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Bound (PS4) |OT| Dance the night away

I

irkutsk12

Neo Member
Hi! We have released an update for the game, and here are all the changes:

Changelog 1.01

Main New Features:

PSVR support
Stereoscopic 3D support

Speedrun Mode:
- Some cutscenes can now be skipped with up on D-pad (Speedrun Mode only). In that speedrun trophies are now easier to achieve. Cutscenes that can be omitted with sequence breaks cannot be skipped
- Order of the notebook pages on the beach can be determined by a seed value (Speedrun Mode only). Value can be randomized or set manually. Created with speedrun races in mind. Can be used to achieve better times with predefined pages order
- Speedrun HUD can be turned on and off with L3 during run
- VR support for Speedrun Mode (HUD in this version is placed in the center bottom part of the screen). We suggest to treat VR version as a different category of runs due to the way VR camera works.
- Alternate VR Camera option was created with speedrunning in mind (up and down on the right stick places the camera in the direction the Princess is facing, near and far respectively)

Speedrun Fixes:
- Main timer shows time more accurately. Due to this change speedrun times may come across as slower, even to 2 seconds per minute. Change doesn't impact level timers
- Some shortcuts and sequence breaks have been changed/added with support of the speedrun community to preserve overall puzzle with different level order. We are always open to feedback - let us know what you think through our Twitter (@plasticdemo)!

Other New Features:
- Next Frame option added to Photo Mode. It allows to move action one frame at a time (Story Mode only)
- Alternate VR Camera added to options menu. When on, up and down on the right stick places the camera in the direction the Princess is facing, near and far respectively
- Both X and Y axis of the camera can now be inverted in options menu

General Fixes
- Getting 100% Memory Shards will now result in a complete mosaic image, without holes
- Rank in Leaderboards won't reset with every page any more
- Blocking backtracking bug at Shout level fixed
- Blocking bug with final ribbon of the level disappearing after leaving the game and choosing continue fixed
- Bug with the first aerial silk on Planes level appearing too short fixed
- A few further adjustments with casual players in mind have been made throughout the main path of the levels
- Further adjustments and fixes in animations of the Princess and other characters
- Adjustments in all cutscenes (3D models, animations) with VR in mind
- Other minor fixes and changes

Thanks!
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
Cool update. I might try for a few of the speed run trophies, as despite having completed the game I only have something like 3% of trophies in total!
 
I

irkutsk12

Neo Member
Yes there is!

I was testing streaming yesterday and recorded Chess level:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKUWH10BT0M

The camera system is 100% nausea free - you can play for several hours. You can also try to speedrun in VR - memories should be faster :).\\other than that some fun facts:

- playtesters have proven that the game is twice as long in VR - about 5 hours for a playthrough - people are just stopping and looking around :)
- during that time you can lost the sense of time real vs VR (you feel like an hour has passed and in real world 3 hours can go away)
- the camera system can be odd from the outside, but it's super comfortable inside. probably the fastest way to walk in FPP without nausea
- we are hitting the display resolution - we multiply the rendertarget by 1.5x to have super sharp image. You won't see any blur in the center of the display.
- the photo mode works in VR!
- stereo 3D is supported and you can try it before VR launch - it's a cool glimpse of the possibilities. It's max that PS4 supports 720p 60Hz stereo3D
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
irkutsk12 said:
Yes there is!

I was testing streaming yesterday and recorded Chess level:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKUWH10BT0M

The camera system is 100% nausea free - you can play for several hours. You can also try to speedrun in VR - memories should be faster :).\\other than that some fun facts:

- playtesters have proven that the game is twice as long in VR - about 5 hours for a playthrough - people are just stopping and looking around :)
- during that time you can lost the sense of time real vs VR (you feel like an hour has passed and in real world 3 hours can go away)
- the camera system can be odd from the outside, but it's super comfortable inside. probably the fastest way to walk in FPP without nausea
- we are hitting the display resolution - we multiply the rendertarget by 1.5x to have super sharp image. You won't see any blur in the center of the display.
- the photo mode works in VR!
- stereo 3D is supported and you can try it before VR launch - it's a cool glimpse of the possibilities. It's max that PS4 supports 720p 60Hz stereo3D
Click to expand...

