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[Grief.exe]

Holy crap, why wasn't I doing this ages ago? Thanks a lot!

The funny thing is, I remember specifically recommending Xinput wrapper in a thread you were in months ago.

You probably just missed the post I guess. Everyone was recommending MotionJoy and I thought I had slipped into some kind of GAF Twilight Zone or something. Probably just attributed to ignorance.

 

[Serra]

Based Durante

 

[eot]

You know what's not part of this article, but kind of nice? The game supports some interesting combinations for remapping KB/M controls. The default setup uses double clicks and various Control and Shift combinations, which is something PC ports are often lacking.

Really? What actions does it use that for?
I didn't have any problems mapping the inputs to kb/m last time, the only problem was the mouse filtering.

 

[Grief.exe]

The original Dark Souls sold around 1.4 million copies on PC.

I wonder what kind of success this will bring now that they have removed GFWL from the equation and released an excellent port. Dark Souls II has been on top of the Steam sales charts since it was available for pre-order over a month ago. That chart does not include the thousands of copies that are being purchased away from Steam.

 

[Marvel]

Been holding out for the PC version, looks like I did the right thing.

 

[Orayn]

Really? What actions does it use that for?
I didn't have any problems mapping the inputs to kb/m last time, the only problem was the mouse filtering.

Here.

Some of these are kinda weird, but keep in mind that this is just a list of default mouse bindings. Most or all of these are probably mapped to the keyboard as well.

 

[DSix]

And here I was so sure that I was gonna wait for a sale because of the LightingGate... Damn you Durante for making me question my resolve.

 

[Durante]

Just did the battle here, that was pretty wild. And pretty.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Here.

Some of these are kinda weird, but keep in mind that this is just a list of default mouse bindings. Most or all of these are probably mapped to the keyboard as well.

Definitely seems a bit odd at first glance, but its nice to see they're trying to bring the symmetry of the console controls onto PC. Trying to navigate so many item bars on the fly was a nightmare on KB in DS1, no matter what kind of setup, double clicking and modifiers makes a lot of sense.

 

[Zeliard]

Durante, embrace power stance dual wielding.

 

[jacksepticeye]

The battle here was pretty wild.

You ain't seen nothin yet

 

[Tagyhag]

So would anyone recommend kb/m this time around or should I stick with my trusty 360 controller?

 

[Swarna]

Here.

Some of these are kinda weird, but keep in mind that this is just a list of default mouse bindings. Most or all of these are probably mapped to the keyboard as well.

So no strafing keybinds?

 

[LiK]

Just did the battle here, that was pretty wild. And pretty.

Bah, that was preschool

 

[Creamium]

Just did the battle here, that was pretty wild. And pretty

Wild? lol. Thought it was pretty tame by Souls standards

So would anyone recommend kb/m this time around or should I stick with my trusty 360 controller?

Why would you want to play this game with kb/m, even if there's support for it. Controller is the way to go

 

[Orayn]

So would anyone recommend kb/m this time around or should I stick with my trusty 360 controller?

Durante has played mostly with a controller so far, but he said the mouse controls felt like a normal PC game. It may emerge as a valid option once more people get a chance to test it out.

It'll probably come down to whether or not precision turning makes up for not having the full range of movement directions. Maybe it'll be a good "PC nunchuk" game if it works with KB/M and controller simultaneously.

 

[Durante]

So would anyone recommend kb/m this time around or should I stick with my trusty 360 controller?

I'm currently playing a melee build, so I use the controller since it's not aiming heavy. But for my "real" playthrough on my "real" steam account when the game releases I plan to go all magic all the time (my usual M.O. in RPGs) and play with mouse/kb.

 

[Stone Ocean]

Bah, that was preschool

That boss is technically bullying

 

[Durante]

Wild? lol. Thought it was pretty tame by Souls standards

Maybe I just suck at melee. I played extremely spell focused in all Souls games, and plan to do so in this one, so I thought I'd try something different pre-release.

I did beat the boss there on my first try, it just was a close call.

Why would you want to play this game with kb/m

Better aiming?

 

[1000 Branches]

Okay, so I am interested in this part specifically:

Dark Souls 2 on PC is a massively improved effort compared to its predecessor. It renders at any resolution a given system supports, its framerate varies smoothly up to 60 FPS, it performs well even on modest systems—more on that topic later—and it comes with a wealth of graphical options.

