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Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions |OT| After 6 years of Pacifism, the King returns.

Yoooo haven't played in months but I was waiting for batman to install and I broke 250m.

38Zq0Tc.jpg

😅
 

Shaneus

Member
I didn't really get into this on PC, but I'm having such a blast with it on iOS. Shame we'll never get Retro Evolved back on there (especially with the original music, and yeah, no MFi) but playing GW3 on my iPad with a Dualshock 3 is portable gaming bliss. Only missing 5 or so stars, I think.
 

Skux

Member
Fucking finally finished level 29! Instead of just running for gates I took a more strategic approach and tried to kite the diamond shapes into big groups before crossing the gate. It made the later part a lot easier since the globe was a lot cleaner.
 
Wonder what (if any) compromises they're making to get the game running on the vita. Super stardust definitely took a bit of a graphics hit coming onto the vita but maybe that's more intense than geowars3
 
Wonder what (if any) compromises they're making to get the game running on the vita. Super stardust definitely took a bit of a graphics hit coming onto the vita but maybe that's more intense than geowars3

There's likely a hit to the lighting systems and particle effects, but they've already got it running on basically every platform out there, including iOS and Android, with little or no compromise to visuals.
 

Shaneus

Member
Yeah, I doubt there's that much compromise, given I've seen how well it runs on 2048×1536 with my iPad mini Retina, I have no doubt there's very little loss in detail compared to other versions.
 
Are lucid handling the Vita version or is it a Sony funded port farmed out to who ever they could find on Craig's list like street fighter 4 and borderlands vita?
 
Are lucid handling the Vita version or is it a Sony funded port farmed out to who ever they could find on Craig's list like street fighter 4 and borderlands vita?

Should actually be Lucid. They've been doing all the ports AFAIK and those are two of the devs in the pic above.
 
Wonder what (if any) compromises they're making to get the game running on the vita. Super stardust definitely took a bit of a graphics hit coming onto the vita but maybe that's more intense than geowars3

Are lucid handling the Vita version or is it a Sony funded port farmed out to who ever they could find on Craig's list like street fighter 4 and borderlands vita?

Yeah, I doubt there's that much compromise, given I've seen how well it runs on 2048×1536 with my iPad mini Retina, I have no doubt there's very little loss in detail compared to other versions.

Answers to these questions and more:

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2015...id=616290547259437056&adbpl=tw&adbpr=36969785

Not too in-depth, but cool that they make the effort to communicate, unlike many devs nowadays.
 
Fully intend to jump on this as soon as I get on my lunch break tomorrow (assuming the store has updated by that point) and i'll try to put some impressions up in this topic (unless the Vita version gets a new OT, like it did for Borderlands 2 or Oddworld Strangers Wrath).

I've played pretty much every previous iteration of Geometry Wars, and i've got hundreds of hours in Retro Evolved and it's sequel. But i've deliberately not touched this one, waiting on the Vita port, so i'm going in clean after replaying some Retro Evolved 2 in the last few days. So that's the angle i'll be analysing the game from as regards framerate, graphical quality, control responsiveness and so on.
 

CLEEK

Member
Spent my train commute with GW3 Vita. It's not quite right, but close enough for a portable version.

Mostly played Pacifism. It feels a little bit sluggish/laggy, and you get slowdown when the screen starts filling up. Plus playing it on the small screen makes pixel perfect swoops through gates tricky. I was dying a lot, far more than if I was playing the PS4 version. In Waves, again, it felt a touch laggy, but not ruinous.

Had a quick go on Adventure Mode and cleared the first two stages. It immediately feels much faster and responsive.

Despite it not being the perfect portable pacifism platform I was hoping for, it did engross me so much, I missed my stop and had a much longer walk to work from the train station. Custom soundtracks + headphones + Pacifism is pretty much the single best way to spend a long commute.
 
Going to quote myself from another thread regarding geowars 3 vita

Geowars 3 is a weird port. The game runs at 60 fps but objects animate at 30 fps. Seems they reduced the frames of animation on objects to keep the game at 60. It doesn't really affect gameplay but it's noticeable.

Edit: definitely some slowdown when the black holes start doing their thing. It's still a decent port though
 
That is weird. I wouldn't have thought the Vita hardware was that much different (power-wise) to the iOS versions, which makes it strange there'd be that much difference anyways.
Well I could see it getting patched for better performance but the lack of frames on objects really is only noticeable on the pinwheels, which move slow enough that you can catch it. Other objects move fast enough that it's barely perceptible.

If you hadn't played another version it would probably go unnoticed though.
 
Wonder what (if any) compromises they're making to get the game running on the vita. Super stardust definitely took a bit of a graphics hit coming onto the vita but maybe that's more intense than geowars3

They've removed a few effects to get it running at 60fps on Vita. When enemies are defeated they no longer burst into a bunch of particles, for example, and some of the effects (like the respawn effect) are shortened probably so the particles don't fill the screen and cripple performance. Level geometry is also simplified -- there are less polygons in each level, which is really noticeable in this video.

I'd say it's probably on par with the experience you'd get on older iOS hardware like an iPhone 5, which also has a PowerVR Series 5 GPU.

