imthesoldier

2 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

4 player split screen online seems pretty close to N64.

I'm actually getting some friends together tomorrow to try it out. We'll see how nostalgic we truly are. 

Have played a few levels on NSO, and to sum it up: 

It runs better than N64, and guns still go pew pew. 

Oh...a 4090 then. 

EDIT: Carry on, Wayward Son. 

10 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

For me it’ll be going from 10850k and ddr4 and trying to do ray tracing at high fps so I’m chomping at the bit!

 

I kinda don’t even want to bother having my dad help with the pc build though (i have bad coordination with my hands so things like mounting a cpu fan are a pass for me) and I like my current case and stuff so I wonder if I can just get a motherboard, cpu, cpu fan (i can do ram myself obv) and give it to best buy and have them get it going for a couple hundred.

 

On the other hand then I have a cpu, ram, and motherboard that could still be very very good for someone else, which is kinda of a waste. If I do a whole new build then I could give my current to my Dad minus the nvme’s but that honestly would probably cost like 1k more so idk how I want to do it yet.

Is your current 10850K that much behind in terms of being able to run games you need to upgrade your CPU/RAM/Mobo? Given it's 10 Cores/20Threads, I'd imagine that would be sufficient for most games for at least the next 3-5 years. 

What GPU are you running currently? 

3 hours ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

The last "hugely successful" Halo game was more than 15 years ago -- and it has been on a downward spiral since.

 

Given the development team that made that game has gone on to bigger and better things (i.e. Destiny), is there any reason to believe 343 should continue with Halo?  Or try and create something new?

I think two things should happen: 1) 343 Industries being done with the Halo Franchise, and should look into developing something new, and 2) Give Halo to a different developer, say Obsidian, or Rare for example (You can name others for sure within the Xbox Game Studios group). There are other developers out there, I'm sure talented ones at that, who could do wonders for a new Halo game. 

On 1/20/2023 at 3:40 PM, crispy4000 said:

 

The gist of it is that you're not going to get a solid 30fps experience on next-gen titles generally, even if you dial settings way back.  Mileage can vary game by game.

 

Oliver suggests the need for newer hardware if that (or a 40fps target) is the goal.

Perhaps it wasn't the intent with the video, but even lowering the resolution a little bit while enabling FSR, or some other AA solution such as TAA can yield some impressive results given the limitations involved. I would absolutely trade some clarity for a 40fps cap as the performance uplift would be worth it IMO. But as you said, mileage can vary. 

53 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

Direct Storage

That got me thinking. What is the next "big" thing in hardware? Back in the 90s, GPUs became a hot ticket thing, and games were hardware accelerated vs. Software. We've had many strides in trying to offload cycles off the CPU over the years, and now with DirectStorage, plus GPU decompression, we're further offloading resources from the CPU. 

I know in terms of gaming, I've been wanting next-level strides in terms of Physics, and A.I, so wonder if Neural Processors or something similar might have some use outside of machine learning, and into the gaming realm to help accelerate those processes into the next generation. 

EDIT: I guess technically nVidia's Tensor Cores do the same type of stuff, but what else could it be used for besides image upscaling, and frame interpolation? 

On 12/15/2022 at 11:59 AM, stepee said:

 

Its such a huge generation leap in the handheld space with just a deck coming from the Switch - that I’m content for now - being able to set the refresh to 40hz also does a lot of heavy lifting for me!

 

I would like maybe a 1080p display also but just for streaming, 720p looks good on 7” so it’s not worth the power hit to me, would take battery if playing native.

I recently did some comparisons with Doom 2016 on my Deck, and was impressed at not just being able to run it at a higher fidelity, but also see what is possible if I capped the system package at about 10 watts. My buddy asked if it was possible to get 4hrs of game time, and so through a process of some trial and error, I came up with some results: 

Ran the game at 928x580 resolution at low details plus a 60% scaling, and with TAA (no FSR), managed to get a targeted 60fps. Keep in mind the APU was only pulling about 3-4 watts. Also did some 30fps capped with higher details, and of course as you've done, 40hz cap, which was a good balance of fidelity, and smoothness. All while still pulling around 10 watts, though 11 watts was also shown.

