Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@TheIdleCritic That game really drives me mad too. I'm kind of regretting starting it, because now I want to finish it...

@nessisonett @Kidfried I've decided to skip Crash 1 after that debacle. Started the first level of 2 but I'm burnt out on that game for today (probably for a while haha. I started playing at 2pm today, and it's now half 11).

@Arugula I really hope they didn't have to do that live!

@TheIdleCritic I just saw your post about your dream about ant Dickens, I just can't, I don't, i have no valuable words 😂😂😂

Crash 1 is a tough one, I didn't go for the full completion when I played it (but I may do in future). That bridge level that Ness mentioned, I tried to at least 100% that level at the time just because I had it memorised and didn't want to relearn it. I can't remember if I succeeded though!

@TheIdleCritic Crash 1 can definitely be a pain at times. Native Fortress was probably the first level I remember being a barrier when I first played it. Then there are the bridge levels and Sunset Vista.....

Honestly, I played the game enough to where it's second nature, but then N. Sane Trilogy put relics in the game, and that drove me nuts.

lol youtube is full of salty people who hate that TLOU 2 won GOTY.

the best video title i have seen is called "all the rewards cemented TLOU 2's failure".

like how does that even make sense? i guess if GOT would have won all those awards that game would have also been cemented as a failure accoring to that guy?

@jdv95 The same happens most years i think. Last year apparently Sekiro was too difficult to win it and the year before God of War because it wasn't Red Dead Redemption 2. 🤷‍♂️

A bit off topic, but I wasn’t sure where to post this —
I’ve been playing video games since I was knee high to a grasshopper but I don’t think I could effectively say how many frames-per-second a game I’m playing is running. How do people speak with such authority about what FPS a game is doing? Just reading the recent articles and comments about Cyberpunk and they talk about absolute numbers that I thought a person would need to have special equipment to measure, like Digital Foundry. I mean, I know when FPS tanks in a game, but I don’t know if I could tell what is 30 FPS and what is 25 FPS. I guess I don’t have the calibrated eyeballs of some people. I think the best I could specify is the frame rate is “smooth”, “semi-smooth”, “choppy”, “studdering”, or “a slideshow”.

@Th3solution My eyes are really sensitive to that sort of thing so I could spot it a mile off. Some people barely notice it as well, it’s down to the individual person. Rule of thumb for me, if I turn the camera and it’s noticeably jumpy (if you can sorta spot frames), it’s probably 30FPS. If it’s smooth, it’s probably 60FPS. Control dropping to below 30 at times was an absolute killer, I had to have a bit of a lie down after playing for more than an hour.

@nessisonett Yeah, I might not be quite as sensitive to it as other people, but I’ll notice a slow down, I just don’t know how to gauge 30 FPS vs 40 FPS, etc. God of War for me right now seems perfectly smooth, but I imagine it’s 30 FPS..? I think?

@Th3solution On PS4 Pro it’s variable 30-50 odds in performance mode and a stable 30FPS in resolution mode. I went back and forth with it because I have a 4K TV and the stable frame rate was actually possibly better than the variable unlocked framerate in the resolution mode. The thing is, games don’t aim for a cap of 40 or 50, they aim for a cap of 30, 60 or 120 FPS due to... reasons. Therefore you wouldn’t be able to pick out 45 FPS for example as it’s just indicative of a variable/fluctuating frame rate. The worst thing is when devs tie their game logic into the frame rate as that means PS5 cannot run an unlocked frame rate without ruining everything. So for example, if a developer takes for granted that a game would always run at 60FPS then they could check for a variable 60 times every second. This is where Bloodborne is an absolute shambles, it counts frames itself and individually instead of synchronising them with your display. That’s probably the main reason why there just won’t be a 60FPS patch on PS5.

@nessisonett Since I just have a vanilla PS4 I probably just don’t have the experience to know the difference; When I played Bloodborne I never thought that the frame rate stood out. I know part of it has to do with what a person is used to, so any variability will be more obvious when it dips. But I’d be lying if I said that the game I was playing dropped to “X” FPS. All I would be able to say is that it drops. I suppose the size of the screen might make frame rate more obvious...maybe? I’m playing on a 43 inch.

@Th3solution I’m a 40 inch but yeah I think you’ll be a stable 30 FPS in God of War. Stable frame rates are typically ‘better’ even if it’s 30FPS compared to frame drops all over the shop even if it’s at a higher average. Bloodborne looks worse than it actually is due to the way it handles frames. In a normal game, the frame rate is tied to your TV so it’ll in a sense, ‘paint the screen’ every time your TV refreshes what’s on screen at any one time. In Bloodborne, it just sends frames to the TV when they’re ready, not synched to any sort of timing. That’s why people talk about its bad ‘frame pacing’ as it can look juddery at times. 60FPS is one of those things that just feels so much better but 30FPS isn’t unplayable as long as its stable. It’s unrealistic to expect 60FPS in every game especially on console so I’d just rather that games remained at a stable refresh rate than fluctuated wildly.

@Th3solution I'm with you in that it's not something I notice nor something I feel strongly about either (probably because I don't know any better).

Maybe it's because I'm still on a base PS4 on an "older" (6 or 7 year) TV.

The jump from my stupidly small old telly to my dinky HDTV in the PS3 era was quite the step up. I was playing a lot of NHL whatever-year at the time and suddenly seeing the reflection of players in the ice and beads of sweat on their face in close ups was pretty amazing.

@DerMeister When the levels aren't infuriating it is an enjoyable game. I'll still attempt to platinum it, but yeah, it becomes rage inducing at points.

@ralphdibny I still don't know why I dreamt that haha.

@Th3solution I'm pretty much the same and only notice when there are sudden dips. The screen will stutter briefly in the worst instances. In Bloodborne there were only a few areas I noticed it on, when you first enter Old Yarnham for instance. But most of those would have been patched by the time you played it.

It is more how the game feels to play than a visual thing most of the time, and more noticeable in FPS games. But it definitely was noticeable in Demon's Souls as the combat and movement felt a lot smoother than inwas used from other Souls games. And when I switched from Performance mode to Cinematic mode (which is 30fps) it actually made me feel a bit queasy. And I can't remember the last time that happened, outside of having a hangover lol.

And no, I don't get how people can tell when a game has dropped a certain number of frames. Unless you have some kind of specialised equipment that monitors it, like Digital Foundry do, I don't think you can.

@Thrillho @JohnnyShoulder Good to know I’m not the only one. I have heard that about once you go 60 fps you never go back. But I don’t guess too many of the PS4 games I play are 60 fps, I don’t know. I typically play 3rd person action-stealth, or narrative driven types so they’re not likely to be pushing the frame rate. But I did play DOOM recently and I thought it felt very smooth overall.

Well this good news, if it goes through.

https://www.gamesradar.com/uk-politicians-aim-to-take-action-...

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah I saw that and it seems like a good thing. I just kinda think that the timing isn’t exactly superb given that we’re headed towards No Deal in the coming days and the whole tier system being a mess! But then, there’s always something so maybe now’s as good a time as any?

Noticed it was SNP MPs, makes sense to be honest. They’re not in government and they’re not the main opposition so they make up a lot of committees in Parliament.