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NovumVeritas

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,131
Berlin
Completed it on Switch, there were some slow downs later in the game. Normal mode was already pretty challenging for me lol. But it was fun. I liked that it had some Metroidvania vibes. NightDive did a great job. I have ShadowMen on my list as well. I never knew this had German voice acting for Ramses.
 

jvm

Member
Oct 27, 2017
567
Finished.

Final boss was pretty dadgum easy. And I only had two ankhs? How many are there? I saw a run on YouTube with like four extra health containers?

Also, there is a wall you can blow up in the Kilmaat Sanctuary (I think) that is complete nonsense. Maybe it looks different from the other walls, but it sure took me FOREVER to figure it out. It's the room where you have to get up to a higher door, and there is a way to get up to that level from a small elevated alcove, but it only leads to a tiny room dead-end. The dead-end wall can actually be blown up ... Grrrrrrrr.


In any case, loved (nearly) every minute and I'm so happy it got made. Just a lovely, exciting experience.

Now bring on System Shock, right?
 

flyinj

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,941
So I just got the anklets. Is there any indication that previous levels have items like overall health boosts and whatnot you can get once you have the ability to reach them? Or do I just need to use a guide?

I'm staring at a map of like 10 levels now and I have no idea which ones might have things I can acquire now, and I don't really want to play through all of them again just to see.
 

daninthemix

Member
Nov 2, 2017
5,022
So I just got the anklets. Is there any indication that previous levels have items like overall health boosts and whatnot you can get once you have the ability to reach them? Or do I just need to use a guide?

I'm staring at a map of like 10 levels now and I have no idea which ones might have things I can acquire now, and I don't really want to play through all of them again just to see.
There is no indication, you need a guide. I used this guide to the overall game path:
Tomb of Ramses(PISTOL) -> Karnak -> Karnak Sanctuary(M-60,SANDALS) ->
Karnak -> Sobek Pass -> Sobek Mtn. Shrine(SOBEK MASK) -> Karnak ->
Amun Mines(AMUN BOMB) -> Set Palace -> Set Arena(SHAWL OF ISIS) ->
Karnak(ANKH #1or2) -> Amun Mines -> Cavern Of Peril(FLAMETHROWER) ->
Nile Gorge -> Thoth Treasure Reliquary(PROTECTIVE ANKELTS) ->
Karnak Sanctuary -> Heket Marsh(COBRA STAFF) -> Sunken Palace of Khnum ->
Deserted Slave Camp -> Selkis Path -> Selkis Burrow(SCEPTER) ->
Karnak Sanctuary(ANKH #3) -> Sobek Mtn. Shrine -> Magma Fields(RING OF RA) ->
Horus Peak(HORUS FEATHER) -> Amun Mines -> Canyons Of Chaos(SACRED MANACLE)->
Kilmaat Colony -> Kilmaat Haunt/Arena -> Tomb of Ramses (automatic)
 

locke_21183

Banned
Jul 21, 2020
138
Did the original game have the checkpoints or not - the option to turn them off implies not?

Really enjoying this, though Hard ramps up a lot in difficulty around what I presume is the half-way point. The Sunken level wasn't quite as much of a slog as I thought it would be!
 

Tokyo_Funk

Banned
Dec 10, 2018
10,053
Did the original game have the checkpoints or not - the option to turn them off implies not?

Really enjoying this, though Hard ramps up a lot in difficulty around what I presume is the half-way point. The Sunken level wasn't quite as much of a slog as I thought it would be!

Nope, no checkpoints back then. We did it the hard way on release.
 

Tokyo_Funk

Banned
Dec 10, 2018
10,053
So any death would completely reset the whole level? I don't think I could do that now. Back then, maybe I would have stuck at it!

I think the difficulty levels are new too? Which one on this version most closely approximates the original?

Normal seems right. The Hard and Pharoh difficulty was never in the original.
 

Gelf

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,294
Yeah I think normal is the original difficulty. Games easier now with checkpoints plus just having more fluid dual stick or M+Kb controls makes the platforming and swimming much less of a problem than it used to be. I found the Sunken Palace a major road block back in the day and I think I beat it without dying this time round.
 

Tokyo_Funk

Banned
Dec 10, 2018
10,053
One other thing is the Saturn version has very strong auto aim, making it easier to shoot most enemies. I recall the Digital Foundry video stating that hitting birds and spiders was a pain on PS1 because the auto aim was reeled in a bit.
 

jvm

Member
Oct 27, 2017
567
Just went back and found my first two Team Dolls. Very cool to see that myself for the first time. I knew about them in the 1990s Powerslave, but did not ever find any.
 
