RAGE Patched

Steam News has details on a new patch for RAGE that's now automatically available to update id Software's first -person shooter. The lengthy patch notes go into extreme detail on what the patch does, as it offers access to many graphics settings not present in the release version of the game. Here's the into which explains this:
RAGE defaults to lower video settings to allow the game to work on a wide variety of hardware and software configurations. Unfortunately, it is not possible to anticipate all possible graphics driver issues in combination with unique end user hardware and software configurations. For this reason RAGE does not automatically increase video/graphics settings as this could result in negative side effects on specific hardware and software configurations. The original release of RAGE does not expose many video/graphics options for people to tweak because some of these settings, although desirable from a quality perspective, simply will not work on specific configurations either due to hardware limitations and/or driver bugs. Due to popular demand for more video and graphics options, this patch updates the video settings menu and exposes several quality and performance settings. However, not everyone may be able to increase the settings due to hardware limitations and/or driver bugs.
The Bethesda Blog summarizes the patch notes:

  • Implemented workaround for AMD driver crash right after intro cinematic on Win 7 32-bit systems.
  • Disabled UBOs because they are causing animation issues with AMD drivers. Don’t allow swap-tear to be enabled on AMD while the extension is not exposed because it may crash.
  • Support for new video settings: “texture cache”, “vsync”, and ”anisotropic filter”
  • Automatically adjust vt_maxPPF based on the number of available cores.
  • Improved performance for SLI cards when GPU transcode is enabled.
  • Fix for GPU Transcoding option being disabled after exiting gameplay.
  • Added safe mode to restore video settings to default values.
  • Allow g_fov to be changed from the RAGE launch options in Steam.
  • Server now forwards text chat from clients to all other clients while in-game.
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96 Replies. 5 pages. Viewing page 1.
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96.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 13, 2011, 23:07
96.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 13, 2011, 23:07
Oct 13, 2011, 23:07
 
No problem, man.

Deus Ex:HR IS Deus Ex. It's fantastic. Virtually everyone here who played the original absolutely loved it.

If you enjoyed the original, it's extremely hard to see how you wouldn't love DE:HR. I would recommend that a thousand times over Rage.

Creston
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95.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 13, 2011, 16:08
95.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 13, 2011, 16:08
Oct 13, 2011, 16:08
 
Hey Creston,

Thanks for the in-depth review. I really wanted to do an impulse buy and download it but I'm so tired of being disappointed these days. I'm more of a run and gun type of guy and although hiding behind cover and popping out to shoot has it's place, I don't think I'd like to spend most of my time doing that. I can even live with mediocre AI in a mindless shooting game but combined with your synopsis and a few other reviews I just get the feeling that this game will either annoy me or bore me.

I'm not sure why in this day and age it's so difficult to make a fun FPS with the standard mechanics. I like to see the next 'level' and shoot stuff and have fun doing it. Even Q4 and D3 kept me staying up a few more hours just to see what was coming up next, and they aren't that great, but at least they had the spirit.

Anyways, I'll probably leave this for a year or so when it's all patched up and has all of the DLC in a GOTY edition for $15.

You did however inspire me to check out DE:HR, I'm a big fan of the original game yet am still leary about how badly they've sucked out the gameplay. But I'll hunt down another thread and see if blues posters with tastes similar to my own liked it.

Again, great review, thanks.
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94.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 13, 2011, 10:56
94.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 13, 2011, 10:56
Oct 13, 2011, 10:56
 
CreamyBlood wrote on Oct 13, 2011, 02:54:
Or will it disappoint me like Crysis 2 and innumerable others, and not really be an FPS after all the effort? I really don't care about the graphics but just want to play a fun FPS that isn't nerfed down to complete boredom. My keyboard still has S and F keys, I don't need to hide behind boxes and play shooting gallery games disguised as shooters. I just want to run around and kill stuff while being stressed out.


It's a pure FPS. There's really nothing more to Rage than that. Yes, there are a few minigames, and there's an actually decent racing system (though apparently id are of the opinion that Rocket Rally is the shit, and thus the large majority of races are rocket rallys which has shit-all to do with racing), but the core is just plain, old-school shooting.

