• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Horizon Zero Dawn |OT2| Red Head Redemption

sn00zer

Member
Thanks a ton for the response. There is a lot to like in this game, when you're trying to use your wits to take down some of the most dynamic creatures I've seen in a game, so I'm really eager to have the game fully click.

I'll try the game on a different TV - I'm using a much older one than I generally do, so that could be contributing to the performance issues I'm perceiving, along perhaps with the graphics not grabbing me. I might use my PSVR headset, actually, to see if that's really the cause.

Few things.
-Just try and level your resource bags as quickly as possible and you will never have to worry about resources (you can get animal resources super quick with hunting arrows or resource arrows)
-Try and get the Tinker ability sooner rather than later

As far as HUD (this bugged me the most before I changed it)
-Change to dynamic
-Turn off enemy notifications
-Turn off compass
Honestly turn off most things you don't need

The HUD settings really changed the game for me since you arent really aware where things are before you enter an area. Makes it much more dynamic and you can be genuinely surprised if you arent careful.
 

Garlador

Member
Is there a recommended "getting started" guide to work with? I'm about 8 hours in and doing a ton of side quests but don't feel like I know what I'm doing with weapons. What is the path I should take with those? Got to a hunting challenge that I need to freeze stuff with... but don't have that yet. Thanks!

As you progress through the game, traders and merchants are EVERYWHERE, so make sure you check their inventory. I neglected this myself and stuck with base gear for too long. Buy the more uncommon or rare weapons the further away from the Nora you are and you'll start seeing weapons with freeze ammo and freeze mods (among much more) start popping up more frequently.

But I also wouldn't worry too much about the trials. I did most of them right before the end of the game. More importantly, when you get weapons with new abilities, a new weapon trial will automatically be added to your log for experience (such as "tie down x enemies", "freeze x enemies", "blast of 30 bits of armor", etc.) that encourages experimentation.

Few things.
As far as HUD (this bugged me the most before I changed it)
-Change to dynamic
-Turn off enemy notifications
-Turn off compass
Honestly turn off most things you don't need

The HUD settings really changed the game for me since you arent really aware where things are before you enter an area. Makes it much more dynamic and you can be genuinely surprised if you arent careful.
I second this. I turned off everything except quest markers and changed the HUD to "dynamic". Greatly improves the visual clutter on screen.
 

sn00zer

Member
Oh forgot....you can also set quest markers to only sit on the final destination so you dont have to follow the point to point path it gives you by default. Dont remember what the setting was though.
 

Alienous

Member
Changing those HUD settings really helps the visuals come through.

But ťhe performance still seems spotty. If I pan the camera I can feel dips, and it's especially replicable in interiors or a half-dozen plus NPCs are on screen, or if dirt gets kicked up really close to the camera.

I've used Game Mode on my TV, and my PSVR headset, and still the game doesn't feel like a consistently smooth 30fps. I'd think it was my PS4 if I had any issues with any other 30/60fps locked titles.
 

FlowersisBritish

fleurs n'est pas britannique
Few things.
-Just try and level your resource bags as quickly as possible and you will never have to worry about resources (you can get animal resources super quick with hunting arrows or resource arrows)
-Try and get the Tinker ability sooner rather than later

As far as HUD (this bugged me the most before I changed it)
-Change to dynamic
-Turn off enemy notifications
-Turn off compass
Honestly turn off most things you don't need

The HUD settings really changed the game for me since you arent really aware where things are before you enter an area. Makes it much more dynamic and you can be genuinely surprised if you arent careful.

I'm totes remembering this for my next playthrough. I always recommend playing through a game without a HUD on the second or third time around it makes it 1) more immersive 2)Usually run a little better 3) feel a bit like a different fresher game. Atleast it does when I do it with Bloodborne. I'm sure it would probs feel like that here too.
 

sn00zer

Member
I'm totes remembering this for my next playthrough. I always recommend playing through a game without a HUD on the second or third time around it makes it 1) more immersive 2)Usually run a little better 3) feel a bit like a different fresher game. Atleast it does when I do it with Bloodborne. I'm sure it would probs feel like that here too.

