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[MYE]

While playing the demo of Dark Souls at the Namco Bandai booth today at the E3 show floor, one of the questions I asked to the Namco Bandai representative is to what are the sacrifices From Software had to do in order to put it on the Xbox 360. A simple answer given to us is, “a lot of compression has to be done on the Xbox 360 to make it stay on a single disc”.

When it comes to compressing a game on the Xbox 360, we all know how much quality it loses. For players who are thinking of purchasing Dark Souls on the PS3, expect the data to be uncompressed, thus having better quality in terms graphics and sounds. Take note that the lead platform of Dark Souls is the PS3 and the Xbox 360 is a direct port.


http://www.justpushstart.com/2011/0...360-version-heavily-compressed-onto-one-disc/

lol

Its amazing how much 'BUY IT ON PS3!!!' campaigning they managed to cram in such a small write up.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Thank God this game has great art-style, because if it didn’t it would look pretty shitty. Dem textures! : /

 

[MYE]

so is there a certain way to condition yourself to play these games (well, more specifically, Demon's Souls- since it's the only one out now)?

For example, I'm guessing patience is a key to survive (the anti-God of War)- but I've heard people say it's ridiculously difficult, and some people say it's pretty easy if played 'the right way'.

Maybe I should take this inquiry to the official thread...

Magic is so overpowered in Demon's Souls it kinda breaks the game. Last three bosses i killed at first try died after 2 or 3 hits of Magic. And i'm a Knight.

Expect to die alot against regular enemies though. Not because its cheap, its that you'll eventually overestimate that one skelleton, or loose your patience and fail the proper combination of defend>attack>roll to defeat a certain monster.

 

[Corleth the Fey]

While playing the demo of Dark Souls at the Namco Bandai booth today at the E3 show floor, one of the questions I asked to the Namco Bandai representative is to what are the sacrifices From Software had to do in order to put it on the Xbox 360. A simple answer given to us is, “a lot of compression has to be done on the Xbox 360 to make it stay on a single disc”.

When it comes to compressing a game on the Xbox 360, we all know how much quality it loses. For players who are thinking of purchasing Dark Souls on the PS3, expect the data to be uncompressed, thus having better quality in terms graphics and sounds. Take note that the lead platform of Dark Souls is the PS3 and the Xbox 360 is a direct port.


http://www.justpushstart.com/2011/0...360-version-heavily-compressed-onto-one-disc/

A quick point - Demon Souls' data size was under 7Gb on blu-ray. It would have fitted with minimal extra compression on an old Xbox DVD, and with no compression on the new DVD format.

So how much bigger is Dark Souls? Did they even say?

 

[Throavium]

What if they're were lying about the compression?

 

[McValdemar]

lol

Its amazing how much 'BUY IT ON PS3!!!' campaigning they managed to cram in such a small write up.

So true.
But the devs have been VERY CLEAR.

http://n4g.com/news/782812/dark-souls-dev-no-difference-between-ps3-and-360

Speaking with Kei Hirono, publishing producer at Namco Bandai, confirmed that Dark Souls will be identical regardless of platform.

“you will die thousands of times before the end of the game.”
"Officially there is no difference between PS3 and 360 versions," said Hirono to NowGamer at E3, which is good news for those worried about the predecessor's PS3 exclusivity.

 

[Corleth the Fey]

..

 

[Giriath_89]

Even more new images from andriasang

The guy to the left in that image looks like he's fading; he's slightly transparent.

During E3 there was talk that losing your humanity has a visual effect on the player character: as s/he becomes more undead s/he fades away.

I really hope those screens are either horribly compressed or were taken from an old build. The E3 demo looked a lot better than that.

 

[Nix]

I hope you can be hostile at bonfires. The thought of stabbing someone when they're relaxing and then fighting there sounds great.

 

[oracrest]

First thing I thought of...

 

[Orayn]

"exect the data to be uncompressed", we don't actually know that it will be :/

This most likely means uncompressed audio for PS3, if there are any differences between the two versions at all. There probably aren't many cutscenes, and PS3 is usually the lowest common denominator when it comes to textures. There really isn't anything to worry about.

 

[thundr51]

I've tried to stay away from vids on this game but I hope it's a bit faster this time. It doesn't have to be MVC3 fast or anything but I think a lot of the difficulty comes from the clunky movement.

