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Alan Wake PC | Tech, performance and information thread
- Thread starter derFeef
- Start date
Wait! Important question! Which DLC has the
typewriter area where you're running over the keys
That area was amazing. Holy god, I can't wait.
jim-jam bongs
Member
I started The Writer but when I realised that it was a continuation of the The Signal I quit. Is it worth playing, or more or less the same as The Signal?
It is. Holds up to the best main game episodes. It has two specific "events" that I enjoyed very much.
jim-jam bongs
Member
Ehhhhxcellent, I'll push through it then. I really have enjoyed the game in general by the way, I'm glad that it lived up to all of your enthusiasm for it.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Just finished the game the other day... Took me about 10 hours according to Steam. Pretty average, for every good thing there was a bad thing of equal or greater prominence... Nice open vistas yet completely linear paths with at most one alternate route predictably ending in a dead end with supplies, solid shooting but crappy enemy variety, some good graphics, some awful, nice atmosphere, but crappy plot and too gamey elements like infinite ammo caches wherever you need them, did Alan write supplies for himself in his story or what... And that whole ending sequence, yikes... I'm also not a fan of the episodic approach and constantly losing my weapons/ammo/flashlight outside where it makes sense. And all that "previously on Alan Wake" type stuff should only show when you first start up the game and load a save, you can skip them, yes, but there's no reason to interrupt the game just to have an episode ending/start and other such things. I doubt I'll get the new stories when they arrive on PC.
Quicksilver4648
Member
Just finished up the two special episodes. I am not ready for American Nightmare, which I will probably get to around sometime tomorrow even though I bought it Wednesday.
Am I the only one that didn't particularly love the stage battle? I mean, it was a nice, light-hearted break from what's mostly a bleak game, but it's not like it does anything special. It's just pyrotechnics and Barry being silly for a couple minutes. And the enemies aren't even affected by the fireworks going off everywhere. What's up with that?
ss_lemonade
Member
Is this game using the exact same FMV files as the 360 version? Seems it has the same car stutter effect during one of the intro FMVs when Alice is driving.
I think the devs should have just redid the videos, or maybe even have them run at realtime if possible. The difference in clarity between these videos and the in-game visuals itself is just crazy.
I think the devs should have just redid the videos, or maybe even have them run at realtime if possible. The difference in clarity between these videos and the in-game visuals itself is just crazy.
Felix Lighter
Member
Yeah that is unfortunate. I believe they had an explanation for that. I don't understand why it's so difficult to keep a high resolution, low compression copy of these video files or why it's so difficult to recreate them at higher quality.
Anybody else having an issue with the game not tracking correctly the amount of signs found? I've read what should be the sixth sign (next to the hanging annotated piece of tree trunk), however the statistics page lists only five. Everything else - radios, TVs, etc. - is aligned perfectly with the guide I'm using (I'm a sucker for collectibles), and I even restarted the game, reading every sign twice; but, alas, the game still believes I've found just five.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I personally didn't even realise there were more collectibles than the coffee thermos and pages while playing through it. I think I had 0 signs and 0 games, 2 can towers (cos nothing told me I did something good so I just stopped wasting my ammo after knocking over a couple), etc. Yet I'm pretty sure I spotted the games on some shelves and shit but there was no interaction prompt or anything. Ah well, don't really care for that stuff, but yeah, some may be bugged I guess.
Some of that is exclusive to DLC I believe.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
So, Audio commentary - is it good? I'm a sucker for good audio commentarys, but in games, it's always kinda hit/miss. Liked the Monkey Island one, wasn't a fan of the clickable "nodes" in Valve games though. How does it work exactly in Alan Wake, and how much commentary is actually in there?
AndyMoogle
Member
They pop up automatically at different points. I don't really remember much of it, but I listened to it all, so it's at least ok I guess.
plagiarize
Banned
you're the only person i've ever heard say as much, so maybe.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
Just finished Episode 2, and holy shit, Poe is in this game's Soundtrack 
Giant OMFG moment for me and the Episode's cliffhanger got like 200% more awesome with that.
Giant OMFG moment for me and the Episode's cliffhanger got like 200% more awesome with that.Frankie Williamson
Member
Or worse, the slow-mo enemies appearing effect. That was cute the first time, in areas like the climax to The Writer where enemies are spawning every 3 steps of progress for minutes at a time, it was MUCH, MUCH, MUCH less so.
jim-jam bongs
Member
It should keep a locally cached version of your save, but if you're concerned and aren't playing on multiple PCs anyway you should probably just disable it.
Finished main game + Signal + Writer....just over 18hrs (the 2 DLCs took about 2hrs each). Will buy AN next weekend and get another AW fix then (unless theres some kind of imminent AN announcement for PC )
Even though Ive played through all these on the xbox before twice, still took a decent chunk of time to finish again....not that im complaining
Even though Ive played through all these on the xbox before twice, still took a decent chunk of time to finish again....not that im complaining
I should be doing hw
Member
It always struck me as ripping off the Left 4 Dead 2 sequence which was infinitely better in every way, so I didn't care for it much at all either.
But Alan Wake came out first....
Alan Wake came out in 2010. L4D2 came out in 2009.
Just finished Chapter 4. THIS GAME. I want to contine to the next chapter but need to sleep. :-\ Btw, are Old Gods of Asgard unique to this game? As in, they're not a real-life band, right? I found a website but since it mentions Bright Falls I figure it's viral marketing...
