Darksiders II

Discussion in 'Games, Gaming & Game-demos' started by Stone Gargoyle, Jun 1, 2011.

  1. Darren Hodgson

    Darren Hodgson Ancient Guru

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    I've finally got Darksiders II running 99.5% smoothly at 60 fps @ 1920x1200 with 16x CSAA + 4x TrSSAA + Quality AO using the valuer of 0x42404005 for the SLI flag rather than the default 0x42400005. You can tell how much smoother it is by the fact that the map no longer stutters and jerks as you move the cursor around it. I found this on the German 3DCenter forum but thought others might want to try it as it makes a huge difference to how the game feels to play. Hopefully, NVIDIA will update their profiles to include this flag in a later driver.

    A weird issue though with the AA flag for this game is that when I forced 8Qx MSAA the game would stall during the loading screen after I resumed a save until I Alt-Tabbed to the desktop and back to the game. This does not happen if I use 16x CSAA. Is this the same for everyone else?

    Incidentally, when I was selling the 10 pages from the Book of the Dead to Vulgrim, I noticed one of the items he had on sale had what looked like placeholder text $Item.Something.Blah.Blah.Blah, with a description that was the same as that string. Have I somehow corrupted my install or is that a bug?

    Here is a screenshot:

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2012
  2. HitokiriX

    HitokiriX Master Guru

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    its a bug from the latest patch darren everyone has it who know's when and if they'll fix that
     
  3. Gizmo

    Gizmo Guest

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    I really wanted to get DSII on release as i did enjoy DS quite a bit but from reading the DSII forums its seems it was pushed out way to early (on both formats)

    I'll just wait now and grab it once its on sale/after all the bug fixes and promised PC features/config tweaking have been added
     
  4. Darren Hodgson

    Darren Hodgson Ancient Guru

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    @ Gizmo - It was a little buggy on launch with an off-centre manual aiming cursor, non-functional v-sync and whatnot but the latest patch has fixed those though unfortunately introduced at least one single typo in the items Vulgrim is selling. That doesn't affect the gameplay though. DSII is actually a very good game, an improvement on the first IMO as it has a better balance between the exploration/platforming and combat. It feels more like a Zelda game than the first but with a brutal combat system that feels a lot like the God of War games. The bosses are also great so far. I've been playing for about 17 hours and I'm really enjoying the way you can leave a dungeon (with convenient checkpoint so you can return later) and then do other sidequests. For example, I was doing the first Death Lord dungeon, Pharisean Tomb or something, but ended up killing Gorewood and doing the Scar dungeon as a diversion. I also cashed in on some other quests I'd finished but not collected the reward for and managed to finish building Oran (though the reward for that was a disappointment). There are lots of weapons and armour to collect which add an RPG element to the game plus you can use the surplus inferior weapons and armour to upgrade the special 'possessed' weapons.

    It's not perfect - the shadows are bloody awful quite frankly - but it's very entertaining. Miss it at your peril.
     

  5. Gizmo

    Gizmo Guest

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    Hey Darren

    Don't want to miss out as it does sound like a great game and im happy to hear there's more of a focus on puzzles than on just mindless combat/button bashing,but a good read on the DSII forums has convinced me to wait it out till its been fixed up,with the amount of **** Vigil & THQ have gotten over the state of the PC version it seems its put up or shut up for them,looks like there getting to some of the more major issues sorted quickly and will deliver on there promises for tweaks for us PC gamers in a few weeks/months

    I have good back log of game to play through as it is so DSII will just join a long list of wait till its patched/on sale games i want to own/play,after 20+ years of PC gaming im just to jaded to buy/pre-order games these days :( by the time a lot of games are in a playable state these days there over half there org cost,its a sad fact that dev's/publishers have only brought this kind of consumer buying attitude on them self's by rushing out unfinished products or failing to deliver on promised features.

    BTW many thanks for the feedback :)

    Cheers
    Giz
     
  6. WhiteLightning

    WhiteLightning Don Illuminati Staff Member

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    yay, ive just completed the game. 9/10 game for me. cant wait till the DLC comes :D
    in the meantime illl do all the missed sidequests that are still open.
     
