Spike Chunsoft Did Their Best. (No, Seriously)

Bandai finally confirmed that Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO will have split-screen multiplayer, but it comes at a cost. Here's my take on the situation, as someone intimately familiar with Spike's previous attempts.
________
00:00 Local VS Confirmed! But...
00:12 An Expert's Analysis
00:28 Spike's History with Split-Screen
01:15 Traditional Split-Screen Just Wouldn't Work
01:47 Spike Did Their Best (No, Seriously)
________
#DBSZ #SparkingZERO #DragonBallSparkingZERO #Tenkaichi #DragonBallRagingBlast

[@DeSynkro]

I will never be disappointed that they added split screen, despite how simplified it is this time around. Considering online play has become so prominent, it is very rare to see any company add split screen in games. This, regardless of its simplicity with one stage only, feels like a breath of fresh air. Nonetheless, Im sure the modding community on PC will find some way to circumvent this and add more stages.

[@WWalton1996]

Oh yeah, unless there's some HEAVY anti-cheat, we'll wiggle our way out of the Time Chamber. Spike Chunsoft blowing up the Time Chamber door won't keep us inside... we'll just scream our way out ;)

[@DeSynkro]

@@WWalton1996 I sincerely hope that it doesn't come to that, I'm on the hopes that due to previous games such as FightersZ and Xenoverse not having measures against modding, this won't have either. The devs of the previous dragonball games have been quite supportive of modding as far as I'm aware, I hope this is no different.

[@JamaalDaGreatest]

Tbf this compromise is probably only because of Xbox. So i have no doubt pc can run other stages perfectly fine.

[@DeSynkro]

@@JamaalDaGreatest Oh yeah, I completely agree. Console are often what hold PC gaming back due to their hardware limitations and developers wanting parity between all the systems. It's completely understandable. Which consumer would want to be the "Inferior Version" of a game? But I think nowadays it makes more sense due to cross platform becoming more and more of a popular and requested feature, so parity has become even more important.

[@IamJay02]

Indeed games should be as similar as possible across platforms. ​@@DeSynkro

[@Tom-pl3wc]

I’m really glad they listened to our cries, plus the hyperbolic time chamber looks cool as fuck anyways

[@ComfyMinty]

bruh I get if consoles can't do other stages but my pc isn't limited in performance like that how come the pc port has to be limited by consoles? Guess we gotta wait for mods to fix the issue like always

[@WorldCurse]

Yeah yall crying like lil kids over something so trivial, Take up a hobby outside

[@WorldCurse]

@@ComfyMintyyou’re complaining while asking a question in that regard. what’s the point of complaining if you yourself don’t know the reason?

[@ditto_arts]

@@ComfyMintybecause you would need to optimize a feature that only gets played on 1 platform. They can use those resources elsewhere like making the pc port a good pc port first of all.

[@TheReZisTLust]

The people complaining find friends from the outside and then play inside​ with friends while drinking. The people telling people not to complain are the ones who arent doing that lmao@@WorldCurse

[@dayleywhaley2420]

Also remember that in an earlier magazine interview with the dev, it was said that they wanted to add split screen in but they were having problems with Sony and Microsoft not wanting them to do that, as they wanted to maximise console sales and online subscriptions (which was when they announced it was very unlikely). So it makes sense that they developed it solely with single player in mind after that, but then due to how passionate the fans were they’ve made some compromises (which gives me even more respect that they added it in)

[@skylerwarren7300]

I knew it had to do with something like that

[@rexthewolf3149]

Considering that Fighting Games and shooters like cod and borderlands have continued to have local play for years. I’m going to have the ask you for a sourse on that remark.

[@dayleywhaley2420]

@@rexthewolf3149 a guy named “Sofian Le Geek” had an in depth discussion with the devs of Sparking Zero (around 4-5 months ago) made a post on X revealing what they had discussed, one of the points being: “Local split-screen mode will ultimately not be available, not because of the developers, but due to issues with Sony and Microsoft, which complicate the adaptation of split-screen. They are trying to find a solution, but for now there will be no split screen, perhaps due to Sony and Microsoft's policies favoring the sale of more consoles”

[@dayleywhaley2420]

@@rexthewolf3149 a guy named “Sofian Le Geek” had a discussion with the devs of the game 4-5 months ago, to which they discussed the game and various features that would be in it, one of the points he wrote was: “Local split-screen mode will ultimately not be available, not because of the developers, but due to issues with Sony and Microsoft, which complicate the adaptation of split-screen. They are trying to find a solution, but for now there will be no split screen, perhaps due to Sony and Microsoft's policies favoring the sale of more consoles”

[@dayleywhaley2420]

@@rexthewolf3149 “Local split-screen mode will ultimately not be available, not because of the developers, but due to issues with Sony and Microsoft, which complicate the adaptation of split-screen. They are trying to find a solution, but for now there will be no split screen, perhaps due to Sony and Microsoft's policies favoring the sale of more consoles”

[@Animedogfingamer]

Honestly they put more effort into it than the Xenoverse crew as that has way less destruction and the destruction isn’t permanent yet limited it to same screen. (Though on PC there are ways to play splitscreen) The fact that Sparking Zero managed to even implement shows dedication and I’m sure eventually more people will realize that it just wasn’t possible to do in the timeframe given. It might be possible though for a few post launch maps but I wouldn’t bet on it

[@DripDrangonhead]

going off topic a lil bit, they did put more effort than the xenoverse crew but ONE thing that xenoverse does better is the animations. So far, idk if its a demo thing but my god the animations can be pretty stiff The dragon fist animation is awful, im sorry thats just how it is I do have hope that they can polish the animations before they release the game tho also the taking damage animation is the stiffest one

[@darshansooful9559]

@@DripDrangonheadI think the actual Dragon Fist looks amazing, but my god the win screen is horrendous. But that’s like one fail out of a billion successes

[@DripDrangonhead]

@@darshansooful9559 true, the effects look amazing but the animations are not it

[@gianlucagiusti6174]

@@DripDrangonhead Japan's demo looks to have a little better ssj3 model

[@cerealguy9979]

I feel like the Xenoverse crew are putting more effort now. Have you seen base Z Broly? That's kinda insane.

