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Oddboxx on Steam -- warning, read thread before purchasing
- Thread starter wwm0nkey
- Start date
Pai Pai Master
Banned
It's unfortunate that the wait is gonna be a little while for an update to the PC version but I really appreciate you coming back to let us know that you understand the situation. A little transperancy is all we ask. 
LocoMrPollock
Banned
GoldenHelmet said:
Isn't it just the space requirements? You'd have to get it under 2GB?
GoldenHelmet
Member
Pai Pai Master said:It's unfortunate that the wait is gonna be a little while for an update to the PC version but I really appreciate you coming back to let us know that you understand the situation. A little transperancy is all we ask.
In some ways that's what I was asking from you guys earlier in the week...
Something we have played start to end (Stranger) multiple times here on 4 year old laptops at ~20 to ~30fps you'd think is good to go, we had ZERO crashes in the last 5-6 weeks here, we had ZERO gameplay issues, as you'd expect from a port where you'd not messed with the gameplay.
We were honestly in TOTAL disbelief that it was going so wrong ...
a) Performance issues on machines that SHOULD be like shit off a shovel.
b) You guys wanting more complex settings than I was used to providing.
Anyway, we're here now, we want to fix this shit, so ANYTHING you guys can point is in the right direction of I for one would be fucken awesomely happy with.
GoldenHelmet
Member
LocoMrPollock said:
Nope, that's what we thought too, we submitted our documentation some 12 weeks ago, and were told a week ago Monday that nope, not happening
As we've said to both MS and SCE we are platform agnostic, we're NOT looking to be exclusive to any platform.
Like I said, this is still on going, time will tell.
GoldenHelmet
Member
Holepunch said:
Love ya big guy ;-)
GoldenHelmet
Member
FYI
I've just heard from Valve the Munch update should be going up soon.
Just to let you know I'm leaving the office for the day now, as there's nothing else I can do right now, and I still have to buy my wife a Christmas gift... Any suggestions?
I've just heard from Valve the Munch update should be going up soon.
Just to let you know I'm leaving the office for the day now, as there's nothing else I can do right now, and I still have to buy my wife a Christmas gift... Any suggestions?
gregor7777
Banned
GoldenHelmet, thanks for coming back with updates. We appreciate it.
Perhaps you'd allow me to speak to things many enthusiast PC gamers these days would like to see in ported games.
- The ability to run in whichever display resolutions we please.
They should be clearly named. They should not break UI elements. This is one of the major requests because it is one of the big selling points of a port like this and frankly it's a staple of PC gaming.
- Options like AA and AF that make the games older textures and IQ better than it was in the original
Again, major selling point. At the very least make it compatible with driver based AA/AF and whatnot so we can force it. These games were made for older platforms with restrictions on things like texture quality so give us a chance to clean it up a bit.
- Performance enhancements
We're running PCs that are much more powerful that the original hardware. Many console games ship with gimped IQ and terrible framerates. One of the reasons we game on our PCs is because we have the ability to break free from the restrictions of the consoles (or original hardware in this case) and play the game like it deserves to be played. Clean and fast. But above all, the game needs to run well.
- Control options
The beauty of the PC is that we aren't locked to one control mechanism. Give us options. Fully configurable keyboard and mouse controls, well implemented gamepad solutions, etc.
- Well thought out, easy to understand menus and UI
No mouse support in the menus is the epitome of a lazy and or careless port. Spend some time making the interface to your game appealing and easy to use.
Those are the things PC gamers expect from a port like these.
Improved or reworked textures/sound, achievements, community features, gameplay additions, etc are appreciated but you have to nail the necessities first.
Sorry to sound preachy but I'm just trying to give a better idea of where some of us are coming from with this.
Perhaps you'd allow me to speak to things many enthusiast PC gamers these days would like to see in ported games.
- The ability to run in whichever display resolutions we please.
They should be clearly named. They should not break UI elements. This is one of the major requests because it is one of the big selling points of a port like this and frankly it's a staple of PC gaming.
- Options like AA and AF that make the games older textures and IQ better than it was in the original
Again, major selling point. At the very least make it compatible with driver based AA/AF and whatnot so we can force it. These games were made for older platforms with restrictions on things like texture quality so give us a chance to clean it up a bit.
