Dark Souls

One of the worst ports of this generation indeed.

This game makes GTA IV (at release) look like a brilliant piece of coding.

But thanks to the efforts of one modder the game has already improved considerably. There is proper resolution and texture filtering support now and the depth of field can be toned down or turned off completely.

I hope future updates will allow changing of FOV and unlock the framerate which is currently capped at 30FPS, making the controls feel "sluggish".

Many people are reporting drops to 15FPS (!) and/ or are not allowed to play online because an in-game pop-up tells them "their FPS is to low to play online".

If you're lucky and get a constant 30 FPS the actual game is pretty enjoyable (a challenging ARPG with beautiful aesthetics, impressive level design and unforgiving enemies).

Don't even try playing this with kb/mouse as they are not really supported, all the information pop ups show 360 buttons, acceleration is extreme and the windows mouse pointer is visible during gameplay,...

If you're interested in this title I would advice waiting for a severe price reduction before handing over money to From Software as this game is definitely not worth 40€ in its current state.

Fix: http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/

Ilosar said:
Also, does the Steam version also come with GFWL in the end?
Click to expand...

Yes, unfortunately all version use GFWL to save and play online.

Edit:

Screens after the DoF Fix:
http://s18.postimage.org/g5d5if4t3/2012_08_25_00023.jpg
http://i.minus.com/ib0UnVuWWV3Cv1.jpg
http://i.minus.com/idXWb2Mx9xAfS.jpg
http://i.minus.com/ibuUwcM6UL4dkC.jpg
http://i.minus.com/idgJBwJQV6NsK.jpg
http://www.abload.de/img/data2012-08-2516-45-3r3fen.jpg
http://www.abload.de/img/data2012-08-2516-43-1ktfp0.jpg
http://i.minus.com/iE8voNUetSxQM.png

Before/After comparison: http://imgc.rauch.co.uk/958
 
PainlessDocM said:
One of the worst ports of this generation indeed.

This game makes GTA IV (at release) look like a brilliant piece of coding.

But thanks to the efforts of one modder the game has already improved considerably. There is proper resolution and texture filtering support now and the depth of field can be toned down or turned off completely.

I hope future updates will allow changing of FOV and unlock the framerate which is currently capped at 30FPS, making the controls feel "sluggish".

Many people are reporting drops to 15FPS (!) and/ or are not allowed to play online because an in-game pop-up tells them "their FPS is to low to play online".

If you're lucky and get a constant 30 FPS the actual game is pretty enjoyable (a challenging ARPG with beautiful aesthetics, impressive level design and unforgiving enemies).

Don't even try playing this with kb/mouse as they are not really supported, all the information pop ups show 360 buttons, acceleration is extreme and the windows mouse pointer is visible during gameplay,...

If you're interested in this title I would advice waiting for a severe price reduction before handing over money to From Software as this game is definitely not worth 40€ in its current state.

Fix: http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/

Ilosar said:
Also, does the Steam version also come with GFWL in the end?
Click to expand...

Yes, unfortunately all version use GFWL to save and play online.
Click to expand...
Pity. Guess I'm sticking to the console edition. Now I have to wait 2-3 months for the new stuff. Such is life.

EDIT: I mean, god damn, that's NOT how you reward a group of dedicated PC gamers who petitioned in huge numbers to play your game, From. You just should not fucking make a port with like 5% effort invested in it and call it special because you're gonna give it early access to the DLC you probably were making already. I understand they have a small team and all, but they could've handed it to another company who understood porting better than them.
 
I've put some 6-7 hours in and by now the controls are bearable. you get used to it. unfortunately, a lot of moves are still hard to pull off. and after the resolution fix I think the whole game feels a lot smoother, even though the camera still stutters. my main problem now is the targeting. keeping the target on one enemy in a crowd is impossible, and it can really ruin your day on tougher opponents and bosses.

I despise gamepads normally, but I'm thinking it might be worth getting one for this fantastic game. any suggestions which one? there must be cheaper ones than the official 360 controller, right?
 
I think there's a program you can use to trick the game into using any gamepad you got, but the wired Xbox controller was only 20 bucks when I last saw it at Walmart.
 
I use a cheap dual shock gamepad i picked up for Resident Evil 4 way back, still serves me fine. Had to use x360ce to get the keys behaving like they should for this game though. It also enabled rumble, which didn't work before. So I guess buying an actual x360 pad would save you some hassle.
 
So, asides from the terribad porting, how are you enjoying the game so far? I got pretty good at it on the console edition; I enjoy getting early access to the Gravelord Servant and Darkwraith covenants frequently.
 
bought a controller, might as well try it out. it wasn't as expensive as I thought it'd be (about 32 euros).

