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[kaiserbus]

video of a never-before-seen level...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcHV-48eO-c&feature=PlayList&p=79007229F88586A8&index=9

 

[KeioSquad2]

err look they both look pretty much the same give or take a few things. Can we keep the fanboy shit out of here and just enjoy the game.

Read more then one post before the comments spew ok pal.........

 

[kaiserbus]

oh, just got a time trial code for 360 if anyone wants it.

first to PM me gets it.

edit: gone, but it might not work for the person (seeing if it works on ps3), so i asked them to pass it along if it doesn't.

 

[MickeyKnox]

oh, just got a time trial code for 360 if anyone wants it.

first to PM me gets it.

PM sent.

*Edit*

I totally just broke the space time continuum

 

[Papercuts]

PM sent.

Arg.

I'd appreciate a 360 code if anyone has a spare.

 

[Barakov]

oh, just got a time trial code for 360 if anyone wants it.

first to PM me gets it.

edit: gone, but it might not work for the person (seeing if it works on ps3), so i asked them to pass it along if it doesn't.

EDIT: Nevermind.

 

[ScissorHands]

PS3 code, pretty please?

Seriously, I really want to try the Time trial mode, not that the story mode won't be awesome, but time trail seems like such an addicting and fun mode.

 

[miyamotofreak]

I really need a time trial code. I've played the regular demo like a dozen times now and it's not like I don't have anything else to play. So want this game.

 

[Dark Octave]

I really need a time trial code. I've played the regular demo like a dozen times now and it's not like I don't have anything else to play. So want this game.

:lol Same here. I've recently got GH:WT, Dead Space and Fallout III, among other games I haven't finished yet, but am still playing this demo like crazy.

 

[Barnaby1990]

The 360 code worked on my ps3 demo, i'd guess they work both ways. Thanks kaiserbus

 

[DCharlie]

I think the PS3 (atleast on my screen, mind you) outputs the image more like what DICE intended when you take into account the art direction they were going for

if that's the case, why did they add AA to the X360 version?

anyways, via VGA, X360 version looks a little muddy
via HDMI it looks pretty much the same as the PS3 version.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Technically is this is a very peculiar game. The environments seem fairly low poly, and there is not much going on at once on the screen and yet for some reason the developers weren't able to put in shadowing for other characters, though they have self shadowing, and you yourself have a shadow. When Celeste runs down the ramp near the beginning it looks so bizarre because she's in bright daylight but with no shadow whatsoever. The lighting for everything is actually baked in everywhere and so there's no real shadows anywhere except your own. As well there's the aliasing issues that everyone has talked about already. I've played on the PS3 and 360 so far and they seem to be near non existant on the 360 but fairly noticible so I might get it on my noisy 360 (sigh).

Anyway I'm finding the technical issues strange just because there seems to be so little going on in the game. Perhaps it's the draw distance that's forcing their hand into making these sort of limitations.

Still buying it day one of course. The freerunning gameplay is great (though I'm not used to the clunkyish combat yet), so what else are we going to talk about except graphical weirdness? :lol

 

[Ether_Snake]

Well IMO one thing is probably rather certain is that a lot of the memory must be used by the baked lighting textures. But other than that I see very little that would require a lot of memory. There are a lot of instanced geometry. And shaders-wise it looks extremely simple for the most part, polygon-wise there is very little as well. So I'm surprised too. It remains to be seen how big the environments are without any apparent loading. Streaming should help but whatever, I guess they had their issues.

 

[Warm Machine]

If they are indeed using a .hdr lightmap format of some sort they will be memory bound for their textures. Floating point image files eat up immense amounts of space even when "compressed" so less memory is available on the GPU and on disk. This means less artistic variation and less going on overall.

Something like Far Cry 2 for instance uses what I can assume Spherical Harmonics lighting for its ambient light and then a colored and mathematically hdr dynamic light and shadow knockout for its key light. The memory implication for this is tiny/insignificant in comparison. That and FC2 uses a height map for the majority of its terrain which in itself is a drop in the bucket. Apples meet oranges in terms of artistic vision or art direction. As a reuslt the appropiate bounce lighting and occlusion gets taken out of the picture.

 

[Router]

Is it just me or is the Faith voiced by the woman who does Motoko Kusanagi?

 

[Jazzy Network]

Played it. It was meh. Can't say I was wowed by it in any way. Visuals are controls are nice and all, but the demo itself didn't portray much of what I was expecting.

 

[Router]

Played it. It was meh. Can't say I was wowed by it in any way. Visuals are controls are nice and all, but the demo itself didn't portray much of what I was expecting.

What were you expecting?

 

[Lostconfused]

What were you expecting?

That is a good question, because really the demo is everything they previously led you to believe.

 

[kuYuri]

When is this coming out for the PC?

Shack: So has the PC version officially been delayed to "winter"?

Nick Channon: Yeah, so it'll be later on--it won't be coming out on November 12 when the console versions come out. The PC version will be later on this winter.

