Exclusive Invitation for an Xbox One Alpha Trial [Titanfall]
- Thread starter Mononoke
- Start date
I sit about 7 feet away from a 52 inch LED TV. I don't think that would really matter. What data center are you playing on? I'm on the central data server with anywhere from a 30ms to 65ms ping depending on time of day.
Garrett 2U
Member
Textures in Alpha are 25% of retail. Don't worry, you're getting 4x more.
Ah maybe. *shrugs*
I'm also sitting a lot closer to my TV right now, compared to across the room (like a living room set up). So maybe my perspective isn't the best to be given out. But I will say, I think the game is rough enough, that I'm surprised anyone would think it looks great.
Game must not have much AA at all, I'm seeing them on a 27 inch!!!
I'm West US (22ms) average.
So it's pretty low. And like I said, my connection is really good. I only mentioned the distance, because some of the smaller stutters I notice, are really tiny (I notice them when I'm just sprinting around a level), and aren't as obvious. But I don't know.
I guess people will see what I'm talking about in footage, if it's really there. Maybe there is just something going on, on my end. I'll stop talking about it, because I haven't seen enough people saying they are having the same experience, to tell people it's a norm.
Clarkus Darkus
Member
I think they may be improved on final release, I was more noticing the gameplay and it really is COD with mechs.....No other game is similar too it other than COD....the vertical jump is just replacing the box's under windows in cod, Design looks the same. Quick twitch kills other than the MECHS. Not a bad thing to some but im the type that got bored of playing COD after a few weeks.
Unless there is depth and longevity too its gamesmodes then I really don't see the Hype this is gaining.
3rdamention
Member
I know they did this to keep the file size down, I understand that. However, it seems like a strange decision considering this is the first time anyone has seen this game running on an Xbox One, and they decide to cut the textures that much. I do not see how cutting the texture size, to make the file size smaller (and get people playing it quicker), yet make the game look worse, would be a better decision than to release the game with the full textures, yet make it take a bit longer to download the Alpha. Look how many people in these threads still do not understand that the game will look much better than this, they continue to come into these threads complaining about how it looks. It has continued all weekend, and even at the top of this page
I wonder if that decision will do more bad than good, at least for people that do not follow twitter and have no idea that the textures were cut. Many of the players probably got the email about the Alpha, signed up, and are playing it, but not following message boards and twitter feeds to be informed of the texture cut.
Or, people that are watching leaked videos on Youtube may be turned off, thinking the game doesn't look that good. Remember, this is a Game on a Microsoft console, the company that assumed everyone had high speed Internet connections and the like, thus originally making the console a online only console (and the whole "Why would you live there blah blah blah by Mr. Orth). If they really felt that, why do they care about the size of the Alpha download?
I know Respawn said they wanted to get it into the hands of fans as quick as possible, but the original file size they posted on Twitter(they later corrected the tweet with a smaller file size, saying they wanted to get it into fans hands as quick as possible) wasn't that much bigger than the file size they posted later (the size it is now).
Yeah it was suggest by some folks, that the AI is made the way they are, so that you can feel like you did good, even if you have had a bad game (or are a sucky player).
Garrett 2U
Member
I think they are supposed to be fodder to farm down your time until TitanFall, targets for AI Titans, and anti-Titan units.
Not really supposed to hurt pilots..
Syphon Filter
Member
Who cares about feeling you did good,just play and have fun.
Steelyuhas
Member
That's why it's a closed alpha with participants under an NDA.
Chobel
Member
Because they didn't do this to make the download size smaller. At least that what I believe.
They did this because they needed to ship a good performing alpha. Bigger texture means that GPU will need to use higher bandwidth and it will have more cache misses, all this means the game should perform worse if Respawn increased the texture resolution in this alpha.
Not saying the game will not perform better at release, and I'm not saying this is the latest build of the game. All I'm saying that they didn't do this to make the file size smaller.
EDIT: Any one is more than welcome to correct me if I'm wrong.
BruiserBear
Banned
If someone were playing on a 720p tv it would look less jaggy.....
Don't release it. It's really not worth the effort or trouble. People will find out soon enough if there are FPS issues and if there aren't, then they got rid of the kinks.
