Topic: The Official BioShock thread.

[scottws]

Makes sense. Kinda. Though it would make me want to play in 4:3 more than widescreen.

And there seems to be some hubub on the forums about the activation. You can only do it...twice?

I think that quote you had in there is completely bogus.  The author is just playing semantics.  Whether or not the widescreen mode was came up with first or is "the optimal experience," the fact is that the 4:3 aspect ratio shows more than the 16:10 ratio does.

Whether they want to describe it as "the vertical view in 4:3 is slightly extended" or "the view is slightly cropped in 16:10" it is the exact same thing.

Widescreen gamers feel like they are getting the shaft and this article does nothing to address that.

[Pugnate]

I've just read both the IGN and Gamespot reviews again, and I think it is one of those rare occasions where I liked the IGN review more. While the writing on the IGN review felt a bit bumpy, the review overall felt more in touch with what was special about the game.

I don't know, I found the gamespot review to not even validate a 9.0 score. From what I understand, what makes the game special is its atmosphere and immersion. Gamespot took the whole first page (of the two page review) to describe in a very sterile manner the boring mechanics of the gameplay. I think they just dedicated one paragraph on the second page to talk about the atmosphere etc.

Overall I wasn't impressed by the review. Kasavin needs to come back.

Also wtf is this new scoring system? Kasavin would have never stood for it, I am sure. And it just shows what pussies gamespot are. The fact is that most of their scores have been spot on, yet they've been often criticized by the fanboy who is still having his honeymoon with his newly bought game.

Instead of taking the criticism in stride, gamespot castrated themselves by making the scoring system less controversial. Fuck them... its freakin' ridiculous. 

[Cobra951]

Yeah, I'm selling it.  Not going to blame the game though, with the universal appeal it has to be me.

Um, not sure.  Right now, I'm not having much fun either.  I'm stuck in this fairly small area where I got a camera.  For some reason, my way back to where I was seems to be blocked, and I can't go forward until I do what this part of the game wants me to do.  I can't get back to the area where I can upgrade with adam, even though I've harvested about 3 little sisters since getting stuck in here.  Big daddys seem to spawn almost as willy nilly as the lesser splicers.  Am I missing something?  I'm absolutely no match for these guys.  It's getting so that I don't even look for health kits.  Dying 5 times to take out one BD is not unusual.  Since death means nothing, it's gotten ridiculous.  I hardly care anymore.  Just step out in front of them, and knock off a little of their health.  Go through the vita chamber, and repeat.  This is the middle difficulty too, not the hard.

[Quemaqua]

Weird.  I haven't had that problem at all.  Strange how people can have such different experiences with the same thing.  And you do realize you don't have to fight BDs at all, right?  If you just leave them alone, they ignore you.  Or you can use the BD plasmid to get them to follow you around and kick everyone's ass for you.  I think BDs spawn regardless of whether or not there's a Little Sister to grab.  They just wander, waiting for the sisters to come out, but once you get the sisters, they don't have anything to do but wander and get used as a tool (or, if you can manage to kill them expertly, as a good source of extra resources).

But yeah, as I've said I think the vita-chambers are the game's single fault.  *If* you don't abuse them, it's okay.  They haven't affected my game much because I do everything possible to stay alive so I don't have to trek back through the level to where I was at.  But if you just let yourself die over and over, I can see the game becoming very boring very fast, just because it almost feels like a cheat.  Like I said above somewhere, if there's one mod I want for this, it's to make the vita-chambers eat a huge chunk of your money when you use them.  There needs to be a substantial negative effect tied to them.

Otherwise I think the game is pure gold, though.  I don't find it boring in the least, nor do I find the combat substandard.  I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

[ScaryTooth]

After you get the camera you have to jump down off a ledge to a room your were previously in, I think. BD's are tough. They are a bitch to kill if you just start shooting them without any cover or strategy.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, the best way to take them on is to think out a strategy first.  Get some gear, set up a trap of some kind, and make sure you can get a really big wallop right at the outset.  That to me is what's so fun about them.  You can't just run at them over and over again trying to shoot them down.  Even if they're at low health that sometimes isn't an option.  I went through 8 health packs on my first try for one of those guys, and I've since learned that you really do have to play it safe and logical, do everything you can to spin things to your advantage *first*.

