DE2/ Got It?

[E.T.]

Its Dec 3rd, delivery date for some retailers to receive DE2: Invisible War.
I pre ordered mine about 7 days ago online. Aprox 48 hours after placing order, I received a notice from vendor indicating "Sorry, item ordered is out of stock"....no big, it gives me the opportunity to purchase @ local retailer [& play sooner].
Has anyone seen/know of it in greater retailers yet?

Im on my way to GameStop [old Babbages], who tells me its in & "get em while you can.....

btw: Eidos forum has a few users that are currently playing Invisible War, & indicate performance is good on mid level systems:
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?threadid=28831

[Aku]

Early reviews aren't very good, with fans of the original complaining about the omission of the skill points. The rpg element was a big selling point of the first game. Without it, there's not much motivation for me to buy this over any other shooter.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Early reviews aren't very good, with fans of the original complaining about the omission of the skill points. The rpg element was a big selling point of the first game. Without it, there's not much motivation for me to buy this over any other shooter.</div>

No Skill Points? That's the biggest let-down I've heard yet about this game... wow! No way...

Oh well, I got Hordes of the Underdark today, and it's awesome. The NWN engine/scripts really have come a ways since the original campaign. A lot of what I liked about KotOR is present, but with the freedom that I enjoyed so much about NWN. I'm definitely going to have to finish the OC and 2 expansions in row once again. This should be enough to fire up my NWN online gaming once again.

[E.T.]

Im trying to hold out for the positive here, but relent to additional losses found in DE2 [besides skill points]: The unification of weapon ammo, the loss of localized damage. The latter seems to be in dispute on Eidos board [apparently localized dammage wasnt present in demo, some claim its used in full version, days end will tell ;) ]. Other little deviations from original like consolidation of tools [multi-tool & lock pick = one tool]
lead me to believe the game will play out faster, easier. I myself like to micro manage & enjoy implementing in game tasks via keyboard strokes....all of which seems to be reduced in DE2.

Of all the "streamlining" done, I'l miss the loss of skill points [this is what enhanced DE as part RPG afterall] & the unified ammo [thats making it way too easy to play].

As soon as I get Invisible War loaded & crews a few levels, I find out if the positives out weigh the negatives......

[DBS]

I was one of the happy gamers who thought the original was superb. I will wait and see what others say about the new- multiplatform version to see if there is enough of what made the original special to warrent purchase. If it is another shooter in this crowded category I don't see how simplifying it makes it stand out. I know...I read the original didn't sell well but I don't think it was because of the game but lack of marketing it. After all...why is there so much hype now about the sequel as most of it is from people who loved the original. Without the background it looks like just another fps.

I am into Gothic 2 now and on completion I either will pick up KoTR or NVN gold and the latest expansion. I have yet to deside where or what I will do yet. I have to admit, I do miss the group rpgs as the banter back and forth was fun. Maybe I will just reload BG2 and enjoy it again to completion this time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[E.T.]

Im having difficulty getting game to display properly.
Game installed fine, cutscenes are fantastic, configured my character & began playing.
With first mission launched, I get my health/compass display, but nothing else...the remainder of screen is black. I was able to pan around & activate a com link, which gave me objectives.
Its like being blind, the room is pitch black.

Ive been to Eidos Tech forum, lotsa similar complaints....no specific answers just yet.....

Could this be a DX problem?

My system exceeds ideal requirments;
P4 2.66
512mb ram
G4 128mb 4200 ti [not an MX card]
60g hd

[Aku]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Im having difficulty getting game to display properly.

With first mission launched, I get my health/compass display, but nothing else...the remainder of screen is black. I was able to pan around & activate a com link, which gave me objectives.
Its like being blind, the room is pitch black.

