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Deus Ex - Invisible War Demo Released
revmoo writes "The long-awaited demo for Deus Ex: Invisible War has finally been released! Blue's News has a comprehensive list of mirrors for the 224MB download, including BitTorrent via GameTab and another Torrent from FileRush." Initial feedback seems mixed, with echoes of the recent interview in which Warren Spector agrees with the observation that "complexity is not the same as depth" for this 'streamlined' sequel design.
I feel mixed myself about the demo. Yep, it's definitely Deus Ex, but there are a few things that seem "dumbed down" about the game. For instance, the inventory is ridiculous. Instead of a 8x8 square that DX1 uses, DX2 has this weird arc that you have to cycle through in order to access your stuff. Sound confusing? That's because it is. There are a couple other things that make it feel too console-ish, but on the other hand, it most definitely feels like DX1. Will I be buying the game when it comes out? That's really a tough one -- I loved DX1 so ya, I'll probably get it, but I really, REALLY hope they get those performance issues dealt with, as the game is pretty choppy in even 800x600 (Athlon XP 2000+, 512 MB DDR, Geforce 4 4200 128MB, WD Caviar Special Ed 8MB Cache 7200RPM, SBLIVE!); take it for what you will.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
Well, just from reading the 80+ comments on Blue's News, I'd say the initial feedback is overwhelmingly negative. Some of the issues people have with it can apparently be fixed by tweaking the .ini files (One entry contained a comment saying the current value was for the X-box, not the PC, and offered an alternate value. Why this wasn't set as the default, I have no idea.). Some changes apparently aren't sticking though as the .ini files are installed as read-only (which can of course be changed). It will be interesting to see what Ion Storm has to say about this.
I downloaded it last night (the Gamespy release got Bittorrented) and have played it through several times.
It does drop you straight into the middle of the game, so I don't really know what's going on, but the glimpses of plot sound pretty interesting. It's impressively non-linear, too, especially for two tiny maps - but there are problems...
A lot of the complexity of the original has been stripped out, and I'm not sure if that's always a good thing. One of the oddest changes to gameplay is the 'unified ammunition' - basically, all weapons use the same ammo, and if you run out when using one weapon you can't change to another.
Another big change is the apparent lack of location-specific damage. You can't neatly and efficiently dispose of enemies in a stealthy manner, instead you have to keep shooting at them until they eventually drop dead, having alerted everyone else in the vicinity.
Oh, and the electric shock prod is woefully ineffective. Ten or more shocks are needed to take down a guard, and is blatantly non-stealthy.
The interface is very fiddly and uses large-print text for everything, which means reading anything longer than a sentence takes numerous pages. It might be like that because of the Xbox version and television screens, but last time I looked I had a PC underneath my desk, not a games console.
The graphics aren't significantly better than the original - yes, it's got excessively sharp real-time lighting for everything, along with normal mapping and so on, but it really doesn't look hugely different, despite requiring a fairly hefty graphics card. Halo runs way better on my old, creaky PC than this.
The AI is pretty terrible. I lobbed barrels at a guard for a few minutes without him caring, and even vaulted over the gate he was protecting without him bothering. I (eventually) shocked him unconscious with the prod and carried him inside, to drop him in front of the other guards. Yes, they became suspicious because of the appearance of this body, but never realised I might have been responsible, even when I threw the body at them, and then down the lift shaft.
I really hope the demo isn't indicative of the final game - it shows some promise, but it seems too much of a step down from the original. A shame.
There's a Petition asking them to fix some of the more important problems before release. I hope they pay attention to the fans.
This game might be really neat with a console controller. As is, mouse and keyboard don't really fit it.
Any time games start using new engines, there's bitching about framerates and hardware. As I recall, while I didn't have a state of the art machine, when I played Deus Ex the week it came out, it didn't run amazingly fast either (except on my brother's Voodoo5). Those I can dismiss.
I download the demo, but decided against playing it so as to try and just sit down and play through the game without repetition. It's interesting to see the press previews from Gamespot, IGN, and Gamespy, and how those seem to have directly polarized from public opinion about the demo. Maybe the game is better?
At any rate, has anyone seen or read any official responses in forums from Warren or the team?