[Cobra951]

That's how I started out.  I'd try to sneak up on them and blast them with whatever I figured would work best.  Then it's time to run, duck, take potshots, dance around . . .  Didn't work too well.  I hated dying at first too, but it got to happen so often that I just got numb to it.  I didn't realize that I could simply ignore them.  I thought they just couldn't detect you unless you were close up in front, or attacking them.  (I have read absolutely nothing on this game, not wanting even peripheral spoilers.)  I also didn't realize that there was a limited number of little sisters.  The constant random respawning was a disappointment, and I thought it applied across the board.

I'll figure it out.  At this point, I still think it's me, not the game.

[ScaryTooth]

The art direction is this game is awesome. I love how some of the weapons look like they were just thrown together with parts from junk lying around. Like the grenade launcher looks like some old tin cans and shit. It's dope.

[K-man]

The art direction is this game is awesome. I love how some of the weapons look like they were just thrown together with parts from junk lying around. Like the grenade launcher looks like some old tin cans and shit. It's dope.

Agreed.  This is one of the best (if not THE best) looking games on the 360.  They definitely did their homework on period art-deco stuff too.

[Quemaqua]

Most definitely.  The look is amazing, and the sound design is absolutely incredible.  I'm not even using EAX, but the reverb effects they have on this thing are stellar.  I'm almost wishing that my wife wasn't "playing" it with me so that I could be using headphones and getting even more immersion out of it.

Again to Cobra, the best I can say is do your best to think outside the box.  Get creative, try weird things.  I can already think of several tactics that probably wouldn't have occurred to you.  At the point where I'm at, I was literally able to turn a single hallway into a gauntlet run of death on one occasion, and it took quite a lot of futzing around, but once I got the BD to come at me through it... it was just beautiful.

I'm starting to wonder if not having played SS2 beforehand might make this one a little more dense and hard to get into?  That doesn't seem right to me given how much more accessible it is than SS2, but I guess it's worth thinking about.  I mean, the same creativity in environmental stuff wasn't really present in SS2, but you definitely had to think about how to combo tactics and stuff.  It's just a lot more free-flowing in BioShock since you can essentially change your character's loadout any time you visit a Gene Bank.  There have been several occasions where I just ran out of a fight or potential fight, went to a Gene Bank because I had an idea, swapped out all my stuff, then went right back and tried out whatever idea it was that I'd had.

EDIT - Jeez.  This thing has now 16 perfect (100) reviews on MetaCritic, and they didn't even have some of the publications I listed before in this thread.  It's got a 96% average rating for the 360 on GameRankings (and 94% for PC), with a 97% for 360 on MetaCritic (and 96% for PC).  I find it somewhat odd that it doesn't fare as well on PC stats-wise, given that it can look better than the 360 version (and yes, it really can, I've seen them both), has a much-improved interface on PC, and doesn't appear to have a lot of bugs, if any at all.  Maybe it's the authentication/copy protection stuff that's knocking the scores down?

EDIT x2 - Yeah, I think I can officially say that I feel this is the best FPS ever made.  It did take a little time to get off the ground for me.  I was enjoying myself, but not to the insane extent which I am at this point.  Once I made it to Arcadia, things just completely turned around.  What was fun and cool before just increased a hundredfold.  It showed the game has more environmental tricks up its sleeve, has some thematic variety, can really give you the opportunity to do things in different ways (I just found myself using all kinds of different methods moving through the area as I went), and does eventually sort of ask you to specialize your character in certain regards.  While you can change it, it pays to use your available resources to focus on certain things, I think.  Also, the story was interesting before, but has continued to deepen at a consistent rate and has been very reliable in terms of delivery and pacing.  I'm more interested now than I was.  There are again more allusions to Atlas Shrugged, but in sort of warped, reversed fashions.  It's quite fascinating.

