3DO ZONE Forums

This weekend I *finally* put my hands on a copy of Shockwave Assault to the Playstation, and couldn't be more disappointed with it.
I really thought that the game, running in a "polygon monster" PSX would be a little better than the already stellar version for the 3DO.

But..

-No more ICE voice indicator on the pannel.
-The CD and memory access lights indicators were gone.
-The new pannel sprite is ugly and pixelated.
-They took off the cockpit's glass.
-Terrain textures appears to be more pixelated.
-The sky is ALLWAYS dark (ugly).
-No *blast funny* training mission.
-No "F-177's opening hatch" animation on the beginning of the mission.
-The weapons sound is weird.

I'm sure that there is more, but I played to the Peru level only, then I quit and run away..

The original 3DO Shockwave was either under appreciated, or i felt compelled to play it to the end because there weren't that many games for it, but I thought it as pretty good.

It's no supprise the PSX port is terrible.

Weren't the flashing lights on the original 3DO shockwave something to do with CPU and memory utilisation? To me that kind of suggests the original developement team were very enthusiastic, and the people doing the port, from what you said, less so

The parallels between the intro in Shockwave and the start of ID4 (Will Smith movie) are interesting

Shockwave II was very good indeed too. Everyone should play that!

PSX? Polygon monster?

Surely, you jest.

3DO > PSX

UnholyTancred wrote:PSX? Polygon monster?

Surely, you jest.

3DO > PSX

I was being sarcastic .
Almost any 3do game ported to PSX is inferior (Wing3, NFS, Road Rash, Starfighter, and the list goes on..) and when games were launched to both systems, the 3DO's version shines (Defcon 5, PO'ed).

3DOKid wrote:Weren't the flashing lights on the original 3DO shockwave something to do with CPU and memory utilisation?

Yes, they were. Like I said, "-The CD and memory access lights indicators were gone."
The game, like you said, appears to be rushed. Something like "- Let's fit all this stuff on CD and make some money with it."

Surely you aren't suggesting the 3do could've pulled off a port of Tekken 3?

bonefish wrote:Surely you aren't suggesting the 3do could've pulled off a port of Tekken 3?

Well....not

klogg wrote:

UnholyTancred wrote:PSX? Polygon monster?

Surely, you jest.

3DO > PSX

I was being sarcastic .
Almost any 3do game ported to PSX is inferior (Wing3, NFS, Road Rash, Starfighter, and the list goes on..) and when games were launched to both systems, the 3DO's version shines (Defcon 5, PO'ed).

I played the Saturn port of NFS. It was abysmal. Really, really horrible. I haven't played any of the others ones. The NFS port left a horrible taste in my mouth so I have a feeling I know of what to expect from other ports.

klogg wrote:

UnholyTancred wrote:PSX? Polygon monster?

Surely, you jest.

3DO > PSX

I was being sarcastic .
Almost any 3do game ported to PSX is inferior (Wing3, NFS, Road Rash, Starfighter, and the list goes on..) and when games were launched to both systems, the 3DO's version shines (Defcon 5, PO'ed).

3DOKid wrote:Weren't the flashing lights on the original 3DO shockwave something to do with CPU and memory utilisation?

Yes, they were. Like I said, "-The CD and memory access lights indicators were gone."
The game, like you said, appears to be rushed. Something like "- Let's fit all this stuff on CD and make some money with it."

I believe that the PSX was more powerful machine, (maybe I'm wrong) but the chances are that the 3DO sporting the better version is more likely down to the coders being more familiar with the 3DO hardware.

Much of that stuff is Electronic Arts devs, so they had plenty of practice getting to grips with the 3DO hardware, where as they probably didn't get too much exposure to the PSX hardware.

I also imagine that the Roadrash, NFS, etc., was handed to the best and brightest coders EA had, where as I imagine the PSX ports of the same titles got handed to the youth-training-scheme guys. (Just a guess)

I remember hearing that EA didn't make any money on a single 3DO game, trying to recoup that cost by quickly porting it to platforms like the Saturn and the PSX, and doing that as cheaply as possible, was probably one way to try and make their money back.

Just guessing mind you.

I've noticed most of the games that were on both 3DO and PSX are better on the 3DO.

all the psx ports of 3do game textures suffer from visible seams, tearing and warping way more than on the 3do. even the saturn had less than the psx but more than the 3do in games like need for speed.

Did any of you played Wing Commander3 on the Playstation? I still have nightmares about it. -Oh so many ghost ships!-

No, but i did play Wing Commander IV on the PSX and PC which is a massive let down when I look back at III on the 3DO. So the rumour goes, the 3DO version still lives in the EA libraries.

Some serious thread necromancy here, but has anyone tried out the Saturn or Pippin versions of Shockwave? Do they have the same weaknesses as the PlayStation version? (If so, it seems a shame... Last I checked the Saturn version is one of the few Saturn games that still goes for dirt cheap, and getting the original game and Operation Jumpgate expansion on one disc would have been a nice convenience.)

Martin III wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 26, 2017 1:56 pm

Some serious thread necromancy here, but has anyone tried out the Saturn or Pippin versions of Shockwave? Do they have the same weaknesses as the PlayStation version? (If so, it seems a shame... Last I checked the Saturn version is one of the few Saturn games that still goes for dirt cheap, and getting the original game and Operation Jumpgate expansion on one disc would have been a nice convenience.)

You've probably already done it by now but in case not, you probably want to check out some YouTube videos and make some comparisons.

The Pippin version appears to be like the 3DO one. I can't personally speak for the Saturn version, but I'm sure a quick YT search would get you what you want.

Austin wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 29, 2017 4:50 am

You've probably already done it by now but in case not, you probably want to check out some YouTube videos and make some comparisons.

I hadn't, actually. I'm not sure I even thought of doing that, but I'm really bad at playing spot-the-difference (it once took me almost 15 minutes to solve one of those puzzles!), and anyway I'd be surprised if there's a video up of the Pippin version. A while back I searched YouTube for Pippin content and was amazed at how little there was... In the crazy world of retro game collecting, you think there'd be at least one person insane enough to hunt down the entire Pippin library, and that that person would want to brag about his accomplishment by posting a few vids. I may have a look anyway, since the Saturn and 3DO versions will undoubtedly be covered on there.

Martin III wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 19, 2017 2:02 am

Austin wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 29, 2017 4:50 am

You've probably already done it by now but in case not, you probably want to check out some YouTube videos and make some comparisons.

I hadn't, actually. I'm not sure I even thought of doing that, but I'm really bad at playing spot-the-difference (it once took me almost 15 minutes to solve one of those puzzles!), and anyway I'd be surprised if there's a video up of the Pippin version. A while back I searched YouTube for Pippin content and was amazed at how little there was... In the crazy world of retro game collecting, you think there'd be at least one person insane enough to hunt down the entire Pippin library, and that that person would want to brag about his accomplishment by posting a few vids. I may have a look anyway, since the Saturn and 3DO versions will undoubtedly be covered on there.

Martin. This is 2017. Almost 2018. Internet search (or specifically, YouTube search) is your friend.

Pippin Shockwave video: https://youtu.be/qq8hcvhcIa8

From what I can gather it's basically the 3DO game but running at a higher resolution.

As far as Pippin collectors, they do exist. I have seen some fairly large collections for sale. That said, the platform has a lot of edutainment software and doesn't have many "normal" games. Of the ones it does, not many are actually good. The standouts are Shockwave, Marathon, and Tropic Island Pinball (one I personally owned when I had a Pippin). The rest are pretty awful. There are compilation videos on YouTube you can find if you are interested in seeing more.