Topic: So I bought Prince of Persia 2008 on the 360.

[Pugnate]

I got their Widescreen setting ON, yes.

On a normal monitor?

So, if I was to AA and AF, if I was to turn it on, through the NVidia Drivers.

Download the latest drivers.

Go to the NVIDIA control panel.

Go to "MANAGE 3D SETTINGS"

Click "global settings"

Have "Anisotropic" to 16. If there is an option, click "override any application setting"

On antialiasing mode set it to "application controlled", so that you can have an easier time adjusting per game.

On antialiasing transparency set it to "supersampling"

On Texture Filtering Quality, set it to "High Quality"

Hopefully, this shouldn't affect performance too much. If it does, then try it with 8x filtering. Though if that doesn't help, then put it back to 16 and turn AA off.

If you have time, do post screenies with the AF and AA goodies turned on. I'd like to see the difference.

[MysterD]

On a normal monitor?

Nope.
It's a flat-panel widescreen 19'' monitor.

EDIT:
Just for Puggy...
Below stuff set at these settings:

NVidia Settings on my GF 8800 GT:
AF at 16x, AA Transparency at Supersampling, AA Mode to App-Controlled (set at its highest in-game settings at 8x), and Texture Filtering at High.

Here's a vid at settings he asked to see the game at:
MyD's Vid set at Pug's specs

Screens just for Puggy:

[Pugnate]

Now that looks phenomenal. Looks better than my 360 version. How is the framerate?

But you put AA at 8x? That will probably kill frames. Keep AA at 2 and AF at 16. If that is too slow, lower AF to 8... and if that doesn't work then turn off AA and put AF back to 16.

But look at the difference the AF is making. The blurriness is totally gone on the textures.

The anti aliasing is also making a world of a difference. The jaggies are totally gone, and are making the character outlines a smooth black instead of that slivery black in the earlier video.

Thanks so much D.

edit:

Hmmm... now I almost wish I had gotten this on PC.

edit 2:

For anyone interested on what AF (Anisotropic Filtering) exactly does: (image on the right has it on)

[MysterD]

Now that looks phenomenal. Looks better than my 360 version. How is the framerate?

But you put AA at 8x? That will probably kill frames. Keep AA at 2 and AF at 16. If that is too slow, lower AF to 8... and if that doesn't work then turn off AA and put AF back to 16.

It is slow -- I mean, just look at that vid I posted. Stutter, stutter, nice, stutter -- feels all over the place. Not good.

Right now, I got both AA and AF at 8x now. It runs a hell of a lot better here -- still stutters here and there, so there will be more testing w/ these two settings.

But look at the difference the AF is making. The blurriness is totally gone on the textures.

Thanks so much D.

edit:

Hmmm... now I almost wish I had gotten this on PC.

And thank you for making me your guinnea pig to tell me to try some things.
Yeah, it looked pretty good to me already.

Now with some fiddling around, my eyes are overloaded with a lot better than greatness. This is fantastic looking.

[Pugnate]

The thing with AF is that it won't bite into your frames. In my experience, at 8x AF, you should be quite safe.

AA really takes a chunk out, the higher you go. I just keep it at 2 or 4, because it is normally enough to smooth out the edges.

Now with some fiddling around, my eyes are overloaded with a lot better than greatness. This is fantastic looking.

Yea, those screenies are something else. The color palette reminds me of the opening of NWN2...

I got this on the 360 instead of the PC, purely because third person games are the sort I enjoy playing from a couch.

[MysterD]

The thing with AF is that it won't bite into your frames. In my experience, at 8x AF, you should be quite safe.

AA really takes a chunk out, the higher you go. I just keep it at 2 or 4, because it is normally enough to smooth out the edges.

Thanks for the tips.

Yea, those screenies are something else. The color palette reminds me of the opening of NWN2...

I got this on the 360 instead of the PC, purely because third person games are the sort I enjoy playing from a couch.

