Jimquisition: Shaming PC Ports Because Why Not?

[Jimothy Sterling]

Shaming PC Ports Because Why Not?

Jim decides to just rant unhelpfully about terrible PC ports, and the humiliating need for them to be fixed by unpaid customers.

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[Evonisia]

Well hopefully this issue will be rarer now than developers must develop for PBox One and the PC4 to produce console games. I don't think that last part was 'not written' but you pulled it off nicely.

 

[PG]

But wasn't the PC version of Dark Souls priced less than the console versions?

Almost all PC games cost less but not by much, certainly not enough to excuse shoddy work. If you buy a washing machine where the door isn't fitted to the frame properly you wouldn't buy it for a £10 discount.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

So Jim, are you expecting someone in the community to release a patch for your script? XD

 

[Leonardo Huizar]

I guess im kinda on the other fence by saying that i really enjoyed Diablo 3 on PS3. I did keep track of how it was received on PC and im really glad they changed it and trimmed the fat for the console release.

 

[T3hSource]

Eeeeeh, Dark Souls has a valid excuse of being the exception, FromSoft have never done a PC port and they never would've done it if it didn't have demand. But yes, via dsfix everything is fine and dandy and noone complains.

However on Deadlight you are dead on(pun intented). But you missed the obvious examples of quite a few Capcom ports and the infamous Saint's Row 2 and GTA IV.

PC does have a higher standard really, and because of differentiating hardware and drivers, it can be really tricky to make a stable port from X360 to PC. Hopefully it will get better when devs have to port from Xbone to PC.

 

[Hover Hand Mode]

A port of House of the Dead: Overkill was released on Steam as Typing of the Dead: Overkill. Cool concept, must have. The problem is that it's unstable and crashes (in my case, it crashes my computer as it attempts to load). After releasing a patch and some DLC, the problem persists. Needless to say, this video speaks to me and I'm not going to buy a game on PC unless I read some feedback to ensure that it will actually run!

 

[Pebkio]

I would say that while we expect ports to suck... suck suck suck some big ol-

Ahem, while we expect some suckage, by no means is everyone accepting of lazy developers. Everytime someone has to step in and fix an easy-to-correct problem for free, we lose a few more people to the temptations of piracy. We are approaching the point were we have zero respect for AAA game designers and it shows.

 

[VoidOfOne]

Never put much thought into the subject, but I do see how ridiculous it is that there are so many problems with several games ported to PC that are fixed by fans and modders. It is sad. First-world problem, but still sad.

Now if someone could fix the always-online feature of Diablo 3...

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Its what its like now. With old consoles the games worked or they didnt, no such luxury for day one patches - something the PC had and was used to due to internet access. Now, when console are linked to the internet, now consoles have day one patches which seem to be the norm. Though it is an admittance of shoddy developing if you need a patch.

Mods for extra fun are great. But mods fixing bugs or gameplay issues should never be needed. An to think "no worries, it will be modded soon" has become a normal reaction to pc gaming, like Rome 2. The fact it is accepted.....though not necessarily liked....gives companies the green light to release buggy and broken games. Its great that there are gamers with the skills to be able to fix things but they shouldnt have to.

 

[Trishbot]

Look, I acknowledge that Bethesda can make some pretty good games...

... But at the same time, most of their games are released in a VERY unfinished, buggy, even broken state before the mod communities can fix the issues themselves.

I just have a weird feeling seeing an otherwise good game like Skyrim win several Game of the Year awards, when at that very moment entire versions of it were completely unplayable (especially on PS3).

I mean, if we literally reward them with the highest honors we can give a game, while their games are in a broken state, and they expect the fans and communities to fix their mess for them, what incentive do they have to actually ever release a polished, working game to market?

 

[Hero in a half shell]

But often the biggest dissapointment for me, is the UI or other limitation left over from the console version.

The Elder Scrolls games UI's were, and are, fucking horrible.

Aww, I absolutely hated the Elder Scrolls menu system, not only was it badly designed from a usability point of view, but it was actually bugged and unresponsive, and some of the buttons didn't work with the mouse, which was unforgivable. Mods fixed it, of course, but mods shouldn't have had to.

P.S. Jim, I didn't get to say thanks for doing the microtransaction one last week, I enjoyed it as well.

 

[gigastar]

Well why shouldnt an inexperienced crew try to port thier works to PC?

How can they learn to do a good job of it if they do not make the mistakes?

 

[BrotherRool]

"Don't port games to PC" ~ Jim Sterling

Okay I'll stop stirring, more seriously, even if you don't know how to port to PC, you should be able to pay another company to do that for you. The fan fixes prove that

But wasn't the PC version of Dark Souls priced less than the console versions?

PC prices are 10 pounds cheaper normally because they don't have to pay a cut to the platform holder. So the company isn't making less money for shilling an inferior product, it's just that Sony or Microsoft aren't taking a cut

 

[PuckFuppet]

It is worth noting that because some fuckwit decided that games being "pretty" was more important than games being functional, and then those games continued to be purchased en masse, that this is the norm. Art departments making bucket loads of content, most of which will go unused anyway, being cut down/edited by so called "directors" and then handed off piecemeal to two or three groups of actual scripters/programmers/whatever to be forced to work with what they've already developed. Only to have that product put through the same "director" process and then back to them again.

Its worth noting that this shouldn't be exclusively seen as "buggy PC ports are bad" so much as it is "buggy games are bad".

Is the workload a valid excuse? It is for the people forced to work on it but those in charge of the situation are taking the piss.
Why do some developers have 5-6 artists for every 1 programmer? Because, and I quote, "programmers are almost pure overhead".