Dark Souls II

Scavenger XIII

krudler wrote: »

The flow of time at From Software is convoluted.

Communication between departments is terrible, just cryptic orange writing scawled everywhere. Don't get me started on getting phantom managers summoned to your world for a meeting.

krudler

Scavenger XIII wrote: »

Communication between departments is terrible, just cryptic orange writing scawled everywhere. Don't get me started on getting phantom managers summoned to your world for a meeting.

Ha, a load of injokes could spring from working there. "Did you get my summon sign to the meeting at 12? we need to engage in some jolly cooperation"

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

krudler wrote: »

Ha, a load of injokes could spring from working there. "Did you get my summon sign to the meeting at 12? we need to engage in some jolly cooperation"

and that would all stop after the first time someone got stabbed

noodler

krudler wrote: »

Ha, a load of injokes could spring from working there. "Did you get my summon sign to the meeting at 12? we need to engage in some jolly cooperation"

HR having to get involved in an array of harrassment cases after one co-worker keeps accusing others of being "quite fond" of them.

in a creepy way too


EDIT: Think I'll go for black armour as well. Might check gamestop or gamesnash though as I really want this on the Friday.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

vaatvidya released a lore video for dark souls 2

it's not terribly spoilery, just a few things he's picked up (or thinks he's picked up) from his time with the beta. obviously if you dont want to know anything, dont watch.. but i'm even more excited now.

penev10

Taken form January issue of EDGE, Interview with Y u i Ta n i m u r a
http://www.edge-online.com/features/dark-souls-ii-prepare-to-die-die-and-die-again-in-fromsoftwares-expanded-sequel/
Apologies for the formatting, taken form an OCR scan

When we met last year, you spoke of making Dark
Souls II more accessible than the first game. Since
then, it’s become clear that this is very much a Souls
game. What did you mean by ‘accessible’, and how
have you balanced the desire to attract new players
with the need to keep existing fans happy?
First of all, we apologise for using the word ‘accessible’
and misleading the fans. By ‘accessible’, what we mainly
meant was going through the process of streamlining and
carving away the fat to more clearly communicate the
true essence of Dark Souls. There are two main concepts
we concentrate on when developing. One is the sense of
satisfaction when overcoming the hurdles and challenges
in the game. We aim for players to achieve a huge sense
of satisfaction as they proceed through the game – for
the highest sense of achievement possible, we make the
game challenging. Second is the loose
connections with other players in the
same world. This is done through
elements such as blood messaging, blood
stains, summoning and invasions,
[providing] a sense of the other players
who suffer the same experiences in the
Dark Souls universe. Our main intent for
Dark Souls II was to enhance the
experience to better express these
underlining concepts more directly to the
players, and to cut away a lot of the
tediousness that was included in Dark
Souls that did not have to do with the
communication of these concepts.

There are obvious visual improvements in lighting,
cloth physics and animation. Why stop there? Why
make the game for 360 and PS3 when Dark Souls is
the kind of game that could sell new hardware?
At the start of development, we felt that there was still a
lot of potential that remained unused in Dark Souls. I
hope this can be seen with the demos and footage that we
have released. Our intention was to capitalise on the total
potential of [seventh-generation] consoles and deliver
the game to fans as soon as possible.

The PC version of the first Dark Souls wasn’t a good
port. How did that make the team feel, and what are
you doing to ensure that the PC iteration is better
this time around?
We understand and accept a lot of the feedback we have
received from fans around the world who have played the
PC version. We first decided to port over to the PC
platform as a result of the petition signed by players
around the world. And with our goal to release a PC
version as soon as possible, it was a decision to simply
port the experience over in the shortest amount of time
possible. For the PC version of Dark Souls II, the
game development will be based on the PC – we will
make sure that the main PC game features are supported
and also do our best to attend to a lot of the user
feedback that we have received.

What would it take to bring the PC version of Dark
Souls II to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One?
We have not put any thought into this yet, so
I unfortunately can’t answer at this point.

Miyazaki isn’t directing. Has his
distance from the project changed the
way Dark Souls II is developed?
The basic thinking behind how Dark Souls
II is developed has not changed. Team
structures and members have changed a
little bit, and we may think a little more
together to bring ideas together. But
because we are aligned in regards to what
has to be communicated with the game,
we have not faced any major changes
internally. Miyazaki is still involved as a
supervisor, and I seek advice when
necessary. There are small things here and
there [that Mizazaki might not have chosen], perhaps,
but whenever we go back to the core elements of the Dark
Souls experience, I feel that the thinking behind the game
development is similar. I do want to state [there are]
some differences between Dark Souls I and II, so I think
the players can also look forward to new elements when
they pick up the game.

