ThunderPeel2001

Bioshock: PC or 360? [NO SPOILERS!]

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So, finally, there's a game that I'm actually looking forward to playing... question is: Should I play it on my super-kickass, 8800GTS powered, WEI 5.3 PC or my "achievement" enabled 360?

I thinking PC at the moment (as you tend to feel more "in control" with a mouse and kb, IMO), but does anyone know any reason why the 360 might be the one to go for?

I know it's not out yet.

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It's a no-brainer for me: my PC has trouble running Oblivion at all, so Bioshock is off limits. I'm gonna buy a 360 partly for this game.

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The controls on the 360 are really tight, going by the demo, but I can't see a reason to go 360 when you have the PC you have. My only problem with the 360 controls was that I can't aim with thumb sticks, so it's PC all the way for me.

Sub-question, that I can't resolve: Steam or on disc? I can't remember there being so many variables. Price difference. Activation method (which one is more likely to be still active in 5 years, given I'd still want to install System Shock 2 tomorrow). Does the disc version need a disc in the drive? Should I go for Steam in order to give my retailer money to Valve (who I like) instead of to a random internet distributor? Etc.

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I'd go with the PC discs myself, as even though Steam has evolved into a very nice delivery system, I think I'd get a bit fed up waiting for the entire game (which is presumably gigantic) to download, and then do it all again if I ever need to reinstall or something.

As for the PC/360 argument, again, I reckon PC would be my choice. First-person games invariably feel better to me on the PC, thanks to the mouse intuitiveness and fine control. It's also going to be prettier on the PC if you have a DirectX 10 graphics card (which you do), as opposed to the 360 which can only run DirectX 9.

In fact, even if you don't use Vista and thus are restricted to DirectX 9, I'm guessing the PC version has higher-resolution textures and is generally that bit shinier. The games that actually make it out on both have almost always been capable of looking better on the PC as far as I'm aware, the most recent example I've had personal experience with being Command & Conquer 3.

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Excellent stuff! Thanks for the rational arguments, I'm definitely going for the PC version now. I just hope that my local Virgin has it in stock when I go to buy it!

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If you can run it well, go with PC. If you can't, like me, go with 360 (or in my case, an imaginary 360). My PC scrapes by the minimum requirements, but I know it would look and play shit. I'll have to wait until I have a 360 and I guess a new TV too.

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Oo. Big point. The only reason you need to buy the PC game is because the PC version allows you to disable silly, game-ruining options such as auto-aiming, directions to your next objective, and highlights around important objects, all of which are locked on the console to make it more of a console experience.

QED.

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Gah. I wish the demo will come out before the game, so I have a chance to see if it will run well on my laptop. Otherwise, I guess I'm getting the 360 version. :shifty:

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It's also going to be prettier on the PC if you have a DirectX 10 graphics card (which you do), as opposed to the 360 which can only run DirectX 9.

In fact, even if you don't use Vista and thus are restricted to DirectX 9, I'm guessing the PC version has higher-resolution textures and is generally that bit shinier. The games that actually make it out on both have almost always been capable of looking better on the PC as far as I'm aware, the most recent example I've had personal experience with being Command & Conquer 3.

The primary development platform was the 360 in Boston, and then they ported it in Australia. I find it hard to believe that the textures would be any higher in the PC version, for that reason. You also seem to have been misled by the Vista marketing: There's nothing DX10 can do that DX9 can't. The distinction between versions is simply what the developer feels like adding (or is paid to add by Microsoft to promote Vista, hence all the new DX10 versions of old games that have sprung up with a few new lighting effects). I can't imagine there are any shinier effects in the PC version, again primary dev platform, etc etc.

It's very possible that I'm wrong on these points, because I've steered clear of promotional materials for the game, but I would be reasonably confident that the graphical benefits to be had from playing on PC are simply a higher resolution and a higher framerate.

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directx10 has a couple of useful features that directx9 hasn't, although it's not really hardware or driver model related. It was something related to AA and HDR postprocessing effects.

Anyway, on directx9 you can't have AA and and HDR postprocessing (with acceptable performance), but on directx10 you can.

Of course MS could release directx9.1 where they would give programmers access to that part in the rendering pipeline.

well.. something like that anyway.

