Mass Effect

[SeiKeo]

Gonna require Origin. Easy to see coming but still goddamnit.

[Five_X]

What's that, again? The online download version of the CE, right?

[Mcjon01]

Ugh. No Steam release, which means I guess I'm not playing this. Not because I have something against Origin, but because I'm incredibly neurotic about how my game library is organized and adding a non-Steam game to Steam just isn't good enough. Agggh, but I have to buy it shit what do I dooooo

[Five_X]

Stupid EA and their Steam paranoia or whatever.

[KENTA]

It's not paranoia, they just get more money using Origin.

[I3uster]

Since ME is optimized for consoles and the PC version is a shitty port I am playing it on the 360 anyway.

[Mellon]

Since ME is optimized for consoles and the PC version is a shitty port I am playing it on the 360 anyway.

That is strange. I could have sworn that ME is one series that is consistently better on the PC then on the consoles. ME1 PC edition was better (even though it was released a later) and so was ME2.

Its definitely more comfortable to play on the PC, but that might be my personal preference.

[I3uster]

From what I heard it's more comfortable to play on the consoles.

The interface and a lot of design choices (especially in ME2, for example the skill cooldown) make it seem more like a console game to me.

In the end, yeah, personal preference. I like playing my FPS on the PC and my 3PS on the console. RPGs work on both, although I mostly prefer the PC due to modding.
But ME isn't really that moddable IIRC.

[KENTA]

Getting it on PC and 360. That's right, I'm giving Bioware $120 out of the fucking gate because I'm a sucker.

[Mellon]

From what I heard it's more comfortable to play on the consoles.

The interface and a lot of design choices (especially in ME2, for example the skill cooldown) make it seem more like a console game to me.

In the end, yeah, personal preference. I like playing my FPS on the PC and my 3PS on the console. RPGs work on both, although I mostly prefer the PC due to modding.
But ME isn't really that moddable IIRC.

Meh. Even with the skill cooldowns, the usage of hotkeys for the biotic/tech abilities already > the console interface. Bringing up the radial every time I try to use something makes it a pain.

The same issue as in Dragon Age (though to a lesser extent), crops up here as well. The console is basically the PC version without hotkeys and visual customization (and the mouse is times better for any sort of aiming then the analogs).

[I3uster]

Well, but the whole game is more made towards mitigating the console versions flaws. A keyboard is always going to be superior to a controller when playing an RPG because a controller does not have 10000 buttons. And if you are used to a controller the aiming isn't that much different. I have a higher headshot precision on the console than on the PC for example.

The PC version just feels a bit strange to play with all those console compromises imo. It just feels more "comfortable" when played on a console.

[Mellon]

Well, but the whole game is more made towards mitigating the console versions flaws. A keyboard is always going to be superior to a controller when playing an RPG because a controller does not have 10000 buttons. And if you are used to a controller the aiming isn't that much different. I have a higher headshot precision on the console than on the PC for example.

The PC version just feels a bit strange to play with all those console compromises imo. It just feels more "comfortable" when played on a console.

It does try to hide them. It needs to mitigate the console flaws, because who the hell would play an otherwise completely sub-par version of the game?

Meh. Like I said, I find that even with the compromises, the PC version out-does everything the console version does and is more intuitive. When I played ME2 on Xbox, I seriously missed the hotkeys (playing the game without them, made me really annoyed), as they made the game much better flowing and natural, at least for me.

[Mcjon01]

And on top of hotkeys, PC version has better resolution, better fps, and relatively instantaneous loading times, even compared to installing the console version on the hard drive. That last one in particular makes the original Mass Effect SO much more playable on the PC it's not even funny. I think the lack of loading cuts a third of the total playtime.

[KENTA]

See, you mention FPS, but so long as it doesn't stutter I don't think I notice FPS above 20, like, at all. Resolution too, it just never registers with me.

[Mcjon01]

Just thought I'd throw it out there because it's true.

[KENTA]

True or not, people always throw that out there and I can never tell if they're BSing me. Like......what's the difference between 30 and 40 FPS? Or what advantage does a higher resolution have? Do people really notice these things?

[Techlet]

True or not, people always throw that out there and I can never tell if they're BSing me. Like......what's the difference between 30 and 40 FPS? Or what advantage does a higher resolution have? Do people really notice these things?

The difference between 30 (console) and 60+ (glorious PC) FPS is huge. Everything you see is smoother, and for me, that makes or breaks immersion.

[Mcjon01]

Resolution? Definitely, makes a big difference. FPS not quite as much, but it's definitely noticeable, particularly when it doesn't dip below twenty when there's a ton of crap on the screen blowing up.

[SeiKeo]

And on top of hotkeys, PC version has better resolution, better fps, and relatively instantaneous loading times, even compared to installing the console version on the hard drive. That last one in particular makes the original Mass Effect SO much more playable on the PC it's not even funny. I think the lack of loading cuts a third of the total playtime.

Except lolBioware makes the loading movies longer than the actual loading times. XD

[Mcjon01]

But I dummied those out.

And in the first ME it was all elevators and bioscans, all of which became hilariously short.