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Steam News7 November 20241y ago

Major Phantom Brave PC Overhaul Update!

Hi everyone, today we are releasing a major update for Phantom Brave PC, with several new features and fixes to long-standing bugs.

In this update8

Full notes

Full Phantom Brave PC update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

1 fix4 additions3 changes0 removals
  • Gameplay
  • Performance
  • Balance
  • Compatibility
  • Maps
addedtoday we are releasing a major update for Phantom Brave PC, with several new features and fixes to long-standing bugs. Large parts of this update -- outside PC-specific fixes -- are a result of our work on Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle Remastered on PS5, and this patch brings all the applicable improvements to the PC version of the game. I'm personally particularly happy that we got to work on this game, as it is my favourite Nippon Ichi SRPG of its era, and one of my overall favourite entries in the genre.
addedRestore UV Animations of Lava, Quicksand, etc.In the original PS2 version of the game, some surfaces such as lava used UV texture animation to visualize their flow. Sadly, this effect was lost in the transition to later ports of the game, including the PC version. We have managed to restore this effect and it is now re-enabled, as you can see above.
changedCRT Shader OptionBack when Phantom Brave was originally released, a lot of us were still playing on CRT TVs, and LCD technology was just becoming more mainstream. Some people prefer the look of graphics of that era in a CRT style, so the game now includes an optional filter which simulates a CRT image. (Due to the nature of this kind of effect, you probably have to look at the screenshot above in fullscreen to appreciate it)
changedColor-coded Elemental SkillsAs a quality of life improvement, skills with an elemental damage effect are now color-coded to indicate their element, as shown above. While this is not particularly useful for skills like "Fire", others are often less immediately obvious, and this change makes it easier to identify their elemental effects at a glance.
added(Re-)Introduce the "Recreate" Dungeon Monk OptionThe PSP version of the game featured a shortcut option for re-rolling dungeons generated at the "Dungeon Monk" NPC. We rebuilt this feature and added it in this patch.
addedPrevent Randomization of Unit StatsThis one requires a bit of a longer explanation. When you create a new unit in Phantom Brave, its stats are randomly generated (to some extent, and within specific constraints). That is intended behaviour, and you can see these stats when selecting a unit to create. However, in every version of the game except for the PSP port , these stats are partially re-randomized after you select a unit, resulting in the actually generated unit having different stats from the one displayed in the preview. We reconstructed the PSP behaviour, as it makes more sense for players and is likely what was intended all along.

Phantom Brave PC changes

addedtoday we are releasing a major update for Phantom Brave PC, with several new features and fixes to long-standing bugs. Large parts of this update -- outside PC-specific fixes -- are a result of our work on Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle Remastered on PS5, and this patch brings all the applicable improvements to the PC version of the game. I'm personally particularly happy that we got to work on this game, as it is my favourite Nippon Ichi SRPG of its era, and one of my overall favourite entries in the genre.
addedIn the original PS2 version of the game, some surfaces such as lava used UV texture animation to visualize their flow. Sadly, this effect was lost in the transition to later ports of the game, including the PC version. We have managed to restore this effect and it is now re-enabled, as you can see above.
changedBack when Phantom Brave was originally released, a lot of us were still playing on CRT TVs, and LCD technology was just becoming more mainstream. Some people prefer the look of graphics of that era in a CRT style, so the game now includes an optional filter which simulates a CRT image. (Due to the nature of this kind of effect, you probably have to look at the screenshot above in fullscreen to appreciate it)
changedAs a quality of life improvement, skills with an elemental damage effect are now color-coded to indicate their element, as shown above. While this is not particularly useful for skills like "Fire", others are often less immediately obvious, and this change makes it easier to identify their elemental effects at a glance.
addedThe PSP version of the game featured a shortcut option for re-rolling dungeons generated at the "Dungeon Monk" NPC. We rebuilt this feature and added it in this patch.

Hi everyone,

today we are releasing a major update for Phantom Brave PC, with several new features and fixes to long-standing bugs. Large parts of this update -- outside PC-specific fixes -- are a result of our work on Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle Remastered on PS5, and this patch brings all the applicable improvements to the PC version of the game. I'm personally particularly happy that we got to work on this game, as it is my favourite Nippon Ichi SRPG of its era, and one of my overall favourite entries in the genre.

New Features & High-Profile Bug Fixes

Anti-Aliasing Settings

This patch introduces various anti-aliasing options into the game, namely FXAA, partial/full 2x/4x MSAA, and partial/full 2x/4x SGSSAA. The image above shows a comparison with no AA on the left and SGSSAA on the right.

Restore UV Animations of Lava, Quicksand, etc.

In the original PS2 version of the game, some surfaces such as lava used UV texture animation to visualize their flow. Sadly, this effect was lost in the transition to later ports of the game, including the PC version. We have managed to restore this effect and it is now re-enabled, as you can see above.

CRT Shader Option

Back when Phantom Brave was originally released, a lot of us were still playing on CRT TVs, and LCD technology was just becoming more mainstream. Some people prefer the look of graphics of that era in a CRT style, so the game now includes an optional filter which simulates a CRT image. (Due to the nature of this kind of effect, you probably have to look at the screenshot above in fullscreen to appreciate it)

Color-coded Elemental Skills

As a quality of life improvement, skills with an elemental damage effect are now color-coded to indicate their element, as shown above. While this is not particularly useful for skills like "Fire", others are often less immediately obvious, and this change makes it easier to identify their elemental effects at a glance.

(Re-)Introduce the "Recreate" Dungeon Monk Option

The PSP version of the game featured a shortcut option for re-rolling dungeons generated at the "Dungeon Monk" NPC. We rebuilt this feature and added it in this patch.

Prevent Randomization of Unit Stats

This one requires a bit of a longer explanation. When you create a new unit in Phantom Brave, its stats are randomly generated (to some extent, and within specific constraints). That is intended behaviour, and you can see these stats when selecting a unit to create. However, in every version of the game except for the PSP port, these stats are partially re-randomized after you select a unit, resulting in the actually generated unit having different stats from the one displayed in the preview. We reconstructed the PSP behaviour, as it makes more sense for players and is likely what was intended all along.

High Frame Rate Support

Phantom Brave now supports framerates higher than 60 FPS! Note that this is a very old game, originally released more than 20 years ago (typing this made me feel old), so a lot of its logic was bound to fixed framerates. We have resolved a lot of issues while working on the framerate unlocking, and even more during the beta period, but there might still be some that slipped through the cracks. Please report if you encounter anything suspicious.

Fix Z-fighting Artifacts on Several Maps

The PC version of the game suffered from Z-fighting issues on several of its maps, as the Z

Source

Steam News / 7 November 2024

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