Just how 'modest' are we talking here?

 

[jacksepticeye]

So would anyone recommend kb/m this time around or should I stick with my trusty 360 controller?

Even if the kb/m controls are competent the game is naturally built around a controller anyway. I can't see kb/m ever being better for a game like this.

Better aiming?

For all the aiming that there is in the game though.Plus lock is used 90% of the time

 

[Durante]

Okay, so I am interested in this part specifically:

Just how 'modest' are we talking here?

I honestly don't know exactly. It's merely an extrapolation from the CPU/GPU usage numbers on my system at 1440p.

 

[Tain]

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.

Beast is actually an external tool used for baking lightmaps rather than something deeply integrated into an engine to handle dynamic lighting. I don't think it's terribly related to the lost vertical slice lighting.

 

[LiK]

Maybe I just suck at melee. I played extremely spell focused in all Souls games, and plan to do so in this one, so I thought I'd try something different pre-release.

I did beat the boss there on my first try, it just was a close call.


Better aiming?

K/b seems crazy to me. The game feels great with a gamepad.

 

[Artanisix]

:based durante:

 

[Stone Ocean]

Maybe I just suck at melee. I played extremely spell focused in all Souls games, and plan to do so in this one, so I thought I'd try something different pre-release.

I did beat the boss there on my first try, it just was a close call.

That fight is even easier with ranged spells lol

 

[Rhaknar]

something something TGS build something something #youlied

anyway, Im so hyped for this game, I cant enjoy any other game atm, which sucks, and Im probably overhyping myself, but what can you do

 

[Orayn]

Beast is actually an external tool used for baking lightmaps rather than something deeply integrated into an engine to handle dynamic lighting. I don't think it's terribly related to the lost vertical slice lighting.

You're probably right, I was just hoping that the involvement of known software might give modders a back door into certain things.

So no strafing keybinds?

It has them, that screen is just a partial list of things that are bound to the mouse by default.

I'm guessing it's like the first game in that you only "strafe" when you lock onto an enemy. The default movement is probably like other 3rd person PC games that don't use an over the shoulder camera, like Batman Arkham or Assassin's Creed.

 

[EasyMode]

Just did the battle here, that was pretty wild. And pretty.

Durante, did you lower the in-game brightness, or are you adjusting the gamma in post? Your shots have a nice contrast to them. Most of the others I've seen look washed out in comparison.

 

[Zeth]

I'm getting so hyped now. Glad I haven't been driving myself crazy for months like some folks - it makes it much easier to be happy about the whole thing. I think it'll be difficult to make any kind of argument against DS2 being a vastly superior piece of software compared to the first.

 

[Swarna]

Even if the kb/m controls are competent the game is naturally built around a controller anyway. I can't see kb/m ever being better for a game like this.



For all the aiming that there is in the game though.

It depends entirely on how it's been implemented but you can bet your life on it that if the mouse allows for superior precision people using it in PVP will have the advantage over controller-users who are locked into static camera control for the most part.

 

[Durante]

Beast is actually an external tool used for baking lightmaps rather than something deeply integrated into an engine to handle dynamic lighting. I don't think it's terribly related to the lost vertical slice lighting.

By the way, the baked environment lightmaps in this one are much higher quality and better filtered than in DS1 (and also more common).

Durante, did you lower the in-game brightness, or are you adjusting the gamma in post? Your shots have a nice contrast to them. Most of the others I've seen look washed out in comparison.

All the screenshots are exactly like I play the game (no image editing I mean), but they are post-processed.

 

[jacksepticeye]

K/b seems crazy to me. The game feels great with a gamepad.

Not to mention trying to traverse small ledges and co-ordinate jumps to even smaller ledges seems like a nightmare using WASD

It depends entirely on how it's been implemented but you can bet your life on it that if the mouse allows for superior precision people using it in PVP will have the advantage over controller-users who are locked into static camera control for the most part.

Yeah I never thought of the PvP end being a PvE player exclusively

 

[Sanctuary]

One way or another it was bound to look good. It's still baffling though why all of the sconces were left in if the PC version was the "main platform" this time. Because they have no reason to exist with the lightning change, and it definitely wasn't changed on the PC for performance issues.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

The original Dark Souls sold around 1.4 million copies on PC.