Players can no longer hide from invasions by staying
Hollow, and are punished for doing so by having their
HP affected by death in this form. How are you
balancing this shift in thinking? Being invaded on
your way to a boss that you wanted to summon help
for is one of Dark Souls’ most irritating moments and
appears to be contradictory to greater accessibility.
First off, my main intention was to have players play with
the idea of wanting to stay as a living [human]. [That’s]
when players immerse themselves more into the
character; we wanted players to strive and grasp onto life,
and sense the sorrow, remorse and loneliness when
playing the game. For this, when players play as a living,
we have implemented methods to help the player
out, such as The Way Of Blue Covenant and other items
that will not make the player completely vulnerable to
being invaded. The invaders will also have their risks
when invading and so there will be a strategising
element for invaders to determine whether they want to
invade or not.

What are the biggest challenges in
balancing a game of two very
different components – PvP
interactions that permeate a PvE
world? Many of the beta changes
seemed to be aimed at tweaking PvP,
but is there not a risk that catering
for one group of players risks
upsetting the others?
For the sake of the network beta test, we
wanted to encourage PvP gameplay in
order to fully understand the impact on
the servers, and also learn patterns of
how players around the world play and
enjoy the game. The final game will
obviously prioritise PvE, but at the
same time [it will] make enhancements
to the PvP systems.

To what extent is the world shown in
the beta the same as the final game?
Bonfires and item drops in particular
were very generously spaced for
player testing. Can you confirm if this will this be
the case in the full game?
The environment used for the network beta build was
unique and is difficult to directly compare with the other
venues. The pacing of bonfires will change based on the
environments, and we are still in the midst of tuning and
balancing the game progression. Items, too, were more of
a beta decision. We will take the user behaviour and
results to continue tuning the game to its top level. Life
Gems are still being balanced and tuned, but I can tell
you that the number of items will be limited to balance
the game progression. How the items are to be used [is
something] the player will have to decide, but in tight,
intense moments, the Gems may help a little more, since
players can walk away while recovery takes place.

In terms of size, how does Dark Souls II’s world
compare to that of Dark Souls?
We are thinking about the same size world as Dark Souls.
The storytelling will be fairly similar, but in regards to
proceeding through the world, we want to give more
freedom for the players to choose their decisions, and so
the unfolding of the world will hopefully be unique to
each player.

Dark Souls was P2P based; Dark Souls
II uses servers. Why the change? Has
the beta confirmed that this was the
right decision?

In connection with enhancing the
roleplaying elements for Dark Souls II,
we wanted players to take on their role
in the universe. For this to be most
effective, we felt that returning to a
server-based game system will allow for
more visibility on the loose connections
with other players. The beta, we feel,
did prove a lot of the game’s
functionality, and with the results we
will continue to tune for our ideal game
balance with online game play.

Did you find any of the classes were
in need of rebalancing?
This is a very good point. The classes
available in the network beta were only
preset characters that we created
internally and do not represent the
balancing or characteristics in the final game. The balance
of the classes is important, but the players will have the
freedom to develop their own characters.

What of players who are daunted by Dark Souls’
difficulty? What would you say to them?
A main theme in all games developed by FromSoftware is
to not fully explain all the elements of how to play and
challenge players to figure it out for themselves. We
would like to encourage players to conquer the elements
they face by paying attention to the surroundings and
also being creative in strategising

krudler

penev10 wrote: »

What of players who are daunted by Dark Souls’
difficulty? What would you say to them?

Man up you wusses, if I could get into it there's hope for anyone :pac:


No avoiding invasion by staying hollow eh? that could be something that will improve or break how it currently plays, I'll admit I stayed hollow a lot in certain areas on my first playthrough but you only really get the full experience being invaded and summoned. Be interesting to see how they balance it.

danthefan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SJqRpvebCY&feature=youtu.be

New trailer. Game looks incredible.

noodler

I thought that was a poor trailer, graphics look meh and enemies looked a bit resident evil-ish!

But I am still optimistic!

heebusjeebus

In game character graphics look a bit funky after all that CGI at the beginning. Still a day 1 purchase though.
I've ordered the Black Armour edition on Amazon for £37. The standard version is £39 for some reason.