The iOS version of the game supports metal, Apple's low-level graphics API, so it looks tonnes better on 2013 iOS hardware or better, which use PowerVR's Series 6 "Rogue". Was really impressed with it on my iPhone 5s -- level geometry a match for PS4/One, and there are loads of particle effects everywhere. It's yet to drop a frame either, and I've played every mode and level available (at least before this week's Evolved update). The background visuals are simplified over PS4/One though.

It is a shame that the Vita version drops the particle effects. 60fps is definitely the right priority for the team to have made, but to me it feels like a large element of the game's visual feedback is missing now.

That is weird. I wouldn't have thought the Vita hardware was that much different (power-wise) to the iOS versions, which makes it strange there'd be that much difference anyways.

Raw power-wise, Vita was a very close match for the iPad 3 when that launched in March 2012. Same quad core PowerVR SGX-543 MP4 for GPU, large memory bandwidth -- the iPad 3 needed that to drive its 2048 x 1536 resolution display though -- and ARM Cortex A8 CPU cores. Both Sony and Apple had the latest and greatest launching in their products at that time.

Since then new iOS devices have bought two generational leaps in CPU, or "tocks" as Intel would call them. The Apple A6 in the iPhone 5 moved from dual-core Cortex A8 to Apple's own Swift Cores, doubling CPU performance over the 4s/iPad 3, the iPhone 5s doubled it again with monster single core performance for the time. There's also been one big generational leap in GPU power since the Vita launched: Vita has a PowerVR Series 5 GPU, whereas 2013's iPhone 5s was the first consumer device to ship with Series 6 "Rogue". Last year, the introduction of Metal, a low-level graphics API, helped developers either close the visible gap or surpass it with their games.
 

Shaneus

Member
Raw power-wise, Vita was a very close match for the iPad 3 when that launched in March 2012. Same quad core PowerVR SGX-543 MP4 for GPU, large memory bandwidth -- the iPad 3 needed that to drive its 2048 x 1536 resolution display though -- and ARM Cortex A8 CPU cores. Both Sony and Apple had the latest and greatest launching in their products at that time.

Since then new iOS devices have bought two generational leaps in CPU, or "tocks" as Intel would call them. The Apple A6 in the iPhone 5 moved from dual-core Cortex A8 to Apple's own Swift Cores, doubling CPU performance over the 4s/iPad 3, the iPhone 5s doubled it again with monster single core performance for the time. There's also been one big generational leap in GPU power since the Vita launched: Vita has a PowerVR Series 5 GPU, whereas 2013's iPhone 5s was the first consumer device to ship with Series 6 "Rogue". Last year, the introduction of Metal, a low-level graphics API, helped developers either close the visible gap or surpass it with their games.
Thanks for the insight! No idea if you're a dev or not, but this scratches my tech info itch perfectly.
 
So I finally got to playing a good bit of the Vita version last night. Just going through getting the three stars and upgrading everything at the moment, but already got a bunch of #1's. C'mon you guys, get into gear! :)
 
I'm a relative newbie (played geometry wars 2 like twice) and took it me forever to beat my 35mill score that I fluked yesterday, so these scores are very disheartening

well done though!
 
Got 891M on Super Sequence last night on Vita. Really disappointing considering the end stages were running at < 10fps and the turrets were barely able to kill enough to keep me alive. Score could have been much better if the port ran better when more enemies were on screen :/

As it is, when the frame rate dies like that, the turrets end up shooting less shots.
 
Got 891M on Super Sequence last night on Vita. Really disappointing considering the end stages were running at < 10fps and the turrets were barely able to kill enough to keep me alive. Score could have been much better if the port ran better when more enemies were on screen :/

As it is, when the frame rate dies like that, the turrets end up shooting less shots.

Damn, nice one. I only just managed to get 150M and I was pretty pleased with myself! Pity about the frame rate issues though, I've not experienced any playing the Vita version thus far but I'm probably just not lasting long enough in levels to cause that many enemies to spawn?
 
Damn, nice one. I only just managed to get 150M and I was pretty pleased with myself! Pity about the frame rate issues though, I've not experienced any playing the Vita version thus far but I'm probably just not lasting long enough in levels to cause that many enemies to spawn?

It's noticeable when there's a decent number of enemies as well as when there's black holes around. Otherwise it doesn't really dip much below 45fps or so.

Still a bummer.
 
Any tips on getting 3 stars on Repulsive and Planet of Peace? Repulsive is being a pain due to the small screen and cramped play area, I'm having a hard time keeping track of everything that is going on...

Planet of Peace is just a pain in the ass. 10M is the target score but I can barely get half of that. I'm guessing the way they want you to play is going through the gates when enemies are swarming around you for the best possible score, but its proving to just be a pain to do.
 
Any tips on getting 3 stars on Repulsive and Planet of Peace? Repulsive is being a pain due to the small screen and cramped play area, I'm having a hard time keeping track of everything that is going on...

Planet of Peace is just a pain in the ass. 10M is the target score but I can barely get half of that. I'm guessing the way they want you to play is going through the gates when enemies are swarming around you for the best possible score, but its proving to just be a pain to do.

