Arkane's Dishonored

Malor wrote:
Another smug face added... i dont see how this can be considered botched in any shape or form when compared to actual games who have botched their release.

Amazon said they'd have it here Tuesday; they didn't even ship it until Tuesday. They botched it for me, at least.

Not the end of the world, but it's that old line.... "you had one job. just one...."

Fortunately, I'm enjoying X-COM, but it'd be nice to be able to swap back and forth.

not to rub it in too bad. That's what i've been doing. Get frustrated at a bad run in Xcom and i swap over for a couple missions of Dishonored

I play it on the 360 without issue.

caterin6 wrote:

The problem is, like many other FP games, I get motion sick as hell after about 30 minutes. I'd tried increasing FOV but no dice, looks like I am going to have to drop back to the tiny window approach that got me through Portal2. kinda sucks the immersion factor out but it beats playing with nausea/headache.

Did you try turning off head bob? I noticed this game actually has a setting for it.

ranalin wrote:

Why would someone want to avoid Steam? Why was last night a perfect example? I've been playing without a hitch off/on since 12:10am tues. They all require Steam because it's a Steamworks game.

Last night steam was down off and on, there's a whole thread about it. If you were in a game, you're not likely to have noticed. For those of us trying to update/download/launch games, it was hit and miss. That's a perfect example of why we try to avoid steam whenever possible. When steam wasn't working, I switched to games like TL2, POE, Isaac and so on. Had I bought TL2 on steam, it probably wouldn't have worked. For 99.9999% of the time, steam is fine. Like electricity, people take it for granted, until it goes out.

I launched and played Skyrim without any problems last night. I missed the thread - aside from an announced downtime of 50 minutes that affected the browser pages and community portions of Steam (http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...), what was happening?

ibdoomed wrote:

For 99.9999% of the time, steam is fine. Like electricity, people take it for granted, until it goes out.

I'd say that a service that works for all but ~30 seconds in the average year is OK by me.

TheHipGamer wrote:

I launched and played Skyrim without any problems last night. I missed the thread - aside from an announced downtime of 50 minutes that affected the browser pages and community portions of Steam (http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...), what was happening?

ibdoomed wrote:

For 99.9999% of the time, steam is fine. Like electricity, people take it for granted, until it goes out.

Steam said 'no connection' at the bottom, no downloading worked, and none of the store pages worked. That was probably around 9pm central last night but I couldn't say for sure.

TheHipGamer wrote:

I'd say that a service that works for all but ~30 seconds in the average year is OK by me. :)

And yes, it's not that big of a deal, my point being 30 seconds versus none. Let's put this in car terms.

Here's a bmw m3 or a bmw m3. They are identical in every possible way except that one of them you can't drive for 30 seconds of every year and it will always be 30 seconds that you want to drive it. You're choice of which to buy.

ibdoomed wrote:
TheHipGamer wrote:

I launched and played Skyrim without any problems last night. I missed the thread - aside from an announced downtime of 50 minutes that affected the browser pages and community portions of Steam (http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...), what was happening?

ibdoomed wrote:

For 99.9999% of the time, steam is fine. Like electricity, people take it for granted, until it goes out.

Steam said 'no connection' at the bottom, no downloading worked, and none of the store pages worked. That was probably around 9pm central last night but I couldn't say for sure.

TheHipGamer wrote:

I'd say that a service that works for all but ~30 seconds in the average year is OK by me. :)

And yes, it's not that big of a deal, my point being 30 seconds versus none. Let's put this in car terms.

Here's a bmw m3 or a bmw m3. They are identical in every possible way except that one of them you can't drive for 30 seconds of every year and it will always be 30 seconds that you want to drive it. You're choice of which to buy.

Except these (a) aren't cars, (b) aren't equivalent except for the lack of use .0001%/year, and (c) Steam offers significant advantages over traditional distribution.

Heck, I prefer boxed games, but I see Steam as a good thing for the industry. Anyways, this is the Arkane thread.

I'm hoping someone can give me a small hint. Early in the game, in the sewers, you run across a safe (with an actual combination lock you can TuRN in-game! Yay!). The note (Jelly's safe) mentions whiskey. I've tried entering all of the proofs of whiskey I could think of, as well as alcohol percentage, just in case that was it. I get the feeling that I'm overthinking the solution. Did I miss something in that area that's a clue, or can I come back there later with powers that enable me to solve it? I'm leery of jumping down into the next area, because it doesn't look like I can climb back up.

Puce Moose wrote:

I'm hoping someone can give me a small hint. Early in the game, in the sewers, you run across a safe (with an actual combination lock you can TuRN in-game! Yay!). The note (Jelly's safe) mentions whiskey. I've tried entering all of the proofs of whiskey I could think of, as well as alcohol percentage, just in case that was it. I get the feeling that I'm overthinking the solution. Did I miss something in that area that's a clue, or can I come back there later with powers that enable me to solve it? I'm leery of jumping down into the next area, because it doesn't look like I can climb back up.