There are a lot of games where removing the HUD will effect a lot of gameplay systems intended to use the HUD. Horizon is one of the few games where there is enough visual feedback you can tell what's going on fairly easy.

Also there is no reason to not at least set HUD to Dynamic, you can bring it up any time by touching the touch pad
 

Garlador

Member
Changing those HUD settings really helps the visuals come through.

But ťhe performance still seems spotty. If I pan the camera I can feel dips, and it's especially replicable in interiors or a half-dozen plus NPCs are on screen, or if dirt gets kicked up really close to the camera.

I've used Game Mode on my TV, and my PSVR headset, and still the game doesn't feel like a consistently smooth 30fps. I'd think it was my PS4 if I had any issues with any other 30/60fps locked titles.
I don't know what to tell you on this. I just booted up my copy, went to the heart of Meridian, surrounded by dozens of NPC, and started spinning the camera. It's smooth for me. No drops at all. Tried the same within a cavern. Smooth. Standard PS4 owner as well.

You're literally the first person I've come across experience performance issues at this level of severity, my own experience with the game over 70 hours included.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Changing those HUD settings really helps the visuals come through.

But ťhe performance still seems spotty. If I pan the camera I can feel dips, and it's especially replicable in interiors or a half-dozen plus NPCs are on screen, or if dirt gets kicked up really close to the camera.

I've used Game Mode on my TV, and my PSVR headset, and still the game doesn't feel like a consistently smooth 30fps. I'd think it was my PS4 if I had any issues with any other 30/60fps locked titles.

Have you tried any other games to see if the issues persist? Maybe your PS4 is starting to go.
 

Humdinger

Gold Member
Finished the game, finished all the side quests (except for all the Blazing Suns in the Lodge quest), got all the collectibles. Only game where I bothered getting the collectibles -- they even made that fun!

Fantastic experience. 9.5/10 for me. Best game I have played in years. Amazing effort from Guerilla.

Can't wait for the DLC. I enjoyed just being in the world, and Aloy so much, it's hard for me to let the game go, although I don't really have anything to do except wander around, at this point.
 

Alienous

Member
Have you tried any other games to see if the issues persist? Maybe your PS4 is starting to go.

I have, and other games have had dips but none that are odd or unexpected. I haven't noticed any issues with locked 60fps games (e.g. Rainbow Six Siege, Resident Evil 7) and the latter in VR mode is quite demanding. I did play a bit of Uncharted 4 recently and that seemed as smooth as 30fps could get.

I don't know what to tell you on this. I just booted up my copy, went to the heart of Meridian, surrounded by dozens of NPC, and started spinning the camera. It's smooth for me. No drops at all. Tried the same working a cavern. Smooth. Standard PS4 owner as well.

Your literally the first person I've come across experience performance issues at this level of severity, my own experience with the game over 70 hours included.

Here's an example performance dip I just got, though most I've gotten aren't that severe. Usually it's felt more than seen during hectic gameplay.
 

danthefan

Member
So finished up some side stuff today and I THINK that just by finishing off the game now I'll get the plat. Some of those hunting challenges are annoying as hell, especially the ones involving the
Thunderjaw
.

Finished all the cauldrons and knocked over all the dummies too.

Also got the armour unlocked using all the power cells and I'm not sure I've taken any damage since. Is it insanely OP or have I just been dodging very well? Anyway think I should be done and dusted by tomorrow. First ever PS4 plat,waheeeey!
 

Garlador

Member
Here's an example performance dip I just got, though most I've gotten aren't that severe. Usually it's felt more than seen during hectic gameplay.
Never felt you were making it up, and it's obviously there. But I can also honestly say that I never had ANYTHING like that in over 70 hours of playthrough. No matter how crowded, intense, or chaotic the scene was. And I was often being knocked around plenty, set on fire, smacked with rocks, pelted with ice, while five machines were trying to shred me, all at the same time. It was rock-solid for the entire 70 hour experience, in every town, interior, and battle.