I dont't get it. What the heck!
I try to start the game and I get this error message:
"Your PC doesn't have enough free space to start a new game. 'L-Mouse' to return to the main menu or 'Esc' to exit Deus Ex: Invisible War.
What, 512 megs of ram and 4,1 GB of hard disk space not enough for you???
What IS going on??? Have I been waiting ages for this????????????
What the heck!
Yuioup
...is simultaneous development for multiple platforms. Here's a perfect example. You simplify a game so it can be played with a gamepad, and you screw over people who have all the capabilities of a mouse and keyboard. It's sad.
It's sad when choosing an installation directory on your own qualifies you as an "advanced user."
Then open User.ini and find the four movement speeds ("W=Move*=1.000000"). Change "1.000000" to "0.800000." This helps with the floaty mouse control and brings movement speed more in line with the original DX (you can, of course, change "1.000000" to another value if you so wish).
Then go into the Default.ini file (in the "System" directory) and change "FOV__d=61" to "FOV__d=68" (or 69 or 70). This will place the HUD closer to the edges of the screen; it turns out the default setting is for the Xbox version, where the HUD is further away from the edges so as to avoid getting cut off by TV overscan. Since this isn't so much an issue with PC monitors, change it ASAP. It's a lot better-looking. Change the settings for Volumetric Lighting and Trilinear Filtering from OFF to ON and change "CacheSizeMegs" from "1" to about 20. Change "MouseLagThreshold" from 75 to 0. Change "Use32BitTextures" to "TRUE" (if your card can handle it). If you want more realistic damage (including one-hit-kill headshots), find the "Difficulty" section and change the values for "Difficulty_AI_Damage_[insert difficulty level here]__d" to about 5.0.
You can make these adjustments with this tweak tool if you prefer (the site is in German but the download links aren't hard to find). The above fixes will address some of the main complaints about the demo; you can also play around with some other settings if you like (there are also settings for player damage, physics, and the font used for in-game text). Unfortunately the new inventory management system and the goofy unified ammo system can probably not be fixed by a mere .ini tweak.
At first, I thought my distaste was due to the novel interface. Things is, I liked DX's old interface. I couldn't understand why people bitched about it. This time, it was oversimplified. I had to try every key to figure out which one did what I wanted. The inventory was limited. The "computer hacking" was barely a challenge: I _liked_ having to hunt for passwords in the original game, but now, they're little more than on-off switches.
And worst of all, the original game had big, huge levels in which a lot of tactics could be used. The demo has two very small levels, barely even four or five rooms, and the task required was ridiculously simple. Sure, there were different ways of accomplishing the goal... but I just didn't feel the need to try different ways. Other users have complained about the undifferentiated ammo, which will probably be a BIG problem if I had to play the whole game. Didn't pay much attention to the AI, but it didn't seem all that exceptional.
And the game had the ugly, clunky feel of a console game. I don't like consoles. I like using a mouse and keyboard. I like complicated stuff you find in computer games, like the password-hacking.
The more I think about the DX2 demo, the more I wish that someone would develop a nice, big sequel using the original game engine. For all of its faults, it worked pretty darn well.
God, I hope Half-Life 2 comes out soon.
Im not getting too worried about a buggy demo. Most demos are buggy, anyway.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
Lots of things are wrong with the interface, but the gameplay itself is classic DX. If you liked the first one you'll probably find it acceptable. The new format is pretty lame though. Graphics are only improved in resolution and fancy lighting - still a lack of good design.
My general impression is that they are babying the player along. Cameras have magic pointy beams that show where they're aimed,
Any word on whether this thing works with Wine or WineX?
WeRelate.org - wiki-based genealogy
I played through the demo once using my typical play style: mix of stealth and well-placed explosives. And it was okay. Today I went back to the demo and played for crazy kills. Walked up to guard and just started knifing him. Amazingly enough I killed him and he only fired one or two rounds - right as I knifed him for the 7th or 8th time. Weird. So I pick up his flamethrower and attack all the guards. Guess what? They all burned to death and I beat the demo without a scratch. WTF? That "unified ammo" system let me expend half and flame half a dozen guards with no trouble. This can't be right. http://www.petitiononline.com/DXIWDemo/petition.ht ml
my book
Here's a hack that me and a friend found while trying to find a way to kill the bar customers. This hack allows you to access more weapons and augmentations, thereby increasing your chance of murduring helpless innocents.