EDIT: Also, Alan Wake's rockstar sequence outclasses L4D2, and I say that as a fan of both games. But I haven't finished the last two chapters of Alan Wake yet, so time to bail out before you people spoil everything. *jumps out the window*
EDIT: Also, Alan Wake's rockstar sequence outclasses L4D2, and I say that as a fan of both games. But I haven't finished the last two chapters of Alan Wake yet, so time to bail out before you people spoil everything. *jumps out the window*
I think it's a coincidence. Left 4 Dead 2 came out November 2009, Alan Wake came out May 2010, but the concert setpiece had already been mentioned in previews before Alan Wake came out anyway. A quick google shows IGN mentioning it in a preview in Feb 2010. I highly doubt Remedy threw that setpiece together in 3 months and then demoed it as a response to L4D2.
Finnish band Poets of the Fall preformed all the music for Old Gods of Asgard. They also provided the song "Late Goodbuye" for the ending sequence of Remedy's Max Payne 2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRF91tBT_GM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KuFmGxMcZI
I should be doing hw
Member
The evidence is still against it, as much as it probably was a coincidence. But either way the L4D2 sequence was still more enjoyable for me and made AW's version seem lukewarm in comparison. All you do is throw a few flashbang's and wait it out, I don't see what's to write home about at all it terms of gameplay so it probably could have benefited from copying. L4D2 on the other hand has the benefit of this thing called enemy variety and thought out level design...
The game was in development for a long time, I am sure it was in before L4D2 came out. And it's not really comparable, I mean, come on.
I should be doing hw
Member
What are you talking about, how are they not comparable.
Do I really nead to explain the differences between Left 4 Dead 2 and Alan Wake?
I should be doing hw
Member
Is your head so far up Alan Wake's ass that you thought that was what I was talking about? I was clearly referencing those two set-pieces in particular, in no part of what I wrote do I compare the two games as a whole.
Of course they can.
Ciastek3214
Junior Member
Game mechanics are completely different, one is co-op, the other is single player, one uses light as game mechanic, the other doesn't. I don't really see the SO OBVIOUS SIMILIARITIES. Those tqwo games differ greatly from each other.
But because of how these games differ those two set pieces, even if similiar, cannot be compared. EVERYTHING plays better in co-op, so of course L4D2 example is better for most.
Do I really nead to explain the differences between Left 4 Dead 2 and Alan Wake?
Both have :
guns
enemies
doors
scenery
weather
I should be doing hw
Member
And generators.
Ciastek3214
Junior Member
Both are on Steam.
I personally found the L4D2 rock stage a bit lacking because of the level design, it always felt a bit cumbersome to me. If we really need to compare it, then I had a better time with it in Alan Wake because it was unexpected and the scenery was great.
Ciastek3214
Junior Member
Dude, run while you still can. Fanboy alert!
Stallion Free
Cock Encumbered
Yo the rock stage was a piece of shit in L4D2 versus mode (the best mode in the games). One of the worst fucking finales ever.
The fact I'm actually afraid of the Taken in Alan Wake and the rockstar setpiece was a refreshing, practically liberating opportunity to not fight them alone, and that I had a character I cared about talking with me through the whole thing (Barry), made it infinitely more entertaining than the one in L4D2. Really, there's no comparison. The fight in L4D2 was just another battle; the fight in Alan Wake was full of character moments and an emotional reversal, where you team up against the Taken and turn the tide. Not to mention the visual effects and actual music in Alan Wake were snazzier.
Both were developed by people inhabiting the planet of Earth. Although, you could argue that Valve employees are para-dimensional beings that retreat to their home world when developing games - a place where the concept of "time" does not exist.
Edit: On a serious note, I'm well into Episode 3 and having just as much fun with the game as I did back in 2010. I'm still irked about the stats page not keeping up with the amount of signs I've read, though; it befouls my inner completionist.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
Episode 5 done. Awesome setup for the finale, I love the writing in this game.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
6850 and running fine on everything high, 1680x1040, no idea why everyone's bitching about this.
I wouldn't call it survival horror since it has no focus on survival at all. You're never even close of running out of ammo, your health recharge, you are a lot stronger than the enemies and the real problem is crowd-control which doesn't fit the survival horror genre. Action-horror is a better term.
This is reasonable and you may have convinced me to change my classification of it. I guess it's hard for me to call it action horror, though, when I can't think of any other action horror titles that are actually as tense, unnerving and downright scary as Alan Wake. I'm now at Episode 5 and I'm still impressed how the basic enemy type is still as fresh as when I first encountered it. The enemies in this game fill me with dread everytime they appear. I also realized, while exploring the farm and looking out in the distance, that this game gets something right that RE4 did also, which is making the world feel mysterious and threatening. There's the sense that the mountains and woods are neverending, and that something is out there. I love that. It makes every area scary, even if nothing ends up happening. And each episode is so substantial, with so many areas explored, and so many "thought I was safe --> jump scare" or "expecting something --> nothing happens" moments throughout that when I replay, I won't remember what happens where and I'll be scared all over again, lol.
jim-jam bongs
Member
Wow, even I think this comment was unnecessary.
I absolutely agree.
I remember playing this on my 360 when it came out, and the atmosphere in those woods was amazing.
This and Amnesia are the only games that have been scary imo. At least in this generation.
(Although Amnesia is much more so)