The shooting is fun for awhile, but I'm getting really bored with it near the end, mostly because the AI is just so utterly DULL. It will do one of two things to engage you:

1) Run straight at you. (melee enemies always do that, and very occasionally a ranged enemy will do it.)
2) Sit behind cover and peek out/fire in the exact same three animations, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. And again. And again. And again.

Get the idea? In areas where you're engaging three/four dudes at the same time, you'll quite often see them all do the exact same animation behind cover at the same time, which makes it more like synchronized ballet than anything else.

From time to time they'll switch from one area of cover to another, but mostly they do this at a random interval, not because doing so makes any kind of sense whatsoever. The AI will happily run from great cover to an area of cover where it's 80% exposed. While it's nice that it abandons cover so things speed up a little, the knowledge that it did so purely arbitrarily does make you frown a bit.

So if you play at a reasonable difficulty level, most battles wind up with you ducking behind a wall, coming out, taking a few potshots at enemy A who is behind cover, watch him duck back behind cover, wait until he comes back out, take a few more shots, repeat until he's dead (which takes around 20 hits, no joke.) then move on to enemy B. Then repeat that for literally 20000 enemies. And enemies come in exactly three varieties:

1) Bandits
2) Armored bandits/Authority.
3) Mutants.

Bandits are of the 'id-bullet-sponge' variety, never mind the armored bandits one. You do have several options for armor piercing ammo, but even when using AP rounds, enemies still take a good dozen hits before they die. Every enemy requires at LEAST three shots right in the face from an assault rifle to die.

Fighting mutants is actually really awesome because they'll try to swarm you with large numbers, and they don't sit behind cover and wait, and they die from about half the shots the bandits do. So they're just infinitely more fun. Sadly, they tend to all attack you across the same waypoint, so just standing at the end of that waypoint path with 200 rounds of buckshot means that you'll mow down entire hordes of mutants without ever breaking a sweat.

And that's really the whole story of Rage. Even at higher difficulty levels, unless you rush forward and deliberately run into a group of enemies, you're never really in danger. There's never really a sense of "Oh shit, I'm so fucked..."

There was one area where I got locked into a small area and two armored bosses came at me, and that was the first time (and only time) that I genuinely was a bit scared, because those guys kill you pretty quickly, and it was damn hard to avoid them in cramped quarters.

Everywhere else, the AI just sits there, waiting for you to potshot it to a very, very, very, very, very, very slow death. For an id shooter, it's just weirdly static. Where's all the run and gun that was the hallmark of Doom and Quake? If you ever stood still in Doom, you'd wind up being fragmeat. Here, you'll be standing still 99% of the time.

The crafting system is fun and it does make battles more varied. You do have a staggering variety of weaponry at your disposal (Blessedly with no weapon limit and an absurdly generous ammo limit, hurray!), so you can definitely use a bunch of different ways to engage your enemies. Unleashing two armored spiderbots is fantastic, as is setting up multiple killzones with sentry turrets, then sneaking an RC car bomb around the battlefield to nail enemies in the back.

The problem is that you never HAVE to do this. You'll do it because it's fun and because you want to, not because you ever feel that you need to use everything at your disposal just to survive.

I think, in hindsight, Rage would be a lot more fun if you put it at the lowest diff level, and just run and gun into every battle, throwing bots and wingsticks, blasting rockets and tossing grenades.

At a higher diff level, it just gets bland and forgettable.

Rage is the first game in YEARS where I'm doing missions and I'm like "Shit, is it not over yet?" Which, for me, is crazy. I LOVE 100+ hours games. I normally never want them to end. My first DE:HR playthrough took ~65 hours, and I was sad when it was over.

I'm 17 hours into Rage and I just want it to be over already.

Creston

Avatar 15604
93.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 13, 2011, 02:54
93.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 13, 2011, 02:54
Oct 13, 2011, 02:54
 
So what is the consensus here? I'm of the opinion that this is yet another 'made for consoles' boring video game. It has graphic issues.

Is this like every other release? IE: Wait a year until the game is patched/finished/DLC'ed (I'm still waiting for you New Vegas) then finally buy it?

Or will it disappoint me like Crysis 2 and innumerable others, and not really be an FPS after all the effort? I really don't care about the graphics but just want to play a fun FPS that isn't nerfed down to complete boredom. My keyboard still has S and F keys, I don't need to hide behind boxes and play shooting gallery games disguised as shooters. I just want to run around and kill stuff while being stressed out.