Spoiler:

There are a few whiskey bottles on the wall next to the safe.

soonerjudd wrote:
Puce Moose wrote:

I'm hoping someone can give me a small hint. Early in the game, in the sewers, you run across a safe (with an actual combination lock you can TuRN in-game! Yay!). The note (Jelly's safe) mentions whiskey. I've tried entering all of the proofs of whiskey I could think of, as well as alcohol percentage, just in case that was it. I get the feeling that I'm overthinking the solution. Did I miss something in that area that's a clue, or can I come back there later with powers that enable me to solve it? I'm leery of jumping down into the next area, because it doesn't look like I can climb back up.

Spoiler:

There are a few whiskey bottles on the wall next to the safe.

Awesome! Thanks for the hint. I had my brightness turned down too low and didn't even see them. Cranked it up a notch or two and.. voila!

Puce Moose wrote:

I'm hoping someone can give me a small hint. Early in the game, in the sewers, you run across a safe (with an actual combination lock you can TuRN in-game! Yay!). The note (Jelly's safe) mentions whiskey. I've tried entering all of the proofs of whiskey I could think of, as well as alcohol percentage, just in case that was it. I get the feeling that I'm overthinking the solution. Did I miss something in that area that's a clue, or can I come back there later with powers that enable me to solve it? I'm leery of jumping down into the next area, because it doesn't look like I can climb back up.

Spoiler:

There's also a whiskey sign on the wall behind/to the right of the safe.

Hooray, you can raise and lower toilet seats! And turn on sinks! I love little interactive tidbits like that. Make sure to toss some empty bottles at people; they'll sometimes make an amusing response, especially if they don't directly see you doing it.

I noticed in the menu that there's a key assignment for zoom, but I've not been able to get it to do anything. I've tried remapping it. Is this something that only works in conjunction with a specific power/gadget?

Never mind, I just discovered it in-game. Fancy!

While the textures aren't uniformly impressive, there have been more than a few standout ones. It's a visually appealing game. I like the uneven paint job on the wall.

IMAGE(http://www.pucemoose.com/pics/dish2.jpg)

Why would someone want to avoid Steam?

Well, keeping in mind that I use the platform constantly, it is still DRM. This means that Valve can change the terms of the deal any time they like, and our sole remedy is praying they don't change it further.

The reason I don't mind it is because Steam DRM is easy to crack, so if they ever do go evil, I'll be able to get my titles back pretty easily.

Anyone know of a site that lists what all the interface options do? I've turned off quest markers, but I'm not sure what many of the others do.

I was messing around with those too. Specifically I want to turn off the luminocity of useable objects, which can seemingly be viewed from 100 feet away.

I ran across a nice trick that allows you to disable the intro videos:
1) Go to: C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Dishonored\DishonoredGame\Config
2) Open: DishonoredEngine.ini
3) Find the line bForceNoStartupMovies
4) Change false to true and save the document

This page has a few other tweaks.
http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Dishono...

I'm quite impressed with how fast the game loads levels; most of the time it's just a few seconds to load a new level. Save reloads are fast also.

Playing a redbox copy on Xbox. I am not enjoying the game and it's disappointing because I love stealth games. Thief: Deadly Shadows is a superior game to this in terms of stealth. The lack of a shadow meter is driving me crazy. I have no idea whether I'm hidden, and I don't know why I'm discovered crouching behind some barriers in half shadow while I remain undiscovered behind others. I toss bottles in this game to distract guys and they say, "Hey! What was that!?" but they just stand there and don't move to investigate.

The fact that I can't affect light sources is another sticking point having used that so much in Thief and Splinter Cell games. Lack of a map is also annoying.

I guess I'm spoiled by Skyrim's "go anywhere" world, but in this game, I feel like I'm just heading down different pre-assigned corridors. Also, the blatant hand-holding was very... well, heavy handed in the beginning of the game. It felt like in Final Fantasy I where the King tells you to, "Go off on your quest! Press Start and A to save!"

Spoiler:

The Outsider guy just lays it all out. "I'm giving you this super weird McGuffin item that points out all of the collectibles in this game. Collect these items for big prizes!"

I'm glad I just rented it for 3 days and didn't buy. The only redeeming part so far? Yet another "Lydia" is serving me in this game.

I'm scared about my ending. I'm killing a LOT of people.

Draco wrote:

I guess I'm spoiled by Skyrim's "go anywhere" world, but in this game, I feel like I'm just heading down different pre-assigned corridors.

