Crysis "Pre-Release" Demo Unveiled, Brings PCs to Their Knees

[Junaid Alam]

Crysis "Pre-Release" Demo Unveiled, Brings PCs to Their Knees

Far Cry developer Crytek released a "pre-release" demo of its upcoming title, Crysis, last Friday, dazzling gamers with its graphics but leaving many of them dismayed over performance woes even on the heftiest systems.

The demo features the first full level of the game, where the protagonist operates as part of a special unit dropped into a hostile territory patrolled by North Korean soldiers. The scenery and setting is almost identical to that of Far Cry, the company's hit debut title released several years ago.

Gameplay options, however, are more varied, as the player has at his disposal a "nanosuit" capable of bursts of cloaked movement, extra strength or blazing speed. Weapons, too, come with available alternate options, such as silencers and sights.

The main and much-anticipated highlight of the demo though, of course, is the graphical beauty. Trees and foliage appear in unprecedented detail, and shader, shadow, blur and HDR effects are put to impressive use.

Much to their dismay, however, gamers on various gaming sites noted that they also found their frame rates anemic at high settings. An average of 20 to 30 frames per second was common even with a $500 part such as the Nvidio 8800 Ultra and dual and quad-core processors, users reported.

Additionally, Vista 64 owners in particular reported problems running the DX10 mode, which features extra graphics settings not available in DX9. Then again, some of the supposedly exclusive DX10 features have already been unlocked in DX9 by an enterprising user.

The game is due to be released in two weeks and will be patched for SLI support.

Source: Ars Technica Forums [http://www.hardforum.com]

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[J.theYellow]

Last week there was a guy on the IGDA forums [http://www.igda.org/Forums/showthread.php?s=1998fd6f21680d6d670a9f3bbb81ed8b&threadid=29550] saying he wanted to start a mod project with Crysis.

I laughed on the inside. But I was polite, for once.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Yes, it's a highly-anticipated new game. Yes, it's particularly neat-looking. No, you can't play it without an upgrade. This, my friends, is why I'm no longer a PC-only gamer.

 

[twincannon]

Well, theoretically - if Crysis didn't suck - it'd be great for mods. The toolset looked AMAZING at E3. And it ran well too, on (supposedly) a Q6600 and a 8800GTX. I have the same rig today, and I get maybe 5 fps. It's absolutely horrible. Shameful, even - especially when the game is filled with graphical errors to boot, and it doesn't even look half as good as the media they've been releasing for the past year.

As well, the game is just filled with issues, and with how soon it's coming out and the fact it's coming out for the PC only... well, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last time we hear from Crytek. I can't see this doing anything other than just failing, and hard.

Sad, too, I was always one of the biggest fans of the engine, it truly looked amazing, even when they did playable demos... what happened? Were they secretly running it on BlueGene all of those times they showed it off?

Oh well, at least Carmack is back into gaming again. idTech5 will be my next target of dreamy fanboyism.

 

[Code_wizard]

Actually they released a pre-release SDK to 3 select mod teams a few months ago and the sandbox tool set from what I have seen is amazingly powerful. Wouldn't be any harder (probably easier) than modding the source engine or unreal engine 3.

 

[J.theYellow]

I'd rather make a mod based on a game lots of people are actually going to have and be playing for quite some time before the mod comes out. Half-Life, Unreal, Quake, NWN -- these have all had great mod projects that people actually went to play. That they had a great toolset is not the only issue. I just don't think Crysis is going to be that popular.

 

[Code_wizard]

Go ahead and quote me now "Crysis is the PC gamers Halo".

Well, theoretically - if Crysis didn't suck - it'd be great for mods. The toolset looked AMAZING at E3. And it ran well too, on (supposedly) a Q6600 and a 8800GTX. I have the same rig today, and I get maybe 5 fps. It's absolutely horrible. Shameful, even - especially when the game is filled with graphical errors to boot, and it doesn't even look half as good as the media they've been releasing for the past year.

The toolset is amazing. I'm running all settings at least on medium (some on high and very high) at 1280x1024 res with an OC GTX. Crysis is very CPU intensive and is optimized for multi core. If your having problems running it I would blame it on your CPU. As far as the graphical errors...make sure you have the latest beta driver from nvidia...I played the beta and the demo before updating my drivers and saw not one graphical glitch, with the new drivers I expect a small gain in FPS (which I will just use to turn another setting up).