Shack: Can you share why it was delayed?

Nick Channon: Well you know, I think that we just wanted ot make the best PC game we can. We wanted to feel really good on that platform, and that's what we're going to do. So we're going to spend time and make it an amazing PC game.

http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1017

 

[Pewp]

That is a good question, because really the demo is everything they previously led you to believe.

I thought the tutorial was stretched out considering the amount of game play you were given. Still looks very interesting.

 

[Revengeance]

Played it; then played it again. Controls are spot on, movement feels great.

I thought the visuals are fine. Some noticeable aliasing, but really, it's not so bad, and the striking aesthetic more than makes up for any technical imperfections. I was surprised that the e-surance cutscene actually seemed to work, and not be cheesy.

Also, the animations that play during the loading screens are freaking awesome.

I took the dot off, and didn't get sick, although I'm positive I'd be nauseous if I was just watching, and not controlling.

 

[StuBurns]

I thought the tutorial was stretched out considering the amount of game play you were given. Still looks very interesting.

I hate the tutorial, it's completely redundant anyway. The real level has been at shows and you can play it without ever playing the tutorial so easily.

They should have put two levels on the demo I think. Or at least not locked away the time trails stuff.

 

[Tenbatsu]

Great demo. Thou I dont like to give my money to EA, this time round I will make an exception.

 

[Willy Wanka]

I'm such an idiot. I spent at least 15 minutes on that section in the demo with the jump and two red pipes. Everytime I got to the door, instead of pressing RT I was pressing RB so turning around instead of bashing through it. I kept on doing this over and over, even trying to jump onto the news helicopter a number of times until I went through the door by accidently bashing RT in frustration. I even thought to myself that it was really lazy to have the exact same level layout on both sides of the door :lol This must be what it feels like to get old

 

[Dever]

Awesome demo, I've played it sooo many times already. A PS3 trial code would be nice if anyone has a spare.

 

[BrodiemanTTR]

I came in very skeptical, but the demo completely sold me and then some. Day one (rental).

 

[sprsk]

It's fun, but...ugh...I feel like shit now.

 

[Tieno]

It's fun, but...ugh...I feel like shit now.

That's cause you've been living in Japan for too long.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Clicking the thumbstick in would make a lot more sense for sliding for instance.

You go back to designing GunValkyrie's sequel you SEGA employee (you have been discovered) .

Seriously, clicking-in the thumbstick can be useful at times, but it is majorly annoying to do it repeatedly and reliably...

 

[BladedExpert]

You go back to designing GunValkyrie's sequel you SEGA employee (you have been discovered) .

Seriously, clicking-in the thumbstick can be useful at times, but it is majorly annoying to do it repeatedly and reliably...

I kept clicking the left thumbstick to tuck my legs in for the jump with the barbed wire, ala Halo :/

Beyond that the controls were near perfect, although I could see how years of using face buttons for such things would lead to a hard time adjusting for some.

 

[Scottlarock]

polished demo, but this is not my cup of tea.

 

[Panajev2001a]

If they are indeed using a .hdr lightmap format of some sort they will be memory bound for their textures. Floating point image files eat up immense amounts of space even when "compressed" so less memory is available on the GPU and on disk. This means less artistic variation and less going on overall.

Something like Far Cry 2 for instance uses what I can assume Spherical Harmonics lighting for its ambient light and then a colored and mathematically hdr dynamic light and shadow knockout for its key light. The memory implication for this is tiny/insignificant in comparison. That and FC2 uses a height map for the majority of its terrain which in itself is a drop in the bucket. Apples meet oranges in terms of artistic vision or art direction. As a reuslt the appropiate bounce lighting and occlusion gets taken out of the picture.

Lighting is not completely baked in, ME with Beast does sample the global lighting pass (off-line pass) in various points of the scene with light probes and thus they are able to affect correctly for lighting and shadowing dynamic objects in the game (people did that in the PS2 era too) and affect real-time generated shadow maps (little reason to have artifacts-filled shadow maps [even for not moving objects like the tube you balance on top of] if you are going to baked them all before hand)... they do mention in Beast's tech specs page about moving lights, but I am unclear too as to what they mean exactly and how they achieve it.

 

[sprsk]

That's cause you've been living in Japan for too long.

I've had this problem all my life.

Car trips were always hell when I was a kid

 

[eso76]

of course real time lighting is quite standard, but for games that don't need dynamic illumination (vast majority) it's a convenient and beautiful looking solution. Having occlusion mapping on everything and lights bouncing off surfaces makes a huge difference, though i suppose that's huge amounts of data for textures.

Environments seem really low poly ?
the hell ?

while i understand most structures are rather primitive shapes, i wouldn't call that "really low poly". speaking of UE3 games, now, first gow has very low poly environments

(damn i wished the game looked this clean)



oh, and another thing. Face buttons ??? seriously ??? You're supposed to have your right thumb free to look around (especially DOWN) while performing various actions. Adjust to that control scheme or miss part of the experience.