If you get the PC version when it gets dirt cheap -- since you don't wanna be double-dipped on at a high price -- yeah, you can just plug that X360 control-pad into your PC's USB port and go to town.

Plus, PoP 2008 PC has NO DRM.

EDIT:
Another video:
Here's a cleansing of Heaven's Stairs with Nvidia settings at AA 8x (in-game setting), AA Transparency at Supersampling, AF 8x, High Texture Filtering.

[MysterD]

Producer Bet Mattes of Ubi Montreal for PoP 2008 talks about the successes and fails he saw from PoP 2008

Prince of Persia Afterthoughts
Producer Ben Mattes looks back on the shipped game and talks about downloadable expansions.
by Erik Brudvig

December 22, 2008 - Looking back and reflecting on work done is the key to future success. Now that Prince of Persia has shipped to stores and is in the hands of gamers everywhere, Ubisoft Montreal has taken a step back to reflect on the final product in an interview with IGN. Producer Ben Mattes answered frank questions that ranged in topic from risks taken, 20/20 hindsight, and plans for future downloadable content and continuing the franchise.

IGN: When you look back at the development process for Prince of Persia, do you do so with a smile? Is there anything you would have changed about the approach taken to reboot this franchise?

Ben Mattes: I consider Prince of Persia to be a success and look back at the last three years very fondly. We set out to do some very specific things with Prince of Persia, and while the decisions we took are not universally loved, there are enough very positive comments out there (reviews, forum posts, etc) to make me feel proud of what we accomplished.

Of course, in retrospect, there are things I would change. Anyone who says otherwise about their game is lying to himself or herself. No one ever gets to put everything into a game they want and this is, of course, true of PoP. There are features we wanted to develop, parts of the story we wanted to tell that didn't make it into the final product for a variety of reasons.

One of our ambitions from the first day with this game was to create the 'Art Game That Sells'. We knew we had in PoP some core game systems (acrobatics and combat) and a universe/theme that was strong enough to give us the luxury to take some risks and explore some unique ideas and themes. The theme of love and loss was one we wanted to explore, but in a unique way – not just as a story but also through gameplay; a game where the penalty for failure is not artificially enforced by an arbitrary mechanic but rather self imposed by the player; a radical departure in the artistic direction with a much more 'storybook' feel. All of these, in my mind, were success stories for us and generally well appreciated.[

Given the benefit of 20/20 hindsight (I'll elaborate more on this below) I guess the one thing I would do differently is to have devoted more time to creating alternate systems/difficulty modes for the hardcore set.

I can see why you'd want to make a difficulty set for higher-skilled players. But, I seem to be missing lots of jumps over and over, which Elika's saving stops me from reloading 100 times. Also, having to do long passes over and over after Elika saves me, is okay with me -- and there's more of those, as you get further along b/c there's less and less solid pieces of ground; a lot of them are curved, ramps, object is on a slanted, etc etc.

IGN: Is there any aspect of Prince of Persia that you thought would be a sure hit with gamers that didn't get the attention you think it deserved? Likewise, is there anything you felt was a design gamble that people really took to?

Mattes: The design gamble one is easy -- Elika. We were constantly doubting ourselves during development as to whether or not Elika was a strong enough feature. We knew she was pretty to look at, but that was never enough. In the end, though, I've read many kind words about Elika that really reinforces that we made the right decision in including her in the game and giving her such a prominent role.

I'm also surprised (in a very good way) to read all of the positive comments regarding our On Demand Dialogue system – the ability of the player to dig deeper into the story by initiating dialogue with Elika throughout the game. After E3 there was some backlash within the community regarding our choice of voice actor for the Prince (Nolan North) as well as the type of character we were developing for the Prince (again -- I'll get deeper into this below). Generally speaking, though, the people who played with the ODD system seem to have developed a stronger appreciation for the story and the characters and I couldn't have asked for more out of this mechanic -- it did exactly what it was designed to do.

