Aliens: Colonial Marines screens
- Thread starter Dresden
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Deleted member 13524
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Who's saying the consoles are to blame?
The demo isn't a CGI fabrication because:
1 - it was a playable demo, at least according to some people who say they played it at E3 2011 (and complained that gameplay mechanics weren't really top notch).
2 - the exact same scenes exist in the game, with the same models, mostly the same geometry and same level design. It's the lighting system and particle system (steam and fog) that were in the demo and are pretty much non-existant in the final game, along with some scripted stuff that changed. Without the proper lighting,the scenes practically nosedived from an excellent, typical-Alien horror environment to a playmobil/barbie&ken stage with 2d effects for explosions.
Here's some further investigation from Kotaku:
So what they say is that:
1 - Gearbox did part of the game, then GB had to work on other stuff so they gave it to Timegate
2 - Timegate throws away whatever Gearbox had done
3 - After finishing Borderlands 2, GB collects whatever Timegate had done, finds it below expectations, throws away stuff that was done and proceeds to build some assets for the third time.
Honestly, to me it looks more like a game of pride and prejudice that ended up horribly wrong for everyone involved.
With DNF, Gearbox had the excuse that the game had been in development hell for too long from other studios and they had the trouble to re-organize everything, adapt/rebuild many assets to use in an updated engine and launch within an acceptable time frame.
Colonial Marines has been in the hands of Gearbox from the very beginning, so it's entirely their responsibility.
I loved Borderlands 1 in coop and am eagerly waiting for an opportunity to play Borderlands 2 cooped with the same friends. But I think Sega should sue them for all they've got, 20th Century Fox should stop them from making an Aliens game ever again, and Randy Pitchford should immediately step down from president and CEO of Gearbox, since he'll never be taken seriously again.
It sounds like their Duke Forever and Counterstrike: Condition Zero projects. They get a wreck and whip it into a coherent product. Actually it's impressive in a way. $60 is crazy, but it is named Aliens and has serious brand appeal. I figure the price will be halved within a few months as with AVP3.
It's just a mediocre game with a big advertisement budget. There's nothing new about that.
I played it on a Core 2 2GHz + Mobility 4670 512M for a bit and it ran fine with the default settings, although the native resolution is 1360x768 on there. It runs like other UE3-based PS360 shooters.
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Sigfried1977
Legend
You did.
Also, what does it matter whether the demo was pre-rendered or not. I don't get o play it either way, so for me it might as well be a complete fabrication.
D
Deleted member 13524
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I don't know if you're hitting a language barrier or something similar, but I said/wrote no such thing.
Perhaps if you point out exactly where you got that interpretation, I could help you understand it.
If it was in the playable demo, then it's a clear proof that some assets were clearly downgraded, which matters to the discussion at hand.
I assume he means this...
Which does sorta sound like you're blaming consoles/consoles gamers for any downgrade.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
Probably the reason the game is in the state it is in is because Gearbox did exactly what they needed to do in order not to be sued, and had no time for anything more. Gearbox did anything to get a mostly working game out before the last deadline and to avoid Sega taking them to court. So what if it looks and plays like ass? It gets them off the hook, and that's all they cared about at this point.
If DukeNukem didn't get Randy to fall on his sword then nothing will.
It's difficult for because Gearbox gets a lot of leeway from me for Borderlands 1 & 2, and DukeNukem was them trying to pick up the pieces of somebody else's mess in order to try and bring back a classic gaming phenomenon.
However, ACM was purely a Gearbox screwup. They let development go on too long, and farmed the game out to too many other companies without enough oversight to make sure it was all coming together. You can say Timegate screwed up, but who was overseeing it from Gearbox? Who decided to farm out to Timegate but restrict them severely on what they could and couldn't do? Who ultimately made those decisions and then took their eye off the ball? The buck stops at Randy Pitchford.
D
Deleted member 13524
Guest
I'm not blaming consoles at all in that statement..
If anything, I'm blaming publishers and/or developers as a possibility for lobbying consoles over PCs. Which they do, this isn't a surprise to anyone, is it?
Yes, but Sega could still sue them for diverging the A:CM funds for developing Borderlands (if they find any proof of it), which seems to be the most serious accusation I've seen so far.
Sigfried1977
Legend
Sorta?
Have any of you actually played the game? I'd like to suggest that it's unwise to run with intarweb sentiment. I've played worse games. The main problem is it should be a budget title, but it has the license.
I wish it was less "L4D" gameplay oriented but that's obviously what the plan was for this game. It's not about single player or solo exploration. It's a high-action squad shooter and totally linear. The combat is what I expect from close quarters run-n-gun. Combat feels better than the renowned AVP1 and 2 games. I think the goal was to make a L4D game that plays like Aliens movie action.
