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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves | The Official Thread

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Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
54-46! said:
I don't see what's so impressive about it, a ton of (mostly pc) games have been doing it prior to this one.

A lot of people tend to be ignorant and forgetful of PC in console threads, you need to cut them some slack :lol
 
54-46! said:
I don't see what's so impressive about it, a ton of (mostly pc) games have been doing it prior to this one.

grif1020 said:
A lot of people tend to be ignorant and forgetful of PC in console threads, you need to cut them some slack :lol

Definitely. You got to remember man that consoles are still chasing a standard set by PC's years ago.
 

LaneDS

Member
Yeah, the replays are definitely "Quake-style" for lack of a better term. The ease of playing things back and the ability to screw with the visual settings is very nice, so if anything Naughty Dog should be commended on creating such a user friendly replay system, even if it's not exactly a feature new to gaming.
 

VegaShinra

Junior Member
Evan Wells Interview on Uncharted 2, Uncharted PSP, and Jak and Daxter PS3

1. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was said to only use 30% of the power of the PS3. It’s been reported that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is using everything PS3 has to offer. Would you still call that a fair assessment, or do you feel you could squeeze even more out of the hardware?

Evan Wells: This has been a very confusing point for a lot of people. What we said was the Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was using only 30% of the Cell processor, not 30% of the power of the PS3. There are 6 SPU’s on the Cell and it takes quite a bit of effort to keep them all busy 100% of the time. With the first Uncharted, we were only able to keep them from being idle, about 1/3 of the time. So when we started production on Uncharted 2, our programmers dove in and started moving more and more of our systems onto the SPU’s and by the end of the project we were able to hit 100% usage. So all that means is that there is no idle time, but it does not mean that we can’t be more optimized with what we’re doing. We feel very confident that we will find ways to continue to squeeze additional performance out of the PS3 on future projects.

2. After releasing two entries of the series on the PS3, what are the chances we’ll see a third installment before this generation comes to a close? By now, you are familiar with the hardware and know your limitations. Knowing the hardware so well now, do you feel like you should develop another entry before this generation comes to a close?

EW: You make it sound like this generation is close to being over! Naughty Dog has definitely become comfortable with the PS3 and we’re very familiar with the hardware. There’s still a lot that can be done with it and I’m sure Uncharted 2 isn’t the last you’ll see of Nathan Drake. What exactly we’ll do next, and the specific time frame is something we aren’t ready to discuss. However, what I can say is that we will be doing another game for this generation of hardware.

3. You chose not to include local co-op due to having to compromise the visuals of the single player. Do you still believe this was the best decision? If we see another Uncharted title land on the PS3, is there a chance we may see the inclusion of local co-op appear in the game?

EW: The decision to not include split screen for Uncharted 2’s multi-player was made for a variety of reasons many of which are technical. Given that we were already adding multiplayer, co-op, cinema mode and a much larger single player adventure to what we had offered in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune it was a feature that we decided that we just couldn’t include this time. I know that it’s a very desirable feature and we’ll definitely look into adding support for it in our engine for future games.


4. The multiplayer has been very well received. It could very well become the most played online PS3 game. Many are comparing it to Gears of War and Call of Duty. Did you expect to have this much success when you decided to throw in a multiplayer mode?

EW: You never know how something is going to be received until you put it out there, but knew we wanted to create a multiplayer mode that lived up to the expectation of quality that we’d set up for ourselves with the single player mode. It wasn’t something that we threw in for the sake of a bullet point on the back of the box. When we first experimented with multiplayer, we realized that we had something genuinely unique. Most shooters, whether first or third person, have very limited traversal mechanics and are often restricted to a relatively flat plane. With Drake’s move set, that allows him to jump and climb and really take advantage of a 3D space, we knew that we had something that could be a lot of fun and stand out from other multiplayer games.

5. Staying on the topic of the multiplayer, the PlayStation online community has been relatively weak in terms of overall communication and in options for being able to play with friends. Uncharted 2 seems to make the whole process much simpler and in my experience online, everyone is really talkative and excited about playing an online match. Was it your goal to take the PlayStation online community to the next level?

