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[Combichristoffersen]

This thread has convinced me to purchase the game.

Good, another faithful joins the fold

 

[JohngPR]

This, I can't believe McGee signed with Popcap, and after playing Madness Return, I don't want to see Spicy Horse wasting their talents and time with Browser games or iphone crap, I just Hope this game sells well and McGee and his studio get another chance and money to do another console game.

With the high costs in development, studios closing down, and the publishers taking less chances on games that aren't considered AAA, I see that move as them trying to go where the money is.

Low cost, possibly high gain. Hopefully Alice MR sells well and they have a chance to make another retail game very soon.

 

[Risk Breaker]

Can you turn off post-processing in the console versions? I don't like it on the PC :/

 

[Krauser Kat]

Really he signed with POPCAP. Fucking Awesome. They have an almost impeccable record with tons of money. Make it accessible, make it fun.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Really he signed with POPCAP. Fucking Awesome. They have an almost impeccable record with tons of money. Make it accessible, make it fun.

But I want more Alice, not PopCap games

 

[B-Dex]

I kinda want him to go back and do Oz.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Someone said in the Shadows of the Damned thread that Kmart will have this for $35 next week.

for real?

 

[Vampire On Titus]

This, I can't believe McGee signed with Popcap, and after playing Madness Return, I don't want to see Spicy Horse wasting their talents and time with Browser games or iphone crap, I just Hope this game sells well and McGee and his studio get another chance and money to do another console game.

I agree, but I wouldn't mind more of those 2D levels on those platforms. Unfortunately if they do end up working with Popcap that obviously won't be the direction their development takes.

 

[JohngPR]

My wife is awesome. For Father's Day, she ordered the signed art book for Alice MR from their store. Can't wait till I get it.

 

[Yurt]

Ok, I found a few posts for tweaking the game on PC. I have no idea if they actually work I never tried them but I'll post them anyway

All credit goes to SA forum.

As a companion for the framerate fix, I'll go ahead and dump some UE3-specific tweaks. I'm assuming you have a decent computer. Find/change these in AliceEngine.ini file:

MinTextureDensity=0.0
IdealTextureDensity=13.0
MaxTextureDensity=55.0

Set Min to 1.0-5.0, 16.0 is good for Ideal, and anything higher than 55.0 will be fine (I wouldn't go past 70.0 though). Nicer relief effect follows

[XAudio2.XAudio2Device]
MaxChannels=32

Go ahead and change this to 64 or 96. You can go to 128 if you have an X-fi card lol

Look for [TextureStreaming], change everything below to the following:

[TextureStreaming]
PoolSize=520
HysteresisLimit=30
DropMipLevelsLimit=40
StopIncreasingLimit=30
StopStreamingLimit=12
MinFudgeFactor=0.5
FudgeFactorIncreaseRateOfChange=0.3
FudgeFactorDecreaseRateOfChange=-0.2
MinRequestedMipsToConsider=11
MinTimeToGuaranteeMinMipCount=0
MaxTimeToGuaranteeMinMipCount=0
UseTextureFileCache=TRUE

LOD stuff. Every texture is hi-res, no matter the distance

Find [SystemSettings], first off, here are some postprocessing things that you may or may not like:

MotionBlur=True
MotionBlurPause=True

If you hate motion blur (I do), go ahead and set these to false

DepthOfField=True

I don't like the DOF effect either, because whenever I stare at something, everything else doesn't get all blurry and out of focus, so change at your preference

Quality stuff:

Make sure AmbientOcclusion is set to true (it usually defaults to true if it detects a good video card). If you want to get a huge speed boost, set it to false

Set DropParticleDistortion to true

AllowD3D10 causes the game to kill itself upon startup, so leave it at false

Put SkeletalMeshLODBias and ParticleLODBias at -2.5

ShadowFilterQualityBias at 20. Why the fuck did you set it to 2147483647 McGee

MaxAnisotropy at 16

MaxMultisamples can be set at 1 to disable AA, or 2, 4, 8, 16 for that many AA samples. If you plan on forcing some crazy edge-detect AA through your video card, leave it at 1

Play around with MinShadowResolution and MaxShadowResolution. Use multiples of 2 (64, 128, 256, etc.) for both, generally something small for Min, large for Max. I'm using 128/1024 on my config

bEnableVSMShadows, bEnableBranchingPCFShadows, bAllowHardwareShadowFiltering, bEnableForegroundSelfShadowing, set all to true

Put ShadowFilterRadius at 1.500000, and ShadowDepthBias at 0.952000

And because it can't hurt, find [SystemSettingsSplitScreen2], and set bAllowWholeSceneDominantShadows to true