I really don't know what to tell you on performance other than I've not seen it that bad for anyone else. If anything, the game's performance has been held up as a high-water mark for open-world games, and every professional analysis has pegged it as very smooth, with the most egregious dips in the utmost demanding scenes at worst at 26 fps instead of 30 (and that was during the Nora festival which just filled the scene with NPCs).

PS4 and Pro Performance

Perhaps it's something with your PS4 (just because it runs other games smoothly doesn't mean the memory dedicated to Horizon might not be wacky; games flex the PS4's muscles differently depending on the demands), and I don't want to presume you got a defective version of the game. Token troubleshooting tip is to power down the system entirely for up to 12 seconds or so.

Though, here's a big question... what kind of a harddrive are you using for it? Default, external, SSD? I'm using a normal 2TB Seagate one I replaced the old one with, and the performance is solid on that.


So finished up some side stuff today and I THINK that just by finishing off the game now I'll get the plat. Some of those hunting challenges are annoying as hell, especially the ones involving the
Thunderjaw
.

Finished all the cauldrons and knocked over all the dummies too.

Also got the armour unlocked using all the power cells and I'm not sure I've taken any damage since. Is it insanely OP or have I just been dodging very well? Anyway think I should be done and dusted by tomorrow. First ever PS4 plat,waheeeey!
The armor definitely is OP, and it's a great reward, but it's not exactly invincible... I had it fail on me a few times I got a little too cocky. Lol.

The hunting challenges can be really hard... or really easy if you have the right gear and prep in advance. The challenge you mentioned, for instance... really easy if you target the right thing with a tearblast arrow, but also mark the locations of what you need to use on what before jumping down. Still took me a few tries.
 

Alienous

Member
Never felt you were making it up, and it's obviously there. But I can also honestly say that I never had ANYTHING like that in over 70 hours of playthrough. No matter how crowded, intense, or chaotic the scene was. And I was often being knocked around plenty, set on fire, smacked with rocks, pelted with ice, while five machines were trying to shred me, all at the same time. It was rock-solid for the entire 70 hour experience, in every town, interior, and battle.

I really don't know what to tell you on performance other than I've not seen it that bad for anyone else. If anything, the game's performance has been held up as a high-water mark for open-world games, and every professional analysis has pegged it as very smooth, with the most egregious dips in the utmost demanding scenes at worst at 26 fps instead of 30 (and that was during the Nora festival which just filled the scene with NPCs).

PS4 and Pro Performance

Perhaps it's something with your PS4 (just because it runs other games smoothly doesn't mean the memory dedicated to Horizon might not be wacky; games flex the PS4's muscles differently depending on the demands), and I don't want to presume you got a defective version of the game. Token troubleshooting tip is to power down the system entirely for up to 12 seconds or so.

Though, here's a big question... what kind of a harddrive are you using for it? Default, external, SSD? I'm using a normal 2TB Seagate one I replaced the old one with, and the performance is solid on that.

Yeah, I was thinking about potential causes earlier and the hard-drive was the only thing that came to mind. It's a 2TB drive I replaced the old one with, but I'm not sure what make. So maybe I'm using a lower speed hard-drive and it's taken a game as demanding as Horizon to reveal that. I'll probably try to test my loading times in other games against those I can find online - that might help uncover data streaming is the issue.

Well, I'm glad that I'm not imagining it at least. Thanks for the responses, you've been a great help in my attempt to figure this out.
 

danthefan

Member
Ehhh.... The trophy for gathering allies, if I've started
The Looming Shadow
am I too late if I haven't completed all the side quests already?

If so, no plat for me :(
 

superjona

Member
Ehhh.... The trophy for gathering allies, if I've started
The Looming Shadow
am I too late if I haven't completed all the side quests already?