EW: We wanted to add as many features as possible to foster a strong online community which is why we spent as much time as we did on our Party System. We made it easy to check your friends list and invite whoever might be online to your party. From there you can either use Matchmaking to find other people to play with or start a Custom Game. And in Matchmaking, if you enjoyed who you just played a game with, you can choose to Party Up with them so you can continue to play with people you know you’re having a good time with. Co-op was also included to reach the part of the community that might like to play with other people, but doesn’t like the pressure of the competitive modes. Building community was also behind the decision to include Cinema mode where you can replay your matches and watch them from any angle. In this mode you can take screenshots to post online, or even upload the entire match so that you can share it with your friends. And we also completely revamped our website so players can go to Naughtydog.com to check their online statistics and even review their match history. So from the beginning it was our intent to make this a fully fleshed out online experience.

6. Unfortunately, gamers will sometimes quit a game or their connection may drop and they’ll leave their team one player down. Will we see a patch or option made available in the future that’ll allow for a new player to join the session? If not a new human player, perhaps a computer bot will replace the dropped player?

EW: We definitely see players quitting as an issue. What we intend to do is to address as many of the issues which cause players to drop from a game as possible. We’re going to adjust the playlist structure to offer more choices for the types of modes you can search for, so people won’t drop from a game when they’re stuck playing a mode they don’t want to play. We’re also going to adjust the win conditions dynamically as the number of players adjusts to put the goal at a more attainable level for both teams. Finally we’re going to implement a penalty for frequent quitting, so players won’t do it without thinking twice.


7. This title seems to fit the category for downloadable content perfectly. Do you plan to offer new maps and other content via DLC to keep the multiplayer feeling fresh? Could we see some minor content added to the single player campaign as well, maybe a new chapter and location to explore?

EW: Naughty Dog absolutely will be supporting Uncharted 2 with DLC. Exactly what and when has not been announced, but it will be multiplayer focused.


8. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is regarded as one of the best releases this generation by the fans. This puts a lot of pressure on you to top your first entry. Did you at anytime feel like you wouldn’t be able to deliver to the fans expectations or hype?

EW: That’s always a big concern of ours and one that we thought about throughout the development of Uncharted 2. We want to stay true to the franchise and deliver everything that excited players about the first game while still keeping it fresh and original enough that we didn’t end up repeating all the same notes. It’s certainly not an easy task and one that sequels can easily fail on. So we without a doubt felt the pressure but I feel confident that we made a game that will please both our fans and new players to the franchise.

9. The Jak and Daxter series is one of your most popular creations. It’s now seeing a full PSP release with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier later this fall. Would you like see Nate Drake appear on the PSP in the future with his own portable entry?

EW: Of course! We’d love to see Uncharted grow beyond the PS3. It would be interesting to see what sort of changes to the design one would make for a portable system. But right now Naughty Dog is purely focused on PS3 development so we can’t promise anything from us in the near future.

10. Finally, will we see Naughty Dog take the reigns back with the Jak and Daxter franchise and craft a brand new Jak and Daxter adventure for the PS3? I’m sure you’re well aware that the fans want to see it happen. If you had to give us a percentage of it happening, what would you say the chances are? Above 50%?

EW: I think you know I can’t answer that question. But I will say that all of us here love the Jak and Daxter franchise and would love to play in the universe again. Right now most of the studio is on a much deserved vacation and with all of the hard work that went into finishing Uncharted 2, we haven’t even decided what we’ll be working on when they get back.

Good to see they are dedicated to the multiplayer aspect of the game.
 

Zeliard

Member
lol @ you guys. It's hugely impressive for a console game that looks like Uncharted to be doing that. That's my whole point.

Quakeworld was doing it with .mvd files very early on in the decade, and is also far superior to Uncharted or any console game that has ever been made, but that's besides the point.
 

54-46!

Member
Zeliard said:
lol @ you guys. It's hugely impressive for a console game that looks like Uncharted to be doing that. That's my whole point.

Quakeworld was doing it with .mvd files very early on in the decade, and is also far superior to Uncharted or any console game that has ever been made, but that's besides the point.
"Looks" (graphics) have nothing do with it, it records all of the gameplay and replays it.
 

