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Dark Souls 2 Lighting changes/Downgrade

So is the nauseating self shadow effect gone then? Some of the videos shown where a held torch created shadows around the player and nearby enemies/objects gave me motion sickness. Cancelled my PS3 pre-order, just going to wait for the PC version.
 

eot

Banned
Ok that's a disgusting level of degredation. Seriously that looks completely different. If the PC version doesn't have that stuff then people will be pissed,including me

That's really fucking bad

He doesn't have a torch in the second screenshot, it's a silly comparison.
 

ittoryu

Member
I've been playing the game for the last 2 days (PS3 version) and I agree with people saying that there has been a downgrade... but I am also quite convinced that those video were from a PC version, rather than the PS3 one (wishful thinking? wishful thinking!)

BTW: there are frame drops quite visible, nothing compared the previous one but yeah, still there.
 
is this old? comparison between both console versions
http://gearnuke.com/dark-souls-2-ps3-vs-xbox-360-direct-feed-screenshot-comparison/
some screens-
DarkSouls2-Comaprison-14-2.png
 

doofy102

Member
I've been playing the game for the last 2 days (PS3 version) and I agree with people saying that there has been a downgrade... but I am also quite convinced that those video were from a PC version, rather than the PS3 one (wishful thinking? wishful thinking!)

BTW: there are frame drops quite visible, nothing compared the previous one but yeah, still there.

I'm curious - how many lamp posts have you come across to place a torch in (that weren't needed because everything is lighter)?
 

Garcia

Member
I've been playing the game for the last 2 days (PS3 version) and I agree with people saying that there has been a downgrade... but I am also quite convinced that those video were from a PC version, rather than the PS3 one (wishful thinking? wishful thinking!)

BTW: there are frame drops quite visible, nothing compared the previous one but yeah, still there.

Speaking of freamdrops, did you play the first Dark Souls on the PS3 as well? How would you compare borth in terms of stability?
 

Carcetti

Member
Which part of the game is that comparison shot from? I kinda wanna look at the place myself. Is it the corridor down the to the first 'dark part' with sconces? The walls are not distinctive...
 

ittoryu

Member
I'm curious - how many lamp posts have you come across to place a torch in (that weren't needed because everything is lighter)?
A lot, lol.

How many did I actually turn on with the torch? Not many, as I am still struggle to understand what exactly that torch does (except, well.. turn on these things). Also, even if it had any impact on the multiplayer side, I have no way of checking it as the servers are not online yet.

Speaking of freamdrops, did you play the first Dark Souls on the PS3 as well? How would you compare borth in terms of stability?

I have been playing them all from the original DS on PS3; the frame rate this time seems dropping but still nothing compared to the horrible blight-mess that was on the previous one. Consider that I am still quite early in the game, so I might be missing heavy scenario, etc.
 

doofy102

Member
A lot, lol.

How many did I actually turn on with the torch? Not many, as I am still struggle to understand what exactly that torch does (except, well.. turn on these things). Also, even if it had any impact on the multiplayer side, I have no way of checking it as the servers are not online yet.

Thanks for answering my question :)

It seems a lot of enemy encounters won't be experienced as originally intended seeing as they won't be experienced in the dark, where you would be grappling with questions such as "Do I roll away and light the torch or can I this enemy one-handed?" etc.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
I've been playing the game for the last 2 days (PS3 version) and I agree with people saying that there has been a downgrade... but I am also quite convinced that those video were from a PC version, rather than the PS3 one (wishful thinking? wishful thinking!)

BTW: there are frame drops quite visible, nothing compared the previous one but yeah, still there.
I can assure you that those older shots and media were taken from ps3 not PC.
 
Much better comparison


Note: 3rd screen grab from the mentioned 'X360 screenshots from the Giant Bomb user'
cldfbq.gif

Hopefully FROM will comment on this over the course of this week, because the stylized lighting from the original reveal looked wonderful in motion. The shadows did look rather distracting in some area's (namely the turtle knight basement), but even so... I'd like to think there's still a chance for them to be retained in the PC version, 'cause it'd be weird if they threw away a touted feature that existed for a long period of time (even on the console beta build) and in the case of the Mirror Knight, is apparently still visible during his introductory cinematic.
 
Oh god this is the worst possible situation: on one hand I'm jonesing really bad to play DS2, even with the downgrade, but on the other there's the glimmer of hope that the PC version will have it all.

What to do?
 

ittoryu

Member
To be fair, I wasn't really expecting a miracle here. I mean, I understand the frustration of many, but I would also argue that FROM software have never really been this amazing team in optimisation and high-end graphics and also that the DS series has never been a bright example of it.
Having said that... a steady 30fps would have been nice, yes. :)

I just hope they will switch the servers on soon, I don't want to play it offline!
 
I look at what FROM have done in the past and all the hype people had for DS2.

DS was a sleeper hit, I dunno how it happened but it's a mainstream game now. People have high expectations and FROM were never going to meet them.

They make good challenging games, games that never looked good or even performed well at all in certain areas.

