-
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.
Metal Slug 3 announced for Steam
- Thread starter Silky
- Start date
Tizoc
Member
Downsample from 2560x1440p
No filter at all.
How does downsampling work?
Dictator93
Member
How the heck does one get a closed beta invite to this?
Also, has anyone tried the sweetfx scanline CRT injector on this? The previous picture in the thread did not really show say much to me (maybe I am not knowing what I am looking for).
Also, has anyone tried the sweetfx scanline CRT injector on this? The previous picture in the thread did not really show say much to me (maybe I am not knowing what I am looking for).
poopninjamvc3mk
I sucked six dicks to get this tag.
Post in the community hub, accept friend request, say hi to jim
or
enter the current giveaway in steam thread.
Watching your stream right now! Game looks very good!
InfiniteNine
Rolling Girl
Yeah it seems to be a pretty nice port aside from it not registering my arcade stick buttons properly and the online desyncs, but if they fix those I'll be pretty happy with this port.
ShinobiFist
Banned
WHO WANTS A KEY!!!!
ShinobiFist
Banned
Skullgirl dude gets it. Check your PM.
Takamura-San
Member
How do you get one of them sweet codes?
Snkfanatic
Banned
I am gonna have to buy this again aren't I....I have lost track of how many versions of this I own.
Did you accept the friend invite...?
I'd try this then;
If that doesn't work I guess you missed the boat ;__:
Ah, well maybe he will give you a code whenever he comes back online. When I got the friend invite and accepted I was nearly immediately sent a message saying "hi" and then they gave me two codes after I chatted back to them. They were very polite as well. I didn't get an invite from Jim though, it was a different member whose name starts with a J.
If you got a friend invite, i'd hit him up and ask him directly.
I'd be surpised if you didn't get a key since he added you. I however am far less lucky as Jim never added me ;(
ShinobiFist
Banned
They all went to bed a couple of hours ago. Anyone who is in, send me a friend request to test the MP today.
CoachKevin
Member
I stick with my MVS copy 
ShinobiFist
Banned
I miss my MVS games
CrazyArcadia
Member
About the framerate... maybe that's actually for the reason of giving you the very same gameplay as in the arcade original. I remember many old Metal Slugs on original hardware stuttering when heavy explosions or many bullets were on the screen, and this being integrated into the gameplay in some way (like... unintentional bullet time, if you will). Cave Bullethell-Shmps also do this all the time, see all the enthusiasts flipping when it isn't emulated perfectly on console because of running to smooth at certain scenes. Could someone verify if the slowdowns happen at the same time as in the original arcade version on original hardware? (or... I have Metal Slug 3 on original hardware here but I don't have it on Steam yet. If someone could make a video of the slowdowns, I could check it out).
edit: nevermind. Just played it, there weren't really heavy slowdowns with just a rocket launcher, at least in the first stages. Maybe I thought of Metal Slug 2 or something.
Jim sent me a request. Must mean I got in but I put my PC on hibernate and went to sleep right after saying I'd love to try it. We'll see if he lets me in.
Even if it was a multiple of the native, it'd be blown up still. They need to give you the option to shrink it down to the native resolution (480 or slightly below that, yeah?) or at least shrink the resolution down while having "borders"/art like GG:XX:^C+R did on XBLA and PSN as well as Third Strike: OE and Street 2 Turbo IIRC.
But I wanna see the scanlines filter. I actually REALLY liked Third Strikes implementation of that because without resolution resizing options that's probably the "best" filter to put on the pixels to make them less super-sharp and I'm generally a stickler for native/no-filters.
Does it support 4player?
I am sure MAME can fix this by overclocking Neogeo's CPU. It shouldn't be a problem for the steam version.
Here's some comparison images:
No Filter/No Scanlines:
No Filter/With Scanlines:
Filter On/No Scanlines:
Filter On/With Scanlines:
Personally I like it best with no filter/no scanlines, but perhaps with a different scanlines filter I might prefer that.
