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Dragon Age II

I tried playing on hard but got slapped around by the prologue Ogre fight in the very beginning. Anyone else not able to get through that fight on hard?
 
GriMReapeRAK said:
Can anyone using a GTX570/580 tell me their performance with the latest beta drivers? I was browsing the Guru3D forums and some people were having ridiculously low framerates with a GTX580 on DX11. Since I won't be getting the game until tomorrow, I can't test it out myself.
Click to expand...

I can confirm this.

The Highest setting enables the DX 11 features, and when the Highest setting is enabled the game is pretty much unplayable - it's a bit of a stutter fest. It would appear that this is either an Nvidia driver issue, or that it has something to do with tessellation.

If you bump it down a notch from Highest to High, the game suddenly becomes playable - you're still on the DX 11 setting, but as far as I can tell the High setting is actually some kind of backwards compatibility with DX 10. The next question then is, what's the difference, visually, between Highest and High - and honestly, I can't see any difference at all. Some might be able to, but I can't.

So how does High look compared to the visual settings of the demo?

Vastly superior. The terrain is clearly much better, you see cloud shadows rolling across the ground, there's a kind of blur effect in place, and the spells cast from the mages are on a different level completely.

Essentially, a huge improvement visually - but Nvidia users need to play on High, and not worry about the Highest setting, which, again, adds almost nothing, but takes away a hell of a lot.

Am I happy with how it looks? Yes, very much so. The DX 9 mode from the demo would be difficult to go back to.
 
Riddleofsteel said:
I tried playing on hard but got slapped around by the prologue Ogre fight in the very beginning. Anyone else not able to get through that fight on hard?
Click to expand...

It was indeed very difficult. Again, confirmation that this is far from being 'an action adventure game'.

On Hard, the fight you're mentioning was VERY reminiscent of the type of fights you would encounter in Baldur's Gate.

Loved it.
 
WabeWalker said:
I can confirm this.

The Highest setting enables the DX 11 features, and when the Highest setting is enabled the game is pretty much unplayable - it's a bit of a stutter fest. It would appear that this is either an Nvidia driver issue, or that it has something to do with tessellation.

If you bump it down a notch from Highest to High, the game suddenly becomes playable - you're still on the DX 11 setting, but as far as I can tell the High setting is actually some kind of backwards compatibility with DX 10. The next question then is, what's the difference, visually, between Highest and High - and honestly, I can't see any difference at all. Some might be able to, but I can't.

So how does High look compared to the visual settings of the demo?

Vastly superior. The terrain is clearly much better, you see cloud shadows rolling across the ground, there's a kind of blur effect in place, and the spells cast from the mages are on a different level completely.

Essentially, a huge improvement visually - but Nvidia users need to play on High, and not worry about the Highest setting, which, again, adds almost nothing, but takes away a hell of a lot.

Am I happy with how it looks? Yes, very much so. The DX 9 mode from the demo would be difficult to go back to.
Click to expand...

What card do you have?
 
bigdogchris said:
Oh i'm sorry.

The simplified game play

The reduction/removal of tactical combat

The reduced difficulty level

The simplified level up/advancement system.

The fast-action oriented combat

Isn't this a thoughts - opinions thread? Not just a thread for EA Fangirls to adore their precious, right?
Click to expand...

I can enthusiastically confirm from even just one and a half hour's worth of play last night that the gameplay has absolutely not been simplified.

You need to step it up a notch to Hard if you're finding the gameplay to be too simple. Even Mike Laidlaw said that Normal was really for people who want to avoid having to use their party members.

On Hard you'll be pausing, and having to switch party members, and your tactics will have to be up to snuff - it's very satisfying, and far from simplified.
 
rampantandroid said:
What card do you have?
Click to expand...

I have a GTX 480, but my results seem to be in line with people who have GTX 580's. Even 580 SLI owners seem to be experiencing this.

The short of it is that the game does look great on High, and that it does run perfectly well - just avoid that Highest setting.

I'm not joking, the Highest setting adds virtually nothing that I can see. Again, others might be able to see the difference. I can't.

Moving down to DX 9 - wow, it's a huge difference.
 
Wabe do you recommend getting a dx11 card? Would I be missing out on the optimal playing experience? Honest question.
 
Vexerz said:
Wabe do you recommend getting a dx11 card? Would I be missing out on the optimal playing experience? Honest question.
Click to expand...