Jul 1, 2020
6,531
I finished the game this morning and really enjoyed my time with it. There are some places in the very late game levels that I had to damage boost myself with grenades and magmantis fireballs to get enough height to leave an area with the Horus Feather. I wonder if that is how you are supposed to do it?
 

Gelf

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,294
I finished the game this morning and really enjoyed my time with it. There are some places in the very late game levels that I had to damage boost myself with grenades and magmantis fireballs to get enough height to leave an area with the Horus Feather. I wonder if that is how you are supposed to do it?
I'm pretty sure the whole game is beatable without ever doing that (hidden dolls aside) unless you got trapped somewhere I'm unaware of. There is a "puzzle" on a later lever that requires you to fully traverse a walkway to turn off lasers that certainly first appears like you need to bomb jump out of there just because the solution is so obtuse though.
 

Atolm

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,826
Finished it, a great classic and even better remaster.

I love the bomb-jump, it adds so much in terms of free-form exploration, it reminded me of Super Metroid's double jump.

Pity it ends when levels start becoming labyrinths though. Another 3 hours or so wouldn't have hurt.

The real pity though is the fact that Lobotomy went bankrupt. There's greatness in PowerSlave, but it only shows a little. Had it released during the PS2 era instead of 1996, it would be remembered as fondly as Metroid Prime.
 

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,230
I am kinda disappointed that this game hasn't been patched yet. I assume that the patch is awaiting certification across all platforms, and I get it.. but mouse inversion sure feels like something that should be added in a small hotfix. I still haven't played for more than a few minutes.
 

Edward850

Software & Netcode Engineer at Nightdive Studios
Verified
Apr 5, 2019
991
New Zealand
I am kinda disappointed that this game hasn't been patched yet. I assume that the patch is awaiting certification across all platforms, and I get it.. but mouse inversion sure feels like something that should be added in a small hotfix. I still haven't played for more than a few minutes.
Actually it's just because the patch is turning out larger than expected. We'll push the build PC once it's ready regardless of console cert.
 

Gitaroo

Member
Nov 3, 2017
7,989
No native ps5 version is disappointing becuase quake remaster has awesome dualsense support
 

PaulloDEC

Visited by Knack
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,409
Australia
There is no indication, you need a guide. I used this guide to the overall game path:
Tomb of Ramses(PISTOL) -> Karnak -> Karnak Sanctuary(M-60,SANDALS) ->
Karnak -> Sobek Pass -> Sobek Mtn. Shrine(SOBEK MASK) -> Karnak ->
Amun Mines(AMUN BOMB) -> Set Palace -> Set Arena(SHAWL OF ISIS) ->
Karnak(ANKH #1or2) -> Amun Mines -> Cavern Of Peril(FLAMETHROWER) ->
Nile Gorge -> Thoth Treasure Reliquary(PROTECTIVE ANKELTS) ->
Karnak Sanctuary -> Heket Marsh(COBRA STAFF) -> Sunken Palace of Khnum ->
Deserted Slave Camp -> Selkis Path -> Selkis Burrow(SCEPTER) ->
Karnak Sanctuary(ANKH #3) -> Sobek Mtn. Shrine -> Magma Fields(RING OF RA) ->
Horus Peak(HORUS FEATHER) -> Amun Mines -> Canyons Of Chaos(SACRED MANACLE)->
Kilmaat Colony -> Kilmaat Haunt/Arena -> Tomb of Ramses (automatic)

I know this wasn't posted for me, but thanks! I spent like an hour last night replaying levels trying to find a specific area I played earlier, to no avail.
 

sox

Member
Oct 27, 2017
657
I was thinking about what else Nightdive could tackle and I wonder if they could bring Daikatana to a new audience. The game is famous for better or worse and I reckon they have the chops to do it justice.
 