The videos I'm linking are from my runs on XB1, but I have the scores on the Vita too.

For Repulsive, go through the portals whenever the walls get close or there is a Super State on the other side. Remember that you're invincible for a short time after porting, so use that to get your bearings if you need to. The portal won't be available for a couple seconds after you exit from it, so make sure to leave the portal or it won't reset and you'll trap yourself. For the repulsar enemies, don't worry about them too much and just always move around the stage in one direction or another. Most of the time, your shots will loop around and hit them or the attack drone will get it on its way to you. Of course, use your bomb if you're overwhelmed and always use your turret *after* your bomb to ensure max points.

For Planet of Peace, this is a hard stage, and I think for most people the three star requirement is a bit too high. In any case, don't "just keep moving". Make sure you're destroying blues on a regular basis, with priority to greens and pinks of course. If you don't kill the blues soon enough and enough of them, they'll just catch up and kill you and you won't be able to react. If you can ever safely hit a yellow gate, do it, whether or not any enemies are there. They're worth a bunch of points and have a huge explosion radius and they disappear.

Hope that helps!
 
For Planet of Peace, this is a hard stage, and I think for most people the three star requirement is a bit too high. In any case, don't "just keep moving". Make sure you're destroying blues on a regular basis, with priority to greens and pinks of course. If you don't kill the blues soon enough and enough of them, they'll just catch up and kill you and you won't be able to react. If you can ever safely hit a yellow gate, do it, whether or not any enemies are there. They're worth a bunch of points and have a huge explosion radius and they disappear.

Hope that helps!

Cool, thanks for the tips. I've just got Planet of Peace left so I'll give that another shot when I have more patience!
 
Just managed to 3 star Planet of Peace. Only took a half dozen or so tries! Not quite sure what I was doing so different this time around, guess I just got better at dodging, as I had no problem racking up the points past 5M and it was surprisingly straight forward from that point on. You feel like such a badass weaving in between the floods of enemies!
 
Just managed to 3 star Planet of Peace. Only took a half dozen or so tries! Not quite sure what I was doing so different this time around, guess I just got better at dodging, as I had no problem racking up the points past 5M and it was surprisingly straight forward from that point on. You feel like such a badass weaving in between the floods of enemies!

Yeah - I despised the stage initially, then one day it just clicked. Seems to happen for a bunch of stages. I used to think the same about Matador and NUFU Flow too.
 
Yeah - I despised the stage initially, then one day it just clicked. Seems to happen for a bunch of stages. I used to think the same about Matador and NUFU Flow too.

I didn't personally have an issue with NUFU Flow. I managed to clear that one fairly quick, including beating the dev score for the trophy.

I'm a tad annoyed that I can't platinum the game though thanks to the game's bad design - I was hyped for the co-op mode (assuming it was online co-op). But its not, worse still it makes the controls terrible for the game since you have two people playing on one Vita... Can't believe they though this was a good idea.
 

VLiberty

Member
This game is just so beautiful

I've beaten the final boss in the Adventure, I'm now at 128/150 and I'm still clearing some levels but Rainbow and Pacifism modes are too much for me, in most of those levels I can't get more than 2 stars
 
Got the Vita Platinum a couple days ago.

CLTy6iRUwAEZ_6U.jpg:large


Now I can get back to streaming XB1 version again tomorrow hopefully. Going to be so hard switching back to a real controller, lol.
 
What was your secret to getting the co-op trophies? Or did you just have a willing friend to help you on those?
I did the first six stages solo, then did the last few when my sister came through town to visit. The checkpoint one is really the only one that's unbeatable by yourself. We got a few #1's too lol.
 
I did the first six stages solo, then did the last few when my sister came through town to visit. The checkpoint one is really the only one that's unbeatable by yourself. We got a few #1's too lol.

Thanks for the tips. I'm up to stage 7 (checkpoint) and yeah that's completely impossible to do solo. Some of the trophy websites suggest a rubber band trick so I'll try that when I'm more awake.
 
Thanks for the tips. I'm up to stage 7 (checkpoint) and yeah that's completely impossible to do solo. Some of the trophy websites suggest a rubber band trick so I'll try that when I'm more awake.

Yeah - you can keep Player 2 in a corner or something, but you'd have to try hard to protect them to keep your timer increase high enough to keep going. Level might be passable with that method, but 3 stars seems impossible to me.

Stage 6 co-op is actually much easier solo because you aren't leeching and detonating each others' mines.

Got #1 on XB1 on that stage solo. I can't imagine doing that co-op.

EDIT: Streaming: twitch.tv/yourexwife
 

MikeRahl

Member
Pacifism is this game is way too incredibly addicting.

Been playing for about 30 minutes each night on the vita, and managed 429 million, which was good for 2nd and infuriatingly close to 1st (which was at 436 million).

It was such a perfect run I don't think I'll ever come close again.
 
I'm a huge Geo 2 Pacifism mode fan, and obviously got this at launch but didn't play too much.

Had a big session on the weekend and managed to get 1.1 billion on Pacifism PS4. 31st in the world! Woo!
 
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