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[GCX]

You may have one of my babies.

Remedy's left some room in the script for a possible sequel but still, there will be clear closure.

 

[mujun]

Why do these types of discussions never account for games being more than the sum of their parts?

I've become somewhat of a B (and even C in some cases :lol ) game connoisseur over the last year and it's taught me that even games with lots of crappy aspects can be more entertaining than mega hyped so called triple A titles.

Not saying that Alan Wake is B grade nor that it's guaranteed to be an awesome game but the way some people talk about it in this thread is just far too "on paper" and theoretical if you ask me.

 

[Truant]

Regading one of the videos:

Spoiler

In the video, Alan leaves without the key he was supposed to collect. Yet, he's able to open the cabin. My guess is that he takes Alice to a different cabin, and that he's somehow the bad guy.

 

[Shurs]

Why do these types of discussions never account for games being more than the sum of their parts?

I've become somewhat of a B (and even C in some cases :lol ) game connoisseur over the last year and it's taught me that even games with lots of crappy aspects can be more entertaining than mega hyped so called triple A titles.

Not saying that Alan Wake is B grade nor that it's guaranteed to be an awesome game but the way some people talk about it in this thread is just far too "on paper" and theoretical if you ask me.

People are discussing specific aspects of the game, not the game as a whole.

When I say that I don't find Alan Wake's graphics to be top tier, I'm not referring to the game as a whole, just the graphics.

 

[nilam01]

Facial animations are pretty bad in Alan Wake. Heavy Rain looked distracting because human faces looked so realistic that the animations couldn't keep up, they were decent but not good enough. overall I can't think of many games that had great facial animations this gen; FFXIII, Mass Effect, MGS4 and maybe Uncharted 2 had top notch facial animations this gen.

I think for ingame graphics (not pre-rendered like uncharted 2 and alan wake) mass effect had the best facial animations. FFXIII is pretty good too.

 

[adamsapple]

Resi 5 has great lip synch and general facial animations (outside of Jill's frowny face).

 

[MMaRsu]

Remedy's left some room in the script for a possible sequel but still, there will be clear closure.

But still they are planning DLC

 

[adamsapple]

But still they are planning DLC

Lost pages of the manuscript that figure in somewhere in the middle possibly ? ala AC2's missing sequences.

 

[MMaRsu]

Lost pages of the manuscript that figure in somewhere in the middle possibly ? ala AC2's missing sequences.

It sucked in AC2 vanilla though.. I mean because of that planning, the story suffered. Don't think that will happen with AW though!

 

[SlasherJPC]

But still they are planning DLC

The DLC they are planning is supposed to bridge the gaps from season 1, to season 2 so to speak. If they get enough sales from the first to have a "season 2"

 

[EagleEyes]

Is the Bright Falls short movie still on tap for this week? I saw the ad for Alan Wake in the latest OXM and it said April 22nd.

 

[Prine]

Resi 5 has great lip synch and general facial animations (outside of Jill's frowny face).

Some of the best lip syncing i've seen.

 

[MWS Natural]

To be fair, Siren really does have quite a grainy/murky image quality, that is down to stylistic choice.

I wouldn't say the res was to do with digital size as the game comes to about 10GB in total!

Ah I see, well it all makes sense now:

PS3 title = Poor PQ is a stylistic choice and blurry games are actually superior.
360 title = Pre-order canceled.

 

[NemesisPrime]

I am soft banning myself from this thread. The hate is ridiculous.

 

[Raide]

Since the game seems to have a strong emphasis on day and night, have Remedy talked about how long a day lasts in real time? Just wondering if we get enough time to spy out the town and see what is happening, or if it is pushed on pretty quickly.

 

[SPEA]

Since the game seems to have a strong emphasis on day and night, have Remedy talked about how long a day lasts in real time? Just wondering if we get enough time to spy out the town and see what is happening, or if it is pushed on pretty quickly.

None of the day/night stuff is in realtime. It's all controlled by Remedy to control the pacing.

 

[Raide]

None of the day/night stuff is in realtime. It's all controlled by Remedy to control the pacing.

Ahh I see. So its likely that as you play it will shift from day to night as the story progresses. Hopefully it will be at set trigger points, so I can get some time to wander around. :lol

 

[SPEA]

Ahh I see. So its likely that as you play it will shift from day to night as the story progresses. Hopefully it will be at set trigger points, so I can get some time to wander around. :lol

Yeah pretty much. They did say they'll be more open day/sunny points in the game to explore the town, collect shit, etc.

 

[SlasherJPC]

I'm guessing from all the footage I've seen is that you will be able to semi explore during the day and then more then likely as you stick to the missions, the daylight will fade and night will come into play and the game will go more linear in nature during those segments. Just my guess. Hope they do something similar to this.

 

[LordPhoque]

I am soft banning myself from this thread. The hate is ridiculous.

