DS screen "merging"

[SomeGuyWithDSL]

Wasn't sure what else to call it ... As I play more DS games, it seems there are two schools of thought on how to combine the screens when they're being used as a single vertical field.

 

Most games act as though the two screens were immediately adjacent. That is, an object travelling downward would begin to appear on the bottom screen the instant it leaves the top screen. Yoshi Touch & Go is an example.

 

Other games leave the gap between the two as "dead space." The object mentioned above would travel off of the top screen, "through" the hinge area of the DS, and onto the bottom screen moments later. Metroid Prime Pinball is a good example of this.

 

I gotta say ... the first method really throws me. As I watch approaching enemies heading down from the top screen, for example, they appear on the bottom screen about half a second earlier than my brain anticipated because they just "jump" the gap between the screens. My mind likes a nice flow between the two, even if it means I lose sight of the action for a split second.

 

Another way it's annoying is demonstrated by the prerendered videos at the beginning of Metroid Prime Hunters. Samus' legs are on the bottom screen, up to her thighs or so, and then they continue on the top screen right where they left off. It looks like she has that extra space as part of her legs, and just looks wonky. In the MPH: First Strike Demo, though, the same video was rendered the other way ... the view accounted for the gap between the screens and it looked much better than in the released game, IMHO. Wonder why they changed it? Does Nintendo have some sort of developer guidelines on this?

 

I greatly prefer the method that lets things travel on their course through the gap between the screens, although that doesn't apply to certain games like puzzle games where things aren't moving around so much, and obviously games where the two screens are showing something completely different.

 

What about you?

[sega saturn x]

I personally never had a problem with either way.

[n8littlefield]

For games like Metroid Prime Pinball, they really need to pretend there is space that you can't see, or else it throws the angles off horribly. I believe that Breakout on the Atari Retro Games pack DOES NOT do this, and it feels very awkward in that transition between screens.

 

On the other hand, a game like Yoshi has to skip that dead area, because it would be unfair for the gamer if they got hit while they were "offscreen" if you will.

 

As long as it makes sense, I'm ok with both systems. Atari chose wrong on their game, but generally other companies have done well.

[JagFan422]

i've never noticed it, i guess i'll have to pay more attention when playing the mini games on mario 64

[liveinabin]

I hate it when they just continue an image (or playfield) onto the second screen as if there wasn't any gap. I'm sure there wasn't on the screen of the dev. system but that's just sloppy design.

I'm all for 'the gap', as demonstrated in Animal Crossing and Bust a Move (where you can accurately place a shot from the lower to upper screen entirely because of the gap)

[SomeGuyWithDSL]

I'm all for 'the gap', as demonstrated in Animal Crossing and Bust a Move (where you can accurately place a shot from the lower to upper screen entirely because of the gap)

 

Yeah, Bust a Move would have been a terrible example of what not to do if they had removed the gap.

Edited June 15, 2006 by SomeGuyWithDSL