I would say there are indeed things that other FPS games have done better than BioShock, but I've never enjoyed a shooter quite so much as I'm now enjoying this one.  It's more than the sum of its parts, even though that sum is a pretty beast in its own right.  For those who still have doubts, maybe try to push in just a little further and see if things don't pick up for you.  I feel like I still wasn't quite in tune with the way the game's different facets come together until a couple hours ago, but now I'm starting to really think on my feet and act quickly, abuse situations to my advantage, enjoy different variables in the world, and the whole things seems to have adopted a much more rapid-fire string of excitements for me.

[idolminds]

Stuff and things!

With a swathe of announcements sure to send shockwaves reverberating throughout the BioShock internet community, publisher 2K Games has replaced BioShock's initial limit of two simultaneous PC installations with what community manager Elizabeth Tobey calls a "5 by 5 plan."

Under the new terms, users will be able to install the game on up to five computers, with the ability to reinstall the game on each computer up to five times. 2K will release a "revoke app" that should address issues resulting from the original limitations.

In a stunning reversal, 2K also announced plans to release a patch allowing PC users to adjust the game's FOV despite claiming the existing widescreen implementation was by design, as documented in our coverage of Aspect Ratiogate 07. An Xbox 360 patch is under consideration as well.

Prior to today's announcement, resourceful gamer Racer_S took matters into his own hands, applying a digital brand of widescreen vigilante justice and creating an unofficial patch. Tobey tipped her hat to the fan's efforts.

Along with the patch and policy changes, 2K is strengthening its tech support team, and has posted a technical FAQ addressing numerous concerns regarding SecuROM DRM and other issues. The company pledged a more streamlined experience with 2K and SecuROM tech support.

Finally, 2K has fixed its momentarily inactive activation server, allowing those previously unable to finish their game installs to do so.

2K appears to be proactively plugging holes, but Shacknews remains vigilant as Bioshockgate 07 continues to unfold. Stay tuned.

[ScaryTooth]

This game is definitely one of the best first person shooters I've ever played. Not sure if it's the best, but it's a contender for sure. It all just comes together so well. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the game I think, and I don't want to stop playing. I just can't put it down. I want to hear the rest of the story. It's like a good book, or movie. It's awesome.

[Quemaqua]

Glad to hear they're taking as good care of this one as they can, too.  Honestly, Liz (Tobey) has been just great, and she's really done a lot as liaison between 2K and the community (which is, to some degree, her job).  I give her tons of credit.  But it's good to see that they're taking this all seriously.  I've told people time and time again... stop bitching that you're going to resort to piracy, stop saying you won't buy the game.  Support a great game that you *want* with your money, but DO feel free to pitch a fit.  You don't *always* have to withhold money with every company.  You can still enjoy this game and be proactive in your complaints.  I bought it, I had no trouble with the install or anything else, but I'm still pissed off ideologically and I can still make a stink.  I have, along with others, and it's getting results.  Any company that has a history of paying attention to you (and with BioShock, that's all we've gotten is attention... these people have wanted to make us happy from day one) will listen to you if you speak up.

Anyway, I think it's great and hope that it continues.  I still think the whole authentication thing is stupid no matter how you look at it, but any acknowledgment of the issue is a good thing.

[K-man]

Here's hoping Pyro gets tons of enjoyment out of the copy I just sold him.  I'll give it another shot when its a bargain title.

[MysterD]

Glad to hear they're taking as good care of this one as they can, too.  Honestly, Liz (Tobey) has been just great, and she's really done a lot as liaison between 2K and the community (which is, to some degree, her job).  I give her tons of credit.  But it's good to see that they're taking this all seriously.  I've told people time and time again... stop bitching that you're going to resort to piracy, stop saying you won't buy the game.  Support a great game that you *want* with your money, but DO feel free to pitch a fit.  You don't *always* have to withhold money with every company.  You can still enjoy this game and be proactive in your complaints.  I bought it, I had no trouble with the install or anything else, but I'm still pissed off ideologically and I can still make a stink.  I have, along with others, and it's getting results.  Any company that has a history of paying attention to you (and with BioShock, that's all we've gotten is attention... these people have wanted to make us happy from day one) will listen to you if you speak up.

Amen, Que -- I agree w/ you 100%.

