Living the Dream
Member
Wish they would add in controller support. Love Lumines but ugh these controls
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Lumines: Puzzle & Music | OT | Shinin on Android & iOS
- Thread starter Pachimari
- Start date
Honestly don't think they'll do it, at least for iOS. Hope they do, but it would create too much of a difference in scoring, much like driving games would with wheel users vs. pad users.
Remembrance
Member
Finally had time to get through most of the new skins. The Rez skins are... Rez skins. No surprises there.
I like that you actually play skins for a set amount of time now - long enough for the music to actually play. The biggest weakness of Electronic Symphony was that if you were any good at all, you would blow past the good songs before they could even get started.
The weird thing is that this game actually changes the core mechanics for what I think is the first time ever:
- Blocks already erased to the left of the timeline don't pass their effects to the right of the timeline anymore. You can't add more blocks to a half-erased square anymore, and once the timeline passes a chain block you can't keep adding blocks to the right of the chain to get erased.
- On the other hand, a chain block's effects stick to blocks already passed to the left of the timeline - they basically become chain blocks until the next sweep. It's a slight buff, but not sure how useful it is.
- The shuffle block can no longer be split off to its own pile, because now it always affects the whole field. They actually doubled down on the least popular addition in Electronic Symphony.
I like that you actually play skins for a set amount of time now - long enough for the music to actually play. The biggest weakness of Electronic Symphony was that if you were any good at all, you would blow past the good songs before they could even get started.
The weird thing is that this game actually changes the core mechanics for what I think is the first time ever:
- Blocks already erased to the left of the timeline don't pass their effects to the right of the timeline anymore. You can't add more blocks to a half-erased square anymore, and once the timeline passes a chain block you can't keep adding blocks to the right of the chain to get erased.
- On the other hand, a chain block's effects stick to blocks already passed to the left of the timeline - they basically become chain blocks until the next sweep. It's a slight buff, but not sure how useful it is.
- The shuffle block can no longer be split off to its own pile, because now it always affects the whole field. They actually doubled down on the least popular addition in Electronic Symphony.
D
Deleted member 126221
Unconfirmed Member
WOW, thanks! Would never have found it by myself. That game is incredible, but it's pretty buggy. It completely wiped my save once for no apparent reason.
putermcgee
Junior Member
I can't figure out how to record/share replays in this game. There's the record icon, but I don't know which indicates that it's recording, or when recording starts and stops. I feel like I've tried some different things, and never got a replay.
Tell me about it. Really loved it hell out of it on my PSP...
345triangle
Member
yeah, i like the changes to how the chain block works seems more logical and strategic while compensating for the slower touch controls.
shuffle block remains the most baffling design decision in recent memory.
Remembrance
Member
Okay, I'm finally doing my Classic Endless run and I'm starting to see what you mean. Over 2.5 million points and the second loop is not done yet.
I'm going all in. Maxing out this run, even if I have to resume and continue over days.
Edit: 1 hour 12 minutes, 4.3 million, round 4 just started. Putting this on hold for the night.
Gamecocks625
Member
Really like the Rez pack.
Remembrance
Member
I'm officially declaring this game easier than any version of Lumines with a controller.
The touch controls are actually more responsive and more efficient than physical controls once you get used to them. I don't have to hold down to drop a block anymore - I can just swipe. I don't have to hold left or right to move blocks anymore - I can just drag.
In a direct comparison with Lumines Live and Electronic Symphony, touch controls save time compared to button controls, and let you clear more squares in a single timeline sweep. I still make some mistakes, but those are rare and my improved performance more than makes up for it.
The bonus requirement being dropped from 4 squares to 3 was just the icing on the cake. It's almost trivial to clear 3 squares but much harder to consistently clear 4. And with faster controls, whether I can keep a combo up or not is mainly up to whether I want to.
Like, I'm getting 4x bonuses on Spirits. That's unimaginable in any console Lumines that had Spirits in it.
The touch controls are actually more responsive and more efficient than physical controls once you get used to them. I don't have to hold down to drop a block anymore - I can just swipe. I don't have to hold left or right to move blocks anymore - I can just drag.