Man, I am not sure if it is because I have the objective markers turned off or if I just have lower expectations than you. I was working on the first real mission last night and it just seems huge with all sorts of stuff to explore that is not along the direct path to the assassination job. I spent 30-40 minutes exploring a house that was full of lore type stuff, had scripted dialog, but nothing (that I found anyway) related to the job at hand! I read the diary of a woman whose family died around her, "robbed" some gang members, met a very creepy old lady, I even met an equipment vendor.

I am fairly certain that I am not even close to the objective yet and I have ~2 hours into the level. Same game 2 very different experiences.

MaverickDago wrote:

I'm scared about my ending. I'm killing a LOT of people.

Yah, it seems like I'm going total chaos.....though I have been trying to keep sleep darts stocked, becuase that helps me not kill too many;-)

Draco wrote:

Playing a redbox copy on Xbox. I am not enjoying the game and it's disappointing because I love stealth games. Thief: Deadly Shadows is a superior game to this in terms of stealth. The lack of a shadow meter is driving me crazy. I have no idea whether I'm hidden, and I don't know why I'm discovered crouching behind some barriers in half shadow while I remain undiscovered behind others.

I tried playing it like Thief out of sheer habit and constantly got my ass handed to me for the first hour or so. Turns out this really isn't a shadow stealth game (they help a little at a distance, but they do basically nothing up close). Think Deus Ex: use cover, avoid line of sight, stay up high when you can.

Bottle wrote:
Draco wrote:

Playing a redbox copy on Xbox. I am not enjoying the game and it's disappointing because I love stealth games. Thief: Deadly Shadows is a superior game to this in terms of stealth. The lack of a shadow meter is driving me crazy. I have no idea whether I'm hidden, and I don't know why I'm discovered crouching behind some barriers in half shadow while I remain undiscovered behind others.

I tried playing it like Thief out of sheer habit and constantly got my ass handed to me for the first hour or so. Turns out this really isn't a shadow stealth game (they help a little at a distance, but they do basically nothing up close). Think Deus Ex: use cover, avoid line of sight, stay up high when you can.

This is generally what I've heard all over the place.

I've found the save/load system a little buggy. e.g., I was on a mission where I had just assassinated someone and was undetected. I saved the game after I'd made the kill and then proceeded to make my way to another part of the building, where I was detected and killed.

When I loaded my save, I found that guards were now actively searching for me and weren't in the same places as they had been when I saved the game. Moreover, while my assassination target was dead where I had left him, a person who had been collateral damage was no longer present.

Has anyone else noticed these issues (on PC)?

ebarstad wrote:

I've found the save/load system a little buggy. e.g., I was on a mission where I had just assassinated someone and was undetected. I saved the game after I'd made the kill and then proceeded to make my way to another part of the building, where I was detected and killed.

When I loaded my save, I found that guards were now actively searching for me and weren't in the same places as they had been when I saved the game. Moreover, while my assassination target was dead where I had left him, a person who had been collateral damage was no longer present.

Has anyone else noticed these issues (on PC)?

I had an issue where the game simply didn't record my last regular save or quick save, even though they showed in the save list. After exiting and booting the game the next day I discovered that I'd lost about 20 minutes of progress, as those saves had simply vanished. I'm having such fun that I didn't mind too much, but it was odd. I'm not sure if it actually changed anything, but I set the dishonored executable to "run as administrator" and it hasn't happened again.

I think I've spent at least three hours in the first "real mission" and haven't even gotten to the target yet; just enjoying wandering around the rooftops, reading journals, and, of course, throwing bottles at people and then hiding. Reminds me a bit of undergraduate school...

I've had one strange disappearing body; I wonder if it will register as a kill at the end of the mission. I choked out a guard, and he fell down. I heard a strange noise, and he vanished. Only his pouch and his sword remained. I did the choke out right next to a couple of walls; perhaps he clipped through the wall when he fell.

caterin6 wrote:
Draco wrote:

I guess I'm spoiled by Skyrim's "go anywhere" world, but in this game, I feel like I'm just heading down different pre-assigned corridors.

Man, I am not sure if it is because I have the objective markers turned off or if I just have lower expectations than you. I was working on the first real mission last night and it just seems huge with all sorts of stuff to explore that is not along the direct path to the assassination job. I spent 30-40 minutes exploring a house that was full of lore type stuff, had scripted dialog, but nothing (that I found anyway) related to the job at hand! I read the diary of a woman whose family died around her, "robbed" some gang members, met a very creepy old lady, I even met an equipment vendor.

I am fairly certain that I am not even close to the objective yet and I have ~2 hours into the level. Same game 2 very different experiences.

But the house was still in the "corridor." It just had interesting reading. I have run into an Xbox bug where if I'm in dark vision mode, sometimes when I click the left trigger to exit the vision mode, I drink a mana potion intead. I hear the sound effect and my mana bar refills. Weird.

