Lol, that's what I get for not using twitter enough. Glad he got it though.
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#DarkSoulsDowngrade and #YOULIED \\ a.k.a You got some splainin' to do, Namco
- Thread starter Havel
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Lol, that's what I get for not using twitter enough. Glad he got it though.
Hilarious that people are defending this shit. If I had laid down money for a preorder / bought the game at launch I would be pissed as hell. That's more than just a lighting downgrade. That is massively reduced quality in geometry, lighting, texture, and general atmosphere. And apparently after all that the game still has FPS issues on console.
I hate the phrase 'definitive version.'
Its ironic at best if a PC version exists.
There are specular highlights and the lighting is much less flat, but its tough to tell.
Well I hope all of you show the same resolve when it comes to every game ever released that doesn't make good on some promise or meets your expectations.
FunkyMunkey
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:
LOOK AT THE PLAYER'S SHADOW
Why isn't this in the OP?
Ahhh I fail. I'd prefer it quoted directly but I understand because of bandwidth.
It is, but it is linked to the original post.
It's not about making good on promises, it's about not telling people you weren't able to make good on those promises.
Sanctuary
Member
They also lied about making Sorcery actually fun (they said they were going to make it as fun as melee), and they removed the spell charging feature (was in beta), as well as Pyromancy being back with Sorcery. Both are the same dull shit they were in the previous game. Oh, but now spells cost endurance per cast, so now it's "fun" like melee!
D
Deleted member 22576
Unconfirmed Member
From my perspective I'm not sure most did. But at this point we're debating about who thought what and when. I know that when I peeped some DS2 footage last fall (I'm still not done with DS1 yet) my gut reaction was I was watching PC footage. Whatever, its clear that even if they are the most innocent god fearing developers ever that they must be fuckin' idiots because everyone on gaf thinks they sold something they were never planning to deliver. Clearly there were some massive messaging mistakes here. It just makes me furious when I see individuals blaming groups with prescribed malicious intent. -Its like nobody here has operated in a group more than three people large.
And yeah, I would define some less defined lighting as an inconsistency. Especually when the area itself is drastically redeisnged anyhow. It looks like a different part of the game anyhow.
Just so I'm clear here, you just compared blatantly false advertising of a game to touched up pictures of fast food?
Is this a troll?
cascardian
Member
Since we're reposting the comparison pictures here, I might as well throw these in from HyperBitHero's video in the other thread (left is retail, right is early build):
XANDER CAGE
Member
From previews?
USgamer said:
IGN said:
CVG said:
GamesRadar said:
I think there was a big spiel about it in the Edge reveal way back when as well, but I'm not gonna post scans, obviously.
Wishmaster92
Member
Notable difference here too. The creatures look out of place in the left picture.
Who's JK?
Lasthope106
Member
I fully support the OP and his cause. I'm fucking tired of game companies pulling this shit, and the gaming media trying to defend them like all the people who have been spewing almost PR level bullshit like "things change" and others of similar ilk.
If the pc version, doesn't have those things in the initial reveal, this game will go from day one to steam holiday sale purchase for me.
If the pc version, doesn't have those things in the initial reveal, this game will go from day one to steam holiday sale purchase for me.
I understand why people are mad but I got exactly what I expected. Dark Souls 2. It certainly delivers. I've seen comments saying the entire game was stripped of "atmosphere" but I have seen no indication of that.
Namco community manager. He is looking now, though.
Excellent and I enjoy playing DS2 also. This is not what this thread is about.
The one thing Bandai had to do to avoid all of this is be truthful. 'From had to remove some of the graphical features to achieve good performance on older hardware.'
Some people would have been annoyed, but more rational minds would realize that the consoles are ancient, removing features to achieve acceptable frame rates is perfectly fine. The reality is, even the next-gen consoles are struggling to keep up in terms of resolution and frame rate.
My real problem is the PC version is currently on sale and we literally have no information on that release.
All of the graphical features that were in the demo, lighting effects, specular highlights, high-res textures, normal mapping, darkness gameplay mechanic, etc are either completely gone or completely neutered.
Did From just turn these features off last minute in a rapid optimization phase? Will they return for the PC version?
Some people would have been annoyed, but more rational minds would realize that the consoles are ancient, removing features to achieve acceptable frame rates is perfectly fine. The reality is, even the next-gen consoles are struggling to keep up in terms of resolution and frame rate.
My real problem is the PC version is currently on sale and we literally have no information on that release.
All of the graphical features that were in the demo, lighting effects, specular highlights, high-res textures, normal mapping, darkness gameplay mechanic, etc are either completely gone or completely neutered.
Did From just turn these features off last minute in a rapid optimization phase? Will they return for the PC version?
It's not the Dark Souls 2 that we were presented with well up until release.