Sad, too, I was always one of the biggest fans of the engine, it truly looked amazing, even when they did playable demos... what happened? Were they secretly running it on BlueGene all of those times they showed it off?

I have been playing every beta and demo under the sun and NOTHING blew my pants off (yes my pants) like the Crysis demo. It looks amazing. I have tried playing it with the settings down a bit and while its not impressive I beleive its a wonder they made so scalable.

I'd rather make a mod based on a game lots of people are actually going to have and be playing for quite some time before the mod comes out. Half-Life, Unreal, Quake, NWN -- these have all had great mod projects that people actually went to play. That they had a great toolset is not the only issue. I just don't think Crysis is going to be that popular.

Mod dev time takes a few months at least, by the time casual gamers have upgraded and are starting to play you want to be first to release. While I do agree that the games you mentions are very mod friendly, Crysis is just as friendly (Maybe even more so. Ever try and start a source mod proj? Pure hell). As for it not being popular, I've played the demo in its entirety 5+ times now, and I'm still finding new ways to approach the limited situations in the demo. This game is going to be huge.

 

[J.theYellow]

Mod dev time takes a few months at least, by the time casual gamers have upgraded and are starting to play you want to be first to release.

Does not compute. Casual gamers aren't going to upgrade in time for Crysis to be a hit game. If you have to own a $3000+ system to play it at all, it won't be a hit. "Looks amazing" doesn't sell games. Gameplay and word of mouth sells games.

Halo 3 is huge because it has 1) branding 2) console appeal 3) familiar gameplay. Crysis has none of these things. It's a loss-leader at best, designed to push the current limits of technology. The best thing that could come out of it would be a future game based on its engine.

 

[Eminate]

^ I recently rebuilt my desktop from the ground up with the exception of the hard drives. I mean everything and spent well under $1000Can and am running the demo at a comfortable 40fps. Ive been playing the beta for 3 weeks now and that alone had me preorder the game with Ea whom I despise so that should say something. It is absolutely jaw dropping.

I think you are wrong, it's going to be huge among the pc gamers and multiplayers especially. I am going to control myself and say nothing too nasty about you almost comparing it to a silly fanboy console game that is exactly what you called it, a graphically improved rehash of the same boring game populated with pimple faced minors who shouldn't be playing online with adults that can afford to buy a decent computer.

 

[J.theYellow]

You guys started it. I won't have a problem with anyone being excited about it or even enjoying it when it comes up, but use terms like "casual" to discuss the appeal of Crysis, and I'm going to laugh at you. To be "huge" in this market, they're going to have to compete for attention with the likes of Halo 3. The people who do get Crysis are probably going to love the hell out of it -- all the justification for rebuilding their systems and shelling out big bucks (and $1,000 is still big bucks) for 40 fps is likely to drive them insane.

The happy kind of insane, of course.

Meanwhile, I'll be playing TF2. With adults.

 

[Katana314]

FYI to all of you, my system cost under $1000 and can play Crysis competitively (DX9, Very High settings, decent framerate) and according to Cevat, with new drivers I can run it better. You just need to learn what gets the most bang for buck.
And if that's the price for VERY HIGH, I wonder what you'd need to play Medium? Low?
Stop making jokes about Crysis bringing every system to its knees, because sooner or later you'll run it on your computer and realize YOU CAN RUN IT ON YOUR COMPUTER.

Also, please do not make jokes about people modding the engine. I have just tried out its Sandbox Level Editor (included with the demo) and it already seems very superior to other level editors. The engine is already loaded, so you can INSTANTLY test any changes you make to the level, as well as treating it as a sort of Garry's Mod.

There are already quite a number of mod projects that had gotten started even before Crysis' release, and it would be idiotic to say they haven't made significant progress. They had access to the full engine early, so they know what they're dealing with.

Here's a list of already in-progress Crysis mods.
http://www.crysis-online.com/forum/index.php?topic=536.0

 

[Code_wizard]

Does not compute. Casual gamers aren't going to upgrade in time for Crysis to be a hit game. If you have to own a $3000+ system to play it at all, it won't be a hit. "Looks amazing" doesn't sell games. Gameplay and word of mouth sells games.

Halo 3 is huge because it has 1) branding 2) console appeal 3) familiar gameplay. Crysis has none of these things. It's a loss-leader at best, designed to push the current limits of technology. The best thing that could come out of it would be a future game based on its engine.

