XANDER CAGE
Member
pour one out for the dragon mansion, jesus christ. I'd forgotten about that reveal footage.
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Dark Souls 2 Lighting changes/Downgrade
- Thread starter Moral Panic
- Start date
Garcia
Member
Damn!
I don't know if you're also playing the game but those screens don't reflect the huge visual inconsistency of Dark Souls 2. You are always moving between awe-inspiring panoramas and shitty looking corridors / generic areas.
I don't know if you're also playing the game but those screens don't reflect the huge visual inconsistency of Dark Souls 2. You are always moving between awe-inspiring panoramas and shitty looking corridors / generic areas.
Sorry guys, forgot one:
That is honestly not too far off, sadly.
BadAss2961
Member
lmaoSorry guys, forgot one:
BadAss2961
Member
Hopefully they're working on a PS4 version.
Stone Ocean
Member
It's different assets and the first screen is compressed!Sorry guys, forgot one:
Fucking HELL, the before pictures are beautiful and very much in line with what I expect from a souls games lighting/art style. The art style and lighting are two of the strongest things about a Souls game and why I love them so much. Please have the PC version like those original shots.
Absolutely-.
TOAO_Cyrus
Member
PC save us!
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
How is there not an uproar over this? It boggles my mind, the completely shat on their original vision for the art direction and look of the game, it's really killed my excitement knowing what could have been. That is a gigantic difference.Found footage of the mansion of the dragons. There's no way anybody anywhere can't claim this game hasn't been completely gutted. Just look at this shit, LOOK AT THIS SHIT:
LOOK AT THE PLAYER'S SHADOW
Found footage of the mansion of the dragons. There's no way anybody anywhere can't claim this game hasn't been completely gutted. Just look at this shit, LOOK AT THIS SHIT:
HORRIBLENESS
LOOK AT THE PLAYER'S SHADOW
I LAUGHED and then i CRIED and then i PUKED a little in my mouth.
why.jpg
LOL, Dreamcast port confirmed? Fuck, they could have told me these screenshots are from the Vita port, and I would have believed them. Thank you based FROM! I'll never forget that you brought us these graphics.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
It's doing what I said I feared earlier in the thread: changing gameplay; you can see much farther and clearer due to less shadows. In Souls games, shadows hide potential traps, enemies, pits, doorways, etc. THAT again is the real problem.
Krusenstern
Banned
Found footage of the mansion of the dragons. There's no way anybody anywhere can't claim this game hasn't been completely gutted. Just look at this shit, LOOK AT THIS SHIT:
HOLY. SHIT.
The downgrade is pretty massive in that area. Especially the hall with the big dragon skeleton.
It looks nothing like the initial shots we got.
Pre-release stuff looked borderline next-gen in comparison to what we have now.
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
The worst part is, FROM will never talk about it. They tried to sidestep every question about the shitty PC port of Dark Souls 1 and never gave Durante the shoutout he deserved for saving their skin with his fix. Namco don't give a fuck. We'll be told that Dark Souls 3 will be the place to be.
Such an unfortunate situation.
Such an unfortunate situation.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
The irony here is that everyone was sure From was going to "sell out" in terms of the game mechanics, difficulty, accessibility, etc. The one thing that was never in doubt was their unique, hand-crafted game worlds - the trademark art direction.
Instead, the more all this comes together the more it seems like From and/or Bamco compromised things in a different way: marketing. They went in for the big push, the fake presentation ala Watch_Dogs.
Self_Destructive
Member
Seeing the differences between those 2 is night and day. I honestly believe that those are from the PS4/XO versions.
Metalingus5150
Member
So Vaati commented on his twitter. " I don't even know what everyone is getting upset about. They changed a few areas"
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
welp, there goes any meaningful answer
Lactose_Intolerant
Member
HOLY. SHIT.
The downgrade is pretty massive in that area. Especially the hall with the big dragon skeleton.
It looks nothing like the initial shots we got.