Interestingly, it also demonstrated that despite what we may want, the Switch 2 (or whatever it's called) is unlikely to be any more powerful than the Steam Deck. At best, on par is my suggestion. But there are some other takeaways, chief among is the usual console optimizations you simply cannot get with a PC, plus a bespoke API, ARM vs. x86, and very possibly a DLSS implementation. 

We can only have so much horsepower while sipping very little battery. That said, the Steam Deck continues to impress me the more I use it though, and if the Switch 2 is anything close to what the Steam Deck can do in terms of horsepower, we'll have a decent Hybrid platform on our hands. 

Step 1: Increase Switch production despite how old system is

Step 2: Announce price drop for all SKUs before upcoming holiday season

Step 3: Launch Switch 2 March 2024 at same price as Switch OLED

Step 4: Profit

Figured I'd chime in on how my Deck experience has been going thus far. I'm lovin' it quite honestly. 

I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but I played The Vanishing of Ethan Carter on the Deck, plus The Stanley Parable, which both played, and felt great on the system. I also started playing The Turing Test, but I put that on the back burner. I did attempt to install, and try and play Mafia (decided to splurge on the Mafia Trilogy), but to no avail. 

I also bought Terminator Resistance, so decided to give that a go, despite it not being verified for Steam Deck, and wouldn't you know it? The game plays flawlessly on the Deck. I've been playing that exclusively on the Deck, and it's been an overall great experience. 

This is also the point where I started using the right trackpad for use in aiming, and it took some adjustments (make sure to turn off the track ball mode!), but once I got that, it felt broadly similar to using a mouse on a pad. The trackpads I think overall work great for FPS games, but there is a slight learning curve if you've been used to KB/M for years like I have. 

I'm hoping to be done with Resistance soon so I can start playing Alien Isolation, which I'd like to try out with headphones to get that full experience, you know? 

It's happening, D1P! I finally got my email notification for the 512GB version!!!

Still need to actually go through the purchase, but I'll get it to it later today.

21 hours ago, Brick said:

Come on news on Breath of the Wild sequel and Metroid Prime 4!

Prime 4, Prime Trilogy, and Bayo 3. I'd also settle for a Xenoblade Chronicles X Switch port for beginning of 2023.

A buddy of mine's friend got a notification yesterday, and he was 55min into the 512GB reservation. I'm at 62min, so I'm hoping to get a notification this week, maybe Thursday?

11 hours ago, stepee said:

 

Probably late this month.  Mine was 41min past, but they seem to be doing two a week with a gain of 3+ min each so it could surprise. Went up like 11 minutes last week.

 

Here is how you check and use the bots and/or he shows the latest times there usually and will when he’s back from vacay

 

 

 

That’s fine if it’s late this month. My wife and I just got a new roof this past week, so need to secure more funds before I can make the purchase anyway. 

On 6/2/2022 at 1:01 PM, stepee said:

So latest reported time is 41:30, Im 41:33…off by 3 seconds, sounds right

Dumb question: Where is everyone getting this information? I made my reservation for the 512GB 62min after it all went live. Me curious when I'll have mine this month.

30 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

That...didn't look fun. 

Agreed. Maybe it's because I haven't really played a Sonic title for years now (also was never the biggest fan of the franchise to begin with), but I was getting serious BOTW vibes from it; almost a Breath of the Sonic type of deal. Even the music felt that way, and the gameplay in general seems fine overall, but I almost get the impression a franchise like Sonic does not benefit an open world setting. But this is only a few min of first gameplay, so I'd like to be wrong.

Looks wise, it also looks fine, but texture pop-in is quite noticeable, and noticing the framerate was at only 30fps, made me think they were showing the Switch version. lol

I'm one of the few around here who has yet to play Dad of War, so this is good news for me.

June 6th is the date it predicts I'll get my notification, so we'll see if that holds true.

