RPG Progress Report

[Sarge]

Oh, no, there are tons that install data to a working cache. There are even some that, even when "installed", will still be streaming data off the disc until it's done loading things in, then stop after about five minutes of play. The 360 is designed to have a working partition that devs can use, and they don't have to ask permission to use it. The original XBOX was the same way.

In fact, there are times that the cache can be corrupted, and you'll have to clear it out to get the game working properly again. This is the case on 360, and was also that way on the XBOX. The option to clear it is pretty well hidden, but it's there.

Some articles about Halo 3:

http://halo.bungie.net/news/content.asp ... &cid=16252
http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/11/20/ ... mps-halo-3

[Exhuminator]

Well I learned something new about the 360 today in that case.

What confuses me though, is that the original Deus Ex Human Revolution for 360 could be installed. But when the Director's Cut was released for 360, the install feature was removed. I'd like to know the factual reason why that change was made, but I haven't been able to find any definitive source on that yet. I guess it wouldn't bother 99% of users anyway, so why should they have to explain themselves.

[Sarge]

That is interesting. I wouldn't mind knowing why myself. I'm sure there's some technical reason behind it, but I don't know what.

[MrPopo]

The whole "install" thing on the 360 was a weird hodgepodge of compromises that starts off from the existence of the launch variant of the 360 with no hard drive. For the first several years of its life the Microsoft certification required devs to assume that no hard drive was available (and there were one or two notable cases of XBLA games being denied due to being larger than the small amount that could fit on a memory card/internal flash memory). That all got relaxed later on, and devs started including in automatic caching code to buffer stuff to disk at runtime. Then the OS had a copy the ISO to HDD "install" added and some of those early games actually recommended against it, as their code would still run the caching logic and effectively copy data from the HDD to the HDD, wasting space and time. It's almost as bad as the state of display and sound standards back in the DOS days where you couldn't rely on ANYTHING. The PS3, by contrast, was much saner, as you knew everyone had a HDD and so you could (and many did) include an install option to buffer data to the HDD and Sony just left it up to the devs.

[prfsnl_gmr]

So...when I get around to playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut, should I go with the PS3 version or the Wii U version?

[Sarge]

I always hear that the Wii U version is the definitive one.

[MrPopo]

Clearly the PC version.

[Xeogred]

I played the original on the 360 and then the Wii U version of Director's Cut which was pretty cool if you don't mind using the gamepad. Not my preference but for the menus and hacking it was pretty fun to use.

The fact that all of you have the game speaks to its popularity. The Director's Cut is pretty solid so far, but I have the 360 version. And for some dumb reason the 360 version of Director's Cut won't let you install the game. So load times can be really annoying here and there.

I put three more hours into it last night. Had to go to the morgue in the police station to retrieve some intel from a dead body. Cops were being jerks and not wanting to let me in. So I butchered every single person in the building and got what I needed. Normally I might go stealth, but the stealth mechanics in Human Revolution aren't what I'd call well designed. No biggie, I don't mind being a mass murderer. The augs made me do it, you see.

Let's not kid, the combat isn't exactly that great in the original either, even for its time.

Definitely not why I play Deus Ex though.

[Exhuminator]

Let's not kid, the combat isn't exactly that great in the original either, even for its time.

Definitely not why I play Deus Ex though.

I didn't say the combat was bad in Deus Ex 3. It's definitely better than in Deus Ex 1 and Deus Ex 2. And this coming from someone who's beaten Deus Ex and Invisible War. BTW I agree that Invisible War is underrated, I for one enjoyed it quite a bit. However I think that the stealth stuff was done better in Deus Ex 1 & 2 versus 3. That's all I'm saying. The detection routines in Deus Ex 3 are completely flaky and unpredictable.

[MrPopo]

I personally didn't have much in the way of problems with the stealth in Deus Ex HR. If anything I found it easier to sneak around because you had more tools for figuring out when enemies were aware of you and cones of sight. That said, I always put my first Praxis Points into said tools; it could be that DX is easier to stealth from the get-go but HR is easier if you focus on it.