Looking at: PC Ports

Master Race

Once a joke about the expensive and elitist nature, the PC Master Race has come to embrace their higher standards

I've said before that, despite primarily playing games on my PC, I have very little hatred towards consoles. One of my all time favorite games, Red Dead Redemption, is only available on consoles, and RockStar have never even spoken about a PC port. It's not just RDR, but there are dozens of games I've enjoyed that never made their way PC side, some of which I've covered on this blog like Persona 4, Metal Gear Solid 3, or Mercenaries. Hell, the next article I'm working on is a look back at the Mario franchise, and there's only one PC Mario game and it's fucking terrible.

The fact is, though, I do prefer PC as my primary gaming platform, for several reasons. The first is just convenience, as finding games to play on PC is incredibly easy. According to my depressing Steam Calculator page I have just shy of 600 games in my Steam library, and something like another 120 in my GOG library. There are other third party services too where I have some games, and never mind titles that I've acquired through... different means. PC gaming has more game available then every console combined.

The other big reason I prefer PC gaming is that, more often then not, the PC version of a game is superior to the console version. PC's have always been able to preform better then consoles because they're not restricted like consoles are. For a long time the joke was that you had to upgrade your PC every year, and while that's certainly plateaued with the life span of most components being much longer then they used to be, there really is some truth to that idea. PC's got better and stronger much faster then consoles, and by the time the fourth generation of consoles was out the PC had far surpassed them.

No where is this more evident then in the last few generations of games, when the idea of multi-platform or PC ports has become more and more common place. With direct comparison the PC version almost always comes out as superior, running faster and smoother, and often with better graphics. So why is it that, in 2015, companies still don't seem to get it.

I'm the Batman

The official statement from Rocksteady explaining why Batman AK was pulled from retailers.

The reason, I'm sure some of you have gathered, I'm writing this piece is because of the recent release of Batman: Arkham Knight, the final part in the Rocksteady Arkahm trilogy of licensed Batman games. While the Arkham games were always meant for consoles, with both previous entries and the Origins spinoff receiving a PC port after the fact, these games at least worked on PC. Arkham City had some issues with PhysX and Direct X 11, but both of these could be disabled and the game ran fine without them till they were properly patched.

For Arkham Knight, Rocksteady decided they wanted the PC version to come out at the same time as the console version. In theory, this is awesome, since PC gamers often have to wait for their version. Most of the AssCreed games have taken months, Dark Souls: Prepare to Die edition took a year, and Valkyria Chronicles took six years to make its way onto Steam. So, understandably, the idea of getting to play one of the most anticipated games of the year at launch was fairly attractive to people.

Rocksteady should have made us wait.

True to their word, Batman: AK came out and it was really, really broken. Initial reports said the game was capped at only 30fps, and that was if you managed to get it to run. Many users reported that the game ran like shit, barely able to get above double digit framerates. Worse, there are images showing that the PC version of the game doesn't even look as good as it's PS4 version, despite superior hardware. Basically, the game was unplayable, with only a small number of people reporting few or no issues. Worse, it seems like Nvidia had been lying to people, changing promotional codes to no longer include DLC and speeding up footage to make the game look like it ran at 60fps.

The fallout? Overwhelmingly negative Steam reviews, massive boycotts, thousands of refunds thanks to Steam's new refund policy, and a massive blow to Rocksteady and WB Games PR. Exact numbers are difficult to come by at this time, but I'm interested to see how this affects the launch of WB's Mad Max game later this year. Batman: Arkham Knight has been pulled off Steam and other retailers pending patches, but at last check it had a user rating of 33%, placing it on the same level as 4 PM, a thirty minute long "game" about idiots doing stupid things, and RIPD, the movie licensed game that's literally a re-skin of a different mediocre game.

Steam Games with 33-34% user ratings

Any Port in a Storm

So what the hell happened? Well a few things:

The PC port team at Iron Galaxy

1) The entire PC port seems to have been farmed out to about ten people. Not that great games can't be made with less, but AK was not an indie game, it was a massive AAA title.

2) Reportedly, Iron Galaxy was given only two months to do the port. Even the COD games have over a year in development, and the worst game ever made had a development cycle of six months for one platform.

3) Nvidia. Nvidia has slowly but surely trying to create a monopoly for themselves by forcing developers to utilize their Gameworks API. The issues with this are A) Gameworks is terrible and barely works; and B) Gameworks simply DOESN'T work on AMD cards. Add to that Nvidia's recent issues with faulty graphics cards and Nvidia has been on some very thin ice recently.

4) A systemic history of failed PC ports. Despite the PC being more powerful then consoles, companies just don't seem to put that much thought into it as a gaming platform. Time and time again we see the PC version under-performing, be it be awful controls like the original 2007 port of Resident Evil 4 (which didn't have mouse controls until a fan-made mod added them) horrible optimization from both GTA IV and Saint's Row 2, or just a complete lack of understanding about the PC as a platform from an un-countable number of games.