Let me get back to you on that.

I would want confirmation that the way I played last night, on High, can be played with a DX 10 card. I suspect that it can.

My instincts tell me that DX 11 just isn't working for Nvidia cards at the moment, and that some kind of backwards compatibility with DX 10 is at play here. That said, I think you're going to need a fairly powerful card to run with the high textures enabled.

Right now, I personally would not buy a DX 11 card specifically for this title. But you might want to use this as an excuse to upgrade your card anyhow. Let me have another look at it when I get home tonight.

EDIT: Scratch that. I've just thought about it some. Upgrade your card if it's getting outdated. Don't update to DX 11 just for this title. For DX 11 purposes only? No, absolutely not.
 
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WabeWalker said:
I have a GTX 480, but my results seem to be in line with people who have GTX 580's. Even 580 SLI owners seem to be experiencing this.

The short of it is that the game does look great on High, and that it does run perfectly well - just avoid that Highest setting.

I'm not joking, the Highest setting adds virtually nothing that I can see. Again, others might be able to see the difference. I can't.

Moving down to DX 9 - wow, it's a huge difference.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned on page 3, I seem to be getting similar results to you with 580's in SLI, albeit slightly better. It's running about 40+ fps with 4xAA and 8xSampling @1920x1080. I pumped up the graphics all the way, and it moves the framerate to the 20's, dipping into the teens every now and then.

It definitely looks better than the demo. I can post YouTube video's, but they murder the quality significantly. (I'm trying to resolve a hosting problem so I can upload lossless videos if anyone is interested).
 
WabeWalker said:
Let me get back to you on that.

I would want confirmation that the way I played last night, on High, can be played with a DX 10 card. I suspect that it can.

My instincts tell me that DX 11 just isn't working for Nvidia cards at the moment, and that some kind of backwards compatibility with DX 10 is at play here. That said, I think you're going to need a fairly powerful card to run with the high textures enabled.

Right now, I personally would not buy a DX 11 card specifically for this title. But you might want to use this as an excuse to upgrade your card anyhow. Let me have another look at it when I get home tonight.
Click to expand...

Nytegard said:
As I mentioned on page 3, I seem to be getting similar results to you with 580's in SLI, albeit slightly better. It's running about 40+ fps with 4xAA and 8xSampling @1920x1080. I pumped up the graphics all the way, and it moves the framerate to the 20's, dipping into the teens every now and then.

It definitely looks better than the demo. I can post YouTube video's, but they murder the quality significantly. (I'm trying to resolve a hosting problem so I can upload lossless videos if anyone is interested).
Click to expand...

Interesting. Was going to use BF3 as an excuse but might as well use this game to upgrade. On the other hand, if its a major optimization issue with drivers + DX11 that could take a couple months minimum. Decisions decisions.
 
Vexerz said:
Interesting. Was going to use BF3 as an excuse but might as well use this game to upgrade. On the other hand, if its a major optimization issue with drivers + DX11 that could take a couple months minimum. Decisions decisions.
Click to expand...

Having the latest drivers, my framerate was pretty bad (it was dipping into the single digits) with no AA nor sampling, and had massive texture issues. The beta drivers are a must. I will say that there appears to be some tessilation, but I wouldn't state a lot.

And while my framerate has improved, my computer still isn't taxed heavily (even with the texture pack), making me believe that performance could improve somewhat.

From recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4RP8vepKoM

1920x1080
Very High Settings
High Quality Texture Pack
4xAA
8xSampling

GPU-Z Data:

580 (1):

GPU Load 80% (Max)
Memory Controller Load 13% (Max)
Video Engine Load 2% (Max)

580 (2):

GPU Load 0% (Max)
Memory Controller Load 0% (Max)
Video Engine Load 0% (Max)

I can't seem to get it to use SLI, and I do have SLI enabled (with PhysX disabled).

Maximum Frame Rate: 48
Minimum Frame Rate: 22
Average Frame Rate: 31

Reminder: This data was recorded while not only playing the game, but recording the video at the same time, so overall it would be higher.

*EDIT*

Alright, when I wasn't recording video SLI seemed to work. Not sure why atm:

I bumped the filtering to 16x while keeping 4xAA.

