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jmatchead In reply to LeonKaiser [2014-03-06 04:09:34 +0000 UTC]

I think I tried to get a little head going in the way back, but yea, not really noticeable. I do wish I could make this game actually happen!

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jmatchead In reply to WhySoDerp [2013-04-28 06:04:18 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I imagine a gameboy version of Dark Souls would be about as hard as The Castlevania Adventure.

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jmatchead In reply to Grieverjoe [2012-10-18 05:08:06 +0000 UTC]

I think most of the bugs I encountered were due to playing offline, as my Xbox can't connect to Live. Unfortunately, it seems that From didn't consider players without internet connections when they put their game together, as the offline experience is really not very fun.

Don't get me wrong, I played this game for almost 30 hours. I honestly don't think I would have played much longer even without the bugs, though, as most of the actual design behind the games structure just felt dated and inconvenient. I'd play it again, if I found it cheap, and I appreciate what the game does, it just isn't for me.

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RunningWild In reply to jmatchead [2015-03-09 18:40:45 +0000 UTC]

But how else can one acquire patches?  This isn't the 90's anymore where companies issued patch disks (id software literally sent me the 1.2 patch for the original Doom in the mail).  Any patches on *any* system require some means of internet access, whether it's PC where you locate and download them yourself or 6th gen consoles where you're required to gain access to the repositories via their respective online access; either PSN or Live. 

Personally I prefer solo experiences offline.  I play games to escape people, not join with them.  I still find it fun, though unsurprisingly it's same hard self.

I think if you weren't hampered by the limitations of your atypical console you would've had a better experience and probably would be less soured on it.

BTW - Nice piece of artwork!

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jmatchead In reply to RunningWild [2015-03-10 01:14:03 +0000 UTC]

Honestly, I have plenty of issues with the game aside from the glitches, and while I totally accept that most players would have had access to patches and improvements, I don't think that excuses a somewhat shoddy initial product.

Without the online interactions, the game is remarkably dull, lifeless experience, and had I realized this, I don't think I would have bothered playing it at all. I was more or less satisfied with what I got because I tend to be super forgiving of somewhat shitty games, but even with the online features running full blast, I feel the game was a c-lister at best.

I just didn't enjoy my time with this game. I know that's an unpopular opinion, but by this point my feelings on this game are moot. Glad you like the picture, though!

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RunningWild In reply to jmatchead [2015-03-11 21:24:02 +0000 UTC]

Software has reached a complexity level where that's no longer possible.  At least, in the eyes of the publishers who want financial kickback from their investment pronto.  They can't wait to recoup costs before *ANY* game gets patched.  The players are basically veritable beta testers, so it's hardly isolated to just the Souls series.  In fact, I'd say many other games are far worse in this regard.  Take a look at the recent Grim Fandango remaster just to name a very recent example.

I'm not excusing it of course, because one reason I left software engineering is this exact sort of behavior.  I find it reprehensible that *ALL* developers, tech firms, and publishers find this practice  acceptable.  I expect them to take this approach, and for this exact reason, I avoid *ALL* technology of any sort; games, OS's, hardware, for the first year it's out.  I avoid being thrust into the beta tester role and contending with the frustration of shoddy initial releases.  This has surely saved me inordinate amounts of grief.

Not every game's for every person, as much as I personally love the Souls series to the point where I'd literally defile them if I could.  They're the closest thing to Super Ghouls n' Ghosts I've ever come across, both in theme and difficulty.  The online component I turn off even though I could use it.  I just want my world without the other annoying twits in it.  I actually dropped out of modern gaming altogether for the general lack of solid challenge, Batman Arkham Asylum being the worst offender I can think of.  I got a 5-hit combo achievement 5 minutes in for simply mashing a single button.  I didn't even have to orient myself at the enemies.  Batman does this automatically.  I could've done this from the bathroom.  My personal skill had absolutely no relevance to this "achievement".  I find this sort of dumbing down as reprehensible, if not more-so, than poor unready technology releases.

