Report: Crysis 2 Leaked

[txa1265]

When what happened?

I certainly recall a pretty big negative lashing out from Crytek almost immediately after Crysis was released.

Maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but I think their lead guy made a public statement about PC piracy and the necessity of making any sequel a console title.

They did, and I think that even at the time the 'piracy' scapegoat was shown to simply be a smokescreen for their desire to move to consoles. Given that the X360 version of Crysis 2 was cracked and leaked and heavily pirated before the game launched, and no outcry from Crytek ... I think the debunk of THAT bull$hit is complete.

 

[DArtagnan]

They did, and I think that even at the time the 'piracy' scapegoat was shown to simply be a smokescreen for their desire to move to consoles. Given that the X360 version of Crysis 2 was cracked and leaked and heavily pirated before the game launched, and no outcry from Crytek … I think the debunk of THAT bull$hit is complete.

Well, we can agree on that

Though I have no doubt they've lost sales due to PC piracy - but I personally think it has more to do with Crysis being incredibly demanding if you want all the "bells and whistles", and most people don't want to invest in a shooter their machine can't handle with all the shiny.

That said, didn't it sell ok?

In any case - selling millions of copies has less to do with making a great game, and more to do with shoving your marketing shit campaigns down the throats of sheep

 

[txa1265]

Well, we can agree on that

Though I have no doubt they've lost sales due to PC piracy - but I personally think it has more to do with Crysis being incredibly demanding if you want all the "bells and whistles", and most people don't want to invest in a shooter their machine can't handle with all the shiny.

That said, didn't it sell ok?

In any case - selling millions of copies has less to do with making a great game, and more to do with shoving your marketing shit campaigns down the throats of sheep

I think the whole 'but will it run Crysis' thing based on their tech ramped up piracy by people who wouldn't buy the game - and probably couldn't run it anyway.

 

[DArtagnan]

I think the whole 'but will it run Crysis' thing based on their tech ramped up piracy by people who wouldn't buy the game - and probably couldn't run it anyway.

Most likely true. It's probably the most reliable pre-purchase test for such things, anyway.

 

[DoctorNarrative]

That would be easier if Cryek hadn't fallen all over themselves lying to PC gamers about, well, everything.

If they just said 'hey, PC gamers, the sequel will be a good game, but we won't lie - this is a console-first game with smaller levels, a focus on action over exploration meaning smaller areas and a constant linear push, and 'streamlined' gameplay with far fewer options, and graphics that will not meet up with the original game for some folks' … I could have just played the game and been happy. But they didn't.

See, I'm pretty sure they did make that obvious. They said this time it was about bringing Crytek to the consoles. They said it was in New York and would be more corridor-like. They said all that.

 

[JDR13]

See, I'm pretty sure they did make that obvious. They said this time it was about bringing Crytek to the consoles. They said it was in New York and would be more corridor-like. They said all that.

I'm pretty sure they didn't.

Show me an interview that talks about the maps being a lot smaller. Being in a city and having corridors has nothing to do with level size. It wasn't even revealed that the PC version was DirectX 9 until a few weeks before it shipped, despite Crytek being well aware that people were expecting otherwise.

 

[DoctorNarrative]

I'm pretty sure they didn't.

Show me an interview that talks about the maps being a lot smaller. Being in a city and having corridors has nothing to do with level size. It wasn't even revealed that the PC version was DirectX 9 until a few weeks before it shipped, despite Crytek being well aware that people were expecting otherwise.

I'm not sure about DX9 comments (and honestly couldn't care less) but I know in every PC Gamer preview I read they talked about it being New York and not being as open. They talked about "vertical openness" versus horizontal, and how they were focusing on bringing the open-ended style of tactical decision to a smaller corridor.

I don't read many previews that aren't in print form (bathroom style!) so I don't know what they said elsewhere, but in PC Gamer they were very blunt about the changing style New York necessitated. They also made the console focus clear. As a matter of fact I was surprised they were so blunt in a PC magazine about their main goal being to bring Crytek's engines and games to the consoles.

 

[JDR13]

Hmm.. well I can't say I've seen their interviews with PC Gamer, but it's odd that they weren't more open about those kinds of things in any of the website interviews I've seen.

Even the "vertical openness" was underwelming though. There were a few levels where you were pretty high up, but they mostly just consisted of you having to drop down to street level by using a series of conviently placed platforms.

 

[txa1265]

There was a consistent message - yes we are developing for consoles, but this is still a PC first game, and there will be no dumbing down, and there will be DX11. Your source seems to be the outlier ...

 

[DoctorNarrative]

Even the "vertical openness" was underwelming though. There were a few levels where you were pretty high up, but they mostly just consisted of you having to drop down to street level by using a series of conviently placed platforms.

I agree with that, I expected to be jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper and there was none of that really. Maybe one or two scripted segments.

And txa, find me a source and I will concede. I never read anything like that.

 

[txa1265]

From a video interview via the Escapist:

Crysis 2 might have taken the series multi-platform, but Crytek's Nathan Camarillo says the studio hasn't "consolified" it for the new audience on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Camarillo says that Crysis 2 is a PC game made to fit on a console, not the other way round.

Speaking in a video interview with Games.On.Net, Camarillo said that Crytek wanted to bring a Crysis-like gameplay experience to consoles - something he thought that it lacked - and that fundamentally meant that the PC had to be the primary platform. That goal, he said, was one of the motivating factors behind the creation of CryEngine 3. He said that Crytek had torn apart the engine that the first Crysis had run on, and rebuilt it so that it could scale more easily on consoles.

This new engine also meant that PC users could get the best out of their hardware. Players with a low-end PC could still enjoy the game - something that couldn't be said about the first Crysis - but those with the really powerful computers could turn everything up to maximum and see the fruits of their investment. This is obviously good news for PC gamers, especially those who feel like they're being sidelined by the larger console demographic.