2smiggy

Lots of CGI but I liked that. The graphics are fine for me, all about the fighting and game world design. If they get that right again I will be happy

Where are ye ordering this ? The amazon one is tempting, but I would be waiting till the following Tuesday or Wednesday to get it. Or would parcel Motel get it there for the Friday ? It is a long weekend that weekend so it would be a pity to be stuck without it

heebusjeebus

2smiggy wrote: »

Lots of CGI but I liked that. The graphics are fine for me, all about the fighting and game world design. If they get that right again I will be happy

Where are ye ordering this ? The amazon one is tempting, but I would be waiting till the following Tuesday or Wednesday to get it. Or would parcel Motel get it there for the Friday ? It is a long weekend that weekend so it would be a pity to be stuck without it

With my parcel motel address, Amazon guarantee a release day delivery. So I'd expect to get it from Parcel Motel Saturday 16th.

danthefan

2smiggy wrote: »

Lots of CGI but I liked that. The graphics are fine for me, all about the fighting and game world design. If they get that right again I will be happy

Where are ye ordering this ? The amazon one is tempting, but I would be waiting till the following Tuesday or Wednesday to get it. Or would parcel Motel get it there for the Friday ? It is a long weekend that weekend so it would be a pity to be stuck without it

Are you going for a console or PC? If PC then you could obviously buy it digitally, no worries about delivery then.

Amazon are generally very good with delivery, so are gamestop.ie.

2smiggy

I will get it for the PS3. I might just pay the extra money and buy it in the shop on the Friday, as the nearest parcel motel point to me is 25 miles away from me, and that would be a bit annoying to have to collect on the Saturday, and the cost of petrol so not saving much really. If I was not looking forward to it so much I would just wait for amazon super saver delivery

noodler

Hmm, black armour on gamestop (Although they did serve me well last time I ordered in terms of getting it to me on release day).

I am pretty torn. Nothing yet on gamesnash.ie

Mickeroo

New trailer I think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SJqRpvebCY

krudler

Eeeeeeeeeee

Mickeroo

krudler wrote: »

Eeeeeeeeeee

My sentiments exactly.

krudler

Mickeroo wrote: »

My sentiments exactly.

noodler

Pshhh I saw itin post 189 hours ago, earlier this morning!


Looks poor, I repeat!


Crap graphics and Resi looking enemies.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

yeah i wasnt too thrilled with the trailer either but thankfully every other video i've seen of it looks boner inducing so im not worried

krudler

Some of the camera angles in that trailer are strange, you're looking at all out of context footage too, it looks much more fluid and nice in the beta footage when you see it in action properly. I'm not worried about it graphically as long as the framerate is more stable, if it plays the same as DS1 and is as tough and fun to explore then happy days.

Mickeroo

The graphics don't bother me, it's kind of a trademark for Dark Souls, sure there wasn't really a marked improvement between Demon's Souls and Dark Souls graphics wise imo.

tok9

I also wouldn't worry too much.

That was a really odd trailer.. as someone else said, the camera was in some awful positions.

Also with the demo I played at EGX and the beta's the game looks great and the framerate was very good (outstanding at EGX)

If you thought Dark Souls looked good (which it did) then you'll be happy with Dark Souls 2.

ZiabR

noodler wrote: »

Pshhh I saw itin post 189 hours ago, earlier this morning!


Looks poor, I repeat!


Crap graphics and Resi looking enemies.

I kinda have to agree with that... as much as I don't want to

krudler

Mickeroo wrote: »

The graphics don't bother me, it's kind of a trademark for Dark Souls, sure there wasn't really a marked improvement between Demon's Souls and Dark Souls graphics wise imo.

I thought Demon's Souls had a better framerate myself, Dark Souls has more detailed environments. Parts of it look lovely, especially the Duke's Archives and Anor Londo, some parts not so much, looking at you Blightown!

Kiith

The textures are pretty awful at times in that trailer, but that won't bother me once i'm playing. Once the area's look good, and the combat is as good as i'd expect it to be, i'll be happy (than angry, sad, anxious, delighted, angry, sad, angry etc...)

danthefan

krudler wrote: »

I thought Demon's Souls had a better framerate myself, Dark Souls has more detailed environments. Parts of it look lovely, especially the Duke's Archives and Anor Londo, some parts not so much, looking at you Blightown!

Depended on where you were in Dark Souls. Some spots were fine, others (I'm looking at you Blighttown) were like a slideshow.

Big Knox

noodler wrote: »

I thought that was a poor trailer, graphics look meh and enemies looked a bit resident evil-ish!

But I am still optimistic!

The enemies are more Demon's Souls like than Dark and I'm happy with that. A slightly darker take on things fits right in with the series. The one thing Demon's Souls done better than Dark was the atmosphere and it looks like they're going back to that which can only be a good thing.

noodler

Big Knox wrote: »

The enemies are more Demon's Souls like than Dark and I'm happy with that. A slightly darker take on things fits right in with the series. The one thing Demon's Souls done better than Dark was the atmosphere and it looks like they're going back to that which can only be a good thing.

Not sure I agree.

demons was lacking in variety for me in terms of setting. Places like firelink, painted world, anor londo were welcome respites from the constant black of demons.

there is barely anythhing I dont think dark improved on imo.