[@ShirouBrando]

A dragonball fan with common sense.... blasphemy That's never been heard of before

[@AniPlugMedia]

Don’t be weird

[@ShirouBrando]

@AniPlugMedia I was making a joke.... its not that serious

[@IIIISai]

@@ShirouBrando lmao

[@Imperfectcelll]

​@@ShirouBrando I'm crying 😂

[@HardinProuductionsOriginal]

But youre right tho​@@ShirouBrando

[@sharkt9877]

See I’m fine with it. Because it was a last minute addition. They saw how DESPERATE we were for this. So they said “fuck it. What’s the easiest stage we can do this on? Make it quick so we didn’t have an extra giant work load?” Slapped it in the time chamber. I believe they said they might add more later but who cares

[@just_a_rebel8261]

It makes sense but I wish they had more stages with split screen hope more stages are added later on as apart of the dlc or free updatss

[@nora-yc6fi]

Maybe there could be some future TOP stage variant (the stage was supposed to be indestructible cuz katchin katchin. But I don't think there are many blank stages like that in DB

[@IIIISai]

I grew up with tenkachi, now Having my own ps5 is up to me I cant rely on splitscreem

[@undary0u]

​@@nora-yc6fi top gets destroyed like crazy lmao

[@nora-yc6fi]

@@undary0u just make the initial undestroyed variant

[@kingn0ah377]

@@nora-yc6fiif they bring back sky that'd be cool

[@jay_gabriel144]

Wow I never noticed the difference on the split screen in the older games

[@galacticmaui2]

I think it’s important to be able to tell the difference between lazy, cost management, prioritization, creative vision when it comes to these topics. Yes publishers are all about maximizing profit but developers are also all about putting their heart into their work. “Lazy Devs” probably only applies to 1% of situations.

[@AniPlugMedia]

@@galacticmaui2 The average anime fan isn’t smart enough to understand half the words you said. They only understand “I like it so it’s the GOAT” or “I don’t like it so it’s lazy and/or greedy”

[@matti.8465]

It's almost never laziness. There's no such thing as "lazy" in game development, it's always a matter of time, budget or interference.

[@mds_main]

This time it's more a "prioritization" issue because they stated in their last presentation that they didn't plan for local mp from the start, which is the root of the problem since the current local mp is just something they scrambled up at the last minute to appease the backlash. I still think it's nonsensical to have a fighting game without local mp being planned from the start.

[@galacticmaui2]

@@mds_main I see what you are saying but also get why they wouldn’t include it since I heard some stat that over 95% of multiplayer fighting games are conducted online. Wonder if a lot of people will go to friends house for a week or two then stick to online.

[@mds_main]

@@galacticmaui2 I think if there weren't enough people they wouldn't even have bothered adding it in at the last minute. Personally I play all my fighting games locally with friends all the time and I'm an adult with a job.

[@Chickensea10]

Good points! don't forget that even though it's only 1 map and has a little bit of problems for now, the devs could update it ANYTIME they have the resources/feedback to pull it off with new gamemodes,maps,etc! Dont forget everyone that this game runs on unreal engine! Everytime that engine gets a major update, it could slightly help with the production on this game hopefully!

[@Ayeato]

When splitscreen is on just remove a bunch of visual effecs, destructive environments, cut the resolution in everything, textures, effects etc. Idc i just want to be able to play with people when they come over.

[@goahead4310]

Ah shut up

[@darshansooful9559]

That sounds simple but a lot of developers use effects to hide certain things and bake destruction and stuff into the code, so it’s a lot harder than it seems

[@dandy5175]

​@@darshansooful9559 Finally someone who gets the fact that games have a fucking code LOL

[@egaming1875]

At least you can now

[@DirtyDev]

We can play split screen but only in the time chamber

[@Pajama_Mike]

this, along with the fact that now we can get updates for our games makes me confident that not only will it be good, but we could even have the possibility of getting more splitscreen maps for the future as they optimize the game!

[@cheeseisgood17]

It is wild that a game dev company went thru the lengths to compromise for their audience. Respect. The other good thing is that with mods on PC, we may see a full implementation of split screen versus.

[@josesosa3337]

Thank you for this. I would assume the devs have less detailed and smaller maps for future updates in their pocket but thanks for adding context regardless. I would like for you to keep discussing this topic.

[@RockyD12]

They could atleast add Tournament stages and cell games stage for local tournament play

[@tolispsaltis6860]

Tournament stage is huge because once you use a blast you can fly waaaaayyy outside of it

[@RockyD12]

@@tolispsaltis6860 they could've changed that for local play so it wouldn't happen

[@vla1ne]

​@@RockyD12 they might add it in later, but it is a lot of work to do split screen in massive stage games because it's usually somewhere near 2x the asset load.

[@Daltonisntabot]

​@@vla1neI know it's a bigger load, but I really don't think it should be anywhere close to 2x. Maybe if it's checking what direction the cameras are both facing, but that's very inefficient. The pixels on screen should be way lower than average and so less polygons to load, including moving the camera closer if needed to. This also ensures less objects are rendered. Theoretically, it should just be one camera or a fully loaded stage that's smaller than normal. Maybe make it so if close enough the cameras combine to 1 to load less? Not complaining, part of me is just curious if they're going about it the right way as it might not be handled the right way. Maybe time constraints or something. If done right, it could be more optimized than a full screen or a little less.

[@vla1ne]

@@Daltonisntabot unlike traditional fighters, split screen co-op has to render 2 fields, it's not 2x total, but it is a larger effort than standard play, as the inputs have to be factored in, as well as the stage effects and lighting assets for the location of both players. it's not a massive load, but half assing it wouldn't get them anything, so i assume they're planning to take their time and do the lower effort stages first. iirc, they didn't plan to have any split screen at all, so they're likely starting from an earlier stage then the rest of the game and have to work their way up from wherever they dropped the idea from.

[@thedevilsleutice]

There’s gonna be plenty of stages added. You could easily update the Universe 6 tournament to be a new stage, maybe the gravity chamber? There are smaller more… Barren environments you can do if you look hard enough at the source material.