Windows doesn't support its original resolution and the image would still be upscaled by the monitor or your GPU, unless you leave it as a small letterbox.
I have no issue with enlarged pixel art, in fact I love big sharp pixels and it's my preferred way of viewing 2D retro games. Almost all indie developers seem to get this right while bigger companies often screw it up.
Edit:
This exactly how I'd like the game to look!
Yeah, like I said: They should look at Third Strikes scanlines. I don't think they're as "small" to where the scanlines are shoved in by like 50 or so. I'll have to go back to Third Strike and look and if they give me a beta key later today I'll have to look for myself. But looking at your image the Scanline/Filter doesn't look too bad. Just needs some tweaking.
Awesome... and it's a game that my cruddy laptop can run.
I'm speechless
I would kill for this.
I'm speechless
I would kill for this.
I made a quick gameplay video of mission 1:
Mission 1 Gameplay
Personally I don't really notice much slowdown at all, but what there is seems to be part of the game engine - fraps reports a constant 60fps at all times.
Mission 1 Gameplay
Personally I don't really notice much slowdown at all, but what there is seems to be part of the game engine - fraps reports a constant 60fps at all times.
Takamura-San
Member
Be still my fragile heart...
Dictator93
Member
Not sure how I feel about maintaining engine slowdown for consistency reasons with arcade versions.
Ideally an option would be included.
I can't speak to Metal Slug 3's slowdown, but many arcade games are built around slowdown as it appears during development, meaning that eliminating the slowdown can mess up the game's difficulty curve.
No Filter/With Scanlines:
Personally I like it best with no filter/no scanlines, but perhaps with a different scanlines filter I might prefer that.
This is amazing. I've wanted Metal Slug on steam for the longest time.
Mental Atrophy
Banned
Me too, but I ended up not playing it much out of frustration. The ghosting/persistence of the PSP's LCD is really disorienting when there are lots of bullets. I have probably put the most amount of time into the XBLA release.
thelatestmodel
Junior, please.
At this point in time, it's Anthology or bust.
I personally wouldn't care to have individual Metal Slug titles cluttering up my library.
I personally wouldn't care to have individual Metal Slug titles cluttering up my library.
Rawket Lawnchair
Member
Meh, the good ones were MS1 and 2. Oh, and X.
I need this since I saw it on Giantbomb.
Best one was the original Metal Slug in my opinion. It's perfect. 2 was fantastic, but not as good.
The card shop that I used to play Magic: The Gathering at had a Windjammers/Samurai Showdown 2 machine. I loved WJ so much, that game is so much fun.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
I would be shocked if Metal Slug 3's slowdown was intentional. It occurs frequently even in parts where there's really not much of anything happening. Example: The part in the first stage where you're gunning down all those flying bugs with a heavy machine gun. Neo Geo version slows to a crawl, and there's clearly no intention behind that. It's no different than the rampant slowdown in Metal Slug 2, which was later fixed in Metal Slug X -- it's just because the game taxed the system heavily.
Metal Slug is not a bullet hell shooter.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Played through the first two levels, was disappointed by this port. I'll have details after I go for a run.
I figured that was more likely given the series history, I just haven't played MS3 seriously enough to be sure.
InfiniteNine
Rolling Girl
Update pushed~
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
My impressions:
- While obviously a more minor point, the menus are pretty crappy. The announcer saying "okay!" every time you select something on the menu is immediately annoying, and the redone character portraits are frankly just crap. And while an even more miniscule point, it's a little odd that after you choose your character, the panel that slides down with your character's sprite on it doesn't make it all the way down before the game starts. Seems like a silly thing to whine about, but the reason I bring that up is because it contributes to the interface's generally unpolished feeling, particularly for those who have played Metal Slug 3 before.
- You can't set the number of credits available. This is dumb. The number of credits should changeable, but the achievements should be locked for anything above 5 credits. This provides incentive for players to challenge themselves, but doesn't require the rigor of a 1CC run. It's the best of both worlds.