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I'm very much aware of the marketing strategy that DirectX 10 is part of. I've even spoken to Crysis developers who've explicitly told me that they could easily have gotten the same graphics level seen in the DirectX 10 version in the DirectX 9 version if they had to, but didn't because of higher-level influences; perhaps not exactly the same, but certainly not as inferior as the DirectX 9 version currently is.

The new API is largely just a case of unblocking certain bottlenecks (ie: disproportionate performance loss at certain points) as elmuerte just exampled. The existence of OpenGL (used by iD's upcoming engine) kind of highlights that the whole DirectX 10 thing is way overblown, though.

But regardless of whether or not the API actually allows it or the developers only choose to implement it, if the game looks better on DirectX 10 then that's a hard fact. And since Irrational have explicitly stated in a past interview that it will look better on DirectX 10, why exactly that is doesn't really have much relevance.

Texture artists generally design their textures at a higher resolution than is actually in the final game, so it wouldn't be too much of a hurdle for them to simply put higher resolution versions into the PC version. And since the game is built on an engine that was originally PC-specific anyway, and that they've known since the beginning it'll be a PC game, I can't see them not doing this.

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While I'm most definitely a PC gamer at heart, and the PC version appeals to me greatly, I'm afraid my computer at home might have a bit of a hard time running it smoothly.

But if your PC is powerful enough, it definitely would be the logical choice in my opinion.

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You ought to be able to pick one up for negligible money nowadays, brkl. I'm fairly sure even my GeForce 6600GT supported 3.0 when I got it back in 2004, so presumably most cards (including the budget/mid-end ones) since then have supported it.

That said, unless your PC is considered 'righteous' it might be better going with the 360 version as a general rule since even though a PC can easily match its power, at the moment it takes quite a bit of cash to so. I don't think the divide will be affordably closed for between six months and a year. :tmeh:

And yes, clearly I am an unashamed advocate of pwetty gwafix in games. cool.gif

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I can't really consider something nearing 100€ 'negligible', especially when in a short while I'd have the same dilemma all over again. I do have a birthday coming up, though.

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I just tried the demo and confirmed that I can't run the game. Well, I can run it at a different framerate, as long as I don't mind all the water in the game appearing as a black void.

I think I'm going to start playing the lottory.

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What a great demo.

I kind of got bummed in the gob time after time during enemy encounters, but I realised afterwards it's because I tried to kill them all traditionally rather then using bits of the environment. Oh well. :fart:

Incidentally, if anyone's wondering what the difference are, here's a big bag o' 360 vs PC screenshots:

http://forum.teamxbox.com/showpost.php?p=9819449&postcount=729

Looks like the PC version does indeed have higher resolution textures, as well as fancier DirectX 10 shaders and improved lighting across the board.

BTW, if you're setting the graphics options, although most of them are intuitive the 'Force Global Lighting' one actually wants to be set to 'OFF' for maximum quality, as it gets rid of a lot of the nice dynamic lighting and such.

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Bioshock PC demo: :tmeh::tup:

Needs AVG uninstalled before it will work. Runs surprisingly well on a low spec machine. Very pretty. Bit cheesy and feels like a bunch of other FPS games, but with better production standards. Has hilariously mystifying bit where protagonist finds a big, mysterious syringe full of some unknown substance and decides the best thing would be to shoot up with it right away.

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The demo was pretty nice. Really liked the ruined dream city of the 60s with all its small, yet important, details. I really disliked the enemies, though. And since the full version is probably all about killing those, I think I'll pass.

The suspicious syringe scene made me smile, but the absolute best part of the demo for me came shortly after that when the little sister called the big daddy "Mr Bubbles". Awesome.

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If you disliked the enemies, isn't that an excellent reason to keep killing them? :P

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I think it's fair to assume there'll be more variety in locations and enemies than what we've seen in the demo.

As awesome as it is, it'd get a bit old if it were the same enemies and environments throughout. I expect some surprises and hopefully won't be disappointed. :tup:

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I just played the first half hour at a friend who had managed to find the full copy, and the atmosphere was so thick I had to scrape it out of the corners of my eye at the end. My god it's rich. Perhaps the game will spiral down after a while in predictability and repetitiveness (though the odds are against it), but whatever flaw one might find; Bioshock's atmosphere, setting and polish make it a must-buy for me and an instant classic. Freaking melting jesus.

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