 

[Ramenman]

Indeed. Faith's VA is also bad. She's asian, she should have an asian accent. Like Mei Ling in MGS1.

Just because she has an asian morphology doesn't mean she has an accent. If english is the only language she's ever learnt she wouldn't have one.

 

[hteng]

the rooftops needs to have some life in it, it's cool but it just seems lifeless, they should put some people there

 

[Model 500]

Tried the demo, excellent stuff, day 1 GET.

This is what I want to see more, intuitive controls and smooth mechanics. After that it's all about the level design, just the way I like it.

 

[CosmicGroinPull]

Just because she has an asian morphology doesn't mean she has an accent. If english is the only language she's ever learnt she wouldn't have one.

Guess you missed my other post :lol

 

[Peru]

the rooftops needs to have some life in it, it's cool but it just seems lifeless, they should put some people there

Nah, I love the sterile, clinical feeling of it. Visually this is JUST the game I've been looking for.

 

[pringles]

the rooftops needs to have some life in it, it's cool but it just seems lifeless, they should put some people there

It's kinda the point that they're lifeless. The city is supposed to be a very clean, strict and controlled place. You know, not exactly bursting with life and activity.

There are some people walking around on the ground if you look down though..

 

[Rolf NB]

Great control scheme, great visual design.
Game's not my cup of tea at all though, and I'll happily skip it.

 

[Slavik81]

There are some people walking around on the ground if you look down though..

That was really surprising to me. I once fell to my death and landed next to one...
I just wouldn't have expected them to actually put people in areas which you're not meant to ever explore or see for more than a split-second.

 

[Calcaneus]

Played the demo yesterday, and it was so awesome. Everything felt exactly as I imagined, I couldn't stop replaying it. I'm most surprised at the controls, I thought they worked great, after a while I was totally in control.

Can't wait for this game, like a lot of other people this just shot up to my "must buy" list.

 

[WrikaWrek]

Reading through some of the thread to find impressions since i don't do demo, and i just gotta spit out something.

To all the crazies debating about the color and shit, look bitches, you can change that stuff, in your T.V, in the game settings ever, hmmkay?

Geez

 

[commariodore64]

Hahahaha......ok. I aim to please. Seriously though, you want maturity I'd stick with Mcaine, he's got more years on him then Palin has in high school, which is to say more then 8, but again - she's no dummy. As for elegance, that lies in the eyes of the beholder, in which case - you misquote and illrepresent comments made on another forum in a sad atempt to disalussion people on to an otherwise commendable effort.

Those pictures show nor prove absolutely nada, and just bring the point more home that your picking at nits.....which most likely in this case do not exist. My opinion is simply that, and was never stated to be fact. But the games speak for themselves and do not need help in proving my point.

As for the ot.....I could give a shit about the stars, as they don't pay my bills...but neither does Mcaine, and under his run(which should never happen if there is a god)only those that are already in good standing will benifit. Those with the jacusies in the bathroom will be able to upgrade, while we with normal bathrooms will still have to fart in the tub if we want some bubbles!!! Obama may not be the right person for those of us without need, but for those of us still struggling, he is our Robin Hood to your Sherif of Naughtingham!!

Actually they prove that the 360 version has AA & some obvious additional ambient radiosity. I'm not picking to pick - I like to weigh the facts.

Again - you (and your grasp of the English Languages grammatical rules & spelling) are a fine example. Your logic is impeccable.
I'm certain you are a self starting hard worker...

As for Robin Hood - I personally like to donate money & help people out - it's my choice.
But if you feel you would rather make it mandatory - that's fine - leave the country that is founded on FREEDOM...

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Loved the demo. The controls are great, and its really more interesting in 1st person mode. I think i'm going with the PS3 version due to the way the control scheme works. I think the L1/L2 system works better for me on the DS3.

Definite must buy. Although i don't know why they decided to release this in Nov. IMO they should have waited until early '09. But hey, i'll be buying it!

 

[Tubobutts]

I just played it, and I'm not sure how I feel. I kind of want to play more, but I don't want to play the demo again. Right now it feels like a rental.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Game looks and controls better than I'd imagined. It definitely gets a boost in intensity over traditional 3rd person platformers, because everything feels so... immediate, for the lack of a better word. Almost like a mix of Metroid Prime and Riddick. Just wish the demo gave you a bigger playground. Lighting and animation are top-notch.

Most importantly, the demo level is well-designed enough so that pulling off cool moves and getting where you need to go isn't cumbersome, it's actually pretty fun to experiment with wall jumps and climbing and vaulting and such.

As for the people complaining about aliasing, how close do you guys sit to your TVs? I didn't notice any blatant jaggies at all (360 version on 37" 720p).

As someone who wasn't totally sold on the concept I'm kind of a believer now... still, I doubt I'll find time to play it this fall.

 

[EviLore]

Very impressive demo, day 1 for me.

 

[gcubed]

i was not sure about if i really wanted to pick this game up, but the demo just made it jump over a few other games this fall for me. Solid