Starfield, BG3 & Bluey

[GrantDawg]

Dola: Of course I could load it on the Xbox. I might do that just to try it out, but still will be next month at the earliest.

[dubb93]

With no DLSS, Starfield is probably going to run brutally on PC. Not really sure why a AAA game in 2023 would ship without that, but XBox seemingly can’t get out of their own way.

(For those not familiar it’s a NVIDIA tech that renders at a lower resolution and then upscales. It’s basically been a breakthrough tech for NVIDIA GPUs and is a major reason for NVIDIA’s advantage over AMD as it’s almost impossible to tell that it’s being upscaled. It also boosts FPS by 4x so you are likely to get 1/4 the FPS on Starfield that you are expecting.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by dubb93

With no DLSS, Starfield is probably going to run brutally on PC. Not really sure why a AAA game in 2023 would ship without that, but XBox seemingly can’t get out of their own way.

(For those not familiar it’s a NVIDIA tech that renders at a lower resolution and then upscales. It’s basically been a breakthrough tech for NVIDIA GPUs and is a major reason for NVIDIA’s advantage over AMD as it’s almost impossible to tell that it’s being upscaled. It also boosts FPS by 4x so you are likely to get 1/4 the FPS on Starfield that you are expecting.

Yup this makes it easy for me to skip it entirely. Also I read it was due to an exclusive deal with AMD developer.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Yup this makes it easy for me to skip it entirely. Also I read it was due to an exclusive deal with AMD developer.

According to the latest Steam survey 75% of PC users are using NVIDIA GPUs. Even assuming NVIDIA was the 25%, idk why you wouldn’t allocate some dev time to optimize your game for those users.

[Edward64]

Bethesda is aiming for 30fps on consoles which (maybe) means they aren't really thinking about max performance for PCs either.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Bethesda is aiming for 30fps on consoles which (maybe) means they aren't really thinking about max performance for PCs either.

That’s called poorly optimized and it’s a huge red flag.

[Edward64]

Don't disagree. I don't expect it to be a BG3 level quality release, but do hope it's an "okay" release with minimal catastrophic bugs.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I’ve been playing BG3 with three friends in co-op. It’s been super fun so far. We’re only 3rd level and progressing slowly, but the story is good and the combat has been a lot of fun.

[bhlloy]

I wrapped the game up this evening at around 60 hours. Definitely still an all-timer, but act 3 is significantly more rushed and slightly more buggy than the first two, and the ending has a lot of people up in arms versus what was originally promised.

[GrantDawg]

I'm pretty close to 60 hours and just finished Act 2. You can say I am slow.

[dubb93]

The older I get the slower I play. I’m still in act 1. It took me over a month IRL time to finish the last game I played which was Hogwarts Legacy. I imagine between this and Starfield I will probably be busy through November.

[dubb93]

Finally got the quest that I’m pretty sure leads to act 2. Just going to finish up a few side quests today and then do that one either this evening or tomorrow.

[GrantDawg]

They just confirmed BG3 for Xbox will be released "this year." No date set. They got Xbox to agree that they will not have to have split-screen co-op on the "S" series, which was the big hang up.

[Atocep]

I'm coming down to the end of BG3 at about 80 hours so far.

I'm excited for starfield based on the videos and preview's I've seen so far. I'm still expecting a standard Bethesda game at launch. At this point I don't know why anyone wouldn't expect a playable, but somewhat buggy mess that gets better with patches.

It's not really the thread for it, but the Cyberpunk expansion also looks really good and the fact that the new systems and systems overhauls that come with it are going to be free for everyone without the expansion is a cool gesture from CDProjekt.

[Edward64]

I don't think we have a Cyberpunk dedicated thread. Glad to add that to this one if you share your gaming stories.

Or heck, just use this thread. It's epic RPG gaming related so it'll count here.

[dubb93]

After all of that I’m finally officially out of act 1.

[GrantDawg]

I'm 110 hours in, and I am maybe halfway through Act 3. I know I have at least two (maybe three) major fights till I get to the final three big fights and I believe there will be several things I need to do in-between those as well. I will say the fights so far in Act 3 have been epic. One even had it's own song which was fantastic. I am just not getting the people bitching about Act 3. My guess they ran right through the main story line and ignored the huge number of side quests. I get that people may not like the ending and from what I can gather/guess about it I probably won't either. But to say Act 3 is a buggy disappointment is just not my experience at all.
Btw, hit highest level today. All the options along with the crushing amount of gear is a bit overwhelming.

[Edward64]

Some cautiously good news on Starfield ...

Starfield is Bethesda's Least Buggiest Game to Date, Say Sources - Insider Gaming

Our first public comment about Starfield being a polished game came from journalist Tyler McVicker, who’s currently under an embargo for the title. Despite being under the embargo, McVicker took to Discord to say, “Also, 15 hours in and not a single bug”.

Taking one person’s comments at face value is never enough, so I reached out to my contacts to delve a little deeper.

