@GymratAmarillo I get where you're coming from, and largely agree that past a point it becomes a nuisance, but a definitive no from FromSoft would have precluded a lot of that. Either way, the PC crowd got tired of waiting, built an emulator and can already play it at 60fps. Seems like money left on the table tbh.
@Michael2008ish Sure thing, it's an opinion. It didn't entertain me, so I refunded it.
With 3 multi-plat titles and one PS exclusive under my belt, albeit in a more technical role, I'd like to think I've had a hand in creating something...
@Michael2008ish The art style. Disney-ish, as in overly saturated and noticeably stylized - not my first choice for dark fantasy...
It wasn't about rainbows, no, which is what made the tone, characterization and general dialogue choices so frustrating. They where fundamentally at odds with the story (and series), undermining any actual sense of severity. I personally found it unengaging as a result, and found myself disliking characters in a short span of time. Rook included, largely due to the bland, toothless dialogue choices, at which point I figured it wasn't for me.
@somnambulance The dialogue and characterization is rather juvenile, they did away with a lot of the gore and pushed the art style in a distinctly Disney direction while the gameplay has shifted towards accessible ARPG fair. If anything, the marketing reflects the overall design choices quite well.
I opted to pick it up on Steam instead of PS to draw my own conclusions, and unfortunately refunded it for the above reasons. Modern Bioware just isn't for me.
I'm not sure what relevance TGA has, beyond keeping a roof over Dorito Pope's head tbh. It's a relic of the past, much like E3.
With the rise of digital platforms, player based game awards make more sense. Well advertised in platform, with an extended voting period. A hard requirement that you own and have put x number of hours into the game before being eligible for voting.
Assuming the nomination pools are large, it'll aid game discovery and the ultimate winner will reflect the sentiments of the platforms users.
I don't believe further consolidation of two industries already plagued by it is a good thing.
The only incentive FromSoft has is additional capital - in a time where excessive budgets, wasteful spending and misguided publisher priorities have caused a number of closures. Leave them be, they don't need the money.
From an manga/anime perspective, Sony has made their stance on wanting to appeal to global markets clear. All too often this means homogenization. Not a big anime fan, but it would be a shame to see a distinct medium watered down.
@PuppetMaster I also thought Vikander did a good job as Survivor-trilogy Lara. Certainly put a lot into the role.
That said, I miss old Lara. Not everything has to be serious. Given the decline of the Indiana Jones franchise, I dare say there's room for a more playful, adventure focused film.
I can't say I see it. Her acting isn't anything to write home about, nor does she strike me as being especially physical. For the purists, she's lacking two other important qualifications.
Choosing Yasuke as the protagonist for an AC game set in Japan was an odd choice in terms of player expectation. In the decade plus of fans requesting such a game, I can't say I've seen anyone ask for Yasuke (or any other non-Japanese protagonist).
Doubling down on historical accuracy as the justification when the Yasuke-samurai conjecture is disputed, and was popularised by a single western author who wrote 400+ pages based loosely on a handful of paragraphs that never stated he was a samurai, or a lord, was a terrible choice.
Characterising all opposition to said choices as racism is just willful ignorance when both "diverse" AC titles and other media featuring black samurais have, and will likely continue to succeed (on their own merits).
Studios seem to be ever increasingly incapable of accepting critiscm.
@themightyant Origins certainly was, and truthfully I'm still hoping for a "true" sequel to it.
While less atmospheric, apocalyptic and grotesque, qualities I missed in 2, it still maintained some of the oppressive atmosphere; Mundane hopelessness, if you will. It also had a number of legitimate gut-punches. I certainly wouldn't call In Hushed Whispers heroic fantasy. I would call the overwhelming majority of Inquisition exactly that.
My concern from the outset, with that god awful announcement trailer, has been that Veilguard will steer further in that direction - with rapid-fire whedonisms and bright flashes of color to mark the franchise's transformation into yet another generic, overly "safe" fantasy action property.
Given Bioware's trajectory as of late, the gameplay footage and writing I have seen (albeit with limited context) and that there's no reason not to wait, I'll do exactly that, is all.
@ShogunRok @ShogunRok I didn't suggest there was, only that I would hold off on purchasing it until an informed decision could be made. There needn't be conspiracy involved for press consensus to not align with my subjective taste in games. It happens all the time.
For that reason, I make a habit of following individual reviewers with similar tastes; The prestige or popularity of a publication matters little if they frequently endorse titles I don't enjoy.
@themightyant I didn't see it as "trying to be an arsehole". More, just not being entirely supplicative and endlessly accommodating.
It's a legitimate complaint, IMO. Dragon Age is an established dark fantasy franchise, not a family friendly Disney production after all.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare
> think perhaps that their point is - BioWare kinda made it their calling-card.
