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[Corky]

10h deep into the game and I can't let it go... looking at that gif posted a page or so back comparing that "bone dragon room" or w/e it is that was shown in the reveal trailer compared to the ingame version really, really makes it look like the reveal/beta footage was 'retail' and the actual retail version an unfinished pre-alpha...

Really hope there's a ps4,xb1 version coming as I'm starting to think that the pc-version will be the same as the ps3 one ( other than the obvious benefits ).

:[ sad

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I can't remember how many are actually down there in the final release but it is 2 or 3.

Negative, there's just 1 there. The other two are in a different area.

 

[Arkanius]

10h deep into the game and I can't let it go... looking at that gif posted a page or so back comparing that "bone dragon room" or w/e it is that was shown in the reveal trailer compared to the ingame version really, really makes it look like the reveal/beta footage was reveal and the actual retail version an unfinished pre-alpha...

Really hope there's a ps4,xb1 version coming as I'm starting to think that the pc-version will be the same as the ps3 one ( other than the obvious benefits ).

:[ sad

We are all. And I'm so sad every news outlet is burying it's head in the sand and FROM doesn't answer us on what went wrong.

 

[Fahrenheit]

The game is a mess on PS3 with it's frame rate, HUD lag, and lacking/out of sync audio.

The difference between what was shown and what we got is huge but its almost a industry standard at this point. Not saying its alright but it's what happens anymore. And its going to keep going till we stop preordering. With all that said it's still an amazing game and all I can think about while at work is what i'm gonna do when I get back to the game

 

[JaseC]

10h deep into the game and I can't let it go... looking at that gif posted a page or so back comparing that "bone dragon room" or w/e it is that was shown in the reveal trailer compared to the ingame version really, really makes it look like the reveal/beta footage was 'retail' and the actual retail version an unfinished pre-alpha...

Really hope there's a ps4,xb1 version coming as I'm starting to think that the pc-version will be the same as the ps3 one ( other than the obvious benefits ).

:[ sad

Even if a PS4/X1 version were to surface at a later date it would all but assuredly be based on the current PC version (assuming for the moment that your supposition is correct). The idea that From has the previous build of the game tucked away somewhere and it's deliberately being withheld from even the current PC version because the plan is to use it for a belated PS4/X1 port is grasping at straws to the point that my arms feel strained even just thinking about it.

 

[iRAWRasaurus]

Part of dark souls difficult level comes from fighting against in-game issues on PS3 and Xbox 360

 

[JimmyRustler]

I am playing the same version as you and only experienced the bolded.

You never had out of synch sound and crazy input lag (or not reacting at all)? I find that hard to believe. I have this all the time. Especially the input lag drives me crazy at times.

Anyone else really upset on the hit feedback you get? Sometimes I roll out of the way but the enemies still hit me although nothing aside the decreasing health bar suggest so - meaning, my character doesn't appear to be hit (no animation), there is no "hit" sound and there is no controller vibration indicating me receiving a hit. Find that to be very confusing at times.

FROM really dropped the balls on this on technically. What a mess...

 

[Stoze]

(One of the biggest problems for those of us playing the PS3 disc version are the excruciatingly long loading times.)

• 
  [*]Objects and enemies materializing out of thin air.
• Flickering shadows and light sources.
  [*]Out of sync sound effects.
• Mob animations either freezing entirely or moving at lower FPS (like 5 FPS low).
• Input lag both in the menus' and HUD screens.
  [*]Input lag during gameplay (character not reacting at all).
• Player being "smelted into the wall" during a Boss fight.
• Painful loading times (18 seconds on average for me: quickest was 14s. longest took 42s.)
• Very inconsistent framerate (going from the higher 10s up to 60fps when nothing is happening on screen)
  

I guess I lucked out with playing the 360 version. Installed to 360 HD from disc, pretty sure I haven't had any if many loading times longer than 14seconds. The frame rate is great on the 360, and I've only noticed the screen tearing in a couple areas that were very bright, and even then it wasn't crazy like Bioshock Infinite without vsync. I'm not sure why they didn't do this for PS3 players, or didn't give anyone a choice for that matter.

