Batman: Arkham City Catch-All

Mantid wrote:

What's the world coming to when you need a pre-order guide?

I agree!

CptGlanton wrote:
Mantid wrote:

What's the world coming to when you need a pre-order guide?

I agree!

I just want the Steam version!

I WANT TO BE BATMAN!

Hyetal wrote:

I WANT TO BE BATMAN!

IMAGE(http://imgur.com/j86gp.jpg)

Citizen86 wrote:
CptGlanton wrote:
Mantid wrote:

What's the world coming to when you need a pre-order guide?

I agree!

I just want the Steam version!

Indeed. I've ended up passing up most of the ridiculous pre-order bonuses anymore just for the convenience and consolidation of my library.

I'm sure Steam will have a pre-order bonus though, its too big of an outlet not to have one.

MannishBoy wrote:

All this crap is making me think I'll wait and not get it at launch. I'll play it, but maybe in January on a big sale or something. I'm getting that way more and more with single player games.

Besides, Battlefield 3 is out the following week. And then — whoops! — there goes six months of your gaming life.

lostlobster wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

All this crap is making me think I'll wait and not get it at launch. I'll play it, but maybe in January on a big sale or something. I'm getting that way more and more with single player games.

Besides, Battlefield 3 is out the following week. And then — whoops! — there goes six months of your gaming life.

And Gears is out in September. And Forza 4, Rage, etc.

And then Skyrim. Dude, this year is going to be so f*cking awesome.

Also, Mutton - and I'm not lying here - if that's what it took... yeah, maybe I should stop. Ehh, I think I'll stick to living vicariously through the videogame.

Mantid wrote:
Citizen86 wrote:
CptGlanton wrote:
Mantid wrote:

What's the world coming to when you need a pre-order guide?

I agree!

I just want the Steam version!

Indeed. I've ended up passing up most of the ridiculous pre-order bonuses anymore just for the convenience and consolidation of my library.

I'm sure Steam will have a pre-order bonus though, its too big of an outlet not to have one.

Unless you're EA. :p

But I guess that belongs in that other thread.

Mantid wrote:

I'm sure Steam will have a pre-order bonus though, its too big of an outlet not to have one.

Check your expectations, with the recent terms of service dispute with EA I'm not sure anything is guaranteed. Batman:AC isn't listed on steam yet. For such a big title I'm sure Eidos would want it listed.

lostlobster wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

All this crap is making me think I'll wait and not get it at launch. I'll play it, but maybe in January on a big sale or something. I'm getting that way more and more with single player games.

Besides, Battlefield 3 is out the following week. And then — whoops! — there goes six months of your gaming life.

But it's highly likely I'll be able to play Batman AC in its intended form on the first day of release. I'm doubtful that the same will be true of Battlefield 3.

CptGlanton wrote:
lostlobster wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

All this crap is making me think I'll wait and not get it at launch. I'll play it, but maybe in January on a big sale or something. I'm getting that way more and more with single player games.

Besides, Battlefield 3 is out the following week. And then — whoops! — there goes six months of your gaming life.

But it's highly likely I'll be able to play Batman AC in its intended form on the first day of release. I'm doubtful that the same will be true of Battlefield 3.

There's always BF3 single player or co-op!

(I plan to play those, as I liked both of the BC campaigns. I know I might not be in the majority).

Well, between the two of us, you're at 50%, so you're almost to a majority!

Mantid wrote:

Indeed. I've ended up passing up most of the ridiculous pre-order bonuses anymore just for the convenience and consolidation of my library.

At this juncture the only bonus that even remotely interests me is the Best Buy/Robin one. You actually get content in that one with extra challenge maps, and based on Robin's artwork, possibly unique fighting moves with his bowstaff.

And chicks dig a guy with bowstaff skills.

RPS reports that the PC version is looking like the "definitive" version.

DX11, PhysX, and more.

Bits the PC only version is getting include tessellation, fog, and… more loose trash in the streets! YES! I hate it when my gaming streets are all clean. But the unnamed PCG hack goes on to say, “holy crap, do the console textures look poor by comparison.”