This. Coupled with the radical shift in tone and changes in gameplay, I feel some trepidation is more than justified. That's not to say it'll be bad, just that anyone not wishing to indulge in mindless consumerism can wait a day or two to confirm it's something they actually want to play.
@KeenAerondight Same, most of the reviewers I follow, for their similar tastes and generally non-sensational reviews, outright dislike the game. No harm in waiting a couple of days as to make an informed decision.
@Gaia093 This is my guess. As a new studio, they aren't subject to the corporate bloat that many established studios have, either. That does wonders for payroll.
@themightyant lol, malfunctioning before my morning coffee. Meant to say 25%, as a rough mean increase over user scores outside of the titles that saw mainstream adoption, which are largely in lockstep. Edited to correct.
My point is precisely that though. It is pretty normal. Even quite forgiving/favourable in the case of their divisive titles. That is, it's unfair to blame the press for poor adoption. The games simply failed to resonate with a sufficiently large audience to be profitable.
Gameplay is the mediums defining feature, it's not surprising that people would prioritise it. Fun, exhilaration, exploration, escapism and challenge consistently rank highly in terms of gamer priorities. Games with these qualities that also have a strong narrative, world-building or characterization, with broad appeal, often become iconic. Your favourite game, Cyberpunk 2077, moved 25 million copies to date. The Witcher 3 has moved over 50. Skyrim over 60. People still long for novel games. They just have to succeed as games to break even.
@KundaliniRising333 The press has been fairly kind to their games, even the poorer ones - with scores often a good 25% higher than audience scores for their "non-mainstream" titles. It seems unfair to blame the press for niche titles not selling well.
The rise in production costs has just made the consequences of a lack of mass appeal that much more noticeable.
@torquex That's a (meticulously crafted) cinematic running at 30fps on a 4900/14900k, so 6+ times slower. It is likely to appeal to the virtual production crowd (much like Unreal 4 did with Rebirth, 5 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fC20NWhx4s). This tech-demo is showcasing hundreds of dynamic, ray-traced lights on consumer hardware at 60FPS, where previously one was limited to a handful before performance plummeted.
@NEStalgia It's been available via source builds for some time. As it stands, it currently requires HW raytracing support and is decoupled, superficially at least, from GI method. I've been meaning to take a look at the actual implementation, but work has had other ideas. I'm guessing it's a novel approach to importance (re)sampling - something similar to ReSTIR.
tldr; HW acceleration is concerned with speeding up the tracing - the calculation of ray-triangle intersections required to model light transport and maintaining the acceleration structures to do it at scale. This is more about minimizing the number of traces required while maximizing the relevant "information" acquired from each trace, if that makes sense.
@NEStalgia i think you're confused. Raytracing, broadly speaking, is a class of algorithms. Hardware raytracing is dedicated silicone on GPUs that accelerates the notoriously computationally intensive aspects of raytracing. Both lumen and megalights are raytracing and can exploit hardware RT. Megalights straight up requires it. Lumen has a "software RT" mode that exclusively traces against a simplified scene representation, removing the need for hardware accelerated ray-triangle intersections at the cost of quality.
@wiiware Its a supplement to, not a replacement for Lumen. Lumen is a solution for indirect illumination and reflections. Megalights handles the direct illumination and shadowing of a large numbers of lights. Same as RTXDI requires a supplementary GI solver.
Also, there are a number of UE5 titles already using lumen. Lords of the Fallen, The First Descendent, Wu Kong, etc.
@nessisonett That... seems more than a little myopic. Historically, the puritan brand of censorship was primarily pushed by the Christian right. But that hasn't been the case since the days of Jack Thompson and paranoid parents fearing that Harry Potter would turn their children into satanists.
Despite little interest in culture wars, it's hard not to notice that the majority of people pushing the "anti-woke" position a) want more attractive, even suggestive characters and b) are predominately right wing, in many cases explicitly Christian. A cursory glance at social media will confirm this.
As someone working in the industry, I can also confidently say that most "conservative" design decisions and self-censorship, at least in regards to female characters, are rooted in "tropes vs woman" style progressive paranoia and moral concern. Which tracks, considering the majority of executives and art directors in western studios, which pursue such censorship to a far greater degree than their Eastern counterparts, are left-leaning. The Eastern studios that do so, usually do so at the behest of their US offices, situated in California. Square Enix, for example, or the source of any of Capcoms inclusivity circulars. More relevant still, note that it was Sony US that amended their publishing criteria, allowing them to deny Japanese studios the use of local rating agencies and insist that they meet "western standards" - forcing all content to be approved by their California headquarters, in English no less.
