Garcia
Member
Seems to be the case! I remember someone mentioning this last night: If you want shadows you better carry some extra torches with you.
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Dark Souls II |OT| The Dark Souls of Dark Souls
- Thread starter Vazra
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Seems to be the case! I remember someone mentioning this last night: If you want shadows you better carry some extra torches with you.
Yes.
Ryan Gosling
Member
Evolved1
make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
I changed my steelbook pre-order to a digital PSN pre-order the other day, just to ensure my PS3 lives to play the Souls trilogy.
Stream anyone?
Sure.
Depends how you define awesome, but you don't need a torch to have shadows.
edit: changed this from an embed in case it's a minor spoiler to see a couple seconds of the early game.
Can't believe we're using streams and youtube videos to debate graphics quality, but that's where most of us are until release date. But yeah, so far it looks great to me. I have no complaints, looks much better than DkS1, and especially those animations and clothing physics -- Wow.
lifa-cobex
Member
I see a slight difference but I really just don't care.
Blight Town didn't even bother me that much ffs.
Metroid-Squadron
Banned
There wouldn't be any disappointment if they hadn't been touting a much better looking version of the game. FROM created this problem, not us.
MiamiWesker
Member
Woah. No denying that. The difference is stunning,
Lé Blade Runner;103606244 said:
I will say that I'm not the biggest graphics whore though, I'm not that picky. But for a game running on '05 hardware... Looks fine to me!
So far my favorite design change in II is the approach to healing in general. Starting you off with 1 estus is a great way to keep you grounded and on your feet. It's great 'working up' to more estus. Fuck kindling man, this game has the better system
And using estus during some boss fights does guarantee death, it's true... If you panic-heal, you will die quickly. Timing your estus usage is a big part of the boss fight approach now.
I think this is something people will have to get used to, but will appreciate in the long run. For me, this game has the best approach to healing in all 3 games.
I guess it just depends on your perspective. The game still looks better than the first one and I love what I have seen... which is quite a bit. It's going to be great.
MiamiWesker
Member
This is the kind of stuff that bugs me about our "gaming media", shouldn't they be the ones reporting this kind of lighting downgrade to us. They all had previews of the review copy, did anyone say anything. Why do I have to come to gaf to get actual information on the game.
And as the media isn't it their job to not just report the change but maybe ask as to why. Maybe a phone call or an email to someone at FROM as an attempt to figure out why this is happening.
And as the media isn't it their job to not just report the change but maybe ask as to why. Maybe a phone call or an email to someone at FROM as an attempt to figure out why this is happening.
SargerusBR
I love Pokken!
Still not done with my final DaS run, taking screenshots of almost every important bit.
SeventhSon
Member
Assuming it's true, it's embargoed.
Don't know if it's been mentioned but I bought Demon's Souls on release day and back then, and until the second or third patches, shadows projected by your character in the scenery were absent, but they were (weirdly) present when cast on breakable objects. It was quite noticeable but almost no one talked about it anywhere. Then at one point it was patched and shadows were now cast on the scenery as well as in objects, with no performance impact that I could see.
I don't know if we can expect something similar to happen with Dark Souls 2 since the situation is not as clearly a bug as Demons shadows but I wouldn't discard it either.
I don't know if we can expect something similar to happen with Dark Souls 2 since the situation is not as clearly a bug as Demons shadows but I wouldn't discard it either.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Of course we weren't. Don't mistake the hyperbole in this thread saying that we were calling this game shit everything is terrible etc. We just wanted to highlight the downgrade in graphics clearly.
hidden offline
Neo Member
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
They would however Namco have embargoed reviews till launch day. Very suspicious and shady behaviour and now we know why.
Garcia
Member
Judging by the 2 comparison videos posted up there, the new (and final) build looks to be beyond repair, even if they patched some shadows in. There's a grey aura following you that waters down every single area you visit.
It's embargoed until release day.
Just about the only thing conclusive you can draw from tiny low res compressed artifacted video feeds is that one is much oranger than the other, and apparently some people like their games orange.