- The frame rate seems to be too slow. I don't know if it's dropping frames or what, but the game just feels choppy. I tried comparing it with a couple of emulators and the JP PS2 version, and that only confirmed it for me.
- The slowdown is messed up. I'm not convinced that Metal Slug 3 has intentional slowdown, but even if it does, this release botches it. The slowdown is there, and it's even more dramatic than in the already slowdown-prone Neo Geo version. Bits where there's slowdown in the original also slow down here, but it drops even more frames and seems to last longer here. It's jarring when the slowdown ends and the game immediately snaps back to running normally. I understand that slowdown is difficult to emulate properly, but if you're going to have it in this release, give players the option of this faux-slowdown, or just playing the game without it.
- There's slight input lag. It's not dramatic, and certainly not as bad as the atrocious PS2 anthology's input lag, but it's definitely there. Try jumping in place in this version, and then in the MAME version. It's pretty evident, even though MAME, itself introduces some slight input lag.
- The scanlines option needs to be improved. The scanlines are way too thick. Players should have more options for scanline thickness, just like any emulator or the XRGB implements it.
- A number of sound effects are off. The sounds when the "GO!" arrow pops up and the bit at the end of a stage where the game counts up the POWs you saved are pretty clear examples.
Ultimately, I can't recommend the game as it currently stands. The various performance issues make the game play like a bit of a mess any time there's a lot of activity on-screen, particularly during boss fights. It feels imprecise, and if you're the sort of person who wants to get good at the game, the general sluggishness is a buzzkill.
When the emulated version of the game on the same platform is better and has been around for more than a decade, I have a really tough time telling someone that they should shell out for a flawed product.
- While obviously a more minor point, the menus are pretty crappy. The announcer saying "okay!" every time you select something on the menu is immediately annoying, and the redone character portraits are frankly just crap. And while an even more miniscule point, it's a little odd that after you choose your character, the panel that slides down with your character's sprite on it doesn't make it all the way down before the game starts. Seems like a silly thing to whine about, but the reason I bring that up is because it contributes to the interface's generally unpolished feeling, particularly for those who have played Metal Slug 3 before.
- You can't set the number of credits available. This is dumb. The number of credits should changeable, but the achievements should be locked for anything above 5 credits. This provides incentive for players to challenge themselves, but doesn't require the rigor of a 1CC run. It's the best of both worlds.
- The frame rate seems to be too slow. I don't know if it's dropping frames or what, but the game just feels choppy. I tried comparing it with a couple of emulators and the JP PS2 version, and that only confirmed it for me.
- The slowdown is messed up. I'm not convinced that Metal Slug 3 has intentional slowdown, but even if it does, this release botches it. The slowdown is there, and it's even more dramatic than in the already slowdown-prone Neo Geo version. Bits where there's slowdown in the original also slow down here, but it drops even more frames and seems to last longer here. It's jarring when the slowdown ends and the game immediately snaps back to running normally. I understand that slowdown is difficult to emulate properly, but if you're going to have it in this release, give players the option of this faux-slowdown, or just playing the game without it.
- There's slight input lag. It's not dramatic, and certainly not as bad as the atrocious PS2 anthology's input lag, but it's definitely there. Try jumping in place in this version, and then in the MAME version. It's pretty evident, even though MAME, itself introduces some slight input lag.
- The scanlines option needs to be improved. The scanlines are way too thick. Players should have more options for scanline thickness, just like any emulator or the XRGB implements it.
- A number of sound effects are off. The sounds when the "GO!" arrow pops up and the bit at the end of a stage where the game counts up the POWs you saved are pretty clear examples.
Ultimately, I can't recommend the game as it currently stands. The various performance issues make the game play like a bit of a mess any time there's a lot of activity on-screen, particularly during boss fights. It feels imprecise, and if you're the sort of person who wants to get good at the game, the general sluggishness is a buzzkill.
When the emulated version of the game on the same platform is better and has been around for more than a decade, I have a really tough time telling someone that they should shell out for a flawed product.