Avatar 19418
92.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 18:18
92.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 18:18
Oct 10, 2011, 18:18
 
Yup.
"Never start a fight, but always finish it."
Avatar 55075
91.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 18:07
91.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 18:07
Oct 10, 2011, 18:07
 
Ah... okay...




And yes, Megatexture was in place for ET:QW, though I believe they only used it for the landscape textures?

Creston
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90.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 17:50
90.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 17:50
Oct 10, 2011, 17:50
 
Creston wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 13:58:
^Drag0n^ wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 13:30:
Shoveling this aside for a second, has anyone else noticed the volumetric lighting effects, and how the atmospheric affect actually multiply and dither onto the characters properly (i.e. the multiplication of the effect is directly related to distance, as opposed to a carte blanche fixed multiplier)?

Okay, now again in English please, Mr Carmack. :p

LMAO.

Sorry, I get a little geeky on this stuff.

What I mean is that if you and another entity are in fogbank, how clearly you can (or can't) see them is directly affected by the distance between the two of you. I also noticed that light plays into visibility as well, i.e. if the light on a fog or dust cloud is bright and pointing at you, it makes it hard to see in the same way it would in real life.

You can sort of "trick" the fog effect in UDK, Source, or idtech4 through multiple brushes, but it won't transition as smoothly (or realistically) as the distance changes between you and the target. As far as I know, the HDR-in-the-fog effect can't be done in either of those three engines, as they now stand.

Again, something subtle, but very cool.

Oh, on Megatexture: someone let me know that Rage wasn't the first game to feature this: Apparently ET:QW has that functionality as well.


(Edited for clarity).

This comment was edited on Oct 10, 2011, 17:58.
"Never start a fight, but always finish it."
Avatar 55075
89.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 17:43
89.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 17:43
Oct 10, 2011, 17:43
 
Creston wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 12:30:
Hudson wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 09:08:
My game works and has worked since day one. Having fun. I think its a good game. And Creston you are a moron. You post here way too much and you think that entitles you to some expert gamer title. In reality you are a noob.

Go back to preschool, Zeph.

Creston

I thought you were going to go after the fact his account was 30 days old
"Never start a fight, but always finish it."
Avatar 55075
88.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 16:12
Dev
88.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 16:12
Oct 10, 2011, 16:12
Dev
 
Reinstalling only works if its from original DVD or you have the unpatched files backed up. Once a patch is out you always get the patched version from steam. So if you only have download version, don't waste your likely capped bandwidth d/ling the 22 gigs again.

So his comment about reinstalling is assuming you bought the retail DVD version.
87.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 13:58
87.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 13:58
Oct 10, 2011, 13:58
 
^Drag0n^ wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 13:30:
Shoveling this aside for a second, has anyone else noticed the volumetric lighting effects, and how the atmospheric affect actually multiply and dither onto the characters properly (i.e. the multiplication of the effect is directly related to distance, as opposed to a carte blanche fixed multiplier)?

Okay, now again in English please, Mr Carmack. :p

Creston
Avatar 15604
86.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 13:58
86.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 13:58
Oct 10, 2011, 13:58
 
Learning wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 13:39:
Thanks Creston,someone on another forum suggested that I verify integrity of game cache in the Rage game properties and after I did that everythings running just fine.By the by I am enjoying the game and the co-op is fun.Again,thanks.

No worries, man. Glad it's working.

Creston
Avatar 15604
85.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 13:39
85.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 13:39
Oct 10, 2011, 13:39
 
Thanks Creston,someone on another forum suggested that I verify integrity of game cache in the Rage game properties and after I did that everythings running just fine.By the by I am enjoying the game and the co-op is fun.Again,thanks.
"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that it's difficult to discern weather or not they are genuine"-Abraham Lincoln
Avatar 13436
84.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 13:30
84.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 13:30
Oct 10, 2011, 13:30
 
Creston wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 12:29:
I THINK the reason they disabled the tweaks is because they didn't know what all people had been tinkering with, and thus couldn't guarantee that the patch wouldn't behave weirdly with one of those settings enabled.