[@shadowsnake5133]

I actually completely understand their reasoning. I do think they could maybe add 2 more stages with those restrictions, being a space themed one and whis staff, but that's legitimately not even an actual problem, that's just me being hopeful they at least come back to it with their already planned dlc bare minimum. Because bare minimum, doc for dragon ball games have always been fun. Might be fucked balance wise, but it'll be fun.

[@nora-yc6fi]

Hearing your input on local splitscreen play has me really intrigued tho and I would love to hear a more in depth talk on how splitscreen works on a technical level If anyone has a link to a video like thag or if you would like to make one I'd be really interested to see it I kinda figured the reason for the lacking splitscreen stuff was obvious but I forget how a lot of people don't think about things like game dev and how memory and rendering work.

[@GoldScale57]

Admittedly I don't have a ton of insight. I work on some indie dev projects a bit and I want to make sure my games are low-spec with a big emphasis on local multiplayer and splitscreen. The most general thing about splitscreen is admittedly a little obvious when you think about it. You will have to draw (almost) everything twice (or more if its more than 2 screens). An extra screen needs its own camera and what it takes to draw something isn't just about the literal drawing part but figuring out what not to draw as well. Rendering optimization tricks can take time in themselves but on CPU as opposed to GPU. I personally had a situation where what I had done in an attempt to draw less actually made my game run slower than just drawing everything. In older games the way splitscreen would be handled is by using lower "level of detail" (LOD). You usually hear about it in respect to objects being far from the camera but this was done on player models in DK64 and Crash Team Racing as well which are obviously close to the camera. You could reduce texture quality, screen resolution, and cap frame rate as well to make things work. How effective these are is not something I personally know how to quantify. Its largely about what you're willing to sacrifice if things drop off too much from adding a second camera. And you also have to consider how much control you have over the rendering as well. It gets pretty complicated but mostly cause rendering 1 scene is pretty complicated in itself when you really dive into making it as efficient as possible.

[@idklol3240]

its almost like running the game twice on the same system, its definitely a little less intensive but its still intensive. The fact that they got it running at 60fps split screen is amazing.

[@Daltonisntabot]

​@@idklol3240 I partly don't see how it's running 2 instances. Why not use 1 camera to render it, maybe closer to the models if absolutely necessary to cut out more destructive objects and less pixels? It'd be like running a game in windowed mode on a PC. Maybe make the maps smaller so it can all be loaded at once? No complaining, I just remember seeing a video on a SM64 Mod by Kaze and when asked about Split Screen said it could be even MORE of an improvement in framerate because the resolution is lower as it's split between both screens. I'm rather happy split screen is happening at all, just part of me kisses tournament with friends in the old games.

[@donaldwithagat8537]

I mean, my brother and I exclusively played time chamber, so I see this as an absolute win

[@AniPlugMedia]

Happy for you but y’all are weird

[@w0lf9009]

Who knows they might add another split screen stage in the future

[@flynnmaxwell4089]

Imagine playing this game, having all the fancy beams, dust particles, auras, stage destruction frying your console/computer and then double it…

[@dkcsi9256]

Fuck 'em. Drop a "Hey, this ain't optimized for maps besides hyperbolic, you may experience poor performance" warning and let me play on the maps I wanna play on. If I'm paying 70 bucks for it, I think its completely fair for ME to decide whether or not the performance is "too bad". Idgaf if a beam clash drops me to 20 frames, If I want to play on West City then I'd like to play on West City and likely still have perfectly fine frames the majority of the time with my machine. "Oh its for your own good, you wouldn't *want* to play on these lower frames *sometimes* , *depending* on your *specific specs* , *maybe* ." is some fuckshittery, and the coping and meat riding defending it is wild.

[@Juanpa_dominguez]

​@@dkcsi9256yeah dude thats you. I wish mayority of people really thought that way. But there is a lot of players who give bad reviews anyway, even if they were told on their faces the game is not going to work well 🤷🏻. Plus they could work to implement more maps after the game realizes in the future, its a good thing we have it Plus

[@QGUU]

@@dkcsi9256exactly

[@cr0ss414]

@@dkcsi9256 I wish it could be that easy, but the minority that would be bothered by such performance dips will be LOUD. So it's not worth the headache of dealing with whining and crying from said vocal minority.

[@zascoco6617]

It would be cool if they gave us the option to cut out some of the effects to play in split screen.

[@andrecambridge4474]

thanks. i was extremely disappointed but this is some useful technical context. we’ll see. great video.

[@hamdanithegamer1209]

Im my opinion, the fact that they put in so much work in making 164+ unique characters, fun game modes, (probably) fun gameplay, and graphics which almost feel surreal for a Dragon Ball game or an Anime game in general is most important. I would play the heck out of that game even if it meant i couldn't play it with the boys and my siblings around the PS5, and the fact that that's even possible now despite the caveat, given the original situation of not even being an option is just another added plus.

[@MarsBars_Music]

The fact that we have split screen at all in sparking zero is a sick ass feature in itself! Say what you want about having 1 stage for local multiplayer, but just know that we were moments away from not being able to share this game through parsec. This is W. Plain & Simple.

[@nikkmann149]

Dont worry, pc modders will get splitscreen working on all maps

[@pensandoemalgo.5722]

Easy to have with a PC with triple the capacity of current consoles

[@Zamasu-op7zz]

You better have crazy pc specs😂

[@dhgmrz17]

Most developers would have just told thier fans that it wasn't possible and moved on. I give it to the developers to at least make it possible even if the mode is a comprimise.

[@thelonestranger777]

Lol nah, every time that happens, it doesn't end well for the studios. There's a possibility the potential sales would have tanked. Not something worth risking with a widely anticipated title coming near Q4 of the year. I personally wouldn't have bought it. I was going to pre-order the ultimate bundle when all the videos of the sneak peak were dropping last week. This split screen decision in combination with the lame gameplay videos I saw turned me off to the idea. Luckily a KZbinr (seereax) uploaded his gameplay of it and restored my faith. He showcased the combat better and confirmed that the gameplay was a continuation of Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and not xenoverse. BT3 combat was the best out of the 3D DBZ games and I'm glad they expanded on it instead of going the XV2/Kakorot route.