That being said I've ran into the bolded multiple times.

 

[IvorB]

This bullsh*t from publishers/devs needs to stop. I have no plans to buy Dark Souls 2 but this still p*ssed me off. When did games become such a cowboy industry?

 

[Facism]

(One of the biggest problems for those of us playing the PS3 disc version are the excruciatingly long loading times.)

• Objects and enemies materializing out of thin air.
• Flickering shadows and light sources.
• Out of sync sound effects.
• Mob animations either freezing entirely or moving at lower FPS (like 5 FPS low).
• Input lag both in the menus' and HUD screens.
• Input lag during gameplay (character not reacting at all).
• Player being "smelted into the wall" during a Boss fight.
• Painful loading times (18 seconds on average for me: quickest was 14s. longest took 42s.)
• Very inconsistent framerate (going from the higher 10s up to 60fps when nothing is happening on screen)
  

Experienced all of this, excluding the "smelted into the wall" issue.

It's fucking hilarious turning the camera around only to see an enemy appear out of nothing as it comes to you.

 

[Parmenide]

I'm fine with the graphics and except some sound sync problems and frame drops the game didn't give me any problem so far but there's one thing that i can't stand: the torch mechanic is useless due to the downgraded lightning wich is a truly shame since the game was designed with that in mind.

 

[Stet]

Ok this is the Reveal capture

This is my crappy capture, after using the correct color range for the game.

(I couldn't get the camera to get the correct color accuracy & shadow detail to what was shown exactly).

 

[Datschge]

To be fair to From, the PC version always ran really stable and was fairly efficient. Even a pretty low end PC could run it a framerate better than the consoles. It wasn't glitchy or unstable or terribly inefficient. Even the vanilla release.

What Durante did was unlock the resolution, which was locked at rendering sub 720p like the console versions. And when they were asked, From specifically said they tried to create parity across all versions.

So let's look at a possible scenario now: From now has a second shot. They felt embarassed at how much people praise Durante for "fixing" their game in 5 minutes. So what do they do? They lead on PC. They put a lot of effort into that version and optimize for it and add effects not sustainable on the other versions. And now a shit storm occurs, one much larger than anything that happened with Dark Souls 1 PC.

Best summary so far of the whole situation. *keeps waiting for the PC version*

 

[malboroking]

I am playing the same version as you and only experienced the bolded.

I've experienced everyone of those problems with the PS3 version except for getting stuck in a wall. Fell through the floor and through a black void, but haven't gotten stuck in a wall yet.

 

[Tilian]

Is it theoretically possible on PC to mod in the missing vibration when hit by enemies? For the life of me why did they remove that after two games? It's annoying not feeling enemy impact and knowing if you got hit or not.

 

[OminoMichelin]

Uh, I guess I'll post it here as well, not sure why we have 2 threads though http://hexus.net/gaming/news/industry/67449-dark-souls-2-fans-angry-console-graphics-downgrade/

 

[malboroking]

It's completely baffling to me that 5 years after MS allowed full game installs to the HDD, Sony STILL does not give us that option on PS3. I mean what's the deal? I should have the option to install the games, just like the PS3 is already capable of doing as evidenced by being forced to fully install 2 of the 3 games on the AC Ezio Trilogy disc.

It's obviously a priority enough to make it mandatory on PS4, so why do we still have to suffer with all of the above issues because they refuse to let us install?

It's probably one of my biggest issues with the PS3 and one area where Microsoft's console stomps all over the PS3.

If it makes you feel any better, I have the digital version and still have all the same problems =P

What? no. Do you even have the game?

The game at default is not able to display a full black (red at 0, green at 0 & blue at 0).
The color will be a light grey no matter where you are in the game, including the menus & title screen.

The black bars during the initial cinematic is absolute proof of this.
Unless FromSoftware intended 2.39:1 black bars to be charcoal grey & not black.

Forgive us if we believe Durante over you. The cinematic bars are black on my TV, game still doesn't look as good as the preview pics.