The author of Harry Potter. I've no idea what she could possibly want with this thread, though.
D
Deleted member 22576
Unconfirmed Member
I am a veteran of the great Halo2 bait and switch.
Intheflorsh
Banned
Even if the version does look like trash, modders will eventually make it look much better than anything the console version could manage. It's still worth waiting.
This should all be obvious though, and it doesn't excuse the misleading advertising.
People have been comparing Dark Souls II to Colonial Marines. I think the Burger King Comparison is a little less harsh.
Yeah, of course I can't speak for everyone, but personally I'm more curious than mad, I want to know what happened, and I want to see the version I'm buying, before the downgrade thing I could just assume it would be what I saw from those videos, but 60fps, now I have no idea, I don't even know if it'll be the retail console version at 60fps, we really don't know.
XANDER CAGE
Member
Which, incidentally, is another case where we got a good game that was still disappointingly not really what we'd been shown.
Krusenstern
Banned
Namco needs to be held accountable for misleading us with footage that isn't a real representation of the game's final quality.
Sanctuary
Member
You can't be serious. Did you even play Demon's? There's nothing in this game that comes close to the atmosphere in that game, and there's only a few areas that are similar to what were in Dark.
The mood of this game is nothing like either of the previous two.
All the way up until release is a key point, here.
D
Deleted member 22576
Unconfirmed Member
Nothing from what I've seen is as grievous as that. Those are literally two different games. This is a previously golden-flickery wall now being grey.
CountAntonius
Member
I tweeted the guy the thread as well. They need to show the PC version already and stop using promotional materials from builds that no longer exist.
Yes, I imported it. I even played the Kings Field series before that.
The lighting difference is one thing which I can understand being for performance issues, but I feel like the artistic direction is worse in many ways.
Although these screenshots are not perfect or lossless captures, it seems the colors are much more drab than in the pre release builds, and the walls/environments seem much more empty - for instance in the hallway comparison the pre release has an environment I find interesting with the paintings and all, but the release hallway looks like a boring hallway to me. The textures for the floors and walls look nice in the prerelease shots and seem to have depth, but in the release shots they look flat and fairly low detail.
I'll have to reserve judgement until I see the game for myself, along with lossless gameplay in front of my own eyes, but based off the limited info I have it seems things have had at least a slight downgrade artistically.
On the bright side, the comparison with the bridge over the lava actually seems to have a better bridge texture on the release version. So, there's that.
Although these screenshots are not perfect or lossless captures, it seems the colors are much more drab than in the pre release builds, and the walls/environments seem much more empty - for instance in the hallway comparison the pre release has an environment I find interesting with the paintings and all, but the release hallway looks like a boring hallway to me. The textures for the floors and walls look nice in the prerelease shots and seem to have depth, but in the release shots they look flat and fairly low detail.
I'll have to reserve judgement until I see the game for myself, along with lossless gameplay in front of my own eyes, but based off the limited info I have it seems things have had at least a slight downgrade artistically.
On the bright side, the comparison with the bridge over the lava actually seems to have a better bridge texture on the release version. So, there's that.
FunkyMunkey
Banned
The textures/geometry have also been downgraded along with a bunch of other things. It's almost a generational gap between what was shown a short while ago and the release. It's inexcusable.
SargerusBR
I love Pokken!
Are you forgetting the fact they also promoted the 'major', as they put it, torch gameplay mechanic which directly ties to the lighting up until release?
cascardian
Member
Krusenstern
Banned
Nice. I hope this spreads around.
Anyone has a photo of the back of the box case by now?
SargerusBR
I love Pokken!
Agreed, its actually better in some parts.
Also, out of curiousity are you having FUN with the game?
Solid reporting. Linked all the relevant information, even arguments from both sides, verified the information, and got a response from Bandai.
Color me impressed, they just gained a reader.
XANDER CAGE
Member
I'm not sure if that's just a poorly transcribed sentence or if the plot has thickened. That would be... weird.
Good, straight to the point.
No bs reporting like Kotaku or the other one that was defending 'good gameplay though!', which is another discussion entirely.
D
Deleted member 22576
Unconfirmed Member
Not so much forgetting as I just haven't really been keeping up with it. I've heard the first round of Giantbomb's coverage and they act like that mechanic is very much still alive and happening. I feel like the better part of that entire podcast was about finding the torches and figuring out what they do. I'm assuming thats still very much part of the game.
Whatever. I haven't played this game yet, my main exposure to it is these before/after gifs believe it or not and from where I'm sitting they are 98% the same.
That would settle it, but they didn't show any footage from the PC version. We just assumed it would be the same we've been seeing but at higher framerates, but now that what we've been seeing isn't in the retail build, we have no idea anymore.
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