@get2sammyb Thanks for the heads up, wasn't aware of it. Speaking of which, Lollipop Chainsaw Repop launched to absolutely no press coverage. What's up with that?
@Batesy125s Stylized aesthetic is a design choice - departing from realism/nature for effect. Lack of aesthetic speaks to visual identity and appeal, or the lack thereof. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
I have no issue with stylization, I just thought the trailer lacked visual identity, was a poor choice (in terms of execution) for the setting and had a couple of legitimately unappealing design choices.
As for the tone, if you don't think this is a juvenile take on dark fantasy (and all that implies), I'm not sure what more to say.
On the up side, the developers have since released a gameplay preview, in response to the overwhelmingly negative trailer reception, and it seems entirely different. I'll reserve judgement until the game launches - after which I can see if the poor direction was limited to a single trailer.
@Batesy125s I'm pretty sure it isn't the stylized aesthetic that people are taking exception to. It's the lack of aesthetic and infantile tone in a dark fantasy setting.
The environments look excellent - really atmospheric. The characters? A disappointment.
James still looks weird and has unnatural/rigid animation. Maria's redesign looks like a generic daytime TV character, albeit with a head too large for her body. Major misstep in terms of characterization IMO. Angela is... unfortunate. The execution of the enemies seems pretty underwhelming as well. Muddy, indistinct and blandly animated. The head shake on the nurse is the only addition I actually like.
I'll wait for actual gameplay footage come release. Certainly not a day 1 buy.
@JohntheRaptor A hybrid, for sure, but it doesn't quite scratch the NG itch. The pacing of combat is closer to that of a Soulslike - smaller, slower, more methodical encounters.
NG is somewhat unique. It features hyper-aggressive, highly lethal enemies. On Master Ninja, they'll punish you for standing still or blocking as readily as they will for excessive movement or careless attacks. Throw in orbs and UTs and it becomes equal parts spatial puzzle, where precise positioning, use of the environment and decisive actions are outright required, and a doom-like adrenaline rush as you cleave your way through said enemies by the dozen.
Refunds are usually an automated process, and will be declined if you have more than 2 hours playtime. Do it enough times and it gets flagged for manual review. Whether or not it will be approved, I'm not sure.
@EfYI As I understand it, despite intending account linking from the outset (publisher requirement), they accepted purchases from all countries on Steam - including the 121 in which PSN is unavailable. When linking was introduced in a patch, they where effectively barred from playing the game they had purchased.
@Loamy The term "immersive sim", at least originally, referred to games that pursued immersion through responsive worlds. At the time the pursuit of realism and fidelity was compromising interactivity, often to the detriment of design, and they where the counterpoint.
@kcarnes9051
> Gender is a cultural issue. Sex is a biological one. You’re trying to minimize this just to sex, and that is, again, a straw man...
To wade directly into the thorny issue, the reason I cited sex was because the aforementioned preferences conform to biological sex even when the individual identifies as a different gender. This might be why, despite facing even greater adversity, transgender women are disproportionately represented in the e-sports scene relative to biological woman. I really don't understand this obsession with ignoring evolutionary and biological factors, or the self-righteousness with which it is pursued. You understand that individual contentedness drops off a cliff when cultural forces steer people away from the proximate baseline, right? Hardly a moral victory.
As for all the additional word salad, let me be clear. I never once advocated against promoting gaming to women. To excluding anyone from e-sports. In favour of toxicity. But these are separate issues - tangential to my issue with your stance.
All I've ever argued was that natural preferences exist, that they are demonstrably influenced by biological factors, as supported by substantial reproducible evidence, and need not be "fixed". That naively forcing demographics into studios catering to these preferences based on a myopic interpretation of equality is negative sum, and that creating a more diverse market that caters to a wider range of preferences is preferable - both financially and in terms of player enjoyment. As a developer, player enjoyment is what I care about, which is why I defend my position.
> When the industry isn’t catering to female interests in AAA gaming
Except a number of studios do - quite successfully.
> you can’t know if they’d show up.
But they did - the context of this discussion is close on 50% of gamers being female.
> “girls don’t like big AAA games as much by nature”.
> business decided to target women and failed before other cultural elements had time to catch
Disingenuous, again. I stated that interests and priorities, generally speaking, are meaningfully influenced by sex. Despite significant efforts to prove otherwise, sex-based stereotypes of genre preferences, particularly in regards to certain types of gameplay and content, remain exceedingly accurate.
General consensus tends towards evolutionary factors and biological-proximate causes. It's not a perfect predictor, and there are outliers, but it also isn't a cultural issue. It's consistent across multiple cultures, multiple mediums and multiple decades.