I think the voice-acting, dialogue, and interaction b/t Prince and Elika, so far that I've experienced, has been excellent.

I like how *I* have to initiate most of the dialogue -- and there's tons of it, when you do, too. Just like with Bioshock and finding the tapes -- you want to hear the tapes and get more story, hit the key to initiate them. I'm sure if I am replaying the game and trying to speed through the game and I don't wanna put up w/ the dialogue, well -- I don't have to. I can just play through the game. Nothing forced on me. That's great. And if I want to initiate the dialogue, I can just hit the appropriate key when it's telling me I can and -- there you go.

In terms of us taking a shot and missing, I guess I would have to go a little higher level here and speak about risks in general.

For years we've all been reading complaints about sequels and companies churning out carbon copies of proven formulas without focusing on innovation or taking risks. Fans, developers and critics alike seemed ravenous for new ideas -- new IPs; major innovations -- advances in this art-tertainment (I'm trying to coin a new term here ) form we all love.

We tried to really embrace this challenge on PoP. We set out to keep a few core fundamentals but to re-imagine everything else, discarding some very well entrenched ideas not only about the brand but also about videogames in general (and we weren't alone. EA took some major risks this year with new IP and innovations - Mirror's Edge and Dead Space, for example).

What surprises me is how little these high level risks seem to be noticed and appreciated as attempts to shake up the industry and push things forward. Perhaps I'm an idealist, but I think perhaps I was expecting a few more virtual pats-on-the-back for our attempts to do something new.
Whether this means we didn't totally succeed in our risk taking or whether our industry in fact has a stronger appetite for the familiar then it wants to admit remains to be seen. Honestly I hope it is the former.

You know, it's a shame that franchises new interesting IP's like Mirror's Edge and Dead Space; and sequels that completely tried a lot of new things such as Prince of Persia 2008 -- just didn't sell that well. Of course, EA had it coming on the PC versions of those games for including malware DRM, but you'd expect the console versions of those games to sell A LOT better than they actually did. It's a shame -- and you wonder why sometimes they decide to keep pumping out the same sports game year after year w/ little improvements and tweaks, yet people still buy those ASAP.

IGN: Several people I've spoken to found they could relate better to Elika than the Prince due to his gruff persona. Was this an intentional design move or a result of differences in personality and culture?

Mattes: The Prince was not actually designed to be gruff, just to start that way. I've given the example before, but we were really aiming for the Han Solo type evolution of character. When you first meet him, you think he is a jerk. As the story progresses, you see some good in him that allows you to understand his attitude for what it is -- a defense mechanism. By the end, his tough exterior has more or less melted away and his inherent goodness is what shines through.

In many ways, Elika was an easier character to develop in terms of personality. Her values were very clear from the start of the game (to herself, to the prince and to the player) and there was less evolution needed. The Prince, on the other hand, has to evolve from thinking only of his own selfish values to embracing those of another. He changes a lot more.

The interesting thing to me is some people really took to him -- they really felt this evolution and growth (searching through the official Ubi POP forums, the gamefaq forums or the IGN boards will show numerous threads on this) whereas others feel he started a jerk and ended a jerk and felt little evolution occurred.

I chalk this up to the randomness of the 'barks' in the game as well as the ODD system. If a player was unlucky enough to hear the Prince shout out his lovely 'ugh! Could you lose some weight' line too many times, that might stick with them as a component of his personality. Even though he stops saying those things as the game progresses and his relationship evolves with Elika, they might be so strongly embedded in the player's mind as who the Prince is that the fact that he has stopped being a smart-ass (or as much of one) is hardly perceived at all.

In addition, if a player isn't digging into the ODD system then there are whole chunks of the Prince's evolution that they are missing out on. We knew this would happen and accepted it figuring that people who didn't bother with the ODD likely didn't care too much about character evolution and story anyways.