But the past year and a half seemed to have turned a tide, with developers committing more and more to the PC as a platform. First, there's a slew of fantastic PC ports from games like Dark Souls 2, Valkyeria Chronicles, and GTA V. PC gamers proved they were willing to wait for their games, and all three games I just mentioned have sold fantastically on PC. Even better, it seemed developers were finally figuring out how to do a PC version, with GTA V, Borderlands 2, and Shadow of Mordor's exhaustive and impressive customization and proper optimization. The PC is a viable, and powerful gaming platform.

Fix what isn't Broken

So what can everyone learn from this experience? Well, developers should learn that PC gamers will not and will never settle for a broken, second rate port. They will, however, wait patiently for a proper and well made port.

Historically, when the PC version of a game sucked, PC gamers just had to suck it up. For that matter, whenever any game on PC sucked, PC gamers have had to suck it up. But thanks to Steam's new refund policy, gamers don't have to. This might single handily be the nail in the coffin for a few of the PC's less desirable problems, but chief among them is shitty PC games, be it second rate ports or just bad unplayable games. 

Whether people, or even developers, like it or not the PC is a more then viable tool for gaming. Japan has jumped on board, with countless ports to the PC of varying quality, and we're seeing games that ignored the PC come over like Metal Gear Solid 5, Gears of War, and No Man's Sky. If companies want their games to be bought and played on PC they have to learn how to do a proper port.

The big thing is graphics options. More then anything else this can make or break a good port.  I'm not saying every game needs to be Serious Sam levels of customization, but just having a list of resolutions isn't good enough. The best and worst thing about the PC is how customizable as a machine it is, meaning that hardware configurations are going to vary wildly, and you're game should accommodate that. This is also relevant to frame rates, and while the current generation of consoles continues to completely disappoint in this area, PC's are more then capable of obtaining and holding at 60fps. The simplest solution is to not cap your game, or barring that make uncapping it easy. Field of View is the same thing, make this a simple thing to edit, even if it's in an .INI file, and people will accept your game with open arms.

There are other things, like proper net codes, modding tools, and good and/or customizable control schemes. The point is, you can't half ass a PC version of a game any more, and now we see why. The issues with Batman AK are so bad that, as of this writing on 6/25/2015 has been completely removed from digital retailers on PC until it's fixed.

Cynics once said the PC gaming market was dead. If that's true, then there's a lot of angry zombies out there.

image source:
http://i.imgur.com/wscLiCX.png

Looking at: Sony E3 2015

I think Sony just became Microsoft. I'm still calculating it all in my head, but, yeah they kind of just became Microsoft, in their own twisted way.

To start off with, let me just say how disappointed I was at the complete lack of Vita at the show. It's clear now the Vita really is dead, and this was the final nail in it's coffin. Over the last 90 minutes it was only mentioned twice.

Ok, you know the deal, let's take a look and see what transpired:

The Last Guardian

Starting their show off with the mother of all big bangs, an actual confirmation that the long thought dead Last Guardian not only exists, but will be coming out within a year or so.

Last Guardian is a follow-up to Team Ico's Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, two PS2 classics. The last time we saw anything about the Last Guardian was it's announcement as a PS3 game in 2007.

Regardless, it looks like standard Team Ico fare, that is, minimalist as hell and with a focus on emergent story telling. It's way to early to tell how the monster works as a gameplay mechanic, but as Last Guardian a companion he's cute, in a sort of dog/bird thing kind of way.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

I'm skeptical that what was shown is final build gameplay, but what I'm not skeptical about is the idea of hunting robot dinosaurs like a future cave woman.

I like the open ended stealth and the monster-hunter-esque gameplay that puts a focus on dodging attacks and exploiting weaknesses. Best of all I'm an absolute sucker for post-apocalyptic, and this seems to be dissimilar enough from Fallout 4 to keep my attention.

Hitman and Street Fighter 5

There's a new Hitman, but it's just called Hitman, despite being like, the seventh entry into the series now. It involves killing people and sneaking. I don't know what more you want, except maybe for this one to be better then the last Hitman game.

Also, there's Street Fighter 5. They announced two characters, although I blinked and only saw the return of Cammy. Her legs have not made the transition to next-gen very well.

I was always a Mortal Kombat guy myself. Fatalities are my Viagara.

No Man's Sky

We finally got to see some honest to god gameplay and... it's still hard to tell. The game looks great, and it's clear that there's lot to see and explore, but is there stuff to do? If you're selling me on just non-stop radio towers from Far Cry 3, then I'll stick with the dozen or so games that offer that with an actual plot.

Flying the ship and walking around seemed pretty neat. There was also some footage of a space battle as well as the destructible terrain planetside. I guess, once again, we'll have to wait and see, as no release date was announced.

Dreams

Oh god, someone made a game out of Tool's Sober music video? That's what the first moments of this game(?) looked like. Apparently it's a creative tool, but they didn't show it in action very well.