Yes, Liz has done a good job of keeping us informed w/ matters, as much as she possibly can.

But, this whole stink that Bioshock's CRP (copyright protection) is causing can be a blessing in disguise. For years, PC gamers have told companies to not use ridiculous and unnecessary methods of copyright protection -- maybe, companies will wake the hell up and stop trying to use such trashy CRP's like StarForce and the latest edition of Securom.

I never had issues w/ Securom, until trying to Authenticate Bioshock online -- took me 3 tries, to get the game activated. That's minor, compared to what other gamers are going through w/ this...

Anyway, I think it's great and hope that it continues.  I still think the whole authentication thing is stupid no matter how you look at it, but any acknowledgment of the issue is a good thing.

I think it's stupid, too -- especially for a SP-based game.

EDIT:
I just through this photo was funny, from this article...

[PyroMenace]

As K-Man mentioned I got his copy and I plan to take the whole night to delve into it. Though Ive been out of my usual mood as of late, but I think this will help.

[MysterD]

As K-Man mentioned I got his copy and I plan to take the whole night to delve into it. Though Ive been out of my usual mood as of late, but I think this will help.

Did he uninstall the game while he was online to get you your "refund"?

[K-man]

Did he uninstall the game while he was online to get you your "refund"?

No. All I had to do to get around the authentication BS was to press 'eject' on my Xbox 360 and place the game back in its case.

[TheOtherBelmont]

No. All I had to do to get around the authentication BS was to press 'eject' on my Xbox 360 and place the game back in its case.

Hahaha nice, we really need a rimshot smiley.  Also Que, I am reading Atlas Shrugged, I'm about 130 pages in and enjoying it so far.

[MysterD]

No. All I had to do to get around the authentication BS was to press 'eject' on my Xbox 360 and place the game back in its case.

Wo0t!!!

That works!

[Quemaqua]

Hahaha nice, we really need a rimshot smiley.  Also Que, I am reading Atlas Shrugged, I'm about 130 pages in and enjoying it so far.

Glad to hear it.  It's a bit dry given the subject matter, but stick with it.  Despite some of the sillier bits that require a little bit of a leap of faith, it's mostly a great read, especially towards the end.

EDIT - According to the Cult site, Liz is apparently considering giving the guy that made that unofficial widescreen patch an 8800.  Fucking hell, how can people possibly be complaining about the way 2K treats them?

EDIT x2 - And for fuck's sake, I just found out they released the entire fucking original score for BioShock FOR FREE.  So the Moby remix CD thing with the LE is an ADDED BONUS over the ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK because that was ALREADY RELEASED.  I haven't wanted to kick so many people in the nuts since... since... like... I don't know.  But hot damn I need some nut-kicking to happen.

EDIT x3 - Soundtrack is really worth the download.  Good stuff.  Here's an interview with the guy who made it happen.

EDIT x4 - Those interested in BioShock and its theoretical relations to Randian philosophy should check out this thread.  I only made it to about page 9, and the thread creator seemed blatantly wrong about plenty (despite being smart), but it's interesting to see the interplay between more liberal/more conservative people and the general philosophy, how people twist it, what people think it means, and how little BioShock probably really gets into it all in the end.  I hope to come back and finish the thread tomorrow to see what people are saying now that the game is out.  Personally, I feel like the game takes its initial building blocks from some of that stuff, builds on top of that, and then just starts to branch out in crazy directions that don't attempt to make any points about ideology whatsoever.  Of course, I'm not yet at the end of the game, but it's very plain to me that this is entertainment first and foremost, and there is no true allegory or commentary here.  Not in a true sense.  That doesn't make it any less interesting, or negate the fact that it may well turn people on to Rand and her philosophies, whether they agree with them or not.

EDIT x5 - There are still rational people in the world, thank God.  I've failed to see from the beginning why the widescreen thing is an issue, and I think that thread pretty much says it all.  I'm so fucking tired of people.

[scottws]

It's cool they are going to fix the widescreen issue.

[Quemaqua]

With this program, you can get the rest of the music that wasn't included in the free released soundtrack (such as the licensed stuff).  It's all in the FSB files in the game directory.  Well, for PC users.