[@Wizofmincraft]

@@thelonestranger777 I really don’t understand how people got the impression it was going to be kakarot or xv2 style gameplay. It being a continuation was all that was needed to know to get a sense of the gameplay. Although yes i can say some of the gameplay was lackluster, that wasn’t the game itself the people playing it were just doing a bad job lol

[@thelonestranger777]

@@Wizofmincraft lol exactly. The first video I saw was pretty much a square mash fest with random 2 second ki charges and ki blasts. It made me worry about the combat. For the 3d dbz games, BT3 had the most expansive combat imo. People used to claim that there were too many clone characters etc etc. The truth was no 2 characters were really alike. Even if the combo enders were similar, each person had different fight speeds, defensive/offensive specials and switch ups. I hope yajirobe is in the base game, I'll bust anyone's ass with him 😂

[@MJTRadio]

I probably wasn’t ever going to use the local multiplayer anyway, but I was still bummed about it in principle. In practice though, coming out and owning up to why they made the choice and did get it working at all is a hell of a lot better to me than just not bothering to include it.

[@tchrono12]

As long as it does not have Denuvo we have program called Nucleus, its a program that allows splitscreen for games that do not have those usually, as long as it has multiplayer elements in it without any Denuvo, it essentially launches 2nd or 3rd or 4th game on same computer simulating SplitScreen at the cost of Performance ofc but thats up to yourselves to tweak the settings :3

[@date5960]

Seeing how uncommon split screen local co op nowadays, i was actually surprised to see that they cared enough to put it in at all

[@thelonestranger777]

A fighting game without local play is absolutely insane.i honestly can't think of any game in my lifetime to do something like that.

[@darshansooful9559]

@@thelonestranger777the JJK game

[@Alatsno]

​@@darshansooful9559 to be fair though did the JJK game do anything right?

[@DirtyDev]

@@darshansooful9559well thats not a true fighter though thats more of an arena fighter

[@darshansooful9559]

@@AlatsnoI mean, the, um, it had… umm…

[@jonolivier9126]

I'm perfectly fine with them making that one compromise, taking the simplest map with only like 10 or so moving parts and making it the home of split screen is perfectly alright and was genuinely the best they could do since they weren't even planning on having it at all. Maybe some time after launch they can work it into the other maps, but I won't complain if that doesn't happen.

[@beancheesedip8337]

Yeah, Spike Chunsoft had only three options. Not have local vs at all as a game mode, have it be limited to one stage, or have more stages, but remove tons of assets and potentially even reduce graphical detail and fidelity. I feel1 like no matter what, the options were gonna end up pissing people off. "Why does the game look so bad? Why is there only one stage? No local vs mode?" Ultimately, the devs are limited by budget, time and technology. If you were to ask my opinion, I'd personally prefer removing assets and reducing graphical quality in the mode, but allowing more stages, but it's a fine compromise, especially given how the vast majority of people don't even bother with local multiplayer services.

[@nightmarecrimson9121]

That doesn't mean they're going to stop trying to make it work on the other maps after release. There's always a possibility.

[@dblmisterjokes2]

Facts

[@WorldCurse]

It’s a possibility cause yall lil boys I mean “grown men” will keep whining lmao

[@nightmarecrimson9121]

@@WorldCurse If you have something negative to say then don't say it at all.

[@WorldCurse]

@@nightmarecrimson9121 oh no I’m the one being negative meanwhile you soft shelled grown men threatened these hardworking developers that none of you will buy the game over a split screen feature 😂🤦‍♂️

[@nightmarecrimson9121]

@@WorldCurse Jesus Christ, get off your high horse. I didn't even expect a split screen mode. That's just the loud minority you're talking about.

[@rabbid020012]

Or simply just downgrade the particles effects in split screen mode

[@AniPlugMedia]

Also known as compromising the vision

[@blacksoldier430]

@@AniPlugMediatheir vision was flawed from beginning, who makes a fighting game for a single player

[@AniPlugMedia]

They didn’t?

[@darkchaozbringer785]

You're doing what is called, "making sense". We don't do that here.

[@BlueRiptide]

⁠@@AniPlugMediahe means not catered to have local play from the start

[@zerobudget1041]

They should have just gone the Raging Blast 2 Route. Separate stages that are reduced

[@GermanKinsmen]

That's called sacrificing the vision.

[@waffleten9750]

Already doing that by limiting the stage count. ​@@GermanKinsmen

[@ownedwfactsnlogic]

I know they picked that one because the Hyperbolic time chamber is void of any objects and has visually nothing going on in it so running the split screen on that one makes the most sense since they wouldn't have to tone down all the other stages for the sake of splitscreen but I still wish this wasn't the ONLY stage split screen could've been played on, it looks so lame visually

[@AniPlugMedia]

They’d probably have to get rid of all the cool shit for the sake of proper split-screen, which would kill the appeal of Tenkaichi. I hate the choice, but I get it.

[@CHRIS-X]

There’s a good chance I will ONLY be playing with the bois irl. It’s probably a me thing, but I hope they somehow figure it out down the line.

[@HazeX2]

The Battle of Z battle mode music is a great pick for the video

[@RedFlameFox]

Pretty sure PS5 is strong enough to do a split screen in a game like this, you can do 4 players split screen in Baldur's Gate 3 and the Borderlands series, and you can't do it in this 1v1 arena fighting game? Modders will make a mod for playing this split screen in the first month AT WORSE, wanna bet? It's Unreal Engine for the god's sake, adding stuff like this is literally IN THE CODE. Bandai is probably gonna add this in the next game to give you a reason to spend 80 bucks AGAIN just for the same game. It's not even the first time they did this, remember when they did not include tournaments in Raging Blast 1? or the Story Mode in the 2nd one? It's like... common practice for them by now.

[@AniPlugMedia]

I haven’t touched Borderlands or BG3. Did their split-screen have ANY changes from playing solo? (Lower resolution, worse textures, etc.)

[@ChickenNuggetCancer]

On the PS5 and Series X, it runs at 4K 60FPS. They could chop down the resolution to 1080p as well with everything else. Of course there’d need to be more work to get out in but visuals would have to take a hit.

