Dark Souls - the laziest console-to-PC port? (Update: Resolution Rendering Update)

[EDUSAN]

In -1 day.

so it was released yesterday?

 

[-Slacker-]

Has anyone played the game with a non 360 controller?

 

[KaOTiK]

so it was released yesterday?

Yup, that is when it went live for me on Steam. I've put 6 hours in so far. I forgot just how excellent this game is and how it really draws you into it, the level design is top notch too as nearly every place you see, you will actually go to and when you get there you can look back and see the place where you first saw the area you are now in

 

[Madia]

If you buy an Xbox controller, ensure it is the one for PC. Otherwise, you cannot connect via USB.

Aren't they the exact same? IIRC, the (wired) version I bought was the console one and I chose it over the "pc version" since according to the amazon reviews they were the exact same and the pc version cost $10 more. If anyone knows for sure please post otherwise I'd recommend the poster looking for one does his homework. I highly recommend the controller and use for a lot of the 3rd person shooters (Dead Space, RE5, Alan Wake, etc.).

I'm going to be spending some time with Dark Souls later tonight and was wondering what the best class for a total newb is. I'm going into the game with hardly any knowledge of it.

 

[Dankk]

Aren't they the exact same? IIRC, the (wired) version I bought was the console one and I chose it over the "pc version" since according to the amazon reviews they were the exact same and the pc version cost $10 more. If anyone knows for sure please post otherwise I'd recommend the poster looking for one does his homework. I highly recommend the controller and use for a lot of the 3rd person shooters (Dead Space, RE5, Alan Wake, etc.).

Right. There is no "PC version" of the 360 pad. There's either wired, or wireless.

Wired controller makes the most sense; it plugs directly into your PC via USB and drivers install automatically. It's cheaper and no batteries are required.

Wireless controller works with PC, but you need a special 360 wireless adapter for PC, and of course there's the obvious downside of requiring batteries.

 

[Ferzerp]

True, add around $20 more for the play and charge pack.

wireless > wired though.

 

[Aikouka]

True, add around $20 more for the play and charge pack.

wireless > wired though.

Ugh, I had one of those play and charge packs, and they're such a piece of junk. I use good rechargeable batteries with my 360 controllers now, and it's a billion times better.

 

[AMDZen]

I prefer my wired 360 controller on my PC to my wireless on my actual xbox

 

[NoSoup4You]

Ugh, I had one of those play and charge packs, and they're such a piece of junk. I use good rechargeable batteries with my 360 controllers now, and it's a billion times better.

I've owned two of these packs, the first was complete garbage from the moment I bought it but the second has been an absolute Godsend. I love it, I get huge battery life and have been running it for 2+ years now.

Glad to hear Dark Souls is still a great game on PC, looking forward to it but with Guild Wars 2 out now I'll be waiting awhile to pick up DS. Maybe when Steam has it for $20, since I already paid $59.99 for it on PS3.

 

[Ferzerp]

I've never had an issue with the play and charge packs. We're not talking 3rd party ones that you had isses with are we?

 

[RussianSensation]

Glad to hear Dark Souls is still a great game on PC, looking forward to it but with Guild Wars 2 out now I'll be waiting awhile to pick up DS. Maybe when Steam has it for $20, since I already paid $59.99 for it on PS3.

Durante single-handedly fixed the graphics from 0/10 to an astonishingly good-looking level. Kudos to the modding community that saved the day! I am glad I was wrong and that the artists that made the original game actually put a lot of effort into it. The results are nothing short of amaaaaaaaaaazing

Original PS3/360 port that shipped on Steam:

Modded PC version

Original PS3/360 port that shipped on Steam:

Modded PC version

You can now say scale the game's internal frame-buffer from 5120×3200 --> downsampled to 1080P, add AF. It used to be 1024x720.....

:biggrin:

 

[AdamK47]

Controllers suck. End of story.

 

[KaOTiK]

Controllers suck. End of story.

Not for this game

 

[Sulaco]

Durante single-handedly fixed the graphics from 0/10 to an astonishingly good-looking level. Kudos to the modding community that saved the day! I am glad I was wrong and that the artists that made the original game actually put a lot of effort into it. The results are nothing short of amaaaaaaaaaazing

Original PS3/360 port that shipped on Steam:

Modded PC version

Original PS3/360 port that shipped on Steam:

Modded PC version

You can now say scale the game's internal frame-buffer from 5120×3200 --> downsampled to 1080P, add AF. It used to be 1024x720.....

:biggrin:

WOW! That is QUITE nice change. Definitely noticeable.

 

[AdamK47]

Not for this game

Nope, end of story. End of story.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Nope, end of story. End of story.

