skies of arcadia differences

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Charlton
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skies of arcadia differences

Post#1 » Sun Oct 18, 2015 1:59 am

i never played this game. ( i just started to really collect for DC ) I really want to but I was wondering if its ports were better or if its really just a subjective thing thats different for each person?

I.E. "THE PORT HAS BETTER GRAPHICS".
"MAYBE TECHNICALLY BUT I FIND THE OLDER GRAPHICS HAVE MORE OF THE DREAMCAST FEEL TO THEM AND THATS WHAT I WANT TO SEE IN THIS GAME".

Or "THE PORT HAS ADDED STORY".
"I THOUGHT THE STORY WAS BETTER WITH OUT THE EXTRA STUFF".

I love nostalgia and really just want to play this for my DC but i want to play the best version for my first time through as well.

So any thoughts? ( And please don't give away any of the story as I'm really jazzed to discover it on my own. :) Thanks!)

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Aleron Ives
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Re: skies of arcadia differences

Post#2 » Sun Oct 18, 2015 4:06 am

The GC version has enhanced graphics and some extra story (with some imposters who ruin your reputation by pretending to be you while causing trouble), and it also has a reduced random battle rate (which most people found annoyingly high on DC). Unfortunately, it also has grossly inferior music quality to the DC version, because Sega crammed it onto a single GC disc, when the DC version uses two discs. If you're a fan of BGM the way I am, then it's DC or bust.

You can compare the BGM quality for yourself here. The GC version isn't even in stereo (and is missing instruments)! :cry:
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mazonemayu
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Re: skies of arcadia differences

Post#3 » Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:27 am

and although the GC has more detailed graphics (a fist showing fingers in sheat of being a brick), the DC version still looks more crisp due to the game supporting VGA.

also the GC has no VMU to act as your radar to lead you to hidden stuff, and although they have replaced this system with an onscreen radar, it is still more "realistic" with a VMU
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Charlton
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Re: skies of arcadia differences

Post#4 » Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:12 pm

Thanks guys.

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segata sanshiro
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Re: skies of arcadia differences

Post#5 » Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:23 pm

mazonemayu wrote:and although the GC has more detailed graphics (a fist showing fingers in sheat of being a brick), the DC version still looks more crisp due to the game supporting VGA.

also the GC has no VMU to act as your radar to lead you to hidden stuff, and although they have replaced this system with an onscreen radar, it is still more "realistic" with a VMU


Yes, i have them both and the graphic enhancements on GC are almost nonexistent (don't kill me guys, im either blind or too much of a fanboy, but i don't see it looking better), on the other hand DC+VGA looks so much better... just play the Dreamcasdt version!!!

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scaryred24
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Re: skies of arcadia differences

Post#6 » Sun Oct 18, 2015 4:49 pm

If I'm not mistaken the Gamecube version has a higher polygon count than the Dreamcast, but it is not noticeable at first glance.
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OGDCFAN99
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Re: skies of arcadia differences

Post#7 » Wed Oct 21, 2015 2:08 pm

I own both versions as well.

There is a difference between "graphics" and "video quality." While the GCN does have better graphics due to the higher polygon models, it only outputs at 480i so the interlaced video quality looks rather mediocre (not counting emulators). As Aleron said, the sound is downgraded too due to it being crammed onto one disc.

While the older DC version technically uses less detailed graphics, lower polygon counts, it outputs them at better video quality (480P) through VGA which you will find very noticeable if you had the two versions side by side.

And then there's the VMU functionality which is purely subjective- Personally I really like the asymmetrical gameplay they were going for with it. Its a shame this dual screen type of gameplay didn't gain much popularity with the DC or later on with Nintendo's GBA to GCN link and the Wii U.

If Nintendo would have Shipped SOA with Progressive Scan support and GBA to GCN link functionality to act similarly to the VMU functionality, I think the GCN version would be right on par with the DC one but that's just my opinion.

Everything I said above also goes for RECV and quite a few others that I cant think of off the top of my head but probably will the second after I post this message.

Charlton
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Re: skies of arcadia differences

Post#8 » Wed Oct 21, 2015 6:53 pm

OGDCFAN99 wrote:I own both versions as well.

There is a difference between "graphics" and "video quality." While the GCN does have better graphics due to the higher polygon models, it only outputs at 480i so the interlaced video quality looks rather mediocre (not counting emulators). As Aleron said, the sound is downgraded too due to it being crammed onto one disc.

While the older DC version technically uses less detailed graphics, lower polygon counts, it outputs them at better video quality (480P) through VGA which you will find very noticeable if you had the two versions side by side.

And then there's the VMU functionality which is purely subjective- Personally I really like the asymmetrical gameplay they were going for with it. Its a shame this dual screen type of gameplay didn't gain much popularity with the DC or later on with Nintendo's GBA to GCN link and the Wii U.

If Nintendo would have Shipped SOA with Progressive Scan support and GBA to GCN link functionality to act similarly to the VMU functionality, I think the GCN version would be right on par with the DC one but that's just my opinion.

Everything I said above also goes for RECV and quite a few others that I cant think of off the top of my head but probably will the second after I post this message.


does it look the same as Dreamcast on an emulator?
emulators are also buggy arnt they?

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segata sanshiro
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Re: skies of arcadia differences

Post#9 » Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:21 am

graphics, video quality, polycount,.... the Dreamcast version looks better with VGA, as simple as that.
I have my GC stashed away in a box and cant check, but i would bet that the texture resolution of the DC is better. OGDCFAN99, what do you say (if you can check it)?

OGDCFAN99
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Re: skies of arcadia differences

Post#10 » Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:09 pm

I have component cables for the gcn and even with the cables any game that isn't progressive scan compatible(Skies) looks muddy and just terrible like a ps2 game. So what is being rendered in the gcn internally (higher poly count or not) is bottlenecked by the interlaced output so you can't even tell if it uses better textures or not. I don't know if they technically reused the same textures in the gcn version but someone else here probably does.

All that being said, higher texture resolution or not, the DC version does look worlds better via vga, it is as simple as that. Same with RE2, RE3, RECV, Crazy Taxi, Capcom vs SNK 2, Donald Duck Going Quackers, Evolution, Hydro Thunder, Rush 2049, -they don't run in pro scan on gcn thus look worlds better on DC's vga. One exception is PSO which looks great in progressive scan on gcn.

And emulators.. I don't have a gcn emulator but I have heard that with it you can force progressive scan on games that don't support it and it looks way better than on the original hardware. If so, then you'll probably be able to notice the higher poly count and the difference in texture resolution if there indeed is any. Again there's people that know way more about this than me and many other posts that cover this topic.

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