Durante's Dark Souls II verdict - PC Gamer

Dr Dogg said:
Are you having a hand in that or is it part of PC Gamers coverage?
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It's all mine.

Basically, what happened is that I was asked to write a ~1200 word article, and on Sunday I delivered a ~2500 word draft. But they thought it was all good and didn't want to cut it (thanks Wes!), so it turned into 2 separate articles.

And then I went back to each of those and extended them so they are now on the verge of being oversized again :P
 
Morrigan Targaryen said:
This might be a dumb question, but I was wondering... does the PC version fix the equipment clipping (or any kind of clipping)? When I mix and match armour pieces, sometimes it looks fine until I check it at a certain angle or move around a bit, then the hood clips horribly into the chest piece, or the chest piece and skirt clip into each others, and so on. (This was a problem in previous games too, mind you.) I've even had a helm's plume clip into my large club. XD
I'm guessing that the PC version won't change that, as it's probably nothing to do with resolutions or texture assets, but I wonder...
Click to expand...

Hardware can't fix geometry clipping issues.

Odrion said:
Will the game be compatible with the Dualshock 4?
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If you are using the xinput wrapper, then there is no reason it shouldn't be.
 
Let me trickle some screenshots in here.

darksoulsii_2014_04_1mey94.jpg
 
Odrion said:
Will the game be compatible with the Dualshock 4?
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Sounds like it's your standard Xinput-only port, but the Xinput wrapper for DS4 is pretty solid already and will almost certainly work. Just gotta wait for people to figure out texture modding if you really want/need Playstation button prompts.

UnrealEck said:
Maybe they're learning bit by bit how to do a PC game. Next game should hopefully look like a PC game through and through. But then they'll also probably be working with better console specs for that one anyway.
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Yeah, that's what it seems like. Their new engine definitely seems at home on PC, even if console performance concerns constrained the game's visuals a bit.
 
I was about to post that the lighting didn't seem to be there, but then Durante posted that screen.

Still out in the open everything seems flat.
 
Gareth Bale said:
Durante did you test how it looks with SMAA injector as opposed to FXAA3?
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Next article, so I can't talk about that yet.
Note: none of my screenshots use FXAA, and all of them are taken directly during gameplay at the settings I play at on my 770.

nbthedude said:
Durante indicated in his above post that he used a DS4 to play the game.
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I used a DS3 actually. Works perfectly, but of course you'll get 360 button prompts.
 
Orayn said:
Sounds like it's your standard Xinput-only port
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Yep, pretty much. So you can use any controller for which an Xinput wrapper exists.

Orayn said:
Yeah, that's what it seems like. Their new engine definitely seems at home on PC, even if console performance concerns constrained the game's visuals a bit.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think that's an accurate description.
Really, the performance surprised me.
 
Morrigan Targaryen said:
That lighting was there in the console version too, you know... it got downgraded, but it wasn't completely gone.
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I realize this.

There was just something inside me that hoped that the lighting would be able to be brought back, no matter how unrealistic that dream was.
 
Durante said:
Let me trickle some screenshots in here.

darksoulsii_2014_04_1mey94.jpg
Click to expand...

Screens like this make me think that all the lighting tech from the earlier visuals is still part of the game engine, just applied more sparingly. I'm not holding my breath, but it would be amazing if modders somehow figured out a way to manipulate it to alter the lighting. We know that its lighting is based on Beast instead of some arcane in-house system, so that might be a place to start.
 
Durante said:
It's all mine.

Basically, what happened is that I was asked to write a ~1200 word article, and on Sunday I delivered a ~2500 word draft. But they thought it was all good and didn't want to cut it (thanks Wes!), so it turned into 2 separate articles.

And then I went back to each of those and extended them so they are now on the verge of being oversized again :P
Click to expand...

Hahaha ever the perfectionist. Good job sir (and PCG for not wanting to cut it down)

Hope you've found some HBAO+ flags ;)
 
This lighting/geometry thing has been so disappointing to me but at least this is a superior port of a downgraded game. I'll bite now that I can get a good price on GMG but oh god am I going to be annoyed if an improved port shows up on PS4/XBone.

Thanks for the article, Durante.
 
Good stuff.

I really hope modding with texture packs is an easy thing to do. I wouldn't mind some of the bad art in DS2 getting replaced at all.
 
Granadier said:
I was about to post that the lighting didn't seem to be there, but then Durante posted that screen.
Click to expand...
As I wrote in the article, I don't think there are any new light sources in the game. However, the shadows/lighting from the existing ones is improved, and the post-processing "lighting-related" effects (e.g. god rays) are as well.
 
Thanks for the article Durante. Getting the pc version day one. Easiest double dip ever. I mean the ps3 version was serviceable, but I can't wait to run this at 60 fps in high res, with every bell and whistle turned on. Installing this on my ssd as well, goodbye long-ass loading times.

PRAISE THE SUN

xZ2sEbd.gif
 
The shadows in the PC version look very good. From console screenshots, I've noticed that they are more of a green hue if that makes any sense.

Durante, does the mirror knight fight have the specular highlights? Or has he been left the same as the console version?
 
Durante said:
As I wrote in the article, I don't think there are any new light sources in the game. However, the shadows/lighting from the existing ones is improved, and the post-processing "lighting-related" effects (e.g. god rays) are as well.
Click to expand...

Yep, it definitely is a vast improvement over DS1 though.
 
Durante said:
The biggest improvements graphically over DS1 PC fully modded are, in my opinion:
  • The dynamic god rays, they really add a lot of ambiance, particularly in outdoor scenes.
  • The cloth physics, they make the already awesome equipment on characters look even better.
  • The shadow resolution and filtering, both for environmental and character shadows. This is something I tried to fix in DS1 but didn't manage to without issues.
  • The water surface rendering. Water in DS1 was pretty weak.
Click to expand...

Excellent. Thanks for the write up, can't wait for next week!
 
Yep... will double dip for sure. If the game is nicely optimized I might play it on my laptop. As long as I can maintain 60 fps.
 
Durante said:
As I wrote in the article, I don't think there are any new light sources in the game. However, the shadows/lighting from the existing ones is improved, and the post-processing "lighting-related" effects (e.g. god rays) are as well.
Click to expand...

Have you found anything in the game files to indicate the lighting engine/resources shown in the previews/press stuff (prior to the "downgrade") is still present in the game, just disabled?

If so, could it be re-enabled by modders?
 
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