  7. NiukNiuk

    NiukNiuk Guest

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    I completed it a few days ago (now on my new game + playthrough), and apart from the fact that the ending part (well, the last 2 hours) felt a bit rushed, it was a fantastic experience.
    I really love the art style (I've preordered the art book ^^, already owning DS1 art book too).
    I also really really love the soundtrack. At first I was afraid that Jesper Kyd style would be too different from Chris Velasco (and others), who did the soundtrack for DS1. But in fact, although Kyd's style is different, the soundtrack is really coherent with the universe, and I find it fantastic IMO. There are even some tracks (like "the plains awaits", that you hear when exploring dungeons in the second world) whose electronic loops reminded me of Leftfield or Future sound of london (early years). That's Great.
     
  8. Darren Hodgson

    Darren Hodgson Ancient Guru

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    Patch #3 coming soon: http://community.darksiders.com/go/thread/view/138731/29368549/PC_Patch_3_Update!

    And guess what? It'll have... *gasp*... graphics options...

    Graphics Options:
    - Shadow map resolution configuration option added (essential IMO)
    - Screen Space Ambient Occlusion configuration option added (No, never!)
    - Anti Aliasing configuration option added (Wooooh, don't overdo it, Vigil! I'm guessing it'll be FXAA not proper MSAA/CSAA)

    [​IMG]

    And keyboard options...

    Keyboard Mapping Support:
    - Invert X Option added
    - Reset to default mappings option
    - Map to NumPad option works as intended

    [​IMG]

    Mouse Functionality:
    - Camera Auto center Toggle

    Bug Fixes:
    - The Tome System works as intended while using an Xbox controller in the Tome System.
    - Resolved issues around not being able send messages to Steam friends.
    - Phasewalker now works properly after acquiring it within the Blackstone.
    - Artifact Box and Legacy Box are now properly labeled in Vulgrim’s inventory.
    - Exiting the game after adjusting the screen resolution will now save those settings.
    - The ride-able construct will no longer free fall out of the game world when placing the ride-able construct under the Guardian and re-entering the room with the submerged lift in The Foundry.
    - The Bridge should now properly drop within The Scar.
    - The second lever within the Black Stone should now function as intended.
    - Death should now be able to properly continue through the Eternal Throne when speaking to the guards.
    - The pile of debris to the right of the skeleton key door in the second Heartstone room of The Foundry is no longer a match for the ride-able construct.
    - The ride-able construct is positioned back in the water on the lift for those users who are stuck. (You may need to Fast Travel or back track out of the dungeon if you are currently stuck here.)
    - The Custodian will no longer go for a swim when backtracking to the dungeon entrance after leaving the Custodian on one of the bridges in the room before the second Heartstone in the Foundry.
    - The Resistance stats will properly update when returning 3 Stones of Resistance to Oran during the Stick and Stones quest.

    - More support for different resolutions with HUD elements.

    Sounds like they'll finally finish coding the game! ;)
     
  9. RecluSe

    RecluSe Guest

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    I think the patch just went live, 1,297.6 MB.
     
  10. lucidus

    lucidus Ancient Guru

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    1.3GB for a patch!!? :O
     

  11. NiukNiuk

    NiukNiuk Guest

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    Great news !

    My guess is that it also downloads some DLCs (like the previous patch, which also downloaded argul's tomb.)
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2012
  12. lucidus

    lucidus Ancient Guru

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    Yeah that sounds about right!
     
  13. NiukNiuk

    NiukNiuk Guest

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    Well the update removed (yeah) the downloaded Argul's tomb files from the previous patch :)
    But it left the folder (DLC15) along with two new ones, for The Abyssal Forge and The Demon Lord Belial DLCs (the "season pack" dlcs).