 

[malboroking]

-edit Double post

 

[soontroll]

Uh, I guess I'll post it here as well, not sure why we have 2 threads though http://hexus.net/gaming/news/industry/67449-dark-souls-2-fans-angry-console-graphics-downgrade/

Good to see the issue picking up.

 

[Septimius]

My *ever so slight* problem with this thread is that the deceit/bait-and-switch/whatever have you has taken the limelight so much so, that a lot of people are - either willfully or ignorantly - missing the simple fact that DSII is a great looking game and an improvement over its predecessor (in my opinion, of course).

In no way will I excuse From/Bamco's actions here, but as someone who now cares little of the politics herein and is currently enjoying the crap out of the game, I can tell you that the images being bandied about in here are hardly indicative. The game is a gorgeous amalgamation of tech and artistry.

There's some sort of wholeness that's missing from this game that Dark Souls had. There are things that look better, but there's something a bit off about the atmosphere. My biggest gripe is with the sound design.

 

[LiK]

There is a possible downgrade to fix the framerate. It was horrendous on debug from what I heard. I assume PC may put all those effects back in. Who knows.

 

[Vizzeh]

Anyone got a perfect balance of HDMI levels and In-game Brightness to counter some of the lighting issues? As the above images sugguest.

My TV is rated quite pretty good for gaming, but on PS3, dont know why but even when calibrated its got more input lag on RGB Full... PS4 RGB Full is perfectly responsive, so would rather play on limited with lower brightness?

 

[LiK]

Anyone got a perfect balance of HDMI levels and In-game Brightness to counter some of the lighting issues? As the above images sugguest.

My TV is rated quite pretty good for gaming, but on PS3, dont know why but even when calibrated its got more input lag on RGB Full... PS4 RGB Full is perfectly responsive, so would rather play on limited with lower brightness?

Doesn't look that bad. I play with Full and raise the in-game brightness a few tics up and it's fine even when I was in a dark level.

 

[E92 M3]

Based on what everyone is saying, I'm not crazy to think the game felt laggy. The controls aren't tight like in the previous two.

Would all of this happened if Miyazaki was involved?

 

[zephervack]

Anyone knows what day of the week are we supped to get an answer from Namco? They said last week they were talking to FROM.

 

[zma1013]

There's some sort of wholeness that's missing from this game that Dark Souls had. There are things that look better, but there's something a bit off about the atmosphere. My biggest gripe is with the sound design.

I said this in the other thread but I'll say it again here, Dark Souls 2 is constantly reminding me that it's a videogame rather than pulling me into it's world. At every turn there's some visual element that just screams I'm in a set rather than a fully realized land. Ugly 2D backdrops are scattered all around that are right in your face, flat and bland polygon and texture work, bad particle effects all around, blurry shadows, and the grey nightvision effect in areas that were obviously supposed to be blackened out, like Dead Man's Wharf, where you can see 100% everywhere and can see some really blatant repetitive texture work. All I should be seeing is the faint glow of distance torches, not the very plain flat cave wall with repeating textures, there should be black darkness.

I really just feel the game is a step backwards in the visual department and the small amount of actual improvements do not make up for the rest of these issues. Some of the stuff just plain old feels like it's temporary filler, again referring to some of the blurry 2D backdrops that are right in your face. Certain places it's concealed properly with the distant blurring, but many other places, well, it's right there saying, "Yep, you're in a game."

Overall, it just doesn't look as good as Dark Souls. I feel the switch to make PC the lead platform has not gone well for consoles, where the game was born and made popular.

 

[DarkSoul520]

Anyone knows what day of the week are we supped to get an answer from Namco? They said last week they were talking to FROM.

They talked to FROM?

 

[Arkanius]

I said this in the other thread but I'll say it again here, Dark Souls 2 is constantly reminding me that it's a videogame rather than pulling me into it's world. At every turn there's some visual element that just screams I'm in a set rather than a fully realized land. Ugly 2D backdrops are scattered all around that are right in your face, flat and bland texture work that, bad particle effects all around, blurry shadows, and the grey nightvision effect in areas that were obviously supposed to be blackened out, like Dead Man's Wharf, where you can see 100% everywhere and can see some really blatant repetitive texture work. All I should be seeing is the faint glow of distance torches, not the very plain flat cave wall with repeating textures, there should be black darkness.