Then again, the movement makes sense when think about the fact that a (fairly) heavily armored person isn't going to be doing backflips and handstands. Movements have to be deliberate and if you make a mistake, 90% percent of the time you're going to pay with your life.

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

As long as you pre-order, your game gets automatically upgraded to the LCE. There is no second SKU to pre-order.

Pre order from where? Through namco- bandais website.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Pre order from where? Through namco- bandais website.

I know Amazon does the CE upgrade free of charge.

 

[Rygar 8 Bit]

gamestop as well

 

[Giriath_89]

I've tried to stay away from vids on this game but I hope it's a bit faster this time. It doesn't have to be MVC3 fast or anything but I think a lot of the difficulty comes from the clunky movement.

Then again, the movement makes sense when think about the fact that a (fairly) heavily armored person isn't going to be doing backflips and handstands. Movements have to be deliberate and if you make a mistake, 90% percent of the time you're going to pay with your life.

Your movement is only 'clunky' when you have so heavy equipment your equip burden goes below half of your maximum equip weight.

This pretty much makes your roll a stumble and a nose dive. Increase your endurance or wear a Ring of Great Strength if you want heavy equipment, or do cartwheels in your underwear.

Weapons also have different attack patterns, as I'm sure you know. Generally smaller weapons like rapiers and daggers attack faster and oversized blunt things are slooow.

 

[Ghost23]

I don't have a PS3, so I wasn't able to play Demon Souls, but this game looks absolutely amazing! I'm kinda confused on everything with souls and black phantoms though. Is there somewhere where I can read up on the basics of Demon Souls?

 

[MYE]

I don't have a PS3, so I wasn't able to play Demon Souls, but this game looks absolutely amazing! I'm kinda confused on everything with souls and black phantoms though. Is there somewhere where I can read up on the basics of Demon Souls?

Souls are the currency. You buy items, upgrade equipment and level up with them.

Black Phantoms are much stronger versions of regular enemies. They can kill you in one hit

Invading Black Phantoms (Online) are other players in soul form, invading your game world to try and kill you to regain their body form.

In body form your health bar can be completely filled, while in soul form its capped in half (you can use rings to bypass this, to some extent)

 

[Ghost23]

Souls are the currency. You buy items, upgrade equipment and level up with them.

Black Phantoms are much stronger versions of regular enemies. They can kill you in one hit

Invading Black Phantoms (Online) are other players in soul form, invading your game world to try and kill you to regain their body form.

In body form your health bar can be completely filled, while in soul form its capped in half (you can use rings to bypass this, to some extent)

So in Demon Souls, when you died, you would go to soul form, but all it did was take some health away? How do you get your body form back?

 

[Kalnos]

So in Demon Souls, when you died, you would go to soul form, but all it did was take some health away? How do you get your body form back?

Kill a boss.
Invade another player's world and kill them.
Join another player's world and help them kill a boss.

When you died in body form you would be in soul form with less health, lose your current collection of souls and lose the ability to (summon/be invaded) by other players. Also, dying would change world tendency towards black making the game harder.

 

[falconzss]

So in Demon Souls, when you died, you would go to soul form, but all it did was take some health away? How do you get your body form back?

Well you lost all your collected souls and if you didn't manage to get them back on your next try they were lost forever. You had to beat a boss to get back to body form.

Edit: Well Kalnos explained it already

 

[MYE]

So in Demon Souls, when you died, you would go to soul form, but all it did was take some health away? How do you get your body form back?

When you die you go into soul form, loose all your souls, your life bar is cut in half and all the enemies respawn.

The game does give you one more chance of getting the souls you lost if you go back to the place you died and touch your blood stain. But die again before you get there and say bye bye to all your souls, forever.

edit: not fast enough

 

[sankt-Antonio]

So in Demon Souls, when you died, you would go to soul form, but all it did was take some health away? How do you get your body form back?

well a lot of enemies can one hit kill you when you are in soul form.

 

[Auto_aim1]

You can also use stone of the ephemeral eyes to get your body back, along with the other things Kalnos mentioned above.

 

[Kalnos]

You can also use stone of the ephemeral eyes to get your body back, along with the other things Kalnos mentioned above.

I knew I forgot one way, damn!

 

[MYE]

I knew I forgot one way, damn!

