Resistance 2

Well, for one thing, I think we'd like to be able to discuss aspects of rendering a game on a 3D forum in some detail, perhaps even being able to say 'yes, the lighting is certainly improving, although here's some flaw or other that stands out as something particular for Insomniac', or 'here's some shadowing anomaly that seems to be indicative of deferred shadowing and 4xMSAA', etc., without anyone here misunderstanding us for being haters.

 

It's not ridiculous at all. A proper critique will look at everything and pass remark on the different aspects. It's just as stupid to ignore all faults and claim a game looks fantastic because it's fun to play, as it is to not buy a game because barrels don't cast shadows, when the rest ofthe game as good. The game can still be great, it can still push a lot of polygons, it can still be worth buying and worth playing, while also being true that lots of objects don't cast shadows, or the overall rendering engine is lacking techniques used in other engines, or whatever other intelligent observations can be made.

 

I just think it's ridiculous to constantly hammer on lighting and texture, meanwhile ignoring every other strength the game has (animation, models, environments, particle effects, and overall geometry).

Again, a critique should be balanced and even, not just "well this wasn't good, this looked hit and miss, this wasn't up to par, this was pretty standard".

To each their own, I just think the "critique" thus far has been nothing but unjust nit picking while ignoring every other strength the game has. Maybe I'm in a different camp, having gotten into a gunfight with massive amounts of chimera in the Private beta, and being stunned at all the action combined with the massive enemy counts.

 

You're right. Still, lighting and texturing are substantial contributors to the look, and are the easiest things to talk about given source material (lots of high-res pics). They're also the areas with the most progress in other titles too.

 

True, I'm not going to deny that the lighting is in need of improvement, because it is. But there's a lot to be said when most games are throwing maybe 5 enemies at a time your way, and Resistance 2 is throwing around counts that approach, and in some cases eclipse, 30.

Honestly, I understand ther eis a trade off, and I welcome it. It's nice to see lighting and texture work be a focus (ala Gears of War) but it's also nice to see a game that isn't afraid to, for lack of a better word, neglect those areas as a trade off for massive environments with huge enemy counts (and in true insomniac fashion, tons and tons of action).

 

If the shadow flickers, it might be better not to show them.

 

This I can partially agree with, especially in the case of Motorstorm 2, it just looks really jarring.

 

When does the beta go live? I got my code from Gamestop today.

 

not before October 5 because, i suspect, Sony doesn't want the R2 beta to overlap the SOCOM beta which ends on that date. considering R2 is scheduled for release on November 4, its public beta should begin before mid-October.

 

I don't recall typing that. I think you misunderstood me. I just asked for example of what you're talking about or to prove it wasn't something that could be the fault of something other than the game. You have provided that proof. I also mentioned that these are things that are usually taken care of before the game goes gold. That's about it.

 

actually it was tha_con who said that, sorry for the mixup ! Anyway lets bury that issue.... !

 

yes the of the lack of shadows in places there is glaring bad, it makes me wonder what technique they are using for creating the shadows, is it projected shadows? I hope not

 

There are similar instances in Uncharted, Gears of War, Assassins Creed, Call of Duty 4....

I can name a lot of games that all have situations where the lighting just doesn't match up right. Nit picking it is, as I said, pointless, especially when the game is already this late in development.

 

Unless the barrels can move wouldnt it then be a better idea to put some pre-baked shadows?

Still weak that it only has limited amount of shadows being a deffered renderer (or not if the HW isnt up to the task, devs cream out as much as they can).

 

The maps I have seen are huge and varied. Wouldn't be surprised if they simply ran out of time polishing all of them.


... and this was a trailer too (Damn).

 

Lets hope we are having a blast while playing it and thus, forget to notice all this missing shadows shit ! In fact, I stopped bothering about shadows in R&C itself as they were pretty inconsistant in that game too. Some areas were jaw droppingly beautiful, with occlusion under nook and cranny, and then another area would lack occlusion on majority of objects and sometimes shadows are present on some enemies and absent on some. I think it must be due to some kind of Load distribution system they have at play , deciding which objects to have shadows and which to not. That might not be behaving according to plan, thus showing up objects without shadows though they are in the players view and nearby too.

 

i blame Killzone2 for being such a lighting and shadow monster, people would naturally want R2 to be as good looking. but hell with everything R2 throws at ya on screen, it WILL be the bomb, baked shadows or not.

 

Just looked at the new RE5 shots, and I'm stunned that people are disappointed in R2's lighting. There are so many games that are on par with R2, without the scale, yes get the pass over.

Anyway, really anticipating the public beta, hopefully it's here next week!

 

/All of course in IMO. Something which while unpopular isn't as some would pathetically try to label, a troll attack.

Mod : Bringing Halo into this thread about Resistance is trolling even if unintentional - it's comments that are OT and guaranteed to invoke OT responses. Check the title in case you're confused - it's 'Resistance 2' for talking about R2, and not 'what is the best shooter out there?' or 'how do other shooters compare with Halo'. These types of versus comparisons are not welcome within general discussion as they instantly derail the thread. If you really want to compare titles, create a thread for it and present clear, intelligent arguments, that point to the similarities and differences in the games (where I will happily contribute my take on your argument). Although expect it to get locked shortly after opening if people can't behave themselves, which is sadly the case with such versus discussion nine times out of ten.

Now I have to remove 80% of the latest posts because of this derailment, so we can return to talking about what R2 is offering, how it's looking, whether people will enjoy it or not, how the co-op is coming along, etc...

 

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/40754.html Teh OMG greatest cutscene ever.