Can you quick save in the console version? Google has failed me.

This game is amazing. I'm blown away by it so far.

I think it's unfair to compare this game to Skyrim. Apples and oranges. Also, keep in mind that Thief was only a stealth game - and it's stealth mechanic is still unmatched in any game. Games that have come since have tried various ways to mix action and stealth. My opinion is that this game is a lot more like Deus Ex where there are multiple paths to take.

This is the game I was hoping for from Bioshock when it came out.

Little touches I like so far:

1. Knocking out a guard and then dropping him from too high will kill him.
2. Taking out two side-by-side guards non-violently by choking the first, picking him up and shooting a sleep dart with my free hand before the second has time to react.
3. Ducking under low furniture to eavesdrop on conversations.
4. So many choices in missions. This game is anything but linear.
5. When a guard is just about to notice you and you blink behind him and take him down.
6. The heart. Can't wait to see where it goes.

I'm having a blast with it so far.

PaladinTom wrote:

This game is amazing. I'm blown away by it so far.I think it's unfair to compare this game to Skyrim. Apples and oranges. Also, keep in mind that Thief was only a stealth game - and it's stealth mechanic is still unmatched in any game. Games that have come since have tried various ways to mix action and stealth. My opinion is that this game is a lot more like Deus Ex where there are multiple paths to take.

The more I play it, the more of the Deus Ex influence I see. Initially I was getting Bioshock/Oblivion flavors more strongly than anything else, but the first non-tutorial mission is bringing that freedom of choice into greater relief.

I think part of why it's pleased me so much is that I expected it to be much more of a linear crawler, with multiple opportunities to deal with situations as they arose. Instead, you're granted some freedom to seek out alternate opportunities if the ones you encounter don't please you at the time. If you enter the game expecting anything like Skyrim's freedom of travel you'll probably be annoyed. The verticality (come on, Chrome spell checker, isn't that a word?) of the first mission impressed me. Get on that roof! Dodge that rat! Eat that pear! Puke off of that balcony! Gaze at the receding hairline of that thug from high above!

The respect paid to gamers with the awesome amount of graphical customization is icing on the cake; and seem to understand that not everyone wants to gaze at a glowing HUD for the duration of the game, while others love it above all other things. It's almost as if the developers of this game play games, and understand people have different opinions about various interface things! Novel!

Unless the game really takes a trip into the turd-portal with some barbaric defilement of its current cleverness, it's looking like my game of the year.

Oh my god. Whoever designed the rat swarm death animation deserves a special award. Those mice are hardcore!

TheHipGamer wrote:
UCRC wrote:

Haha, that's an awesome gif.

HipGamer - what exactly can/should you turn off? I love playing everything without UI, but a lot of sandbox/exploration games are so much built around their UI elements, that turning them off basically breaks the game. (My favourite example is trying to play Assassin's Creed without minimap - it can be done and it adds a lot to immersion, but it makes it almost unplayable.)

I disabled everything except for (1) "Show Interactions", which lets you see the name of people you're talking to, and the name of objects you pick up, and (2) the crosshair. It's entirely playable (and really, really immersive) as such.

Thanks for this tip. This is exactly what I'm using and I'm finding this game to be amazing.

ccesarano wrote:
Bottle wrote:
Draco wrote:

Playing a redbox copy on Xbox. I am not enjoying the game and it's disappointing because I love stealth games. Thief: Deadly Shadows is a superior game to this in terms of stealth. The lack of a shadow meter is driving me crazy. I have no idea whether I'm hidden, and I don't know why I'm discovered crouching behind some barriers in half shadow while I remain undiscovered behind others.

I tried playing it like Thief out of sheer habit and constantly got my ass handed to me for the first hour or so. Turns out this really isn't a shadow stealth game (they help a little at a distance, but they do basically nothing up close). Think Deus Ex: use cover, avoid line of sight, stay up high when you can.

This is generally what I've heard all over the place.

I tried taking this advice to heart tonight and had a better experience. I started to "look up" more and took to the roofs and pipes. I got better with the powers, especially blink. Dark Sight II is a must! Lack of quick save still kills me though. The heart is super cool and I too am very curious about the spirit trapped inside. Somehow I missed nearly half the gold in the opening prison mission? I was at 540/1000? I can't imagine where all that other gold is hiding. I thought ammo would be super rare in this game because it was so expensive to buy. 100 gold for one bullet? But no. I was maxed out on everything at the end of the first "real" mission. And wow.... some of the textures are ROUGH on the xbox version.

This game is so weird. I'm an assassin, but most of the achievements and rewards encourage you not to kill (like a thief), but the game hands me deadly weapons left and right. I was passing up bullets, grenades and bolts because I was full up.