LaneDS

Member
Awesome, that's the first mention I've heard of multiplayer DLC and concrete plans to patch and balance the game even further. Very exciting news.
 

Chamber

love on your sleeve
We’re going to adjust the playlist structure to offer more choices for the types of modes you can search for, so people won’t drop from a game when they’re stuck playing a mode they don’t want to play.
Thank God. Most of the quitting seems to happen right as the match starts and I'm pretty sure this is the main reason. I don't blame people at all for quitting out of undesirable match types.
 

A.R.K

Member
Played last night with some buddies and it was awesome. The party system is soooo good (*looks at GG and KZ2 :/*). ND has done an amazing job with MP considering the first game had no MP and this is their first effort. The net code is solid and I have seen no lag! BRAVO! I hope from here on all PS3 games would support a party system like this or better.

Some questions:

Does matchmaking always fills up 10 player slots before starting the match? What if it can't 10 players does it start with lower number of players (like 6 or 8 etc)? My experience is that it keeps on searching for 10 players and sometimes it takes a while. Can it be limited when creating a custom game?

Is there a free for all death match mode? Seriously I hope ND adds it with a patch if its not there

I would also love to see something like halo's multi team death matches 2vs2vs2 modes.

Will there be more co-op maps/modes in full release?
 

Drame

Member
Nice to hear that DLC is coming.

Tomorrow will be a good day.

Day off, Uncharted 2 MP for the very first time, nothing can go wrong with that.
 
I wish every game had harsh penalties for mid-match quitting. I think a timeout period would be best. If you quit, you can't join a match again for some amount of time. The more you quit, the longer that period would become. This would punish those who simply quit because they are losing and it wouldn't punish those that have to quit because they have something more important to do.

As for connection issues, if you're constantly losing internet connection, it's my opinion that you should either work your shit out or quit playing online multiplayer. For the majority of people, disconnects are rare and a short time out after an occasion internet issue is a inconvenience I'm willing to deal with, if it ultimately prevents rage quitting.
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
OK, all we need now is CUSTOM SOUNDTRACK SUPPORT. I would rather have that over some new DLC maps.
 

Zeliard

Member
54-46! said:
"Looks" (graphics) have nothing do with it, it records all of the gameplay and replays it.

Recording still impacts performance to some degree (as do obviously visuals), even when doing nothing more than saving player inputs and location data and rendering everything else (if that's what Uncharted 2 is doing). With a game that must already tax the system like Uncharted 2, it's impressive that they still managed to fit in match recording in multiplayer on top of vsync and a locked framerate.
 
So I got into another party with TTP last night. Whenever I play with him, it's always a good game and there always seem to be allot of Euros on the other team who talk tons of trash, which is hilarious. We completely destroyed a team in DM by 20 kills, and I was picking through the footage trying to find some good gifs. I had one of my best matches ever (13k 5d) as seen here:


However, as the end I saw that TTP had a big kill streak, so I went to look.
PLEASE NOTE, the following 4 kills happened in about 12 seconds, ALSO NOTE, TTP owns you.
check this out:

notice the guy dying on the last one.

DAM!


edit: gif too big, optimizing
 

GeeDuhb

Member
Ok...seriously?...I am falling in love with this game the more I play it. Just took a look at the video replay feature, which is PHENOMENAL. The graphics as you fly around are stunning. The character models...I am just in awe. The faces look so realistic, the textures on the levels are pretty impressive, and even the small stuff like the snow falling on Ice Cave...I am speechless.


I know this is probably going to be a DUH moment, and I am sure most of you already know these...I found some cool control things that I didn't know until I started fooling around, so I am sure that there is at least one person who will find this info helpful.

When you are aiming down the sights, there are 2 things I found really cool. First off, the only control aspect that I really despise, is the fact that to change weapons, you basically have to a) stop moving to use you thumb to change on the D-pad, or b) use your left hand to switch your weapon...AWWWWWWWWKWARD. I just figured out that if you hit triangle while aiming down the sights, you can switch weapons! Really cool stuff. Second, did you know that the FAL has a reflex scope? Hit X while aiming and you can use it! You can also zoom in a little if you do it with other weapons, like the AK. I know, not that exciting, but I was really happy when I found out about these things.

