What makes a PC port "crappy"?
- Thread starter Rylee Fox
- Start date
I don't play much on a pc but still, they should all have a high fov (110 on pc and btw 90 on consoles should be a standard) or a fov slider + properly optimised.
Well, it definitely needs proper keyboard + mouse support, as that is the standard input for PC and not everyone has a controller for it.
It also needs the option to change keybindings.
WASD is a pain when you've got AZERTY, which is the standard in my country.
If you've got a QWERTY keyboard and you want to know just how annoying it is, try playing a game with WASD controls changed to ZQSD instead.
It also needs the option to change keybindings.
WASD is a pain when you've got AZERTY, which is the standard in my country.
If you've got a QWERTY keyboard and you want to know just how annoying it is, try playing a game with WASD controls changed to ZQSD instead.
Well, as mentioned before there shouldn't be any game breaking bugs, but that goes for all games.
When it comes to graphics, it should be possible to adjust them. We have different computers and some can run games better, some handle better graphics. This is basic knowledge. Now take RAGE, that game had a ton of issues. I have had issues with games and had them fixed with adjusting the settings. There were no settings to adjust in RAGE so it was unstable for a lot of people.
The controller scheme has to be good if possible. Getting Street Fighter to ply well with a keyboard and mouse is naive. It's clearly best to play with a controller. Then there are games like Saints Row 2 where sniping was a real pain. The default setting had you pressing v to get the scope up and I think you used g and h to zoom in and out.
Saints Row 2 also had some magnificent examples of instability. I always had to play for 15 minutes before the framerate became smooth. Until that point it was really choppy.
When it comes to graphics, it should be possible to adjust them. We have different computers and some can run games better, some handle better graphics. This is basic knowledge. Now take RAGE, that game had a ton of issues. I have had issues with games and had them fixed with adjusting the settings. There were no settings to adjust in RAGE so it was unstable for a lot of people.
The controller scheme has to be good if possible. Getting Street Fighter to ply well with a keyboard and mouse is naive. It's clearly best to play with a controller. Then there are games like Saints Row 2 where sniping was a real pain. The default setting had you pressing v to get the scope up and I think you used g and h to zoom in and out.
Saints Row 2 also had some magnificent examples of instability. I always had to play for 15 minutes before the framerate became smooth. Until that point it was really choppy.
I think the worst pc ports are games that don't release on the pc. I actually play most non-shooter pc games I can with a controller so I can lean back comfortably with a gamepad in my lap. Basically, if it appears on pc then people smarter than I will release patches like the fps one for Dark Souls.
What's worse in my opinion than the physical porting are multiplatform games designed obviously with the console crowd in mind, like any shooter released with a match making system instead of dedicated servers.
What's worse in my opinion than the physical porting are multiplatform games designed obviously with the console crowd in mind, like any shooter released with a match making system instead of dedicated servers.
I only use mouse and keyboard for shooters and mmos like EvE where you pretty much have to. Most other games don't even require the precision mice give so why lean forward with your arms raised up when you can sit back and be comfortable? There's a guy above who didn't want to play dark souls with a gamepad. That's up to you but give it a shot. You'll be able to play the game just fine and you won't even get cooties from the sub-race control system.Rylee Fox said:
For the most part when problems come up souly due to my platform of choice.Rylee Fox said:
Few things.
1.Flat out broken controls. Not everyone has a gamepad you don't have to be the best for keybord but they should always be playable with one.
Saints row 2 for example using the keyboard it assumed you wanted to turn the wheels all the way to the left or right rather then drive like a normal car. The cars were simply un-driveable at full speed if you were using the keyboard.
GTA:SA
cammara controls don't work. It just stays faceing north. Mouse is shown on menus but will not work except for scrolling up and down.
2. New mechanics tell you to use x-box buttons when you are on the PC or just tell you to use the ability without telling you how to use it, when it tells you on the consoles. So you have to go and find out the keys, This breaks the game flow for me and is something I should not have to do.
3. Graphic artifacts- I agree that every game dose not need to be Crisis 3 in terms of graphics. but it should not have random frame rate drops or simply bad rendering of items/bad draw distance due to the way it was ported. I understand if it is the same draw distance as the consoles but I should not have worse simply because I play on the PC unless my computer is lacking.
4.Technical problems -Memory leaks, runs only on a single core of your CPU.
I should not have to bend over backwards to keep a game from crashing on me.
5. game is tied to the internet for single player when it is entirely pointless and only tied on the PC version.
like AC:II
extra points if it is cloud save only and your servers are junk.
To say nothing of the Pipboy in New Vegas and FO3. Ugh.mParadox said:
Anyway...
it has to be optimized for PC, has to run well, a decent number of options in the graphic menu so that those of us with lower rigs can adjust it to a level we can use...
and for fuck's sake don't make the game absolutely REQUIRE certain graphical features... because NOT everyone's rig can handle whatever extra special lighting features you think your game needs. I'm looking at you Alan Wake.
I see this being brought up a lot and agree 100% Games should have the ability to turn down the graphic settings because not everyone has a PC that can handle it. I very often have to turn down the graphics on games for that very reason.TheDoctor455 said:
I'd tend to go with the admittedly arbitrary "does it run/play worse than the console it was ported from"?
