loadingreadyrun.com

I'm just watching the replay (missed the first half hour or so) and the sheer glee on Alex's face when he learns to grapple is amazing.

Just Cause 2 has been my "mindlessly play with Desert Bus on the other screen" game for the last two or three years, so I've somehow managed to wrack up 120 hours, and unlocked every achievement. I like that this game is so crazily expanse that the "perfectionist" achievement only requires 75% completion. (Spoiler: that's still a lot.)

Kingdragon81 wrote:well gfwl is going away in like a month so there's that

Hey it turns out that if I'm going to get rid of a comp and it's late and I'm imbibing and want to play Dark Souls, it turns out I will install that dreck and fight through its stupid until I can play the game.

And then I uninstalled because it is truly impossible to play with mouse/keyboard. S turns you completely around instead of backing up and managing the camera with the mouse is a total what-the-cluster-f. I can't believe how little more it would take to be perfectly playable - the backstep button needs to be mappable to S, and the mouse needs to control your character's turning and POV (with the camera auto-following the POV).

That's it. With those changes, I don't even think I'd need to lock targets for anything but crossbow. Without them, I am doomed.

/sigh sorry devs, I was going to gift this game to a friend so we could co-op too. But he doesn't controller either, so that's that.

HeyZootie wrote:

Kingdragon81 wrote:well gfwl is going away in like a month so there's that

Hey it turns out that if I'm going to get rid of a comp and it's late and I'm imbibing and want to play Dark Souls, it turns out I will install that dreck and fight through its stupid until I can play the game.

And then I uninstalled because it is truly impossible to play with mouse/keyboard. S turns you completely around instead of backing up and managing the camera with the mouse is a total what-the-cluster-f. I can't believe how little more it would take to be perfectly playable - the backstep button needs to be mappable to S, and the mouse needs to control your character's turning and POV (with the camera auto-following the POV).

That's it. With those changes, I don't even think I'd need to lock targets for anything but crossbow. Without them, I am doomed.

/sigh sorry devs, I was going to gift this game to a friend so we could co-op too. But he doesn't controller either, so that's that.

The keyboard is re-mappable in-game. There are mods you can download that can improve your mouse-control, and give more power to your key bindings. I suggest a "TFGH" setup instead of WASD, to give yourself more comfortable hotkey-access.

This game involves a bunch of patience, both in the game and setting it up. But if it's not your thing that's okay too. Different people like different things, and I don't want to push things on you.

I got to Blightown using mouse and keyboard and just peaced out and bought a controller

I KB&M'd my way through NG+ and an SL1 run.

And even I think the keyboard controls are garbage. I'm just too cheap to get a controller.

Lysander wrote:

HeyZootie wrote:

Kingdragon81 wrote:well gfwl is going away in like a month so there's that

Hey it turns out that if I'm going to get rid of a comp and it's late and I'm imbibing and want to play Dark Souls, it turns out I will install that dreck and fight through its stupid until I can play the game.

And then I uninstalled because it is truly impossible to play with mouse/keyboard. S turns you completely around instead of backing up and managing the camera with the mouse is a total what-the-cluster-f. I can't believe how little more it would take to be perfectly playable - the backstep button needs to be mappable to S, and the mouse needs to control your character's turning and POV (with the camera auto-following the POV).

That's it. With those changes, I don't even think I'd need to lock targets for anything but crossbow. Without them, I am doomed.

/sigh sorry devs, I was going to gift this game to a friend so we could co-op too. But he doesn't controller either, so that's that.

The keyboard is re-mappable in-game. There are mods you can download that can improve your mouse-control, and give more power to your key bindings. I suggest a "TFGH" setup instead of WASD, to give yourself more comfortable hotkey-access.

This game involves a bunch of patience, both in the game and setting it up. But if it's not your thing that's okay too. Different people like different things, and I don't want to push things on you.

Thank you for the tips! I had put DSFix and DSMFix in, but I couldn't get backstep remapped without the other keys going with it. I'll take another looksee at the mods. That whole "move the camera with the mouse" thing is super nonsensical though.

And oh no, this is EXACTLY my kind of game. If it wasn't a console port X(. I would like a solid extra layer of depth and the ability to crank up the speed of the basic enemies by like 2x, but hey, I'll take what I can get

Well, since everyone playing Dark Souls (myself included ) is all Alex's fault, I decided to do up some appropriate fanart:



\[T]/

PRAISE THE DERP!

And now in colour!:



Spent a good chunk of today hammering away at the Belltop Gargoyles wearing nothing but a helment and a smile, while two-handing a +2 sword. Dark Souls, everybody!

Now let us engage in some jolly co-operation \[T]/

One of us! One of us!

But in all seriousness, I'm really glad these streams are convincing so many people to check out the game, because its reputation really does it a disservice.

Actually, I'm going to have to spoil the party and say that as a game I don't like Dark Souls. Its not so much its difficulty or the stupid-ass learning curve, or even the way the game tells you precisely jack all about itself, it just feels terribly... disconnected. You fight giant monsters because you fight giant monsters, you wander around completely empty dungeons that look like nothing more than level designs rather than actual places. Some say the story of Dark Souls is subtle- I personally think it is for all practical purposes non-existent. To me, its appeal is in its difficulty, the challenge of it all and very little more, and as someone whose main reason for giving up on games is that the difficulty doesn't let me enjoy it it is absolutely not my type of game. I can see the appeal, and I don't mind watching streams of it, but... it just doesn't make me care about what's going on somehow.

That's fair. The plot is certainly bare bones, especially if you don't dig for it, especially in the first half. And for myself, I think most of the enjoyment comes from mastering the system. The game feels really good to play, and I enjoy honing my skills and gradually improving. But if that doesn't click with you to the same extent, you're probably not going to have nearly as good of a time.