I really just feel the game is a step backwards in the visual department and the small amount of actual improvements do not make up for the rest of these issues. Some of the stuff just plain old feels like it's temporary filler, again referring to some of the blurry 2D backdrops that are right in your face. Certain places it's concealed properly with the distant blurring, but many other places, well, it's right there saying, "Yep, you're in a game."

This so much
Dark Souls 1 could be 1024x768 internal res or even 400x400 for all I could care, but it was a cohesive experience.

 

[zephervack]

They talked to FROM?

Thats what I understood from this:

In case anyone's curious, Namco PR told me today that they're working with Japan in hopes of saying something next week. It'll be on Kotaku whenever I get it.

 

[TheGrue]

If it makes you feel any better, I have the digital version and still have all the same problems =P



Forgive us if we believe Durante over you. The cinematic bars are black on my TV, game still doesn't look as good as the preview pics.

I have the digital version on PS3 and have yet to run into any input lag issues, long loading times, bugs, or even bad frame rate. Maybe it's later in the game? I'm at Sinner's Rise/Belfry. I'm absolutely loving the game. Hopefully my luck keeps up.

 

[DarkSoul520]

Thats what I understood from this:

Cool, although like most people have said in this thread, I don't think much is going to come from it. I would love to be proven wrong.

 

[Floex]

and the grey nightvision effect in areas that were obviously supposed to be blackened out, like Dead Man's Wharf, where you can see 100% everywhere and can see some really blatant repetitive texture work. All I should be seeing is the faint glow of distance torches, not the very plain flat cave wall with repeating textures, there should be black darkness.

That sounds more issues with your TV. That area was totally black for me, I needed a flame to get around as I could barely see the ground (which is good).

 

[butman]

Anyone knows what day of the week are we supped to get an answer from Namco? They said last week they were talking to FROM.

#PREPARETOWAIT

 

[bobone]

This is all a surprise to me.
I think the game runs and looks great on the Xbox 360. Load times are non existant, i cant even read the item descriptions while it loads cuz its so fast.

Graphics seem on par with the first Dark Souls, and certainly way way better than Demon Souls, which is fine by me.
The gameplay is what matters to me, I don't care if they ran this with PS2 textures and character models.

 

[zma1013]

That sounds more issues with your TV. That area was totally black for me, I needed a flame to get around as I could barely see the ground (which is good).

Many other people are reporting it as well and it seems silly if I have to actually change all of my TV settings that worked fine for the other Souls games in order to service this one. This wasn't a thing in DeS or DaS. I don't really think turning my brightness and contrast sliders all the way down on my TV is a good solution. Besides, it's the whole reason this thread and the other one were made is because of this "seeing in the dark" thing. There are screens and video showing this all over.

 

[LiK]

Based on what everyone is saying, I'm not crazy to think the game felt laggy. The controls aren't tight like in the previous two.

Would all of this happened if Miyazaki was involved?

it feels like it's from server load. When I hit start to get to the menu, it takes a few seconds to pop up. Happened a lot on Sat.

 

[Maulik]

Any other gaf journos other than Jschrier from Kotaku trying to look into this?

 

[zephervack]

Cool, although like most people have said in this thread, I don't think much is going to come from it. I would love to be proven wrong.

#PREPARETOWAIT

I have to be honest, im not expecting any meaningful response or even any details on the PC version, I want them, but im not expecting them because PR...

But I want confirmation that they are at least aware that people are pissed about this.

 

[thewhitehawk]

I think the wording behind this campaign and some of the information being displayed in the original topic is outright false.

There are a lot of lighting differences in the retail game compared to the demo, but the new lighting engine is present. To stay the opposite is disingenuous and dilutes the weight of the arguments being presented.

I think the biggest issue with Dark Souls 2 was the lack of communication. While the developers did admit that they put a lot more focus into trying to establish a consistent framerate and that was a priority for them, they did not explicitly say that this would result in a simplification of the lighting engine or alteration of textures/models they presented in previous demos.

