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[FunkyMunkey]

What PC today has to offer is mostly console games in HD. Higher resolutions, AA, sharper stuff etc. That's it.

"High-Def" means resolution, and by that, 1080p. Or even higher.

What PC gaming also offers is that resolution at 60 fps, better/more AA, quality post-processing, super high resolution textures, dynamic/global lighting and illumination, post-processing, higher quality shaders, and pretty much every bell and whistle you can add. Being snarky and merely calling all of that "console games in HD" is not only subjective, but highly inaccurate.

Even through that youtube video you posted, the difference between the xbox 360 and PC looks a generation apart regarding Crysis 3.

 

[SneakyStephan]

I just cringed reading that, that's the natural progression of additional power! AA, AF, FPS, Resolution are very important things to the overall look of a game along with more render power to saturate a scene and up the effects. That is exactly what the next generations of consoles will be doing, because what else is there to do?

Agree on the first part but :
Increase polygon count and draw distance, larger levels, more physics etc.

Ports have seen a huge increase in geometry at the start of each new gen.
EA sports games are usually the most hilarious examples, fifa x suddenly has way better graphics than fifa x-1.

Looking at far cry 3 and how the world looked like a maquette shows that there's a ton of room for improvement.

There will be a jump for those aspects on pc, when next gen starts, there has been every gen.
Difference is that this time there are so many ports so there's not as many games on pc that ignore the generation jump
total war games, planetside 2 and maybe hawken are some of the few that don't look like upressed ps360 games with more effects.

Right now the games are like heavily modded older games.

 

[big_z]

just finished it. played maxed out on pc at 960p and was very smooth most of the time. overall the game looks incredible, i found myself stopping to look at stuff a number of times. it's not super long but whats there is enjoyable so i didnt feel like it was too short. the story is bad, the dialog terrible and it's never as fun as shooting koreans in the jungle but its much better than the second game.

even though this one is much more open than the second it still doesnt quite hit that sandbox like gameplay of the first. in crysis you felt like a predator hunting prey or screwing around with them. in this one you can still stealth but the feel is more "how far can i go before i set off the alarm." i still enjoyed it but the first crysis is still king of the series.

 

[Sethos]

Agree on the first part but :
Increase polygon count and draw distance, larger levels, more physics etc.

Which is why I said "saturate a scene and up the effects" which encompasses all that.

 

[-SD-]

because what else is there to do?

That is precisely my point. There's so much more to do with PC power and platform than just hires/AA etc.

What I also meant by "console games" is the nature of PC games which is very dumbed down stuff (console-y), but that's a topic for an entirely another thread.

 

[SneakyStephan]

Which is why I said "saturate a scene and up the effects" which encompasses all that.

Well I mean meaningful geometry changes that affect the design of the game.
bf1942 wouldn't have been possible on ps2 (and would have never happened had EA been only making ports back then) , planetside 2 isn't possible on ps3 , rollcage wouldn't have been possible on a sega 32x, splinter cell wouldn't have been possible on psx/n64, portal 2 would never have been possible on ps2.

It'll be nice to move away from the limited scope/gameplay of current gen games.


crysis 3 feels like a halfway in between gens game, probably due to the hilarious(ly sad) agressive LOD pop in and -scaling on the consoles
Crysis 1 never survived the transition to consoles as they had to cut the vtol level alltogether;

The fancier the graphics got in multiplatform games the closer they got to tech demo scale.


Maybe with better hardware and some gpgpu we'll get a worthy new waveracer game with awesome waves, or a multiplayer version of just cause 2 (that works properly jc2 was one big lod and persistance + streaming hack hence why mp still doesn't work right even with the modders working on it).
If skyrim wasn't designed for ps360 then they wouldn't have had to instance EVERY single house and cave.

 

[SneakyStephan]

not sure how pressing edit caused a double post, my bad

 

[Sethos]

That is precisely my point. There's so much more to do with PC power and platform than just hires/AA etc.