OaktTable - I'm really enjoying the game. the fact that I love playing it despite all the hassle with controls and graphics says a lot. it's one of the most entertaining games I've played in a long time. the atmosphere is phenomenal. and I love how it's challenging in a way that forces you to actually play the game, to think ahead and to train your skills. if you're careful enough and know what to do, a lot of fights become pretty easy. but one slip up, one moment of doubt can kill you. it's not hard because the enemy cheats, or because of unfair odds. it simply requires you to do your best. the only game I can think of that comes close is Ninja Gaiden Black for Xbox, which I also loved for its similar difficulty.

also, I love the exploration. so many hidden little secrets to discover. hell, the fact that you can kill NPC's and gain from it is awesome. unfortunately I screwed up twice early on and attacked npc's, one of which I couldn't kill (still haven't been back there since) and the first merchant I met, which left me with a great new weapon, but desperate for a way to repair it once it broke down. but still I haven't felt like I had to start over, but rather that I now have to deal with these consequences of my actions. this game seems to offer a lot of different consequences depending on what you do and how you play.

in short; I'm loving it.
 
aenemic said:
bought a controller, might as well try it out. it wasn't as expensive as I thought it'd be (about 32 euros).

OaktTable - I'm really enjoying the game. the fact that I love playing it despite all the hassle with controls and graphics says a lot. it's one of the most entertaining games I've played in a long time. the atmosphere is phenomenal. and I love how it's challenging in a way that forces you to actually play the game, to think ahead and to train your skills. if you're careful enough and know what to do, a lot of fights become pretty easy. but one slip up, one moment of doubt can kill you. it's not hard because the enemy cheats, or because of unfair odds. it simply requires you to do your best. the only game I can think of that comes close is Ninja Gaiden Black for Xbox, which I also loved for its similar difficulty.

also, I love the exploration. so many hidden little secrets to discover. hell, the fact that you can kill NPC's and gain from it is awesome. unfortunately I screwed up twice early on and attacked npc's, one of which I couldn't kill (still haven't been back there since) and the first merchant I met, which left me with a great new weapon, but desperate for a way to repair it once it broke down. but still I haven't felt like I had to start over, but rather that I now have to deal with these consequences of my actions. this game seems to offer a lot of different consequences depending on what you do and how you play.

in short; I'm loving it.
Click to expand...
I assume you killed the Undead Burg Merchant and got the Uchigatana. That's a decent weapon for PVP and PVE against human enemies, as it inflicts bleed, but I hope you bought the Resident Key and Orange Soapstone from him before you did that, otherwise you can't leave messages and get access to sorceries. Also, after you beat the Bell Gargoyles, you get access to a NPC that can make hostile NPCs peaceful to you again... for a exorbant fee of course (500 times your current soul level).

EDIT: Also, paying those souls to that guy makes it so that a certain covenant won't be able to invade your sinful ass, as said covenant can invade below their level unlike the other covenants. I assume you don't want to encounter a SL 82 dude in giant armor wielding an electrified claymore.
 
OakTable said:
I assume you killed the Undead Burg Merchant and got the Uchigatana. That's a decent weapon for PVP and PVE against human enemies, as it inflicts bleed, but I hope you bought the Resident Key and Orange Soapstone from him before you did that, otherwise you can't leave messages and get access to sorceries. Also, after you beat the Bell Gargoyles, you get access to a NPC that can make hostile NPCs peaceful to you again... for a exorbant fee of course (500 times your current soul level).

EDIT: Also, paying those souls to that guy makes it so that a certain covenant won't be able to invade your sinful ass, as said covenant can invade below their level unlike the other covenants. I assume you don't want to encounter a SL 82 dude in giant armor wielding an electrified claymore.
Click to expand...

that's the one. I bought a bow and some arrows before I killed him, that's all. it was actually the awkward controls that did it - I clicked right mouse button to cancel dialogue, which resultet in me stabbing him in the head... but anyway, I got the key from his I think, and at some point I also got an orange soapstone. no skin off my back, really. rather, I'm pretty glad I got the katana, it's been pretty damn useful. leveled it to +9 so far.

yeah, a friend told me 'bout that guy. he told me I should also buy a book of the guilty. speaking of which, getting invaded is both great fun and really fucking stressful. last night I sat in a corner, waiting forever for someone who invaded me to walk into the room. when he did, I killed him pretty fast. but the wait was one of the more painful moments in the game so far...
 
aenemic said:
that's the one. I bought a bow and some arrows before I killed him, that's all. it was actually the awkward controls that did it - I clicked right mouse button to cancel dialogue, which resultet in me stabbing him in the head... but anyway, I got the key from his I think, and at some point I also got an orange soapstone. no skin off my back, really. rather, I'm pretty glad I got the katana, it's been pretty damn useful. leveled it to +9 so far.

yeah, a friend told me 'bout that guy. he told me I should also buy a book of the guilty. speaking of which, getting invaded is both great fun and really fucking stressful. last night I sat in a corner, waiting forever for someone who invaded me to walk into the room. when he did, I killed him pretty fast. but the wait was one of the more painful moments in the game so far...
Click to expand...
The Book of the Guilty shows you the top invaders for your playthrough. Neat, but not necessary. You can buy Indictments from Oswald as well; those allow you to report an invader and mark him for invasion from another covenant. Of course, said invader probably wants that to happen so he can take that guy's souls too, so be forewarned. I've heard about a lot of cheaters using trainers to make themselves invincible because GFWL is a hunk of shit and can't detect any of that, so if someone doesn't take any damage from anything you do, try to kick him off a cliff or into a bottomless pit or something because not even a trainer can prevent scripted deaths.