On 5/25/2022 at 9:53 AM, Mr.Vic20 said:

Agreed, but in general I believe its still OK to shoot Nazis. 

It's always okay to shoot Nazis.

On 5/27/2022 at 12:27 PM, Zaku3 said:

 

Nintendo gonna ride that Tegra SOC until the wheels fall off.

Like my Jeep Cherokee, which given it's a Chrysler product shouldn't be too long, right?

But seriously, I want to think 2023 could be the year given BOTW2's delay, but if we suckers continue to buy the Switch, 2024 might actually be the year we see it.

On 5/15/2022 at 9:49 PM, Zaku3 said:

While the anti-glare coating is a good idea. Now that logic has taken hold the 64GB is the best option. Get it, and replace it with a 1TB SSD. 

 

Probably just end up waiting longer if I canceled. 

 

There was an Aya Neo announcement yesterday. They are releasing the Mini with a 5.5in 1080p OLED. In addition they announced the Neo Slide (GPD deserves an F in chat) and the Aya Neo 2. 

 

The Aya Neo 2 should be released by the end of the year and will have a 6800u and a 7in IPS bezel less screen. Gonna ignore the Mini and wait for the Neo 2.

 

Their idea is to have the mini line be their entry level, Aya Neo and Neo Slide to hold the mid range, and the Next line to be the high end. Though I'm unsure how you make a Next 2 more high end then a 6800u. Unless they place to use a 6800HS. 

How much for the entry level version though? 

56 minutes ago, GameDadGrant said:

According to the article, the accusation seems fraudulent. 

 

Oh well, good luck against Nintendo's lawyers. 

Fraudulent in that according to Nintendo, it was due to the individual in question disclosing confidential information; in other words, a breach of NDA contract most likely. Now, that is Nintendo's version of the events, and the individual says it's due to unionizing efforts. Of course, if the situation were that the individual was disclosing information under NDA, and was leveraging that to concert with unionizing efforts, was the person then terminated for breach of contract, or trying to unionize? Almost a chicken and an egg type of situation?

But we'll just have to wait and see. I wouldn't exactly be surprised if Nintendo has done shit like this as it's almost a worst kept secret in the industry at this point.

2 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

Woah!  First time I can recall a major release being pushed this far ahead.

I think there's still time for me to start & finish Torna.  Just beat Death's Door, perfect timing to start something new.

I'm replaying the first game now with XCDE, and would still love to get through XC2+Torna before tackling XC3, but that'll be a tall order. I'm only at Gaur Plains for DE, so I have all of the game to play really.

But this trailer has me really feeling it.

1 hour ago, Zaku3 said:

Gonna get the cart and just dump it for emulation. Only way to avoid 360p and 15FPS.

Seriously, I think the game has a very clean look, and who knows, maybe they're using AMD's FSR like they are in Switch Sports. I'm hoping for a solid 30fps, and a good 720p/900p, but we'll see. Like I said, I'm playing through XCDE, and despite its technical quirks, doesn't distract from the experience for me. XBC on Wii is my #2 GOAT, so I'm having a blast regardless.

9 minutes ago, Zaku3 said:

 

Oo dude I'm getting old. I'm 36 now and have switched to headphon3s for gaming but I am keeping that volume at 30-40. Eye sight is also getting worse. I had lasik and don't technically need glasses still but I could use them. I noticed it when I got the steam deck and couldn't read the text on the charger.

 

The flesh is weak.

I've contemplated with lasik in the past, but I'm at the point where I'm fine wearing glasses and contacts. Being near-sighted though, when viewing things up close such as a handheld, phone, book, etc, I'll take my glasses off, but when wearing contacts-like I am now, I'll be wearing reading glasses so my eyes don't have to strain as much. As for hearing, I haven't had mine checked for a few years, but they appear to be holding up well enough (get the occasional ringing, and maybe a mild bit of tinnutus, but nothing too crazy). I attribute that to wearing ear protection a lot on job sites, and even on more silly applications like using the humble vacuum cleaner in the house.

EDIT: I'm turning 34 in June.