Very nice
 
I

irkutsk12

Neo Member
Reflections will be hard, probably impossible because of how we got them implemented for regular 2D projection. But volumetric lighting is something that we can turn on :)
 
P

poncle

Member
EatChildren said:
The idea of a visually and narratively abstract game based around classically poetic dance and music is what drew me to Bound. Two stages (I guess) in and I'm finding it hard to give a shit beyond the presentation and story. I know it's early, but there's nothing to it. It's gorgeously animated and presented, but nevertheless built around rudimentary yet still clumsy platforming. Dancing is visually incredible, but seemingly has no coherence with the motion and music of the game. Instead of having dance and music intricately woven to the rhythms and motion of the game and how you interact with the world, it's so far just stylistic animation for a function that could have been lifted from any other game.
Click to expand...

This basically. Finally decided to get the game, and got pretty disappointed.
Gorgeous and full of amazing details as expected, but gameplay and level design don't promote anything but running forward, and together with some bugs and with that voice acting (screams), they mostly break the immersion rather than enhancing it. A big step forward from Linger In Shadows and Datura, but I really hope that Plastic will get the gameplay right on whatever they'll be working next.

Something I really can't explain are ladders, in every level.
They break the pace, they have the character play a pretty useless climbing animation, and they force the camera to face a wall. They manage to stop gameplay, waste those beautiful dancing animations, and showing the least interesting part of the environment, all at the same time.

Anyway since the presentation is top notch I've grabbed the dynamic theme and the soundtrack, and I'm really looking forward experiencing this in VR.
 
I

irkutsk12

Neo Member
poncle said:
Gorgeous and full of amazing details as expected, but gameplay and level design don't promote anything but running forward
Click to expand...

I'll probably need to write a bigger post about it ;), but Bound is designed in a way that:

- it has a narrative path which is super straight forward. It's designed for those who just want to experience the story and watch the world. Especially in VR. For those gameplay is not necessary
- it has also a second very deep layer of design. If you want to get all the trophies, or get to leaderboards you basically have to discover all the hidden moves like roll jump, how to control the dance and finally edge jump.
- finaly to get the trophies you have to check how levels change when played in different order. The game can be passed in 120 different ways and we (the team and very dedicated players) still don't know which combination is fastest.

Having said that today two world records in speedrun has been beaten, finally getting under 30 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9CdedirHUg

poncle said:
Something I really can't explain are ladders, in every level.
They break the pace, they have the character play a pretty useless climbing animation, and they force the camera to face a wall. They manage to stop gameplay, waste those beautiful dancing animations, and showing the least interesting part of the environment, all at the same time.
Click to expand...

We know that :(. We recorded dancing on the ladders, but those captures didn't make into the game :(. We could use more aerial silks, but we wanted to have some more variety. Ladders are blocked by hazards, that's why we use them in shortcuts.

poncle said:
Anyway since the presentation is top notch I've grabbed the dynamic theme and the soundtrack, and I'm really looking forward experiencing this in VR.
Click to expand...

Thank you - please do! We've put a lot of work into VR, since we had "Project Morpheus" from the start. Also we did some fancy stuff with HMZ-T1 and move controllers - Shuhei was showing it when PSVR was announced :)

https://vimeo.com/41350330

Heh so funny from perspective of so many years :)
 
I

irkutsk12

Neo Member
valeu said:
i hope sites will re-review games like bound in vr
Click to expand...

We also hope so! The info has been sent but we really have no idea how the reviewers will handle it. It's a different game, about twice as long in VR (4-5 hours) and there's a lot to look at.

We are super happy of our static camera system, but we don't know how people will react to it. It's not intuitive at first, but it's completely nausea free. Zero motion sickness for the duration of the whole game. And an ability to move fast in TPP and FPP.
 
J

Jonneh3003

Banned
irkutsk12 said:
We also hope so! The info has been sent but we really have no idea how the reviewers will handle it. It's a different game, about twice as long in VR (4-5 hours) and there's a lot to look at.

We are super happy of our static camera system, but we don't know how people will react to it. It's not intuitive at first, but it's completely nausea free. Zero motion sickness for the duration of the whole game. And an ability to move fast in TPP and FPP.
Click to expand...
So many developers seem to cut games down to their absolute basics when it comes to VR so I can't wait to see what you guys have done with Bound. It's going to be surreal and I can't wait.
 
