Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition – PC Performance Analysis

DSOGaming writes: "In all truthfulness, we were expecting something more from Dark Souls PC. And we seriously don’t know why Namco Bandai has shot themselves in the foot. It’s like trying to kill your fanbase by being greedy and not using your resources. Ironically, those who were greedy with Dark Souls PC’s development will blame PC gamers for being greedy and pirating their game. If only they put more effort into it… just imagine how amazing this game would be on the PC. Man, what a wasted opportunity!"

[Jason143]

Game looks amazing with the resolution fix. Rendering the game at 1920x1080 is gorgeous and clearing up dof is astonishing. Guess Author missed that bit. PC is the best way to play this game. I own it on all systems and pc is the sexiest by far

[Allsystemgamer]

Don't see why people are disagreeing. The game looks immensely better in 1080p...

[codename13]

Thats the beauty of pc gaming. Developers messed up? no problem, we have lots of modders in our community that can fix almost anything for pc gaming. :D
And dark souls is one of the great examples everyone can see.

[yewles1]

I want From Software to read this. They need to watch out from now on who's actually interested in the game, and who's actually interested in another bullet point.

[Reverent]

From are console developers. They cater to console gamers. And don't say crap like "watch out from now on who's actually interested" as if PC gamers are more interested in their games than console gamers are. Dark Souls alone will never sell as well on PC as it does across consoles. Console gaming is a bigger market whether you like it or not, and From know that. Such is why the console market is their priority.

[Allsystemgamer]

Their point about Crytek is the same thing. If crysis 1 a game never intended for consoles can run why couldn't from do it?

And of course the console market is bigger. There's 2 main competitors with exclusives etc.

And it most certainly is not THAT much bigger. Most pc stats you never see due to o line distribution and sales.

And the pc version is selling quite well. It's in the top 5 on steam.

[MEsoJD]

It's still in the steam top 10... Many developers have been seeing just how viable the pc market is. Since Dark Souls has been having good sales on pc. Hopefully it'll convince From and other Japanese Developers to invest. That said, success is largely determined by quality of the port. Valve for example, knows that when you do it right, success is more likely/guaranteed.

[flyingmunky]

Quite honestly I hope From doesn't even bother to port their next game to PC. It is pretty clear that PC gamers(not all but many) are more interested in pushing pixels than real gaming. I still say that PC gamers should be happy with what they got, which is the same game that console gamers got but with free dlc AND a lower price point.

[Bloodraid]

Why shouldn't they complain? It was pretty much a 1:1 port from consoles to PC. Hell, the control sprites were still showing console controls.

[flyingmunky]

"It was pretty much a 1:1 port from consoles to PC."

So we are in agreement, you played the exact same game as I did. A game that I personally believe to be the best game in the last five years of gaming. You got extra content and payed less than I did for the same game. Why do PC gamers feel entitled to more?

[Bloodraid]

@Flyingmunky

No, we are not in agreement. If you think that, it's obvious that you've never touched a PC for gaming before.

The controls aren't exactly intuitive for PC. The button prompts show the Xbox controls, and the mouse controls just feel awkward. Sure, you could argue that I could just use a game pad, but it shouldn't be something that I'm required to do in order to enjoy a game.

As for the "pixel pushing" argument, consoles are literally six years behind PCs in tech. That's the same amount of time between the launch of the PS2 and PS3. I wonder how many PS3 owners would be satisfied with PS3 games coming out with PS2 graphics. Hell, most PS3 owners didn't even give MAG a try because it didn't look as pretty as Uncharted or God of War did.

And for the record, I own the game on my PS3. Acting like I'm just some raging PC fanboy because I think they did a sloppy job with the port is ridiculous.

[MEsoJD]

The hell!? There's nothing wrong with wanting proper picture. I play on both consoles and pc. The reason pc players usually talk about graphics regarding ports is that we play much closer to the screen with higher pixel density(we see everything and usually need higher fov). Consoles can get away with picture clarity because you play much farther away. As for Dark Souls on pc... it's amazing! No slow down and the game looks beautiful. Already on my new game plus. Though I think I'll have a hard time going back to my ps3 version.

[url] http://www.abload.de/img/sc... drool...

[Allsystemgamer]

Did you read the article at all?

If crysis was ported even though it was never intended for consoles at all and it ran beautifully why couldn't from change some simple code? Hell I can do it and I can't make a game! Not only that the peripheral used by pc gamers barely works.

How happy would you be if you got a wii port and were forced to use a wiimote on ur ps3?

Or if u had the ps3 version telling you to press A instead of X?

[maelstromb]

I've put about 35+ hours into the game thus far, and yet despite all the moaning and groaning from the PC community, this game plays as flawlessly as it did on the Xbox 360/PS3 - granted, IF you've installed the resolution fix and IF you have an Xbox 360 or PS3 controller to utilize for your PC gaming experience. I have not attempted to play this game with a mouse/keyboard combo, so I cannot speak for it there, but nor would I want to. I've played all of the AC games, The Witcher 2, the Batman AA and AC games, and various other third-person games on my PC rig all with a 360 controller. Not because I love a controller over the mouse/keyboard (those days were left in my youth), but because for SOME games, mostly third-person styled games, it just feels right.

Now, I will admit that From Software, either from lack of PC-designing experience or pure laziness, really fumbled this version concerning the resolution and frame-rate options. And yeah, yeah, yeah, we shouldn't have had to wait for some guy to come along and create a resolution fix, but the reality is that he did on the day of the games release, and you can download it RIGHT NOW. FOR FREE. It literally takes 2 seconds to install and you can be on your merry way. But to sit here and complain on message boards about the fact that this fix even HAD to be created is unproductive, imo. If you are unhappy with From Software, I believe the sensible way to get their attention would be to A. Not buy their game and/or B.contact them directly because guess what? They listened the first time when PC gamers united and petitioned them to release Dark Souls for the PC platform, so what makes you think they wouldn't hear complaints/concerns/ constructive criticism now? It makes sense to me.

[Deputydon]

I've put over 200 hours into the PS3 version, and have recently been playing the PC version because I didn't want to wait for the DLC to release on consoles.

After utilizing the resolution fix, I see literally zero problems with the game. I managed to get through Blight Town without a single frame rate issue, which is more than I can say about the PS3 version. I do understand that that they should have made UI changes for keyboard controls and whatnot, but honestly, this is not a game that would ever play well with a keyboard. The controls are far too precise over something like WoW or even AC for a keyboard/mouse to be truly efficient, and this is coming from a diehard CS 1.6 player.

Anyways, the game is still amazing and with the Resolution fix actually looks far more sharp and overall higher quality than the console versions. I also have to say that the DLC is incredible and makes, in my opinion, some fantastic steps on the story front for Dark Souls. There is a particular boss fight that will change the opening cinematic if you complete the DLC before you fight him, and the result is, in a single word, emotional.

[Blastoise]

Chat all you want about resolution mods but the PS3 community is where its at ;)

[maelstromb]

Did I also mention that trolling is unproductive as well?

[Allsystemgamer]

Yet I'm having more fun with other players than I ever did on ps3 version and have fun waiting for the dlc I got for free with my purchase.

You can say whatever you want about the community. I got full 1080p with STABLE framerates and no dips at all like you get in blight town. And I only paid $40 for it. And you say the ps3 community is better? Well the pc community is fixing what FROM couldn't. Do t see ps3 players fixing blighttown now do you?

[MEsoJD]

I love the ps3 community, but the pc have been showing a lot of support for the game.

For example:

http://steamcommunity.com//...

Lets not forget about the Durante Mod Thread on Neogaf

http://www.neogaf.com/forum...