Treating disproportionately male or female interests as a cultural "problem" is a problem. A mature market should strive to cater specifically to a expanding range of niches, not warp and conform peoples wants into a small subset of overly homogenous niches that increasingly fail to adequately satisfy anyone.
@kcarnes9051
> with 75% men making decisions about game content for an audience made of up nearly 50% women
The statistics are in regards to this - your own words. My choice in source was stated to be the most comprehensive I'd encountered, not the most recent. It provided a breakdown across genre, indicating a trend that has been well documented for some time - both in freely available (and, yes, more recent) research as well as internal surveys. Games with an emphasis on competition, challenge, motor skills and high skill ceilings consistently tend towards a disproportionately male player base, regardless of aesthetic. Accessible fantasy, emphasis on social behaviour, cosmetics and collectibles tends towards even to female dominated player bases.
Bottom line is men and women, generally speaking, want different things. There is overlap, but there are also competing/mutually-exclusive interests. Studios prioritising their primary demographic isn't controversial - it's prudent. The very same thing is done for games with a predominately female player base.
So, by your own logic, 75% men making decisions about game content for a niche with a mean male player base in excess of 80% is underrepresentation. But something tells me I won't hear any impassioned complaints from you about that...
The raw footage from the demo looks a bit slower than the early official footage - I'm chalking that up to it being from peoples first few hours with the game. It reminds me of both Sekiro ("perilous attacks" that require different actions to mitigate, emphasis on fast sequential parries for defence and high enemy damage) and DMC (fast combo orientated offense with many unlockable moves, combos chaining with instant ranged attacks, aerial combat).
@kcarnes9051 A commonly misused statistic. Women might make up close to 50% of gamers, but those studies are broad and include the likes of Match3 and Farmville.
The most comprehensive study I've found to date (https://quanticfoundry.com/2017/01/19/female-gamers-by-genre/) , which coincides with independent genre-specific surveys done by multiple publishers, put the female player base at 20% or less for Action RPGs, 7% or less for FPSs and 2% for sports games.
I play games for escapism and feel realism, outside of the handful of titles that actually benefit from it, more often than not gets in the way of fun.
Eve looks great, as does the combat - somewhere between Sekiro and DMC. Day 1 for me.
Comments 44
Re: Random: Even Clive from Final Fantasy 16 Is Begging for Bloodborne at 60fps
@GymratAmarillo I get where you're coming from, and largely agree that past a point it becomes a nuisance, but a definitive no from FromSoft would have precluded a lot of that. Either way, the PC crowd got tired of waiting, built an emulator and can already play it at 60fps. Seems like money left on the table tbh.
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard's European Launch Sales Fall Short of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
@Michael2008ish Sure thing, it's an opinion. It didn't entertain me, so I refunded it.
With 3 multi-plat titles and one PS exclusive under my belt, albeit in a more technical role, I'd like to think I've had a hand in creating something...
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard's European Launch Sales Fall Short of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
@Michael2008ish The art style. Disney-ish, as in overly saturated and noticeably stylized - not my first choice for dark fantasy...
It wasn't about rainbows, no, which is what made the tone, characterization and general dialogue choices so frustrating. They where fundamentally at odds with the story (and series), undermining any actual sense of severity. I personally found it unengaging as a result, and found myself disliking characters in a short span of time. Rook included, largely due to the bland, toothless dialogue choices, at which point I figured it wasn't for me.
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard's European Launch Sales Fall Short of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
@somnambulance The dialogue and characterization is rather juvenile, they did away with a lot of the gore and pushed the art style in a distinctly Disney direction while the gameplay has shifted towards accessible ARPG fair. If anything, the marketing reflects the overall design choices quite well.
I opted to pick it up on Steam instead of PS to draw my own conclusions, and unfortunately refunded it for the above reasons. Modern Bioware just isn't for me.
Re: Vast Majority of Gamers Say Elden Ring DLC Should Never Have Been Nominated for Game of the Year
I'm not sure what relevance TGA has, beyond keeping a roof over Dorito Pope's head tbh. It's a relic of the past, much like E3.
With the rise of digital platforms, player based game awards make more sense. Well advertised in platform, with an extended voting period. A hard requirement that you own and have put x number of hours into the game before being eligible for voting.
Assuming the nomination pools are large, it'll aid game discovery and the ultimate winner will reflect the sentiments of the platforms users.
Re: Sony Reportedly in Talks to Acquire Elden Ring Dev's Parent Company Kadokawa Corp
I don't believe further consolidation of two industries already plagued by it is a good thing.
The only incentive FromSoft has is additional capital - in a time where excessive budgets, wasteful spending and misguided publisher priorities have caused a number of closures. Leave them be, they don't need the money.