What I also meant by "console games" is the nature of PC games which is very dumbed down stuff (console-y), but that's a topic for an entirely another thread.

No, tell me what there is to do which hasn't to do with developer decisions but to use the power? Crysis 3 is an extremely demanding game and one of the best looking games available on PC BECAUSE of all the extra additions the power overhead allows. The genre that sees most exclusives on PCs is the simulation genre which uses all the power and then some to render vast maps where 128 players can battle it out on land, sea and air. We have some complex, huge simulations. We have a lot of great RTS games that look simply stunning, where you can zoom down and see detail that not some FPS games don't even manage to do, plus we enjoy the benefits of KB/M.

People who buy PC games WANT higher framerates, WANT better IQ because it's not just something you brush off, they are incredibly important aspects to a game to make it look fantastic. Playing an average looking game with pristine IQ is a sight to behold. What it sounds to me like, you are comparing a MULTIPLATFORM game and wondering why the PC version isn't an entirely different game.

The PC power IS being put to use, good use and exclusive games show that.

 

[dark10x]

Even through that youtube video you posted, the difference between the xbox 360 and PC looks a generation apart regarding Crysis 3.

Am I the only one that remember what ports USED to be like? Claiming they look a generation apart comes off as ridiculous hyperbole.

 

[Jackpot]

The 7 Wonders of Crysis 3

1 City. 7 Wonders. Explore a futuristic, urban rainforest set in New York City with 7 unique, sandbox environments.

Did that actually happen in the game?

Also did anyone actually recognise any part of New York in the game? Crysis 2 they show you round Wall Street, Grand Central, that church, Times Square but I can't really remember anything from C3 except burned out buildings. Did I miss anything apart from the Statue of Liberty's head?

 

[SneakyStephan]

Playing an average looking game with pristine IQ is a sight to behold. What it sounds to me like, you are comparing a MULTIPLATFORM game and wondering why the PC version isn't an entirely different game.

The PC power IS being put to use, good use and exclusive games show that.

Heh, this is why I prefer portal 2 over crysis 3, at least I can run portal 2 at a locked 85 hz with 8x msaa and enjoy my pristine image quality and lack of fourth wall breaking artifacts and glitches.

My pc isn't nearly fast enough to run crysis 3 with 4x msaa at 60+ fps even on medium settings (I usually turn down settings in all my games until I get near a locked 75 fps) and the awful awful AWFUL scaling of deferred rendering engines when MSAA or higher resolutions are used means it's not an option for most people to play these games with decent image quality.

I played through mass effect 2 at 30-40 fps with 2x SSAA because I hated the jaggies and shimmering so much.

I agree that people who pretend image quality and framerate don't matter are being disingenuous and silly, I miss having 60 fps locked games with NO tearing during the ps2 era so much. (on consoles)
60 fps (+-20) is a must for responsive gameplay in many genres and image quality helps visibility and helps sustain the illusion of being in another (virtual) world.

MULTIPLATFORM game and wondering why the PC version isn't an entirely different game.

That is what I was trying to say before.
Image quality and framerate are (my) priority but that extra power can also be put to use in exclusives and I look forward to next gen ports making use of it.
I can always lower settings myself to maintain whatever framerate and IQ I want, I miss having that choice, where's the time when every new pc game had 2 years worth of future proofing in its settings.

 

[ResidentDante]

Any 360 owners that wish to play the original Crysis on their console?

I already own Crysis 1 on Xbox Live and received a code for it with my Crysis 3 pre-order.

Send me a PM if you have a cool download code in exchange

 

[dark10x]

I agree that people who pretend image quality and framerate don't matter are being disingenuous and silly

Of course they matter but if you're only happy with SSAA then I'll argue that you're expecting too much. When games ported from next-generation consoles start hitting the PC you sure as hell won't be able to achieve that kind of image quality at a smooth framerate so you should probably stop expecting it.