[@deathbringer950]

Something has to be reduced cause split screen is literally double the rendering power I'm supposing sparking zero uses like 70% of the capabilities of the ps5 with 4k and 60fps, but If u double that, then it's a completely different story

[@ziel9474]

Its not that easy, the game is already testing ps5's hardware limit through its environment particles alone. Adding split screen for all stages means the game has to render two places at the same time, have you seen how big the map is or let alone how dynamic the stage destruction in the game was shown? The hardware has to process that for both of the players' pov.

[@RedFlameFox]

@@ziel9474 Using lower resolutions/FPS? Create smaller variations of the stages for Split Screen mode? There are many solutions, let's not pretend there aren't. Also, I'll laugh when we'll have no LAN mode either for this, making mandatory having two Online paid subscriptions even for people that actually have two consoles.

[@TreadywayYT]

Finally a Fan of something who has commonly sense I need more people like this

[@unfunnytyrant4312]

Thanks for simplifying it. 👍

[@ivanperez295]

I’d rather have a significantly less visually complex game, if it meant having full fledged local multiplayer.

[@cubearts1]

Nope your wrong, the methodology that was used in a lot of older games to render split screen by duplicating the environment is something we no longer do, we just add a second camera now,The real "problem" is that by having two cameras you need to load more things with better fidelity than with just one. but its nothing that cant be worked around with good optimization or cant be brute forced by lowering texture quality and resolution. we have already done this in plenty games. its very likely that they never considered Split Screen early on in development and this was a quick work around for an option they didn't realize was as requested until recently.

[@AniPlugMedia]

So, in other words, there is a very high chance they’d need to compromise to get split-screen working properly (Your words: “lowering texture quality and resolution”). Which is exactly what I said Spike did for three games. Could be 5, but: - I hate J-Stars’ split-screen too much to spend that much time with it - I never looked into Burning Blood because it had low machinima potential

[@cubearts1]

@@AniPlugMedia I think my intent might have been lost a bit, what i mean by saying no is that the reason for the older games being limited isnt the same as now, a lot of the issues in the past required significant reduction in assets or fundamental changes in game design. the modern issues can be solved with careful optimization without having to compromise your vision. the brute force example is just a alternative option in terms of getting stability, if split screen was something intentionally part of your game design from the start then everything would be built around it similar to how we choose internally before we go into production of a game whether we target 30 fps or 60 fps. at least if your targeting specific platform. but its clearly not, this was not designed with split screen in mind, which is why you run into issues like having to compromise your vision when attempting to do split screen in the first place, this is further proven per the devs own words by the UI and QOL aspects not being designed with local play in mind. it very much is a mode that was tacked on late. i just reject the idea that they did everything they could and just couldn't get local play to work, given that in spite of the game being very gorgeous on a technological level its not something we haven't been able to do before. obviously there are other reasons for why something may not work outside of just technical performance, like it's engine (not in this case) but those would be things that would be addressed in the planning phase. i think its more important to note that the devs seem to have cared enough to at least put something together in whats arguably a ridiculously short timeframe for a rather niche aspect of the fanbase.

[@aristotle1960]

I have a question that wasn’t answered by anyone in one of the trailers for sparking zero. Does anyone know if the close ups can be turned off completely when abilities or powers are being used. If anyone has played dragon ball nexus there is no close up when you use any ki powers not even when you beam clash and that never breaks immersion and keeps the pvp pace perfectly to the point where you can 1vsX comfortably without having an animation close up in your characters face.

[@AniPlugMedia]

The close-ups can’t be turned off

[@bcj842]

All I'm saying is there's one single man with nearly no funding making Super Mario 64 run on a GameBoy Advance and making incredible strides. The only truly good excuse they have for this is the deadline being too close.

[@AniPlugMedia]

One of these days people will understand why someone with “nearly no funding” is able to do that. Won’t be any time soon, but one day.

[@matiasdupree4834]

I'm happy it's in but I hope in the future even if it's a long way off they give us a few more stages even if they have to turn the destruction off or massively simplify them

[@Krillick]

This excuse only applies to the console version. I don't see why this limitation needs to exist for PC.

[@AniPlugMedia]

PC is not, and will likely never be the primary platform for these games. That’s pretty much it.

[@Wizofmincraft]

Not alot of people playing local pc anyways tho

[@windy3935]

Seems like the perfect counterpoint. But... they did confirm the feature was a last minute addition after fan demand, which would mean they didn't really do their best (because they didn't have a fair amount of time).

[@G3N0M3501DI3R]

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

[@GermanKinsmen]

You do understand the whole topic of the video is that they did the best with what they had, right? That includes time.

[@MalosiAudios]

looking at 2:06 gives me hope for the future im going straight to custom battle as soon as it release, ima write a whole script and everything.

[@MattTheHuman9]

I'm glad we're still getting at least one stage for local multiplayer, it would be cool if they could get other stages working later down the line though.

[@Channel-kz5mx]

Funny part is they will never slowly release more splitscreen maps with modified or custom ones because dlc dlc dlc dlc dlc dlc season season season pass add characters, maybe levels, never more music unless pack

[@AniPlugMedia]

Funnier part is Xenoverse 2 disproves this

[@billmore6486]

The game with a ton of dlc?

[@AniPlugMedia]

@@billmore6486 The game that kept adding more stages for local VS, yes

[@nessdbest8708]

World tournament stage should also be 2 player

[@MajinAsuraPath]

They could at least give us more empty stages like Space, or the empty sky from SS3 Goku vs Buu.

[@doctorofskillz2932]

not every character in this game can fly

[@jtnachos16]

I'm fairly certain that at least on PC the dedicated fans will proceed to mod it to let other stages do it, and that it will likely require either a ton of additional fixing, or run like dogwater.

[@spoonsrattling]

people need to realize that splitscreen isnt what it once was. in a game like BT3 that was pretty much the only way of multiplayer. series built on splitscreen dont even have it anymore, its a simple fact, online multiplayer has far exceeded splitscreen. and i grew up playing halo, cod, raging blast and many more with no online, it hurts but its reality. splitscreen in any form is a luxury

[@christianworcester6851]

No, this is stupid and shouldn't be given a free pass. Its 2024 and this game's been in development for 5 YEARS and is exclusively on next gen hardware. The idea that a ps5's ssd and speed cant handle local multiplayer is bonkers. Its VERY clear that this just wasn't a feature until we started complaining about it, and they had to throw it in last minute. You dont have to glaze a game you like so much, its ok to criticize it.

