» Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:55 am My favorite features in order of preference -
High quality HDR
Shadows w/ variable Penumbra
particle effects w/ motion blur and shadows
Bokeh DOP - (Pure Maximum Awesomeness!)
High quality HDR motion blur
Parallax Occlusion Mapping
real-time local reflections
water
tessellation
SSDO
High-res Textures
When the PC version first shipped, like many here, I was extremely disappointed. I
thought that Crytek had indeed sold out to the console community. The infamous "press start" option at the loading screen of version 1.0 said it all.
After patch 1.1, bugs had still infested the game, and the graphics were a bit ugly.
Patch 1.2 didn't evolve the game much further, but then patch 1.4 came out. The game was still buggy but a few issues had been resolved (at least for me. My MP progress would now save), and Dx9 gfx received a major update.
I started to have faith again. It showed me that you were indeed listening to the PC community. Bugs were squashed.
Patch 1.8's advanced gfx options were underwhelming, but it was a start.
Now here we are with patch 1.9 and as Cry-Adam predicted, the Dx11 update "blew me away." In addition, AI in SP has dramatically improved, and so has gameplay (combat against the Ceph is actually fun now for me atleast).
I work in IT/Tech industry and I am all too familiar with how programs/games can fail miserably with specific hardware configurations. I don't doubt that there are users with genuine issue's that Crytek needs to address; however I'll bet 10 Euro's that a host of problems are related to ATI/AMD gfx cards. HARDOCP's "non-review" of the dx11 update was based on a system with dual AMD 6000 series gfx cards. IMO HARD-OCP = EPIC FAILURE. They should have known better.
I am not trolling here, but IMO AMD/ATI support can be unacceptable at times. I realize that the 6990 is faster in SOME games by about 3-4 fps than the GTX590, but is it really worth the hassle of dealing with their less than optimal driver support? AMD/ATI uses roughly 3 times the resource's an nVidia card uses to get about the same performance.
Nvidia releases a driver update about once a month. AMD/ATI tries to keep up, but typically stumbles along. How many times have you had to install a "hotfix" version a,b, or even C, to fix their monthly driver update? This has typically been an issue with ATI cards. I myself had a 4870X2 and encountered many a frustrating
experience with games out of the box. For example, Batman Arkum Asylum would crash to desktop at the loading screen and there was absolutely no physics support with ATI cards. It's not just program and game support, desktop functionality can also become broken.
I can't tell you how many time's I have had to replace gfx cards based on the ATI/AMD reference design not only in the field but OUT OF THE BOX BRAND NEW! Roughly 20% vs. Nvidia's 5-7 % - a huge difference. I don't mean to offend anyone's rig, but this has simply been my direct experience.
So with that said, if your Crysis 2 issue's are related to some conflict with your ATI/AMD gfx card, its likely the source of the problem may be ATI and not Crytek.
Look at how closely nVidia worked with Crytek on the DX11 update. As usual ATI was late to the party - it is a two-way street.
With that said, the game is still in need of another patch.
I am sure there are more issue's not mentioned here, but the following are what I feel need to be addressed in the next patch -
1.) New problem - Odd contrast issue w/DX11 and MP. Black vs white ratio needs adjustments. Blacks are too dark and whites are too bright (HDR POST Processing?)
2.) The Orbital Strike Lag
3.) High-res Textures
4.) Vehicle combat in MP (addition of VTOL's, Tanks, and armored vehicles)
5.) AI in SP still needs improvement - NPC's can still fail to have any reaction when uncloaked and will not engage the player.
6.) Tessellation
7.) overlapping music in MP UI
Crytek, can you release a "Super-High res texture pack" at 1024x1024? This is still sorely needed I think and will be the icing on the DX-11 cake.
The amount of tessellated textures could be increased as well. A tessellation adjustment option (similar to Uniengine's Heaven benchmark), would also be a welcome addition.
If you are disappointed with the lack of AA, V-sync, and AS adjustments, you can configure these options in the driver of your nVidia video card (Can't speak for ATI/AMD on this).
Finally, maybe add the ability to play as the Ceph in MP? If it can be balanced, I think it could kick some Maximum serious ass!
Crytek, thank you again for your hard work and perseverence in making Crysis 2 PC finally worthy of the name Crytek!