From an manga/anime perspective, Sony has made their stance on wanting to appeal to global markets clear. All too often this means homogenization. Not a big anime fan, but it would be a shame to see a distinct medium watered down.
Re: All The Game Awards 2024 Nominees Revealed, Astro Bot Up for 7 Awards
@wildcat_kickz Best remake, while one is at it.
Re: Venus Vacation Prism: Dead or Alive Xtreme Is a Pretty Girl Photography Sim for PS5, PS4
Please sell enough to bankroll another NG game.
Re: Game of Thrones Star Sophie Turner Might Play Lara Croft in Tomb Raider TV Show
@PuppetMaster I also thought Vikander did a good job as Survivor-trilogy Lara. Certainly put a lot into the role.
That said, I miss old Lara. Not everything has to be serious. Given the decline of the Indiana Jones franchise, I dare say there's room for a more playful, adventure focused film.
Re: Game of Thrones Star Sophie Turner Might Play Lara Croft in Tomb Raider TV Show
I can't say I see it. Her acting isn't anything to write home about, nor does she strike me as being especially physical. For the purists, she's lacking two other important qualifications.
Re: Assassin's Creed Boss Says Series Is Inherently Diverse, Just Like History
Choosing Yasuke as the protagonist for an AC game set in Japan was an odd choice in terms of player expectation. In the decade plus of fans requesting such a game, I can't say I've seen anyone ask for Yasuke (or any other non-Japanese protagonist).
Doubling down on historical accuracy as the justification when the Yasuke-samurai conjecture is disputed, and was popularised by a single western author who wrote 400+ pages based loosely on a handful of paragraphs that never stated he was a samurai, or a lord, was a terrible choice.
Characterising all opposition to said choices as racism is just willful ignorance when both "diverse" AC titles and other media featuring black samurais have, and will likely continue to succeed (on their own merits).
Studios seem to be ever increasingly incapable of accepting critiscm.
Re: Bloodborne PS5 Pro Comparison Appears As Consumers Receive Console Early
PC having the best looking and performing version of Bloodborne was not on my 2024 bingo card.
Re: Random: Suda51 Claims to Have Met Mysterious Sales Maestro, Wario64
That's a point, I need to pick up the Shadows of the Damned remaster.
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5) - The Best BioWare Game Since Mass Effect 3
@themightyant Origins certainly was, and truthfully I'm still hoping for a "true" sequel to it.
While less atmospheric, apocalyptic and grotesque, qualities I missed in 2, it still maintained some of the oppressive atmosphere; Mundane hopelessness, if you will. It also had a number of legitimate gut-punches. I certainly wouldn't call In Hushed Whispers heroic fantasy. I would call the overwhelming majority of Inquisition exactly that.
My concern from the outset, with that god awful announcement trailer, has been that Veilguard will steer further in that direction - with rapid-fire whedonisms and bright flashes of color to mark the franchise's transformation into yet another generic, overly "safe" fantasy action property.
Given Bioware's trajectory as of late, the gameplay footage and writing I have seen (albeit with limited context) and that there's no reason not to wait, I'll do exactly that, is all.
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5) - The Best BioWare Game Since Mass Effect 3
@ShogunRok @ShogunRok I didn't suggest there was, only that I would hold off on purchasing it until an informed decision could be made. There needn't be conspiracy involved for press consensus to not align with my subjective taste in games. It happens all the time.
For that reason, I make a habit of following individual reviewers with similar tastes; The prestige or popularity of a publication matters little if they frequently endorse titles I don't enjoy.
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5) - The Best BioWare Game Since Mass Effect 3
@themightyant I didn't see it as "trying to be an arsehole". More, just not being entirely supplicative and endlessly accommodating.
It's a legitimate complaint, IMO. Dragon Age is an established dark fantasy franchise, not a family friendly Disney production after all.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare
> think perhaps that their point is - BioWare kinda made it their calling-card.
This. Coupled with the radical shift in tone and changes in gameplay, I feel some trepidation is more than justified. That's not to say it'll be bad, just that anyone not wishing to indulge in mindless consumerism can wait a day or two to confirm it's something they actually want to play.
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5) - The Best BioWare Game Since Mass Effect 3
@KeenAerondight Same, most of the reviewers I follow, for their similar tastes and generally non-sensational reviews, outright dislike the game. No harm in waiting a couple of days as to make an informed decision.
Re: Fans Can't Fathom Why PS5 RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Is So Cheap
@Gaia093 This is my guess. As a new studio, they aren't subject to the corporate bloat that many established studios have, either. That does wonders for payroll.
Re: Don't Nod Financials Result in Reorganisation and Layoffs, Cancelled Projects
@themightyant lol, malfunctioning before my morning coffee. Meant to say 25%, as a rough mean increase over user scores outside of the titles that saw mainstream adoption, which are largely in lockstep. Edited to correct.
