Topic: Castlevania Confessions

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Not to mention Crispin Freeman absolutely killed it as Hector.

Curse of Darkness is kind of the high water mark for VA in Castlevania, at least until Lords of Shadow came along with celebrity voice actors.

[Belmontoya]

Solution: Stairs are slopes that function as platforms. If the player wants to disengage and drop down a floor, simply hold the down button, press "jump" and the player falls through. I essentially fixed the issue while allowing the player to maintain their mobility. Can has Nobel prize?

Do you walk up stairs the same way you walk up slopes in real life? Try it and see how it works out for you.

That's why they are different.

Stairs are innately entirely different in the way you interact with them. You have to be mindful of each step and Castlevania gives you a sense of that in a platformer. It's a very cool dynamic. And stairs also are a common feature in castles.

That is why there are stairs. That is why they are different.

Stairs are not slopes. Slopes are not stairs. I for one am not a big fan of the way that was changed in metroidvanias. It's physically impossible for stairs to be climbed that way. No one can seamlessly run from the ground up a flight of stairs without so much as a change in step. It's unnatural, and took away a cool mechanic that could have been pushed further instead of pushed aside.

[sadae]

- I like the song I am the Wind.

Who doesn't? It's beautiful.

So... my confessions... good way to introduce myself, I suppose. Let's see.

-I have never played AoS or DoS
-I liked LoS a bit.
-I write CV fanfiction but I have only published one of them. I specially like writing sappy romantic stories with Mathias and Elisabetha.
-I love the corny anime-esque cutscenes of Rondo. I just love them.
-I also write gay fanfics. My guilty pleasure. I'm so sorry.
-I'm so useless I haven't been able to steal from Death in CoD.
-I love "I am the Wind".

[ProjectDread]

Do you walk up stairs the same way you walk up slopes in real life? Try it and see how it works out for you.

That's why they are different.

This is not real life, though. The vast majority of video games that feature stairs essentially program them in as slopes. Castlevania is anything but realistic, and to me it doesn't make sense to sacrifice player mobility for the sake of artificial difficulty and "realism" that, in my opinion, adds nothing to the game.

Stairs are innately entirely different in the way you interact with them. You have to be mindful of each step and Castlevania gives you a sense of that in a platformer. It's a very cool dynamic. And stairs also are a common feature in castles.

That is why there are stairs. That is why they are different.

True, but I'm not suggesting outright removing the stairs. They'd still be in the game, they'd still look like stairs. However, the player would just interact with them as if they were slopes. I'm recommending sacrificing a modicum of realism for more fluid gameplay.

Stairs are not slopes. Slopes are not stairs. I for one am not a big fan of the way that was changed in metroidvanias. It's physically impossible for stairs to be climbed that way. No one can seamlessly run from the ground up a flight of stairs without so much as a change in step. It's unnatural, and took away a cool mechanic that could have been pushed further instead of pushed aside.

We'll probably have to agree to disagree here. As far as most video games are concerned, stairs are just slopes with a different graphical aesthetic. Some games like Metal Gear Solid V actually have a nifty feature where Snake will actually have a different walking / running animation when on stairs or when running up a slope. This attention to detail is nice and certainly helps immerse us within the  game world, but the player still retains absolute control over the character. In classic Castlevania, player control is often gimped in favor of realism in areas that I feel hurt gameplay.

And in my opinion, gameplay almost always trumps realism.

[Crying Freeman]

This is not real life, though. The vast majority of video games that feature stairs essentially program them in as slopes. Castlevania is anything but realistic, and to me it doesn't make sense to sacrifice player mobility for the sake of artificial difficulty and "realism" that, in my opinion, adds nothing to the game.

True, but I'm not suggesting outright removing the stairs. They'd still be in the game, they'd still look like stairs. However, the player would just interact with them as if they were slopes. I'm recommending sacrificing a modicum of realism for more fluid gameplay.

