From Software is Having Trouble Porting Dark Souls

[Stripes]

I can understand people being disapointed by this but to complian is unfair. The game was never meant for PC in the first place, it only got a port due to a massive campaign by the PC community (nice to see people get proactive but a large part of the sentiment felt like 'console gamers arent good enough to recognise the value of a difficult game, Pc is for the superior gamers and therefore this should be on PC'). With that in mind I feel like it might be a game which is quite difficult to port since they never expected to do so, though if they lack experience then they shouldnt do it themselves its probably more of a cost thing than anything though. Your going to get the game as it is on a console. You shouldnt expect more, you can want a better performing game (believe me I only ever take certain routes because others are nigh unplayable) but shouldnt expect one or bite the hand of off a company which has decided to port it over when many others would ignore you. Plus you are getting the DLC for free, whilst console gamers are left to cover the cost on their own for it, because they want to make nice with you lot. It isnt going to be a technically superior game, though with more content for the same price upon availability its unfairly superior in other aspects, but it wont be a technically inferior one either. Plus PC does not want to shoo away people who put it over consoles in priority (seriously making the DLC free for one and not the other is ridiculous, of course PC gamers dont have a problem with certain platforms recieving priority if its them).

 

[Stripes]

Pfft, the bugs were never that big an issue anyway.

The frame rate drop in Blighttown wasn't that bad.

Annoying, but not a game breaker.

Yea, I never had much issue, I just angled the camera a bit and was fine.

Bugs are different for everyone but it was pretty poor for me and my friends had even worse experiences, they couldnt progress through the front entrance.

 

[Irridium]

While their honesty is refreshing, I'd much rather they take the time to fix issues with the main game instead of add a bunch of content.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I can't say that I see the issue here. Yes, the performance issues are not a good thing but, as the article states, the desire of the ravenous masses was supposed to just be about getting the game on their system of choice. That's what they are getting included extra content that console players did not get originally, and will not get without paying extra.

Having read the article that was the source for this; I think the problem is that From Software is inexperienced with PC development and so they're trying to get their game out on the market. They're not prioritizing optimization with the PC and so the slow down that exists in the console version is going to exist in the PC version. From there it's everyone getting on a high-horse and expecting a lot worse of a port because of the teams lack of experience. The usual nonsense that gets spewed every time a port comes up. What I see is that everyone is probably expecting a Bethesda level of stupidity.

Yeah, that is my read on it as well. They originally said they just wanted to be able to play Dark Souls on the PC and now they are getting it.. but because they are getting it with the same perfomance hiccups as the console versions had it's suddenly not good enough anymore.

 

[archvile93]

They were already going to be insanely hard pressed to meet the august deadline just porting the damn thing over, but then came the outcry about GFWL basically forcing them to redo the net code...yea it wasn't absolutely doomed from the get go.

Well they have no one to blame but themselves for that. Thay really should have known how horrible that thing is. I'd rather have the Flame virus on my computer than that abomination.

OT: Well this is sad, I guess they just don't want to make many sales on the PC. Most people won't put up with a game that barely works, and it will almost certainly be that way, at least far worse than the console versions. Then again, maybe that's the point; make a shit port, so when their next game comes out and people want a PC version they can point to Dark Souls and claim that there's no money in PC games. That way they don't have to do as much work.

 

[Baresark]

Ugh. On the very first interview about this. He said all of the things he restated here. He also simply added that they don't really know anything about PC development. From Software hasn't done any PC games in the past.

It is disappointing that it's not utilizing the significantly increased power of a PC. But getting the same game as the console is not a bad thing. Afterall, lets be honest, this is what people asked for. They wanted the game that everyone else played. They are getting that game. I'm getting that game, and I'm ok with that. Because the game is honestly that great, in my opinion.

As of now, it's not a sloppy lazy port. It's just a port. A port from people who don't know how to deliver the thing we want.

 

[Baresark]

They were already going to be insanely hard pressed to meet the august deadline just porting the damn thing over, but then came the outcry about GFWL basically forcing them to redo the net code...yea it wasn't absolutely doomed from the get go.

Well they have no one to blame but themselves for that. Thay really should have known how horrible that thing is. I'd rather have the Flame virus on my computer than that abomination.

