Batman: Arkham Asylum PC Demo Out Now

The demo for the hotly anticipated, Batman: Arkham Asylum, is finally out for the PC 2.03GB.



Batman Arkham Asylum Is The Best Looking Game On The Unreal Engine

 

*downloading* Can't freakin wait to play!!

 

Thanks for the info, I will check it out. But I just read it is supposed to have PhyisX so this demo doesn't have that included right.

 

From what I've heard it does.

EDIT: Other people are also saying it uses/supports PhysX so it seems to be implemented in the demo and probably the full version as well, unsure how balanced/optimized it is though.
(Also supports 3D glasses.)

 

Batman Arkham Asylum PC demo is out now, it's referred to as v1.2 and is 2 GB in size. It can be downloaded from here:

http://www.fileshack.com/file_download.x/14922#

I suspect other sites like GamersHell.com will get it shortly too.

 

My guess is that they're delaying the full version because of piracy...not because of the implementation of physx

 

I've heard that as well, increase the chance of console sales and take the hit of piracy on the delayed PC version as it won't sell as much as the console edition(s) anyway, makes sense from a business perspective I guess (More profit.) though I don't really like it.

Anyway another file mirror, took fifteen minutes to download so it's pretty fast.
http://download.nvidia.com/downloads/nZone/demos/nzd_BMDemo_v12.exe

Will give some screens and impressions once it's fully installed and tweaked a bit.
(UE3 so I estimate there's a bit to do in those INI files.)

EDIT: Demo file was a self-extracting rar, installer was inside it plus some other files, kinda looks like they made a disc image of the whole thing.

 

If the demo has PhysX then it doesn't make sense that they've delayed the demo to add it really unless they're improving them beyond what we'll see in the demo. I suspect that it has been delayed so it doesn't tempt people away from the console versions myself. After all they're more expensive and I'd imagine a lot of people own both a PC and one of the consoles. I always intended buying the PC version because it will undoubtedly be the best looking, best performing version and I can play it at 1920x1200 (hopefully) with AA. Now though I'm trying hard to resist preordering one of the console versions so if the PC delay was for that reason then it looks like it might succeed in my case.

I'm so weak!

 

I'm relying on you, sir, to list all the in-game video options (hopefully this game will have some for a change) and to tell us whether it supports DX10 and AA or not. I'm dreading this being another game like Bionic Commando that has no AA support because even at 1920x1200 jaggies are very noticeable without AA. The console versions, well the PS3 one at least, doesn't have any AA and it does tarnish the image quality somewhat.

Anyway I'm looking forward to your screenshots and further info on the demo. Presumably at 2 GB vs. 1.4 GB for the PS3 version, the PC assets are of a higher quality?

 

(From the games launcher, no DX10 as I can see and I can't do AA from this due to my hardware - which is oh so limited, haha - but we'll see in the actual game.)

 

beat me by 1min

 

Oh and don't hesitate to post some ini tweaks

 

Thanks, Jonas.

Looks like the developers have given some love to the PC version which is reassuring after the lame borked console ports that were FUEL (broken AA), Bionic Commando (no DX10 support or AA) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (messed up gamma, no AA on High settings).

My download is at 63% complete but, sadly, I have to go to work in 15 minutes so I won't be able to try it until later this evening. I'll be keeping my eye on this thread though for opinions and screenshots.

 

Ta.

So this game supports AA *and* ambient occlusion lighting? I thought they were mutually exclusive on current graphics hardware, i.e. you can only have one or the other not both?

 

Something else I've noticed about those options... it says NVIDIA(tm) Multi Sample Anti-Aliasing so does that mean ATI graphics card owners won't have any AA?

 

Screens, last ones shows PhysX in effect albeit as the game requires 9.x.428 or what the latest version is the AGEIA PPU I have isn't activating so it runs via CPU, still it's manageable as I can handle lower framerates and 20 - 25 works just fine.

It's a decent brawler where you move from room to room and defeat the attacking enemies, atleast from what I've noticed of my small playtrough, looks and sounds quite good and the animations are fluid enough.

I'll see what else I can say about it as I continue playing.

 

Missed that.

Oh that sucks. I can understand NVIDIA wanting people to buy their cards over the competition but to limit AA to one manufacturer is just cruel. If I'd only owned an ATI card then I'd be royally pissed at that.

 

Soon as I find which option controls the AA via INI editing it'll change, was just about to start with that.

EDIT: Found it, very editable.
C:\Users\YourUserNameHere\Documents\Eidos\Batman Arkham Asylum Demo\BmGame\Config

EDIT: BmEngine.ini

Away with the logo videos.
StartupMovies= <- Delete these lines.

EDIT:

Altering these should fix AF and AA.

MaxAnisotropy=4
MaxMultisamples=1
(Default values, changed to 16 and 4 respectively here.)

EDIT: Altering these might improve shadows, needs testing.

bEnableForegroundShadowsOnWorld=False
bEnableForegroundSelfShadowing=False

EDIT: Shadows might glitch but altering the 512 to 1024 might improve detail
MinShadowResolution=32
MaxShadowResolution=512

EDIT: This handles D3D10 / DirectX 10 but if unsupported by the game it'll crash.

AllowD3D10=False

EDIT: A alot of other values can be fine tuned as well under the [SystemSettings] line, easy to understand and very straightforward.

EDIT: This section [ALAudio.ALAudioDevice] controls OpenAL sound configuration but I'm pretty sure the game only uses FMOD and the
[FMODAudio.FMODAudioDevice] settings.

EDIT AllowJoystickInput=1 will either enable or disable joysticks/gamepads but I guess it's preferrable to a keyboard if available and supported by the game.

EDIT: These control framerate locks but might smooth the game out a bit, less stuttering and such if left enabled.

bSmoothFrameRate=TRUE
MinSmoothedFrameRate=24.000000
MaxSmoothedFrameRate=62.000000

EDIT: This looks like a compatibility flag for older hardware but while the engine might support it I'm uncertain if the game has SM 2.0 capabilities and required shaders.

ForceShaderModel2=FALSE

EDIT: This handles subtitles if the game can support it.

bSubtitlesEnabled=FALSE

EDIT: UserEngine.ini might also handle certain settings and overwrite those in the default Engine.ini file.


EDIT: AA is hardcoded to not work on ATI, game will complain and show a error, forcing it might be possible (UT3.exe) but we'll see.

EDIT: Certain options like AF and logo videos reset, write protecting the file worked.

 

Yea I just got done with a quick run through and it is nice I ran it maxed with 2xAA and physics on High with physx on my 8800gts and it ran average about 42fps smooth at 1920 x 1080. Nice game

 

Not that impressed with the pc demo,TBH! The fact that it recommends more than 1 NVidia card to run physx on high is rediculous. Just another sugar-coated console port, IMO!

AGEIA Physx PPU owners are out of luck, because they are unsupported.