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Dark Souls 2 Lighting changes/Downgrade

Skinpop

Member
That could be parallax occlusion mapping.

But I'm pretty sure that they aren't using POM on that stone doorway. It's unlikely that it's typical geometry as well. And normals can't so something like that. Only things that could be likely used on that are tessellation or pixel accurate displacement mapping which is actually Cryengine 3 only technique as far as I know.

if you mean the frame around the door it looks like regular geometry + normal mapping. the wall seems to have some secret sauce going on though.
 

.GqueB.

Banned
DEMO
iLZ1kstU2es6F.gif


RETAIL
ibkZtvMaMXLJHR.gif

I like the retail personally. Demo is too dark, Lol.
 

Sini

Member
if you mean the frame around the door it looks like regular geometry + normal mapping. the wall seems to have some secret sauce going on though.
Legend of Grimrock had walls like that doorframe and they used geo+normals, but I really haven't seen any recent AAA games do such detail with typical geometry.

Edit: But you could be still right.
 

Akainu

Member
Now I don't feel too bad about not finding a copy on amazon. I'll wait when it's cheaper.

I like the retail personally. Demo is too dark, Lol.
From the looks of it a lot of this isn't even just about the darkness; which I wasn't a big fan of either.
 
The framerate problems are infinitely more troubling to me than removed/toned down lighting effects. You'd think after all of the complaints about the first game they would ensure a locked 30fps.

Do you think it works that way? "Hey, we heard some complaints. Let's go ahead and lock the game at 30 FPS. Why didn't we think of that earlier?!"
 

Skinpop

Member
Legend of Grimrock had walls like that doorway and they used geo+normals, but I really haven't seen any recent AAA games do such detail with typical geometry.

Edit: But you could be still right.

iLZ1kstU2es6F.gif

there's nothing special about them, I actually think they still look kinda low-rez and primitive.
 

Skinpop

Member
Oh shit lol.

Can someone explain to me why they couldn't make the hallway pitch black? I mean Tomb of the Giants was pitch black, so what's the deal?

Probably they changed their mind about having many pitch black areas. I don't know if they completely removed it from the game, maybe the just left one or a few areas like that - like Tomb of the Giants is DaS. People have been talking about complains after the beta.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
I like the retail personally. Demo is too dark, Lol.

Which is why there is/was a whole risk versus reward system with having one hand used up carrying a lit torch to explore pitch black areas until you found sconces and lit them.

Now an entire strategic element to progression has been rendered pointless and infact inverse (you can see more in the dark than with a lit torch). Its a clusterfuck.
 

Ysiadmihi

Banned
Do you think it works that way? "Hey, we heard some complaints. Let's go ahead and lock the game at 30 FPS. Why didn't we think of that earlier?!"

And what, it's some black magic causing the game to dip below 30 and the devs are totally helpless?

I won't be bothered too much because I'll be playing this on PC, but they clearly should have made changes to the game to get a better framerate on console.
 

Sini

Member
iLZ1kstU2es6F.gif

there's nothing special about them, I actually think they still look kinda low-rez and primitive.
You can be right, but I think there's still possibility of tessellation being used there since that's relatively dense mesh.
Let's leave this open until we actually can play DS2. And please no one quote us on this.
 

JoeFenix

Member
I'm still in disbelief that it looks this different. I just was amazed by some of the stuff I saw, now I'm just. Ok that's cool. Looks like Dark Souls.

Dark Souls was so much more visually appealing and polished looking though. Half of the areas here are nearly all grey, it's truly awful looking at times.
 
PS3 version, January 2014:
darksouls2ps3gameplayg5oje.png


PS3 version, retail build:
finala4pzm9.png

What is really peculiar about all this is that in the retail version, when the Torch is activated, the lighting looks more like it should from the demo (but still a little washed out), but when the torch is off, it's apparent how bad things are. The torch isn't even required to advance in this section any more.
 
I like the retail personally. Demo is too dark, Lol.

i-cant-armie-hammer.gif


OK, this is starting to get annoying.

Point 1: The torch (demo) vs. no torch (retail) comparison is meant to show that in the final retail version you don't need to have a torch on you at all

Point 2: The no torch vs. no torch comparison is meant to show that in the demo version you were originally meant to use a torch.

Point 3: The video that the demo gif is from has the player immediately go back to get a torch, because the narrator explains that the hallway is too dark without one. They take a moment to explain the new lighting system.

