> The PS2 does have anti-aliasing, but it's apparently not as easy to use as
> in other consoles. I will, however, go on record as saying the
> PS2's anti-aliasing problems are probably first generation software issues
> that are likely to be solved shortly, much like the slowdown that plagued the
> first few SNES titles.

MGS2 doesn't use it. The problem with using AA is that it requires a bigger frame buffer. Full Scene Anti Aliasing like you would see with a PC video card generally requires twice the space in RAM. Oh yeah, it also tends to cut down system performance by 40-50%, which would leave the PS2 with graphic qualities about on par with the Dreamcast.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course (the N64 loses no performance with its AA methods), but I suspect it will be quite some time before so called "killer-apps"have it. Anti-aliasing is great, buts its not as important as more detailed textures or better environmental effects - I suspect features like real-time shadows and the infamous "tarp" from the trailer would not be possible with AA activated.

Maybe with FF 12....

KZ

Hail AK,

In relation to Chris and Red Raven's message yesterday regarding the PS2 and anti-aliasing:

I'm not personally familiar with the hardware, and can't prove what I'm about to say, but I "know a guy" that has worked with a TOOL kit for a while, and I can offer a fairly informed message. >From what I understand, the PS2 can handle a form or two of AA. The drawback is that it is currently unable to perform any of that whilst it performs depth and motion blurring. I didn't query any further, since I didn't want to look the gift-horse in the mouth, but I've got some educated opinions on it.. The use of AA should eventually come into play with programming tricks and/or driver updates -- much like the PSX being capable of rudimentary motion blur with the recent generation's code updates. Whether or not it will eventually be done while the blur effects are active is completely up to the process in which they render the scenes. While I don't have the proper forum to explain why that is, I think I can explain the methods of AA they could use without taking up *way* too much space...

If they were to use FSAA (full screen anti-aliasing) then it'd need to kick out at least 4x as much scene data per frame in order to get an acceptable effect. That could slow it down 50 or more percent, easily, and wouldn't be terribly great (anyone familiar with the new Voodoo5 cards for PC should know what I'm talking about). FSAA is the best way to go, but the quality is dependant on how many taps go into the process. Each "tap" is one screen worth of data. The V5's highest calibre FSAA mode is 4-tap, which cuts the speed in half, and produces a fairly okay result. The downside is that it's not something we can do terribly well in real-time yet. 4-tap AA is actually very rudimentary compared to something like an SGI still-render, which is usually something like 16 taps.

The alternate traditional route would be EAA (edge anti-aliasing), which is equivalent to what the DC and N64 can do when they're having good days. While this isn't perfect by any means, it's still a noticeable improvement from nothing at all. My memory is hazy, but I think this method would cut the processing speed down 1/4 to 1/3, compared to FSAA's 1/2 to 2/3, so it may be the best option to take. This can also be done in-software, btb, so it should be available to anyone willing to write the code for it, instead of being something that is likely hardware-dependant such as the blurring effects.

There may be other ways, but those are the big two to deal with. 4-tap FSAA is mostly dependant on the hardware, and may require a larger frame buffer than the PS2 provides; and EAA should be a viable option that nobody has pieced together yet. Either way, I believe it'll show up. Compare Ridge Racer to R4, and you'll get a good idea of how far a system can grow from 1st gen to 4th gen; the PS2 will very likely follow the same sort of path. I know it's physically possible, since bleem! and bleemcast! are coming with AA options...PS2's in-grown PSX emulation should be able to run AA 3x better without a hitch, but I'll bet you a fruitcake that they haven't put it in because people would complain about the PSX emulation having it and the PS2's native games not having it. The brass care more about saving face than giving the best experience, so that's my theory.

At any rate, as much as it was a huge bummer to not see AA, I believe we're all eventually going to put this aside and start hating their guts for only giving us 4 megs of VRAM. That's half as much as the DC, and a sneeze compared to X-Box's unified memory structure (I don't recall Dolphin's current rumor-stats so I'll leave it at that). Unless they allow us to get a RAM upgrade ala the N64, they will burn hard and burn fast. (Even that would open its own can of worms..)

Drat. I could write an essay..-
Jagger

Alrighty, Mr. Kaufman, it's the $64,000 question--

Why in the hell would anyone want to buy a PS One-- a "portable" system that won't have its own monitor for at least half a year, which sort of defeats the purpose-- when you could just buy a regular Playstation for $50 less than the redesign? Come on, the Playstation isn't THAT big...

Well since i live out in the back woods, and haven't surfed around for any cool tips for LOM; this may be old news...

If you take your character to a dead end in any of the towns/areas where there are baddies, beat the baddy (maybe optional, who wouldn't?), leave and immediately come back to the same dead end, you get a monster egg! If you repeat this w/o getting the egg, sometimes you'll get an elemental!

Happiness,

nash
Oh yeah, this game could ruin my GPA.

As far as Legend of Mana being more gameplay than story oriented, I'd have to partially agree. While I didn't have the faintest clue what the actual *point* of the game was or what the ultimate goal was, the actual adventures themselves were totally engrossing. So through playing the game, you make your own story and as such an overriding story would just get in the way. I was disappointed when I accidently beat Legend of Mana because I was right in the middle of a really interested story with Elazul, Pearl, and the Jumi. So I watched the ending, reloaded, and I'm back on my way.

Now if only the game didn't occaisonally leave you saying, "duh, what now?" It's very heavy into making the gamer actually *look* at what is going on. There was one quest where I was asked who had blue eyes. I mean, who normally keeps track of that detail? Another time I was asked if I had ever seen anyone like another character. I won't even go into what you have to pay attention to for the first Desert quest...heh. Overall, I like needing that level of attention, to appreciate the game more, and at least you have the fruity (literally) fortune teller if you need a sometimes accurate hint.

Decisions are very, very important in Legend of Mana. That's fun, because then you get to play yourself as an evil character or as a good one and get different experiences for each.

As far as stupid video game experiences go, it took me 10 hours of gameplay to figure out that you can take a pet with you and still have room for the assorted NPCs. I thought the pet would take their spot...even though I remember Secret of Mana had 3 slots.

George Greer

I dont especially care for Legend of Mana. Its not for the reason you might think, but simply because they ruined the combat system. That brief pause between encountering the enemies is a mortal sin against the Mana routine. You can change everything else, but change that and you've detroyed a legacy.

I also look at the animation and wonder why it looks choppy. When I think back (and look back) at the previous games in the series, combat was seamless and beautiful. Now I feel like the characters are being animated on far fewer frames.

The fact that you can now miss by being even slightly off course also hurts the flow of battle. When I charge into battle and the damn Mushroom moves over a notch and my whole combo misses, I feel robbed and frustrated. This was never a problem in the second and third Mana games, although ive never played the first one.

And finally we come to the GREATEST insult to the combat system. Who's bright idea was it to NOT show little numbers denoting damage? Is that not a wonderful thing? To hit an opponent for massive damage, and think, damn im good! But nooooooooooo, we have to have these silly life bars in its place. No longer am I able to get hit a few times and do the math in my head, NOW I have to look at my stupid bar to see if im near death. It was all so simple and perfect before. What have the fools done?

Kandrin on ice.

I'm quite disappointed in you AK. It's 11:05 on the 10th, and the column for the 9th is still up. Not that I don't like chris or anything, but c'mon. I want a new column.

Wow...Princess Jemmy. An intelligent girl who plays videogames. I think I'm in love...

Primus