GPU-Z Data:

580 (1):

GPU Load 70% (Max)
Memory Controller Load 8% (Max)
Video Engine Load 13% (Max)

580 (2):

GPU Load 60% (Max)
Memory Controller Load 34% (Max)
Video Engine Load 2% (Max)

Maximum Frame Rate: 60
Minimum Frame Rate: 28
Average Frame Rate: 36

Mind you, I have VSync on, so the max will never get past 60. Not that I care about max frame rate. I'm personally more worried about min and average.
 
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WabeWalker said:
I can confirm this.

The Highest setting enables the DX 11 features, and when the Highest setting is enabled the game is pretty much unplayable - it's a bit of a stutter fest. It would appear that this is either an Nvidia driver issue, or that it has something to do with tessellation.

If you bump it down a notch from Highest to High, the game suddenly becomes playable - you're still on the DX 11 setting, but as far as I can tell the High setting is actually some kind of backwards compatibility with DX 10. The next question then is, what's the difference, visually, between Highest and High - and honestly, I can't see any difference at all. Some might be able to, but I can't.

So how does High look compared to the visual settings of the demo?

Vastly superior. The terrain is clearly much better, you see cloud shadows rolling across the ground, there's a kind of blur effect in place, and the spells cast from the mages are on a different level completely.

Essentially, a huge improvement visually - but Nvidia users need to play on High, and not worry about the Highest setting, which, again, adds almost nothing, but takes away a hell of a lot.

Am I happy with how it looks? Yes, very much so. The DX 9 mode from the demo would be difficult to go back to.
Click to expand...

Alright, thanks for that. I'm using a GTX570, so I guess I'll be playing on DX11 High detail until new drivers are released. I'll probably run it in Highest just to see how performance is anyway.
 
Riddleofsteel said:
I tried playing on hard but got slapped around by the prologue Ogre fight in the very beginning. Anyone else not able to get through that fight on hard?
Click to expand...

Same here! Took me over 10 tries on hard. So its not just me who thought that was a bit ummmm hard? :eek: 10 darkspawn just swarm out of nowhere. Attacks do barely any damage on the grunts (upgraded darkspawn?). And then there is the Ogre knocking everyone down like its nothing. It was comical the way I had to end the fight. I was running around in circles taking a swipe every so often at the 3 remaining stragglers. Took about 5 minutes just to widdle them down.


GriMReapeRAK said:
Alright, thanks for that. I'm using a GTX570, so I guess I'll be playing on DX11 High detail until new drivers are released. I'll probably run it in Highest just to see how performance is anyway.
Click to expand...

GTX570 here as well, using the beta drivers. Bad performance on Very high for me too. Currently running on High with 4x AA, 16x AF. Geting about 40ish FPS in combat.
 
Vexerz said:
Interesting. Was going to use BF3 as an excuse but might as well use this game to upgrade. On the other hand, if its a major optimization issue with drivers + DX11 that could take a couple months minimum. Decisions decisions.
Click to expand...

I would guess that it will not take very long for any driver issues to be worked out, probably the next batch of WHQL drivers and/or a patch from Bioware. I'd be surprised if it wasn't fixed very soon.
 
spicey said:
Are you a schizophrenia by any chance?
Click to expand...

Well since my mobo is fried and I can't play DA2 yet I'll just have to keep myself occupied by lulzing at the above.

Are you a schizophrenia? Did you by any chance mean schizophrenic (no a before) special buddy?
 
KenG10 said:
Same here! Took me over 10 tries on hard. So its not just me who thought that was a bit ummmm hard? :eek: 10 darkspawn just swarm out of nowhere. Attacks do barely any damage on the grunts (upgraded darkspawn?). And then there is the Ogre knocking everyone down like its nothing. It was comical the way I had to end the fight. I was running around in circles taking a swipe every so often at the 3 remaining stragglers. Took about 5 minutes just to widdle them down.
Click to expand...

It's vital that you loot every body for health potions, and that you conserve them for the Ogre battle. Get your healer healing. Try to keep the healer safe for as long as possible, but reserve all the health potions for your Tank.
 
PrincessFrosty said:
Wow you managed to guess that out of hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of gamers, at least some are going to hate on the game and later like it.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!
Click to expand...

It's kind of an inside joke with a few people. There's a certain person in particular that's made an art form out of it and the exact opposite of loving/defending something to the death...until it comes out... and this person knows I'm giving them a good natured ribbing about it. ;)

I'm happy to see things like these high res textures and such come out. I need to spend more time with the demo.
 