And, you definitely have pixel art skills.  I saw some of your other work.  So, you're working on a game akin to Megaman?  What're you doing that with/in?  I've been casually working on a game for a while.  The engine I wrote in C and OpenGL.  It's an upgrade of the Penguin Runner game here :
www.evil-soft.com/games.html

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jmatchead In reply to RunningWild [2015-03-16 00:28:16 +0000 UTC]

I definitely agree with you in regards to the dumbing down thing, and really the only reason I kept up with Dark Souls despite the issues I was having was that at it's core there was a challenging game. While there are tons of games in the Batman category of being more or less glorified button mashing, there are still a handful of modern games that dare to be difficult, and I tend to gravitate towards those types of skill focused games. If you enjoyed the Souls games, there are some similarities to the Monster Hunter series, mainly in the pacing of the combat. Have you ever tried any of those? I had a hard time getting into them at first, but they can be pretty challenging once you get into the right mindset.

I have been working mostly in Construct 2, which is a HTML 5 editor similar to Click & Create or Macromedia Fusion. However, I've put most of my game related projects on hold, as I stopped doing freelance work and got a full time art job, which leaves me with little free time. I've been focusing a lot more on comics than games lately, but maybe that will change in the future. I'll check out Penguin Runner game!

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Grieverjoe In reply to jmatchead [2012-10-18 13:59:13 +0000 UTC]

That's understandable. I just thought that maybe it was the bugs that made it unbearable for you.
See, unlike the majority of the internet, I'm not one of those guys who get butthurt because someone else doesn't like something I think is great.

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jmatchead In reply to Grieverjoe [2012-10-18 16:20:39 +0000 UTC]

Haha, if only there were more like you. Do you still play Dark Souls? I've heard the Dlc is pretty cool.

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Grieverjoe In reply to jmatchead [2012-10-18 23:12:37 +0000 UTC]

I do still play it. I think I'm on my 4th playthrough. I play on PS3, so we don't have the DLC yet, but it does look pretty badass.
It's supposed to be available for PS3 and 360 on the 23/24th of this month.

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jmatchead In reply to Grieverjoe [2012-10-18 23:36:29 +0000 UTC]

Oh, for some reason, I thought it had hit consoles already. Still, something to look forward to. I really love the idea of getting such substantial DLC so long after the games release. Most games just tack stuff on that should have been in the game anyway, and then make it available day one.

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Grieverjoe In reply to jmatchead [2012-10-19 00:39:42 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, it's not there yet (I just checked).
And I agree with you on DLC, in that it should "add" to the game, as opposed to giving you one new weapon and a new outfit (for example). That doesn't really 'add' anything to the game.

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jmatchead In reply to Milford-the-Third [2012-07-17 22:27:14 +0000 UTC]

I'm actually sure that the patches have addressed these problems, although if you ever loose connection and have to play offline they will pop up again.

My Xbox was bought used, and due to some...fiddling... by its former owner, can't access Live.

Believe me, without the online interaction and patches, Dark Souls is a MUCH less satisfying experience...

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jmatchead In reply to dyrfmaster [2012-04-17 19:35:20 +0000 UTC]

I'm pretty sure it's on Xbox 360 and Ps3, with a PC version scheduled for sometime in the future.

Personally, I really can't recommend it, though...

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dyrfmaster In reply to jmatchead [2012-04-17 19:54:35 +0000 UTC]

Ohhh... so it isn't really all pixely and cool-looking?

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jmatchead In reply to dyrfmaster [2012-04-17 20:02:10 +0000 UTC]

Oh,no. It has a somewhat old school approach to its actual game design, but in terms of it's appearance its about as modern as they come.

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jmatchead In reply to DoctorSmashman [2012-04-13 18:57:12 +0000 UTC]

I only played Dark Souls, so I can't really comment on Demon Souls. Based on my experience (21 fairly miserable hours or so), it really comes to a matter of playability. The game goes out of its way to make every aspect of gameplay a chore, and when you remove the novelty of the online play (I have no live account) AND you factor in the largely...well, buggy nature of the REST of the game, you've got a pretty big barrier between you and enjoyment. In alot of ways, Dark Souls is the perfect argument IN FAVOR of modern game design...