We'll probably have to agree to disagree here. As far as most video games are concerned, stairs are just slopes with a different graphical aesthetic. Some games like Metal Gear Solid V actually have a nifty feature where Snake will actually have a different walking / running animation when on stairs or when running up a slope. This attention to detail is nice and certainly helps immerse us within the  game world, but the player still retains absolute control over the character. In classic Castlevania, player control is often gimped in favor of realism in areas that I feel hurt gameplay.

And in my opinion, gameplay almost always trumps realism.

Have you seen the PC ports of CV1 from the early 90s? Simon does run up the stairs at lightning speed, and it looks goofy as hell XD. I like the stairs personally. It's a CV trademark that some other games like Vampire (a CV copycat anyway) have implemented. It's better than the generic jump up the blocks constantly method of verticality. The slopes could work but in a castle you'll find stairs over slopes. Maybe design the stairs like slopes, hit up and you walk left and right normally but on a diagonal plane. But CV is built around the stairs mechanic so it works fine. It does make way for hard bits where the area is designed around the stairs(more so in CV3), and while they can piss me off, it keeps the game interesting.

I also like that you don't get knocked off on stairs. The only game I hate the stairs in is Haunted Castle cus they simply don't work with the super choppy movement. They're implemented well into the other games though and it separates CV from most other platformers. BTW, how do you feel about the gameboy trilogy's ropes?

[Belmontoya]

I think the stairs are fun gameplay. They added another dynamic.

Of course gameplay trumps realism. I was explaining why they were different. In a slower paced action game like classic cv it makes sense. And it added variety to gameplay.

I've never agreed with that complaint.

I would take even haunted castle stair mechanics over slopes.

I want stair mechanics for stairs and slope mechanics for slopes.

[zangetsu468]

Solution: Stairs are slopes that function as platforms. If the player wants to disengage and drop down a floor, simply hold the down button, press "jump" and the player falls through. I essentially fixed the issue while allowing the player to maintain their mobility. Can has Nobel prize?

That's un-intuitive because
a - I'd like to choose to go up stairs prior to having to go up and then drop down manually,
b - you'd still need to press "Down" to walk down stairs, there's no way to apply to auto-logic to walking downstairs. Therefore there'd be two sets of rules.

That's like saying a subweapon in mid air should be a button, but on the floor it should be up+attack. It's not well though out. 

In conclusion, they should make an easier mode for certain individuals where upwards stair-walking is automatic.

Personally I like manually walking up the stairs, same as I like driving a manual car. Belmontoya and Freeman are correct in their opinions imo.
Sounds like you've had a bad experience with stairs. Do you need a hug?

[Shiroi Koumori]

-I also write gay fanfics. My guilty pleasure. I'm so sorry.

Don't be. Send the links to me via PM! 

[X]

-I also write gay fanfics. My guilty pleasure. I'm so sorry.

So you like to write happy fanfics eh? Nothing wrong with that. That's what gay means by the way - Happy. In this day and age the term gay, unfortunately, has been used to describe homosexuality which I feel is entirely incorrect. But that's humanity for you; always looking to twist something around because they think it sounds correct in their under-educated minds. And what's even more sad is that dictionaries acknowledge it as such

Sorry for the rant sadae, and welcome to the Dungeon

[coinilius]

So you like to write happy fanfics eh? Nothing wrong with that. That's what gay means by the way - Happy. In this day and age the term gay, unfortunately, has been used to describe homosexuality which I feel is entirely incorrect. But that's humanity for you; always looking to twist something around because they think it sounds correct in their under-educated minds. And what's even more sad is that dictionaries acknowledge it as such

Sorry for the rant sadae, and welcome to the Dungeon

Except that language is an ever changing and evolving thing, and dictionaries have to be updated to reflect this.  'Nice' used to mean something that was 'silly' or 'foolish' and had negative connotations, but now is used to describe things that are, well, nice... pleasant things, if perhaps still sometimes used to demean slightly.  And that doesn't even get into differences in dialects within a single language!  (or even the history of the word 'homosexual' and how it was only coined in the mid to late 1800's, and it and 'heterosexual' were only adopted into the mainstream because they were popularized.  Or that 'gay' had widely accepted non-homosexual sexual connotations for a very long time as well.  Or the use of euphemisms and code words because homosexual acts were illegal and discussion of homosexuality was not something done in the open for a very long time)

Sorry, but people talking about language as if it is a fixed thing that shouldn't change just makes me want to go on a rant of my own 

[Aceearly1993]

Just wait until you hit the Garibaldi temple. Rippers kill Hector in 1-2 hits. 