SSAA is great when you have a low overhead but as more demanding games start becoming the norm once again you're going to have to make sacrifices.

 

[KKRT00]

Agree on the first part but :
Increase polygon count and draw distance, larger levels, more physics etc.

But thats exactly what Crysis 3 is doing, not only that but also much more effects and details like pixel accurate pom, caustics, volumetric cloud shadows, particles physics [which are better than in KZ:SF or any other demo except for DD which has fluid dynamics].
Its also funny to argue that based on Crysis 3, when its only game that does things they way it does. Who would have thought that You can make such a grass on current gens? But they've been able too. Or include so much details and customization in sandbox environments, where You had Guerrilla Games explaining that they have such a limited number of guns, because they store them in memory and consoles dont allow for more without sacrificing other things and yet, Crysis 3 is able to do that [with more detailed gun models]

Do i think that CryEngine 3 is constrained by current-gen consoles and tech that scales down to something like 5770? Hell yes, but Crysis 3 is still truly next-gen game on PC that will hold up even in 3 years from now, i can guarantee that.

 

[Neuromancer]

I got to the final boss the other night and quit, I'm not going to bother finishing it. I just wasn't enjoying the game at all, and I loved both C1 and C2. I can't put my finger on exactly why but it just never grabbed me the same as either of those games. This may be my most disappointing game of the year, I was really looking forward to it.

 

[AndrewDean84xX]

I rented the PS3 version. Is it me, or does Crysis 3 look worse than Crysis 2?

 

[Neuromancer]

I rented the PS3 version. Is it me, or does Crysis 3 look worse than Crysis 2?

It's not just you. Maybe they were trying to do too much, it looks pretty messy.

 

[dark10x]

I rented the PS3 version. Is it me, or does Crysis 3 look worse than Crysis 2?

I think it looks much better but the type of environment they've created is so different that I could see someone preferring Crysis 2.

There's no question that it's technically more demanding than Crysis 2, however.

That said, I've only played it on PC so I can't say one way or another in regards to the final console versions. The MP beta looked awful on PS3, though.

 

[kitch9]

Have YOU played Crysis 1 RECENTLY?

It does still look nice but it has a LOT of rough edges. For every breathtaking vista it's possible to find numerous other rough spots which really aren't that flattering. Nearly every single moment of Crysis 3 looks phenomenal and the level of detail is so much higher than what we got in Crysis 1.


Well, Far Cry made a big impact on me in terms of visuals (especially with the patch enabling HDR lighting), but I always recognized the gameplay as poor. As much as people love to hate on Halo, it delivered a much better playing game and highlighted all of the areas where Far Cry was weak.

Also, the Trigen were introduced in Far Cry within the first few missions. 70% of the game has you fighting those awful enemies.

Crysis doesn't bring about the aliens until the last quarter of the game and the scenery shift and combat becomes so different that's its easier to ignore.


I gotta admit, they did one hell of a job on the console version of Crysis 3. In person the differences become more apparent, but it still looks incredibly detailed.

What's most surprising to me is how much better the SP looks on 360 compared to the MP beta. The beta looked absolutely awful on both consoles compared to the PC version but they've managed to include all of the missing features in the campaign.

The grass in Crysis 3 looks a bit rough IMO and there's a shit ton of it.... Which you can't hide in.

 

[dark10x]

The grass in Crysis 3 looks a bit rough IMO and there's a shit ton of it.... Which you can't hide in.

It's all fully interactive physics based grass. It's basically a grass simulation.

Crysis 1? Yeah, it uses flat geometry with a grass texture tiled around the landscape. The foliage in Crysis 3 is far more ambitious than what we saw in Crysis.

 

[U2NUMB]

I rented the PS3 version. Is it me, or does Crysis 3 look worse than Crysis 2?

I played a fair bit of it over the weekend on the 360.. I think single player looks the same to me or at least my memory of single layer. Online is where it really seems to be a step back but I think it is just the amount of crap they put in the MP levels and at some point they have to sacrifice something.