    EDIT: finally there's an option to disable the annoying automatic camera !
    Oh and they forgot to add an "anisotropic filter" setting ...we still have to force it to make it work.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2012
  14. Darren Hodgson

    Darren Hodgson Ancient Guru

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    Steam is downloading the update now as I've only just turned on my PC this morning. Has anyone been able to play it yet and take some screenshots? I'm most curious about the shadow resolution as it was, by far, the most ugly aspect of the original version. Also, the addition of AA even if is only FXAA means that jaggies will be reduced and Death will still show in the Pause menu, i.e. there's no need to force MSAA/CSAA for NVIDIA owners any more, plus it is good news for AMD card owners as they can also use Ambient Occlusion too.

    Good patch from the release notes but I do wish developers would make sure the game is complete when it is released instead of making us wait up to a month for things like AA and other stuff to be added. AA should be a standard feature of ALL PC games IMO, especially as FXAA is so easy to add these days.
     
  15. Darren Hodgson

    Darren Hodgson Ancient Guru

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    P.S. Is Argul's Tomb actually playable now? How does it work? I registered my code when I got the game but am I supposed to receive a serial key to activate this or will it just automatically unlock? Where is Argul's Tomb in the game?
     

  16. NiukNiuk

    NiukNiuk Guest

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    Argul's tomb is not here yet. At the moment there are just "placeholders" DLC folders (argul's tomb is "DLC15" folder). The previous update downloaded Argul's tomb DLC (about 400-450mb if I recall correctly), but it wasn't playable.
    And now this new update removed these files (but left the folder, along with two new ones for the season pack dlcs).
     
  17. blesner

    blesner Guest

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    Did you actually get a code?!:3eyes:

    I get this

    On http://community.darksiders.com/mycodes
     
  18. WhiteLightning

    WhiteLightning Don Illuminati Staff Member

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    its not out, so there are no keys yet.

    as for the dlc they will probably be on the same maps the game already is.
    unless there is a extra portal at the tree opening up or something.
    maybe get the mission through the ingame mail thingy ?
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2012
  19. Darren Hodgson

    Darren Hodgson Ancient Guru

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    Well the graphics are improved somewhat; much better than before but still not perfect.

    Anti-aliasing works fine, it seems to be FXAA, so jaggies are minimal although oddly thos orange highlighted levers and whatnot look as if they've had no AA applied (it was the same with forced MSAA/CSAA too). Death obviously appears in the menus with in-game AA enabled and, I may be imagining it since I've not been able to see him in a while as I was using forced MSAA/TrSSAA, he appears a lot less low-res than when I first played the game (have Vigil upgraded the resolution for the menu screens I wonder?).

    Shadows look a lot better now and there's no sign of the LEGO brick ones in Baneswood and the Fjord on the High setting. They're still a bit low-res and 'glazed' for want of a better word but they're no longer distractingly poor so I'm happy with the upgrade.

    The Vulgrim Store glitch has been fixed as well - no more placeholder text.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2012
  20. Stone Gargoyle

    Stone Gargoyle Guest

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    Just downloaded over 1GB of patchyness and can honestly say it does make a difference. It finally almost feels like the complete game we should have been playing from day one now. My only concern being as I'm currently indoors I can't yet comment on how much of an improvement the shadows outside have now been given which really was something that's slightly hampered the look of the game from the very start.

    As for the game itself I've been enjoying it so damn much I think I've become somewhat selfish in not sharing my exploits. There's quite literally so many aspects about it that I adore that condensing it all into some form of huge mind flush on here just wouldn't even do it justice I feel. Darksiders II is takes the genre pallet and just delivers it in such an effortless way while it gives nods to many many games since the very first Tomb Raider that all added a little extra to the genre. And even though it combines all these familiar traits from other games it still feels very much like its own unique gaming experience and then much of the stuff it pinches it does oh so much better.

    That sense of wonder/awe/excitement that comes over you as you locate a new area or solve a particularly taxing puzzle or conquer a new boss is all present and correct here in its finest form. I think it's also high time I take back any criticism I once aimed at the musical score in this too. I've played 16 hours so far and it's slowly dawned on me that this is quite possibly some of the most melodic and moving music in a game yet bringing back thoughts of my first steps into the realm of Ashenvale in WoW as the surroundings and wonderful music came together as a rather stunning combo.

    So yeah Darksiders II is fab. That's pretty much all there is left to say.
     

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