Ive been to Eidos Tech forum, lotsa similar complaints....no specific answers just yet.....
</div>

Could be DX. Could be something else. I've gotta say the same thing I said to the guy with the Gothic 2 problem: this is why I don't buy games when they first come out. It's just a crap shoot. I want to know with 99% certainty that the game I buy will run on my system, and will run with minimal problems. I don't care how hyped the game is, or how much I want the game. I wait, and wait some more, and look for patches, and watch the price fall, and read the forums, and let guys like you test the game for me. ;) :p

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>

Could be DX. Could be something else. I've gotta say the same thing I said to the guy with the Gothic 2 problem: this is why I don't buy games when they first come out. It's just a crap shoot. I want to know with 99% certainty that the game I buy will run on my system, and will run with minimal problems. I don't care how hyped the game is, or how much I want the game. I wait, and wait some more, and look for patches, and watch the price fall, and read the forums, and let guys like you test the game for me. ;) :p</div>

Ive "played" that way for years now too, letting the games circulate, get the bugs worked out etc. It is the wise & economical thing to do.
I've been fortunate in that only 2 or 3 games I owned needed to be tweaked to get running right. The down side to this is Ive learned little about game bugs....I get the feeling this is about to change, lol.

DE2 is one I just couldnt resist, though Im paying the price for getting it on first day out.
Repairs/checks so far:
[1] Update/confirm DX version 9.b
[2]Turned off "blooming" under video options on main menu.

Any suggestions for tweaking of video card??
Thanks
E.T.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

<div class=\"smallfont\"><div class=\"smallfont\"></div>

Could be DX. Could be something else. I've gotta say the same thing I said to the guy with the Gothic 2 problem: this is why I don't buy games when they first come out. It's just a crap shoot. I want to know with 99% certainty that the game I buy will run on my system, and will run with minimal problems. I don't care how hyped the game is, or how much I want the game. I wait, and wait some more, and look for patches, and watch the price fall, and read the forums, and let guys like you test the game for me. ;) :p</div>

You know, I can honestly say that I have NEVER bought a game that didn't run on my system... from a fresh install.

[T3KT0N]

I posted you a link under the "periph flickering" post
To the most comprehensive site regarding drivers AND tweaks.

There is NEVER a certainty when you buy a game ,the configs are endless and sometimes even the best games present problems.

I'm betting it's your vid-card drivers.

First go to that site and d/load the detonator destroyer,and the latest series 52.xxxx wql NVIDIA drivers.
Remove the old drivers,don't reboot,use the detonator destroyer,PER DIRECTIONS[in some cards you need to use the det destroyer first,if at all] (make sure you KNOW where the new drivers are),then reboot and install the new drivers.

All new games are based on the latest drivers.

I did not find anything specific about this problem,this is why my hunch is the drivers.

Good luck.

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\">I posted you a link under the "periph flickering" post
To the most comprehensive site regarding drivers AND tweaks.

There is NEVER a certainty when you buy a game ,the configs are endless and sometimes even the best games present problems.

I'm betting it's your vid-card drivers.

First go to that site and d/load the detonator destroyer,and the latest series 52.xxxx wql NVIDIA drivers.
Remove the old drivers,don't reboot,use the detonator destroyer,PER DIRECTIONS[in some cards you need to use the det destroyer first,if at all] (make sure you KNOW where the new drivers are),then reboot and install the new drivers.

All new games are based on the latest drivers.

I did not find anything specific about this problem,this is why my hunch is the drivers.

Good luck.</div>

I hope you put money on that bet! If you had, it would be payday.

I applied 52.16 drivers [before I read your post T3KTON] & "poof"....Im in Deus Ex:Invisible War land! Yahoooooo!

I did likely screw up by not using your suggested approach of removing old drivers,,,,this could be affecting current performance issue:

[1] Frame rates, the game is hardly playable. I turned res down from 1024x768 to lowly 800x600, better, but unacceptable gameplay.

[2]Dissapointing graphics EXCEPT for lighting effects. Shadow details are similar to what I found playing Splinter Cell, very cool/realistic effects.
Environment lacks crisp definition/detail, almost looks faded.

[3] I recall you mentioned something about "twitch" movement, I believe RG gave a fix for this? [I'll search back old threads]. Its like Alex D is on speed.

[4] What exactly is/does "bloom" do?

[5] Now that I have game running, considering my hardware, what would be ideal AA [X1, x2, x3, x4?] Sys Specs: P4 2.66, 512 ram, G4 128mb ti.

