Forum - View topicGAME: Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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Are the screenshots in the article pre or post PC patch?
RTSes don't care for controllers either. I don't think they can skirt by on a technicality here. All of the buttons on the controller (far fewer than on a standard keyboard) have to be mapped to game functions. The game could have provided a convenient way for the user to map these game functions to keys of their choice on the keyboard. It's already happening, they could have given us a "workman" styled menu to allow the end user to customize it. Oh well, I'm sure some enterprising aficionado will come up with a way. I mean, I'd probably play with a controller, but I don't want to be roped into doing so by a lack of convenient control customization. |
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mjharper
 Posts: 9 Location: Magdeburg, Germany |
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Just to clarify: the port wasn't 'fixed' in 23 minutes after release, as the modder Durante has made clear (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488240). He actually spent a week developing the framework before release, 23 minutes 'inserting' the game into the framework, and several hours testing.
While that doesn't change the fact that the resolution issues were fixed by a modder, it did require more time and effort than brewing a cup of tea. |
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maus
 Posts: 84 Location: The Netherlands |
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Not true. I like to play with keyboard and mouse and have always done so. I never play shooters but am an avid RTS fan. RPG's I also play a lot. So I would like to have more support for keyboard/mice combinations. Why should I buy a controller for this game to play it? The fact they released this game for PC as an afterthought and it runs under GFWL makes me not want to buy it. I'd rather play some more Guild Wars 2. |
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daveriley
 Posts: 117 Location: Philadelphia |
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Regarding keyboard support: I believe you have the option to reassign keys, but honestly I didn't even try after discovering they wanted you to use I, J, K, and L as a replacement for the second analog stick. It's not really a matter of "number of buttons," but "convenient access to buttons." This is a problem people might have experienced in WoW or other games that use a large amount of buttons: your hands go into full-on twister mode trying to use 1-5, and Q, and E, and F, and G, and Z, and X, and C, and V while moving around. It gets worse if you add modifiers like alt or shift on top of that. I think $30 for an Xbox controller is worth saving yourself the hassle. Playing games as they were "meant to be played" is consistently the argument for keyboard/mouse in FPS (or RTS). If certain games were meant to be played with keyboard and mouse, then the reverse is surely true. Either way, modders are working on fixes for mouse control and better keyboard support, so you'll have it in some way, I just don't think it's worth the effort. |
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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Ouch. The graphics still look pretty bad. I understand that a resolution patch won't enhance terrain detail, up the polygon count in models, or up the bump mapping/shading/etc, but I was still hoping that these screenshots were pre-patch. I wish that there were links to actual-resolution versions of the screen caps in the article so I could get a better view. I can't believe that the PS3 isn't capable of higher detail terrain (looking at the almost last-millenium-looking terrain, specifically the "pyramid" of grass in the last shot) and player models (again, last shot). Maybe it's the low polygon count and blurred textures, but that dome (last shot) doesn't look properly round, which was one of my reasons for hoping that the screenshots were at sub 1920*1080 resolutions. It necessarily looks better than Demon Souls, which was only 720 on the console (sadly), but the graphics still look very dated to me. They're not awful, but I had the impression that its PS3 peers had greater model and terrain detail. Sadly, Steam does not have a demo of this posted (for shame game devs, for shame). Steam has a warning about using a gamepad, I'd think that with the minor control controversy the devs would put out a demo. I have a 360 controller that I regularly use for adventure platformers, fighters and the like, so that wouldn't be a problem for me. I don't think any crazy keyboard layout would be a problem for me as I'm used to it. If the 2nd analog stick is controlled by the keyboard, then what do they have the mouse doing? |
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TheManko
 Posts: 3 |
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I hadn't played Dark Souls before the PC version came out and I finished it a couple of days ago. I loved it. Even with all the technical problems and a couple of bosses that took at least 10 attempts to win I found it to be one of the best game experiences I've had in a long time.