[@AniPlugMedia]

Me: *documents Spike’s shoddy history with split-screen because I’ve seen this before* You, an intellectual(?): “Stop glazing”

[@christianworcester6851]

@@AniPlugMedia i said your glazing because your actively trying to defend this crap. Just because they have sucked at split screen in the past doesn't mean they get a free past now, hell the examples you gave made your point worse, since in those games you can split screen on ANY stage, they wouldn't need to compromise a whole game just for local multiplayer lol, like i said, it was a last minute decision.

[@Ares_-JM]

Well i mean yeah they pretty much told us exactly that this game was designed with online multiplayer and single player in mind meaning there’s a possibility they originally intended to have it in the planning stages but scrapped it the fact they even took the effort to implement it despite it not being designed around the game originally while it is limited yes they could’ve just chose to ignore feedback but they didn’t meaning they are willing to listen to fans complaints and criticisms not saying it’s perfect just pointing out that it’s not necessarily a bad thing it at least shows that the devs do care about the game and it’s fans

[@RaiginAnimator]

@@christianworcester6851it’s more than Just bad history If you’ve developed a game or at least now something about it No matter how powerful the hardware You cannot just RENDER an INFINITE AMOUNT of anything Even Open world games don’t refer the entire world.? The PS5 and Xbox are not Capable of Litterally anything especially if you double whatever they have to load.

[@cristiancolon1526]

It's not glazing lol. I'm pretty sure it's only one stage because of the performance and this game was intended for single player

[@DawnApon]

Unfortunately, I grew up playing these games with my two older brothers. No online. Just us, Story/Arcade modes, and CPU battles. Just like FighterZ the only reason I was gonna get this was to show them, and have it to play whenever I see them. Now if that ever happens I gotta be like, "and check out all the actually cool shit that we can't play"

[@darkmatter-mc5iv]

I'm happy they added split screen. Even if it is a single stage. It's at least playable. Who knows maybe they'll add updated maps that don't include those physics?

[@SavageSenzu]

Yall should be happy you’re even getting split screen. Most games nowadays drop split screen due to the drain in resources.

[@Theduosaiyans]

Could be more maps for future update

[@ricoplayboy4428]

A destroyed city would be sick for local multiplayer

[@IccyTheOne]

I hope they AT LEAST add the world tournament stage.

[@cr0ss414]

I think there's potential for local VS to be a fully fledged mode. What I think happened is that split screen wasn't initially planned, then they saw the lashback on no split screen, cobbled it together using the easiest stage to run (Hyperbolic time chamber), and have called it a day. I believe they can optimize the rest of the stages for split screen play in the future, it's just up to IF they want to do that. I can already imagine that it won't be anywhere near a priority to implement that, seeing that split screen gaming has been a novelty more than anything for the better part of 12 years now

[@dudeguy8553]

Optimization isn't just a magic process where you can make anything run perfectly. If you were to assume that the game is already optimized in its current state, then the only thing that they can do is compromise. By compromise, I mean removing destruction and special map effects from different maps to allow them to run. This would be stupid, because it'll just make the maps extremely rigid, seeing how they were built with destruction in mind. Even if you do that, there's no guarantee that the maps will run well with destruction disabled.

[@CorelUser]

​@@dudeguy8553why don't devs just press the "optimize" button in Unreal Engine

[@shury4260]

As a traditional fighting game fan im used to running 5 hour long practice sets exclusively on the training mode stage, after a while you forget theres even supposed to have a background and all you can see is the match

[@HazeX2]

Most of my time with the Raging Blast games was spent in splitscreen so I just had my mind blown with the stage changes

[@bloodmoney7968]

It was possible on a console as powerful as the ps2 and it is somehow impossible to realize today. I don't even blame the devs. If you are familiar with development even a little bit you know everything can be achieved. I blame the time and budget constraint. Yes, a feature that made Tenkaichi what it is today was cut due to budget and time. I refuse to think otherwise.

[@Wizofmincraft]

That’s the thing though, sparking zero has a visual level that maximizes the console’s potential so having to replicate that into split screen is just a workload increase.

[@bobbyblackman1118]

Does sparking zero look like a game that a ps2 could handle? It pushes the limits of the console its basically impossible to render it twice

[@GermanKinsmen]

You're literally brain dead if you think you can run Sparking Zero on the PS2.

[@Tr4yst3r]

​@@GermanKinsmenbro can you read?

[@GermanKinsmen]

@@Tr4yst3r Can you? You're the one who thinks online multiplayer isn't real.

[@oranberry]

The fact Bandai was willing to release a Raging Blast game without split screen is embarrassing. It's been a staple for the series every single time, this game would've been an easy skip if I couldn't play with my friends. Thank you Spike for fighting for what we can have at least

[@MUEMH2]

A Raging blast game?

[@GameoftheYear-fx4mq]

Your friends can play online with you

[@armplanet7524]

​@GameoftheYear-fx4mq what about 2 player... player 1 vs player 2? Raging blast known for that

[@GameoftheYear-fx4mq]

@@armplanet7524 not anymore, we're in 2024, no PS3 or 360 graphics

[@noahbayless6134]

You stay at home Too much. It’s fun to go to friends house and play offline tournament with 7 other players and order food. Or play on the best maps 1 vs 1. They can easily reduce the resolution and article effects only when entering the split screen mode.

[@parkouremaster]

I just wish with updates they can add the rest of scenarios to split screen

[@powerj1771]

Yeh I just wish they had a plain field option still no destructibles and still flat but with grass or sand lol

[@turzilla]

i dont get it, cant they just do split screen by using 2 cameras in game?