We're starting to see many people come into the topic, jump to the last page, see one comparison, and immediately shoot off some conclusion completely beside the point of what the comparison was supposed to make.
 
Dark Souls was so much more visually appealing and polished looking though. Half of the areas here are nearly all grey, it's truly awful looking at times.

Well from what other folks are saying, some areas look beautiful and still have some great design. I will wait to judge the rest of the game after playing through it. These examples though surely show a different side to things. Still a dissapointment but one I can easily get over.
 
I think if anything it's like another forum poster on here said. I think the PS3/360 versions were toned down for performance reasons, but that all of the things they took out on the gfx side will be implemented in PS4/XO versions of the game. I'm absolutely sure at this point that there will be PS4/XO versions. It doesn't make sense that they'd scrap and drastically change what they showed and reveal it only a week or so before release.

The question is whether the PC version will be based off of the 360/PS3 versions or the 'PS4/XO' versions?

Of course I could be just wishful thinking.. :)
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
What is really peculiar about all this is that in the retail version, when the Torch is activated, the lighting looks more like it should from the demo (but still a little washed out), but when the torch is off, it's apparent how bad things are. The torch isn't even required to advance in this section any more.

This is the exact same with the lightning on Mirror Knight. When the lightning strikes, the world takes on the palette its supposed to, but then goes back to the green crappy version. It points to them having very clumsily switched some element off/deleted it out and not done much to fix the rest of the game.

From are no strangers to the inexplicable method of their code still actually computing all the same shit, but they've arbitrarily locked it off to not show.
 
Which is why there is/was a whole risk versus reward system with having one hand used up carrying a lit torch to explore pitch black areas until you found sconces and lit them.

Now an entire strategic element to progression has been rendered pointless and infact inverse (you can see more in the dark than with a lit torch). Its a clusterfuck.

+++ This can't be said enough, this is the point I've been trying to drive home for a while. I think most are understanding, but a few folks remain oblivious.
 

Fbh

Member

WTF.

That's A BIG difference.
Worst part is that the picture above doesn't look like something that is pushing consoles to the limit.


Now I'm doubting if I will get it at launch.
It's not like graphics are very important in this franchise, but I consider myselft someone who like to "vote with my wallet" and all this promoting games with BS footage needs to stop
 
+++ This can't be said enough, this is the point I've been trying to drive home for a while. I think most are understanding, but a few folks remain oblivious.

Isn't it possible there are still some pitch black areas in the game, but they aren't the same ones as what we saw in the trailer?

Also, notice in the screenshot with the guys running down the hallway towards the boss, that in the original screenshot the torches are lit. And in the final game, they aren't. So it still comes back to the torches.
 

Darknight

Member
As much as I understand the changes and the sorta backlash from fans...this is FROM. They make the ugliest games. Good art but shit graphics overall. So Ill give them a pass.
 

Branduil

Member
This is the exact same with the lightning on Mirror Knight. When the lightning strikes, the world takes on the palette its supposed to, but then goes back to the green crappy version. It points to them having very clumsily switched some element off/deleted it out and not done much to fix the rest of the game.

From are no strangers to the inexplicable method of their code still actually computing all the same shit, but they've arbitrarily locked it off to not show.

On the plus side, that sounds like something that could be modded in the PC version.

The geometry and lighting source changes, on the other hand...
 

glaurung

Member
Oh man at those shadows when lightning strikes in the previous post.

That looks almost embarrassingly bad in the final version. What kind of black magic PS3 did they demo it on?

It was probably a PC.
 

butman

Member
It's to early for a official statement from Bandai about this fraud?

They must say something about it. Hoping for a patch or something.
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
On the plus side, that sounds like something that could be modded in the PC version.

The geometry and lighting source changes, on the other hand...

Yeah. Its hilariously sad we may all just be waiting on Durante again but this time to fix the game full stop, not just improve resolutions etc.

I'm still not sure what to do come Friday (UK release date). I don't want to wait a month and the PC version is still the gimped Prepare to WHY??? edition.
 

Sini

Member
I believe POM is a sort of enhancement of normal mapping. So kinda the same thing, just that POM will look a bit better and more defined.
Basically yes. POM gives you ton more depth than normals can, but it should only be used relatively flat surfaces because it will look bad from steep angles. So tessellation should be used on those instead.
Normals are still used instead of Tessellation because they are enormously more expensive performance wise and they should be easier to create. (I have only made normals so I don't actually know how to prepare models for tessellation.)
 
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