Edward850

Software & Netcode Engineer at Nightdive Studios
Verified
Apr 5, 2019
991
New Zealand
Latest Powerslave patch is now out on consoles (and PC if you've missed that). Changes include:
Code:
- Set's Arena exit door no longer remains locked when respawning from a checkpoint while Set is dead
- Entering a level with a negative health value (or 0) will now spawn you with minimum HP
- Drop platforms now crushes player if standing under it
- Impact flame projectiles against water surfaces (flamethrower can't go through water now)
- Improved fire actor offsets when spawning
- Removed bad sprite frame on cobra staff that consists of a old/obsolete sprite
- Darkening Strength option now behaves correctly when set to higher values
- Changed hitscan calculations, now uses accurate bounding box tests to make dodging projectiles in narrow hallways easier
- Added fix to keeping trace-moving actors inside sectors
- Added text scrolling for inventory item descriptions
- Fixed Gorge checkpoint issues
- Fixed bad portals in the Karnak Sanctuary and Kilmaat Haunt stages
- Various fixes to localized texts
- [PC] Editor is now enabled and accessible from the console
- [PC] Gyro controls are now available for supported controllers (Steam Input may interfere with this!)
- [PC] Invert Mouse option has been added
- [Xbox Series] Xbox Series S & X now has a native build that runs at 4K120FPS on both systems.
 

futurevoid

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,987
Great update and I'm working towards the platinum soon. I think I pinged you on Twitter but put me down as a +1 on wanting that native PS5 version with 120hz support in the near future.:)
 

Jazzem

Member
Feb 2, 2018
2,680
Latest Powerslave patch is now out on consoles (and PC if you've missed that). Changes include:
Code:
- Set's Arena exit door no longer remains locked when respawning from a checkpoint while Set is dead
- Entering a level with a negative health value (or 0) will now spawn you with minimum HP
- Drop platforms now crushes player if standing under it
- Impact flame projectiles against water surfaces (flamethrower can't go through water now)
- Improved fire actor offsets when spawning
- Removed bad sprite frame on cobra staff that consists of a old/obsolete sprite
- Darkening Strength option now behaves correctly when set to higher values
- Changed hitscan calculations, now uses accurate bounding box tests to make dodging projectiles in narrow hallways easier
- Added fix to keeping trace-moving actors inside sectors
- Added text scrolling for inventory item descriptions
- Fixed Gorge checkpoint issues
- Fixed bad portals in the Karnak Sanctuary and Kilmaat Haunt stages
- Various fixes to localized texts
- [PC] Editor is now enabled and accessible from the console
- [PC] Gyro controls are now available for supported controllers (Steam Input may interfere with this!)
- [PC] Invert Mouse option has been added
- [Xbox Series] Xbox Series S & X now has a native build that runs at 4K120FPS on both systems.

Big thanks for the heads up and the continued support from everyone involed, I played through this recently and loved it enough to go for all achievements 🙂 absolutely phenomenal work, hands down one of the best remasters and a great way to experience this hidden gem for the first time

Though aye, I definitely got hit by projectiles a lot in hallways so that's definitely a good fix!
 

Deleted member 31423

Account closed at user request
Banned
Nov 6, 2017
1,201
I'm playing this for the first time and I started on pharaoh difficulty. I just finished off the second boss. I like the game but I'm already getting fatigued and kinda just want it to be over now.
 

Edward850

Software & Netcode Engineer at Nightdive Studios
Verified
Apr 5, 2019
991
New Zealand
I'm playing this for the first time and I started on pharaoh difficulty. I just finished off the second boss. I like the game but I'm already getting fatigued and kinda just want it to be over now.
You probably shouldn't have done that. It's the equivalent of picking up classic Doom for the first time and picking nightmare; the skill difficulty didn't exist originally, and the game wasn't designed around it (with the difficulty designed to be as lethal as possible). No skill difficulties existed originally in powerslave, so normal is the way the game was intended.
 

Deleted member 31423

Account closed at user request
Banned
Nov 6, 2017
1,201
You probably shouldn't have done that. It's the equivalent of picking up classic Doom for the first time and picking nightmare; the skill difficulty didn't exist originally, and the game wasn't designed around it (with the difficulty designed to be as lethal as possible). No skill difficulties existed originally in powerslave, so normal is the way the game was intended.

I didn't know you added those difficulties, but I'm far enough that I don't want to restart on normal. Thankfully the game doesn't have hitscan enemies. It's really only the mummies homing projectiles that are a pain.
 

Deleted member 31423

Account closed at user request
Banned
Nov 6, 2017
1,201
Finished it today. The final boss might be the easiest thing in the game. I have 18 of the dolls collected too. It sucks that the difficulty trophies don't stack. After finishing it on pharaoh. I ain't replaying it on hard.

As for the port itself. It's excellent. I own all of nightdives PS5 ports. If you guys are listening. Do star wars dark forces next or blood fresh supply to consoles.