- Performance enhancements
We're running PCs that are much more powerful that the original hardware. Many console games ship with gimped IQ and terrible framerates. One of the reasons we game on our PCs is because we have the ability to break free from the restrictions of the consoles (or original hardware in this case) and play the game like it deserves to be played. Clean and fast. But above all, the game needs to run well.
- Control options
The beauty of the PC is that we aren't locked to one control mechanism. Give us options. Fully configurable keyboard and mouse controls, well implemented gamepad solutions, etc.
- Well thought out, easy to understand menus and UI
No mouse support in the menus is the epitome of a lazy and or careless port. Spend some time making the interface to your game appealing and easy to use.
Those are the things PC gamers expect from a port like these.
Improved or reworked textures/sound, achievements, community features, gameplay additions, etc are appreciated but you have to nail the necessities first.
Sorry to sound preachy but I'm just trying to give a better idea of where some of us are coming from with this.
GoldenHelmet said:Nope, that's what we thought too, we submitted our documentation some 12 weeks ago, and were told a week ago Monday that nope, not happening
As we've said to both MS and SCE we are platform agnostic, we're NOT looking to be exclusive to any platform.
Like I said, this is still on going, time will tell.
So weird. It being an original Xbox game, and one that's not backward compatible with the 360, it was surprising to hear it wasn't coming to the 360, but to the PS3 instead, when it was announced. You'd think they'd want it for sure.
GoldenHelmet
Member
gregor7777 said:
I wanted to quickly touch on this last point now.
The original game had a UI written using a system called "game-swf" (google it) this was probably the very first game to have a Flash UI system.
The way it was implemented means that it's code is tied directly into a bunch of the game engine, something we didn't want to really mess with on the PC version, as it would have added a fair chunk of time to the development.
It's actually a real pain as ANY updates we had to do (just adding the QUIT option to the main menu) took us a couple of days AND we had to use "Flash MX" from 2003/2004 to do that. If we used Flash CSx to do it and exported as a FlashMX movie it didn't work, so we literally had to get the old tools.
For the PS3 version we're looking to go with Scaleform, which handily allows easy mouse on/off etc. So as I sit here right now we WON'T update the UI in the current version, but when we pull the HD update from PS3 to PC we will likely bring Scaleform with us.
It's all about time/cost etc.
We have NEW Oddworld projects to start in February that mean the team on PC Stranger do need to be finished with updates in January, so whilst this might not be the best news, please be aware that it IS something we've thought long and hard about, and it is something that, touch wood, will be fixed with the HD update later.
GoldenHelmet
Member
Someone from here sent me a pretty aggressive email 2 days ago which basically said, what business did I have in making a game for the PC when I'd clearly never work on a PC game before ...
Actually Stranger is my first foray into PC development since 2001, I worked on the PC versions of ...
Pinball Fantasies
Pinball Illusions
Slamtilt
Synnergist
Xenocracy
Tank Racer
V2000
In Cold Blood
+ a load of others.
So, like I said, I do have PC experience, but just not recently
Actually Stranger is my first foray into PC development since 2001, I worked on the PC versions of ...
Pinball Fantasies
Pinball Illusions
Slamtilt
Synnergist
Xenocracy
Tank Racer
V2000
In Cold Blood
+ a load of others.
So, like I said, I do have PC experience, but just not recently
gregor7777
Banned
GoldenHelmet said:
I understand the issue and I'm quite familiar with the nightmare that is dealing with and upgrading old Flash code.
I guess what I'm saying is: if you bring a game to the PC where the primarily control method is a mouse, and you don't have the time or the resources to implement mouse control in the game's UI, is it really something you expect PC gamers will ultimately be happy with?
I know you've been open with us about your ignorance on the pulse of the PC gaming community, but did no one who is familiar with this stand up and say " This probably isn;t going to go over well."?
Thanks for responding, by the way. You've taken a beating here and it's commendable you've come back to talk with us about this. When you get the time I'd like to hear your thoughts on a few of the other points as well.
Pai Pai Master
Banned
GoldenHelmet said:
Fair enough, but I think there may have been slightly easier ways to get that point across. Regardless, I think it was all just frustration on both ends that the game was live on Steam and it should have been time for rejoice, not panic and and anger. Clearly we're all past that and it's time to hug it out and look forward to a fixed product.