In the end, though, I think there are some design lessons we'll need to take away from this for future games. I'll admit that I did not expect the personality of the Prince to be so controversial. I don't remember there being nearly as much frustration over the lack of an accent in Warrior Within or The Two Thrones.

Anytime that little icon light for ODD goes off, I'm just hitting away at that key until it won't flash anymore. Yes, I can definitely see what he's saying about The Prince's evolution, if you keep plugging away at their ODD System. As you get further and further along, him and Elika really do open up more and more to each other -- and you can see why they are the way they are.

I can see why some people will never notice the Prince's evolution, if they ain't hitting the key to initiate the dialogue b/t them two characters.

IGN: What's the plan for the future? Will we be seeing any downloadable content to expand the Prince of Persia world?

Mattes: We will have DLC for PoP that will feature new content such as a new area, new enemies, a new power and new fight moves.

This is not at all a chunk of the game that was supposed to ship but that we didn't finish in time – this is a significant DLC team that has taken all of the lessons they learned during the development of POP and all of the feedback we've read on boards and in reviews and are creating something really special.

I think there is a huge opportunity with the DLC to expand on the universe we've started to create with this game -- to dig deeper into the personality of the Prince and Elika and their relationship. Additionally with the DLC, we have the luxury of creating content that takes some of the negative feedback the game received into consideration. I, for one, can't wait to play it.

Mattes: If I said yes, that would be equivalent to announcing a sequel and, of course, I'm not in any position to do such a thing. Let's wait and see how this one does first.

That said -- the art style seems to be almost universally applauded and appreciated by fans and critics alike, so hopefully someday we'll see more of it.

Personally, I can't wait for PoP 2008 DLC to appear on the PC and for the next PoP game.

[MysterD]

Just finished this, not too long ago. Great game, I tell you.

Ending Chatter
[spoiler]The first ending, when they began to roll the credits...damn, that was pretty sad. Elika was pretty much...a goner...sheesh.

But, if you keep on after the credits start to roll, you can save Elika....but, at what cost, though?

The "Prince" just can't win, either way.[/spoiler]

[gpw11]

I've been slacking off on this. Too much to do, to many other games to play when I'm not doing it.  I do, however, really look forward to getting into it.

[MysterD]

One Of The Unlockable Skins
[spoiler]One of the skins you can unlock to be The Princess (Elika) is Jade from BG&E. Hehe.[/spoiler]

[Pugnate]

It is a very good game. I am surprised you are already done D.

[MysterD]

It is a very good game. I am surprised you are already done D.

All I did was play the game as much as I could for like a whole week or so...

[Xessive]

It's not that long of a game though.. Easily done in under 10 hours, which is apparently an achievement (I think the PS3 Trophy is for finishing under 12 hours).

[MysterD]

Well, hell...it took me like double that 10 hour achievement or so...

[Xessive]

I took my sweet time exploring and finding light seeds and I finished it in about 10 hours, earning me the Speed Demon trophy (under 12 hours). I thought it was weird because I wasn't really trying to finish it in a timely fashion.

[MysterD]

I think it took me over 23 hours b/c I was busy trying to collect many of them seeds. And many times, yes -- I almost fell to my death over and over and over again, only to have Elika come back and save me over and over and over.

I really enjoyed the hell out of that game.

[MysterD]

Yahtzee has his take on PoP 2008

Quite funny, actually.

[MysterD]

Recently, MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo mentioned how he noticed similiarities b/t PoP 2008 and Shadow of the Colossus.

Here's PoP 2008's lead producer Ben Mattes, replying to MTV's comments -- from Kotaku.
 

SoTC was a big inspiration for us, but mostly with the intention of making the boss battles epic and emotional - something they succeeded in masterfully and that we only touched the surface of (in terms of emotional connection on the part of the player). Many of the similarities you pointed out are coincidental, but I certainly don't mind the comparison. We've always been very open about the huge influences that Ico, SoTC and Okami had on us during our development.