People said the same thing for Batman, and AssCreed. Controllers suck, end of story.

 

[KaOTiK]

Actually I have no problems with Batman and AssCreed with a kb/m, in fact, till Dark Souls the only games I ever used a controller for were fighting and racing games.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Controllers are just fine for some games, and actually play better for them. The only time I won't use a controller is for FPS games.

So is the general consensus then that with the mod everything is good? Are there frame rate drops? etc etc. Or should we hold off until patches are further along?

 

[KaOTiK]

With the mod it is great. It stays at 30fps the entire time, I'm in Blighttown right now and it is sooooo much better not having fps problems (if you didn't play or know about the console version Blighttown was notorious for piss poor fps and made it harder to play in that area).

Unless it was fixed the mod seems to only work with Nvidia cards currently and the menus and stuff all have an xbox controller for prompts so if you use a kb/m getting around the menu at first will be a bit difficult. If you are using a controller, it plays great though.

It is funny, From really did a great job on the art assets in the game, but because of the crappy res it was rendering at you would never have known. Now with the mod, you can see it all and it is very nice. It really is night and day difference.

 

[RussianSensation]

Ya, with the mod, the game looks great, much better than the original version. Personally I find almost all 3rd person action-adventure/RPGs more enjoyable with a controller (Batman, Mass Effect) and probably this game. It usually takes 30 minutes for someone who doesn't use a controller to get accustomed to it. It's not a long time considering this game easily has 50-60 hours of gameplay in it.

 

[Dankk]

Controllers suck. End of story.

So I take it you don't play racing games, fighting games, 3rd-person action games, flight simulators, or sports games?

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

3rd person action games don't belong on that list. The shooty ones fall flat versus MK for the same reason FPSes do - and the melee ones fall flat because of slow camera control crippling situational awareness.

The others....well, racers are best played with a wheel, fighters with an arcade joystick, flight sims with a yoke. That leaves sports games - and those are pretty common "don't play" ground.

 

[RussianSensation]

3rd person action games don't belong on that list. The shooty ones fall flat versus MK for the same reason FPSes do - and the melee ones fall flat because of slow camera control crippling situational awareness.

Personal preference. I've been gaming on consoles since I was 7 using a controller (and M+K on the PC since the original Prince of Persia). It feels a lot more natural to me to control a character in 3rd person with a controller, especially in an action-adventure type of game. I enjoy the feel of using the controllers a lot more than pressing a mouse for attack for say Batman, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, etc. Some 3rd person games feel way better with a K+M such as Warcraft 3 or RPGs such as Dragon Age where I have to assign tasks to characters. Action-adventure style 3rd person games though feel way better to me with a controller. Dead Space for example is a perfect game to use with a controller. Dark Souls blows completely with a K+M to me. Also, not everyone wants to use a racing wheel for racing games since it takes up a lot of space.

Really the only 4 genres where the M+K is hands down superior are FPS, strategy games, point and click games, and complex RPGs that require micro management. The whole point a controller was even invented in the first place is because it feels more natural for the majority of people for playing games. When I am playing a console game I don't miss the mouse and keyboard unless I am playing those 4 genres I listed.

If you've never owned a console, I can see how you would not like the controller a tall. If you games with a controller for 20-30 years, you wouldn't even think about it. It would be like riding a bike or tying your shoes. Actually for prolonged gaming sessions, M+K is way more uncomfortable for the fingers and hands imo. The may benefit of M+K is precision, not comfort.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Funny. The main thing I remember about Dead Space is that the single most problematic point in the entire game were the turret shooting sequences, which of course improved drastically with a mouse.

That said, yes, personal preference. Thus, it does not belong on a list of game types gamepads are superior for.

 

[RussianSensation]

Unless it was fixed the mod seems to only work with Nvidia cards currently and the menus and stuff all have an xbox controller for prompts so if you use a kb/m getting around the menu at first will be a bit difficult. If you are using a controller, it plays great though.

It works on AMD cards too. :thumbsup:

Funny. The main thing I remember about Dead Space is that the single most problematic point in the entire game were the turret shooting sequences, which of course improved drastically with a mouse. That said, yes, personal preference. Thus, it does not belong on a list of game types gamepads are superior for.

I think the point some of the guys are making is that it's not worth missing an amazing gaming experience just because of the controls. My favourite game of all time on the PC or console is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. If I had just said I won't play it because it means using a controller, I would have missed the most epic gaming experience for me. Dark Souls is like an old school game, it's brutally challenging. It's not worth missing such an experience simply because of the aversion for controllers. It could become that person's most favourite game for example, but they wouldn't even have given it a chance only because of the controls?