May 11th at 12:01am EST
Also please take the stream link begging to the spoiler thread. Unnecessary begging in this thread when there is a spoiler thread for it.
Robot Pants
Member
I love how for months I was saying how bad this game looked and no one believed it, or just shrugged it off as old code or I had no idea what I was talking about, etc. I know I wasn't the only one saying this but there were very few.
Game looks pretty bad. Characters barely stand out from the environments.
Either way I'm excited for Tuesday. Amazon better not disappoint me.
Game looks pretty bad. Characters barely stand out from the environments.
Either way I'm excited for Tuesday. Amazon better not disappoint me.
Grinchy
Banned
Man, that is such a significant difference and for seemingly no reason. It ran fine in the better, older version. I am no programmer but I don't understand why connecting that area to the rest of the world would suddenly cause it to run worse. It's not like the rest of the world is rendering.
MiamiWesker
Member
Oh the embargo thing makes sense then. But werent they allowed to write previews of the final build? Or do those have rules too?
Garcia
Member
To me all of this is big news. I only started browsing this thread a couple of days ago and it's been a bucket of cold water to realize the PC version might be miles ahead of the console release (and we don't even know yet if that's the case).
The original PS3 demo looked gorgeous (it actually convinced me into pre-ordering) and now the released version looks like crap. Just what the fuck happened there?
Okay. That was pretty cool.
I still think the main difference visible in compressed video streams is that one is oranger than the other. Maybe FromSoft just decided to make it less overwhelmingly orange, which I am okay with.
Am I insane or something? I'm very tuned in to visual details as a person, and I don't think the orange version looks astronomically better, if at all better. It's just oranger and higher contrast but substantively not much different.
As someone who has played FROMSOFT games since ps1... i am shockingly weirded out by how/why people expect them to be on some bleeding edge of technology...
Yes, the lack of contrast in the lighting now is disappointing. But, it's somewhat silly to give some final verdict of the game's quality from low bitstream videos of 1 of the 3 versions of the game.
And, dark souls 1 was absolutely garbage in terms of technology and is widely regarded as one of the best games this generation (if not ever). Some people have very strange priorities. Not every development house is AAA funded, FROMSOFT has always been a B class developer who happened to hit huge on one game that snowballed into a 2nd and now 3rd.
I can't even think of a FROMSOFT game outside of their souls series that has ever been rated better than mediocre by the media/public at large. Being a FROMSOFT fan has always meant embracing uniqueness and niche over technology.
Yes, the lack of contrast in the lighting now is disappointing. But, it's somewhat silly to give some final verdict of the game's quality from low bitstream videos of 1 of the 3 versions of the game.
And, dark souls 1 was absolutely garbage in terms of technology and is widely regarded as one of the best games this generation (if not ever). Some people have very strange priorities. Not every development house is AAA funded, FROMSOFT has always been a B class developer who happened to hit huge on one game that snowballed into a 2nd and now 3rd.
I can't even think of a FROMSOFT game outside of their souls series that has ever been rated better than mediocre by the media/public at large. Being a FROMSOFT fan has always meant embracing uniqueness and niche over technology.
Metroid-Squadron
Banned
For someone who claims he doesn't care you're doing an awful lot of damage control.
I only expected what they promised.
justjustin
Member
If it were a matter of texture quality or resolution, or things that rely on picture sharpness, I'd agree with you, but pixels and image size don't matter when it comes to differences in lighting. If I play a high definition game on a small tube TV with composite cables then play it on a big plasma with HDMI the difference in detail will be huge, but the lighting quality will look the same to me.
Anyway, I'm surprised at the difference. This whole time I just assumed the better images were from PC builds.
Garcia
Member
Just so you understand this: Had FROM not changed the quality of the demo to the final build you wouldn't be hearing any complaining at all.
I'm currently playing Kings Field III and I've never given a fuck about graphics, but bear in mind that what these guys are pulling with Dark Souls 2 is a shady practice that only fools people into believing they're getting a much better product that what's advertised.
It's not acceptable.
This is the point. Don't miss it.