In a direct comparison with Lumines Live and Electronic Symphony, touch controls save time compared to button controls, and let you clear more squares in a single timeline sweep. I still make some mistakes, but those are rare and my improved performance more than makes up for it.
The bonus requirement being dropped from 4 squares to 3 was just the icing on the cake. It's almost trivial to clear 3 squares but much harder to consistently clear 4. And with faster controls, whether I can keep a combo up or not is mainly up to whether I want to.
Like, I'm getting 4x bonuses on Spirits. That's unimaginable in any console Lumines that had Spirits in it.
Oh shit, I didn't even notice that happened. I did wonder why levels I was struggling to 5-star in single skin mode were all of a sudden *much* easier.
Remembrance
Member
But it was 3 squares on day one when the game launched... they didn't change it in a patch. (I mean it was 4 squares in every other Lumines but 3 in this one.)
I think it's just that something clicked with you.
That's so weird, I was certain it was four the whole time I was playing. Very strange.
Remembrance
Member
1 hour and 55 minutes into Classic Endless, and nearing the end of round 5 with 7 million points. The blocks are noticeably faster now, but there's still no end to this run in sight (except when I accidentally made a very dangerous pillar in a center column).
I never thought I would say this about a console-mobile transition, but playing Lumines on a touchscreen is the closest thing I have had to a brain-computer interface. In any game ever.
I am able to do anything as fast as I can think and see it happening. Even having to tap three times to rotate backwards is no longer a burden. I have never played another game where the controls became this seamless at any time.
I never thought I would say this about a console-mobile transition, but playing Lumines on a touchscreen is the closest thing I have had to a brain-computer interface. In any game ever.
I am able to do anything as fast as I can think and see it happening. Even having to tap three times to rotate backwards is no longer a burden. I have never played another game where the controls became this seamless at any time.
So this game is great and has fueled my thirst for more Lumines.. BUT nope I cannot enjoy this game with a touchscreen. Rotating blocks sure, but quickly moving left and right is impossible. So many moves that are time sensitive and in my head I know exactly what I need to do and where each block needs to go but I can't pull it off in time because I'm fighting with the touchscreen. So many missed combos... ugh and it just frustrates me. I need a controller!
Remembrance
Member
My Classic Endless run is still going. Round 8, 10 million points, nearly 3 hours total.
I swear it started getting faster but now it's the default speed again.
I swear it started getting faster but now it's the default speed again.
putermcgee
Junior Member
There's another Mobcast game that is doing a collaboration with this one, so some new tracks are probably coming soon. I kind of hope they add more tracks to the base game as free updates, but I'm still willing to buy whatever they put out.
Video of a new skin: https://youtu.be/WMyw2dmaW5c
Video of a new skin: https://youtu.be/WMyw2dmaW5c
Yup, and an app update too.
putermcgee
Junior Member
There are two new tracks in the latest update. One is "18" which I think is from another game by the same publisher, and it's $2. The other is "a piece of sine wave" from the first Lumines, and it's $1.
My beef with the update is that it says "Improved UI" yet it's somehow worse now? I don't get why buttons to switch between modes are in different locations, depending on what mode you're in. And the way the two new skins are separated from the other albums is weird.
Remembrance
Member
"a piece of sine wave" is actually from the Rockin' Holiday Pack released for Live/Supernova. I'm ecstatic that skins from the best Lumines song pack ever are starting to return, yet... a single one?
I wish I could check out the new content, but I can't... because I'm still in my ongoing Classic Endless run. Now at 12 million and round 10 after 3 hours 30 minutes. And I can now definitively confirm that it never gets faster.
Remembrance
Member
Two more single skins added: "Lie in Rhodes" from the Rockin' Holiday Pack, and... "Strangers", the skin with the fastest timeline from the original Lumines. I had a feeling they might go for that one...
This game needs edit mode, because you really don't want to play one of the fastest skins in series history by itself in endless mode.
This game needs edit mode, because you really don't want to play one of the fastest skins in series history by itself in endless mode.
blame space
Banned
how are you supposed to control lumines with a touch screen. this is a bad joke.
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
darn i missed that sale
Deft Beck
Member
It controls just fine.