[@bobbyblackman1118]

Harder than it sounds

[@turzilla]

@@bobbyblackman1118 it seems like it but i dont understand why

[@ipwn6]

​@@turzilla As easy as it sounds to simply put a Camera on both Fighters and set the Opponent to be Player Controlled, the problem is that (from my Understanding) that kinda ends up rendering the game twice. Once for Player 1, and again for Player 2

[@pensandoemalgo.5722]

The issue is that in the past there was practically no rendering, and nowadays everything these games have is rendered, that's why with each new generation, split screen is more impossible to do. ESPECIALLY the split screen is the problem, because it works with 2 cameras, and each camera renders all the lighting, particles (which is what this game has the most, and is what requires the most processing. So, split screen basically means "Ps5, now you're going to run this game, with twice the weight it was before", which in local multiplayer without a split camera, or online, is not a problem. It is precisely new technologies that hinder local multiplayer, they do not help

[@V0idedOut-E33]

Some people genuinely need to understand that computers are lumps of metal we tricked into doing math for us. That we don't fully understand. Game dev shits is hard, Getting these massive open spaces with high tier 3D modeling and interactable terrain is hard. The real truth is that like, Games are a lie in the same way that films are a lie. Great game design is knowing how to sell your lie as believably as possible. Jurassic Park has some of the best CG in any film despite it being over 20 years old because of the work that went into the animatronics the dinosaurs are rendered over. Back to the Future 2 has a whole hell of a lot of amazing illusion work. Games have no choice but to do the same thing, and some people need to understand how hard it is to pull this shit off.

[@ChickenNuggetCancer]

According the the Japanese site, the game runs at 4K 60FPS on PS5 and Series X, while the Series S runs it at 1440p 60 FPS. Proper local split screen could be possible but I theorize that split screen isn’t being held back from the GPU, rather the CPU as Sparking Zero runs at 60 FPS across all 3 platforms. I could be wrong (and most likely am as I’m not an expert at this). They could add a proper split screen mode with VRR running at 40 FPS, but not everyone has screens that supports VRR but at the same time 40 FPS with VRR is a much smoother experience than non VRR 30 FPS and it’d at least be a proper split screen experience.

[@BigCleverName]

On PC I'm sure there's going to be mods to put in different stages anyways

[@iExplosiveRageE]

I think when the game release we will get a mod to fight in any stage and we well see how this impact the game

[@ChickenNuggetCancer]

That’s 100% going to happen. PCs are more powerful than consoles which makes that possible. Heck it’d be cool if they implemented full on split screen on PC natively but I doubt that, and tbh I don’t know anyone who plays games with local play on PC.

[@lionsenkei1621]

Its ok but saying that they can update it is evidence of where gaming is going they can release an unfinished game and people accept it and they can update it later

[@dxero7707]

Considering everything shown, I'd be hardpressed to call this game 'unfinished'

[@bobbyblackman1118]

They can try to update it later they have more to focus on than shit they didnt even plan on releasing in the first place

[@dudeguy8553]

This game can't run split screen because of performance issues, not because it's hard to implement. They can update it by adding more empty stages, but they're not going to ruin the destruction in other stages just to make it possible to play split screen.

[@Honestlynothingelse]

Sonic 06..

[@vastolorde98]

Imagine having friends to play local with

[@AniPlugMedia]

Multiple people don’t, which is why I’ve seen “split-screen is outdated” in the comments

[@vastolorde98]

@AniPlugMedia I am really glad it's here and would have been pissed otherwise but if the game is really really good then split don't really matter. I've been playing bt3 for years and only used split screen twice

[@An00n]

Watch modders allow split screen in any stage in the first week of the game's release.

[@Zamasu-op7zz]

And watch how it crashes the game every match.😂

[@jesser5138]

Watch the performance be shit lmao, this is the equivalent of overclocking a console and saying "oh see now it runs better!" when the system is now working twice as hard

[@waffleten9750]

You two wanna bet it works fine? Because lookin at the spec list it's nothing high end for what most people would have.

[@jesser5138]

@@waffleten9750 If the bet is your moms fat cheeks then yeah

[@Ghost-jq4ey]

That is no excuse at all tho.

[@username-ew1de]

Keep crying about it but it's not going to get you anywhere.

[@Meetwad]

Old consoles were just better

[@AniPlugMedia]

Explaining isn’t excusing

[@RaiginAnimator]

@@MeetwadDid anyone here watch the video? Like what part of As powerful as consoles are rendering all the EXTREMELY bombastic effects on these giant stages is impossible If you render them twice

[@Ghost-jq4ey]

@@AniPlugMedia if it really is just about performance they could let pc have it in all the maps. and optmization is a thing they could do it they just don't want to

[@kidwhoscrolls35]

Please give these guys a break, they are doing their best with what you guys want. You want exciting visuals with destructive stages & a local split screen? You can get 2 out of 3. Please give these guys a break.

[@dougtheghoul2845]

I at least hope they can implement the world tournament stage for offline versus in a future update

[@Hamlock_]

Personally I would sacrifice destructible objects just for split screen. Have a version of the map for single player and version for split screen with less objects, problem solved.

[@NickferZev]

I'm cool with it as long as the music track changes in the stage. Having the same music would be boring after a while.

[@MaQuGo119]

12 teraflops

[@speed3414]

Teraflops don't mean shit when trying to measure how powerful a console is

[@Urboyyycarlos]

To be fair,I'm fine with split screen only having 1 map but several characters to access. Plus,the fact that it's the Hyperbolic Time Chamber is perfect because it means taking that one friend to training

[@timcampbell2594]

I hope we at least get a world tournament stage in split screen, just maybe without the evacuation trigger. Honestly, if they could get all the ‘tournament style’ stages like Cell’s Arena, Other World Tournament, etc that would be great. Just makes sense for player v player games

[@Essu_]

A Dragon Ball fan that also actually knows how hardware and rendering techniques work? Thank the lord.

[@AniPlugMedia]

That’s the thing: I don’t lol. I just noticed that split-screen was stripped down in at least three DB games and put 2 & 2 together.

[@brytonmassie]

Bro, with how amazing hardware is today there is no reason they should have to cut down the game. Other than that, cool!

[@GermanKinsmen]

Unless they wanna expand on the spectacle to match the hardware. Which, y'know is literally the vision.

[@brytonmassie]

@@GermanKinsmen With proper mesh geometry this isn't an issue as it scales the geometry polygons based on the amount of space it takes up on the screen and it's distance. It's a skill issue.

[@misterboxhead3045]

Microsoft and sony apparently didn't want split screen

[@brytonmassie]

@@misterboxhead3045 No split screen = More console and game copy sales.

