Do You Think AOD Will Have Updated Controls?

[Thomastronaut]

Hey, what's up gamers, how's it going?

I know we’re all excited for the remaster collection coming next year, but I’ve been wondering about something specific for AOD. With the remasters of the earlier games, they added modern controls, which was such a fantastic upgrade. Do you think they’ll do the same for AOD and make the controls even more modern? Or could they go in a totally different direction and retrofit the classic tank controls from the earlier games?

It’s kind of fascinating to think about how they might handle it. On the one hand, updating the controls to feel even smoother and more responsive could really elevate AOD to new heights. But on the other hand, bringing back tank controls might give it a fun retro feel and make it consistent with the earlier titles in the collection.

Personally, I think there’s room for improvement no matter which way they go. Smoother movement, tighter platforming, or even just giving players the option to toggle between classic and modern controls would be really interesting. It’s hard to say what they’ll do, but I’m excited to see how it turns out.

What do you all think? Should AOD get even “moderner” controls, or would tank controls be a fun addition for nostalgia’s sake?

[Boody]

Obviously

[Mållgan]

The reason Angel of Darkness "sucked" was because of the tank controlls and bugs. If it doesn't feature "modern controls" then there really isn't any reason to purchase this remaster or any other. But since the previous remastered games featured both tank controls and modern controls, it should be same to assume that this collection will too.

[Lanzagranadas]

I don't remember what kind of controls AoD had. But there's a fan mod said to solve many of the issues people had with those controls, so I imagine this remaster will have something similar.

I'll keep using tank controls for the first five games because I have no issue with them, but AoD has a whole different gameplay anyway so I'll try the alternative to see if it works better.

[Boody]

Originally posted by Lanzagranadas:

I don't remember what kind of controls AoD had. But there's a fan mod said to solve many of the issues people had with those controls, so I imagine this remaster will have something similar.

I'll keep using tank controls for the first five games because I have no issue with them, but AoD has a whole different gameplay anyway so I'll try the alternative to see if it works better.

AoD by default had tank controls I think

[keenan84]

I've read many times that only the PC version has them, but I can't confirm since I haven't played it (but from what I remember the PlayStation 2 version didn't have tank controls).

[Mållgan]

Originally posted by keenan84:

I've read many times that only the PC version has them, but I can't confirm since I haven't played it (but from what I remember the PlayStation 2 version didn't have tank controls).

The ps2 version also had tank controls. I used to own the ps2 version and I can confirm this. It's just that during that time, many games still used this type of control scheme so it wouldn't feel too jarring when playing a ps2 game with it. However, the pc version it becomes more glaring since tank controls is more of a console thing.

With this new remaster, we can finally be able to enjoy AoD with modern controls.

[Stogiewise]

Originally posted by Lanzagranadas:

I don't remember what kind of controls AoD had. But there's a fan mod said to solve many of the issues people had with those controls, so I imagine this remaster will have something similar.

I'll keep using tank controls for the first five games because I have no issue with them, but AoD has a whole different gameplay anyway so I'll try the alternative to see if it works better.

The fan patch made it a bit more responsive but it's still hard to play. The game was destroyed by its controls and I don't mean because they are tank, since I never had a problem with tank controls in the other 5 games. The problem is... like, I don't know you need to play it. You can't be precise and turn 1 pixel to the side. It forces you to turn a lot even if you tap the button and stuff like that

[♡]

Originally posted by Stogiewise:

Originally posted by Lanzagranadas:

I don't remember what kind of controls AoD had. But there's a fan mod said to solve many of the issues people had with those controls, so I imagine this remaster will have something similar.

I'll keep using tank controls for the first five games because I have no issue with them, but AoD has a whole different gameplay anyway so I'll try the alternative to see if it works better.

The fan patch made it a bit more responsive but it's still hard to play. The game was destroyed by its controls and I don't mean because they are tank, since I never had a problem with tank controls in the other 5 games. The problem is... like, I don't know you need to play it. You can't be precise and turn 1 pixel to the side. It forces you to turn a lot even if you tap the button and stuff like that

The problem was that gaming in general evolved massively by that point (into the Playstation 2 era now; GTA3 released in 2001, AoD in 2003), & the TR gameplay design just didn't evolve fast enough along with it.

The tank controls worked in the PS1 era because of the basic graphics, & precise area grids/squares. You could literally see the basic, ugly square texture seams on the ground; where one grid began, & then lead onto the next. As a result, you knew exactly whether you could make a running jump needed to reach a new area or not (or wouldn't have enough running animation to make it). You knew whether you could turn fast enough & catch an edge & hang from it, or not be aligned properly & fall to your death with the basic level geometry/straight edges.

AoD upgraded the graphics, level geometry & playing areas (as was custom for such a massive generational hardware shift); they just got confused with half measures on the control scheme (they probably didn't want to alienate extremely whinny fans that would complain too much about revolutionary changes, but at the same time, those clumsy old tank controls just wouldn't work anymore on way more advanced/complicated level designs that were now attempting to look realistic (which is what people were now expecting on PS2). The stupid square grid design was now horribly archaic, & wouldn't work in a game trying to avoid that ugly aesthetic limitation of PS1 era hardware. I mean, imagine a jungle map. Naturally formed stone/dirt cliff edges just don't form straight edges like a square lol. How are you supposed to reconcile tank controls with modern hardware (at the time) that doesn't want to use ugly basic square grid textures anymore....

The Resident Evil franchise went through similar growing pains....extremely vocal, brain dead fans complaining about how the games should still just be fixed camera angle (even though by that point literally every other developer had abandoned it, & games were no longer making a profit designed like that - especially with the massively increasing budgets required). By that point, it was the sort of thing that would just never appeal to anyone other than an incredibly vocal minority of tone deaf fans that weren't capable of understanding anything else. That certainly never stopped any insane demands from fans to spend potentially tens of millions on new games with ridiculous ideas only 5% of a modern audience would actually find appealing, & publishers could never realistically make a return profit on to stay in business.

Lara Croft was a massive cash cow. It's no surprise publishers didn't want to mess with a formula raking in buckets of money (they were also pressuring the developers to bang out more TR games quicker, even when the quality suffered. Ultimately, this lack of creative design freedom (due to publishers fears of losing money) ironically ended up ultimately causing it to fail financially. The game also had some comically stupid design choices lol. Remember the RPG elements - where you weren't strong enough to open something with a crowbar, because Lara hadn't first magically 'levelled' up her biceps enough in the past 5mins to be able to do that.

[GamerXT]

Originally posted by ♡:

The tank controls worked in the PS1 era because of the basic graphics, & precise area grids/squares

Tank controls are not really to do with the grid design though. They can still work with modern graphics, even with the slower movement radius.

The main thing you might associate tank controls with the grid design is simply because jumping further requires a square or more of movement, and so hopping back a square from the edge and pressing forward and jump, is an easier way of jumping near the edge without being more precise about it.

[Miha-Sith]

I think aod is broken mess and worst game in the series.

[Lanzagranadas]

They posted a video showing the improved AoD controls:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/G7ZdKHSf-Rk?feature=share

[‣Jʌv‣]

Originally posted by Miha-Sith:

I think aod is broken mess and worst game in the series.

Not anymore :) i have high expentations that it will be a good game now.