He said a lot more on his own blog about other things, too -- but it does have SPOILERS. So, you've been warned about this link coming below...
[spoiler]Ben Matte's blog post about PoP's inspiration and ending -- SPOILERS are here![/spoiler]

[scottws]

Wow that quote really piqued my interest in this game.  I never really caught on to the whole modern PoP train.  I rented the first new one (Sands of Time?) and played it.  I found it to be an above average action-adventure game, but it just didn't really wow me enough to buy it and I passed on the rest.

But if this game has even half the soul that Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and Okami do, then this must be one fine game!

[Quemaqua]

I'm guessing not.  I've heard alarming reports about how easy it is and the fact that failing is impossible.  I was excited about it for PC because of the lack of DRM, but I don't know that I really want to invest the time into playing a game that tells me how to play it and saves me every time I do something I'm not supposed to.

[gpw11]

I don't know.  I've never played Ico, but before I played this I'd say that Shadow of the Colossus and Okami were probably the easiest games I've touched.  Well, certainly Okami, but Shadow of the Colossus was very lenient towards the player.   I like this a lot, and should probably wait until I'm further to say, but really I don't quite think it's on the the same level as those two games. 

[MysterD]

I'm guessing not.  I've heard alarming reports about how easy it is and the fact that failing is impossible.  I was excited about it for PC because of the lack of DRM, but I don't know that I really want to invest the time into playing a game that tells me how to play it and saves me every time I do something I'm not supposed to.

Here's the thing about Elika saving you and in battles with enemies...

When you fight bosses, if you lose completely in battle, Elika saves you -- this basicallys boost the enemy's health bar up -- who knows by how much. Early on, it ain't much, for the most part. Later on, depending on which enemy you face, it might be close to full or full energy they get for a replenish. Some of the bigger boss fights, you get killed, it gets replenished back to full energy or close damn to it.

Now, here's the thing about Elika saving you. She takes you to the nearest piece of SOLID FLAT ground. i.e. rings, curved pieces of ground are no good; it has to be FLAT period for her to toss you back there. Early on, there ain't too many long runs in which you will have NO piece of solid ground to fall back to. Often, there'll be more and more longer runs, as you go along -- they will get longer and longer, more frequent. If you get one of these long runs you will have to do these long acrobatic passes over and over, if you miss. But later on, there's a heck of a lot more of these long passes -- i.e. as finding your way from the top of a multi-story huge tower to the very bottom without any solid ground in-between, which can take minutes to get through. And many of these, I've had to do numerous times over and over and over and over and over to get right...

Last Few Things In The Games... ***SPOILERS***
[spoiler]Oh, and the last fights and acrobatic sequences are TOUGH. Expect to do 'em over and over and over... Easily, the hardest stuff in the game.[/spoiler]

[MysterD]

PoP 2008: Epilogue DLC coming in Feb 26.

DLC will add Over 3 hours worth of new content, new skins, and new abilities will be added to the game.

Ubisoft has a message for all Prince of Persia players who thought they'd wiped corruption from the world of its multiplatform holiday action game: you missed a spot. The publisher today announced the first downloadable content for the game, Prince of Persia Epilogue.

Set for release February 26, Prince of Persia Epilogue will offer "over 3 hours" of gameplay, as gamers traverse a new underground palace area with the help of some additional techniques. The "energize" ability allows players to temporarily rebuild destroyed objects in the environment to provide a clear path, while the "sprinting clash" adds an extra move to the Prince's repertoire of combat tricks. The downloadable content will also include unlockable skins for the Prince and Elika, allowing players to check out how the characters looked during the prototype phase of the game's development.

Despite the "Epilogue" title, an Ubisoft representative told GameSpot that players need not have finished the original game in order to access the downloadable content. Once unlocked, the character skins can be used to play through the main game, but the content pack's new power can only be used in the added sections of the game.

[MysterD]

There is NO PoP: Epilogue DLC planned for the PC version of PoP.
Console versions ONLY, y'all.