You guys seem to have it down regarding what needs to be in an updated version. Just take a look at any current PC game...quality of the UI may vary, sure, but good AA, solid coverage for numerous resolutions (because there are just so many different possibilities these days between playing on a laptop, multiple monitors and HDTVs) and an uncapped framerate (where those of us with more powerful systems will be able to enjoy the game at high resolutions and framerates) are pretty much a standard.
As a port of an old game and not a fully budgeted remake I think that's the best we should be expecting along with solid controller support (which I don't think is a really big problem right now anyways). Obviously the amount of settings we have control over won't be as far reaching as most modern made-for-PC games.
Backfoggen
Banned
Haha, I remember V2000. That was a cool game.GoldenHelmet said:Someone from here sent me a pretty aggressive email 2 days ago which basically said, what business did I have in making a game for the PC when I'd clearly never work on a PC game before ...
Actually Stranger is my first foray into PC development since 2001, I worked on the PC versions of ...
Pinball Fantasies
Pinball Illusions
Slamtilt
Synnergist
Xenocracy
Tank Racer
V2000
In Cold Blood
+ a load of others.
So, like I said, I do have PC experience, but just not recently
ShockingAlberto
Member
wait, did you seriously just describe Citizen Kane like thismatthsv said:
Pai Pai Master
Banned
ShockingAlberto said:
Pretty sure 99.9% of Gaffers can't tell you where that GIF is from.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
The mystery for me here still is - if you guys can't even do things like disable shadows in PC version, how were you able to add new lighting and shaders to PS3 version? Surely that's a whole lot more complex than just switching something on and off?
Beer Monkey
Member
Lord Error said:
I'm assuming the PS3 version has a brand new engine where the PC version ports the Xbox engine.
Pai Pai Master
Banned
Lord Error said:
Beaten like a lowly programmer but yeah, seems to me like the PS3 version is a ground-up reworking on the visuals side and the intial PC version is not. To be honest I'm not sure why they decided to release the PC version as a straight port only to update it to be in line with the PS3 version at a later date. I'm sure it would have saved them a big headache in the end if they just launched both identical versions at the same time next year.
Trying to pick through the thread, but no luck. So in order to play Stranger's Wrath with any sort of graphical upgrade over the original (ie, updated models, textures, etc.) I need to wait for the PS3 version?
I understand the PC version will have adjustable resolutions, but if there aren't any changes on an asset level i'll be holding off.
I understand the PC version will have adjustable resolutions, but if there aren't any changes on an asset level i'll be holding off.
wind_steaker
Member
if the controls and graphical issues are solved, that'd go a long way to making me happy
stuminus3
Banned
The cynic in me says this has all been about funding development of the PS3 version from the start. If this is the case this might even be more to do with Oddworld Inhabitants than J.A.W.Pai Pai Master said:
But I promised myself I'd stop being a dick unless Evilore commands otherwise so I'll just say yeah, good point.
echoshifting
Banned
Impressed by your post, Stewart. Nice recovery.
He means the game isn't outputting sound during gameplay, only in cutscenes.samoset said:
As for your gpu whining, just force some vsync to keep it at 60 fps. (might help with the game running too fast too. If it doesn't then disabling all but one core might. Far Cry had a similar problem with the game being way too fast)
boutrosinit
Street Fighter IV World Champion
Glad peace has been restored.
Did you guys go download the free promo soundtrack by the way? We're planning on another treat to put up on the site shortly.
Did you guys go download the free promo soundtrack by the way? We're planning on another treat to put up on the site shortly.
GoldenHelmet
Member
bhlaab said:
Yes, kinda.
If you don't have the latest nVidia drivers, IE 2.6x+ DO NOT UPDATE.
If you get 2.61 we discovered today that it breaks the first person mode AND particles. No idea why yet.
We took some of our own medicine today and got latest drivers on 2 TWO machines in the office, and now neither of us (mine was one) can play Stranger due to frame buffer issues.
I just feel we're getting fucked by OpenGL drivers
ClovingWestbrook
Banned
Nice job GoldenHelmet. Not too many folks would come back the way you have, much respect and appreciation. PC folks may come across as finicky but its because we're passionate. With that being said, if you guys treat us right, you'll have fans forever.