So pretty much it's like B:AA, but with a more recent version of Unreal Engine.

Also, Mr Freeze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tzrw...

Squeee!

Now this is going to be fun!

I was hoping they would drop the PhysX crap. Oh well.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I was hoping they would drop the PhysX crap. Oh well.

Depends how it's done. Recently Nvidia came out with physx v3 which is more generalised away from their hardware. The other thing about B:AA physx was that it was either nothing, a little, or "We're going to put your framerate through the floor unless you're packing a dedicated card for physics". And 99% of the time it was for decorative effects rather than anything essential.

I'd like to think rocksteady and developers in general are moving towards systems that can just make the best of what's available by scaling up, but I should know better than that. Even things like tesselation seem used more for pushing the higher limits of detail rather than better scaling between high and low. As always, it's going to take a few years for new tech to be 'just right', and then there will be some other new tech to consume performance.

PhysX in general can really only be used cosmetically, because the results of the computations aren't available to the CPU quickly. The setup is handed off to the card, which does the massively-parallel magic, but then the result is sitting out there, far away from the CPU. It would have be pulled back in and integrated back into the results, which is going to add substantial lag.

Almost certainly, any PhysX effects will be kept completely on the card; once the model is pushed out there, the main program won't care what it actually ends up looking like. So you'll get papers swirling around and leaves blowing and bits of junk flying after impacts, but it probably won't change the reactions of anything that you can interact with, or which could affect you. That would slow the game down too much.

I wonder if that will change in the 5-10 year timespan as GPU/CPU hybrids become commonplace. Having said that, there's a lot game designers would like to do with more CPU power.

Well last time it was restricted to NVidia cards... I wonder if they will allow ATI cards to use it this time.

BlackSabre wrote:

Well last time it was restricted to NVidia cards... I wonder if they will allow ATI cards to use it this time.

Unless PhysX has changed drastically recently, (like not being owned by Nvidia anymore), then I doubt that

Hmm. Wasn't there a patch that enabled it to work on ATI cards anyway? I'll have to go googling again.

Scratched wrote:

Also, Mr Freeze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tzrw...

I didn't think it was possible for them to be able to make me want this game more. That looks like it is going to be full of awesome.

Jayhawker wrote:
Scratched wrote:

Also, Mr Freeze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tzrw...

I didn't think it was possible for them to be able to make me want this game more. That looks like it is going to be full of awesome.

I think this is the first time that they are showing how much more care they are putting into the Boss fights, which was the sole big complain from Batman:AA.

Falchion wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:
Scratched wrote:

Also, Mr Freeze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tzrw...

I didn't think it was possible for them to be able to make me want this game more. That looks like it is going to be full of awesome.

I think this is the first time that they are showing how much more care they are putting into the Boss fights, which was the sole big complain from Batman:AA.

It is funny - but I actually liked AA specifically because of the relative lack of boss fights. I am replaying it right now and I just feel like it is such a tightly crafted experience that makes you feel like a goddam bat-ass(see what I did there?), that I just don't know how they can top it. I really hope they keep their focus tight on this game as well.

I don't think anyone's complaining about a *lack* of boss fights. It's just that the boss fights you did encounter were of a lesser quality than the rest of the game.

Hyetal wrote:

I don't think anyone's complaining about a *lack* of boss fights. It's just that the boss fights you did encounter were of a lesser quality than the rest of the game.

Don't you give me your sass talk, you! I've got some moves, you know.

I'll admit that I'm getting a little nervous about the sheer number of villains they're announcing for this game. I'm worried that the rule for Batman movies could hold for Batman games: the more villains there are in the story, the lower the overall quality.

Like Sally said, part of the first game's magic was its focus. You weren't zipping around from boss fight to boss fight. They wisely relegated most of Batman's villains to cameos, little bits of environmental storytelling in there for fans but not demanding of your attention. This gave the villains that were in the game an opportunity to really shine (although Poison Ivy and maybe Killer Croc could have been cut without any loss).

Obviously, the proof will be in the pudding, but I'm a little bit more wary of the game with each new character they reveal.