If so, no plat for me :(

Don't worry. Just finish it, and you'll be able to return to the world afterward before the events of that mission happen. Just finish all the necessary side missions then, and when you go the bed to rest, the trophy will pop.
 

danthefan

Member
Don't worry. Just finish it, and you'll be able to return to the world afterward before the events of that mission happen. Just finish all the necessary side missions then, and when you go the bed to rest, the trophy will pop.

Awesome thanks.


Edit - and we're done! Platinum obtained. Amazing game, spent about 55 hours on it, loved basically every moment. That combat is quite simply GOAT tier. If the first game is so polished I really cannot wait to see what they do with the sequel.
 

Lady Gaia

Member
Also there is no reason to not at least set HUD to Dynamic, you can bring it up any time by touching the touch pad

That's one of my favorite gameplay innovations in Horizon. I hope a ton of games steal is because a feather-light touch bringing up what would otherwise be cluttering the screen is perfect IMHO.
 
After seeing all the praise on here, I decided to pick it up. I wasn't super impressed with the footage pre release, but the story, and world have interested me enough to check it out.
 

Alienous

Member
I've played a bit further into the game and man, the world is fantastic. Just breathtaking. I feel like I've got an MMORPG all to myself.

This is a mega IP. Sony really need to have greenlit a film for it yesterday.
 

Zackat

Member
I've played a bit further into the game and man, the world is fantastic. Just breathtaking. I feel like I've got an MMORPG all to myself.

This is a mega IP. Sony really need to have greenlit a film for it yesterday.

I know! mecha dinos, girl with bow, ancient technological ruins, diverse af

it would be amazing

Kaz should make it happen
 

Teggy

Member
I finished the game and saw on YouTube you can have a conversation that tells Rost's backstory. When does this happen? I'm not sure how I missed it.
 

Kuldar

Member
I finished the game and saw on YouTube you can have a conversation that tells Rost's backstory. When does this happen? I'm not sure how I missed it.
After completing the late game quest
The Heart of The Nora
you can ask Teersa about Rost. You can return to ask her if you missed it.
 

HardRojo

Member
I think I'm about 70% done with the game now, haven't finished the story yet but once you start piecing together whatever happened before it all went to shit... Damn! I want to know more! Honestly I didn't think the story would be one of the major hooks for me with this game, I keep reading every piece of info I come across.
Great job Guerrilla!
 

Teggy

Member
(End spoilers) Oh, one other thing, was there ever a hint given to the nature of what
crashed into the alpha facility 18 or so years ago or was it just chance bad luck that a meteor hit it?
 

Venture

Member
(End spoilers) Oh, one other thing, was there ever a hint given to the nature of what
crashed into the alpha facility 18 or so years ago or was it just chance bad luck that a meteor hit it?
Nothing actually hit it. A transmission from an unknown source was sent to Alpha Prime that caused all of Gaia's subordinate functions to go rogue. Gaia blew itself up to prevent Hades from taking over Alpha Prime and de-terraforming the world.
 

Garlador

Member
A bit bittersweet as I just completed pretty much everything.

All quests, all trials, all collectibles, all Death Stranding easter eggs, all text and audio logs, all trophies...

And yet I'm not ready to say goodbye. Bring on the DLC and/or sequel.
 

Teggy

Member
Nothing actually hit it. A transmission from an unknown source was sent to Alpha Prime that caused all of Gaia's subordinate functions to go rogue. Gaia blew itself up to prevent Hades from taking over Alpha Prime and de-terraforming the world.

Ah, is there an idea what that was?
Sylens inadvertently screwing up something with his experiments?
 

WeTeHa

Member
Started playing this over the weekend and I'm loving it.
Playing on very hard with the hud turned off/set to dynamic except for the final quest marker. Really good stuff guerilla put in the game. Aloy is a great main character.

I just entered the desert on my way to Meridian, and a stormbird started attacking some broadheads. I should not have intervened.