If you're using a mouse/keyboard, go to AliceInput.ini, set bEnableMouseSmoothing to false. No one uses ball mice anymore, stop defaulting to true Unreal

While you're there, if the camera is too close for your tastes, go to the bottom of [Engine.PlayerInput] and add these

Bindings=(Name="F9",Command="FOV 95",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)
Bindings=(Name="F10",Command="FOV 100",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)
Bindings=(Name="F12",Command="FOV 105",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)

Press F9/10/12 for a bigger FOV, see which one is nicest

And "NachoPiggy" posted this in another forum

it should be bEnableForegroundSelfShadowing, there are two of them in the ini so just enable both of them

also set these to true along the way, they give the shadows a softer filter

bEnableVSMShadows
bEnableBranchingPCFShadows
bAllowHardwareShadowFiltering
bAllowBetterModulatedShadows
bEnableForegroundShadowsOnWorld
bAllowWholeSceneDominantShadows

We need "BoobPhysics101" in this thread lol he set The Witcher 2 performance thread on fire with his tweaks.

 

[momolicious]

So do we know if this game is selling or not as much as it deserves?

K-mart still exists? $35 for which verison?

 

[Joe Molotov]

Considering how little (read: none) promotion EA did for this game, coupled with the lousy reviews, I can't imagine it's selling that great.

 

[D2M15]

It's sitting relatively pretty in the full-price Steam charts, but I'd be very surprised if it manages to do across three platforms what the original managed on just PC.

 

[Ceebs]

Maybe it's the area I am in atm but those tweaks did not seem to make much difference. I'll check again when I get to a a more visually interesting area.

 

[momolicious]

but then again, it doesnt matter how much it sells as spicy horse moved on before the game shipped lol its like american mcgee expected it to not sell good before it shipped

 

[Sagitario]

This thread has convinced me to purchase the game.

Same here!

 

[Papercuts]

I'm pretty much about to impulse buy this. Don't fail me GAF! Never played the first Alice either.

 

[disappeared]

but then again, it doesnt matter how much it sells as spicy horse moved on before the game shipped lol its like american mcgee expected it to not sell good before it shipped

I can't say I blame Spicy Horse or McGee. In this industry, a game like Alice is almost unheard of. It took a lot of balls on their behalf (and also EA's) to get this game to shelves.

But good god did it pay off.

 

[Yurt]

Maybe it's the area I am in atm but those tweaks did not seem to make much difference. I'll check again when I get to a a more visually interesting area.

My game actually started crashing now lol Maybe it's just me though.

edit

MaxSmoothedFrameRate=60
UseVsync=False

Doing this definitely smoothens the gameplay helps reduce Alice Madness Returns crash problems.

I'll try this out and let you guys know.

edit2: Sweet! but screen tearing isn't lol. Hmm, I'll set it back to default I guess.

 

[.la1n]

I can't say I blame Spicy Horse or McGee. In this industry, a game like Alice is almost unheard of. It took a lot of balls on their behalf (and also EA's) to get this game to shelves.

But good god did it pay off.

let's hope it pays off for them financially

 

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

Considering how little (read: none) promotion EA did for this game, coupled with the lousy reviews, I can't imagine it's selling that great.

Considering the lack of marketing by EA, it's doing pretty good I think. It was #1 on Steam for a while and has been in the top 3 since release. It's in the top 20 PS3 games on Amazon.com and #33 on Xbox 360. Hopefully word of mouth will give this game long legs and not let it die a horrible death like Okami.

 

[Yurt]

Considering the lack of marketing by EA, it's doing pretty good I think. It was #1 on Steam for a while and has been in the top 3 since release. It's in the top 20 PS3 games on Amazon.com and #33 on Xbox 360. Hopefully word of mouth will give this game long legs and not let it die a horrible death like Okami.

Games with good graphics have long legs on PC

It's a pure platformer, I miss that

 

[DimmuBurgerKing]

I'm pretty much about to impulse buy this. Don't fail me GAF! Never played the first Alice either.

Came to post the same thing. It sounds like this will satisfy my platforming itch, and it looks beautiful.

 

[Speedymanic]

Considering how little (read: none) promotion EA did for this game, coupled with the lousy reviews, I can't imagine it's selling that great.

13 in the UK chart with no advertising is a pretty good showing. Obviously would have been much better if they had bothered to advertise it though. :/

 

[Grisby]

Really, it has felt like ages since I've played a platformer.

This game also feels like an old PC game to me (in a good way).