[Cobra951]

I think it's an issue because the widescreen people somehow feel like they should get the superior view, since their screens probably cost more money.  Haha.  Let's face it: you get more screen area with the same footprint at 4:3 than at 16:10 or 16:9.  Why not use it to best advantage?  There's a tech limitation in there too.  If you show a lot more geometry at once, the frame rate may get killed.

I've gotten a lot more into the game since last time I posted.  Survival by the skin of my teeth is no longer all-consuming.  I can actually appreciate a bit of the world and the back story now.  It's still harder than I like to stay stocked up and ready to go.  I've said this before: if a game is going to throw infinite enemies at me, then it also needs to give me infinite resources.  Some lock boxes and other items reappear randomly, but nothing like the wealth of stuff you get in virgin territory.  Big daddys leave enough money behind to pay for what it took to kill them, but nothing else does.  I find myself scrounging for ammo, health and eve way too much. 

One problem that probably affects me more than others is the complete lack of sync between voices and subtitles.  I like to read as I listen, and it completely throws me off when the subtitles switch over to the next lines way before the speaker has gotten to them.  I normally like subtitles, but maybe I should disable them here.

I sorely miss mouse control, and I have an annoying problem with the right stick drifting to the right occasionally.  (Is there a way to force the game or the 360 to recalibrate?)  But I have gotten used to the controller pretty well now.  The crossbow will never be as effective on the 360 as on a good PC, though.  Shotguns, machine guns and chem spreaders are the better weapon choices here.

It's far from a disappointment, though.  I find it very hard to quit the game even after I'm bleary-eyed.  Sometimes I'll blink and it will hurt, telling me that I haven't been blinking nearly enough.  The world is richly detailed and consistent.  The characters are terrific.  Some are so lifelike that it's scary, in a different sense from extra ugly.  (Anyone see Phantom of the Opera?)  The amount of love and work here is staggering.  I'm already making plans to replay the game on easy, just so I can spend more time appreciating what's here than avoiding it.  I also want to pay a lot more close attention to the story, which has been sort of a blur so far.

[MysterD]

That's awesome that they released the score for free!!!

But really, though -- why put the score in the Limited Edition, if you plan to release it online for FREE???
*Scratches my head*

If that's the case, they should've put SOMETHING else in the LE -- maybe the art book; even though they released that online only, I'm sure it'd cost a pretty penny to try and get that printed at a print-store or it'll cost the person printing it themselves at home probably LOTS OF INK CATRIDGES.

[idolminds]

From what I read, the songs on the CD included with the LE are only the songs not included in the free download.

[MysterD]

With this program, you can get the rest of the music that wasn't included in the free released soundtrack (such as the licensed stuff).  It's all in the FSB files in the game directory.  Well, for PC users.

Que, I DL'ed this version of the player....

...but, where the hell is "'MusicPlayerEx.reg Generator.bat' file?

[Quemaqua]

I... have no idea?  I just used the .EXE.  It played stuff okay, but I couldn't convert it.  I was looking for the licensed tracks, which are the only tracks not released at this point (either by way of the LE, which had remixed stuff, or the free download, which was all original music composed for the game).

Glad to hear you're liking it better, Cobra.  I'm playing on hard and am having roughly the experience you are, but that makes sense since I'm hard.  I've heard some complaints that there's too much ammo and stuff, so I dunno'.  I feel you about the controller, though.  When so used to a mouse and keyboard it can be hard to go back.  But I'm glad you're enjoying it either way.

[scottws]

I think it's an issue because the widescreen people somehow feel like they should get the superior view, since their screens probably cost more money.

Untrue.  4:3 movies are cropped versions of the widescreen originals.  People think it should work the same for games.

Basically there is an expectation that's not being fulfilled.

Haha.  Let's face it: you get more screen area with the same footprint at 4:3 than at 16:10 or 16:9.  Why not use it to best advantage?  There's a tech limitation in there too.  If you show a lot more geometry at once, the frame rate may get killed.

You act like the tech limitation is the reason that the widescreen version is the cropped version.  Does this same limitation not apply to a 4:3 view that shows more at the top and bottom vs. a widescreen view that shows more on the sides?

