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Frog
Aug 13, 2008, 12:56 PM
Phantasy Star Portable importers, how is the framerate?

Is it rock-solid or stutter like the PS2 version?

30fps or 60fps?

Akaimizu
Aug 13, 2008, 01:46 PM
I can't tell you which one of those it is. It is pretty smooth, most of the time. It also doesn't have that (slowdown for no reason) issue I've seen in the game. You know, the kind in which you move the camera and then it's slower (in a particular spot) yet you really can't see anything more complex in the scene; but if you move, it speeds up again.

I'm sure there might be times when there's a lot going on and there maybe slowdown there; but from what I played, I rarely saw it or to a degree that it was very noticible.

Frog
Aug 13, 2008, 01:54 PM
I can't tell you which one of those it is. It is pretty smooth, most of the time. It also doesn't have that (slowdown for no reason) issue I've seen in the game. You know, the kind in which you move the camera and then it's slower (in a particular spot) yet you really can't see anything more complex in the scene; but if you move, it speeds up again.

I'm sure there might be times when there's a lot going on and there maybe slowdown there; but from what I played, I rarely saw it or to a degree that it was very noticible.

So you are saying it is much smoother than the 360/PS2 versions? They both had slowdown/framedrops.

Zarode
Aug 13, 2008, 02:45 PM
There is slowdown, but most of the time, it's pretty consistent. It happens in:

Busy levels (eh, I don't see this often)

or

Too much going on (four players trying to kill six enemies all spamming lots and lots of graphical goodness).

D14BL0
Aug 15, 2008, 11:13 PM
The framerate drops pretty badly during big fights.

Anyone using CFW clocking up their CPU? If so, what are you setting it to?

beatrixkiddo
Aug 15, 2008, 11:15 PM
30fps in story mode, 20fps in multi mode, or so it seems to me. I'm fine in story mode unless I have 3 NPCs.

D14BL0
Aug 15, 2008, 11:33 PM
30fps in story mode, 20fps in multi mode, or so it seems to me. I'm fine in story mode unless I have 3 NPCs.

There's something weird about multi mode, because even with NO party, the framerate is still noticeably lower compared to multi.

There's times that I'll get better framerate in story with a full party in one area than if I were by myself in multi in the same area.

It's probably related to the WLAN needing to remain active during the whole thing.

mvffin
Aug 16, 2008, 02:33 AM
story mode also has less enemies in the free missions.

.newzero
Aug 16, 2008, 05:51 AM
Storymode: 30fps and slowdowns in some areas. Same as in the PC version. Slowdowns arent as bad as in the PS2/Xbox 360 version. The Xbox 360 version is a huge slowdown itself internally running at 25fps :( while the PC and PS2 versions are 30fps internally :)

Multi Mode: 20fps + framedrops (framedrops =/= slowdowns) if its busy on screen.

Lamak
Aug 16, 2008, 02:26 PM
I'm only playing story mode atm. I've noticed frame rate issues at Agata Relics with 3 NPCs, but then again, I was using 3 npcs.

Callous
Aug 17, 2008, 09:25 AM
Playing the UMD and always with 3 NPCs in story mode. The slowdown is bad. The baseline may be 30 FPS, but the game only reaches this in glimpses. Most of the time with enemies on screen is spent wading through something like 15-20 FPS. I played the PS2 version a lot, and I'd say this game is on par with that, going on worse.

Doesn't stop me from playing as here at least I don't lag behind PC players, but the slowdown is most definitely there, and lots of it.

Frog
Aug 18, 2008, 04:21 PM
but the slowdown is most definitely there, and lots of it.
That sucks! Thanks for the honest info though!

Amherst_Wind
Aug 18, 2008, 08:46 PM
Playing the UMD and always with 3 NPCs in story mode. The slowdown is bad. The baseline may be 30 FPS, but the game only reaches this in glimpses. Most of the time with enemies on screen is spent wading through something like 15-20 FPS. I played the PS2 version a lot, and I'd say this game is on par with that, going on worse.

Doesn't stop me from playing as here at least I don't lag behind PC players, but the slowdown is most definitely there, and lots of it.

Hmm... I think you're going a little too far there, this game does have slowdown in big fights with 3 NPCs maybe but any other time the game runs just fine. It is NOWHERE near as bad as the PS2 version (which after playing on PC, PS2 and PSP I can honestly say PS2 is by far the worst.)

I find Story mode missions to run very smoothly even with many enemies on screen, I think NPCs are the major FPS killer. Anyway who invites 3 NPCs into a Story mode mission... people find them so hard they need NPC support!?

Frog
Aug 19, 2008, 08:43 AM
Hmm... I think you're going a little too far there, this game does have slowdown in big fights with 3 NPCs maybe but any other time the game runs just fine. It is NOWHERE near as bad as the PS2 version (which after playing on PC, PS2 and PSP I can honestly say PS2 is by far the worst.)

