KOF '94 for Neo CD; why couldn't SNK have continued the trend?

NeoLord

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I decided to purchase a copy of KOF '94 for Neo CD (it was on Ebay for $10 and I
couldn't resist). What did I notice about this title that made me decide to post this
message? There is no load time between each round -- each character is automatically
loaded into the Neo CD's RAM before the first match begins, and it flows smoothly with no interruption to the gameplay or music (which has been the biggest complaint about the KOF series on Neo CD) and the initial load time before the first round is relatively short. I don't know what SNK did to make KOF '94 run this way, but why didn't they incorporate the same programming/load techniques in later installments of KOF? It makes a person
wonder...
 

BryLmoo

AES Contact Cleaner, Extraordinaire!!!,
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I guess it had something to do with the graphical improvments...I don't know...I'm not the developer...ask SNK\ARUZE...j\k

Bryan -FUCK NGF-
 

NeoLord

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Originally posted by BryLmoo:
I guess it had something to do with the graphical improvments...I don't know...I'm not the developer...ask SNK\ARUZE...j\k

Bryan -FUCK NGF-

That's a given, Bryan. What puzzles me is that SNK always finds a way to improve their MVS system (i.e. they found a way to
enhance the MVS system's graphic capabilities by using a different programming technique; no extra hardware was used (well,
this happened before the Giga chip technology appeared; they couldn't enhance the graphics any further without the aid of a
new chip enhancement), but they never really placed any effort into saving the Neo CD from extinction. Of course, reducing
sprite color pallets and cutting frames of animation would have helped (wait, they did that already! lol ), but I'm sure they could
have done something to minimize load times on Neo CD, but they probably didn't care. ;p

Yes, yes -- the Neo CD's single speed CD-Rom drive was slow and had less cache, but c'mon, this is SNK we're talking about! If they can keep a 10+ year old game system alive, surely they could have done something for Neo CD users!
 

NeoLord

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... and I realize the installed user base is small, but they could have done something. =)
 

Master Terry Bogard

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Why? It's probably because the meg count was smaller then. The later KOF series had progressively larger megs (for the most part) , so they probably couldn't do it, w/out making the loading time longer. And I think KOF 94 for cd has enough loading time ite is-even for cdz.
 

Lou Gojira

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Well, I'm about as far from being a programmer as you can get, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say that it was all the extra animations the characters have picked up with each installment of the series. Compare Ralf and Clark in '94 to Ralf and Clark in '99. We're talking a HUGE improvment in animation, and they're just two examples out of many. Since the Neo CD can only hold 55 megs of memory at one time, you can only view two "realistic and exaggerated" types of animated characters in bigger and better animated backgrounds at one time rather than six "great for the time and gets the job done" types of animated characters , so them's the breaks I guess...

Now what I couldn't understand since day one is why didn't SNK make a port for a memory cart enhancment on the Neo CD. Hell, they were the first ones to use that technology on the Saturn (to my knowledge anyways), so they obviously knew the advantages to be had in doing this. Can you imagine a Neo CD version of KOF with a back-up cart? Like the Saturn versions, maybe 5 whole seconds of load time between fights, as opposed to the usual 15-30. Oh well, too late for shoulda's and coulda's...I kinda' can't help but think SNK made the Neo CD with a 5 or so year max life span in mind from the start. Regardless, I'll still enjoy this awesome system for many years to come...



[This message has been edited by Lou Gojira (edited November 03, 2000).]
 
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