In an industry where sales continue past 4 years (or later) as it filters down the chain into the various levels of the gaming culture, initial release (while probably the games high sale point) does not determine its popular appeal. I didn't see you actually mention playing the game yourself...the gameplay is finely tuned and the storyline (from what I have seen) is actually pretty okay. Nothing feels better than turning on strength mode leaping on top of a jeep and pounding the crap out of the gunner or cloaking and coming up behind a four man patrol and popping them in the head with your silenced pistol before slinking back into the foliage. This is not stale gameplay here, this feels fresh and is executed very well. I do have some gripes about certain things, but ultimately the gameplay is more than solid, and I see no problem in getting the word out about this.

The fact that you marketed Halo 3 with with strong points such as "Familiar Gameplay" is laughable. Bungie (while not entirely their fault will be held mostly accountable) kept tying a prettier bow around around the same pile of crap, and fanboys just ate it up. I'm glad Bungie went independent (sort of independent) because maybe they will put that talent to good use. You don't want the gameplay to be too familiar, its a careful balance. A good recent example that got it right is TF2.

You guys started it. I won't have a problem with anyone being excited about it or even enjoying it when it comes up, but use terms like "casual" to discuss the appeal of Crysis, and I'm going to laugh at you. To be "huge" in this market, they're going to have to compete for attention with the likes of Halo 3. The people who do get Crysis are probably going to love the hell out of it -- all the justification for rebuilding their systems and shelling out big bucks (and $1,000 is still big bucks) for 40 fps is likely to drive them insane.

The happy kind of insane, of course.

Meanwhile, I'll be playing TF2. With adults.

Like I said above, eventually all games hit the casual market. There is a certain amount of casual appeal in all games...just because 13 year old fanboys can not play it does not mean it can or will be ignored. If anything Crysis is Halo for adults. It's bloody, harsh, and takes a lot more strategy than Halo. I don't believe Crysis will even have to pay attention to Halo. Halo is for your kids and gamers that buy 1-5 games a year. Crysis isn't even on the same platform. Don't bother mentioning the shameful PC ports. As stated before, by the time the kiddies learn about it and it becomes a casual game (I kind of hope this won't happen) it will be able playable on a sub $750 box. And by that time Crysis 2 will be starting to gain hype (They have already announced it is going to be a trilogy).

I almost ignored that last statement there, but I think it needs addressing...
Yeah yeah, TF2 is a good game (a little shallow on content, but a good game) there is no disputing that. I played it since beta and I got to say if there is one new game on the market (not counting Halo 3) with kiddie fanboy appeal its TF2. I think your whole logic here is messed, but I wont get into detail so we stay on topic.

 

[Eminate]

@ Katana;

Here's "THE" place to go for mods, and specifically, Crysis, of course

http://games.moddb.com/183/crysis/mods/

 

[J.theYellow]

The fact that you marketed Halo 3 with with strong points such as "Familiar Gameplay" is laughable. Bungie (while not entirely their fault will be held mostly accountable) kept tying a prettier bow around around the same pile of crap, and fanboys just ate it up.

Yeah, they did.

They really, really did.

That's a game that is "huge." Crysis might be better quality, but it does not have the branding Halo has, and probably won't have the marketing. It might be better looking, play better and play smarter, have heart-stoppingly awesome tools and get a whopping 40 fps on a top-of-the-line PC.

It won't be huge. Quality rarely manages huge success, at least right away. If you want to trumpet your love of the game, fine, but don't talk about it in terms of mainstream success. And I might be wrong about it, but the reasons you give don't jive with real game market behavior. Please try not to get bent out of shape about it.

Like I said above, eventually all games hit the casual market.

No they don't.

 

[Code_wizard]

That's a game that is "huge." Crysis might be better quality, but it does not have the branding Halo has, and probably won't have the marketing. It might be better looking, play better and play smarter, have heart-stoppingly awesome tools and get a whopping 40 fps on a top-of-the-line PC.

It won't be huge. Quality rarely manages huge success, at least right away. If you want to trumpet your love of the game, fine, but don't talk about it in terms of mainstream success. And I might be wrong about it, but the reasons you give don't jive with real game market behavior. Please try not to get bent out of shape about it.