Pre-release stuff looked borderline next-gen in comparison to what we have now.
Those shadows aren't exactly high resolution either though. The pc version is our only hope
Krusenstern
Banned
Someone give this guy a link to this thread and Metroid-Squadron's post here.
I'm not talking about the shadow resolution. The whole lighting scenery has changed. It looks flat and dull in the retail build.
Garcia
Member
LOL. Seriously?
I honestly don't think that's true. Lighting etc are a huge thing with the Souls games and I don't recall From Software ever really bullshotting/lying about their game quality on purpose, mostly because they aren't technical wizards in the first place.
I think if anything the 360/PS3 just couldn't handle the new lighting in the new engine at a good framerate and turned it down/off affecting the game quite significantly at the last minute. Maybe they ran out of time to optimise, who knows. Maybe I'm just being naive but I could see it being a number of factors like new engine, old hardware, more fancy lighting they couldn't optimise etc.
I don't expect him to be furious but what a disappointing reaction.
Future PhaZe
Member
the pc version had better have those visual features or I'm selling my key
TheCongressman1
Member
Found footage of the mansion of the dragons. There's no way anybody anywhere can't claim this game hasn't been completely gutted. Just look at this shit, LOOK AT THIS SHIT:
Anyone who thinks that graphics don't matter, look at this and tell me it doesn't ruin the art and atmosphere. Something that is huge in these games is the atmosphere, and it has been severely gimped.
I don't really care what resolution it is, all I care about is that these areas now look bland and unappealing. If the framerate is still an issue after creating a new engine, it's obvious that they need to hire someone that can competently develop one that doesn't start cracking from extremely tame visuals.
I'm sure the game is still fun, and that's great, but this kind of downgrade is really disappointing. Especially after all the talk of new visuals and actually seeing that in action for over a year.
Oh my god, those mansion comparisons, wow lol!
All of this lighting shenanigans reminds me of a game project my brother and I were working on not too long ago. We had a fully playable RPG Maker demo that featured a catacombs dungeon/area that utilized dark rooms. We adjusted the program's default/normal lighting to create artificial darkness for particular rooms. Inside some of these rooms we would place hard-to-see spiders on the walls that were essentially cloaked by the adjustment we made to the lighting. Below the spiders were treasure chests that would switch on/trigger the spiders to fall from the ceiling upon looting of the spoils. The lighting/dark rooms were absolutely a part of our gameplay/design systems/ideas. My brother and I were talking the other night thinking how awful it would have been if we had to adjust/revert the lighting back to its normal/default setting, but still kept those spiders/trap ideas around. In the end, so few people ended up even playing our demo that none of it mattered anyway, but I would have been pretty disappointed/upset as a designer if, for whatever reason/circumstance, had to alter my game/project to such lengths which such horrible repercussions.
All of this lighting shenanigans reminds me of a game project my brother and I were working on not too long ago. We had a fully playable RPG Maker demo that featured a catacombs dungeon/area that utilized dark rooms. We adjusted the program's default/normal lighting to create artificial darkness for particular rooms. Inside some of these rooms we would place hard-to-see spiders on the walls that were essentially cloaked by the adjustment we made to the lighting. Below the spiders were treasure chests that would switch on/trigger the spiders to fall from the ceiling upon looting of the spoils. The lighting/dark rooms were absolutely a part of our gameplay/design systems/ideas. My brother and I were talking the other night thinking how awful it would have been if we had to adjust/revert the lighting back to its normal/default setting, but still kept those spiders/trap ideas around. In the end, so few people ended up even playing our demo that none of it mattered anyway, but I would have been pretty disappointed/upset as a designer if, for whatever reason/circumstance, had to alter my game/project to such lengths which such horrible repercussions.
well, tell that to VaatiVidya, who apparently "doesn't know what everyone is upset about". Ugh.
If it changed at the last minute, what the hell happened to the last 3+ years of development? They couldn't figure out the consoles can't run the lighting well a long time ago?