Yah, not big on the DS myself. Different strokes for different folks.

I'm particularly fond of DS either, but for slightly different reasons. I mean story is generally very important to me so that's a black mark from the start, especially as I find the atmosphere and setting of Dark Souls to be inferior to Demon's Souls, though the former has generally superior level design.

But my main problem is that it likes to punish the player by wasting their time. At the risk of sounding like a douche, I don't find the combat to be particularly difficult in general (some boss battles notwithstanding). It's all about timing and knowing what attacks that particular enemy type uses. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes pretty routine.

The part that annoys me to no end is that you will die, generally either due to cheap traps or being greedy and trying to kind of power through enemies and the game will punish you by forcing you to waste sometimes up to 30 minutes to get back to where you were.

I'm fine with difficulty, I am not fine with games wasting my time. I've read that in DS2 if you kill the enemies in an area 15 times, they stop respawning and I think that's a pretty good compromise.

This is why I say Dark Souls is not for everyone.

Eh...when it gets right down to it, I think most of the traps are telegraphed pretty well, and you've only got yourself to blame for trying to rush through. The Souls series certainly punishes rushing.

On the other hand, I can see the frustration in going back through (I got pretty frustrated by the run to S&O my first playthrough). For some people, it just makes em mad and triggers their "one more time" reflex (see also: Cameron). For other people, they get too frustrated, get even worse at running an area because of it, and then quit.

It's funny, I thought the overall level pathing of Demon's was vastly superior-you never find yourself running up a decorative roof arch in Demon's.

That's kind of an unfair comparison though- Dark's castlevania-style interconnections adds limitations Demon's more linear style didn't have. I do prefer the castlevania setup to the original linear worlds.

Demon's atmosphere was definitely better though. There were few sections of Dark that were repulsive or disheartening. Demon's was chalk full of them, especially the prison world and the swamp world.

ch3m1kal wrote:I'm particularly fond of DS either, but for slightly different reasons. I mean story is generally very important to me so that's a black mark from the start, especially as I find the atmosphere and setting of Dark Souls to be inferior to Demon's Souls, though the former has generally superior level design.

But my main problem is that it likes to punish the player by wasting their time. At the risk of sounding like a douche, I don't find the combat to be particularly difficult in general (some boss battles notwithstanding). It's all about timing and knowing what attacks that particular enemy type uses. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes pretty routine.

The part that annoys me to no end is that you will die, generally either due to cheap traps or being greedy and trying to kind of power through enemies and the game will punish you by forcing you to waste sometimes up to 30 minutes to get back to where you were.

I'm fine with difficulty, I am not fine with games wasting my time. I've read that in DS2 if you kill the enemies in an area 15 times, they stop respawning and I think that's a pretty good compromise.

One thing I will say is that there is a load of Catharsis on a second playthrough when you use the Zweihander and can (literally) crush your enemies. Up to Anor Londo I hadn't met an enemy that didn't respond favorably the being strong attacked into the ground. Even in Anor londo its only the giants, the Silver Knights which made me learn to parry first time round are now dispatched in a two hit combo, its kinda tragic, but then again I suspect new game plus will add a lot more difficulty if I ever get around to that.

So I'm watching Alex play DS2 (sadly not live, because time zones) and he keeps wondering why the combat feels slower.

Answer is simple: the console versions of DS run at 30FPS and you're used to playing DS1 at 60FPS on PC.

Oh and the going to an NPC to level up is actually back from Demon's Souls, where you could only level up at the Maiden in Black when you returned to the Nexus. Which basically only happened after boss fights, since there are no bonfires in Demon's Souls.

Link to the best pursuer fight I have ever seen: http://www.twitch.tv/loadingreadyrun/b/535542345t=2h19m50s

It is so hard to use the balista's and you just nailed it! Good job there, needs to be in the streaming highlight

ch3m1kal wrote:
Answer is simple: the console versions of DS run at 30FPS and you're used to playing DS1 at 60FPS on PC.

Actually the PC version of DS1 is locked to 30fps unless you use DSFix to unlock it, and running it at 60 can introduce some bugs, like sliding down a ladder and never stop sliding

DS2 however runs at 60fps on PC and 30 on console

May I suggest http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/vi ... his-Summer when it comes out.

Got a DS PC controls question - after repeated efforts + guides, I have now *almost* got it to be playable with mouse and keyboard.

Almost. There is exactly one thing spoiling the gameplay now. When I'm running the character, the mouselook controls the direction and the camera appears to follow the character's POV. This is exactly how a native PC game works, and it is great like that.

But when I STOP running, that stops and suddenly the mouselook only controls the camera, and the keys appear to control everything else. So I die because I'm spinning the camera to face the opponent and my guy just stands there duuuuuuhhhh because I'm not using the keys to point him to places.

Does anyone know how to keep the mouselook controlling the character's direction when it's standing still?

Edit: I have DSFix and DSMFix running and use DSFix GUI 2.2 to start the game.

Thanks for any help!

HZ

Got around to watching Child Of Light, and there was something bothering me. I just figured it out:



Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

Is Alex playing DS2 on PC now? I saw him talking about a lighting fix on twitter and I'm still trying to catch up with all the bonus derp from last week.

He is actually, using ENB and a preset for it called wickfut. Though it's a bit dark by default so you're going to have to mess with it a bit if you intend to use it.

Almost forgot, here's a link to ENB: http://enbdev.com/download_mod_darksouls2.htm
But please do read the instructions and do your research before using it as it CAN bork your game if used incorrectly.