The easiest one too

I have like 20 of those and i never made an effort to get them.

 

[Ghost23]

This sounds so cool! Dark Souls just went from Day 0 to Day 1.

 

[params7]

“you will die thousands of times before the end of the game.”

I'll take From up for that challenge. I'll beat Dark Souls in less deaths than I had in Demon's souls. Bring it :3

 

[Melchiah]

When you die you go into soul form, loose all your souls, your life bar is cut in half and all the enemies respawn.

The game does give you one more chance of getting the souls you lost if you go back to the place you died and touch your blood stain. But die again before you get there and say bye bye to all your souls, forever.

And that's a good thing, and makes the game entertaining?!

I was just thinking about maybe buying the game and trying it after all, but that changed my mind. I don't want to pay for, or spend my free time, getting frustrated. Too bad, because it does sound like an intriguing game.

 

[WretchedTruman]

And that's a good thing, and makes the game entertaining?!

I was just thinking about maybe buying the game and trying it after all, but that changed my mind. I don't want to pay for, or spend my free time, getting frustrated. Too bad, because it does sound like an intriguing game.

To an extent, I agree with this. My time with Demons' Souls has been..conflicted. I really needed to force myself to alter my mindset while playing. I'm not accustomed to retreating from a challenge so early in the game, fully knowing that my character just can't conquer said battle at their current level.

And some of the stuff just seems cheap. However, with so much love for the game, I get the impression that it has more to do with me not yet fully acquainted with the mechanics.

So, for now, benefit of doubt.

 

[Cloudius12]

http://i.imgur.com/nvxrM.jpg

Fire Storm!

http://i.imgur.com/86pWX.jpg

Purple?

 

[RavenFox]

This most likely means uncompressed audio for PS3, if there are any differences between the two versions at all. There probably aren't many cutscenes, and PS3 is usually the lowest common denominator when it comes to textures. There really isn't anything to worry about.

That's not a PS3 problem. Also, lately you can see in the 3rd party games coming out PS3 tech is finally being utilized.

 

[MYE]

And that's a good thing, and makes the game entertaining?!

I was just thinking about maybe buying the game and trying it after all, but that changed my mind. I don't want to pay for, or spend my free time, getting frustrated. Too bad, because it does sound like an intriguing game.

Believe me when i tell you i probably have less patience than you when it comes to impossibly hard games. And if a game is cheap, i wont even bother.

The thing about Demon's Souls is that it ISNT impossibly hard and its far from cheap. The game will make you feel like 90% of your deaths are your fault, and you will go at it again because you know can beat that enemy.

Plus, the areas are not THAT big.

========================================

edit:

Here's a HUGE tip for people who feel intimidated by DS:

!!!!MAGIC!!!!

Whatever your class is, make sure you level up your magic stats, and get that Soul Arrow, Fire and FireStorm spells early.

There you go, Demons Souls is now 60% easier. You can even kill bosses with two hits if you're properly leveled

For an extra 15% of easiness, use light armor. If you're fast enough, most enemies wont even touch you. Damn, you'll be able to sprint through levels without fighting if you want to.

 

[Manmademan]

To an extent, I agree with this. My time with Demons' Souls has been..conflicted. I really needed to force myself to alter my mindset while playing. I'm not accustomed to retreating from a challenge so early in the game, fully knowing that my character just can't conquer said battle at their current level.

And some of the stuff just seems cheap. However, with so much love for the game, I get the impression that it has more to do with me not yet fully acquainted with the mechanics.

So, for now, benefit of doubt.

There's very, very little that's "cheap." (well, maybe those mantas..) if you take your time and learn patterns, even initially tough enemies (those skeletons in world 4 for instance) can be taken out even at low levels.

 

[Yoshichan]

And that's a good thing, and makes the game entertaining?!

I was just thinking about maybe buying the game and trying it after all, but that changed my mind. I don't want to pay for, or spend my free time, getting frustrated. Too bad, because it does sound like an intriguing game.

Well, it's your choice if you pussy out and skip this game or Demon's Souls.

 

[Despera]

I lol'd @ the winning shield. They be trollin'.

Awesome work, oracrest.

 

[Spotless Mind]

And that's a good thing, and makes the game entertaining?!