Now, I'm not terribly demanding. I don't demand 60 fps (though I'd really, really appreciate not dipping below 30.) I don't need the cross-over from console controller to mouse to be perfect, though I'd like it if it actually worked (the screw-ups with selecting menu options in Skyrim aren't game-breaking, but they're annoying in that it feels like they could have been avoided with a little more work). And I'm apparently the only one for whom the PC port of Saints Row 2, at least post-patches, wasn't a complete disaster.
But I was pretty damn annoyed that Bully freaked out to discover it was running on a 64-bit operating system with more than 2 GB of RAM. (C'mon, Rockstar- welcome to the twenty-first century!) And now that even many consoles are using hard drives, expecting players to accept a solely checkpoint-based save system seems ridiculously antiquated. And just as some consoles are struggling with the idea of making text readable on SD televisions, one should also never have to squint and bring one's face half an inch from the monitor because the developers never considered the game being played at a resolution higher than 1080p.
Now, I'm not terribly demanding. I don't demand 60 fps (though I'd really, really appreciate not dipping below 30.) I don't need the cross-over from console controller to mouse to be perfect, though I'd like it if it actually worked (the screw-ups with selecting menu options in Skyrim aren't game-breaking, but they're annoying in that it feels like they could have been avoided with a little more work). And I'm apparently the only one for whom the PC port of Saints Row 2, at least post-patches, wasn't a complete disaster.
But I was pretty damn annoyed that Bully freaked out to discover it was running on a 64-bit operating system with more than 2 GB of RAM. (C'mon, Rockstar- welcome to the twenty-first century!) And now that even many consoles are using hard drives, expecting players to accept a solely checkpoint-based save system seems ridiculously antiquated. And just as some consoles are struggling with the idea of making text readable on SD televisions, one should also never have to squint and bring one's face half an inch from the monitor because the developers never considered the game being played at a resolution higher than 1080p.
For me, a PC port is bad if:
A: The controls are bad enough that they become distracting.
and/or
B: The game is so poorly optimized that I'm having performance problems when I shouldn't be.
and/or
C: There are tons of bugs/crashes that make the game difficult to play.
and/or
D: The game has some kind of irritating DRM scheme. In other words, I will only buy a game if it is on Steam or has no DRM at all.
Other than that, I don't really care if a port makes use of the shiniest graphics available or anything like that.
A: The controls are bad enough that they become distracting.
and/or
B: The game is so poorly optimized that I'm having performance problems when I shouldn't be.
and/or
C: There are tons of bugs/crashes that make the game difficult to play.
and/or
D: The game has some kind of irritating DRM scheme. In other words, I will only buy a game if it is on Steam or has no DRM at all.
Other than that, I don't really care if a port makes use of the shiniest graphics available or anything like that.
To each his own.sagitel said:
It's not an absolute that Skyrim has a crappy UI, although my wording might implicate that. It's just more streamlined for controllers than mouse. SkyUI is all clicking. Having a fast mouse helps in navigating it. And, I don't know about other people but I really do dislike scrolling. Especially in game. I'd rather assign weapons/
AND the vanilla UI of Skyrim plays out like a list. A big, huge font list. The font size isn't even necessary since I don't recall PCs being played from a few feet away.
ALSO, SkyUI has some neat features like Weight:Value ratio, a search bar to quickly seek out the things you want/ or want to sell. Hell, the latest update added another little thing which lets you search for areas on the Map [http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/images/3863-1-1362921275.jpg]. Better than going all over the map looking for it.
Not being able to read the text on the start up menu of the game, and some screens being completely black, a problem I've been having with Bioshock Infinite. I go into more detail, but this isn't the right thread for that. On a side note, does anyone remember how to create a new thread. I haven't been on this site in forever, and I forgot how to make a new thread.
Generally, this complaint boils down to two things.Rylee Fox said:
1) Shitty controls.
2) Poorly optimized software.
#1 should be fairly obvious. If the mouse and keyboard controls are a colossal pain in the ass to use properly (for example, moving with asfd, sprinting with left control, and jumping with shift in a game meant for rapid, 3D platforming), people will generally call it a shitty port. The developers designed it to work around the controller inputs and put no effort or testing into the PC version's controls, so they end up being utter shit.
#2 is a bit more nebulous. Most of the time, if the game runs on most systems and looks comparable to the console version, most people will accept it as a decent port. If the game crashes a lot, has all kinds of ridiculous upscaling on the textures, etc etc, then people will call it out on being shitty.
See, this argument would be valid if it was true. At home, I have an armchair in front of the PC. It's really comfy to just sink into it. And if needed, I can sit back, too - keyboard has a long cable, so does the mouse - the arm rest is enough for the mouse to operate on (and there is also my leg, if really needed). But at the place I live now, I don't have a desk, so I just have my laptop propped on a chair and I sit on my bed. Actually, I'm currently lying on the bed. Again - mouse and keyboard cables are long so whatever.SecondPrize said:
So what you're saying is that because of your personal set up, a mouse and keyboard must be as comfortable as kicking back with a gamepad for everyone?DoPo said:
Well, allow me to clarify. A controller in my lap is more comfortable for me than using a mouse and keyboard, due to a number of reasons. I will allow that other people may be able to sit back and be comfortable with a mouse and keyboard. However, if they are unable to do so, I recommend a controller for comfort.DoPo said: