Cloud Strife
Member
If that's crazy I don't wanna be sane
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Dark Souls 2 Lighting changes/Downgrade
- Thread starter Moral Panic
- Start date
If that's crazy I don't wanna be sane
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
Clockwork5
Member
TheLostBigBoss
Banned
IGN review went up too soon, they gave it a 9/10
37/40 for Famitsu
37/40 for Famitsu
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
that defense force engage brah
Are you a parody account or something?
Cloud Strife
Member
Thanks pal.
lol I went to the IGN page and saw it, then refreshed and it's gone. They caught that quick.
Clockwork5
Member
It got downgraded. Big deal. It looks like a ps360 game from FROMsoft now.
Why would you expect any different? Just add this to the E3 downgrade thread that has all of the other games at E3 which have been released, regardless of
which generation. Is it a good thing to do this? No, absolutely not. Has it tempered my expectations for every single game that is not on retail shelves? Absolutely.
They are all bullshots. All of them.
Why would you expect any different? Just add this to the E3 downgrade thread that has all of the other games at E3 which have been released, regardless of
which generation. Is it a good thing to do this? No, absolutely not. Has it tempered my expectations for every single game that is not on retail shelves? Absolutely.
They are all bullshots. All of them.
The game was playable and looked like the original screens did. This isn't a case of them just showing bullshots or a target render trailer. It was actually playable but got downgraded.
SneakyStephan
Banned
I doubt the intention was to casualise it, it's just a side effect from switching off the dynamic lighting
the lighting isn't baked into the textures so what's left is this flat grey wall
EatinOlives
Member
Nah man, you're a sheep because From explicitly stated there was a new lighting engine over and over again and now it's been nerfed to uselessness and you're upset about it.
Silly you, believing that a promised feature will be in the final game. Heh, sheep *chortle*
its 2014 and this was ported to consoles made in 2005/2006.
what exactly did you think this game was going to look like?
The annoying thing is that From and Namco will probably not even be confronted with this. There is so much misinformation circulating in the Dark Souls community, like,
"lol it was the PC version so what's your point?" (flat out wrong)
"I don't see the difference, the textures are the same" (the problem here, not comparing "retail" with the reveal demo but the January footage where by that time the textures had already been wiped).
And the gaming journalism will probably prefer playing this tune too as they are just so god damn lazy.
"lol it was the PC version so what's your point?" (flat out wrong)
"I don't see the difference, the textures are the same" (the problem here, not comparing "retail" with the reveal demo but the January footage where by that time the textures had already been wiped).
And the gaming journalism will probably prefer playing this tune too as they are just so god damn lazy.
Poetic.Injustice
Member
EatinOlives
Member
Downgrade confirmed.
Super bummed out
Hopefully I'll get over it by the time the PC version releases.
This is seriously a pointless argument.
since when was FROM know as a graphical powerhouse plus give their games huge budgets?
Garcia
Member
If that's the case then chances are no one (from the media) will ever confront either FROM or Bamco.
Never mind, it sounded like you were claiming PS3 itself wasn't capable. I know From isn't capable. Just saying a 2005 console could've done better on this, and it wasn't stupid to expect better especially with how much From promised better...
Well mine just shipped so I'm stuck on this train. It's cool, sounds like an insanely good game regardless.
Honestly sounds like a PS4 version is even more likely now, which is kind of good news in the end. I'll replay it down the line with better content. Sucks that PS3 couldn't handle it, for whatever reason, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes.
Hope PC delivers for people.
Honestly sounds like a PS4 version is even more likely now, which is kind of good news in the end. I'll replay it down the line with better content. Sucks that PS3 couldn't handle it, for whatever reason, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes.
Hope PC delivers for people.
I'm still debating it, I think I'll wait to hear if the online stuff works well before finally deciding grabbing the PS3 version or waiting for the PC port.
It's always looked like a pretty good game regardless of this issue, it's just a shame that it's compromised
Garcia
Member
Expecting their fan base to triple dip is a good thing? Because let's be honest here, some people are so passionate about the game that they actually would.
Krusenstern
Banned
Having access to a better version on consoles would be a good thing.
We know the game is downgraded graphically before it comes out, so no one has to double or triple dip on anything if they don't want to. I don't know why anyone with a PC would buy it twice, or why anyone would buy it 3x.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Interesting. So the downgrade is confirmed but not as extremely dire as some might have thought, and there is no need to overreact? Sounds reasonable.
Garcia
Member
I just watched Gamespot's review and the game just looks like an expansion of the original Dark Souls. It almost seems like they worked on their original engine rather than a new one.
People around here weren't lying: Some interiors look even worse than some parts of the original Dark Souls.
People around here weren't lying: Some interiors look even worse than some parts of the original Dark Souls.
A lot more got downgraded than just the lighting, there were enormous cuts in textures, environmental polygons, etc. It's likely it doesn't seem "dire" as it does here because the reviewer just knows about the lighting and forgot what the game's textures and environments used to look like.