I was just thinking about maybe buying the game and trying it after all, but that changed my mind. I don't want to pay for, or spend my free time, getting frustrated. Too bad, because it does sound like an intriguing game.

It's not as frustrating as you'd think, since shortcuts you have opened up before dying remain unlocked. The combat is also so damn satisfying that it rarely becomes a chore to repeat sections where enemies have respawned.

 

[Melchiah]

Believe me when i tell you i probably have less patience than you when it comes to impossibly hard games. And if a game is cheap, i wont even bother.

The thing about Demon's Souls is that it ISNT impossibly hard and its far from cheap.

========================================

Here's a HUGE tip for people who feel intimidated by DS:

!!!!MAGIC!!!!

Whatever your class is, make sure you level up your magic stats, and get that Soul Arrow, Fire and FireStorm spells early.

There you go, Demons Souls is now 60% easier. You can even kill bosses with two hits if you're properly leveled

For an extra 15% of easiness, use light armor. If you're fast enough, most enemies wont even touch you. Damn, you'll be able to sprint through levels without fighting if you want to.

It's not as frustrating as you'd think, since shortcuts you have opened up before dying remain unlocked. The combat is also so damn satisfying that it rarely becomes a chore to repeat sections where enemies have respawned.

Hmm... and now I'm back on the track to buy the game again. =) Thanks for the tips.

 

[Giriath_89]

Hmm... and now I'm back on the track to buy the game again. =) Thanks for the tips.

Another pro-tip is to have a shield equipped. Most enemy attacks can be blocked, so you'll have an easier time getting used to attack patterns while blocking than floundering around dying.

If you find yourself dying over and over in an area, first try a different tactic: maybe the enemies are weak to a particular kind of damage, or you can raise your resistance to theirs?

If that doesn't work, then leave and make progress in another level, raising your stats and--more importantly--finding better equipment.

 

[Yo Gotti]

Just started playing Demon's Souls for the first time. Loving the game so far, Dark Souls might be knocking Skyrim off the top of my most anticipated game this year. It's truly amazing.

I don't think I've played a more captivating adventure RPG since Morrowind. All I hope that Dark Souls has is more weapon and spell variety, maybe longer combos. The gameplay is already damn near perfect.

 

[Giriath_89]

More new images from Dark Souls' facebook page:

On the topic of graphics, I think that A: From Software and/or Bandai are bad at making visually appealing images of the game and B: they heavily compress those images.

Then, because those original images are almost always small, some websites enlarge them, making A and B stand out even more. It looks better in all trailers and gameplay footage I have seen.

 

[oracrest]

Posted in the Demon's Souls thread too, but they talk about both it and Dark Souls. A good long discussion.

Gametrailers 40 minute discussion video about Demon's Souls/Dark Souls.

 

[Giriath_89]

Posted in the Demon's Souls thread too, but they talk about both it and Dark Souls. A good long discussion.

Gametrailers 40 minute discussion video about Demon's Souls/Dark Souls.

Holy shit, they credited you.

Rightly so, by the way.

 

[MikeE21286]

This one makes me laugh

Microcosm of my perpetual feeling of inevitable death while I played Demon's Souls

 

[soldat7]

Posted in the Demon's Souls thread too, but they talk about both it and Dark Souls. A good long discussion.

Gametrailers 40 minute discussion video about Demon's Souls/Dark Souls.

For those of us on a media blackout, how are the Dark Souls spoilers in this?

 

[Nix]

Oh man. I'm really feeling the armour designs in this one.

I just hope they balanced out the weight thing, because in Demon's Souls, if I didn't want to die, I couldn't take off my thief armour, and even if I did, there was no way I could don the Brushwood, or Gloom.

Really hoping for cooler lightweight armors.

 

[RukusProvider]

Looking forward to this game. I wish it was coming out now before the holiday rush starts Might have to move this to 2011 slow period.

 

[Giriath_89]

For those of us on a media blackout, how are the Dark Souls spoilers in this?

There are some. They talk about the E3 demo level and one other but most of it is just them speculating about the mechanics of the game.

 

[J_incredible]

Holy fuck!

Love the art direction and creature designs. From Software has done some great work with the Dark/Demons Souls IP.

 

[Snarfington]

Delicious. Can't wait.

I must say that whoever is capturing these images is doing a great job of making fuel to the speculation fire.