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Man, the amount of quality content in this game is just... they don't make em like this anymore.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Ok I have 1 question, how in the fuck did anyone rate this a 6? Game is seriously amazing.

 

[thefil]

You guys are making me want to jump in now, but I have no time to play until the school term ends...

Maybe in September

 

[Reknoc]

Picked the game up today and it is so good, just finished off chapter 1. Art style is still excellent.

 

[frequency]

Ok I have 1 question, how in the fuck did anyone rate this a 6? Game is seriously amazing.

I suspect a lot of the lower scores come from comparisons to other modern games. This game was designed like an early to mid 2000 game. Today games are all about instant gratification and stimulation. People need to feel like they're doing something amazingly awesome every 5 minutes. That's probably why platformers in general aren't really made anymore.

The fast paced games of today are too much for me to handle. When there's numbers popping up everywhere and the game insists on telling me how awesome I am doing every 30 seconds while loud and heavy music is blasting in the background, I tend to get overwhelmed. So while this slower-paced, more laid back style of gaming is perfect for me (and many others in this thread it seems), the rest of the gaming populace (and the media) has moved on to Vegas-style in-your-face gaming. I think the reviews reflect that.

EDIT: I use the words "game" and "gaming" too much. This post sounds (reads?) silly, but I'm too lazy to fix it.

 

[disappeared]

I suspect a lot of the lower scores come from comparisons to other modern games. This game was designed like an early to mid 2000 game. Today games are all about instant gratification and stimulation. People need to feel like they're doing something amazingly awesome every 5 minutes. That's probably why platformers in general aren't really made anymore.

The fast paced games of today are too much for me to handle. When there's numbers popping up everywhere and the game insists on telling me how awesome I am doing every 30 seconds while loud and heavy music is blasting in the background, I tend to get overwhelmed. So while this slower-paced, more laid back style of gaming is perfect for me (and many others in this thread it seems), the rest of the gaming populace (and the media) has moved on to Vegas-style in-your-face gaming. I think the reviews reflect that.

It's exactly that.

Alice does indeed become challenging. I've died at least two dozen times now. Because there are instances where the game says, "No, fuck you, you're going to learn how to do this." Tricky jumps, tough enemies (sometimes in great multitudes), and secrets that are actually secret. It all comes together and offers a real reward for learning the game. Getting the hang of Alice's jump/twirl/glide system is a reward all its own. After that the platforming feels so damned good.

 

[Totobeni]

I suspect a lot of the lower scores come from comparisons to other modern games. This game was designed like an early to mid 2000 game. Today games are all about instant gratification and stimulation. People need to feel like they're doing something amazingly awesome every 5 minutes. That's probably why platformers in general aren't really made anymore.

The fast paced games of today are too much for me to handle. When there's numbers popping up everywhere and the game insists on telling me how awesome I am doing every 30 seconds while loud and heavy music is blasting in the background, I tend to get overwhelmed. So while this slower-paced, more laid back style of gaming is perfect for me (and many others in this thread it seems), the rest of the gaming populace (and the media) has moved on to Vegas-style in-your-face gaming. I think the reviews reflect that.

EDIT: I use the words "game" and "gaming" too much. This post sounds (reads?) silly, but I'm too lazy to fix it.

This is really sad, The old schools structure with Platforming and puzzles should be a huge positive point for Alice, because I think modern games need to change the liner super easy super scripted COD-like experience crap every one throwing at us these day, but now these "pro reviewers" are part of the problem instead of helping us and point to the publisher that this is the kind of game they should make.

 

[ezekielpacman]

I cancelled my pre-order after being burnt severely by DNF (did see that coming though), but reading these glowing impressions has convinced me to buy. Hail to the thread.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

I think there's kind of a select few genre's you can reliably get a worthwhile review for. Typically the flavor of the month, in vogue genre's. Currently FPS's and 3rd person cover based shooters. Genre's that are so popular your average reviewer is familiar enough with the mechanics to pump out a serviceable, if bland, appreciation of it's value.

Also for games that are so hard-core or niche that the only one's reviewing them (if any at all) are the hard core or niche outlets or the one or two guys per publication who are familiar enough with the mechanics for an apt critical analysis. You're odd eastern European games, deep PC strategy games and such. (Mount & Blade: Warband reviews or Shogun II and such being examples)

Then there are games that, for whatever reason, fall uncomfortably in the middle-ground that will get shafted by critics assigned to a review for a game with which they have no familiarity with the mechanics of, which itself wouldn't be a problem, if most reviewers weren't ridiculously close-minded (on average) to unfamiliar mechanics.