Of course, this has spawned a huge thread of very unhappy PC customers.

[idolminds]

No shit they should be upset, especially considering the DLC is supposed to be rather substantial.

[MysterD]

No shit they should be upset, especially considering the DLC is supposed to be rather substantial.

Amen.
And I am not very happy about it, either.

I'd have no problem w/ them releasing this and making us pay a small chunk of change for it -- whether on disc, through G4WL, through Steam, and/or whatever.

[idolminds]

So I got this from GoGamer finally. What can I say? I *LOVE* this kind of stuff.

[MysterD]

PoP 2008 is great.

I really do hope they change their mind, and do release any PoP 2008 DLC onto disc to buy as a mini-expansion or expansion pack or something.

[idolminds]

I'm burning through this one pretty fast, mostly because I'm enjoying it so much. The "easy" difficulty doesn't bother me at all. You still have to be on your games to get through areas and beat the different fights. I also like the minimal amount of fighting involved. If there is one thing I totally hated in the other PoP games, it was the combat. Not only was it generally bad, but there seemed to be a lot of it. This one it stays out of your way and lets you platform all over the place.

If I had a complaint its, oddly, the level design. The level design is good, presents a nice challenge, its pretty, etc. It just doesn't make any sense in real world context. In Sands of Time you ran around the giant palace and while some things didn't make sense in that regard, you still got the feeling it was one large building that people actually used. In the new PoP...no one used this place. There aren't any stairs or even places where stairs used to be. Everyone had to be a crazy magical acrobat to get around. These levels were built for pure gameplay. And thats totally cool, it just takes a little something away from it for me.

Other than that, I couldnt be happier.

Oh! I wanted to say how amazing this no DRM thing is for the PC version. Ubi went all out. Install and run. No online registration, no disc needed in the drive, and the most amazing...no CD key to type in. None. I couldnt believe it, and it made me so happy. Kudos to them for that.

[MysterD]

I'm burning through this one pretty fast, mostly because I'm enjoying it so much. The "easy" difficulty doesn't bother me at all. You still have to be on your games to get through areas and beat the different fights.

To add to this, I liked as the game progressed, if felt like there were more challenging LONG few minute runs where you had no remotely close flat-ground spaces for Elika to toss you somewhere relativelty close, but you got sent much further back.

I also like the minimal amount of fighting involved. If there is one thing I totally hated in the other PoP games, it was the combat. Not only was it generally bad, but there seemed to be a lot of it. This one it stays out of your way and lets you platform all over the place.

I liked the whole rhythm of the combat -- and that some of them had a little bit of a puzzle to beating the enemies, too.

I hope they keep this combat style next time around and deepen it, myself.

If I had a complaint its, oddly, the level design. The level design is good, presents a nice challenge, its pretty, etc. It just doesn't make any sense in real world context. In Sands of Time you ran around the giant palace and while some things didn't make sense in that regard, you still got the feeling it was one large building that people actually used. In the new PoP...no one used this place. There aren't any stairs or even places where stairs used to be. Everyone had to be a crazy magical acrobat to get around. These levels were built for pure gameplay. And thats totally cool, it just takes a little something away from it for me.

Other than that, I couldnt be happier.

You're right -- that the whole gameworld was basically built for gameplay; nothing else. No way any of these areas would look like this, in a real world capacity. It feels like a gamer's playground -- and looks like one.

There's also this very magical quality of the game, with the way everything looks and of course with the usage of the cel-shaded part -- it never really struck me that this game could be anything remotely real. There's this whole world is falling apart and in ruins b/c of the corrupt forces surrounding everything, too -- that also adds to this.

Oh! I wanted to say how amazing this no DRM thing is for the PC version. Ubi went all out. Install and run. No online registration, no disc needed in the drive, and the most amazing...no CD key to type in. None. I couldnt believe it, and it made me so happy. Kudos to them for that.

Amen. I wish more publishers did that.