Feel free to let me know if you have any other tips that might make me giddy XD
 
BobTheFork said:
TTP owns you.

I was playing Gold Rush with him yesterday, and he invited a few of his friends in the party. They all started talking in Italian non-stop and I could tell what was going on from the tone of their voices... it was brilliant. TTP also cant control his cursing hahaha!

The guy with the gattling gun comes into the map:
TTP: FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK GET AWAY FROM ME I'M GONNA RUN TO THE IDOL AND THROW IT TO THE BALCONY OH SHIT HE IS KILLING ME OH GOD FUCK YOU FUCK YOU!
Me: Holy shit... lol.

Then I died as usual haha and he came to revive me. :lol

Also, TTP is good, but Sykra is better. There, I said it. :p
 
LaneDS said:
Yeah, the replays are definitely "Quake-style" for lack of a better term. The ease of playing things back and the ability to screw with the visual settings is very nice, so if anything Naughty Dog should be commended on creating such a user friendly replay system, even if it's not exactly a feature new to gaming.
Halo 3's replay camera controls >>>>> U2's replay camera controls

In U2 when you move the camera up or down with L1 and R1 it's too jerky, it goes from a dead stop to immediate full speed, same with the camera speed-up button. The camera controls are way more natural looking with Halo 3's replay stystem.
 

neoism

Member
This thread is fucking huuge! Is the new beta really all that different from the beta a few months ago. I'm not sure if I should download it, I don't want to spoil the game too much.
 
neoism said:
This thread is fucking huuge! Is the new beta really all that different from the beta a few months ago. I'm not sure if I should download it, I don't want to spoil the game too much.
-There are no story spoilers

-The Co-op part is exactly the same, but with new difficulty settings that make it awesome and hard

-There are new MP maps

-You start out with no perks and you have to buy them with points earned during gameplay
 

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
I'm not a big shooter fan. I bought Killzone 2, found it impressive but got quickly bored.

So I don't why I like this Uncharted 2 demo so much. It is phenomenal.
 
Well, played a good amount of games with some Gaffers last night--LoudNinja, and a bunch of others. Makes a big ass difference when you're up against people who can really play.

RPG Deathmatch, regular deathmatch, and a few games of Plunder. Did aight, but the Plunder game was brutal--my team just ran around getting killed, lost 5-1, I scored the only one. :lol

That aside, I have had some pretty good games the last few nights, one 35-23, one 20-4, and one 41-15 that didn't record past a minute. I love the Ice Cave.

Can't wait to run around when it goes live.
 

LaneDS

Member
polyh3dron said:
Halo 3's replay camera controls >>>>> U2's replay camera controls

In U2 when you move the camera up or down with L1 and R1 it's too jerky, it goes from a dead stop to immediate full speed, same with the camera speed-up button. The camera controls are way more natural looking with Halo 3's replay stystem.

I won't argue, but I will point out I wasn't making some claim the Uncharted 2 has the best replay system on consoles. Just that it's easy to use and pretty robust for a feature I think most gamers have not come to expect on consoles.
 

A.R.K

Member
One thing that bothers me is that grenades take time to explode and you can't cook them like in KZ before you throw them..they can be avoided 99% of the time. Its hard to get a kill from them unless the other person is totally oblivious that there is a grenade at their feet.

When taking screen shots in-game, I was not able to capture the player names. Is there a way to turn it on so they can capture the name of the player too?
 

LaneDS

Member
Raist said:
How's voice chat btw?

Because it was complete garbage during the beta.

I can't say how much it's changed, but with the exception of last night I've found voice chat perfectly functional. Seems the only time you can converse with the other team during the match is when you're in close proximity with the person you killed, or the person that killed you. By default you're talking with your own teammates using an open mic (unless it's elimination, where you can only talk with the other dead folks if you're downed).
 

