darkSpyro

I know you get the volcano hat by completing nightmare mode. I finished the game on hard mode and want to know can I just play thru that current file and switch it to nightmare mode (it allows you to switch under options difficulty) and do all the chapters and get the hat, or do I have to start a new file from the very beginning on nightmare mode to get the hat.

Quote: wgeorge111

I know you get the volcano hat by completing nightmare mode. I finished the game on hard mode and want to know can I just play thru that current file and switch it to nightmare mode (it allows you to switch under options difficulty) and do all the chapters and get the hat, or do I have to start a new file from the very beginning on nightmare mode to get the hat.

I think you can! Cuz on top, when I'm selecting my chapter, it says completed easy mode! So I think that if all the chapter are at nightmare mode, you get the hat...

I think you have to start a new save... Sorry Bro

Quote: jet-vac6000

I think you have to start a new save... Sorry Bro

Actually you don't have to start a new save. In Giants, you did have to start a new save file to access Nightmare mode. But in Swap Force, after you complete the last level on your save, you can then change the difficulty to Nightmare (and back if you wanted).

Super sweet! Now we don't have to worry about getting stuck in Nightmare Mode for eternity. This new game makes the second one look totally obsolete, not just better graphics though.

I still like Giants, but it does seem more of a big DLC than a whole new game.
Swapforce is a true sequel that really pushes the series forward.

I look forward to what TFB do with a longer production time (even they acknowledge that Giants was green lit and produced in a very short amount of time).

We got the hat playing level by level on our original save file. You can skip around too. W played some of the bosses out of order due to time constraints.

Just make sure you have the level changed before you go into each level otherwise it takes the lowest difficulty while you are in the level.

Quote: casinoman

Just make sure you have the level changed before you go into each level otherwise it takes the lowest difficulty while you are in the level.

So for example, if we start a level at easy mode, changing it to Nightmare mode won't do anything unless you restart at that particular level?

Correct

Quote: TheShadowDragon

Quote: casinoman

Just make sure you have the level changed before you go into each level otherwise it takes the lowest difficulty while you are in the level.

So for example, if we start a level at easy mode, changing it to Nightmare mode won't do anything unless you restart at that particular level?

you will still get more exp for changing to nightmare.

Quote: Tel Prydain

I still like Giants, but it does seem more of a big DLC than a whole new game.
Swapforce is a true sequel that really pushes the series forward.

I look forward to what TFB do with a longer production time (even they acknowledge that Giants was green lit and produced in a very short amount of time).

Well, they had roughly 3 years for SSA...I don't doubt their technical skills, and Iwei is an awesome character designer...I'm wondering how well the newer VV technology will play into their build and how they will improve (if any) on it.

Given the number of characters I'd suspect some of these may get little/no tweaks and just use them "as is". I sure would.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: Tel Prydain

I still like Giants, but it does seem more of a big DLC than a whole new game.
Swapforce is a true sequel that really pushes the series forward.

I look forward to what TFB do with a longer production time (even they acknowledge that Giants was green lit and produced in a very short amount of time).

Well, they had roughly 3 years for SSA...I don't doubt their technical skills, and Iwei is an awesome character designer...I'm wondering how well the newer VV technology will play into their build and how they will improve (if any) on it.

Given the number of characters I'd suspect some of these may get little/no tweaks and just use them "as is". I sure would.

After playing Swap Force on PS4 I was struck by how crisply 'next gen' it feels overall. Like it felt like VV designed their new engine with the next gen in mind (which would make sense with the timing) and was downscaling things for current gen Swap Force releases, as opposed to simply bumping up the resolution a little bit on the PS4 version. It's impressed me more than Assassins Creed 4 or Battlefield on PS4.

With that in mind I would personally have no issues at all if the current character models and animations stayed the same in Skylanders 4 (as in Swap Force PS4 quality) as well as overall graphical fidelity, and I hope that means a lot more time and resources for TFB to push the series in cool new places vs. spending all their time re-modeling and animating the growing roster of characters.

Also this is a bit random but there are rumors Vicarious Visions might be working on a Crash Bandicoot reboot for Activision and Sony. If so they already have a perfect engine ready for it

Yeah they mentioned the Alchemy system...not sure what core was used and they modified. Game engine is great and like I said it would make sense to move forward with it and leverage all previous IP while taking it forward...

In my mind, THAT'S why they did that for #3, to have an engine to support future growth without significant changes.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Yeah they mentioned the Alchemy system...not sure what core was used and they modified. Game engine is great and like I said it would make sense to move forward with it and leverage all previous IP while taking it forward...

In my mind, THAT'S why they did that for #3, to have an engine to support future growth without significant changes.

What's the Alchemy system? Never heard of it. But yeah, this engine is great. I was just replaying some levels last night and the in-game engine cut scenes, I swear they look better than Toy Story 1, and on par with Toy Story 2!

Quote: pyro16

Quote: GhostRoaster

Yeah they mentioned the Alchemy system...not sure what core was used and they modified. Game engine is great and like I said it would make sense to move forward with it and leverage all previous IP while taking it forward...

In my mind, THAT'S why they did that for #3, to have an engine to support future growth without significant changes.

What's the Alchemy system? Never heard of it. But yeah, this engine is great. I was just replaying some levels last night and the in-game engine cut scenes, I swear they look better than Toy Story 1, and on par with Toy Story 2!

Alchemy is the name of their gaming platform--kinda like the Unreal engine. I'm curious what underling engine they built it from.

Ah ok. Yeah I assume whatever it is evolved from is very robust. My first experience with a Vicarious Visions game was the Tony Hawk series on GBA many years ago and it was just flat-out amazing what they were able to squeeze out on that hardware. They have some real technical voodoo skills and it was a great idea for them to update and provide their engine for Skylanders.