Die another day: going masochist with Dark Souls on PC

[zarx]

Well it seems earlier reports of an 3rd party studio handling the port was false and From will be handling the port themselves.

 

 

EGM Interview: 
Dark Souls Director Hidetaka Miyazaki

 

 

EGM: Shuhei Yoshida said it was a mistake to not publish Demon’s Souls in North America. Not many people originally thought such a game would be popular with players in the West, but both that and Dark Souls have found a huge following here. Have you been surprised by the reaction those games received here in this country, and were you also surprised by how many people wanted a PC version of Dark Souls to happen?

Miyazaki: Obviously, yes. We were surprised, and I’ve been very excited seeing the support the games have gotten—especially the petition. We had no plans at all to create a PC version, so the petition surprised us, and I’m glad that we now have this chance to give Dark Souls to those players.

 

 

EGM: So, originally, did you think that a game like Dark Souls wouldn’t be fitting for the PC market, or was it simply something you just never considered?

Miyazaki: I had no experience making PC games, so it was simply a case of never even thinking about it.

 

 

EGM: One of the other questions that’s come up among PC gamers is Dark Souls being a Games For Windows Live title, as there’s quite a divide in the PC market between GFWL and those that are built on Steamworks. Did you at From Software make the decision as to what platform the PC version would be using, or was that a decision made by Namco Bandai?

Miyazaki: That was completely the decision of Namco Bandai. However, while for now we’ve only announced support for Games For Windows Live, that’s still to be determined—we might work with Steam as well. We don’t know yet.

 

 

EGM: As much as people loved Dark Souls, a few fans did take some issue with the late-game areas—particularly locations like Lost Izalith. Was there any consideration for making actual changes to what had been created now that you were making the PC version, or did you decide that you wanted to stay true—as much as possible—to what had been created for the console versions other than the new content?

Miyazaki: The plan was for this to be a complete port from the consumer version, so I never thought about making major edits such as that.

 

 

EGM: In this being a new venture for you in terms of bringing the game to the PC market, was the whole idea of porting Dark Souls to the PC frightening? Was it overwhelming? Was it exciting? What feelings did you feel in now realizing that you had to make a PC version of the game?

Miyazaki: I was excited, but as I don’t have that experience in making PC games, I was also a bit afraid. I had concerns about making the PC version in terms of things like technical issues, but it was thrilling to get that chance. Having that chance to work on a platform that’s new to you is fun; it’s a challenge.

 

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/egm-interview-dark-souls-director-hidetaka-miyazaki/

Prepare to Sigh – The Shortfalls of the Dark Souls PC Port

 

 

From the PC perspective the biggest issue is Games for Windows Live being the backbone to the game. The announcement that Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition would be using GFWL caused a very vocal community to erupt, spewing forth another petition within minutes asking for GFWL to be removed. Carlson Choi, the Vice President of Marketing of Namco Bandai America had just gotten off the stage, delivering a keynote stating one of Namco Bandai’s new focuses would be on the community. Later, in a personal conversation, he stated he would be looking into this new petition and wouldn’t discount it.

It’s easy to fixate on GFWL, a long-time punching bag in computer gaming. But there are a few other aspects to fixate on as well. I was able to see Dark Souls running on a PC at the Namco event, and it did look great. I saw the hero dressed as one of the new characters, a foppish man brandishing a pitchfork, not of the trident variety, but something that could easily be used to shovel hay or manure, more a tool than an armament. While the weapon was new, the environment wasn’t; it was the Firelink Shrine, an old location, and not exactly a hotbed of activity. Later on, a quick trip to the Undead Burg showcased a spot of melee. It ran smoothly, though when asked how the infamous, frame-killing Blighttown would run on a killer rig, there was some nervous laughter, and finally an honest answer conveying “hopefully pretty good!” The translator for director Hidetaka Miyazaki (and his entourage) was incredibly fluent with English, though some of the more technical aspects seemed a bit muddled. From Software is handling the port themselves, bringing over their proprietary engine to Windows. The short demo was played with an Xbox 360 controller in hand. They said keyboard and mouse would be supported, but a gamepad would still be the preferred way to play. We were the last group to talk to the Dark Souls team, and they were keeping quiet about the online and rumors of PVP battlefields. Maybe the fallout from the GFWL debacle had caused them to tighten their lips?

http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/2012/04/17/prepare-to-sigh-the-shortfalls-of-the-dark-souls-pc-port/

 

 

Dark Souls: Miyazaki on the PC version, console DLC and modding

Moving on, it seems Dark Souls on PC will not support any sort of user modification or editing – unlike, say, Skyrim with its creation kit. "Personally, I am interested in the concept of Mods," said Miyazaki. "However, due to our lack of experience with the PC we need more time to adapt to what PC gamers want from mods. So this time we're not doing it."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/apr/17/dark-souls-pc-dlc-news

And from GAF hopefully a poor translation 

There is also a Japanese interview with Miyazaki here: http://www.famitsu.com/news/201204/18013184.html

Originally Posted by duckroll: 

 

Morning. I just read the interviews with Miyazaki from Guardian and from Famitsu. I don't think there's much room for misunderstanding here. What he says is very clear, although it does sound weird and it seems to reflect the lack of experience he has in terms of doing PR for this sort of thing, or understanding the market.

There are a few things he makes very clear:

- The PC version of Dark Souls is a Bandai Namco Games initiative which was brought up after the release of the console version. Remember that From Software published the PS3 version themselves in Japan, while Bandai Namco requested the 360 version for the international market. This seems similar, and Bandai Namco is footing the entire bill and helping them with development as well.

- The PC version is 70-80% complete, the content is basically all at the end stages of development, with the focus being balancing and QC right now. In particular Bandai Namco has been helping them with QC and specifications.

- Miyazaki says that the base game is intended to be a straight port with no change in resolution and he specifically says not to expect 60 fps. This is probably his most controversial statement, because it does seem to suggest that it will run at a locked resolution and framerate. Until he clarifies further, I do feel that is the intended message to manage expectations.

- With regards to how big the new areas are, he mentions in the Japanese interview that if you consider each "are" as a place where you enter into a new sort of setting or situation and the game displays an area name on screen, there will be 3 of these areas being added. One of these areas in particular is something he had in mind which is based on the past history of Darkroot Garden. The actual design of the area is brand new though, and not a rehash.

- There are two questions in the Japanese interview which Miyazaki very frankly said he was unable to comment on. One is regarding any changes to PvP, to which he said that he cannot talk about it at the moment, but he implies there will be some sort of new features which will follow in the spirit of Dark Souls' experimental online nature.

- The other question was about a Japanese release for this product, to which he says he also cannot answer the question right now. Since Bandai Namco does not publish the game in Japan, it seems From Software isn't very sure about what they're going to do with it domestically at the moment. All they are focused on right now is finishing the PC version for international release, while they try to work something out for the other fans.



What I personally read from these interviews is that the ball is really in Bandai Namco Games' court here, and not From Software. They seem to have full control over all the technical and publishing elements of the PC version, and since they're paying for the development, it's probably also up to them to decide if they want to turn that into DLC as well for the console versions. On Miyazaki's part, he seems dedicated to add value to the new release, and is putting substantial effort into making it worthwhile for people looking forward to that content. 

Aside from that, he seems very naive and inexperienced with regards to what PC gamers expect, and so he probably doesn't realize the backlash of what he is saying is causing. To him, he probably considers it a good thing if they can develop a PC version which is equal in performance to the console game without making compromises. He probably hasn't considered the natural advantages of PC hardware to make the game performance automatically better.

That's my two cents.