-ex-machina;
Dracula drew power from Walter's soul, so I wonder if Walter's attitude/personality stained his magic somehow that it was unable to build an impossible-to-overcome castle when Dracula created it.
Here is a another I just thought up: The castle is a creation of chaotic origin, and chaos is a product of humans' negative traits -- to the point where it's stated that the castle is summoned from humanity's heart itself.
So, what if the castle can't be made inexpugnable because humanity's heart in itself isn't impervious to invaders? It IS a negative trait of humanity that it's not impervious to forces that wish to invade it without its consent. For instance, we have Shaft mindcontrolling Richter or Dracula controlling Soleiyu, amongst hundreds of others controlled by his curse in CVIII, and other millions more of humans exploiting and manipulating other humans. Maybe the flaw through which a human gets "invaded" is added to the "recipe" of Dracula's Castle when it is summoned. A perfect castle would be one that cannot be invaded -- hence this castle cannot be perfect, because it's literally made of humanity's imperfections. In other words: The castle is an ironic monument to humanity's failures down to its failure to protect its master.
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: zangetsu468 on November 01, 2017, 02:53:08 PM
Alucard mentions the Castle being a "creature" of darkness. In the screenshot of the vid you posted, see how many human remains are already there, before the platform that didn't make it that far. Presumably humans have failed at trying to cross this platforming section also.
On the other hand - it's an in-game mechanic.
You've got a real disdain towards floating platforms eh.
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: Nagumo on November 01, 2017, 03:30:38 PM
the platforms are possessed by spirits that seek to aid intruders of the castle
IGA kinda confirmed a similar thing, when he tried to explain why candles release items when destroyed. he said the candles contain the spirits of Dracula's victims, and by destroying them the spirits are freed, therefore they drop a specific item as a "thank you" to their hero
I tend not to overthink these things so I just go with game mechanics.
There are things I don't bother to explain either. For example, "how can Alucard/Soma/whoever carry so much stuff at the same time?" would be something I chalk up to gameplay mechanics. On the other hand there are some things which are weird when not rationalized. (Why does Hammer even charge Soma for items? etc.) Though I understand this is probably a subjective thing.
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: zangetsu468 on November 01, 2017, 07:12:52 PM
IGA kinda confirmed a similar thing, when he tried to explain why candles release items when destroyed. he said the candles contain the spirits of Dracula's victims, and by destroying them the spirits are freed, therefore they drop a specific item as a "thank you" to their hero
It's even prior to "Dracula" existing, as this happens in LOI. Leon and Rinaldo have a conversation regarding weapons left behind by previous hunters (which fall out of candles).
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: AdrianTepes on November 01, 2017, 09:48:34 PM
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: thernz on November 02, 2017, 11:05:08 PM
floating platforms need less materials than bridges, and dracula's cheap
just pretend they're floating wooden palettes to help ship goods to the castle
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: 13th Street on November 11, 2017, 01:12:56 AM
They're not really 'floating platforms' per se. You have to imagine the screen as an 'invisible wall', which is necessary for 2D platformers. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to see where you're going. So objects that appear as if they're 'floating' are actually physically attached to that 'wall'.
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: Dracula9 on November 11, 2017, 07:33:18 AM
except the ones that move horizontally or vertically without a groove in the wall and the ones we see a la symphony that dip under your weight
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: theANdROId on November 11, 2017, 07:54:17 AM
Couldn't they also be part of the front wall (...the fourth wall...heh...) that we can't see/that we're seeing through? They could be in a groove on that side and again we just aren't seeing it. No need to throw out the platform's groove. ;-)
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: Nagumo on November 11, 2017, 10:31:35 AM
They're not really 'floating platforms' per se. You have to imagine the screen as an 'invisible wall', which is necessary for 2D platformers. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to see where you're going. So objects that appear as if they're 'floating' are actually physically attached to that 'wall'.
Well, it's possible. However, that doesn't really explain why those platforms exist in the first place.
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: 13th Street on November 11, 2017, 02:39:53 PM
Well, it's possible. However, that doesn't really explain why those platforms exist in the first place.
The point is what looks like a 'platform' viewed in 2D might simply be a narrow ledge in 3D.
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on November 11, 2017, 02:55:14 PM
I'm gonna just go ahead and call "all of the above" on this one. I don't think it's really all one thing. Drac definitely has a superiority complex and wants to be reachable ENOUGH that only those who can overcome his puzzles and traps and servants can reach him. By doing so, you have proven that you possess the brains and brawn enough to present an amusing fight; a trait in Dracula which absorbing Walter's Soul has doubtless magnified. The Castle is a creature of chaos, and so will often just put things in odd places, physics and logic be damned. There's also an argument to be had for them representing stairwells, particularly when they line up with the image of a spiral staircase in the background image, which happens more often than you probably notice (Circle of the Moon in particular was actually pretty good about doing this). And while I've never really considered "platform ghosts", it would make a degree of sense given the setting and what we know about it. And there are also moments where a given set of platforms is CLEARLY intended to link up with the Fourth Wall -- unless the Castle really IS the world's biggest dollhouse but only visible in this way from that one side the cutscene cameras never seem to face (unlikely XD).
Title: Re: What's the point of all the convenient floating platforms in Dracula's castle?
Post by: TheouAegis on November 23, 2017, 10:51:47 PM
That's one of the things I liked about Metroid: Return Of Samus. The ledges are PART of the background in a lot of the areas. It adds so much more depth.
I think of some of the paltforms as just rickety remnants.