[MysterD]

Glad to hear it.  It's a bit dry given the subject matter, but stick with it.  Despite some of the sillier bits that require a little bit of a leap of faith, it's mostly a great read, especially towards the end.

EDIT - According to the Cult site, Liz is apparently considering giving the guy that made that unofficial widescreen patch an 8800.  Fucking hell, how can people possibly be complaining about the way 2K treats them?

Do you think that given what Liz is offering Racer_S, maybe Irrational/2K might include that Widescreen user mod in a future official Bioshock patch???

That'd be pretty cool, if Racer gets his/her user made Widescreen patch basically included into the game by 2K, in a future patch.

Hell, it sounds like he basically did Irrational/2K's work for them!

[Quemaqua]

Of course I don't think that.  They'd never do such a thing.  That would be professionally irresponsible (unless they got somebody to review whatever he did and ensure it was great... but it's doubtful he went about it the best way possible).

Also, scott, people can expect whatever they want, nobody's obligated to give that to them.  As a non-widescreen user, I find this perfectly jolly.  Fuck everybody else.

[MysterD]

Of course I don't think that.  They'd never do such a thing.  That would be professionally irresponsible (unless they got somebody to review whatever he did and ensure it was great... but it's doubtful he went about it the best way possible).

Here's a question...

....Can anyone think of a time when a modder made such a good mod that the game designers reviewed it (to make sure it didn' cause any other issues for the game) and directly incorporated it right into a patch???

I'm trying to think of one, myself...

[scottws]

Also, scott, people can expect whatever they want, nobody's obligated to give that to them.  As a non-widescreen user, I find this perfectly jolly.  Fuck everybody else.

You are right, but missing the point at the same time.  I'll restate what I said earlier.  There is a longstanding understanding that 4:3 movies are cropped versions of the widescreen originals.  It's just the way it is.

Sure, games and movies are not the same thing and there isn't really a static medium in games like camera film.  There is just data, and it can be displayed on a screen in any number of ways.  But both  games and movies output to the same (or very similar) devices and so the assumption remains.

So while you're right that no one is obligated to meet expectations, to simply brush off the expectations as so insignificant is a mistake, I think.

[Cobra951]

Untrue.  4:3 movies are cropped versions of the widescreen originals.  People think it should work the same for games.

Basically there is an expectation that's not being fulfilled.
You act like the tech limitation is the reason that the widescreen version is the cropped version.  Does this same limitation not apply to a 4:3 view that shows more at the top and bottom vs. a widescreen view that shows more on the sides?

This isn't a movie.  It's a game.  Games are traditionally developed in a 4:3 environment.  I imagine Bioshock started out being developed in 4:3, then the big 16:10/16:9 revolution took place.  I expect for the developers to make the best of the current technology, but their mindsets will get in the way, as do most people's.

The Wizard of Oz once got a widescreen release.  That movie is from the late 30s, so it was 4:3 to begin with.  Guess what they did to make it widescreen.  Yep.  It's considered inferior to the 4:3 version now, of course.

[Quemaqua]

If there was a standard practice (and if they hadn't already stated their intentions in doing it the way they did), it might matter.  But neither is true, so I fail to see why it's an issue for anyone.  It isn't going to fuck over the gameplay experience given that it was designed that way intentionally, so who really cares?  See the other thread for screen comparisons of the way widescreen looks in HL2 and Halo 3 for a perfect example of the fact that it *does* meet basically the exact standard for what widescreen generally does.  They just didn't fuck over SD users for a change.

[MysterD]

Joystiq interviews Levine on a number of things -- the Patriot-Ledger (local paper in Boston) calling Bioshock a "little girl killing simulator", the issues w/ the activation process, will Irrational plan to eventually pull the plug on the activation thing eventually, the whole widescreen ordeal, will there be a PS3 version of Bioshock, will there be a Bioshock 2, etc etc.