OT: Well this is sad, I guess they just don't want to make many sales on the PC. Most people won't put up with a game that barely works, and it will almost certainly be that way, at least far worse than the console versions. Then again, maybe that's the point; make a shit port, so when their next game comes out and people want a PC version they can point to Dark Souls and claim that there's no money in PC games. That way they don't have to do as much work.

There is no way they could have "known" it was that bad. They don't develop for the PC. How could they know. They are also a Japanese company, the PC market is nonexistent in Japan. I think you are being a bit dramatic by saying you would rather have a virus than GFWL. And if that is the truth, your priorities need to be rearranged.

They have not released any statements saying it will be worse than the console version, so I don't know where you are getting your information. They literally said it will be the same as the console version. There is even a chance that it will be better since it is running on much more powerful hardware.

I do love the conspiracy theory bit at the end though. They want it to fail so no one will bother them anymore. That made me lol.

 

[archvile93]

They were already going to be insanely hard pressed to meet the august deadline just porting the damn thing over, but then came the outcry about GFWL basically forcing them to redo the net code...yea it wasn't absolutely doomed from the get go.

Well they have no one to blame but themselves for that. Thay really should have known how horrible that thing is. I'd rather have the Flame virus on my computer than that abomination.

OT: Well this is sad, I guess they just don't want to make many sales on the PC. Most people won't put up with a game that barely works, and it will almost certainly be that way, at least far worse than the console versions. Then again, maybe that's the point; make a shit port, so when their next game comes out and people want a PC version they can point to Dark Souls and claim that there's no money in PC games. That way they don't have to do as much work.

There is no way they could have "known" it was that bad. They don't develop for the PC. How could they know. They are also a Japanese company, the PC market is nonexistent in Japan. I think you are being a bit dramatic by saying you would rather have a virus than GFWL. And if that is the truth, your priorities need to be rearranged.

They have not released any statements saying it will be worse than the console version, so I don't know where you are getting your information. They literally said it will be the same as the console version. There is even a chance that it will be better since it is running on much more powerful hardware.

I do love the conspiracy theory bit at the end though. They want it to fail so no one will bother them anymore. That made me lol.

Yeah, I wasn't being very serious with that last part, though if it turns out this game has all the stability and performance of a Bethesda game, it will not surprise me even slightly. And I'm certainly not taking their word for it that it will work just as well as the console versions; I've seen companies lie way too many time to believe them, not to mention the inumerable times the PC versions were pathetic cash grabs that only worked if you define "work" as loosely as possible. One example is Saints Row 2, but just look up porting disasters at tvtropes for a much bigger list.

 

[RoyalWelsh]

Well...at least they are honest about it. Still, if they are having real trouble porting it then hire some people/studio who knows how to do it.

 

[Rainforce]

ITT: Whining, entitled PC elitists being whiny and entitled, as usual.

As a proper PC gamer, I'm always first when it comes to entitlement, whining and joining the band wagon hate, don't get me wrong on that part.
But I have no clue about how bad/good dark souls runs on the PS/Xbox and how bad the lag really is. So it might just as well turn out ok on a proper machine, you know

 

[Baresark]

They were already going to be insanely hard pressed to meet the august deadline just porting the damn thing over, but then came the outcry about GFWL basically forcing them to redo the net code...yea it wasn't absolutely doomed from the get go.

Well they have no one to blame but themselves for that. Thay really should have known how horrible that thing is. I'd rather have the Flame virus on my computer than that abomination.

OT: Well this is sad, I guess they just don't want to make many sales on the PC. Most people won't put up with a game that barely works, and it will almost certainly be that way, at least far worse than the console versions. Then again, maybe that's the point; make a shit port, so when their next game comes out and people want a PC version they can point to Dark Souls and claim that there's no money in PC games. That way they don't have to do as much work.

There is no way they could have "known" it was that bad. They don't develop for the PC. How could they know. They are also a Japanese company, the PC market is nonexistent in Japan. I think you are being a bit dramatic by saying you would rather have a virus than GFWL. And if that is the truth, your priorities need to be rearranged.

They have not released any statements saying it will be worse than the console version, so I don't know where you are getting your information. They literally said it will be the same as the console version. There is even a chance that it will be better since it is running on much more powerful hardware.

I do love the conspiracy theory bit at the end though. They want it to fail so no one will bother them anymore. That made me lol.