Haters won the thread.

 

[Raide]

Yeah pretty much. They did say they'll be more open day/sunny points in the game to explore the town, collect shit, etc.

Hopefully Remedy have filled the town with things to do in the day then. In my head I am hoping for Shenmue style wandering and collecting stuff. In my dreams!

 

[SlasherJPC]

Hopefully Remedy have filled the town with things to do in the day then. In my head I am hoping for Shenmue style wandering and collecting stuff. In my dreams!

Well on that leaked day video he picked up a cofee mug that said 1/100 so

 

[Lord Error]

I think for ingame graphics (not pre-rendered like uncharted 2 and alan wake) mass effect had the best facial animations. FFXIII is pretty good too.

Heavenly Sword cutscenes laugh at both :\ Yes, some of them were fully realtime, as are some in UC2. Shelby in Heavy Rain too, even if other characters are not quite on that level. In fact, I think that HS and UC2 are pretty much the only games that use realtime engines for cutscenes that properly enough formulate the fluidity of human face. Pretty much all the rest either looks too stiff (Mass Effect) or too stylized (FFXIII, MGS4) so the stiffness or lack of mimics doesn't seem unwieldy.

 

[Raide]

Well on that leaked day video he picked up a cofee mug that said 1/100 so

Oohh yeah!

 

[jon bones]

so glad i like games more than arguing

SUPER excited to play this!!!! love the fact that they're including a book w/ the special edition

 

[shinnn]

Well on that leaked day video he picked up a cofee mug that said 1/100 so

there was a list of the collectibles in those leaked screens.

http://i44.tinypic.com/3507yvc.jpg

 

[adamsapple]

Well on that leaked day video he picked up a cofee mug that said 1/100 so

Replay incentive yay !

 

[lherre]

Well on that leaked day video he picked up a cofee mug that said pixel 1/10000000 so

Fixed

 

[SlasherJPC]

there was a list of the collectibles in those leaked screens.

http://i44.tinypic.com/3507yvc.jpg

Missed that picture! Very nice!

 

[M.J. Doja]

I am soft banning myself from this thread. The hate is ridiculous.

The hate ends now.

 

[Corky]

I guess this whole "ordeal" wouldnt have been half as bad if remedy just hadnt doctored those recent screens, because no matter which side of the fence you are on there are the semi-bullshots, and the real screens.

I understand the concept of bullshots dont get me wrong, but I dont really understand why a company would go in and edit pictures to look slightly better.

 

[Raide]

there was a list of the collectibles in those leaked screens.

http://i44.tinypic.com/3507yvc.jpg

Good stuff! I am looking forward to seeing how Remedy have crafted the world around the game.

I am guessing the Radio and TV stuff means we can sit down and listen/watch programs?

 

[zoukka]

Haha remember the awesome programs that rolled in the Max Payne games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TepSYnRmcyk

 

[metareferential]

there was a list of the collectibles in those leaked screens.

http://i44.tinypic.com/3507yvc.jpg

Doctored bullshot.

You can clearly see they've added the list to cover up the blurry mess the game is. xD

 

[Raide]

Haha remember the awesome programs that rolled in the Max Payne games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TepSYnRmcyk

:lol :lol

That was awesome.

 

[cvkpaladin]

So, have the developers released an estimate on how long the game should take for the average player? I'm hoping for around 12 hours or maybe a little more depending on how many set pieces they have in store for the player. Also, after you finish the game I hope you're able to select the different chapters (the game is divided into chapters or episodes, right?) to make the collectibles hunting a bit easier on the player. That and I like to replay certain sections of a game that I found the most appealing.

 

[Dries]

i broke down and watched the leaked videos yesterday and was pretty shocked at just how bad the animation was. particularly the facial animation and when alan was running without anything in his hands. it all looked so robotic and lifeless.

Seriously? There's nothing wrong imo.

 

[adamsapple]

Haha remember the awesome programs that rolled in the Max Payne games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TepSYnRmcyk

Holy shit yes

 

[SPEA]

So, have the developers released an estimate on how long the game should take for the average player? I'm hoping for around 12 hours or maybe a little more depending on how many set pieces they have in store for the player. Also, after you finish the game I hope you're able to select the different chapters (the game is divided into chapters or episodes, right?) to make the collectibles hunting a bit easier on the player. That and I like to replay certain sections of a game that I found the most appealing.

They've said that this is their biggest game yet and basically if you've played a Remedy game in the past you know what to expect length wise.

 

[N30RYU]

I don't think Remedy have done themselves any favours with releasing shots like:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4525496756_74ea8ef468_o.jpg

and then this:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4528213062_65eb316792_o.jpg

surfacing.

You've got to be careful when selling your product as a graphical benchmark.

I agree with this eurogamer poster, anyway the game will be awesome.