That said, I think it could stand proudly alongside games like Hydlide and 8 Eyes.

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DoctorSmashman In reply to jmatchead [2012-04-14 19:25:52 +0000 UTC]

The funny thing is, I can't think of a single complaint towards Demon's Souls. I'm of the opinion that it did what it set out to do absolutely perfectly. I just couldn't get into it, and I don't know why. Hell, I like dungeon crawlers. That new Wizardry game? Played the hell out of it. But Demon's Souls really bored me.

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jmatchead In reply to DoctorSmashman [2012-04-15 02:33:06 +0000 UTC]

Oh man, you would not believe some of the stuff that I encountered in Dark Souls. First of all, about two hours into the game, I encountered an irreparable glitch in which my sword swings would frequently be delayed until I hit the shield or dodge button, a problem that persisted throughout my entire 21 hour campaign experience. I would attempt to attack an enemy, and find my player totally motionless. Then I would panic, as often the opportunity to strike was a narrow one, and try to dodge or block. At THAT point, my attack would take place, and I would inevitably be hit, often killed. At first, I simply thought there was something wrong with my controller, so I switched. Then, I thought it was something wrong with me, until two others playing on my save game experienced the same problem. No fix for that. I actually managed to get through a healthy chunk of the game in this way, sadly.

A bit later, I had the misfortune of travelling to Blight Town, a stage that is literally a plague on your console. As if being highly susceptible to the game's (totally unnecessary) two distinct categories of poison status effect simultaneously wasn't enough, the complicated structure of the stage places such a high demand on the pathfinding of the enemy AI that the game literally slows to a crawl, practically becoming a slideshow.

There are numerous other small examples of the generally shoddy construction of Dark Souls, including doors that open out into ledges in such a way that the actual door obstructs the only means of descent, a ranged targeting system that often shoots magic spells directly over enemies heads, and enemy dogs that cause the camera to zoom in uncontrollably whenever they tackle the player. It's the little things like this that make the game far more frustrating than it's allegedly high difficulty ever could.

There are alot of really neat things that Dark Souls tries to do, but I just can't get over how slapdash the actual assembly of the product is.

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RunningWild In reply to jmatchead [2015-03-09 18:27:19 +0000 UTC]

What system did you play this on?  I literally encountered none of these issues.  In fact, I found the game to be extremely fair in it's dealings with you largely due to the bug-free nature of it and consistent mechanics.  I wonder if you caught an early unpatched version.

Nevermind - I see below you mention Xbox.  Probably the later patches rectified these issues, though it sounds like your Xbox has some "demons" of its own, which may contribute to glitchiness.  As an ex-game programmer for the past 20 years I know how code reacts when the hardware such as your Live connection suddenly just goes MIA; that is, the system has the software equivalent of a midlife crisis and barfs on itself.  Software doesn't like the unexpected.

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DoctorSmashman In reply to jmatchead [2012-04-15 08:46:01 +0000 UTC]

That's... disappointing to hear, actually. You see, I've only played Demon's Souls, and it ran like butter aside from the occasional disconnect and whatnot. I can't believe that there are technical flaws that crippling in the sequel.

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jmatchead In reply to DoctorSmashman [2012-04-15 22:08:04 +0000 UTC]

I was really shocked, honestly, as I walked into that game thinking I was going to really like it. I had heard nothing but good things about it, at at first it seemed like a pretty solid game.

It's really a shame too, because otherwise there's alot to like about the game. Structurally, it's a pretty solid 3D metroidvania, and some of the boss encounters are genuinely cool. It's not like, a complete waste or anything, but my experience was really soured.

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jmatchead In reply to spectravideo [2012-10-04 02:42:00 +0000 UTC]

Oh man, it took me all this time to actually get this comment. If there were alike button, I would so use it right now.

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spectravideo In reply to jmatchead [2012-10-08 16:42:54 +0000 UTC]

Knight Solaire is one of the best things to come out of Dark Souls.

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