I find Story mode missions to run very smoothly even with many enemies on screen, I think NPCs are the major FPS killer. Anyway who invites 3 NPCs into a Story mode mission... people find them so hard they need NPC support!?
What I want to know is does this game run much smoother than the PS2 version in the solo free-mode. I might get it if it does. I like how they changed the item-drops.

Callous
Aug 19, 2008, 01:32 PM
Anyway who invites 3 NPCs into a Story mode mission... people find them so hard they need NPC support!?
Simply makes it feel less barren. The game offers it. I disagree with you on it not being as bad as the PS2 version. I think it's worse. Anyway, I'll give it a shot tomorrow with just one NPC and none at all and report back.

Enshroud
Aug 19, 2008, 01:50 PM
I mostly just bring along my PM for hunting, and there's only a bit of slowdown on very large fights.

Amherst_Wind
Aug 19, 2008, 02:02 PM
Simply makes it feel less barren. The game offers it. I disagree with you on it not being as bad as the PS2 version. I think it's worse. Anyway, I'll give it a shot tomorrow with just one NPC and none at all and report back.

The game offers it but that doesnt mean it wont cause slowdown, if you dont like the slowdown then dont invite a full party of NPCs, its that simple. The fact is, with one or no NPCs you experience next to no slowdown excluding large fights. You are making it sound like the whole game is plagued with slowdown but thats simply because you cause it with all your NPCs.


I mostly just bring along my PM for hunting, and there's only a bit of slowdown on very large fights.

/\ The truth

Enshroud
Aug 19, 2008, 02:07 PM
I tend to use dual handguns a lot and the NPC's usually just sit around anyway until something comes within melee range / is whacking them to death.

Akaimizu
Aug 19, 2008, 03:54 PM
It also depends on how much is going on, really. True, you can have some slowdown, but it's actually caused by having a bunch of stuff happening at once. All the other console versions have slowdowns that appear when there seems to be no real logical reason for it. Even the PC version suffers from this, unless you simply threw enough hardware at it to overcompensate against some sloppy programming. I have 3 PCs that should eat the game for breakfast, and only 1 of them can avoid the slowdowns.

Also, take note, there's a lot of weapons with extra effects that I haven't seen in the console versions yet. Weapons that spawn new kinds of pyro-technics while utilizing them. They can, if added with a bunch of stuff, cause slowdown when a more regular firing version of said weapon wouldn't.

Still, it's not bad at all. Things seem to always stay playable and I don't see quite the same level of speed dips as I've seen on the console versions. As far as I'm concerned, this still makes a game that (for the first time) actually manages to perform way better than you'd expect considering the hardware it runs on. Plus, you also have to consider that just about every other PSP game, that can even seem to cross into this genre, plays at a much slower pace.

So this is more or less PSU with some much cleaner code, but with a few small graphical glitches in place. Nothing major, except for tunnels that reveal architecture you shouldn't see at a certain distance. I wouldn't let that stop me, though. It's one heck of a portable port. One of the best, actually.

Callous
Aug 19, 2008, 10:29 PM
The game offers it but that doesnt mean it wont cause slowdown, if you dont like the slowdown then dont invite a full party of NPCs, its that simple. The fact is, with one or no NPCs you experience next to no slowdown excluding large fights. You are making it sound like the whole game is plagued with slowdown but thats simply because you cause it with all your NPCs.
Let'r try to be a little bit more objective here. Making apologies and supplying workarounds simply serves to highlight that the game does have some problems with slowdown. I am not causing anything. The game programming is causing slowdown under various conditions. That's not an opinion but an irrefutable fact.

That said, I have now conducted the tests and yes, the game runs much better with one or no NPCs in the party. The framerate still isn't stable and your just attack timing will be thrown off now and then, but it seems much more playable. That's good.

I wonder how the game plays with 3 other human players.

Anyway, to the topic starter: Provided you play alone or perhaps with just one NPC, the framerate is quite acceptable. Keep in mind that I have only played through one level solo or with one NPC, so you're going to have to believe the apologists in here that it's stable throughout the game. If you're still on the fence I'll put another update in here when I've played some more levels. I haven't played any outdoor levels yet and that's where the PS2 version seems to struggle the most.

Lastly, for all I know (and in all probability), some of you people are playing ISOs. That will obviously affect the framerate of a game that loads as much during combat as PS:P does.

Update: Alright. I'm now confident that playing with none or only one NPC makes the game a lot more playable across the board. Keep in mind, though, that missions in multimode (which you can play solo) differ quite a lot from missions in story mode. Thus, you'll definitely want to play there too and multimode is a bit of a stuttering mess even with no NPCs.

I found that playing from memory stick instead of UMD greatly enhances the experience. Weapons palette loads almost instantly and so on. I'm sure this also contributed to the increase in framerate I've seen. Hope you have custom firmware.

