Some love for N+, please? (The Xbox 360 version)

[Railgun™]

I first played this game on the Xbox 360 and instantly knew it was a masterpiece. Best party game no questions asked. I am very happy to see the game on Steam now and will definitely buy as soon as I can stop being poor (rip me ;_;)

One thing I noticed, however, is the fact that while N++ looks great, it doesn't have the aesthetic feel that N+ (Xbox version) has. I was wondering if maybe you guys could consider adding all the textures, effects, music and everything else that makes N+ look and feel unique compared to N++ to the game as maybe something we can enable in settings or use as level themes.

With that addition, the game would feel absolutely 100% complete and perfect to me because it would lack nothing that N+ has. I know that this isn't something super important to the game and may not even be possible but it's something I would love to see since I came from N+ and love that game so much. The 3 songs from N+ are also great. My favorite is Strange Loop. Seeing these in N++ would be amazing.

Thanks

[metanet_raigan]

hi,
Thanks so much!

I'm afraid that one of the big decisions we made with N++ was to strip back the graphics and go for a vector style rather than textures like in N+. Partly this was just an aesthetic choice, but also we thought that it made the game play a bit better -- everything feels smoother.

However, we do have a colour scheme called "Plus" which attempts to replicate the graphics of N+ as much as possible. It should help you miss the old look a *bit* less :)

About the music, we were really self-conscious about people complaining that N++ was "just the same as N+". As a result we decided to make the soundtrack all-new, and to not include the music from N+. I'm sorry about this! I hope you like the new music though, we think it works really well with the game.

Finally, included in N++ is a section of levels called "Legacy", which are our favourite N/N+ levels "digitally remastered" for N++. Hopefully this will prevent you from missing N+ too much.

We really appreciate that fans of the previous versions love certain things about those games. We tried our hardest to make sure that any N/N+ fans would be the people who liked N++ the most -- however, we still wanted to make N++ it's own game, and as a result we went in a few different directions compared to the previous versions.

Cheers,
Raigan

[Railgun™]

Messaggio originale di metanet_raigan:

hi,
Thanks so much!

I'm afraid that one of the big decisions we made with N++ was to strip back the graphics and go for a vector style rather than textures like in N+. Partly this was just an aesthetic choice, but also we thought that it made the game play a bit better -- everything feels smoother.

However, we do have a colour scheme called "Plus" which attempts to replicate the graphics of N+ as much as possible. It should help you miss the old look a *bit* less :)

About the music, we were really self-conscious about people complaining that N++ was "just the same as N+". As a result we decided to make the soundtrack all-new, and to not include the music from N+. I'm sorry about this! I hope you like the new music though, we think it works really well with the game.

Finally, included in N++ is a section of levels called "Legacy", which are our favourite N/N+ levels "digitally remastered" for N++. Hopefully this will prevent you from missing N+ too much.

We really appreciate that fans of the previous versions love certain things about those games. We tried our hardest to make sure that any N/N+ fans would be the people who liked N++ the most -- however, we still wanted to make N++ it's own game, and as a result we went in a few different directions compared to the previous versions.

Cheers,
Raigan

Alright, that makes sense. Glad to see you guys put thought into it.

I don't want to bother you guys too much about this topic but while I'm here I would like to ask about one more thing. What about the possibility of a direct N+ port to Steam as a seperate game that maybe you can get bundled with N++ or something? That might be farfetched but I suppose there is no harm in at least asking, lol.

But above all, thanks for listening!

[metanet_raigan]

No problem, thanks for playing!

I don't think we're ever going to port N+ to Steam. We regret not doing so back in 2008, but at this point we think that N++ is a worthy replacement and we're going to focus our efforts on supporting it rather than porting an older version.

Cheers :)

[Cristovelli]

I do wish the size of the maps were just a bit larger to match N+. I made some cool and intricate maps on the DS version that I was really hoping to recreate, and my one disappointment is that they remain too large for N++ tile h*w restrictions. Still glad to support Metanet, N was always one of my favorite games, and was an instant, no-brainer buy. :)

[metanet_raigan]

Cheers Cristovelli! :) We thought that the single-screen design was a lot stronger than scrolling, but that meant that we had to restrict the level size. Thank you for playing :)

[Cristovelli]

It's fine, something I hope you'll consider for a future version -- maybe call it N∞ ;) I'll definitely buy again, as I have every retail iteration of the game to date (also have several maps on NUMA under Criswell). I love the new soundtrack, it's so incredibly chill and perfect. No real complaints about this release, happy to see it on Steam! Congrats!

[DarkVoid64]

The game also needs online play, didn't n+ have online?

[Railgun™]

Oh, wow. I do agree online play is something this game needs. I would have guessed it would already include that.

[DarkVoid64]

Honestly I'm about ready to throw my money at this, but I miss playing online with friends of mine. Even if it's via IP, I want something, anything, dedicated servers aren't a necessity.

[Railgun™]

I'm gonna buy it anyway as well. I would just like to see online play included, lol.

[DarkVoid64]

Just bought the game, and since it seems the developers have been reading this thread, I'd just like to point out how N+ on the Xbox 360 had a feature to change zoom levels, and I'd prefer to be able to play zoomed in with the camera following my ninja. This is supposed to be a sequel, but at the moment it feels quite lacking.

[Cristovelli]

I do have to agree on that score, I really wanted and expected at least the same scale of levels possible in N+ from N++. Some optional textures would also have been welcome and contributed to a more solid definitive edition of the game, especially considering how far and few between are the N-games that have been released commercially. It does shave a nominal chunk off of a perfect score on this game for me, but if this is the vision the devs had, I guess I accept it.

If there is room for such an enhancement to this iteration though, I would be grateful and vocal with praise to recieve it.

[DarkVoid64]

@Cristovelli
Adding to the "optional textures", I do really miss being able to pick what my ninja looks like, this would also be nice for Local Co-op.

[Cristovelli]

Oh I assumed that was in there and I hadn't unlocked it yet. Well, bummer. I kinda overhyped myself on a couple things I assumed would be in here.

[DarkVoid64]

I'm not so sure, there's quite a bit of ?????? things in the options/settings, but I'm not sure if these are placeholders for future things, or unlockables. If I had to say what I really wish this game had that I miss about N+, it would be:
#1) Online Multiplayer
#2) Zoom Camera
#3) Player Skins

Considering all of these things were in the previous game, shouldn't a sequel be an upgrade rather than a step down? I really liked playing N+ on the Xbox 360 with my friends, and I won't have that opportunity here it seems, as of yet. The option to have the camera zoom in at different amounts and follow my character around felt easy on the eyes, sometimes you don't wanna squint while playing the game. Sometimes, you might be playing in the living room with friends/family (as I have done already) and you will find that nobody is sitting right in front of the television, and the game is so tiny, it's really a bother that there's no camera options. Lastly, player appearance was fun and interesting, and we all had our own preferred look on N+ that everyone would know was us. It made the game feel more personal, and being forced to have a default color after playing N+ makes N++ feel really disappointing. If these things were added, I can't really think of anything that would make this game feel more complete. I should probably copy and paste this somewhere else, shouldn't I?