My point is precisely that though. It is pretty normal. Even quite forgiving/favourable in the case of their divisive titles. That is, it's unfair to blame the press for poor adoption. The games simply failed to resonate with a sufficiently large audience to be profitable.
Re: Don't Nod Financials Result in Reorganisation and Layoffs, Cancelled Projects
@gollumb82 This has always been the case. https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/best-selling-games-of-each-of-the-past-25-years-in-the-us/2900-5031/
Gameplay is the mediums defining feature, it's not surprising that people would prioritise it. Fun, exhilaration, exploration, escapism and challenge consistently rank highly in terms of gamer priorities. Games with these qualities that also have a strong narrative, world-building or characterization, with broad appeal, often become iconic. Your favourite game, Cyberpunk 2077, moved 25 million copies to date. The Witcher 3 has moved over 50. Skyrim over 60. People still long for novel games. They just have to succeed as games to break even.
Re: Don't Nod Financials Result in Reorganisation and Layoffs, Cancelled Projects
@KundaliniRising333 The press has been fairly kind to their games, even the poorer ones - with scores often a good 25% higher than audience scores for their "non-mainstream" titles. It seems unfair to blame the press for niche titles not selling well.
The rise in production costs has just made the consequences of a lack of mass appeal that much more noticeable.
Re: Crickets as Suicide Squad Endures Another Muted Launch
@Yousef- Give it time, you might just be right.
Re: Watch Unreal 5's Seriously Impressive MegaLights Tech Demo, Running on a PS5
@torquex That's a (meticulously crafted) cinematic running at 30fps on a 4900/14900k, so 6+ times slower. It is likely to appeal to the virtual production crowd (much like Unreal 4 did with Rebirth, 5 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fC20NWhx4s). This tech-demo is showcasing hundreds of dynamic, ray-traced lights on consumer hardware at 60FPS, where previously one was limited to a handful before performance plummeted.
@NEStalgia It's been available via source builds for some time. As it stands, it currently requires HW raytracing support and is decoupled, superficially at least, from GI method. I've been meaning to take a look at the actual implementation, but work has had other ideas. I'm guessing it's a novel approach to importance (re)sampling - something similar to ReSTIR.
tldr; HW acceleration is concerned with speeding up the tracing - the calculation of ray-triangle intersections required to model light transport and maintaining the acceleration structures to do it at scale. This is more about minimizing the number of traces required while maximizing the relevant "information" acquired from each trace, if that makes sense.
Re: Watch Unreal 5's Seriously Impressive MegaLights Tech Demo, Running on a PS5
@NEStalgia i think you're confused. Raytracing, broadly speaking, is a class of algorithms. Hardware raytracing is dedicated silicone on GPUs that accelerates the notoriously computationally intensive aspects of raytracing. Both lumen and megalights are raytracing and can exploit hardware RT. Megalights straight up requires it. Lumen has a "software RT" mode that exclusively traces against a simplified scene representation, removing the need for hardware accelerated ray-triangle intersections at the cost of quality.
Re: Watch Unreal 5's Seriously Impressive MegaLights Tech Demo, Running on a PS5
@wiiware Its a supplement to, not a replacement for Lumen. Lumen is a solution for indirect illumination and reflections. Megalights handles the direct illumination and shadowing of a large numbers of lights. Same as RTXDI requires a supplementary GI solver.
Also, there are a number of UE5 titles already using lumen. Lords of the Fallen, The First Descendent, Wu Kong, etc.
Re: Dragon Quest Veterans on Dealing with 'Ridiculous Country' USA Amid Censorship Row
@nessisonett That... seems more than a little myopic. Historically, the puritan brand of censorship was primarily pushed by the Christian right. But that hasn't been the case since the days of Jack Thompson and paranoid parents fearing that Harry Potter would turn their children into satanists.
Despite little interest in culture wars, it's hard not to notice that the majority of people pushing the "anti-woke" position a) want more attractive, even suggestive characters and b) are predominately right wing, in many cases explicitly Christian. A cursory glance at social media will confirm this.
As someone working in the industry, I can also confidently say that most "conservative" design decisions and self-censorship, at least in regards to female characters, are rooted in "tropes vs woman" style progressive paranoia and moral concern. Which tracks, considering the majority of executives and art directors in western studios, which pursue such censorship to a far greater degree than their Eastern counterparts, are left-leaning. The Eastern studios that do so, usually do so at the behest of their US offices, situated in California. Square Enix, for example, or the source of any of Capcoms inclusivity circulars. More relevant still, note that it was Sony US that amended their publishing criteria, allowing them to deny Japanese studios the use of local rating agencies and insist that they meet "western standards" - forcing all content to be approved by their California headquarters, in English no less.
