Anyone find ME3 Demo on PC really poorly optimised?

[endtherapture]

....and it didn't look THAT good.

It was bringing my pretty good computer to a halt at times, only a few 5-10 FPS were happening, it was really bad. Considering my computer can run Crysis 2 without any hitches, and run Crysis 1 on high fine, and Skyrim on high etc. etc. I was really disappointed.

I also thought that ME1 looked better in all honesty, ME3 Demo had dodgy shadows, low res textures etc. etc.

Hopefully these issues will be ironed out by release...but still!!

Gameplay was awesome, pretty challenging, individual ability cooldowns back again, and it left an emotional impact on me, I thought it was better than the ME2 Demo.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Bioware seems to have a very weird idea of what human beings should look like. They always seem slightly off. Maybe its just my imagination.

Graphics in ME have never been truly impressive. I assume it must be the engine they use to run the game or maybe they are trying to keep an overall look so when you go from ME1 to ME3 its not like your playing in a different universe.

-shrug- Its a demo there are bound to be issues.

 

[endtherapture]

Bioware seems to have a very weird idea of what human beings should look like. They always seem slightly off. Maybe its just my imagination.

Graphics in ME have never been truly impressive. I assume it must be the engine they use to run the game or maybe they are trying to keep an overall look so when you go from ME1 to ME3 its not like your playing in a different universe.

-shrug- Its a demo there are bound to be issues.

I honestly find ME1 the best looking game in the series so far apart from some cool details on characters like Thane and Grunt.

Wrex looked great in the demo though. Just it was the shadows and textures which looked very sub par, I felt like I was playing a game from 2006 or 2007 instead of 2012.

Hopefully these will be ironed out before release.

 

[Berenzen]

I don't know what your rig is like, but I was able to run it no problem- and my PC barely hits the minimum requirements. I was getting smooth gameplay without hitches. So no, I didn't find it poorly optimized.

 

[endtherapture]

I don't know what your rig is like, but I was able to run it no problem- and my PC barely hits the minimum requirements. I was getting smooth gameplay without hitches. So no, I didn't find it poorly optimized.

I'm running 2.1GHz dual core, 1GB of graphics RAM and 6GBs of other ram, so I dunno, maybe I hadn't got new drivers.

 

[Freechoice]

I don't know what your rig is like, but I was able to run it no problem- and my PC barely hits the minimum requirements. I was getting smooth gameplay without hitches. So no, I didn't find it poorly optimized.

I'm running 2.1GHz dual core, 1GB of graphics RAM and 6GBs of other ram, so I dunno, maybe I hadn't got new drivers.

Apparently, the demo file was compressed and some niceties were tossed out to keep the file consistent with some rule on the Xbox. That's just what I heard.

Also, 6 gigs of RAM? That's kind of a weird number.

 

[endtherapture]

I don't know what your rig is like, but I was able to run it no problem- and my PC barely hits the minimum requirements. I was getting smooth gameplay without hitches. So no, I didn't find it poorly optimized.

I'm running 2.1GHz dual core, 1GB of graphics RAM and 6GBs of other ram, so I dunno, maybe I hadn't got new drivers.

Apparently, the demo file was compressed and some niceties were tossed out to keep the file consistent with some rule on the Xbox. That's just what I heard.

Also, 6 gigs of RAM? That's kind of a weird number.

It's a laptop, and the nVidia graphics chip can use up to 2 gigs of RAM from the system RAM apparently, so yeah 4 gigs of RAM and 3 gigs of graphics RAM kind makes sense.

 

[Wolfram23]

Uh well just FYI stating "2.1ghz dual core" is almost meaningless besides letting us know it's pretty slow. Same goes for "1gb of graphics ram," pretty much every GPU and it's mother has 1gb of VRAM but they still perform extremely differently.

So, probably your system isn't quite as good as you're thinking.

That said, ME1 looked like shit so I doubt this one could look that bad. I have not tried it yet, however.

 

[Worgen]

Sounds like the same problems that dragon age 2 had, where if you have it on certain settings like dx11 then all the ground textures fuck up and the framerate dies.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I think it's the color filters Bioware seems to insist putting their locations through. Honestly, I think they look awful. The tropical planet from Jacob's Loyalty Mission in Mass Effect 2 was hideous looking through that brown sepia filter.

Cold, blue steel filters like the ones used primarily in the first game for Noveria, The Citadel, and the Normandy, help create sharp lines that make the picture look crisp. The browns, sepias, and oranges just muddy the visuals and fuck up the shadows.

 

[vrbtny]

And this is a surprise because?....

Seriously, BioWare have been kicking the 'nads of PC gamers since before ME1. ME2 had appalling textures, why did they have to use the really low poly ones when they could have just put in the hi-rez ones. Ya'know, the sort that PC's are designed to use.

Also, the Animation is down to Biowares usual standards. No surprise there either.

Atleast Skyrim surprised us by having somewhat decent animations. (Yes, I'm thinking of you awesome dance!)

 

[Frostbite3789]

And this is a surprise because?....

Seriously, BioWare have been kicking the 'nads of PC gamers since before ME1. ME2 had appalling textures, why did they have to use the really low poly ones when they could have just put in the hi-rez ones. Ya'know, the sort that PC's are designed to use.