Disabling all the tweaks to make sure the patch is sound, and then re-enabling them again after the next patch makes quite a bit of sense.

True.

Shoveling this aside for a second, has anyone else noticed the volumetric lighting effects, and how the atmospheric affect actually multiply and dither onto the characters properly (i.e. the multiplication of the effect is directly related to distance, as opposed to a carte blanche fixed multiplier)? That's pretty badass. Added with AI/AF I can almost see someone making a game where smoke and light can actually be used effectively in a DM setting in a realistic way, rather than the cartoon-ish way we are seeing it now (COD, BF3). This effect was particularly noticeable in the mutant clean-up mission in the second wasteland hub. I was actually losing sight of things in the fog (and glare IN the fog) in a realistic way (visually). This is one of the first advances I've seen in a long while that made me sit back and say, "Damn. That's pretty cool."
"Never start a fight, but always finish it."
Avatar 55075
83.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 12:34
83.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 12:34
Oct 10, 2011, 12:34
 
Learning wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 11:34:
Mad Max RW wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 11:20:
If you didn't backup the original Rage.exe file you'll have to reinstall the game with Steam Properties for Rage set to "Do not automatically update." There are other more obvious and easier methods but they're not exactly legal.
Should I just delete the whole game in steam and download it again with the automatic update turned off?Man thats a big download again.But if thats what it takes I guess I have no choice.

I wouldn't, because I'm pretty sure it won't work. The patch is in place on the servers, so all you'd do is redownload it with the patch already installed.

Creston
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82.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 12:30
82.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 12:30
Oct 10, 2011, 12:30
 
Hudson wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 09:08:
My game works and has worked since day one. Having fun. I think its a good game. And Creston you are a moron. You post here way too much and you think that entitles you to some expert gamer title. In reality you are a noob.

Go back to preschool, Zeph.

Creston
Avatar 15604
81.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 12:29
81.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 12:29
Oct 10, 2011, 12:29
 
Mashiki Amiketo wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 02:40:
^Drag0n^ wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 01:37:
Did they say that publicly? If so, that's definitely a step...backwards.
I believe folks, that's the touch of the console. Remember, you're not allowed to 'tweak' anything besides what they do for you.

I THINK the reason they disabled the tweaks is because they didn't know what all people had been tinkering with, and thus couldn't guarantee that the patch wouldn't behave weirdly with one of those settings enabled.

Disabling all the tweaks to make sure the patch is sound, and then re-enabling them again after the next patch makes quite a bit of sense.

Creston

This comment was edited on Oct 10, 2011, 12:45.
Avatar 15604
80.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 11:41
80.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 11:41
Oct 10, 2011, 11:41
 
Mad Max RW wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 11:20:
If you didn't backup the original Rage.exe file you'll have to reinstall the game with Steam Properties for Rage set to "Do not automatically update." There are other more obvious and easier methods but they're not exactly legal.

From my experience that does not work. Once a patch is out, the game Steam provides for download is always the latest patched version.
79.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 11:34
79.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 11:34
Oct 10, 2011, 11:34
 
I didn't bother to read the 70+ comments here (the complaining gets old after a while) but I'll assume people are having issues with this patch. I have an Nvidia GTX 560 card and all I had to do to make it work was remove the start-up options I put into steam for Rage.

Prior to making this change I experienced a few seconds of video lock-up every 20 seconds or so.
78.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 11:34
78.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 11:34
Oct 10, 2011, 11:34
 
Mad Max RW wrote on Oct 10, 2011, 11:20:
If you didn't backup the original Rage.exe file you'll have to reinstall the game with Steam Properties for Rage set to "Do not automatically update." There are other more obvious and easier methods but they're not exactly legal.
Should I just delete the whole game in steam and download it again with the automatic update turned off?Man thats a big download again.But if thats what it takes I guess I have no choice.
"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that it's difficult to discern weather or not they are genuine"-Abraham Lincoln
Avatar 13436
77.
 
Re: RAGE Patched
Oct 10, 2011, 11:20
77.
Re: RAGE Patched Oct 10, 2011, 11:20
Oct 10, 2011, 11:20
 
If you didn't backup the original Rage.exe file you'll have to reinstall the game with Steam Properties for Rage set to "Do not automatically update." There are other more obvious and easier methods but they're not exactly legal.
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