Go to the directory where the demo is installed and open the "System" directory. Then open the file "DemoTravel.log" in Notepad. This is a list of the starting equipment and augmentations. Below is a layout for the format:
***FOR INVENTORY ITEMS
sorry bout formatting Class=DX2Gamesys.#
sorry bout formatting Name=#__N
sorry bout formatting
sorry bout formatting Tag=#
sorry bout formatting bHidden=True
sorry bout formatting TraveledInventorySlot=S
sorry bout formatting IsFrobbable=True
sorry bout formatting }
# = "D_" or "P_" and a number between "0" and ??? that represents the ID (many AREN'T valid)
N = Usually "0", but should be unique when stacking similar items in one slot.
S = This is what slot the item is stored in. 0 to 5 is are main slots, 6 to 11 are the inventory.
(note: if IsFrobbable is set to "False", it's impossible to pick up the item once it's been dropped)
***FOR AUGMENTATIONS
sorry bout formatting Class=DX2Gamesys.# Name=#__0
sorry bout formatting {
sorry bout formatting bTraveledBiomod=True
sorry bout formatting AugLevel=AugmentationLevel_L
sorry bout formatting Tag=#
sorry bout formatting }
# = "D_" and a number between "0" and ??? that represents the ID (many AREN'T valid)
L = This is the level of the augmentation from 1 to 3. A higher level means it gives better enhancements.
Now that the format is more clear, all that's needed is to modify it with valid data. First right click on the file, select "Properties", and uncheck its "Read-only" flag.
Next, carefully replace old equipment IDs with any of the following.
excuse the formatting P_29 Concussion Grenade
excuse the formatting P_30 EMP Grenade
excuse the formatting P_31 Knife
excuse the formatting P_32 Pistol
excuse the formatting P_35 Katana
excuse the formatting P_36 Nightstick
excuse the formatting P_37 Boltcaster
excuse the formatting P_38 Crowbar
excuse the formatting P_41 Flame Thrower
excuse the formatting P_42 Gas Grenade
excuse the formatting P_43 Scramble Grenade
excuse the formatting P_48 EMP Proximity Mine
excuse the formatting P_49 Shotgun
excuse the formatting P_50 Proximity Mine
excuse the formatting P_61 Rocket Launcher
excuse the formatting P_62 Railgun
excuse the formatting P_65 SniperRifle
excuse the formatting P_68 Submachine Gun
excuse the formatting P_70 RiotProd
excuse the formatting D_398 Binoculars
excuse the formatting D_414 Bio Energy
excuse the formatting D_420 Medpack
excuse the formatting D_421 Multitool
NOTES: Other IDs represent projectiles, scenery objects, HUD graphics, and other non-items (some IDs crash the game).
Most items can be stacked in the same slot and accessed by simply dropping the items stacked in front of it. I belive that there are IDs for Fire Extinguisher, Cigarettes, Wine, Booze, Flashbomb Grenade, Spiderbomb Grenade, and Noisemaker Grenade but haven't found them.
Finally, replace old augmentation IDs with any of the following.
excuse the formatting D_1301 Speed Enhancement
excuse the formatting D_1315 Health Leach Drone
excuse the formatting D_1582 Neutral Interface
excuse the formatting D_1615 Bot Domination
excuse the formatting D_1765 Strength Enhancement
excuse the formatting D_2107 Aggressive Defense Drone
excuse the formatting D_2118 Electrostatic Discharge
excuse the formatting D_2520 Cloak
excuse the formatting D_2526 Thermal Masking
excuse the formatting D_2537 Move Silent
excuse the formatting D_2008 Regeneration
excuse the formatting D_2040 Vision Enhancement
excuse the formatting D_2041 Spy Drone
excuse the formatting D_2042 Hazard Drone
excuse the formatting D_2044 Biotox Attack Drone
NOTES: Bot Domination rules! Yo