I got to say your probably right about the quality != success factor. Sad but true. Yet I must call to point the fact Halo, the originally PC only, originally RTS did not have the strong branding it now enjoys. There was a strong following and they correctly marketed it. The biggest problem I am currently having with your argument is that you believe there is no way Crysis will be correctly marketed. The trailers already released are TV quality and Crytech would be prety stupid not to start ad-spots. As well, you said your self that word of mouth sells games, I believe that this game is good enough to gain a following that will spread the word. If we were basing the marketing on past Crytech games (Far Cry) then I would agree with you, but since its EA is handling the marketing I am pretty sure we can expect more.

It must be noted that the market is totally different. We are not talking about throngs of rabid casual console players. Mainstream on the PC while not the widespread audience of the console markets is still mainstream. Just like casual console gamers buy console 1-5 games a year, casual PC gamers buy 1-5 PC games a year. If the reviews reflect half the hype then Crysis will become one of those 5 games.

No they don't.

You might not see it, but they do. Thats why your local best buy still stocks titles from 2004. Some games are just hitting the casual (10-20 buck) market. Ok so maybe not all, but all good games marked to any extent.


Your right, as sad as it might be, Crysis will never be as big as Halo. But it has no way to be, the PC gamer market is narrower. I did not say Crysis is the next halo. I said Crysis is the PC gamers Halo. Big difference.

 

[Russ Pitts]

I think you're confusing bargain gamers with casual gamers; two totally different markets.

 

[J.theYellow]

Your right, as sad as it might be, Crysis will never be as big as Halo. But it has no way to be, the PC gamer market is narrower. I did not say Crysis is the next halo. I said Crysis is the PC gamers Halo. Big difference.

Even that seems like a reach, but OK. I was mainly reacting to the "this game will be huge" comment.

Ditto what Russ said about casual =! bargain-bin. Furthermore, if a game has to wait for a price drop before it's bought in any size, it won't be a success.

 

[Junaid Alam]

Crytek is apparently preparing a gameday patch, in addition to changes made between the pre-release and full release, that will improve performance. The speed with which nVIDIA is releasing its driver updates recently certainly points to that.

Also, playing at 16x10 widescreen with medium settings should be pretty playable with this strange new part nVIDIA has released dubbed the 8800 GT. $500 performance for half the price.

See the news section for it today.

 

[Code_wizard]

I think you're confusing bargain gamers with casual gamers; two totally different markets.

I wouldn't call bargain gamers a market. All types of gamers can be budget gamers.

The 13 year old kid who gets 5 bucks a month allowance. He's a casual gamer with money issues. He's not waiting for the price to drop or comparing the reviews of the $40 game and the $20 game and buying one based on value.

The 30 year old gamer that got caught up in one game and didn't buy anything new for months. A year down the road he sees game "X" and remembers it got good reviews, but never took the time to purchase it. Now its fairly cheap, adding to its appeal. Again, he wasn't hunting for a bargain.

Casual gamers can be bargain gamers, but I wouldn't call it a market. You can market to casual gamers, you can market to middle aged men, you can market to 13 year olds. You know what games certain groups like, but budget gamers have no genre, difficulty, tech preference. Sure, you can market to budget gamers in a way, but since the group is everywhere you couldn't create a game tuned to budget gamers' specific preferences because they have none. Also, I don't see any AAA game studios banging out games that go on the shelf already marked at $20. Even if they did you wouldn't say they were marketing for budget gamers, you would say they were marketing to casual gamers.

Furthermore, if a game has to wait for a price drop before it's bought in any size, it won't be a success.

Agreed. Profit = success, quite simple.

Let me elaborate on my thinking. Far Cry has such an immense following I never knew existed till a few months ago (I'm not a big Far Cry fan although FC2 looks awesome). That community is all abuzz with the Crysis release nearing. So I know there is a community already established. Crysis has the mod-ability to keep that community entertained for a long time. It's with these facts I find it hard to believe the game will not be a success. I'm trying to think of any factor more important than a community/fan base to a games success and longevity. I couldn't come up with any. Everything I came up with came back to this one factor. Crysis already has this factor.

In conclusion, Halo was big because it introduced the casual market to a previously hardcore/PC only feature. Online multiplayer. In a way it was seemingly the only title that offered this to the casual market. Making it possible for a monopoly of sorts. (It also explains why it sucked on the PC so much.) Crysis does not have any monopolization like this, but it does/will have a smaller version of what Halo made, or what made Halo you might say. A community.

Thats all for now, now its your turn, rip it apart.