Overall, I'm still sticking to my remarks that this game suffers from slowdown at around PS2 levels. Playing alone in offline story mode was never much of a problem on the PS2, either. The two versions perform quite similarly under similar conditions, in my experience. It's simply a bit more acceptable for the PSP game because you'll mostly be playing solo. That combined with the fun PSO style drops means I think you'll have fun and get your money's worth of playtime.

And that's that.

Amherst_Wind
Aug 20, 2008, 07:45 AM
Let'r try to be a little bit more objective here. Making apologies and supplying workarounds simply serves to highlight that the game does have some problems with slowdown. I am not causing anything. The game programming is causing slowdown under various conditions. That's not an opinion but an irrefutable fact.

The game does have problems, nobody is trying to hide that, everyone so far has agreed with lots of players or in big fights there is slowdown, the problem was you only supplied that point of view, whereas everyone else pointed out that there is usually no slowdown in normal gameplay. The fact that you werent giving all the facts from the start was the problem.


That said, I have now conducted the tests and yes, the game runs much better with one or no NPCs in the party. The framerate still isn't stable and your just attack timing will be thrown off now and then, but it seems much more playable. That's good.

Thank you! If you want to give your opinions in the future, test it in every way the first time, it saves a lot of time. :p


I wonder how the game plays with 3 other human players.

I've had a two person game using ad-hoc and its about the same as playing on your own in multi-mode. I've only had a full 4 person party using Xlink and that cant really be used as a comparison due to Ping issues.


]Keep in mind, though, that missions in multimode (which you can play solo) differ quite a lot from missions in story mode. Thus, you'll definitely want to play there too and multimode is a bit of a stuttering mess even with no NPCs.

Multi-mode (or Online in PSU) missions have always had lag and slowdown in every version of this game, you can easily notice it just from opening boxes or picking up items.

Callous
Aug 20, 2008, 09:21 AM
The game does have problems, nobody is trying to hide that
Actually, saying "Eh, you're playing it wrong!" is a way to hide the problems.



Thank you! If you want to give your opinions in the future, test it in every way the first time, it saves a lot of time. :p
It's Sega's job to test that the game plays well under all circumstances, not mine. This game plays badly under quite a lot of circumstances. My initial and later impressions are a good indication of that.


Multi-mode (or Online in PSU) missions have always had lag and slowdown in every version of this game, you can easily notice it just from opening boxes or picking up items.
So then it's ... ok? This again looks apologistic. The guy wanted to know if there are framerate problems in the PSP version. I gave him an answer, not an excuse. The game plays fairly well solo or with one NPC in Story mode. Deviate from that and the experience deteriorates to varying degrees.

Amherst_Wind
Aug 20, 2008, 09:37 AM
Actually, saying "Eh, you're playing it wrong!" is a way to hide the problems.

I didnt say you were playing it wrong, I said you were playing it in a way the causes slowdown, the topic creator didnt ask "Hey, hows the framerate if I play with 3 NPCs." They asked how the framerate was, if you're going to answer give them all the information.



It's Sega's job to test that the game plays well under all circumstances, not mine. This game plays badly under quite a lot of circumstances. My initial and later impressions are a good indication of that.

Hmm, I think you're really letting your opinion of this game (which seems like a bad one if your other topic bemoaning the lack of PSO levels is to be believed) get in the way of giving a non-biased opinion of the framerate.


So then it's ... ok? This again looks apologistic. The guy wanted to know if there are framerate problems in the PSP version. I gave him an answer, not an excuse. The game plays fairly well solo or with one NPC in Story mode. Deviate from that and the experience deteriorates to varying degrees.

Im not apologising for it, I dont like it but once again Im trying to give the topic creator ALL the facts! You did give him an answer, a one sided answer which didnt really help at all. The answer he needed was exactly "The game plays fairly well solo or with one NPC in Story mode." Unfortunately it took you MUCH longer than everyone else who posted in this topic to get to that answer.

Now at least you finally have, so the topic creator has his answer.

Callous
Aug 20, 2008, 11:39 AM
And if the first answer in the thread was to be believed, the game is pretty much silky smooth. That's not exactly the whole truth, either. I stated very clearly under which conditions I experienced the slowdown in my very first reply. As soon as I tried other approaches I gave very detailed and objective information.

Please don't try to piece together some sort of conspiracy theory about my intention here. You would be wrong. I'm quite capable of distinguishing framerate issues from my disappointment at not having PSO levels. Hell, a few replies back I very clearly recommended the game to the guy.

Frog
Aug 20, 2008, 12:30 PM
Thanks for the answers guys! I think I'll pick up a PSP, Phantasy Star Portable, and the latest Monster Hunter Freedom when this hits the US!

:)

Callous
Aug 20, 2008, 10:29 PM
And the winner is ....

SEGA!

beatrixkiddo
Aug 20, 2008, 10:31 PM
The winner is Sony. You can't pirate physical objects.