P

petethepanda

Member
Awesome. Kind of glad I hadn't yet been able to get to the game, this sounds like a great way to play it. I understand why it's not something that appeals to everyone, but I absolutely love the idea of playing through "standard" third-person games and being enveloped in the world, particularly one as stunningly-rendered as this.
 
T

takoyaki

Member
The game looks stunning in VR.

I bought Bound when it came out this summer but wanted to wait for the PSVR version, so this is my first time playing the game. It's probably less of a problem if you already know the level layout, but the camera can be disorienting at times, especially during platforming sections. Are there plans for alternative camera options like fixed angles (e.g. Chronos on the Rift) or a classic 3rd person option with right-stick controls (like the 2D version of Bound)?
 
I

irkutsk12

Neo Member
We start to get messages like that - to make a moving camera with direct warning that it will cause motion sickness.

We will make a new prototype from scratch next week and see if it will be uneasy or not.
 
S

Shibalan

Member
While the game is stunning in VR (really, the IQ is incredible, bravo), i find the camera problematic too. Some fixed angles are ok, but when you want to adjust the camera by yourself, you then have to constantly do it to follow the dancer. There is no way to go back to automatic fixed angles other than waiting for the game to randomly do it.

I dont think that a moving camera is the solution, but constantly good fixed angles would be great.
 
I

irkutsk12

Neo Member
We will probably make a slider of the distance between player and camera that the camera will snap.

Making all those fixed camera for the whole game would take ages :). Taking into consideration that there are tons of shortcuts, you can jump wall to wall almost everywhere, got on top of buildings etc.

Still we got your feedback and we were waiting for it. The follow camera is a biggest problem since our character has a variable speed based on if you:

- walk
- run
- jump
- roll jump (top speed)

it changes all the time, and camera reaction to it would be devastating to your stomach. The platformers that have simple follow camera, have characters that move only in one speed with high acceleration between stop & go.

It's a really hard topic :).

For better orientation I think that we will also make a slider for camera rotation. Currently it's set to 45 degrees, but maybe 22,5 or even 12,5 will be better for some of you.

The topic is fresh and we feel like Columbus touching new grounds :)
 
S

Shibalan

Member
Thank you for your feedbacks and your hard work, by the way. I may be nitpicking, but I trully love what your team created :)
 
CyberChulo

CyberChulo

Member
irkutsk12 said:
Yes there is!

I was testing streaming yesterday and recorded Chess level:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKUWH10BT0M

The camera system is 100% nausea free - you can play for several hours. You can also try to speedrun in VR - memories should be faster :).\\other than that some fun facts:

- playtesters have proven that the game is twice as long in VR - about 5 hours for a playthrough - people are just stopping and looking around :)
- during that time you can lost the sense of time real vs VR (you feel like an hour has passed and in real world 3 hours can go away)
- the camera system can be odd from the outside, but it's super comfortable inside. probably the fastest way to walk in FPP without nausea
- we are hitting the display resolution - we multiply the rendertarget by 1.5x to have super sharp image. You won't see any blur in the center of the display.
- the photo mode works in VR!
- stereo 3D is supported and you can try it before VR launch - it's a cool glimpse of the possibilities. It's max that PS4 supports 720p 60Hz stereo3D
Click to expand...

Is the image quality for Bound in VR the best that can be pushed to the headset? Will the PS4Pro make it sharper for the fixed display or will it just add more special effects?
 
E

Elandyll

Banned
Finally decided to fully play the game this week end and I just loved it. Great experience, and absolutely gorgeous :) (the score was also great)
 
M

melkier33

Member
Watching the character in VR in this game is amazing. If you stand and walk the camera up to the camera and your standing up its almost as if some one was really there. This was probably my biggest wow factor in VR. I think I spent a good 5-10 minutes watching her dance. Her head seems to track the camera a bit also, nice little touch. Anyone playing this in VR should try it.

Edit: Also if you beat the game you can go into 2D photo mode and set it to always on and change the color theme, when you go back to VR you can play in that color setting.
 
J

jrcbandit

Member
Anderson DL said:
Anyone play this in VR? I'd be curious how it is.
Click to expand...