I have 580SLI. I think I'll give it a week or so for the drivers to mature and a patch to come out. I hate issues...lol.
 
Q-BZ said:
It's kind of an inside joke with a few people. There's a certain person in particular that's made an art form out of it and the exact opposite of loving/defending something to the death...until it comes out... and this person knows I'm giving them a good natured ribbing about it. ;)

I'm happy to see things like these high res textures and such come out. I need to spend more time with the demo.
Click to expand...

I'd like to meet this person because he sounds like he has some class of bipolar/autistic mental disorder, like me.
 
Dallows said:
So you're making the same points again that have already been countered by people actually playing and enjoying the game? Why are you still here?
Click to expand...
I see no disclaimer saying that this thread only applies to those who have played it. I'm just saying I won't play it due to the oversimplification of systems that were not flawed to begin with.

As for my 'countered' points by people who have already played it, some people also like 2 Girls 1 Cup. No matter how much someone tries to 'counter' my distaste for it, I'm not going to jerk off to it because they changed my mind.
 
Played it for ... about a hour or more. I am playing it at 1920x1080, High res texture package on, Very High, x2 AA, Vsync On, and getting 50-60FPS constant.

I LOVE THIS GAME! I always felt a bit disconnected in DA:O. Maybe the lack of voice? I dont know. It just felt less intimate. This game i am loving so far. The animations are sick, the graphics look very good. Upgrading my characters and their skill trees has been awesome so far. I am loving how the story (even side mission stories) are more descriptive in whats happening, why and what you should do.

Its hard to explain, but overall i am loving it. Just hope just for the sake of others that drivers/updates come out that improve frame-rates especially for DX11. And signing in (connecting to EA servers) was ruff and annoying. Overall though, IMHO, this game so far is a 10 outta 10.

When i sign in, a error window pops up, if i hit cancel everything is fine and i get signed in, if i hit continue or try again, it says my connection to the EA servers failed and im not logged in. Its weird.

The error box says this:

DragonAge2.exe - Drive Not Ready
The drive is not ready for use; its door may be open. Please check drive A; and make sure that a disk is inserted and that the drive door is closed.
 
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Dallows said:
So you're making the same points again that have already been countered by people actually playing and enjoying the game? Why are you still here?
Click to expand...

They haven't been "countered" and if you think they have then you need to go learn something about prepositional logic.

What's being discussed is truly just personal thoughts and opinions not something provable/disprovable. Seeing as you're so wound up over people whose opinions don't align with yours I would advise taking a break from the internet and seriously rethinking your attitudes about opinions.
 
Johnked6 said:
2. I don't feel the combat is any less tactical than in Origins, at least when you play on Nightmare. They buffed up warriors and rogues and gave them several new abilities to actually make them fun to play. On Nightmare you have friendly fire and the enemies are a lot tougher. Also, they introduced cross class combos to the game. This makes the combat more tactical than in Origins, since you have to orchestrate your moves between classes to pull off big damage.
Click to expand...

I think I will turn off the floating damage numbers so that I can keep a closer eye on when disorients, brittles and staggers occur. My only problem with it is that I seem to lack any "sure thing" kind of abilities to pull the combos off. In DAO, you could petrify/cone of cold into a stonefist for a 100% chance to instantly kill a minion. In this, the abilities tend to have a chance to put enemies into the states where other abilities will blow them up, and I haven't gotten the hang of it yet. I also don't have enough skillpoints to buy all of the upgrades to make them do those things yet.
 
NathanP2007 said:
When i sign in, a error window pops up, if i hit cancel everything is fine and i get signed in, if i hit continue or try again, it says my connection to the EA servers failed and im not logged in. Its weird.

The error box says this:

DragonAge2.exe - Drive Not Ready
The drive is not ready for use; its door may be open. Please check drive A; and make sure that a disk is inserted and that the drive door is closed.
Click to expand...

I'm getting that same error. WTF I don't have a drive A.
 
Sounds like the people who played more than the demo (actually have the game) are enjoying it. If there is still choices and consequences, then this is an RPG.

Still... I'm waiting for a great sale with DLC's included. Actually, I'm waiting for a great deal on DA:O Awakening first. Have to play things in correct order.
 