TTP

Have a fun! Enjoy!
BobTheFork said:

:lol Awesome

Please would u mind taking another gif from that match? I think it's about 1 minutes and 12 seconds in. Me (villain) and enemy (chole) at the opposite side of the map, each on opposing balconies. The 'nade launcher kill I scored there was awesome. Deserves a GIF.
 

slipknot2009

Neo Member
marc^o^ said:
I'm not a big shooter fan. I bought Killzone 2, found it impressive but got quickly bored.

So I don't why I like this Uncharted 2 demo so much. It is phenomenal.

It's not really a shooter, I don't like shooters either.... it's much different from stuff like KZ2 and MW. I love how vertical the maps are.
 

cakefoo

Member
A.R.K said:
One thing that bothers me is that grenades take time to explode and you can't cook them like in KZ before you throw them..they can be avoided 99% of the time. Its hard to get a kill from them unless the other person is totally oblivious that there is a grenade at their feet.

When taking screen shots in-game, I was not able to capture the player names. Is there a way to turn it on so they can capture the name of the player too?
I doubt it's technically impossible- it even captures the default system notification popups like when a friend appears online. I completely agree that they should let you capture the hud. It's Circle to show/hide it, so you could control whether it shows up or not.
 

minx

Member
A.R.K said:
Played last night with some buddies and it was awesome. The party system is soooo good (*looks at GG and KZ2 :/*). ND has done an amazing job with MP considering the first game had no MP and this is their first effort. The net code is solid and I have seen no lag! BRAVO! I hope from here on all PS3 games would support a party system like this or better.

Some questions:

Does matchmaking always fills up 10 player slots before starting the match? What if it can't 10 players does it start with lower number of players (like 6 or 8 etc)? My experience is that it keeps on searching for 10 players and sometimes it takes a while. Can it be limited when creating a custom game?

Is there a free for all death match mode? Seriously I hope ND adds it with a patch if its not there

I would also love to see something like halo's multi team death matches 2vs2vs2 modes.

Will there be more co-op maps/modes in full release?
I played a 3v3 deathmatch last night. They set the score limit to 25. One question I have is this beta essentially the whole multiplayer minus 3 maps?
 

LaneDS

Member
minx88 said:
I played a 3v3 deathmatch last night. They set the score limit to 25. One question I have is this beta essentially the whole multiplayer minus 3 maps?

No, there are modes like King of the Hill and at least one other that I can't think of. Plus there's an unknown number of co-op objective maps separate from the versus multiplayer maps to expect as well.
 

bernardobri

Steve, the dog with no powers that we let hang out with us all for some reason
izni3l.jpg


I need dat avatar as a wallpaper. :lol :lol :lol
 
TTP said:
:lol Awesome

Please would u mind taking another gif from that match? I think it's about 1 minutes and 12 seconds in. Me (villain) and enemy (chole) at the opposite side of the map, each on opposing balconies. The 'nade launcher kill I scored there was awesome. Deserves a GIF.
just got back from lunch, I'll grab it right now.
 

Nizz

Member
Is it safe to say the single player graphics will look even better? Because I played the multiplayer demo the other night and Jesus! Graphics are sick.

So much detail in the world and in the characters. The multi is fun. I can't wait to play the single player campaign.
 

bernardobri

Steve, the dog with no powers that we let hang out with us all for some reason
iamcool388 said:
How do you cancel a grenade throw? Lets say I have already pressed L2 and can see the arc... how do i cancel it?

While moving, I press circle so the character rolls, then the arc gets canceled.
 

bernardobri

Steve, the dog with no powers that we let hang out with us all for some reason
KilgoreTrout said:
Look at the banner in the OP. See if it will work for you. If not, give me your resolution and I can send you a larger version.

An 1280x800px version would be greatly appreciated :D
 
slipknot2009 said:
From punchjump, take it for what you will.

Apparently, Uncharted 2 has just passed ODST in Amazon sales.

Article's here.

I'm sure they are referring to the hourly updated sales rankings. That just means that it's selling better than ODST right now, not that it past ODST's total Amazon sales. Right now it's the second best selling Videogame item on Amazon, ODST is 3rd.

Also your link is busted.
 
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