Actually just edited my post to say I wasn't. Not worth the hassle, plus because it wasn't a direct feed grab (and youtube's compression), the quality was too abysmal to do it justice. Plus, not worth the hassle of the NDA stuff etc. As you said, if the issue remains in the final build, people will see it.
And if it's not in the final build, then who cares that it was in the Alpha Test.
Chobel
Member
Good call.
Garrett 2U
Member
There's that.
Or they just made the texture resolution 25% to keep the size of the build small for their closed, NDA restricted, alpha network test.
You might want to post it on the alpha build forum though or ask one of the devs on that forum if it's okay to send the video directly to them. That way the developer is aware of the issue.
Chobel
Member
Unless they're sending textures over the network when you're playing (nobody does that), then the texture resolution shouldn't have anything to do with network testing.
It'll be just a performance thing
But if it's an old build that hasn't finished being optimised for framerate or whatever, then a quick drop in texture quality is a very easy way to ensure the framerate keeps close to where they expect it to be.
If they just need to test how much data is flying between servers in an average game in real world use, then it really doesn't matter how the game looks, but they need to ensure that players are playing the the same way they will be on the retail code.
Garrett 2U
Member
Dude, you misunderstood me.
The point of this alpha is to test their network infrastructure, not the gameplay or the engine.
And it's fine if the graphics aren't 100%, as it's a closed test under NDA for no pics/vids/etc.
Therefore, I'm sure they'd rather cut the texture resolution to 25% and keep the download size under 4GB and the graphics serviceable, than have 100% resolution textures and a download size 2+ times larger.
BruiserBear
Banned
The far more likely explanation for the textures is they had to have them how they are to keep the framerate up. That build might be a couple months old.
They now have the engine better optimized, and they know the final build will run fine with the better textures included.
Chobel
Member
I know all that, but even if they have the download less 4GB with 100% texture they'll still make the alpha with 25% textures. 100% textures will make the this alpha perform worse than it's now.
So their primary reason to do this isn't the file size but the game performance.
DragonSworne
Banned
You don't send textures across the network when playing online games...
I'm sure it's been answered/asked already but -- is there a way to turn off the constant prompts from your "handler" saying there's "X seconds left for your Titan"?
That got annoying just from watching videos, I can't imagine how bad it would be after a week. Surely we can turn it off, right?
That got annoying just from watching videos, I can't imagine how bad it would be after a week. Surely we can turn it off, right?
Stupid question. But why would they not just use the final build for the Alpha Test? I mean, it was only a couple maps (not the whole thing). Would it really give too much away? Is there a technical reason they wouldn't use the final build to test out online infrastructure? I know using an older build and lowering texture quality is to bring it closer to how it will run with the final build. But why even do that in the first place?
Nope. At least not in the Alpha Test. The options given in the menu are very limited. There is an option for..."Automatic Sprint". Where you are always sprinting no matter what. Kind of strange.
...huh.
Well, there's one piece of feedback, Respawn, even if you are not looking for it -- please, please let us turn it off in the full game!
DragonSworne
Banned
Ah okay, fair enough!
To be fair, I don't know how limited the Option menu is in the Alpha Test. I imagine it's very limited, as it doesn't seem like a complete menu. But I'm just guessing here. I edited in my last post, but they give us an option for "Automatic Sprint", where your character is always sprinting no matter what. I found that kind of strange. But outside of that, all you have is controller options, music/video settings.
There is no option to edit in game stuff such as the people talking to you about your Titan.
BruiserBear
Banned
Unlikely, because that's how they relay critical information about what is happening.
Let's say the alpha build is a couple months old. It's been well tested, and everything performs pretty much as it should.
The newest build, the one going on discs in a few weeks, it performs better, looks better, BUT it's got more bugs.
But they want to test network stuff now. So they give you the two month old build because it's more "stable", which in the development world means it's less likely to crash or have big problems.
Anytime you're actively tweaking things, you're usually creating more bugs. So that final finished code is likely being tested internally right now, but it's not as stable as this alpha build.
DragonSworne
Banned
To be clearer, they most likely lowered texture size to test their network performance. Toning texture size will minimize the impact of rendering the graphics will have on framerate. That way, if there are any slowdown issues, it's easier to attribute it to the network code than something else.
That makes sense. I don't really care, I'm totally fine with them giving an older build (or lowering the settings) for the Alpha Test. I was just wondering logically, why they would do that. But your guys explanations make sense.