Speaking with several sources under the condition of anonymity who are currently under embargo and couldn’t speak publically about the game, McVicker’s comment is the same sentiment given by everyone I’ve spoken to. Five individuals, who have a varying amount of time put in the game have all said that the amount of bugs they’ve experienced can be counted on one hand. In fact, most said one or two at most, with everyone I spoke to having put dozens of hours into the game. In addition, it was also said that almost all the bugs that were found have already been listed to be fixed in the Starfield Day 1 patch.

But that's not to say everyone is happy with the gameplay mechanics or the amount/quality of content etc. But hey, one step at a time.

[Edward64]

Hmmmm. Reminds anyone of anything?

Australia: Doctors remove 3-inch parasitic worm from woman's brain in world first | CNN

When a 64-year-old Australian woman was sent to hospital for brain surgery, neurosurgeon Dr. Hari Priya Bandi was not expecting to pull out a live 8-centimeter (3-inch) long parasitic roundworm that wriggled between her forceps.

“I’ve only come across worms using my not-so-good gardening skills … I find them terrifying and this is not something I deal with at all,” Bandi told CNN of the world’s first discovery of a live worm inside a human brain.

The finding unleashed a mad scramble to find out what exactly the parasite was, Canberra Hospital infectious disease expert Sanjaya Senanayake told CNN.

[Atocep]

I finished Baldur's Gate, clocking in at about 85 hours. I did purposely leave some content for a 2nd, dark urge playthrough. But I finished just in time for Starfield to release into early access thursday.

[GrantDawg]

I'm not leaving anything out if I can help it. My Dark Urge playthrough is going to be an evil run, so expect it to be very different.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Galaril]

From what I have read playing as evil character has little pay off.

[Thomkal]

Starfield pre-load now available on Steam

[GrantDawg]

Reading this article on how rhe table-top game Traveller inspired Starfield doesn't so much make me want to play Starfield but it makes me want to play Traveller. That game had THE best character creation system. I would spend hours making characters, even though we really rarely played. I think it would be right up my alley now. Less combat focused and more exploration focused.


Starfield owes its existence to Traveller, one of the first RPGs - Polygon

[Edward64]

Hey me too.

I remember all those dice rolls for career skills/progression (is that what it was called?)

[dubb93]

I think the review embargo ends tomorrow, right? Hopefully we are looking at 10's with scattered 9's.

[GrantDawg]

Playing with my group tonight, one player tried to jump down a hill and ended up plunged to his death. Then I tried to get to the same spot, and got taken out by a trap. Third friend came down to rez me, cast the spell to get me up, and it immediately set off the trap to kill us both. Then the fourth friend instead of helping us started looting our corpses. After laughing for about 10 minutes, we reloaded.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by dubb93

I think the review embargo ends tomorrow, right? Hopefully we are looking at 10's with scattered 9's.

I believe it ends at 9am tomorrow. Early Access unlock is 5pm for me.

[SlyBelle1]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I believe it ends at 9am tomorrow. Early Access unlock is 5pm for me.

At this point, I am trying to decide between the Xbox and pc version. I know the Xbox version will be capped at 30 fps but it seems all these big games have performance/optimization issues on the pc when they are first released.

Hoping some of these early reviews will help me decide.

[Edward64]

I don't have an XBox but typically there are more mods for PC? So for longevity, I'd go with the PC version.

[Brian Swartz]

Yep, but that depends on whether you are a mod person or not. Many gamers aren't.

[Edward64]

First accidentally leaked review. Brazilian guy. He took it down quickly but it was archived off. Don't understand Portuguese but there is gameplay video (low quality).

The review also brought up the 30fps lock on Xbox, which the YouTuber played the game on. The framerate cap caused a lot of controversy for the title, leading to some disappointed fans launching petitions to have it changed. Bethesda exec Todd Howard said the reason the game can’t run at 60fps on consoles is because it’d have to sacrifice too much to do so.

Nevertheless, the reviewer said the 30fps was actually quite fluid, and the game does a good job of camouflaging it so it’s barely noticeable.

The YouTuber rounded it off with a final score of 8.5, which might sound low considering the hype surrounding the game, but they apparently have a history of holding Bethesda to very high standards, so fans believe it’s a sign the game is good.

Blocked

Here is an MegaNz link:

https://mega.nz/file/11hTzKzA#PYOTNX...OrW0IrJuIu9tpo

[SlyBelle1]

Yep, I don't really mod so that wouldn't be a deciding factor. I did find out that Starfield is a Play Anywhere game, which means if you buy XBOX version, you get the PC version from the Microsoft Store for free to play. Likely will go that route as maybe the best of both worlds.

Just going to wait for initial feedback from reviews before final decision....although the summary posted above gives me hope about Xbox which is where I am leaning towards.

[dubb93]

The IGN review isn’t great. They gave it a 7.