Yeah, I wasn't being very serious with that last part, though if it turns out this game has all the stability and performance of a Bethesda game, it will not surprise me even slightly. And I'm certainly not taking their word for it that it will work just as well as the console versions; I've seen companies lie way too many time to believe them, not to mention the inumerable times the PC versions were pathetic cash grabs that only worked if you define "work" as loosely as possible. One example is Saints Row 2, but just look up porting disasters at tvtropes for a much bigger list.

Haha, I never played the PC version, but Saints Row 2 is the gold standard of bad ports. And lets be honest with ourselves. The only reason they decided to do a PC version was because of the number of signatures on that petition. I hope they recoup their cost of porting it, but I can hardly blame anyone for not being all that happy with it. Since I'm expecting it will run about the same as the PS3 version, I'll gladly trade my PS3 version of the game in for it, but I'm gonna wait to see if it does that first.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Yes they're inexperienced but at least they're trying. While we're on the topic of bugs and glitches, how's Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas treating you?

lmao, i love you for this :3

OT: they admitted it'll be buggy, takes stones to admit your work will be flawed on release, unlike SOME company's RPGs that constantly come out buggy and unplayable in some cases, and never say a word about it.

so I'll still get it, finances willing.

 

[joeman098]

I really like how they came out and said this. I mean developing for the PC is not an easy task, Almost every computer has a different hardware configuration. Im looking forward to this and if it is price reasonably around maybe 20 25$ i will def be picking it up.

 

[Baresark]

ITT: Whining, entitled PC elitists being whiny and entitled, as usual.

As a proper PC gamer, I'm always first when it comes to entitlement and whining, don't get me wrong on that part.
But I have no clue about how bad/good dark souls runs on the PS/Xbox and how bad the lag really is. So it might just as well turn out ok on a proper machine, you know

In some areas, the frame rates took a dramatic dive. For instance, the much maligned Blighttown would drop to the single digits. That area had so much going on though, I think it won't be bad on the PC. It was a massive indoor area lit almost exclusively by torches. It had a massive pool of red swamp water at the bottom. You descended to the bottoms over a massive series of wooden scaffolding. And you could see just about everything. In all honestly, it was way way way beyond anything the consoles were built to handle. I think that area will turn out much better on the PC. Or at least, I hope it will.

 

[Callate]

Well, that's kind of refreshingly honest, I guess... I almost feel bad that I'm probably not going to get it. (Not because of this. Just because I'm not a big fan of the "bang head against wall, check wall for blood, repeat" style of gameplay.)

 

[Rainforce]

ITT: Whining, entitled PC elitists being whiny and entitled, as usual.

As a proper PC gamer, I'm always first when it comes to entitlement and whining, don't get me wrong on that part.
But I have no clue about how bad/good dark souls runs on the PS/Xbox and how bad the lag really is. So it might just as well turn out ok on a proper machine, you know

In some areas, the frame rates took a dramatic dive. For instance, the much maligned Blighttown would drop to the single digits. That area had so much going on though, I think it won't be bad on the PC. It was a massive indoor area lit almost exclusively by torches. It had a massive pool of red swamp water at the bottom. You descended to the bottoms over a massive series of wooden scaffolding. And you could see just about everything. In all honestly, it was way way way beyond anything the consoles were built to handle. I think that area will turn out much better on the PC. Or at least, I hope it will.

sounds good enough to me

 

[Mudkipith]

There's going to be voice chat; I'm buying it anyways.

 

[Cybylt]

*6 months later*

"...And also, we will not be doing a PC version of Darker Souls, due to piracy and low sales."

Reading the comments here its more likely "Darker Souls" won't happen on PC because of an incredibly picky consumer base that's hugely overreacting to issues that didn't stop about a million people from enjoying the hell out of this incredible game.

Really, this covers it perfectly.

ITT: Whining, entitled PC elitists being whiny and entitled, as usual.

From isn't a big company, they work on maybe two projects at the same time and regularly jump from publisher to publisher for their sales outside of japan because they don't have the money to do it themselves. There's no way they could possibly afford a third party clean up job from someone with more experience, and if anything From doing it themselves is a good thing assuming the whiners don't make up the majority of the market and wreck its sales. With them gaining experience developing for PC it means any potential title in the future will be that much better on it.

Seriously, this is the PC crowd's chance at an amazing series(and with modding could be even better for its PVP and balancing with different mechanics) and it sounds like they're more than willing to throw it away just because every little thing isn't perfectly catered to them from the get go.