From the egm review.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/reviews/egm-review-dark-souls-ii/
Theres a curious footnote to all of this, however: the games lighting engine.Having had access to various snippets of Dark Souls II at previous Namco Bandai events, the portions I played dont feel as dynamically lit as they did before. This is most notable with torches, one of the major new gimmicks added. The ideaso far as I always understood itwas that some locations would be so dark that torches would be needed, and players would be at a disadvantage, given that a hand that once held an additional weapon or shield would instead be busy holding aloft a source of light. At Tokyo Game Show last year, I played a specific segment where I had to do just that; in the final build, that exact same section was now well-lit enough that doing so was no longer necessary. In fact, as they stand now in terms of their effect on gameplay, torches in Dark Souls II feel like a curious feature that was once meant to be part of some much larger gameplay concept, but now often sit as little more than a memory of what could have been.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/reviews/egm-review-dark-souls-ii/
Theres a curious footnote to all of this, however: the games lighting engine.Having had access to various snippets of Dark Souls II at previous Namco Bandai events, the portions I played dont feel as dynamically lit as they did before. This is most notable with torches, one of the major new gimmicks added. The ideaso far as I always understood itwas that some locations would be so dark that torches would be needed, and players would be at a disadvantage, given that a hand that once held an additional weapon or shield would instead be busy holding aloft a source of light. At Tokyo Game Show last year, I played a specific segment where I had to do just that; in the final build, that exact same section was now well-lit enough that doing so was no longer necessary. In fact, as they stand now in terms of their effect on gameplay, torches in Dark Souls II feel like a curious feature that was once meant to be part of some much larger gameplay concept, but now often sit as little more than a memory of what could have been.
i think it's more like the lighting downgrade is there, it's just that it's overshadowed (get it?) by the art design
pedr0theli0n
Neo Member
just watched the IGN review. The scenes they showed from the mirror knight fight looked to have the lighting effects in. Don't know if this was old footage or not though?
The lightning effect was always in and that was never the problem - ignorant people argued the lightning was gone because they somehow forgot that it was a single screen and lightning comes and goes.
The entire colour palette and quality of the visuals, polygons etc is what got downgraded.
Metalingus5150
Member
I asked one of the people who did QA if he could comment on the lighting.
Now we wait for the response.
Now we wait for the response.
That doesn't explain the visual downgrade from the Network Beta Tests to now. The network beta looked phenomenal for a console-late-in-life version.
I'm sure the game will still look good on PS360 for how old they are, but the visual downgrade is there and weird after the beta.
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
We will probably never hear a response, but god's work.
Garcia
Member
There's just a major problem here though:
FROM showcases a demo just a couple of months ago which several people in here already claimed to have played. It has specific features that add a whole new layer of strategy to the combat, they heavily advertise these as the most significant changes in the sequel and in fact turn it into a selling point.
They all of a sudden "decide" to trim out all of those things out of the final release, effectively compromising the gameplay and failing to deliver the original product. There's money invested in pre-orders (mine included) coming from people who were going to buy the original but instead got a significantly different version of the game.
FROM expects people to buy a trimmed version of their intended concept twice (PS30/PC versions) in the meantime and then buy it once again (PS4/XB1) just to finally deliver the original.
There are several words that fit such a scheme but I won't be using any since, up to this point, we can only speculate.
We aren't speaking of a future HD re-release of a game here, it's an entirely different situation where the seller expects you to accept less than 100% of what was originally advertised.
Again, people played the demo 2 months ago.
I honestly don't know why you're lecturing me on this. I read the thread. It was either cut because of technical limitations that somehow were not evident in the beta, or it was cut because the developers themselves changed their mind about whether or not they should implement the darkness in gameplay to the extent that they originally planned. It's one or the other.
If it's technical, then PC or PS4 should see that corrected. If it's developer choice, then that's kind of hard to argue against. Games get balanced all the time and developers change their minds. The game will receive balance updates after it releases too where they change their minds again.
I don't know if your goal here is for me to be outraged or not. The point is, we luckily have all of this information about the downgrade now, before the game's release. And it's mentioned in a few of the reviews I've just looked at.
So now it's up to you to decide, with all the available information, if you want to buy the game. I'm definitely buying it. Dark Souls II minus some lighting and texture work is still worth $60 for me, and it arrives on the exact same day my spring break starts. If they come out with a better version on consoles down the road, I can sell my PS3 version, wait for a price cut and get that.
If you're not happy with those options, no one is forcing you to buy it. I wouldn't criticize anyone who decides to not get it. You can decide to skip the game on PS3 right now, so it's pretty much up to you.
liquidekkah
Member
Best march ever
Disappointments all around!
Garcia
Member
Don't take it that way, I'm not trying to either lecture or outrage you. The game didn't all of a sudden become a completely unplayable mess just because it got some heavy trimming in the end. You will most likely enjoy it since it apparently plays exactly like the original and the visual style matches the prequel. Many people are in fact having fun already with it.
Having fun with the game however doesn't automatically exclude anyone from sharing their criticism. Most people who have posted their impressions are disappointed to varying degrees that the final version didn't deliver the same quality of the advertised demo.
Yes, we are lucky that all of this information got leaked on time; many of us have either made a decision or are underway of doing so.
There's no need to take any of this personal when all the criticism and complaints are specifically directed to FROM and Bamco.
Crimsonclaw111
Member
All I know is that the PC version better have all the fancy effects in.
TheCongressman1
Member
As much as I love the Souls series, if the PC version has also been significantly cut, I won't be buying this at launch.
I don't know how you can claim to love the series and not buy it at launch over graphics. Yes it's disappointing but people don't love this series for the graphics.
Time to make peace with all this I guess Won't be getting a PS4 til at least October and my laptop sure as heck won't run Dark Souls 2. I played Resident Evil 4 on PS2, I can deal with this... (it seems potentially worse than Resident Evil 4 on PS2 ugh)
I might even equip the torch in one hand just for the hell of it whenever I see a torch stand in front of me.
Won't be getting a PS4 til at least October and my laptop sure as heck won't run Dark Souls 2. I played Resident Evil 4 on PS2, I can deal with this... (it seems potentially worse than Resident Evil 4 on PS2 ugh)I might even equip the torch in one hand just for the hell of it whenever I see a torch stand in front of me.