I still think it is very impressive what they are able to squeeze out of 2005 technology but playing a Crysis game on the current consoles really does expose the need for new ones.. thank goodness 2013 is here.

 

[Chance Hale]

Just got to the end of the Red Star Rising mission. I have absolutely no fucking clue what happened, although it could be my lack of sleep.

Spoiler

Rasch being part Seph and having force powers or.....something

I've honestly no clue.

 

[kitch9]

It's all fully interactive physics based grass. It's basically a grass simulation.

Crysis 1? Yeah, it uses flat geometry with a grass texture tiled around the landscape. The foliage in Crysis 3 is far more ambitious than what we saw in Crysis.

It's only my opinion and maybe I am a touch jaded but it's not really impressing me...

 

[dark10x]

It's only my opinion and maybe I am a touch jaded but it's not really impressing me...

I'd say you're pretty jaded then, to be honest. It's awesome looking grass.

 

[Jackpot]

The grass really stood out as one of the graphical improvements.

 

[kinggroin]

I'd say you're pretty jaded then, to be honest. It's awesome looking grass.

Without proper AA to handle the aliasing introduced from the sheer density of the grass, it will look like crap.

I imagine the console version running at a very low resolution in conjunction with a miniscule amount of postprocessing AA, leads to some nasty results

On an adequate PC, its breathtaking.

 

[PairOfFilthySocks]

Wow that last boss was lame and easy. Crysis 1 still has the best and toughest boss fight.

Yikes, I remember the biggest challenge of Crysis' final boss being to try to avoid glitching through the floor.

If I heard correctly, the consoles run at settings lower than the low PC settings? Does anyone know a config file for those settings? I'd like to give my two-year-old laptop a fighting chance before it admits defeat.

 

[scitek]

The foliage in Crysis 1 looks like complete shit without some kind of AA on it.

 

[Grisby]

Finished. Man, that last boss, although easy, had me fearing my Xbox was going to self implode. And the finale, it gets me excited for next gen sci fi shooters. Hell of a vista.

I liked the callback to (ending spoiler yo)

Spoiler

the Crysis 1 hill vista where Prophet is staying.

.

Can I go through the game again in a new game plus deal? Crysis 2 did that I think. Need to pick up some collectibles along the way.

 

[iNvid02]

dis game man

 

[reson8or]

Question about the ending:

Spoiler

I thought Laurence (Prophet) switched bodies in 2, so how come he's the same guy at the end?

Very confused.

 

[reson8or]

I rented the PS3 version. Is it me, or does Crysis 3 look worse than Crysis 2?

Dunno looks much improved to me, probably just my old eyes lol.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

The only disappointing thing about the grass is how choppy it looks above 30fps.

 

[dark10x]

This is a strange game indeed. I'm enjoying it but not as much as I feel like I should be.

The actual mission setups themselves are f*cking fantastic. I mean, when you stop and consider what they have you doing it's really quite impressive.

I think what is letting the experience down for me are the design of the encounters themselves and the AI. The AI continues to suffer from the same issues that have plagued previous Crysis games (completely oblivious to the cloak but extremely sensitive to the player while not using it). The fact that enemies can detect you through thick grass while it's actually more difficult for the player to see the enemies in the same situation feels kind of frustrating. The complexity of the maps almost makes it difficult to assess the situation and requires the use of the scope and tagging features.

The density of debris and foliage in Crysis 3 is actually quite a bit higher than any previous Crysis game and the AI doesn't really work with it as well as I'd like. I think that's the primary thing that is holding the game back.

That said, having replayed a couple missions, I do feel that they become a lot more fun on subsequent playthroughs. Once you understand what you need to do and have a general idea of what the enemy patterns look like you can create a better plan of attack. I think the game will ultimately grow on me.

It actually reminds me of the shift from Metal Gear Solid 2 to 3.