It's a shame the game doesn't look as good as the initial unveilings, but I don't think this is a scenario nearly as bad as some others that this occurrence has been compared to, like Aliens: CM.

In all honesty, I'm expecting Namco to simply not say anything, like most other publishers did in the past, and wait for it to pass over, and it probably will, and very few people will remember this a few weeks from now.

 

[Floex]

Many other people are reporting it as well and it seems silly if I have to actually change all of my TV settings that worked fine for the other Souls games in order to service this one. This wasn't a thing in DeS or DaS. I don't really think turning my brightness and contrast sliders all the way down on my TV is a good solution. Besides, it's the whole reason this thread and the other one were made is because of this "seeing in the dark" thing. There are screens and video showing this all over.

All I did was change the brightness in the game options. If you say that could see the whole area then your settings are mixed up one way or another.

Lighting issues, sure but some of the images are clearly high in contrast.

 

[zma1013]

All I did was change the brightness in the game options. If you say that could see the whole area then your settings are mixed up one way or another.

Lighting issues, sure but some of the images are clearly high in contrast.

I've turned the setting all the way down in game. The only other option is to alter my TV options, which effects every single other thing I display on my TV. It's not an option.

 

[zephervack]

I think the wording behind this campaign and some of the information being displayed in the original topic is outright false.

There are a lot of lighting differences in the retail game compared to the demo, but the new lighting engine is present. To stay the opposite is disingenuous and dilutes the weight of the arguments being presented.

I think the biggest issue with Dark Souls 2 was the lack of communication. While the developers did admit that they put a lot more focus into trying to establish a consistent framerate and that was a priority for them, they did not explicitly say that this would result in a simplification of the lighting engine or alteration of textures/models they presented in previous demos.

It's a shame the game doesn't look as good as the initial unveilings, but I don't think this is a scenario nearly as bad as some others that this occurrence has been compared to, like Aliens: CM.

In all honesty, I'm expecting Namco to simply not say anything, like most other publishers did in the past, and wait for it to pass over, and it probably will, and very few people will remember this a few weeks from now.

I disagree with you that it isnt as bad as Aliens, I mean, look at all the missing assets in the hall leading to the Mirror Knight, or the differences pointed out in the OP, especially the Dragon Mansion, it looks like a completely different game.

In my opnion and I invite you to prove me wrong, this is WORSE than colonial marines.

Look at the differences in Colonial Marines

Now lets look at Dark Souls 2

Why should FROM and Namco get better treatmeant from the community when they did something as bad or worse than Colonial Marines.

The thread is already dying down so you are probably right about that.

But in a few weeks they will release the PC version, and if the lightning is completely gutted like the console version, im sure there will be a huge backlash again, at least im hoping so, there is no excuse as to why the PC version should be a victim of the downgrade.

 

[mickcenary]

Hmm. You guys may be right about it not being as cohesive, visually speaking. I'm a sucker for things such as cloth physics and I also feel that the detail has been bumped where it matters, e.g. general armour detail, but I saw some putrid stuff tonight. The Shaded Gardens (?), namely.

EDIT: Haha. Going on that gif comparison, DS2's downgrade makes Colonial Marines look like a near pixel-perfect match. Ain't no apologist apologetic enough for that, yo.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

No. I have just opened a single direct feed capture someone posted, and found color values up to 250 and down to 7 in that. That is already 100% proof the game isn't outputting limited range (which goes from 15-235).

What screen capture did you use? Can you point me to it?

Do you know for a 100% fact that your television/monitor is set up to properly display a full range? It seems likely to me that your TV might be the thing that is responsible for those black bars being grey, and not the game.

My TV was calibrated using a Rite Eye-One Display 2 & HCFR Colormeter.
My gamma track is 2.23. Brightness is calibrated at 120cd/m2. Color is set to 6500k.

The correct HDMI color range normally for every game & movie would be these two combinations:

Xbox 360, Standrad Reference Level.
PS3: RGB Limited.
Your TV: HDMI Full.

or

Xbox 360: Expanded Reference Level.
PS3: RGB Full.
Your TV:HDMI Limited.

