Topic: Official Push Square Xbox Thread

SWEET Knights of the Old Republic, i love that game but i haven't been able to play it since my OGXB died

i'll be all over that game tomorrow ^_^

@BAMozzy I have 2 external drives so I'd best start getting them sorted with the 4K patches so I'm not waiting an age when the X arrives. I moved all my games off the internal so it'll be just swapping the drives over.

@crippyd I only have the one - but its still a decently sized (5TB) HDD. With the new update, you should be able to back-up your profile and enable 4k downloads. The back-up to an External means that when your X arrives, you set it up and connect the External HDD then switch it on. Your X will then set itself up with your profile and settings so its ready to go straight away and hopefully with a few 4k games instantly too. Forza 7 (I think - not installed mine yet) is the only 4k game there at the moment - maybe others like Shadow of War but I don't know anyone with that yet.

QUESTION: are the 4k patches mandatory for all systems or are they just going to download on XB1X consoles because i only have a XB1s and i don't have any external HDDs for it so i don't want my already limited HDD to be filled up with stuff i don't need and can't use

it's one of the few things i DON'T like on the PS4, i have downloads for numerous games updated with "Pro Patches" that are just taking up room on my HDD

plus some of them have actually made playing a game on a standard PS4 worse, FFXV for example ever since the last Pro update it has had loads of texture and asset pop in that it never used to have

@BAMozzy I currently have a 1tb and a 4tb but I'll be buying another 4tb shortly to replace the 1tb. I don't have any of the newer games yet as I'm still trying to power through my backlog but I have things like Witcher 3 to start so I'll be playing through that with the patch installed.

@Fullbringlchigo The patches are only required for the X as far as I know. If you have a 360 or One/S you won't need them.

@crippyd yeah i know i don't need them but the question is are they going to force them on us like the PS4 does

unless all the patches are optional to download from the XBL Store then won't every XB1 system just automatically download them as both systems are still playing the same game

@Fullbringlchigo Sorry, I worded that badly. It won't automatically download them as far as I know. I think it is a check box on the X to make the download happen otherwise you get the 'normal' version.

@FullbringIchigo The 4k asset packs are not mandatory and shouldn't be necessary with a standard XB1. There maybe games (like Killer Instinct) that has a patch for the XB1X but because its just changing 'settings' - like the PS4 Pro 4k patches - in other words just changing things like Output resolution, shadow quality, draw distances etc without changing the 'textures', these may well be mandatory.

The Pro shouldn't affect the way games work on the PS4. They only change settings without changing the 'textures'. The Pro has the same RAM as the standard PS4 and therefore can't handle higher quality textures. FFxv may well be a 'coincidence' that it has more pop-in but that could be a 'general' change to improve other aspects. Reducing draw distances of the time when 'assets' change from a low res to a HD res for example maybe to improve frame rates across the board but the assets are the same as those used in the Pro version too. Textures may look 'improved' on a pro, but that's only because the resolution is improved - not the 'standard' of the textures - these are identical across both systems. The Pro patches are mandatory because they look at the console you are playing on and use the appropriate settings for each. They may also contain other aspects - like game-play patches to fix 'something' - no different from any other game update.

The X has the capacity to handle 'High (4k) assets' but because the XB1, like the PS4 and Pro only has more limited RAM (all 3 only have 5.5GB allocated for gaming) so uses the HD standard Textures. This is why the X is getting 4k texture packs. A game like Shadow of War has 2 optional packs - the 4k Cinematic pack and 4k texture pack. Only the Pro and X can use the 4k Cinematics but only the X can use the 4k textures so both are available to X owners only whilst the 4k Cinematics are available to Pro owners but Base PS4/XB1 owners don't need to download either.

If you don't enable the 4k 'download' option in the settings, then you will only get the necessary downloads for each game. Like I said, some of these 'may' be required to make the game work on both consoles as expected (along with maybe some updates with the game that would be required regardless) but these are updates that determine what console you are playing on and adjust the settings accordingly - like the PS4 updates that know if you are playing on the base or Pro and changes the settings. Only those games that go much further than that, the ones that change the textures to 4k textures will not be required.

The TL:DR is that some games may well be updated with the 4k patch that is mandatory for all BUT the 4k texture or cinematic packs - the ones that are 'big' are not mandatory. There is a difference between a 4k patch that only changes the 'code' so the game knows which system its on and adjusts the settings accordingly and a the patches that supply textures/assets etc. On the Pro, you only get the 'code' changing patches but these ALSO may patch game issues too (not saying they don't introduce 'new' issues) where as on the Xbox, you could still get mandatory game code patches but 4k textures packs etc should be separate.

4k 'patch' - This is relatively small (although may depend on whether there are other aspects - like game fixes too and would still be 'patched' regardless of the 4k aspect) and only change the game settings depending on the console its played on. Because its only changing 'code' its very small - no different from any other 'game patch'

4k Texture packs - these are large and replace the whole textures in a game for higher res versions. The Pro does NOT have these and uses the same textures on both PS4 and Pro.

In the future, MS will be introducing 'Intelligent Delivery' so X users can delete HD textures to save space - the XB1s users obviously need these but if a game in the future comes with 4k textures as 'standard' you could delete these and replace with HD. Both XB1s and X will also be able to delete or just install the Language pack' that relates to their area. A lot of space is taken up by multiple language support and you may not want/need French, German, Spanish etc language packs so you can just install/keep the English Language pack. You may also be able to delete/install specific parts of a game - like Campaign, MP etc. If you don't want the MP, you could just install the Campaign, or once you have finished the Campaign, delete it to free up space and just keep the MP.