For some one who has put in well over 265 hours into Dragon Age:Origins, I feel completely let down by Dragon Age II. As a PC gamer the original was perfect IMO. Not sure why they changed so much. The story feels very disjointed and the combat isn't fun at all on the PC. I imagine it's better on the console.

I guess I could go on and on, but I'm just bummed about the direction they decided to go in. :(

IMO, wait for a Steam sale. It's not worth the $$$ Origins was.
 
The Cisco Kid said:
For some one who has put in well over 265 hours into Dragon Age:Origins, I feel completely let down by Dragon Age II. As a PC gamer the original was perfect IMO. Not sure why they changed so much. The story feels very disjointed and the combat isn't fun at all on the PC. I imagine it's better on the console.

I guess I could go on and on, but I'm just bummed about the direction they decided to go in. :(

IMO, wait for a Steam sale. It's not worth the $$$ Origins was.
Click to expand...

I'm the exact opposite of you. The original one was almost depressing. I had waited five long years, only to be let down by a title which felt like Baldur's Gate Light.

But no way would this be better on the console - it looks fantastic! At 2560x1440 it's sharp and clear, especially with the high res texture pack. Just my opinion, obviously, but for me, the consoles are dead. The PC is just tearing away. Anyhow, that's too bad you don't like it. Hopefully I'll like DA 2 as much as you liked the original, though I doubt it. 250 hours? Wow.
 
WabeWalker said:
I'm the exact opposite of you. The original one was almost depressing. I had waited five long years, only to be let down by a title which felt like Baldur's Gate Light.

But no way would this be better on the console - it looks fantastic! At 2560x1440 it's sharp and clear, especially with the high res texture pack. Just my opinion, obviously, but for me, the consoles are dead. The PC is just tearing away. Anyhow, that's too bad you don't like it. Hopefully I'll like DA 2 as much as you liked the original, though I doubt it. 250 hours? Wow.
Click to expand...

I can't weigh in on DA2 itself yet (amazon, you fail. Where's my signature edition?) DAO felt pretty good to me; what lacked from the demo was a draw (yes, the demo) - the demo seemed dry to me.

Also...wait, 256x1440....this why your framerate is so bad? Will I fare better on 1920x1080 with the "highest" settings?
 
Played a few hours today and am really enjoying the game. The writing is better than what the demo showcased, the story progression is a hell of a lot better as well. There are some lines that they totally rerecorded for the demo that aren't in the final game and its so much better for it. The game looks pretty good as well, especially compared to DAO. The first big jump in time feels a little weird, it takes some getting used to and its weird to hear NPCs reference things you never experienced or were told about during the narration.

I do have one annoying problem with the game though. Some areas are nearly straight copy-pastes of each other. Its not something that will bother everyone and its not a game killer for me, it just bugs me the same way it does in Bethesda RPGs.

The Black Emporium wasn't anything too special. Sadly its not like the bonus DLC for DAO or ME2. Its just a few stores and a place to change your appearance. Its neat if you have it, but don't pay for it.

Speaking of bonuses I got a ton of bonus items and the Dead Space 2 armor looks both weird and interesting at the same time. I'm wearing that as my main armor for now. It seems like that the specs on it are low enough that there will be armor later in the game that is better than it. I'm glad they did this and didn't just give you the best armor in the game right away.
 
rampantandroid said:
Glad to hear the writing is better; if that's so...well, then I may come to like DA2.
Click to expand...

Yeah a lot of stuff in the demo seems to have been rewritten, though the opening sequence still isn't the greatest. It gets better once you get to Kirkwall. I won't go into specifics, but they do explain why Flemeth looks different in DA2.
 
WabeWalker said:
This discussion is bound to get heated, so you might want use it to warm your house. In other words, turn down the thermostat when posting.
Click to expand...

Ok....so why when every single game is released do you make a thread named "Game XXXX - thoughts, opinions?" :rolleyes:

If you wait about 3 seconds after release, there will be numerous threads on the game you are inquiring about.
 
Tantrix said:
Ok....so why when every single game is released do you make a thread named "Game XXXX - thoughts, opinions?" :rolleyes:

If you wait about 3 seconds after release, there will be numerous threads on the game you and inquiring about.
Click to expand...

He tries to make threads specifically for games to avoid having a billion topics on it. Its nice to have "official" threads for discussion instead of trying to follow conversations in a dozen.
 
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