It's a damn shame the game didn't sell so spectacular on the PC side, though.
And a damn shame we won't be getting any DLC anytime soon.
Again, I hope Ubi changes their mind on that, since I loved PoP 2008...

****PoP 2008 ENDING + Some Additional Stuff spoilers****
***IDOL, read this AFTER you finish the game....*****
[spoiler]...And since they kind of left it hanging with Elika dying and the whole Tree of Life thing there and him dragging her out of Temple with the Credits rolling...

...And then after the Credits rolling and he's standing in front of those "trees" and if you figured out those "tree" puzzles there, you can revive her and it leaves the game hanging right then and there...

I'm sure the DLC Epilogue, which takes place after that, is going to be very important to finishing this hanging thread...[/spoiler]

[idolminds]

Yeah, now I'm kinda pissed that so far they arent making the DLC for PC. I totally want to see where it goes from that ending.

Yes, I beat the game already. These games just suck me in and I play them non-stop.

[MysterD]

Yeah, now I'm kinda pissed that so far they arent making the DLC for PC. I totally want to see where it goes from that ending.

Me too.

I'm hoping they change their mind -- but, I doubt they will right now...

Yes, I beat the game already. These games just suck me in and I play them non-stop.

Yeah, PoP 2008 was one of those games I just couldn't stop playing and couldn't let go of until I finished it.

Most times, I'm playing 2 or 3 different games at once. Nope, not with PoP 2008...

[idolminds]

To get a little more playtime out of it, I'm going back and getting all 1001 light seeds. I currently have over 700.

[MysterD]

To get a little more playtime out of it, I'm going back and getting all 1001 light seeds. I currently have over 700.

Is there any reward or anything for getting all the light seeds?

Finishing the game...
[spoiler]...Gives you a few more skins for The Prince and Princess -- such as say Jade from BG&E[/spoiler]

[Xessive]

Getting all 1001 light seeds unlocks the prototype skins for the Prince and Elika. They're pretty funky. Besides that just the bragging rights to claim that you collected all 1001 light seeds.

If you finish the game in under 12 hours you get the Speed Demon award. Yo basically have to choose between that or the 1001 light seeds.

[MysterD]

Thanks for the info, X.

[idolminds]

Just passed 800 seeds. I assumed that after the end of the game they'd create a save with all areas unlocked and just let you go around collecting. I was wrong, and stupidly saved over some of my final saves during the end areas. Doh. So I have to convert 2 more areas and take care of the hunter boss. No big deal.

[Xessive]

Just passed 800 seeds. I assumed that after the end of the game they'd create a save with all areas unlocked and just let you go around collecting. I was wrong, and stupidly saved over some of my final saves during the end areas. Doh. So I have to convert 2 more areas and take care of the hunter boss. No big deal.

That sucks.. Happened to me the first time too. During the course of the game you can collect only 1000 light seeds, the last one is special

[idolminds]

Yeah, I noticed the counter pop up for that one...heh.

Something interesting. I've done all the fertile grounds, and just have the last fight with the hunter to do. Since there aren't any light seeds past the black gates, I'm just leaving it alone. The nice thing there are now no enemies anywhere. The prince even commented on "This place isn't so bad now that no one is trying to kill us." So I've got free reign to find the light seeds without interruption.

Me = heaven

Up to 880 now.

*EDIT*

919

Now its getting tricky, since I've gotten all the more obvious ones and am missing just a few at several locations. I'm running around as Altier and the chick dressed like Jade. Good times. Though it reminds me of the hidden flags in Assassins Creed. They were much harder to locate since the levels were far less linear and with way more nooks and crannies. And even though getting all 1001 in PoP just unlocks a skin that I'll mess with for 10 minutes or whatever, the lack of a "goodie" for finding all the flags made me totally skip them in AC.

[Quemaqua]

Damn it, stop making me want this.  I was perfectly content not wanting it at all, but I love explorey games, and you're making it sound... fun.