Fighting those giant monsters with different weak points and breakable stuff gives me dragons dogma vibes. Loved exploring the world and figuring out how to best approach enemies and exploit weak points. Loving it here as well.

Can't wait to play more.
 

gunstarhero

Member
Is there a way to lock on to enemies when fighting? Sort of having a tough time with some of the larger enemies and find myself losing fights because I can't see what's going on.
 

Zackat

Member
Is there a way to lock on to enemies when fighting? Sort of having a tough time with some of the larger enemies and find myself losing fights because I can't see what's going on.

nope. do you have the ability that slows down time when you slide and jump off of things? that can really help to slow battles down if you are having trouble.

Try using the ropecaster to tie down machines and hit their weakspots.

Also, the slings are great weapons. Freezing the big monsters makes it almost seem easy to kill them because they take so much damage.
 
nope. do you have the ability that slows down time when you slide and jump off of things? that can really help to slow battles down if you are having trouble.

There's also Concentration, that allows you to slow down time whenever (well, on a cool-down) by toggling with R3. The Concentration skill tree, as a whole, is extremely useful and worth buying as soon as possible.

Also, the game is very biased towards ranged combat, so movement is vital. Be always on the run to buy yourself distance from your target.
 
There's also Concentration, that allows you to slow down time whenever (well, on a cool-down) by toggling with R3. The Concentration skill tree, as a whole, is extremely useful and worth buying as soon as possible.

Also, the game is very biased towards ranged combat, so movement is vital. Be always on the run to buy yourself distance from your target.

I played through on Hard and I ended up using the staff to commonly kill at least half of the variety of enemies. Pretty much anything stalker and smaller. And if I could rope down glinthawks I usually got some stabs in on those. So pretty much the whole upper row of the enemies minus the fire and ice guys and then a couple on the bottom row.

Most enemies would get stunned if you got a couple good thwacks in and then you could do a critical hit and then start heavy swinging at them some more to get another stun and repeat.
 
Maybe someone can help with this...

Almost every time I boot the game, when it actually loads my save, there is slight analog drift as though the left analog stick was being pressed downward. When I restart it, the drift is there but less pronounced. When I restart it a second time, it's gone. I've tried everything - powering controller on and off, plugging it in, etc. The only thing that works is restarting twice. It's becoming a nuisance because having to start the game three times before I can play is time-consuming and annoying. This doesn't happen and hasn't happened with any other title. Controller is neither new nor old and is reliable - no damage.

Anyone experience this?

I'm not sure how far past it. I'll say this; I was stumbling upon giant, sprawling towns over and over that I initially missed and started encountering new machines, cultures, and quest variety after Meridian. Everything else really is just extra fun - bandit camps, metal flowers, trials, etc. - but you'll get some decent quests in every major town and settlement.

I've covered every inch of the map and never encountered "giant, sprawling towns." Horizon is great enough to sell on its own merits, man, no need to pitch the guy on something that he isn't going to see.
 

Garlador

Member
Maybe someone can help with this...

Almost every time I boot the game, when it actually loads my save, there is slight analog drift as though the left analog stick was being pressed downward. When I restart it, the drift is there but less pronounced. When I restart it a second time, it's gone. I've tried everything - powering controller on and off, plugging it in, etc. The only thing that works is restarting twice. It's becoming a nuisance because having to start the game three times before I can play is time-consuming and annoying. This doesn't happen and hasn't happened with any other title. Controller is neither new nor old and is reliable - no damage.

Anyone experience this?
I never experienced this. Weird.


I've covered every inch of the map and never encountered "giant, sprawling towns." Horizon is great enough to sell on its own merits, man, no need to pitch the guy on something that he isn't going to see.
I'm being genuine. I was running all over the place and often missed entire, often large, settlements that the main plot doesn't always funnel you to (or that I wasn't supposed to be directed to yet.)

Often I'd race right by them and then wonder "how did I miss that place? It's BUSTLING." Nothing as big as Meridian was (that's a kingdom more than just a town), but still plenty of activity, quests, and lore to dig into.