Also, the Animation is down to Biowares usual standards. No surprise there either.

Atleast Skyrim surprised us by having somewhat decent animations. (Yes, I'm thinking of you awesome dance!)

We clearly played different versions of Skyrim. Cicero was the most unnerving character of any video game I've ever seen.

Nobody should ever speak or laugh like that while looking like a soldier at attention. Nobody.

 

[FeralDynasty]

Snip

We clearly played different versions of Skyrim. Cicero was the most unnerving character of any video game I've ever seen.

Nobody should ever speak or laugh like that while looking like a soldier at attention. Nobody.

I personally found that that odd, tin soldier version of Cicero very fitting to my impressions of him as the most mentally unstable motherfu**er since Hitler.

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

Didn't they already say it was compressed so they could make the Demo smaller? It's not going to be like the final product

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

Bioware seems to have a very weird idea of what human beings should look like. They always seem slightly off. Maybe its just my imagination.

Graphics in ME have never been truly impressive. I assume it must be the engine they use to run the game or maybe they are trying to keep an overall look so when you go from ME1 to ME3 its not like your playing in a different universe.

-shrug- Its a demo there are bound to be issues.

I honestly find ME1 the best looking game in the series so far apart from some cool details on characters like Thane and Grunt.

Wrex looked great in the demo though. Just it was the shadows and textures which looked very sub par, I felt like I was playing a game from 2006 or 2007 instead of 2012.

Hopefully these will be ironed out before release.

I just played the demo, at least to a point. I didn't care for the mission jumping. Yes, its perfect for people who are just starting the series, but for me who has played the first two well... it kind of felt like skipping through chapters in the final book to a series I love.

Graphics are decent, but I can see what you mean. Its like they vastly improved some areas, but lacked any true improvement in others. So it comes off kind of funky. Whatever, I love the series and will play it even if the entire thing was drawn up using crayons.

 

[Tom Oliver]

i got the same feeling as well, my pc can run Skyrim on high no problem and the demo was chugging quite badly in some places

also, what the hell with not supporting a gamepad? I can't imagine it would be too difficult to add compatibility

 

[Keava]

The costume textures were terrible, half of the graphic options is hidden in configuration utility in the game folder rather than be available form in-game, character faces, due to higher fidelity on environments, seem even more "uncanny valley" than previously...

But it's Mass Effect. The story is still there and that's what really counts. Everything else is just a bonus. Hopefully tho, retail version will have higher resolution textures.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Optimization was fine for me, so I can't comment on that regard.

I'll just copy/paste what I posted in the thread I started yesterday:

So I've enjoyed all of the Mass Effects despite what short comings they've had. Personally I loved the first one for it's customization and RPG elements, while I enjoyed the second one for the improvements it made to combat.

With this 3rd one, I have to say that the demo has sold me. Combat is much more fluid and faster than it was in the other two and weapons feel a lot better. The game also looks much better visually than the second game. I have no doubt that I will enjoy it in it's entirety when it's officially released.

Now for the complaints. Some petty, some not.

#1) When Shepard runs he looks like he's got a stick up his ass. It just looks strange to me.

#2) The dialogue that was given to me in this demo came off as shallow and tacked on. I suspect that it's different in order to fit in with their new style option where you can select Rpg, action or story mode so that it fits well with those who choose action. Keep in mind that this complaint will most likely change when the full game is released.

#3) Lip syncing in this game looks worse than the second game as well as animations. Everyone comes off as stiff and artificial.

#4) Textures look bad. I know I said it looks better than the second game, but the second game had pretty bad textures too. Hopefully someone comes along and makes an HD pack like the recent one for ME2.

#5) The use of the space bar for multiple actions i.e. sprint, cover, action, dodge, jump from cover. This is mostly a complaint from PC gamers, and I personally didn't mind using the space bar for cover and actions, but in this case with the addition of roll dodges, it's just irritating. I basically can't be moving and perform an action at the same time. Numerous times I went to activate a door, but instead rolled into it. I hope this can be changed in settings.

#6) Fucking hit indicators, I don't need to be told that I'm hitting the target I intended on shooting.

 

[MercurySteam]

Nah, with the triple-channel RAM most people have now, it's not weird at all.

Most? You're kidding right? Only the X58 mobos supported triple-channel memory and those have pretty much been replaced by the X79 mobos that now support quad-channel memory. After X58 we had H61/P61, H67/P67, and Z68 all which had dual-channel RAM. Laptops with SODIMMS can be found to have 6GBs of memory, though. Triple-channel memory was short lived compared to dual-channel which is still going strong.

 

[MercurySteam]

Most? You're kidding right? Only the X58 mobos supported triple-channel memory and those have pretty much been replaced by the X79 mobos that now support quad-channel memory. After X58 we had H61/P61, H67/P67, and Z68 all which had dual-channel RAM. Laptops with SODIMMS can be found to have 6GBs of memory, though. Triple-channel memory was short lived compared to dual-channel which is still going strong.

Ahh, I see.
I stand corrected.

I haven't really been keeping up with this stuff lately (I'm still gaming on a Core 2 Quad . . . so that means dual-channel DDR2 for me).

Not a problem. I was still running a Core 2 Duo and GT 8600 512MB until September last year. Being so behind technology-wise was pretty frustrating.