Id like to tweak this best possible before venturing out to fight the bleed'n war on terror, THANKS! [also for "Peripheral Flick" reply]

[DBS]

Aku,
Gothic 2 should work aok for you. After the initial load up it runs fine here on my old system. It does take about 2 minutes to load though but I bet that is due to my old Pent 3 processor being overworked nowadays. I have no other issues so far with it..

[T3KT0N]

:)


I'm glad it worked.
now hear this:
GET THE OLD DRIVERS OFF.
They are evil.
:)
And vile.

ps
can you hear me now?

ps2
First, go into the main folder, select the "User.ini" file, and deactivate "read-only." For some reason this file was set to read-only by default and this prevented the demo from saving your personal settings when you entered a new level or restarted the demo.

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.

ps3

When EDITING (adding to the above post)
My hand slipped and I pressed the "report this post to moderator"
What a silly thing to do, and what a silly location for a report button.
:(

[botski]

btw: Eidos forum has a few users that are currently playing Invisible War, & indicate performance is good on mid level systems:
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?threadid=28831</div>[/quote]



That is not the norm. People with 3.0 Ghz P4's and 9800's are saying the action drops below 20 FPS often. I have a 2.53 Ghz P4, 1 GIG Ram and a GeForce 4 TI4200 and I have to lower the res to 640x480 and STILL I get less than 20 if anything is going on.

Yuck. Ion Storm f ed this one up bigtime.

Edit - What is the point of quoting someone when the forum doesnt do any of the work for you, like put the quote in a box or say "quoted from <your name here>"? Oh yeah, because we got an "upgrade".

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\">:)


I'm glad it worked.
now hear this:
GET THE OLD DRIVERS OFF.
They are evil.
:)
And vile.

ps
can you hear me now?

ps2
First, go into the main folder, select the "User.ini" file, and deactivate "read-only." For some reason this file was set to read-only by default and this prevented the demo from saving your personal settings when you entered a new level or restarted the demo.

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.

ps3

When EDITING (adding to the above post)
My hand slipped and I pressed the "report this post to moderator"
What a silly thing to do, and what a silly location for a report button.
:(</div>

Thanks for all the guidance, I will remove "evil" drivers, lol.

The full version makes other settings/preferences [movement/difficulty] easy to adjust, I just needed to [& still do] spend a little more time w/game.

Interaction w/environment is superb, more engaging than original.
The "melding" of storylines between Consipracy & Invisible War is beginning to unfold...a few familiar names are beginning to pop up.

Im hoping some of the regulars will pick this up soon.
I paid full retail @ Game Stop. It can be had for $10 less @ GoGamer.com, & its now back in stock.

[T3KT0N]

After I finish XIII,I'm getting it.

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\"></div>



That is not the norm. People with 3.0 Ghz P4's and 9800's are saying the action drops below 20 FPS often. I have a 2.53 Ghz P4, 1 GIG Ram and a GeForce 4 TI4200 and I have to lower the res to 640x480 and STILL I get less than 20 if anything is going on.

Yuck. Ion Storm f ed this one up bigtime.

Edit - What is the point of quoting someone when the forum doesnt do any of the work for you, like put the quote in a box or say "quoted from <your name here>"? Oh yeah, because we got an "upgrade".[/QUOTE]</div>

botski: your system hardware is similar to mine, 'cept you have nearly double the ram. Vid cards identical.
Im running it in 800x600 @ the moment w/fair display.
Performance was not affected when 3 NPCs entered area either, with structures exploding etc.
Two "Q's" for you:
[1] do you have nVidias 52.16 drivers installed?
[2] Did you read on Eidos tech froum that game smooths out after 2nd level? Weird, I know, but thats what other gamers there claim.

Re: "quoting"...your post seems to have successfully included quote captured from this thread on this site.

[DBS]

I guess I had better skip on it as my pc is way below everyone else specs nowadays and still sounds like there are issues on higher end pcs.

How do you like 13 so far?

[Static_Fred]

<div class=\"smallfont\">I guess I had better skip on it as my pc is way below everyone else specs nowadays and still sounds like there are issues on higher end pcs.

How do you like 13 so far?</div>

Yeah, off topic, but what's 13 like? I read some bad reviews on it.