So, what type of build are you going for? Everything ultimately is good for PVE. However, DON'T put points into resistance, as it's useless right from the start and only gets worse the more points you pump into it. Also, if playing a pyromancer, putting points into Intelligence won't boost your power, so unless you want to do both pyromancy and sorcery, you're better off using something else.
 
I killed Oswald after he went hostile on my ass for accidentally hitting him; There was no way to make him no longer hostile, right? Of course, out of the two NPCs I accidentally hit, one of them is the fucking guy that absolves your sins. New Game+, pls.
Also, just picked up the black knight sword at the Undead Asylum revisit. Quite the upgrade from the halberd I've been using forever. Another thing I noticed way too late was that you should try to keep your equip load at 1/4th the max so you can move around like a naked Ugandan on PCP.
 
hehe, the joy if accidentally hitting npc's. I learned quickly to turn my back on people I was talking to, and take my right hand off the mouse to avoid accidentally clicking an attack button. can't be too safe!

and yes, I'm aware of the 25% carry limit, but even with the Wolf Ring I can't really hit the mark. unless I use really light armor with worse stats all around. not sure if it's worth the trade-off :/ I'm currently using Helm of the Wise, Armor of the Glorious, Elite Knight Boots and some gloves with good elemental defenses btw.

I'm doing a dex/faith build. I took Wanderer without knowing anything whatsoever. I intentionally avoided looking up builds before-hand, as I wanted to experiment a bit on my own. but I soon realized a dexterity build was pretty cool, and my friend talked me into doing faith as well. apparently I'm joining some covenant for an awesome weapon boosting spell. I'm gonna be doing some pvp-ing with this character, I think.

I'm planning on trying many more builds in the future too. hell, this game already feels like it's gonna be with me for years ahead. so much to do, so much to discover and so many different builds to try out. a pure knight-type character with two-handers looks really fun, as does a dex/int assassin-mage.
 
About the weight limit:

There's an item called the Dark Wood Ring that you can get by killing a particular NPC. It increases the weight limit to >50% and changes the animation of you rolling into cartwheels and backflips.

[spoiler:4b7fd8f79f]Joining the Forest Covenant in the Darkroot Wood gives you access to a special merchant who appears at the bottom of the giant elevator in Blighttown. He sells katanas and other rare items, so make sure you buy anything you want before you kill him.

Also, he's got an invisible ninja partner hiding somewhere around him, so be very careful you don't get backstabbed and wind up losing the chance to get the ring.[/spoiler:4b7fd8f79f]
 
generalissimofurioso said:
About the weight limit:

There's an item called the Dark Wood Ring that you can get by killing a particular NPC. It increases the weight limit to >50% and changes the animation of you rolling into cartwheels and backflips.

[spoiler:a41810016a]Joining the Forest Covenant in the Darkroot Wood gives you access to a special merchant who appears at the bottom of the giant elevator in Blighttown. He sells katanas and other rare items, so make sure you buy anything you want before you kill him.

Also, he's got an invisible ninja partner hiding somewhere around him, so be very careful you don't get backstabbed and wind up losing the chance to get the ring.[/spoiler:a41810016a]
Click to expand...
Fun fact: Dark Wood Grain Ring got nerfed HARD in the PC version (and thus the console version come October). You can only do ninja flips now if you have under 25% weight. No more plate-armored knights with zweihanders doing cartwheels anymore.

EDIT: Oh, and Mask of the Father got a bit of a nerf as well. PVP's still probably gonna be a game of "Who can backstab and/or inflict bleed on the other douchebag first", but that makes it a bit more interesting.
 
That sucks!

Well, at least I got the most out of the game when I could win a fight by flipping around while someone was trying to beat me to death with a giant club and just wailing on them with my giant katana of lightning.

Vwing, vwing, vwwwwwinnnnngggg.
 
Now after all the technical problems, the game itself. Ive been playing very little (just beat the taurus) but i can say im already enjoying myself, playing as knight and using reinforced club.
Im putting my points to endurance and strength as the club gets the bonuses from that. There is something especially satisfying about beating the enemies after figuring out the "easy" way to take them down. For example the taurus i just beat, figuring you can roll under its feet just when its charging its attack, or climbing to the tower and charging down to it, was so satisfying after quite a few tries to finally take it down. Also im digging the visual style or rather the enviroments and how the different weps and armours look.
 
got my controller yesterday, and it was definitely worth the purchase. took a while getting used to it, but the game feels so much smoother now.

and btw, fuck Sen's Fortress. took me all night to get through that place.
 
Tried it for about an hour so far; great atmosphere, and decent looks once the res patch is applied.

But damn, this make the old Capcom ports look playable. I guess it's on par with the DMC3:SE port in crappiness. And then game companies complain that the PC market is this and that, pirates and blah. Just hire someone competent to do your ports, dammit! :roll: (Why can't every PC port be more like The Last Remnant? *sigh*)

I might yet enjoy the game, but I'll have to dust off my controller and see if it still works. If it bit the dust, or if the game only works with an XBawks controller, I won't even bother, and pretend this was never released.
 
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