I arrived Cordova Town and the "ass-ass-in" zombies made me sick 
But the freaking nightmare of abandoned castle had been wiped, anyway.

I hate that crazy armor MORE than any enemy in this game

Almost everything changed after arrived Julia's Shop   

The Flea man/Ripper problem, is that there are higher-level (LV.50/LV.85) ones exist in the Temple where only appeared at later of the game in normal mode.

LV.50 Flea man kills a LV.20 Hector in 2 hits and LV.85 Flea man is the 100% killer

[zangetsu468]

I arrived Cordova Town and the "ass-ass-in" zombies made me sick 
But the freaking nightmare of abandoned castle had been wiped, anyway.

I hate that crazy armor MORE than any enemy in this game

Almost everything changed after arrived Julia's Shop   

The Flea man/Ripper problem, is that there are higher-level (LV.50/LV.85) ones exist in the Temple where only appeared at later of the game in normal mode.

LV.50 Flea man kills a LV.20 Hector in 2 hits and LV.85 Flea man is the 100% killer

That's a decent effort for crazy mode. Good on you.

Although I like 3D-GAVania and I'm pretty decent at it, naturally I'm a lot better at 2d Castlevania games.
Proof being in the pudding of another confession: I'm relatively good at games, 3Dvania included, but I've never beaten Boss Rush on COD. I came close, but I never stuck it out.

Personally for me I believe Crazy modes>L1HardMaxCap
It's a shame they don't offer crazy mode with supplementary characters though.

Confession: I did acquire the Dracula medal after beating him on OOE HMCL1 mode, no offensive Glyph union, no Dominus, just   Nitesco x 2 and Death's Ring(?) or Satan's Ring (the one you find in the Clocktower in that room to the left of the row of peeping eyes.) That was one of my most rewarding moments in Castlevania.

[sadae]

So you like to write happy fanfics eh? Nothing wrong with that. That's what gay means by the way - Happy. In this day and age the term gay, unfortunately, has been used to describe homosexuality which I feel is entirely incorrect. But that's humanity for you; always looking to twist something around because they think it sounds correct in their under-educated minds. And what's even more sad is that dictionaries acknowledge it as such

Sorry for the rant sadae, and welcome to the Dungeon

Hahaha thanks for the welcome. I did mean homosexual fanfics by the way (which of course I'm pretty sure you already know XD).

I do, however, have a soft spot for silly parody fanfics. They are also a guilty pleasure.

[Aceearly1993]

That's a decent effort for crazy mode. Good on you.

Arrived Dracula's damned Castle today. Shit is getting hotter and hotter

The strongest enemies and bosses I can tell by now are
Issac first fight (No doubt the toughest for me)
Saint Germain (thron/brambles attack+gun attack together)
Crazy Armor (*Yes, of course!  )
Fleaman/Ripper
Dead Baron/Higher ranking Fishman/Jin

And no idea about Crazy mode final battle

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Arrived Dracula's damned Castle today. Shit is getting hotter and hotter

The strongest enemies and bosses I can tell by now are
Issac first fight (No doubt the toughest for me)
Saint Germain (thron/brambles attack+gun attack together)
Crazy Armor (*Yes, of course!  )
Fleaman/Ripper
Dead Baron/Higher ranking Fishman/Jin

And no idea about Crazy mode final battle

Oh, you'll just love the Isaac-Death one-two punch before Dracula on Crazy mode, given that it's plenty hard for most players on Normal.