It happens all the time with JRPG's, a critic who is wildly out of touch with the genre will same some ignorant shit that basically amounts to "Random battles?!?! PFFFT" or "This game is turn/command based! Boring!"

It is, however, surprising. Makes me really feel sad that 3D platformers have fallen so out of popular favor this generation. A genre I love, that an entry this good into that genre can be so widely misunderstood.

Props to Spicy Horse for having the balls to take a risk (god it feels weird regarding a 3D platformer as a risk) in this shooter laden gaming landscape.

 

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

Can you turn off post-processing in the console versions? I don't like it on the PC :/

You really want to leave this ON or you'll be missing out on a lot of great effects. Here is an easy way to see the difference:

Load up chapter 2 with post processing off and look at the ground textures. Walk around for a bit. It doesn't even look like you're under water anymore.

Load up chapter 2 with post processing on and look at the ground textures and walk about a bit again. Notice the difference?

 

[BackwardsSuggestions]

On Chapter 4 now. It looks beautiful but it's starting to drag a bit now.

 

[FateBreaker]

I can't say I blame Spicy Horse or McGee. In this industry, a game like Alice is almost unheard of. It took a lot of balls on their behalf (and also EA's) to get this game to shelves.

But good god did it pay off.

How did it pay off?

 

[Grisby]

Gonna buy the DLC. I love outfits.

Thanks god I'm not into Street Fighter or Team Fortress that much.

 

[Corky]

Are there DLC for pc-version?

 

[disappeared]

How did it pay off?

By being a great game!

 

[Yurt]

Gonna buy the DLC. I love outfits.

Wait man, you can actually get them for free by simply editing one word in some file.
edit well, obviously if you're playing the PC version ?

There you go. It was on page 16

1. Go to where you installed AMR.
2. Enter the "Alice Madness Returns" folder, then "Game", then "Alice2", then "AliceGame", and then finally the "Config" folder.
3. Open the DefaultEngine. ini file in notepad or textpad or whatever means you use to open such files (I simply did right-click -> Edit on Win7).
4. Scroll down to the very bottom and you'll see this:

[AliceGame. AliceGameEngine]
Alice1Path=. . \. . \. . \Alice1\bin
GIsSpecialPCEdition=FALSE

5. Change "FALSE" to "TRUE"

6. Save the newly editted . ini and load Alice. You'll see the option to play AMA (but it won't work, it'll just force-close the game) and, when you go to the [equip] menu, you can select the DLC dresses and weapons (I had to use the arrow keys on the keyboard to switch dresses and weapons, but maybe I just wasn't clicking those arrows correctly and therefore I fail).

 

[Anticitizen One]

On Chapter 4 now. It looks beautiful but it's starting to drag a bit now.

Really that's when the game started picking up for me

 

[Nishastra]

Is it even possible to buy the DLC dresses on PC now that the "complete collection" is gone?

I looked for a way when I got the game, but didn't find one.

 

[Hyuga]

Bought the game. Texture are "not the best", but who gives a damn? Game makes fun and the art style is great, too.
Buy it, people. Good game

 

[Grisby]

Thanks Yurt, I saw that earlier. Alas, I am on 360.

 

[bill.cosby]

After seeing the Giant Bomb quick look and review, then a stream on jtv, and now this thread - i'm gonna jump in on pc. this game looks too good!

 

[Ken]

Is it even possible to buy the DLC dresses on PC now that the "complete collection" is gone?

I looked for a way when I got the game, but didn't find one.

It's not buying the DLC dresses, but Yurt's post a post before yours has details on how to get them for free on the PC.

 

[Carnby]

Sorry Gaf, but I think you may have hyped this game a bit more than it deserves. It really does play like a game from 2003, and for all the wrong reasons. The complete lack of turn around animation for Alice, lots of pop ups, many invisible walls, and simple gameplay make this a game thats is carried by its art style and not it's refined game play.

 

[Nishastra]

It's not buying the DLC dresses, but Yurt's post a post before yours has details on how to get them for free on the PC.

Yes, I know. That's my point

I was curious if it was possible to buy them. It'd be kinda shitty considering every copy of the game comes with all the files already, but so far as I can tell there's not even a system in place to make it possible

 

[Yurt]

Sorry Gaf, but I think you may have hyped this game a bit more than it deserves. It really does play like a game from 2003, and for all the wrong reasons. The complete lack of turn around animation for Alice, lots of pop ups, many invisible walls, and simple gameplay make this a game thats is carried by its art style and not it's refined game play.

Wow, I'm glad I don't care about all of this minor stuff =/ invisible walls in a platformer, color me shocked :lol. An old school platformer is exactly what this game is, and that's why everyone in this thread is loving it.