Garrett 2U
Member
Duh. That's not what I said.
Talking about the download size of the demo. Keeping that 4GB instead of 12GB, when the graphics don't really matter because the alpha is to test their network infrastructure.
No, it is about size. They would make the download size as small as possible while keeping the graphics serviceable.
I love seeing your posts on all the X1 threads. You seem to be such an expert.
Keep up the good work!
So glad the bans got lifted on here. I'm loving all of the new videos from this thread. Keep them coming please.
I find it simply mind-blowing that so many people lack the ability to think things through, and just make a bad assumption at face value. You clearly have a solid understanding of how things work. I wish EA had conducted an IQ test to determine who got the alpha...
Chobel
Member
I think this is more of a demo than an alpha. Usually to release a demo you have to do some QA and that takes time, this build could be their last build where they did QA.
EDIT: see BruiserBear comment, he did a better explanation than I did.
EL CUCO
Member
I find it simply mind-blowing that so many people lack the ability to think things through, and just make a bad assumption at face value. I wish EA had conducted an IQ test to determine who got the alpha...
I'm not sure that EA would pass an IQ test...
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Love that the titan vs titan gameplay is noticeably different from pilot vs pilot. You don't die instantly in a titan and have a chance to turn things around with abilities or fancy maneuvering.
There needs to be an option to tone down the voices tho. That NPC in the domination match was a bit annoying.
"You're near B, get in there and capture it."
1 second later
"B is being secured."
1 second later
"Enemy has taken C."
1 second later
"Hey your titan will be ready in 15 seconds."
1 second later
"Hey you're near A."
1 second later
"B is 50% secured."
1 second later
"Your titan is ready."
There needs to be an option to tone down the voices tho. That NPC in the domination match was a bit annoying.
"You're near B, get in there and capture it."
1 second later
"B is being secured."
1 second later
"Enemy has taken C."
1 second later
"Hey your titan will be ready in 15 seconds."
1 second later
"Hey you're near A."
1 second later
"B is 50% secured."
1 second later
"Your titan is ready."
I know people were talking about a lack of killstreaks. But I actually forgot, there is kind of something. If you are in your Titan, the longer you are in it, a boost becomes available to you. There is thing called "Damage Core", and when you initiate it, your Titan does an insane amount of damage. I'm not sure if there is more of these.
But I've definitely destroyed while in a Titan and gotten a Damage core boost, and destroyed even further with its increased damage.
EDIT: It's just based on a timer, not on the kills you get. So it's not really like a killstreak at all. Just figured I'd mention.
But I've definitely destroyed while in a Titan and gotten a Damage core boost, and destroyed even further with its increased damage.
EDIT: It's just based on a timer, not on the kills you get. So it's not really like a killstreak at all. Just figured I'd mention.
Love that the titan vs titan gameplay is noticeably different from pilot vs pilot. You don't die instantly in a titan and have a chance to turn things around with abilities or fancy maneuvering.
There needs to be an option to tone down the voices tho. That NPC in the domination match was a bit annoying.
"You're near B, get in there and capture it."
1 second later
"B is being secured."
1 second later
"Enemy has taken C."
1 second later
"Hey your titan will be ready in 15 seconds."
1 second later
"Hey you're near A."
1 second later
"B is 50% secured."
1 second later
"Your titan is ready."
From playing, they are somewhat helpful. When you're focused on fighting, the field aid chiming in helps set a quick goal. The countdown to having a titan keeps you from looking at the bottom right corner of the screen.
I haven't been watching videos but NPCs running around actually have conversations that you can listen in on while moving around the map. It's a nice little touch.
Titan vs Titan combat gets crazy as hell when everyone is dashing and using their vortex shield.
Chobel
Member
OK, I'll ask this question. Do you agree that using bigger texture means that the game will perform worse?
I'm sorry that you don't understand technical stuff.
Depends how Respawn work I guess. I playtested some games last year (for a big pub) and they made us play two different build that were optimised for certain levels.
The game doesn't perform bad as it is? Also the engine will have been tweaked and moved into a better state when they launch with full textures.
Garrett 2U
Member
It won't preform worse, but it'll be more intensive of course. It's engineered to run at 60fps for whatever 100% resolution is...
Chobel
Member
We're talking strictly about this alpha here.