Watch this Gamespot look from the other day. Notice how gorgeous the 'praise the sun' lighting is when he emerges from the cave. It shows some of the first of the game, but it's worth a watch for those so concerned. It looks great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR1QCzJHk8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR1QCzJHk8s
Kid Kamikaze10
Member
Hey everyone, long time lurker, first or so time poster.
To me, if FROM generated hype for the improved graphics for DaS2 and fail to deliver for the console release, then they deserve blame for that or they need to provide a reason as to why the graphics are different.
It won't necessarily have an effect on my enjoyment of the game, but it's the principle of the matter. Deliver what was promise, or explain why you didn't. Accountability isn't something to fear.
To me, if FROM generated hype for the improved graphics for DaS2 and fail to deliver for the console release, then they deserve blame for that or they need to provide a reason as to why the graphics are different.
It won't necessarily have an effect on my enjoyment of the game, but it's the principle of the matter. Deliver what was promise, or explain why you didn't. Accountability isn't something to fear.
I'm not sure why Dark Souls 1 being garbage in terms of technology means that Dark Souls 2 gets a free pass when the visuals that were initially shown are vastly different from the end product. While this shouldn't affect reviews at all, it shouldn't mean we should stand around giving FROM praise for what they showed and ignore what we got.
All of those demos were PS3 builds AFAIK, i am going to wait until i see the ps3 builds before calling it "shady".
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Thank you this is exactly my viewpoint. I am quite disappointed in FROM.
Anyway, I've decided I'm going to a no estus run. Can't wait to just play this game -__-
Grinchy
Banned
I think what makes all the difference in the world for me is the way that light actually behaves like light in the older version that was shown. From the (admittedly very few) snippets I've seen of the final version, everything just looks so flat.
I mean check out this quick comparison shot I did from the youtube videos if you don't care to be spoiled about one area that was shown off a million times months ago:
Look at how the bright light from underneath crashes against the walls and is blocked by objects, causing a dark area on the left side. In the video it flickers and creates such an awesome atmosphere. And in the bottom shot, from the new version, we have an area with comparatively no personality whatsoever.
This is silly. I have nothing to gain from this game doing better or worse. You shouldn't use belitting terms like this.
All I'm doing is offering my opinion and some *perspective*. You're so busy comparing the game to an earlier E3 build rather than compare it to Dark Souls 1. In every way that I can tell, the game compares to Dark Souls 1 very favorably. What the hell else could we want? As Dark Souls fans, this is what we'd want and expect in a sequel. More of the same, but marginally better. I can't speak to the full substance of the gameplay, obviously, but visually I'm honestly thrilled. It's not PR or "damage control", it's my honest opinion. And it seems like everyone else was pretty happy with how it looked, too, until someone decided to dig up videos of the old E3 demo and point out differences. Okay, so there are differences. I don't know why that is. But you're not seeing the forest for the trees. We're getting Dark Souls 2, and as a follow up game on the same old gen platforms, it looks in line with what you'd expect.
Not everyone shares your opinion that the graphics aren't improved over the original. I find it very hard to argue that they aren't better. Particularly in the animation department. We have superior animations, much more fluid, and we have clothing physics. FromSoft never promised that the graphics would never change from a pre-release demo of the game. They said it'd look better than the first game, which it does.
You know those "work in progress" disclaimers? What they mean is that some things may change. If what you care about is the "principle", you don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to these accusations.
Garcia
Member
Welcome to GAF and thank you for sharing your very valid point of view.
Maybe because it's a Souls game and not everyone obsesses or gives a shit about that stuff. The people who got to play it already might be more focused on the gameplay and mechanics and all that important stuff instead. I know when I'm running around in the game I won't be going this really sucks, if only it had more shadows and an orange tint it would be amazing.
Plus games pre-release footage or betas always have some disclaimer that it's not the finished product and things might and probably will change, so I don't think it's some kind of grand conspiracy to dupe people. Maybe they just needed to change things to get better performance or whatever. You really think they don't want it looking as best it can possibly be on whatever system it's running on??
Anyway if you all are so disappointed in the eye candy not being top notch next gen whatever on the 8 year old PS3 for Christ sake, Souls game might not be for you. It's about the gameplay not the shadows.
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