Or did they realize the problem much sooner than we think, but they never told us? The only oddity then would be why release the beta with the lighting intact? Did problems crop.up before or after the beta?
Confidence Man
Member
If the PC version looks like that I'll be waiting for a deep discount on Steam, that's for sure.
Lactose_Intolerant
Member
I know, I guess I should have quoted more posts. People were complaining about the shadow resolution above you.
TheFNEffecT
Member
I'd wait til we see or hear about the PC version. Also, I'm sure this game is amazing regardless and I wouldn't skip it even if it had a big graphical downgrade. Demon/Dark Souls are some of the finest games of this genre ever conceived and from the sounds of it Dark Souls II stands up there with the previous quite nicely.
Found footage of the mansion of the dragons. There's no way anybody anywhere can't claim this game hasn't been completely gutted. Just look at this shit, LOOK AT THIS SHIT:
omg that is just pathetic..they almost look like two different games.
Metroid-Squadron
Banned
Seems like Matt Lees was completely right:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06EfUvG727A
In previous Soul games the lighting wasn't as bright but also had a specular component which helped to highlight the surrounding areas. Now it's just completely diffuse and therefore renders the environments AND the character completely flat.
I assume because those were probably expected to be lit by the dynamic light sources, therefore they chose a color that would work well with it. Obviously that all got thrown in the trash, though.
Found footage of the mansion of the dragons. There's no way anybody anywhere can't claim this game hasn't been completely gutted. Just look at this shit, LOOK AT THIS SHIT:
And yet someone will defend this shit.
Phatosaurus
Member
Fucking knew this would be the case. I knew the initial gameplay reveal that the game wouldn't look as good as they showed on the PS3/360.
I knew they couldn't push the hardware that far, not with an acceptable frame rate like they were touting it to have.
FROM Soft are great game designers, but when it comes to optimization and performance they are not exactly top tier.
I mean, just look at Demon's Souls, the frame rate drops like a tonne of bricks if you roll into wooden barrels in an otherwise empty room.
Dark Souls, Blightown, Chasm of the Abyss. The latter even brings the frame rate of the PC version to it's knees at times, of an above average PC.
So with that said, false advertisement it certainly is, but more fool you if you fell for this shit.
EDIT: I was unaware the beta/network test build had lighting as advertised.
I knew they couldn't push the hardware that far, not with an acceptable frame rate like they were touting it to have.
FROM Soft are great game designers, but when it comes to optimization and performance they are not exactly top tier.
I mean, just look at Demon's Souls, the frame rate drops like a tonne of bricks if you roll into wooden barrels in an otherwise empty room.
Dark Souls, Blightown, Chasm of the Abyss. The latter even brings the frame rate of the PC version to it's knees at times, of an above average PC.
So with that said, false advertisement it certainly is, but more fool you if you fell for this shit.
EDIT: I was unaware the beta/network test build had lighting as advertised.
Chance Hale
Member
The changes are bizarre because at times the game looks incredible and easily at the upper tier of PS3/360 games but then you get into an area that's entirely gray knowing what it's supposed to look like.......
Still, more often than not the game looks nice but I really hope From will say something.
Game has been shown on almost nothing but the PS3 outside of the reveal and even the beta which thousands of people played on the PS3 had the proper lighting. There was very little reason to suspect such a change would be coming.
Still, more often than not the game looks nice but I really hope From will say something.
Game has been shown on almost nothing but the PS3 outside of the reveal and even the beta which thousands of people played on the PS3 had the proper lighting. There was very little reason to suspect such a change would be coming.
HOLY. SHIT.
The downgrade is pretty massive in that area. Especially the hall with the big dragon skeleton.
It looks nothing like the initial shots we got.
Pre-release stuff looked borderline next-gen in comparison to what we have now.
I don't understand this at all. Changing colors has nothing to do with performance. There is absolutely no reason they might have changed it other than artistic choice. Why did they choose to make everything grey? Surely they don't think it looks better?