I wonder what kind of success this will bring now that they have removed GFWL from the equation and released an excellent port. Dark Souls II has been on top of the Steam sales charts since it was available for pre-order over a month ago. That chart does not include the thousands of copies that are being purchased away from Steam.

Ah, but you're forgetting all the passionate Souls fans who are boycotting From Software forever and ever because of the misleading PR campaign. Based on this data and my rigorous market analysis, I estimate DS2 PC will sell ~8 copies.

 

[Corto]

All praise the Modgod! It would be cool if From named a boss Modgod hehehe

 

[MMBosstones86]

something something TGS build something something #youlied

anyway, Im so hyped for this game, I cant enjoy any other game atm, which sucks, and Im probably overhyping myself, but what can you do

I actually just went and watch the TGS footage again. The whole thing looks realllly good, but damn is it dark most of the time.

 

[Persona7]

This will be glorious.

 

[Orayn]

It depends entirely on how it's been implemented but you can bet your life on it that if the mouse allows for superior precision people using it in PVP will have the advantage over controller-users who are locked into static camera control for the most part.

Yeah, mouse control would only be a big advantage if the game had some kind of alternate camera mode that let you freely aim spells and melee weapons.

 

[angular graphics]

Nice, glad they delivered.

 

[Rhaknar]

I actually just went and watch the TGS footage again. The whole thing looks realllly good, but damn is it dark most of the time.

hopefully uou realise I was being sarcastic :/

 

[SargerusBR]

One way or another it was bound to look good. It's still baffling though why all of the sconces were left in if the PC version was the "main platform" this time. Because they have no reason to exist with the lightning change, and it definitely wasn't changed on the PC for performance issues.

Someone said in another thread that Japanese developers don't like to do drastic different versions of the same game, so that could be it.

 

[eot]

Here.

Some of these are kinda weird, but keep in mind that this is just a list of default mouse bindings. Most or all of these are probably mapped to the keyboard as well.

That's neat, I like how much something as simple as default control mappings says about them as developers. I might give it a go just for fun.

Why would you want to play this game with kb/m, even if there's support for it. Controller is the way to go

You don't have to give up camera control when doing certain actions, not that it really matters. I think the kb/m problems got blown out of proportion because you needed a fix for the mouse input, but it feels like a lost cause trying to convince anyone of that. In all honesty I don't think DkS is a very demanding game input wise.

 

[Dictator93]

I guess it is sad that there is no 120fps (unless there is a durante mod )

Look forward to seeing these "game specific tweaks" durante. Great article!

 

[Astral/H3X]

SOOOO glad the controls look like they will be less awful, though I'd change the right/left mouse buttons. But then, I can just say my character is left handed in this one, can't I?

EDIT: Someone give me a run down on how important it is which weapon is in which hand. If I put my shield in my right hand, do I still have all blocking functions? I know how it was in DS1, but I've heard some of this was changed in DS2.

 

[Easy_D]

Sorry, I didn't have an opportunity to test that.

Someone earlier in the thread asked for the worst screenshot (why would you do that ), well this is the worst one I took:

Somehow you managed to make even that spot look good

 

[Daingurse]

Sounds like my little brother should be fine with the 6950 in his rig. Already preordered it for him, jumped on that GMG deal.

 

[Orayn]

SOOOO glad the controls look like they will be less awful, though I'd change the right/left mouse buttons. But then, I can just say my character is left handed in this one, can't I?

EDIT: Someone give me a run down on how important it is which weapon is in which hand. If I put my shield in my right hand, do I still have all blocking functions? I know how it was in DS1, but I've heard some of this was changed in DS2.

Your character is still right handed like in Dark Souls, though they did add the options of power stance and wielding your left-hand weapon in two hands by holding down the "wield in two hands" button. Power stance replaces off-hand attacks with ones that use both weapons, but it has no blocking and you can only do it with compatible weapons.

 

[Durante]

Glowing green looks a bit silly in screenshots, and I think the old knight armor set is pretty ugly (I have the helm and leggins), but considering my current struggle, functionality is more important than prettiness in terms of equipment

 

[Easy_D]

Anyway, regarding the "Modest computer" stuff. If my rig can run DS1 with a nice amount of downsampling, is it a given that I'll be able to run this at 30 locked, at the very least? My HD5870 is getting really old she is, my C2D E8500 even more so.