[SlyBelle1]

I have looked at a bunch of reviews for both PC and Xbox....seems fairly consistent in thoughts. Game seems good but not necessarily GOTY or great. With the amount of content, I don't think it has to be great so doesn't concern me much. As prior review stated for Xbox, seems like 30FPS is not a huge deal, maybe a dip here or there, but I also bet the PC has its own dips depending on hardware setup.

Not entirely sure if I will drop the extra cash for premium as it sounds like it may be a game I can wait a few days....but who knows

[Atocep]

The consensus seems to be that it's a mediocre game for the first dozen or so ours before becoming great. Overall, that's earning it 7s and similar scores with some people.

[Atocep]

After reading some reviews this sounds pretty close to what I was wanting. I don't want a space Sim. I want an RPG that's a light Sim but makes space fun.

I'm not interested in actually flying to Mars or walking around a planet. Give a story, quests, fun space combat, some things to build and play with and I'm happy.

[SirFozzie]

CohhCarnage is playing now on stream. Looks very interesting (even if he is a mega-mega-packrat)

[Galaril]

So as expected it is basically No Man’s Sky 2.

[SlyBelle1]

Originally Posted by Galaril

So as expected it is basically No Man’s Sky 2.

Although I have never played that game, many of the reviews mentioned it more than once....

[Atocep]

ACG's review was very positive and he was at 144 hours at completion.

[dubb93]

I actually think from reading the reviews rather than just the scores that I’m going to really enjoy this game.

No Man Sky’s problem (at release atleast) was that it had no content. This game sounds like it has content.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by dubb93

I actually think from reading the reviews rather than just the scores that I’m going to really enjoy this game.

No Man Sky’s problem (at release atleast) was that it had no content. This game sounds like it has content.

Yeah that's what I was alluding to above. If you read the reviews I love what this sounds like. It sounds almost exactly what I was hoping for.

If you were looking for grand space Sim with rpg elements this isn't that game and when you combine that with some unrealistic expectations for scope you're going to be disappointed.

I obviously haven't played yet, but based on what I've read any comparisons to no man's sky at launch aren't really justified. That game completely missed the mark on promises and what it was described to be. On top of that there really wasn't much to do except fly from planet to planet and check out the biomes.

[GrantDawg]

BG3 patch 2 is up. Looks pretty massive including new content for one of the companions.

[Edward64]

Here's a summarized list of Starfield reviews

Blocked


From one reviewer, comparing it to Fallout & Skyrim, basically "good but not great" and no big bugs.

I think I'll buy it soon but have to search on how well, if at all, it runs on my iGPU.

[Galaril]

This quote from Game Radar review does make the world interesting kind of elders rolls in space vibe

The cities you explore, and groups you join, all feel like separate games in their own right with their own rules, culture, and character. New Atlantis is probably the 'main' location; a gleaming Star Trek utopia where the group Constellation will have you scouring the galaxy for mysterious artifacts. You'll also find the United Colonies Vanguard here who task you with fighting alien infestations and going undercover as a Space Pirate. Akila City is basically Firefly space cowboy land, where you'll bring frontier law to laser-wielding bandits. Then there's Neon, a drug-addled, Blade Runner-style cyberpunk dystopia featuring Ryujin, which has you sneaking around doing corporate espionage. And, finally, Cydonia is a rusty industrial Mars settlement that channels The Expanse's whole 'space is rubbish for normal people' thing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

fwiw, not many people (at least among well known YTers) know Bethesda games better than Gopher, his take is lengthy & spoiler free. Largely positive through 45 hours

https://youtu.be/-6vDablSmUU?si=cIruYSJL_22M1b92

[Edward64]

I got my answer running Starfield with a 680m. Below link has a review. He did a good job showing gameplay on Low and Medium quality (with some sort of Dynamic quality stuff turned on/off).

Bottom line - just barely but we're talking about sometimes 10, sometimes 15+ FPS and (obviously) not great graphics. Lags during fast movement & combat. Not a great experience.

Wonder how I'll justify a new computer with the wife.


Testing Starfield on Integrated Graphics (Radeon 680M) - YouTube

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I got my answer running Starfield with a 680m. Below link has a review. He did a good job showing gameplay on Low and Medium quality (with some sort of Dynamic quality stuff turned on/off).

Bottom line - just barely but we're talking about sometimes 10, sometimes 15+ FPS and (obviously) not great graphics. Lags during fast movement & combat. Not a great experience.

Wonder how I'll justify a new computer with the wife.


Testing Starfield on Integrated Graphics (Radeon 680M) - YouTube

Based on reading about it I personally don’t Starfield as the game to justify buying a new computer just to run it. The main story is not being mentioned as a strong point.

[Edward64]

As a player of the Elder Scrolls, Skyrim & Fallout Games (including FO76 which I'm a fan of) ... I just know I'm going to get that "itch" to play Starfield sooner or later.

My son (who started his PC gaming with me helping him on Sid Meir's Pirates) and I were chatting. He'll be buying it. Maybe I can tell the wife its a father-son bonding thing.