[@mrungabunga1291]

Honestly, with the way game development has changed to a format where the base game is complete enough to ship out then they complete it with both free and paid updates, I'm sure that will buy them enough time to make a couple more stages for local coop or split screen

[@Lunk87]

Maybe have a graphical downscale option on console for split screen? How does this make any sense for PC owners? The game pretty but it ain't GoW

[@Wizofmincraft]

God of war and sparking zero visual style is incredibly different, sparking leans into the animated style and gow went for the common realistic style.

[@Lunk87]

@@Wizofmincraft who cares, downscale for local. It's not that deep. In fact I theorize that's exactly what they're gonna end up doing after the game drops, if not a day 1 patch a later update for sure

[@danielfodio3308]

it's better than nothing

[@kaiwilliams268]

Sounds good till you realize that local play likely wasn’t planned from the jump meaning, whatever “vision” they had, couch play with friends seemingly wasn’t included. That is a serious lapse in judgement, especially when the hype of the game title they’re riding off of(the reason their sales will be as high as they’ll be)was largely carried by its local play. This is the gaming equivalent of a seafood spot serving steak to everyone and when people rightfully complain about “the lack of seafood” they come back with a few scallops to put on people’s plate and everyone in the restaurant claps for it. The games visuals/animations, to me, was already a kick in the nuts, seeing what’s become of local multiplayer as a result was just the “middle finger” afterwards. In other words, the game doesn’t look good enough to sacrifice local play.

[@Wizofmincraft]

Honestly you have to be on something to not be a fan of the visuals of this game. Also times have drastically changed from the ps2 games, alot more people play online with others which is what they want to capitalize off of.

[@christianmf6397]

You're absolutely right. I understand that many people want to turn a blind eye because they're very excited about this game, but people making excuses that "local multiplayer isn't that important" is simply absurd. It means not understanding one of the vital aspects that made the original saga great.

[@maybelater2010]

​​@@WizofmincraftBeing above the age of 21, I literally can't think of a time where all my friends will have the time to sit in front of one TV and play a DB game, let alone have time at all. The living room died a LONG time ago.

[@123hattan]

@@maybelater2010 And people got kids now with whom they want to play local games with.

[@DarisuccSA]

Saying the game doesn't look good Idk you might be hating

[@spaceshipgozooooom5646]

This whole verses thing confuses me. So will they pull a ninja storm and do a shared screen in local coop? Or can you only fight locally in ONE stage overall???

[@theflashfan3234]

The second one

[@OrificeHorus]

Better than nothing!

[@EmileA239Noble4]

Correct me if I’m mistaken but didn’t they state that it’s due Xbox poor performance?

[@IEMprod.]

No, that's just what people assumed. That it was Xbox series s fault.

[@Pint-Sized-Slasher]

It was due to Sony and Microsoft wanting profit by making people buy their products for online play. So no it wasn’t the Xbox fault.

[@AverageBananas12]

Thus is my copium but I think they could have made more stages for multiplayer with the drawbacks similar to th3 raging blast games but was heavily restricted by the Xbox Sries S as Microsoft has a mandate that all games must be able to run on both versions of the console

[@AniPlugMedia]

Looking at how large the stages are, how much is destroyable, and all the visual effects on screen, I honestly doubt it.

[@trillzvault4525]

How about you go over there and make the split screen yourself since it’s such an easy thing to do on PS5 :)

[@Snake2r]

​@@trillzvault4525Believe it or not but it actually is easier on the PS5. The thing with the series S is that it runs worse than the other new gens consoles in exchange for cheaper pricing and being more compact, the problem with this is due to Microsoft wanting both xbox's to share games they are in fact limited by the series S. Hence why yes it is easier for split screen to be implemented on PS5 than series S.

[@karimali9699]

​@@trillzvault4525Thats the worst thing you can say in an argument

[@blacksoldier430]

@@trillzvault4525that’s one of the more brain dead arguments ever

[@ChickenNuggetCancer]

They should try to add at least a few more maps that would be split screen compatible. Yes the game will look worse but at least give people who are gonna play split screen a bit more variety.

[@oliverrites6992]

Hopefully the full game has the tournament stage , i mean its ok if not but me and my homie tryna take the fight outside the ring 😭

[@GoldScale57]

This is genuinely really interesting but it also makes me feel like removing some destructibles really should be the move. My only gripe about the game is that you apparently can't break lockon similar to Raging Blast but considering that being the case, environment matters just a bit less to the game mechanically. That kinda makes me feel like its worth the sacrifice. Hopefully a few more stages could be added for split-screen in an update later on. World Tournament stage seems like it should be an option if the audience evacuation is left out for splitscreen.

[@idklol3240]

nah u can break lock-on but it doesn't last very long since you almost lock on immediately

[@fofangfizz]

Somebody with sense thanks for the explanation

[@LastGhost12]

I give them the pass too but i want more stages added later on or in sparking 2 have a fully functional splitscreen mode

[@WakoDoodle]

tbh I thought it was added as a last thought for fans, as they worked on the actual game. So 1 stage on release and others can be added over time when they want to. Tbh I's rather have a good game than a bad one becaused they had to focus on 1 mode/mechanic. (looks at wow WoD, oh what could of been...)

[@BEPPEJHA]

I dont know man, graphics looks like a glorified ninja storm, destruction isnt so complex like battlefield 3 or others; seems kinda bs that 17 years ago you could have effects, destruction and game running smooth and now you are restricred just because you need some smoke or particles effect 🤷‍♂️ I think they had poor planning and consoles got proportionally worse

[@AniPlugMedia]

“Glorified Ninja Storm” is crazy but that aside, Tenkaichi was ugly as hell and A LOT of its effects were bland. Most of the explosions, in particular, were simple but covered up by flashing lights. That obviously isn’t the case here.

[@BEPPEJHA]

@@AniPlugMedia you are right sometimes the lighting on the character models flickers maybe ninja storm was even better; however the graphic and character models are nothing special here not so much that it justifies not having split screen That said I hope it d be a good game, too bad I ll miss the local toournaments with my friends and we ll have to still play smash bros again and again 😂