 

[squadr0n]

Its not like FROM took out the new lighting effects from the game just to piss people off. They obviously did it for a reason, probably to have a much better frame rate all around. Would you rather have had the lighting engine left in the way it was and have a really horrible unplayable frame rate?

Im sure FROM will either release a pc version with an option to turn the lighting on or off, or they will release a XBONE & PS4 version with the lighting and probably dlc packaged in.

All around impressions about the game:

Much easier than Dark Souls.
Longer
Level design is nowhere near as fun and lacks any kind of imagination. (Iron keep is the closest thing to sen's fortress)
random small bug after being summoned when completing a boss your humanity isnt restored.

 

[tengiants]

Damn. So much seemingly genuine anger here. People will always be playing games for all the wrong reasons.

It's the best looking PS3 game I own. It looks a lot better than Dragons Dogma for instance. The framerate of the new one is also a lot better than the first, everywhere.

I imagine the PC port will be a tad better than Dark Souls. I suspect there will be resolution options, but the games resolution isn't the problem with the graphics. The textures and plain corridors are. I'm usually too busy playing to notice and would take the uniqueness of the series over graphics any day.

If you wanna complain about not restoring humanity at boss fights I'm on board. It kinda killed some of the consistency of the world lore by taking that out.

 

[thewhitehawk]

I disagree with you that it isnt as bad as Aliens, I mean, look at all the missing assets in the hall leading to the Mirror Knight, or the differences pointed out in the OP, especially the Dragon Mansion, it looks like a completely different game.

In my opnion and I invite you to prove me wrong, this is WORSE than colonial marines.

Look at the differences in Colonial Marines

Now lets look at Dark Souls 2

Why should FROM and Namco get better treatmeant from the community when they did something as bad or worse than Colonial Marines.

The thread is already dying down so you are probably right about that.

But in a few weeks they will release the PC version, and if the lightning is completely gutted like the console version, im sure there will be a huge backlash again, at least im hoping so, there is no excuse as to why the PC version should be a victim of the downgrade.

The fact that you're saying this is worse than Colonial Marines shows how clueless you are regarding this. Colonial Marine's downgrades went far beyond graphical ones and the game was merely a husk of what it originally promised, not to mention many of the things exemplified in the demos were not present in the original game in any way shape or form.

This is not the case in Dark Souls, unless you consider a spider web or the a door severe downgrades. The people making arguments like you are specifically why I think I disagree with the general tone of this "campaign".

 

[Authority]

The movement has gone spiral for those who were cynical or negative with comments such as "Don't buy the game" or "You really think they will listen to you?". A simple google search (i.e Dark Souls II' Graphics And Lighting Downgrade Sparks Controversy can highlight the expose and more significantly the stir this thread has put forward, so I would like to congratulate the gaming community of this forum for doing the necessary right steps.

Namco and From Software are still stubborn as fuck and have not responded which only deepens the shit they are into. Their silence on this occasion is gold because it just proves that they or one of the parties involved, thought that the gameplay would silence the downgrade or in the best situation be completely ignored.

I doubt we will get an official response unless sales are impacted negatively.

 

[Vizzeh]

What screen capture did you use? Can you point me to it?




My TV was calibrated using a Rite Eye-One Display 2 & HCFR Colormeter.
My gamma track is 2.23. Brightness is calibrated at 120cd/m2. Color is set to 6500k.

The correct HDMI color range normally for every game & movie would be these two combinations:

Xbox 360, Standrad Reference Level.
PS3: RGB Limited.
Your TV: HDMI Full.

or

Xbox 360: Expanded Reference Level.
PS3: RGB Full.
Your TV:HDMI Limited.

Think you have the TV's in both Mixed up? PS3/360 Expanded/RGB Full = TV Black levels High, PS3 RGB Limited = TV Black levels low.

Or your TV is labeled differently to mine

 

[Tex117]

From the comparison screens, I guess I see some of your points.

To the other just normal in game stuff, that's all pretty standard for Souls games.

Regardless, Im having a blast with the game and this is my 3rd Souls game!