Also:

Tiago Sousa, Crytek's Principal R&D Graphics Programmer has posted the following message on his Twitter page: "Cooking some great DX11 tech bits for C2 fans, be patient guys. All I can say, is that we have 16 ms or more to have fun with PC hardware."

And then Maximum PC came up with the following article: "Crysis 2 has been taking quite a bit of heat around the web for a perceived lack of PC polish, and while much of this criticism is unjustified, the release of a new patch tomorrow should help bridge the gap for offended enthusiasts. According to a German website (and now confirmed by Crytek), DirectX 11 support is being patched in as of tomorrow, along with a new “Advanced Graphics menu” for those who like to tweak the special effects for maximum performance."

Read more: http://www.ngohq.com/news/19654-crytek-to-release-directx-11-patch-for-crysis-2-a.html#ixzz1IMisC1Zp

I couldn't find the older DX11 source, but did find this:

NVIDIA wrote:

Built for DirectX 11

Enjoy all the visual glory of the latest DirectX® 11 blockbuster games like Crysis 2, HAWX 2, and Civilization 5. With massive geometry processing power of the GeForce GTX 560 Ti lets you enjoy incredibly detailed environments and characters.

... and so on ...

 

[DoctorNarrative]

Nvidia probably assumed the same as other people did.

As for the rest I guess they did make some comments that made it seem like the PC was the main platform and such. They're relatively vague though, you have to be honest. Vague on purpose I am sure.

Anyway I don't see anything there that makes me angry.

 

[txa1265]

Nvidia probably assumed the same as other people did.

As for the rest I guess they did make some comments that made it seem like the PC was the main platform and such. They're relatively vague though, you have to be honest. Vague on purpose I am sure.

Anyway I don't see anything there that makes me angry.

This just became a 'non-argument'.

 

[DoctorNarrative]

Cute pic. Doesn't really make your comments true though. You claimed they promised DX11 and other specific features. Your proof was vague statements about it being a "PC game first" and "developed for the PC." That says nothing really.

First off every game is developed on the PC first, then put on the consoles… even console exclusives are done this way. Secondly what is a "PC game?" There is no feature list or gameplay style that defines "PC game" any more than there is a list that defines a "console game." You can't take vague statements and make up what it means to you in your head, then expect them to comply perfectly with your vision.

Show me an interview where they said "Crysis 2 will have DX11 support as well as advanced graphics menus, mod support, quick-save and high-res textures everywhere" and I will agree with you that they mislead us or lied. A vague statement that the game will be a "PC game first" means absolutely nothing and you know that.

 

[JDR13]

If it's well known that something is expected that you're not going to provide, I think there's a certain level of responsibility to correct those rumors early on. If you don't, I think it's fair to call that misleading to a degree, and it's definitely being disgenous at least.

 

[DoctorNarrative]

If it's well known that something is expected that you're not going to provide, I think there's a certain level of responsibility to correct those rumors early on. If you don't, I think it's fair to call that misleading to a degree, and it's definitely being disgenous at least.

Very true, and that applies here to the DX11 thing especially. It was pretty well known that people expected DX11 support and they should have corrected that assumption.

For the rest though like I said before, the previews I read made it clear it was a console-focused product. The one above is more wishy-washy, this is true, but again they make no specific PC feature claims. I think anyone who thought Crysis 2 was going to play like a PC exclusive was probably ignoring certain facts

Don't get me wrong either, I would have rather had a truer sequel to Crysis that played like a PC exclusive. Crysis 2 is not as good a game as Crysis, no doubt about it. I just still think it's a fun shooter that's a lot more wide-open and interesting than most shooters now-a-days are.

 

[JDR13]

I don't think very many people thought it was going to play like a PC exclusive, but on the flip side, I doubt many people thought it was going to be quite that consolized either.

 

[txa1265]

Cute pic. Doesn't really make your comments true though.

Sorry, I can only come up with 99% of every freaking interview from Crytek until release stating that it was a PC-first, that the PC version wasn't compromised, etc, etc, etc ... providing actual links to a couple. And you have mentioned something you read once and put the onus on everyone else - and stated you would concede with proof. And when it was given, you moved the goal post. You fit perfectly into the diagram - you have demonstrated an inability for rational discussion. I am done - I have nothing to prove to you ... the evidence is clear for reasonable people to get it.

 

[DoctorNarrative]

Sorry, I can only come up with 99% of every freaking interview from Crytek until release stating that it was a PC-first, that the PC version wasn't compromised, etc, etc, etc … providing actual links to a couple. And you have mentioned something you read once and put the onus on everyone else - and stated you would concede with proof. And when it was given, you moved the goal post.

Not really. I said the comments you quoted were vague, which they were, and I said they were probably vague on purpose. I guess you could consider that lying, but I don't. The core thing I was looking for was a promised feature they did not provide and you have shown zero evidence of that. Vague "the PC will come first" statements are just that... vague, i.e. meaningless.

One thing we might disagree on is the difference between consolized and mainstreamed. I don't think Crysis 2 is that consolized but I do think it is VERY mainstreamed. Tighter corridors, that annoying blue marker always on the screen, "tactical options available," limited video options, simplified suit modes, etc... it was all done to appeal to a wider audience. Nothing about it has anything to do with console hardware or control methods.

 

[JDR13]

I think we have to admit that consoles by their very nature are more mainstream though. There's not really a huge difference between those terms to a lot of people.

It's also false to assume that the changes in Crysis 2 had nothing to do with console hardware. For instance, it's a known fact that maps have been made smaller in some games due to the RAM limitations of consoles. I'm not saying that's the case in Crysis 2, but you can't rule out the possibility.