The way in which the entire world is connected to each other part without load screens becomes a bigger deal the further you get into the game. One of my favorite parts of the game is when I found a secret wall behind a chest and walked an awfully long way down a hollow tree, only to come out on the other side and notice that I had basically traveled to the underside of the world. Most of the world in Dark Souls is one horrifying hell hole after the next, but this serene place seemed untainted by evil and looked ancient. It's one of many moments in the game where the attention to detail and world building made by From Software just makes all the Tolkien-esque fantasy games we've been getting look like bad jokes. What also makes the game special is the number of one-off enemies you meet. There just seems to be a huge amount of monsters that you only meet once, yet they have their own move set, body builds and sounds that make them completely unique to the rest of the world. In most games you know to expect a certain number of enemy types that all share attack patterns. The Collectors in Mass Effect 2 for example didn't have much that made them different from fighting any human enemy. In Dark Souls you never know what to expect when something comes running at you. It's a game everyone should give a go at some point. The technical issues are pretty bad and unfortunate, but the game hiding underneath the problems is well worth it. Apart from the occasional connection problems I found two other major issues with the port. One is the resolution problem which can be fixed with the mod here http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/ The other issue is with the sound. If you play the game in stereo basically two thirds or so of all ambient sound effects that are supposed to be playing are completely cut out. There's a comparison video here that shows the effect of it in action and it's not subtle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku1ZBwB7Ghs In the video description there are workarounds for several sound devices, but unfortunately not all of them. People make a big deal about the difficulty, but if you managed to finish The Witcher 2 then Dark Souls should be no problem. Especially the start of The Witcher 2 was far more harsh than Dark Souls is to beginners. No need to be afraid of the game. Just be a bit cautious of it. |
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daveriley
Posts: 117 Location: Philadelphia |
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For the sake of comparison, here's some unedited screenshots I have. It's just whatever random I happened to have in my screenshot folder. I don't think I have the ones I used for the review anymore.
These are pre-patch: http://i.imgur.com/6wMuz.jpg http://i.imgur.com/mOJAS.jpg These are patched: http://i.imgur.com/rxU74.jpg http://i.imgur.com/gtVaP.jpg |
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khaos1019
 Posts: 93 |
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This has become one of my favorite games of all time. It's sad that the PC edition didn't get the same care as the console version. I have a friend who I know would love this game if he could play it properly. Unfortunately, he doesn't own a console and bought it on PC and has had nothing but problems with it.
I know From Software have little to no experience developing games for PC, so I think they should have given it to a third-party to develop. In any case, I'm just waiting for the new content to be released for consoles now. |
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ishmael
Posts: 128 |
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Also one of my favorite game. It looks great, plays better and isn't afraid to throw things at you that will make keep you on the edge of your seat. Altough it can be cheap at times (Capra Demon, yes, I'm talking about you!!!), once you get the gist of it, you realize there are strategies that work against bosses and once you learn it, you find yourself dumb for having died so many times (even though my experience with Demon Souls actually helped, I didn't die so much in this one, the Capra Demon has killed me more times than all other bosses combined).
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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The only exception to the above that I've come across is the Four Kings. Those guys... basically, for me, it turned into a: can I pound the crap out of each of you fast enough to kill you all off before I die? The only "strategy" I had was the gear I used and buffs I applied on myself. I never did find any gameplay tactics I could apply. Every time I went up against them, it was pretty much brute force. Needless to say, I hated fighting them. |
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Penguin_Factory
 Posts: 732 Location: Ireland |
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I think this might be a perfect summation of everything I love about this game. It's the intangible qualities of the game that matter far more than the raw mechanics. If anyone is on the fence about Dark Souls, this is one of those times I'd recommend you take the plunge and try it even if you don't think you'll like it. If it does end up appealing to you, you're in for something very special indeed. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5936 Location: Virginia, United States |
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People that don't play console games really don't have experience playing with console controllers. Console controllers require more hand dexterity, than the keyboard/mouse combination.
I find that as I have gotten older, console controllers have gotten more frustrating to use. If a game is made for the PC or ported to the PC, then the developers need to make the keyboard/mouse the natural feel in the game, not some feature that has been forcibly welded onto the game. There are plenty of ported games that has done this successfully, like Mass Effect 3. And some complete fails, like that Clone Wars piece of crap. Don't mind if game creators add features like console controller support for those that want to double dip, but if you are selling a PC game, then it had better have native keyboard/mouse support, if not why are you wasting your money selling to the PC crowd. |
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population_tire
 Posts: 576 |
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Dark Souls is the best game from this generation.
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