Can you imagine if DS was as hyped as DS2 is? you people would be committing suicide and taking your game back to the shop when you got the slideshow that is blighttown.
 

Klyka

Banned
I've seen a huge amount of the game by now and I am sadly extremely disappointed by everything I have seen.

Enemies, environments and especially bosses left me completely cold. Sad, cause I was hoping FROM could top the great work they did in DS1.

Edit: I thought this was the OT,sorry. The lighting downgrade and general graphical downgrade is sad though.
 

ittoryu

Member
I look at what FROM have done in the past and all the hype people had for DS2.

DS was a sleeper hit, I dunno how it happened but it's a mainstream game now. People have high expectations and FROM were never going to meet them.

They make good challenging games, games that never looked good or even performed well at all in certain areas.

Can you imagine if DS was as hyped as DS2 is? you people would be committing suicide and taking your game back to the shop when you got the slideshow that is blighttown.
Agreed 100%.
I love DS but the hype around it has been way too much: FROM were never gonna deliver on graphics and their history is there to confirm it.
 

Alienous

Member
Just for case in point of what I am talking about, the differences between the demo and the final console build are pretty massive.

Textures look higher resolution, Specular Highlights, increased Dynamic Shadows, pitch-black background, Normal Mapping, and looks like a DOF effect.

O9DCnJn.jpg

What. The. Fuck?

Terrible. That's really bad.
 
PC version will not have the old build guys. Lets be serious here. There are clearly assets missing and it seems to be a different lighting system.
 

doofy102

Member
I look at what FROM have done in the past and all the hype people had for DS2.

DS was a sleeper hit, I dunno how it happened but it's a mainstream game now. People have high expectations and FROM were never going to meet them.

They make good challenging games, games that never looked good or even performed well at all in certain areas.

Can you imagine if DS was as hyped as DS2 is? you people would be committing suicide and taking your game back to the shop when you got the slideshow that is blighttown.

FROM has been saying all along that it wouldn't be quite like their older games again, and showed off their fancy new engine as proof of that. They dropped facts such as "our team has doubled in size" as proof of that. You can't blame people for having raised expectations as FROM did their best to make sure our expectations were raised.
 

Visceir

Member
Agreed 100%.
I love DS but the hype around it has been way too much: FROM were never gonna deliver on graphics and their history is there to confirm it.

The hype never really was about the graphics though and the game still offers something you can't find anywhere else.

I feel like all the posts in this thread should be with a "this game still is awesome" disclaimer.
 

spuit*11

Banned
I much prefer the less contrast-y and saturated look of the new build.

The lack of dynamic lighting in some instances is regrettable but who gives a shit, it's still a massive upgrade over DS1.
 

ittoryu

Member
The hype never really was about the graphics though and the game still offers something you can't find anywhere else.

I feel like all the posts in this thread should be with a "this game still is awesome" disclaimer.

Oh yeah, it does offer something really awesome if you ask me. This is why I basically had to cry and scream with a million people in order to get the copy I have now :D

I am in love with any episode of the DS series, it's just that I've seen lots of hype on the graphical/tech side and DS has never really been awesome on that point (although I am still loving it, of course).
 

soqquatto

Member
stop quoting that image. it's a stupid comparision, since in one the char has a lit torch and in the second he hasn't. Also, I suspect gamma is way too high on the second pic.

in any case, colors are doctored in both images (even the one I'm re-posting now). I think someone wants to demonstrate something with doctored images. personally, I'll wait to see the game for myself when I'm buying it. Because I'm buying it in any case.

This is a better comparison (as i said, i don't trust colors in neither - there's no white in the lower image and there's too much of it in the upper).
Reflections are off in the second image and it's likely that this is the only real change that's happened between versions. again, we'll see.

edit: it's also an entirely different spot. this comparision is useles once again.

KKsqo1s.jpg
 

TyrantII

Member
DkS and DeS were never good looking games. They also had terrible performance issues in spots, so if the focus shifted a bit more to fixing that, good.

That said, here we go again with another developer pulling a bait and switch.

Why do they think they can get away with it? Why has it become so common place?
 
Whelp that's unfortunate. Looks like I'm stuck playing a fantastic game with mediocre graphics instead of a fantastic game with good graphics.
 
LOL at this thread.
What the actual fucking fuck?

This is incredibly maddening, It takes away from the gameplay and just looks plain bad. Didnt know the difference was this massive :/

Wasnt this whole torch mechanic a big deal?

People complained about the beta being too dark and everything looking like tomb of the giants, requiring a torch to navigate. Or am I just imagining that?

Why do they think they can get away with it? Why has it become so common place?

What should they be afraid of, neogaf members storming their offices? Actually not buying their game?. LOL

Why must this forum throw such an immature tantrum over every thing? Yes, From downgraded the lighting and brightened up the game. Maybe for technical reasons. Maybe for playability reasons. Maybe both. Either way, they didn't do it just to piss people off and laugh at them. It's still the same game underneath. You can still play and enjoy it. If you want to.
 
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