Joystiq: Now, let's see if we can put this in the simplest terms, this screen thing has taken on a whole life of its own. The game was designed for widescreen. Instead of doing the normal thing and just chopping off the sides for full screen, you actually added more to the top and bottom so full screen people wouldn't lose anything from the sides -- a very nice thing to do actually. Thus, infuriating the PC owners and almost anyone else with widescreen because how dare you not give them more to see like they're used to. So, now this patch will add in the stuff to the side of the full screen. So, in essence, to use a visual term, this patch just zooms the camera out a little bit to appease PC widescreen owners to give the option of increased field of vision?

Levine: We started the game widescreen. We primarily designed it for widescreen. Then we had to ask, "How do we make it full screen." Your options are to put black bars at the top and bottom, keep same width perspective. Or you allow to ... add pixels to the top and the bottom if you can afford the frame rate -- we could. So the call was made to show those few more pixels. Now this is one of those things when you're making a game -- like I was making a game -- honestly, if somebody came from the future and told me this was an issue I would have laughed at them. I would have said, "Are you kidding me?" But that's what's interesting about gamers, they're an interesting and diverse group. Now that I know that there's this huge contingent out there that actually really cares about this, I wouldn't have laughed at them because they're stupid, I would have laughed because I couldn't have imagined that people are passionate about this. And now that we know they're passionate, we have a responsibility to respond to those people and give them what they want. It's their game, they paid money for it, they should be able to play in the way they want to play. We may disagree with them aesthetically, but sure, we'll make a patch and make if work for them.

Okay, so it's our game...

...When it's our game entirely, I think the plug will be pulled on the activation bullshit.

Just let the game-disc do the CRP-check, please...

[idolminds]

You know, he mentions eventually removing the DRM and online check in the future in that very interview.

[Quemaqua]

He does.  And please stop calling it CRP.  It isn't copyright protection, it's copy protection, as in keeping you from making usable copies.  And Irrational had nothing to do with any of that in the first place, I'm sure.  That's the publisher's territory, so it's pointless to take design-related comments and relate them to something the developer has no control over in the first place (other than probably a little tug in one direction or another if they really want to be die-hard about it).

Anyway.  I'm going to pull a MyD and quote/respond just for once.

We started the game widescreen. We primarily designed it for widescreen. Then we had to ask, "How do we make it full screen." Your options are to put black bars at the top and bottom, keep same width perspective. Or you allow to ... add pixels to the top and the bottom if you can afford the frame rate -- we could. So the call was made to show those few more pixels. Now this is one of those things when you're making a game -- like I was making a game -- honestly, if somebody came from the future and told me this was an issue I would have laughed at them. I would have said, "Are you kidding me?" But that's what's interesting about gamers, they're an interesting and diverse group. Now that I know that there's this huge contingent out there that actually really cares about this, I wouldn't have laughed at them because they're stupid, I would have laughed because I couldn't have imagined that people are passionate about this. And now that we know they're passionate, we have a responsibility to respond to those people and give them what they want. It's their game, they paid money for it, they should be able to play in the way they want to play. We may disagree with them aesthetically, but sure, we'll make a patch and make if work for them.

In other words, "Because you people are a bunch of whining bitches, we'll let you cheat."  Let's face it, that's all FOV is *ever* used for - cheating.  Not that I think it'll make a great deal of difference, but I find 90% of people's complaints in regards to this game completely baseless and utterly sophomoric.  It's really beginning to get on my nerves.

Anyway, neat interview.  Nice to hear him directly address some stuff.

To further my own experience with the game, I'm loving it still.  The level I'm in now isn't terribly interesting environmentally (though it isn't bad by any means), but I've had some really great, tough, totally shocking, laugh-out-loud *gameplay* experiences that have made up for it being somewhat less heavy on the aesthetic values.  The gameplay here is great.  It's really just standard concepts that are built to allow for a lot of variety.  It's such a simple thing that can lead to such surprising results at times.  It's great.

[idolminds]

How is FOV a cheat in a singleplayer game exactly?

[MysterD]

You know, he mentions eventually removing the DRM and online check in the future in that very interview.

I know....
...but, when the hell might that be??

2010? 2020? 2030?

When the game goes out of print?!?!?!?

Okay, here's a safe bet -- the DRM and online check will probably be removed before DNF ever gets released....