Re: Don't Sleep on PS2 Secret Gem Sky Gunner, Coming to PS5, PS4 Next Week
@get2sammyb Thanks for the info. That's an... interesting marketing strategy.
Re: Don't Sleep on PS2 Secret Gem Sky Gunner, Coming to PS5, PS4 Next Week
@get2sammyb Thanks for the heads up, wasn't aware of it. Speaking of which, Lollipop Chainsaw Repop launched to absolutely no press coverage. What's up with that?
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reveal Has Utterly Torn Fan Opinion as Trailer Gets Slaughtered
@Batesy125s Stylized aesthetic is a design choice - departing from realism/nature for effect. Lack of aesthetic speaks to visual identity and appeal, or the lack thereof. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
I have no issue with stylization, I just thought the trailer lacked visual identity, was a poor choice (in terms of execution) for the setting and had a couple of legitimately unappealing design choices.
As for the tone, if you don't think this is a juvenile take on dark fantasy (and all that implies), I'm not sure what more to say.
On the up side, the developers have since released a gameplay preview, in response to the overwhelmingly negative trailer reception, and it seems entirely different. I'll reserve judgement until the game launches - after which I can see if the poor direction was limited to a single trailer.
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reveal Has Utterly Torn Fan Opinion as Trailer Gets Slaughtered
@Batesy125s I'm pretty sure it isn't the stylized aesthetic that people are taking exception to. It's the lack of aesthetic and infantile tone in a dark fantasy setting.
DA really doesn't need Whedonism.
Re: Silent Hill 2's PS5 Remake Emerges from the Fog on 8th October
The environments look excellent - really atmospheric. The characters? A disappointment.
James still looks weird and has unnatural/rigid animation. Maria's redesign looks like a generic daytime TV character, albeit with a head too large for her body. Major misstep in terms of characterization IMO. Angela is... unfortunate. The execution of the enemies seems pretty underwhelming as well. Muddy, indistinct and blandly animated. The head shake on the nurse is the only addition I actually like.
I'll wait for actual gameplay footage come release. Certainly not a day 1 buy.
Re: Team Ninja Reveals Rise of the Ronin's Links to Nioh, Ninja Gaiden
I'd love to see NG return. The polish of NGB alongside the intensity of NG2 is pretty much everything I could wish for in an action game.
Re: Team Ninja Reveals Rise of the Ronin's Links to Nioh, Ninja Gaiden
@JohntheRaptor A hybrid, for sure, but it doesn't quite scratch the NG itch. The pacing of combat is closer to that of a Soulslike - smaller, slower, more methodical encounters.
NG is somewhat unique. It features hyper-aggressive, highly lethal enemies. On Master Ninja, they'll punish you for standing still or blocking as readily as they will for excessive movement or careless attacks. Throw in orbs and UTs and it becomes equal parts spatial puzzle, where precise positioning, use of the environment and decisive actions are outright required, and a doom-like adrenaline rush as you cleave your way through said enemies by the dozen.
Re: Square Enix Layoffs Underway in US and Europe as Restructure Begins
Let's hope they started with the ethics department.
Re: Helldivers Turn on Arrowhead Following Undemocratic Firing of Community Manager
@EfYI Not sure, don't really follow the game.
Refunds are usually an automated process, and will be declined if you have more than 2 hours playtime. Do it enough times and it gets flagged for manual review. Whether or not it will be approved, I'm not sure.
Re: Helldivers Turn on Arrowhead Following Undemocratic Firing of Community Manager
@EfYI As I understand it, despite intending account linking from the outset (publisher requirement), they accepted purchases from all countries on Steam - including the 121 in which PSN is unavailable. When linking was introduced in a patch, they where effectively barred from playing the game they had purchased.
Re: System Shock Remake Will Launch at Its Very Best on PS5, PS4
@Loamy The term "immersive sim", at least originally, referred to games that pursued immersion through responsive worlds. At the time the pursuit of realism and fidelity was compromising interactivity, often to the detriment of design, and they where the counterpoint.
Re: Everyone's Talking About Eve's Outfits in PS5 Exclusive Stellar Blade
@kcarnes9051
> Gender is a cultural issue. Sex is a biological one. You’re trying to minimize this just to sex, and that is, again, a straw man...
To wade directly into the thorny issue, the reason I cited sex was because the aforementioned preferences conform to biological sex even when the individual identifies as a different gender. This might be why, despite facing even greater adversity, transgender women are disproportionately represented in the e-sports scene relative to biological woman. I really don't understand this obsession with ignoring evolutionary and biological factors, or the self-righteousness with which it is pursued. You understand that individual contentedness drops off a cliff when cultural forces steer people away from the proximate baseline, right? Hardly a moral victory.