I don't know if you had an XB360 and bought BF3. If you did, they had an 8GB 'texture' pack to install to improve the Textures. On PS4 this was mandatory but because the Xbox had a 4GB 'Arcade' version, they couldn't insist you installed an 8GB texture pack. Therefore you could play BF3 with 'low quality' textures. The same principal applies here. The difference of course is that the XB1s uses the 'standard' textures but the X replaces those with High Res and these are not mandatory for XB1s users. In fact the XB1s won't even look for them if you don't set it up to look for 4k updates.

@crippyd @BAMozzy well as long as they are optional that's all good then

So it looks like the end of the line with Kinect

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-finally-kills-off...

@Tasuki oh well, lets be honest it was a fantastic idea with a lot of promise but it never worked properly

@Tasuki Not surprising - the tech and concept are great. It really worked well for dance/fitness games - much better than 'move' or Wii motes as it tracked the whole body meaning you actually had to 'dance' in Dance games - including moving your feet.

Unfortunately it was a bit 'laggy' for fast paced games and limited too. It worked well enough to drive in Forza 4, but it lost the ability to accelerate/brake (handled automatically) and felt odd not holding a steering wheel. 2.0 was certainly superior but it lacked the support. It wasn't without controversy either being bundled at launch etc which greatly added to its price. It was never going to deliver on certain games and left it really as nothing more than a device for Party games and easy navigation - not just the Dash but also during playback of movies etc too.

I guess it could have found a use with VR - able to track your whole body - not just the headset and controllers (as Sony's Camera does for example) but MS appear to be going a different route with VR. The headset having its own cameras to track its self in the environment and even incorporate that real world image into AR - unlike Hololens which superimposes its AR onto the real world, these headsets are showing you the real world through its cameras and layering on AR instead. It seems as though some of the Kinect tech may reside in these headsets instead. The advantage of these VR headsets though is that you are not limited to a 'small letterbox' for AR and can deliver VR too but unlike Hololens, you don't see the 'real world' just a cameras view of the real world. Mixed Reality means both AR and VR. I am sure the lessons they learned though with Kinect, tracking objects including Arms and Legs and able to mirror that in VR can help immersion. Kinect maybe dead as we knew it but it could still live on in some other ways. I know a lot of robotics used Kinect as its eye on the world and found a lot of use in non-gaming sectors.

I still have both my Kinect and Kinect 2.0 - I also have the means to connect 2.0 to the X if I wanted but since I got my S over a year ago, I haven't missed it. I only used it for minor operations - like turning the Xbox off or scanning a QR code.

November's 2017 Games with Gold lineup for Xbox One includes: Trackmania Turbo and Tales from the Borderlands. For Xbox 360 owners (and through Xbox One backward compatibility), November kicks off with NiGHTS into Dreams, followed by Deadfall Adventures.

Well that's 4 games I've never played. The 360 ones look a bit ropey.

meh, nothing that interests me there this month

The Trackmania Turbo looks like it could be fun but sounds a bit weird if you and your friends control the same car. If it was just a typical arcade racer, I may have added it to my 'ready to install' list but after hearing that, it put me off.

I don't like the TellTale episodic 'adventures'. Maybe they would be better described as a 'choose your own' interactive story - reminiscent of the 'choose your own' books I used to read as a kid but as a game, I find them lacking and dull.

Nights into Dreams looks dated but then it was a Sega Saturn game from 1996 (21yrs old - how time flies...) and this is the HD XB360 version. Its no wonder it looks 'ropey' by todays standards.

Deadfall Adventures is a game I missed but having looked it up, it released in Nov 2013 - the same month as CoD:Ghosts and of course the XB1/PS4. At that time, I was only interested in the 'next' gen games, although, if it had reviewed well and been 'popular', I think I may well have been more aware of this. Reading a few 'snippets' of reviews, most seemed to feel it was predictable and uninspired retread of familiar concepts and in an era with 'giants of the genre' (FPS) it doesn't do anything the others do better.

That being said, I will probably add Deadfall Adventures and maybe Trackmania and, if I can be bothered, the other two to my 'ready too install' list - whether I then go onto install or not, time will tell. I have around 70 games (mostly GwG games going back to the start of the programme) on that list as it stands now. With Forza 7, Evil Within 2, Wolfenstein 2, AC: Origins, CoD WW2 and SW:BF2 all to install and held off playing until after 7th November, I am not overly bothered by what GwG are offered.

@BAMozzy I used the Kinect that came with my Star Wars Edition Xbox 360 a few times. Honestly it was ok, my biggest gripe was how much room was needed to properly use it. Unless I wanted to move my furniture around everytime I wanted to use it which obviously I didnt. Which is why I hardly used it.

@Tasuki at least you had the option, my room wasn't even big enough to use it at all, i had stand against the wall with it against the opposite one just to get it to recognise me

Only 10 more days till the X is released and it couldn’t come soon enough as I’ve just got AC: Origins and Wolfenstein 2 right now and will get CoD: WWII, I’m really tempted to install and play them this weekend but I really want to experience them at their best for the first time on the X!
@BAMozzy Are you too in this predicament or will you just be playing them on release without the enhancements of the X?

@MaccaMUFC I have Forza 7, Evil Within 2, AC: Origins, Wolfenstein 2 and have got CoD:WW2 on pre-order. So far not one has been touched so I have resisted the temptation. With a few bugs/glitches in Origins, I am happy to wait a few weeks to play that but Wolfenstein 2 maybe a bit harder. CoD's only a few days wait and its not like the WW2 setting, old school, and very dated gameplay of the MP excites me so not bothered about playing that at release either.