Let's Talk About Performance

[moisterrific]

I'm curious as to why the mobile version doesn't run at a smooth 60fps. Games like The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and DuckTales Remastered were ported to iOS and both manage to run at 60fps 99% of the time on my iPhone 6s. And looking at the PC system requirements between TBOI and SG, there is little difference between the two. Both games recommend Intel HD 3000-4000 series GPU. Also Skullgirls runs at 60fps on the PS Vita and that's a significantly less powerful device than something like an iPhone 6s. Upon further examination I saw that TBOI was only compatible with iOS 10.0 and up while SG works with iOS 8.0 and up. Perhaps the game would run better if it was made to be only compatible with newer devices/iOS 10? Also I wonder if SG mobile runs at higher fps on the latest and greatest iOS devices like the iPhone 7 and iPad Pro, or is the fps locked at 30 regardless of hardware?

How well does the game run for you guys? Do you think they'll eventually update it to run at 60fps when more powerful mobile devices exist in the near future?

 

[Undeadtoon]

While I haven't played the beta, I suspect Animation cost might have to do with this one, as well as charting new terrain.

Keep in mind, Skullgirls was done by a small team while Ducktales has the might of Disney behind it. Animation takes a very long time to do too, and Skullgirls is a fairly detailed 2D fighting game on a mobile platform. A platform that doesn't exactly have good reputation with 2D animated games without scaling back considerably. Frames suffering doesn't surprise me on that end.

In regards to New Terrian, this is, technically, Lab Zero's first mobile game. Bumps in the road are gonna happen, especially with what may actually be yhe first mobile platform fighting game

 

[moisterrific]

The animations are basically the same ones as the PC/console version, except on mobile there's less frames and everything looks choppy in 30fps. There are a few new animations for characters intros.

 

[missingno]

What's the difference between Skullgirls and Isaac, you ask? One has tons of HD sprites, the other has much simpler pixel animations, lower resolution and fewer frames. One has 3D backgrounds, the other is purely 2D. One has a very fancy lighting engine, the other does not.

Isaac's minimum requirements claim it can run on a Core 2 Duo, and as for GPU it merely says you should have one. Not sure how you're getting that that's comparable to SG.

 

[moisterrific]

I've played both on a laptop that had Intel graphics and there were no difference in fps between the two. But how come SG runs at 60fps on such a weak device like the PS Vita and not 60fps on an iPhone 6s (which is still currently the 3rd fastest smartphone on the market right now).

 

[missingno]

Mike went through hell and back to optimize the Vita port and cut every corner possible until it finally ran smoothly.

 

[moisterrific]

What corners have been cut on the Vita version? I know the mobile version compromised a lot on graphical quality, yet it still runs at 30fps. For example the character textures and animation frame amounts were reduced and backgrounds have like no characters. (Compared to the console/Steam version)

 

[JDude330]

What corners have been cut on the Vita version? I know the mobile version compromised a lot on graphical quality, yet it still runs at 30fps. For example the character textures and animation frame amounts were reduced and backgrounds have like no characters. (Compared to the console/Steam version)

Doing some research, the Vita version runs at a good fps rate, but sacrifices the visual flare that makes SG what it is. Here's some examples:
-Match loading times can be ~30+ seconds for most matches, more depending on the picked characters.
-Backgrounds are now blurry, still images.
-Visual effects have been toned down immensely, making landing hits less satisfying. (Some moves, like Band's c.MK don't even seem to have a hit effect at all!)
-Many sprites have been cut (Specifically recovery animations), making the game look really choppy overall.
Personally, I would rather a Skullgirls that runs at a solid 30FPS than a Skullgirls that becomes a visual mess.
TL;DR: Skullgirls Vita is the BLAZBLUE CSII of Skullgirls. Functional, but not the best.

 

[moisterrific]

I really hope they can eventually optimize this game to run at 60fps when mobile devices become more powerful. There are good performance gains each year, at least for iPhones and iPads.

 

[Metin]

here's me hoping my M4 aqua can run it smoothly

 

[moisterrific]

here's me hoping my M4 aqua can run it smoothly

Your M4 Aqua won't run it smoothly. Maybe it will be "acceptable" once you disable lighting to improve fps. This game has lots of room for improvement when it comes to performance. Right now it runs at consistent 30fps on my iPhone 6s and there are a lot of lags and stutters across the UI. And the iPhone 6s is currently the 3rd fastest smartphone on the market…