It was an amazing experience in VR. The characters feel like they are next to you and the world looks amazing. Sometimes I'd just wander around looking at different parts of the levels. Also, I especially liked the end sequence for the levels where you are surfing along the path, switching to different camera angles.

One warning, don't switch the camera around too much, rapidly - I got a bit of nausea when I went overboard with it.
 
T

TentPole

Member
As someone who has had no issues with motion sickness the camera system is super lame. Really hope they decide to patch in a free moving camera.

That said it's good that there is a game that is easy for more sensitive players to get into. My wife's gonna give it a shot and most games have made her nauses at some point so hopefully she can play this one for longer than 20 minutes at a time.
 
I

irkutsk12

Neo Member
CyberChulo said:
Is the image quality for Bound in VR the best that can be pushed to the headset? Will the PS4Pro make it sharper for the fixed display or will it just add more special effects?
Click to expand...

Hi,

Thanks for great comments on PSVR version of Bound. It was a crazy week for us :).

As for VR version of Bound on PRO. The better word than sharper would be smoother. Smoother shadows, less flickering and sparkling, less blur at some heavy parts of the game. We are increasing the image quality internally. But in the end we are sampling this internal image to the display, so we could have more samples to do it, and because of that the image will be smoother. The display remains the same. We are using some neat tricks on regular PS4, and like some people already written Bound is quite smooth game. Currently we are using the multiresolution technique that Mark Cerny described here:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/d...tation-4-pro-how-sony-made-a-4k-games-machine

Also we are using a lot of techniques from Valve's Alex Vlachos presentations.
On PS4 PRO the interesting thing is also the 4K rendering since we will be rasterizing into 7680x2160 image and shading in 1920x1080 and then combining it into 4K. After we will finish the demo, I'll share with you some of the images :).
 
Humdinger

Humdinger

Member
jrcbandit said:
It was an amazing experience in VR. The characters feel like they are next to you and the world looks amazing. Sometimes I'd just wander around looking at different parts of the levels. Also, I especially liked the end sequence for the levels where you are surfing along the path, switching to different camera angles.
Click to expand...

Damn, that sounds good. Makes me want to buy into PSVR, especially with all the other positive impressions being posted. I played through Bound three times already, but I'd happily play it again in VR. That would be a trip.
 
CyberChulo

CyberChulo

Member
Anderson DL said:
Damn, that sounds good. Makes me want to buy into PSVR, especially with all the other positive impressions being posted. I played through Bound three times already, but I'd happily play it again in VR. That would be a trip.
Click to expand...

Yeah man. The game is soooooo different in VR. Anyone who tries it will not be disappointed.
 
K

kyser73

Member
Anderson DL said:
Damn, that sounds good. Makes me want to buy into PSVR, especially with all the other positive impressions being posted. I played through Bound three times already, but I'd happily play it again in VR. That would be a trip.
Click to expand...

Totally amazing experience in VR. I spent nearly ten minutes just watching the Dancer as up close it is like having someone stand next to you.

Playing through the game was, like Robot Rescue & Wayward Sky, a great illustration of the immersive capacity of third person view in VR.

Kudos to all the team at Plastic for creating a great and to my mind unique experience in both 2D and in its own world.
 
N

nynt9

Member
Hey, great game, and fantastic in VR. However when holding down face buttons and moving, it's awkward to make the camera keep up by moving the right analog at the same time. Can you guys implement a solution for this? Also, I'd be down for a free moving camera too. I've tried it in PC VR games and third person camera usually is less nauseating than first person, so it should be fine.
 
I

irkutsk12

Neo Member
Hi,

Auto camera snap distance will be available in next patch for adjust. I was trying to implement free flying for several times and it's probably out of my reach since the character can go in any direction including on walls, upside down etc. Robot Rescue is basically a tunnel so you just go forward and occasionally look around. The same goes for Farpoint.
We would need to redesign the levels so they would have longer tunnels in one direction.

It's extremely hard topic, I wish you all could get here and sit back next to me and I would give you a try :). The emergency bucket would be handy :).
 
A

Apples_89

Member
Bought the game Day 1 and held off playing it specifically so I could use VR on my first run; seems like I made the right choice!
 
Eighthours

Eighthours

Member
Would there be a problem with having exactly the same camera as on the normal version of the game, and providing a motion sickness warning?
 
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