Countdown to the first dick-based creation has already started.

Firewatch

I get more and more excited about Firewatch every time it gets talked about. It looks less and less like a walking around game, and more like a horror adventure game. The demo was short, but it looked awesome, like a Pixar movie, and was just mysterious enough to make me want to discover what's hidden.

Destiny: The Fallen King

First, I didn't know Destiny was on PS4. For some reason I actually thought it was an X1 exclusive. I know now that's foolish.

Second, does anyone want more Destiny? I've heard good things about the previous DLC packs, but there never seems to be anyone talking about this game anymore.

AssCreed Syndicate

Ubisoft teased a female protagonist at their conference earlier, so it was nice to see her in action. Footage was still pre-rendered, but it did show off some of the new tools like a cane-sword and throwing daggers.

I guess Ubisoft figured out that animation issue then huh?

Final Fantasy World and 7 remake

The only Vita game with actual footage. I have no idea what it is, but there was plenty of Final Fantasy fan service stuffed into an overly cute package. The story concerns two shape-shifting siblings, and will involve monsters.

Speaking of Final Fantasy Fan Service, rather then talk about the new Final Fantasy, Sony instead revealed the long requested remake of Final Fantasy 7. It's unknown far of a remake this will be, but 7 is usually regarded as one of the best FF games, and it's a favorite for a lot of people.

It's a good bet we'll get more info, as well as info on the upcoming Final Fantasy XV at the Square conference tomorrow.

Devolver titles

Devolver is a producer I love, and they're bringing four of their new titles over to the PS4.

First is Ronin, a game on Early Access now. From what I've read it's a turn based platformer, so points for originality.

Next is Eitr, a Diablo 2 style isometric hack-and-slash about vikings, all done in a stylish lo-fi pixel art.

I think this was supposed to be the splash for Eitr, but the image is fucked up. 

Then there's Mother Russia Bleeds, an arcade style brawler about beating the fuck out of Russians. Info on this one is scant, but this is top of my list for sure.

Finally is Crossing Souls, a coming of age story about kids getting in over their head. Has a lot of potential, and a lot of heart.

Shenmue 3

I've always wanted to play the old Shenmue games, but I can't get a hold of them anywhere. Regardless, a lot of people did play them and so the original creator announced his kickstarter at the show. And promptly crashed Kickstarter. I'm not sure I agree with this trend of AAA developers going to Kickstarter, as it seems like it's taking money away from smaller dev teams.

Batman: Arkham Knight

No footage of the actual game, but an exclusive pack of PS4 missions based around the Scarecrow. It also set up cryptically for the main game by giving us details about Joker's cremation and the line "This is how the Batman died" If this means the last Batman game for a while then I'm all in, as I feel the series is outgrowing it's welcome.

Things that aren't games

I cared so little about this part I forgot screenshots. Skip to the next section for the interesting bits again.

Sony talked about their upcoming Morpheus VR headset. Honestly, if you put Morphus and Oculus Rift next to each other I would not be able to tell them apart. There were some games flashed in the background, inlcuding Eve Valkrie and Riggs, a new IP specifically for Morpheus, but that's it.

Then Sony talked about all their TV streaming shit. I like the idea of individual pick and choose cable channels, and I hope that catches on, but everything else was really boring.

Blops 3

First they talk about non-gaming stuff, then they announce a new Call of Duty, complete with PS4 exclusive content. That's why I called Sony the new Microsoft, and that's not a good thing.

Anyway, yes, new Black Ops. It has shooting, there are now women and minorities in multiplayer, and the singleplayer campaign has co-op. They also promised that singleplayer is less shit, but that's probably a lie.

Star Wars

Sony announced two new Star Wars additions to the already immensely profitable Disney Infinity kit, which allows kids to play games through the use of plastic figurines. Amiibos before Nintendo did it.

There's two new games, one for each trilogy, plus an exclusive PS4 Bobba Fett character. These games are geared to kids, and in that respect it looks pretty ok to me.

Finally, as I predicted, we saw a second bit of gameplay from Battlefront 3, and yes I'm still calling it that. This time we saw the co-op mode, which looked like a very linear version of the multiplayer. No word yet on whether they'll be an actual overarching story like in BF2, but all signs point to no.

Uncharted 4

The game so great they showed it twice. Seriously, I can't imagine how embarrassing it was to restart the demo. Despite that, we finally got a look at some Uncharted 4 gameplay and... it looks mostly the same. There wasn't anything strikingly new, save maybe the driving.

What was nice to see was the well written and human feeling banter between Drake and Sully. Naughty Dog have always been great at this, and the tradition continues.

There was plenty of destruction, both during the beginning shoot-out and the extended driving scene, showing off the game's new destructible terrain. Other than that details are slim right now.

That's all for day one. Join me tomorrow for the back-to-back Nintendo and Square shows, because there's no fucking way I'll have time to write a post between them. Then we'll cap it off with the big PC gaming show tomorrow night.