As for all the additional word salad, let me be clear. I never once advocated against promoting gaming to women. To excluding anyone from e-sports. In favour of toxicity. But these are separate issues - tangential to my issue with your stance.
All I've ever argued was that natural preferences exist, that they are demonstrably influenced by biological factors, as supported by substantial reproducible evidence, and need not be "fixed". That naively forcing demographics into studios catering to these preferences based on a myopic interpretation of equality is negative sum, and that creating a more diverse market that caters to a wider range of preferences is preferable - both financially and in terms of player enjoyment. As a developer, player enjoyment is what I care about, which is why I defend my position.
Either way, repeating myself is tedious. I'm out.
Re: Everyone's Talking About Eve's Outfits in PS5 Exclusive Stellar Blade
@kcarnes9051
> When the industry isn’t catering to female interests in AAA gaming
Except a number of studios do - quite successfully.
> you can’t know if they’d show up.
But they did - the context of this discussion is close on 50% of gamers being female.
> “girls don’t like big AAA games as much by nature”.
> business decided to target women and failed before other cultural elements had time to catch
Disingenuous, again. I stated that interests and priorities, generally speaking, are meaningfully influenced by sex. Despite significant efforts to prove otherwise, sex-based stereotypes of genre preferences, particularly in regards to certain types of gameplay and content, remain exceedingly accurate.
General consensus tends towards evolutionary factors and biological-proximate causes. It's not a perfect predictor, and there are outliers, but it also isn't a cultural issue. It's consistent across multiple cultures, multiple mediums and multiple decades.
Treating disproportionately male or female interests as a cultural "problem" is a problem. A mature market should strive to cater specifically to a expanding range of niches, not warp and conform peoples wants into a small subset of overly homogenous niches that increasingly fail to adequately satisfy anyone.
Re: Everyone's Talking About Eve's Outfits in PS5 Exclusive Stellar Blade
@kcarnes9051
> with 75% men making decisions about game content for an audience made of up nearly 50% women
The statistics are in regards to this - your own words. My choice in source was stated to be the most comprehensive I'd encountered, not the most recent. It provided a breakdown across genre, indicating a trend that has been well documented for some time - both in freely available (and, yes, more recent) research as well as internal surveys. Games with an emphasis on competition, challenge, motor skills and high skill ceilings consistently tend towards a disproportionately male player base, regardless of aesthetic. Accessible fantasy, emphasis on social behaviour, cosmetics and collectibles tends towards even to female dominated player bases.
Bottom line is men and women, generally speaking, want different things. There is overlap, but there are also competing/mutually-exclusive interests. Studios prioritising their primary demographic isn't controversial - it's prudent. The very same thing is done for games with a predominately female player base.
So, by your own logic, 75% men making decisions about game content for a niche with a mean male player base in excess of 80% is underrepresentation. But something tells me I won't hear any impassioned complaints from you about that...
Re: Everyone's Talking About Eve's Outfits in PS5 Exclusive Stellar Blade
@Northern_munkey There's quite a bit of gameplay footage floating around. This gives a decent idea of how it plays:
https://www.reddit.com/link/1bafgx6/video/dspb4yiv6anc1/player
The raw footage from the demo looks a bit slower than the early official footage - I'm chalking that up to it being from peoples first few hours with the game. It reminds me of both Sekiro ("perilous attacks" that require different actions to mitigate, emphasis on fast sequential parries for defence and high enemy damage) and DMC (fast combo orientated offense with many unlockable moves, combos chaining with instant ranged attacks, aerial combat).
Re: Everyone's Talking About Eve's Outfits in PS5 Exclusive Stellar Blade
@kcarnes9051 A commonly misused statistic. Women might make up close to 50% of gamers, but those studies are broad and include the likes of Match3 and Farmville.
The most comprehensive study I've found to date (https://quanticfoundry.com/2017/01/19/female-gamers-by-genre/) , which coincides with independent genre-specific surveys done by multiple publishers, put the female player base at 20% or less for Action RPGs, 7% or less for FPSs and 2% for sports games.
Re: Everyone's Talking About Eve's Outfits in PS5 Exclusive Stellar Blade
I play games for escapism and feel realism, outside of the handful of titles that actually benefit from it, more often than not gets in the way of fun.
Eve looks great, as does the combat - somewhere between Sekiro and DMC. Day 1 for me.
Re: Sounds Like PS5's Stellar Blade Will Be Playing Dress Up Long After Launch
@ChrisDeku I never knew 20/20 vision was salacious.