It's pretty silly that people were labeling Crysis 3 an expansion pack, however. It's true that the game is a bit shorter than I would have liked *BUT* what they've created here is exceptionally detailed and wholly unlike anything in the previous games.

The only disappointing thing about the grass is how choppy it looks above 30fps.

Yeah, I noticed that. Same with the rain at the beginning.

I've mostly played the game at the highest detail settings with downsampling while locking at 30 fps and it's looked incredibly consistent and beautiful. The high quality motion blur really works well at 30 fps. I've had to stick with Shaders at High, however, as well as keeping Post Processing at High (it looks broken at Very High).

 

[Dictator93]

The only disappointing thing about the grass is how choppy it looks above 30fps.

I think it actually is prgrammed, much like the water displacement, to animate at exactly half of your current FPS.

I can imagine tweaks in the future could open this up.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Question about the ending:

Spoiler

I thought Laurence (Prophet) switched bodies in 2, so how come he's the same guy at the end?

Very confused.

Ya that was rather confusing

Spoiler

I just assume he kinda transformed into some new nanosuit being since they show him cloak at the end. Also you see weird honeycomb style patterns on his face. So maybe the suit just took his human form. I did like the fact that they put him at the beach from the first game.

 

[Moff]

Spoiler

it is said somwehere in the last few hours that the suit has indeed evolved to a point where it can take any form it desires. and prophet of course chose his old body, and not alcatraz

 

[Lima]

This game is so fucking broken on the 360. I am so close to taking the disc out of the tray and snapping it in half. Then I will drive to Frankfurt and make them eat that shit.

 

[-SD-]

This game is so fucking broken on the 360.

Old, dusty and overheating console?

 

[MadOdorMachine]

Question about the ending:

Spoiler

I thought Laurence (Prophet) switched bodies in 2, so how come he's the same guy at the end?

Very confused.

Spoiler

The nanosuit can let him be what ever he wants to be. That's what was special about Prophet IIRC. His appearance was being rendered by the suit.

 

[Lima]

Old, dusty and overheating console?

Dude don't even start giving me that shit. The slim 360 is perfectly fine. Go and take a look around the internet. The game has sound dropouts, lots of them. The freezing is worse though. There are a whole bunch of people who can't see the ending because the game ALWAYS freezes after defeating the last boss.

 

[scitek]

 

[Sethos]

Rope fix, rope fix, rope fix, please let it be a rope fix.

 

[AzerPhire]

Regarding the spoilers above about the ending:

Spoiler

They explain it when Prophet is in space that the nanomachines in his suit can change to take any form. So they changed from the 'suit' look to make him look like his human self again. He still has all the powers of the suit but the suit is what is making him look human not the meat underneath.

 

[-SD-]

Dude don't even start giving me that shit. The slim 360 is perfectly fine. Go and take a look around the internet.

Why the arrogancy? I was just trying to be helpful.

 

[dark10x]

I think it actually is prgrammed, much like the water displacement, to animate at exactly half of your current FPS.

I can imagine tweaks in the future could open this up.

Not the case. When game is limited to 30 fps all of these elements display at 30 fps as well.

 

[Lima]

Why the arrogancy? I was just trying to be helpful.

No you were not. Asking me a silly question is not helpful.

 

[SniperHunter]

this game defaults to a really strange color calibration exactly when I launch it. It's so dark...I can't see anything! How do I fix this shit?

 

[Stallion Free]

Dude don't even start giving me that shit. The slim 360 is perfectly fine. Go and take a look around the internet. The game has sound dropouts, lots of them. The freezing is worse though. There are a whole bunch of people who can't see the ending because the game ALWAYS freezes after defeating the last boss.

I believe KKRT was saying that happened to him on PC too. It's like Crysis 1 all over again.

 

[dark10x]

this game defaults to a really strange color calibration exactly when I launch it. It's so dark...I can't see anything! How do I fix this shit?

It's your monitor.