TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

South Of Midnight

Go To

FOFD Since: Apr, 2013
#1: Jun 10th 2024 at 7:15:22 AM

I figured I would grab a few of these before somebody else grabbed them.

South of Midnight is a new third person action-adventure from Compulsion Games.

When a hurricane rips through Prospero, Hazel is pulled into a Southern Gothic world where reality and fantasy are interwoven, and ancient creatures from folklore emerge

So the last time I saw a game with a young black woman with energy/mystical third person traversal powers... it didn't go well.

Hopefully this time will be a little better. The framerate looks low, but the music, grappling hook, and glider have me interested.

Edited by FOFD on Jun 10th 2024 at 10:21:51 AM

dArtagnanMusic Since: Oct, 2022
#2: Jun 10th 2024 at 10:06:26 AM

Really diggign the music and the "dark country" vibes all over.

Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#3: Jun 10th 2024 at 10:09:47 AM

This looked very interesting... aside from the absolutely horrible framerate on the cutscenes. Like I get its a fad thanks to Spiderverse but that was physically painful to watch both my eyes and my head hurt after watching that.

Unless there is a way to turn it off I dont think there is a way for me to play it.

dArtagnanMusic Since: Oct, 2022
#4: Jun 12th 2024 at 8:08:29 AM

Found that trailer from a year ago:



Looks very promising

theLibrarian Since: Jul, 2009
#5: Jun 12th 2024 at 9:01:53 AM

I think the framerate in the cutscenes is on purpose? But yeah, it's very jarring.

InkDagger Since: Jul, 2014
#6: Jun 16th 2024 at 5:09:44 PM

It's jarring, but it is something that might be easy to adjust. On the dev-side, if they're wanting a "less-fluid"/stop-motion-y look, they could just up the FPS but not make it a full 30/60/120 fps. You could theoretically code a system where the system dynamically drops frames in key or random places so you can have a higher fps but still have a choppy animation style.

And, well, if it comes out on PC, there will probably be a file somewhere that will allow the FPS to be adjusted. It's not hard to take older games and get them to run in higher frame rates (usually, eastern developed games being a typical exception) so I don't see why this one would be different.

Unless they animated it with the low frame rate (ie it's baked in) and thus can't be changed. But that'd be an extra level of development I would be rather surprised by.

Edited by InkDagger on Jun 16th 2024 at 5:10:08 AM

Silentedge89 Since: Apr, 2012
#7: Jun 16th 2024 at 8:33:48 PM

I forget who it was that I watched react to it but they pointed out that the actual FPS is still at 60. The characters are just being animated on 2s and 3s instead of 1s.

InkDagger Since: Jul, 2014
#8: Jun 17th 2024 at 1:30:13 AM

Correct. The game is running at max FPS. The animation is not. And that can actually be fairly normal in many cases with games. Because cloth physics can be so difficult on rendering processes, many games will lower the max FPS of cloth (and other specific elements) so that it's easier on the rendering.

An example of this would be the cloth in Assassin's Creed Unity and AC Syndicate. I believe the cloth physics are unlocked in Unity which does mean it's optimization and resource use was a hog at the time. It's among the reasons why the game ran so poorly. However, it runs REMARKABLY well on modern computers and does look utterly amazing; a rare instance of a game aging very well over time rather than the other way around.

However, for Syndicate, they deliberately coded many physics assets (cloth, hair, etc.) to instead be locked to 30 FPS. It was extremely noticeable on better systems, but it made the game run better and it wasn't as noticeable on older systems or consoles.

For modern gamers however, you can just open up the ini files of the game and just... change a few numbers. You can get Syndicate to run at a very stable and very high frame rate.

The point I'm getting to is, as long as it's the game that is limiting the fps in the animation and not the animations itself being done at >30 fps, you could probably change it yourself, assuming they don't change the fps before release anyway.

Edited by InkDagger on Jun 17th 2024 at 1:31:20 AM

TheGunheart Some nights I rule the world (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Some nights I rule the world
#9: Jun 17th 2024 at 8:46:02 AM

First off, wanna say this had me since the reveal trailer. Adore the aesthetic and atmosphere they've got going.

Secondly, I really do not like the implications of the opening post, even in jest. Bringing up the character's skin color as a factor of it potentially being a "bad game" sets a gross precedent.

Edited by TheGunheart on Jun 17th 2024 at 8:50:49 AM

dArtagnanMusic Since: Oct, 2022
#10: Jun 18th 2024 at 7:16:22 AM

[up]The gross precendent is that Gamers will be annoying pedantic and shitty towards non-white-male protagonists.
Seriously, Forspoken got savaged online because... Faye quips. When Nathan drake did the exact same thing, Gamers loved him for it.
Regarding South of Midnight itself, i don't rmemeber the last game that went so much in a "lousiana horror / Dark Country" vibe. ... Hunt: Showdown, maybe?

Edited by dArtagnanMusic on Jun 18th 2024 at 7:17:40 AM

TheGunheart Some nights I rule the world (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Some nights I rule the world
#11: Jun 18th 2024 at 8:04:40 AM

[up]Yeah, honestly I have a ton to say in defense of Forspoken (hell I'm replaying it right now) but didn't want to go too far off topic, but you already mentioned one of my own observations.

As for this game I can't wait to learn more about what it'll actually play like. I wonder if it's going to be a connected world or more a linear, mission-based one? And for that matter, what the lore behind the player character's powers are; I like how the melee and movement abilities all have that same whispy aesthetic and I wonder just what exactly it's supposed to be.

AzureSeas Since: Jan, 2011
#12: Jan 23rd 2025 at 12:07:24 PM

Story trailer, showing more of what is going on here, what happened, and what people you'll meet. Seems pretty fascinating so far.

We'll be able to go south starting on April 8 :o

Iridener Since: Dec, 2019 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
#13: Mar 31st 2025 at 3:59:14 PM

Really intrigued by this one. Setting/folklore feels rarely touched upon before in video games, love the character design.

Edited by Iridener on Mar 31st 2025 at 4:00:17 AM

DoubleOG (Apprentice)
#14: Apr 9th 2025 at 10:37:18 AM

The game released a while ago but the reviews seem good.

theLibrarian Since: Jul, 2009
#15: Apr 9th 2025 at 10:55:40 AM

Good to know that the studio's probably learned a lot from how We Happy Few panned out.

AzureSeas Since: Jan, 2011
#16: Apr 9th 2025 at 6:00:43 PM

From what I've read, the gameplay is not going to break new ground, and it's mostly linear with some side paths, but looks great, the story's nice, and the setting is neat. Good to see that it's doing well. Makes me more excited to check it out :o

Add Post

Total posts: 16
Top