I utterly missed
Brightmarket
while trekking across the plains over and over until the right camera shot pulled it into view. My jaw dropped when I just randomly came across
Blazon Arch
out of the blue. They were as big as some of the initial Nora towns and I just walked right by them because I was distracted by something else.

There were dozens of other settlements that weren't very large, but still compact with activity and details. In particular the
Banuk Settlement
utterly caught me off guard when I chanced upon it. My heart started to race when I discovered some machines I was tracking decided to invade
Sunstone Rock
, which I wasn't remotely aware of its location at the time, only to discover a full-on assault as I neared its border. And I quickly grew to love the people of
Free Heap
, stranded in the midst of nowhere yet loving the autonomy that gave them.

All while inns and taverns were populated with patrons, gardeners tended to their produce, farmers penned and raised animals, musicians entertained strangers on the street, merchants hawked their wares on the docks, etc.

So many of these settlements and towns I just utterly zipped past as I explored, only to rotate the camera slightly to the left and find areas of the game just awash with life, culture, commerce, and story.

I'm being quite sincere about it.
 

Spladam

Member
About to finish the game today guys, and I can't say enough good things about it. I have not been into a game this much in years. I've been playing Witcher 3 for months (which I like a lot) and still have not started the DLC, but I could not stop playing HZD until I got to the end.

It's going to be the first game I 100% Platinum in a long time. Don't know if 3 hanging kills is an achievement, but since I've already take all the bandit camps, that one might require a restart.

I spent way too much time in photo mode, the first game I've even done that with, but holy crap it looks good and brings out my inner photog. The screen shot thread here has been amazing.

I personally loved the story, and can't wait to see what they do with the DLC and sequel, will buy both day one.

One thing I have to say is, if you're just starting the game now, MAKE SURE YOU PLAY ON HARD OR VERY HARD. I played the whole thing on hard and had to up it to very hard as I just started beating most things down with the spear. Once the fear is gone the game loses some of the thrill. The machines should be running from Aloy in fear at this point in the game.
Though it is cool to watch two Thunderjaw's fight it out. There is a spot in the center top right of the desert that has two small ponds you can see on the map where you can do this all the time.

Also, I agree "The Armor" is a bit OP, started using it two days ago and had to stop as I realized I was not taking any damage.

I was wondering, did most of you guys level up too fast? Playing in the sandbox caused me to be over leveled for most everything in the game, much like Witcher 3.

I've played a bit further into the game and man, the world is fantastic. Just breathtaking. I feel like I've got an MMORPG all to myself.

This is a mega IP. Sony really need to have greenlit a film for it yesterday.

After about 4 hours into the game and I started thinking about this all the time. The first movie would be about the end of civilization itself, and the second movie would be the game content. Perfect movie content, hope this is in the works now. Oh, and Rose Leslie from Game of Thrones (the red head John Snow was with) would be perfect for Aloy.
 
In the first area, and i'm really enjoying it. Only complaint I have is in the Ruins. The camera angle is way too close, and that all I found was a valuable flower. Lame.
 

chadskin

Member
Wrapped this bad boy up today as far as the main quests go. I'll be cleaning up the remaining side quests, tallnecks, bandit camps and all that now.

As someone who normally doesn't play RPGs at all, this was really good stuff.
 

HardRojo

Member
Been using dynamic HUD for several hours now and just discovered swiping on the touch pad brings up the whole HUD briefly. Gamechanger.
 
100% Platinum get! Such a great game. I don't think I ever got Platinum in another game, Maybe a telltale game but they don't count. Easily one of the best games I ever played.

I want more... Please can I have some more!? :¨(
 
u6BENwE.gif
 
Something I think they ought to add to the melee combat in the sequel is a critical counterattack stab if you execute a perfect dodge - so, basically, bullfighting.

Ability-wise, I really hope they'll add the ability to carry around the crab shields or the stalker cloak and use them until their energy runs out, just like you can with enemy weapons.
 
Top Bottom