The visuals are certainly not super. I haven't been outside yet but the ship corridors remind me of Quake 4. What's strange is even 4X SSAA doesn't hit all of the aliasing (maybe a quirk to UE3).
I wish it was less "L4D" gameplay oriented but that's obviously what the plan was for this game. It's not about single player or solo exploration. It's a high-action squad shooter and totally linear. The combat is what I expect from close quarters run-n-gun. Combat feels better than the renowned AVP1 and 2 games. I think the goal was to make a L4D game that plays like Aliens movie action.
The visuals are certainly not super. I haven't been outside yet but the ship corridors remind me of Quake 4. What's strange is even 4X SSAA doesn't hit all of the aliasing (maybe a quirk to UE3).
I'll buy it once the price comes down since I have all the other Avp games.
Edit: its £16.99 now
ps: Dx10 mod
http://www.moddb.com/mods/aliensdx10-better-grafik-and-light
Edit: its £16.99 now
ps: Dx10 mod
http://www.moddb.com/mods/aliensdx10-better-grafik-and-light
I've been playing this on my TV-as-monitor setup and have been dealing with some seriously washed out black in the image. It seems the game isn't setting gamma right.
1)go to Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config
2)edit PecanEngine.ini
3)change DisplayGamma=2.2 to a lower number. I went 1.8 for my TV.
1)go to Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config
2)edit PecanEngine.ini
3)change DisplayGamma=2.2 to a lower number. I went 1.8 for my TV.
D
Deleted member 13524
Guest
After some weeks of off-the-record staff interviews, Kotaku publisher a new story about Colonial Marines' development:
http://kotaku.com/5986694/from-dream-to-disaster-the-story-of-aliens-colonial-marines?post=57761318
To summarize:
1 - Gearbox didn't do shit for the game's development between 2006 and 2010, so it's practically a 2.5-year old development.
2 - Too many people shooting opinions about the game's development caused significant delays (Sega who wanted an Aliens-themed Call of Duty, Gearbox and Timegate who wanted to do an Aliens game). The same happened with Gearbox and Timegate having different story-writers, apparently with no coop play between them (pun intended).
3 - Gearbox consistently told Timegate not to worry about performance, that it was all about looks. When the time came to port to consoles, the game wasn't portable (mainly to PS3).
4 - Because of point 3, what we have today is something that Gearbox severely stripped down from the original 2011 and 2012 demos, which were playing real time on high-end PCs. Everything from shaders to textures and models were severely cut-down in order to fit the PS3.
5 - The game came out in such a mess because Gearbox feared a lawsuit from Sega.
What I don't understand is why they had to castrate the PC version so much because of the consoles. They could've launched a decent PC game along with sub-par console versions.
Maybe Gearbox was counting on having the PS4/Durango out in early 2013, hence the "no worries about performance, just make it pretty" thing and all the last-minute castrations. But why make everything look like excrement, across all platforms?
On related news, there are people in the web claiming that Gearbox and Sega are going to post an apology this week, along with a large patch for PC gamers. Fingers crossed.
http://kotaku.com/5986694/from-dream-to-disaster-the-story-of-aliens-colonial-marines?post=57761318
To summarize:
1 - Gearbox didn't do shit for the game's development between 2006 and 2010, so it's practically a 2.5-year old development.
2 - Too many people shooting opinions about the game's development caused significant delays (Sega who wanted an Aliens-themed Call of Duty, Gearbox and Timegate who wanted to do an Aliens game). The same happened with Gearbox and Timegate having different story-writers, apparently with no coop play between them (pun intended).
3 - Gearbox consistently told Timegate not to worry about performance, that it was all about looks. When the time came to port to consoles, the game wasn't portable (mainly to PS3).
4 - Because of point 3, what we have today is something that Gearbox severely stripped down from the original 2011 and 2012 demos, which were playing real time on high-end PCs. Everything from shaders to textures and models were severely cut-down in order to fit the PS3.
5 - The game came out in such a mess because Gearbox feared a lawsuit from Sega.
What I don't understand is why they had to castrate the PC version so much because of the consoles. They could've launched a decent PC game along with sub-par console versions.
Maybe Gearbox was counting on having the PS4/Durango out in early 2013, hence the "no worries about performance, just make it pretty" thing and all the last-minute castrations. But why make everything look like excrement, across all platforms?
On related news, there are people in the web claiming that Gearbox and Sega are going to post an apology this week, along with a large patch for PC gamers. Fingers crossed.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
There was a "huge incoming patch" rumour that turned out to be a hoax, and I think this is the same. People are just getting their hopes up, but neither Gearbox or Sega is going to spend money re-engineering the game or assets for a title that has now failed and has tarnished the brand.
That link actually says:
It doesn't say there will be a patch, or that a patch is coming. Sega/Gearbox could just as likely confirm that there will be no patch, or nothing significant beyond some bugfixes.