 

[SmokyDave]

Game looks pretty damned fine to me. Excitement still rising...

 

[brain_stew]

hey kids how about we agree the game is sub 720p, nitpicking the rendering method or how they can implement SSAO on a Direct X 9 part is above most of our payscale.

Xenos isn't a DX9 part and nor is the 360's API DX9 Regardless of that SSAO has featured in plenty of PC games with a DX9 renderpath, including the very first game to use the effect, Crysis.

SSAO on the 360 is more common than you seem to believe.

I wouldn't say its exactly common, and honestly, I still haven't seen an implementation in a 360 game (that I've played) where it looks decent. Its usually far too low resolution and full of artefacts, UE3's implementation in particular is downright ugly. Hopefully Alan Wake reverses that trend. For reference I'd class the best implementations in the PC world as coming from Crysis, Shattered Horizon, Just Cause 2 (the hidden implementation, not the default one) and Riddick. I've not personally played any 360 game that's implemented the effect as well as those games.

-
Sounds a little Complicated. Looks like Alan Wake isn't strictly 540p but its not 720p either. Now lets enjoy the game.

This was posted earlier, and no its really not comp;icated at all, this is how all modern game engines work. What we refer to as the "native resolution" is the resolution of the opaque geometry as this resolution effects everything else that is rendered on screen Just because the game has a 720p 2D HUD, doesn't make it a native 720p game. The long winded response is basically a confirmation, that yes, the game is indeed rendered at a sub HD resolution but is deliberately misleading, so as to confuse the less technically minded among us.

It varies with genre(fast action paced stuff hardly benefits from it), but really, it's more an issue of noticing when it's not there.t.

This is definitely the case for me. When playing around with settings in PC games, I don't notice quite how much of an impact on a scene a good SSAO implementation can have until I disable it after getting used to playing with it enabled. Suddenly everything becomes flat, lacking depth and certain objects don't seem to mesh/blend with others quite as well.

 

[VibratingDonkey]

Haha remember the awesome programs that rolled in the Max Payne games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TepSYnRmcyk

The first seasons are the best.

Lords & Ladies
Address Unknown

 

[SlasherJPC]

I'll need to make sure I take my 500X zoom glasses off when playing this or otherwise I just won't enjoy it lol. Some people! :lol

I'm not one for getting all technical because at the end of a day its just a fucking game, and a good looking one at that.

 

[Dries]

official Screen 04/16/2010

 

[badyu17]

Speaking of gameplay, I noticed they changed the game HUD and threw compass and blue part of the circle which was previously used as a recharging meter indicator for items that use light and which AW can boost. Now that's represented with flashlight icon and I noticed in that "building the thriller" video that in one section when you drive there's car battery icon instead of flashlight which is nice. I wonder what other items for light/dark will play role in this game?

I must say I prefer the looks of the old HUD but it's not really bad now. The only thing I find distracting/annoying is that current objective is bellow the health circle almost in the middle of the screen and it is there all the time. In the old HUD it was above and little to the right of circle/compass and it was less intrusive IMO.

I also like the fact that there are still games that use old school health bar and not automatic regeneration. Here it's incorporated logically as part of the light/dark setting and safe havens (light posts) are the new health packs or painkillers like in Max Payne.

Something similar was done in inFamous and although there you had health regeneration you could also use any power source to either heal faster or fill-up powers and it was also part of the mechanic and setting. I hope that in AW "Safe Havens" will not be only few light posts here and there but other objects/items/areas which have some connection with light :lol

Dodge action is also nice and it rewards you nicely with a cool camera rotation when you do it properly and also as a reference to Max Payne

What I didn't like from those videos is the fact that they are going with extreme linearity on purpose and as a choice. For example, Alan finishes the objective inside the diner and is going outside to join Alice in the car and at first watching I expected that I'll be able to at least exit the diner, get outside on the street, be able to walk few steps and see what's around, see some details around while Alice approaches with the SUV. No, as soon as Alan opened the door to exit diner, there's the pre-rendered cutscene. I think it's little rigid that way. They can still tell the story without being very strict and linear about what the player is doing around. This was once considered an open world game. It seems like that world is still there around you but they are not letting you see anything outside of what they strictly planned for you to see.

 

[derFeef]

official Screen 04/16/2010

Yeah, but those are not representative, as we (not me) found out.

 

[SlasherJPC]

I see a coffee mug in the background!!!!!!!! The completionist players better remember its there!

 

[Dries]

Yeah, but those are not representative, as we (not me) found out.

And those leaked unoffical blurry german screenshots are? Don't see why these are not more representative.

 

[derFeef]

And those leaked unoffical blurry german screenshots are? Don't see why these are not more representative.

No, I hate the leaked stuff and I still think there is something extra wrong with them. But dev/pub released screenshots are always either rendered or somehow touched.