Dead Space PC Controls Nerfed?

WhatIfGaming has a post about the controls in the PC edition of Dead Space, after playing around with a prerelease edition of the sci-fi horror game. They take strong issue with the controls, saying "The smoothness compared to consoles is just not there, and from what we can tell it doesn’t seem like a patch can fix most of the issues. Inventory stack access becomes frustrating when fighting with monsters and aiming for on-the-fly changes." They contacted EA and got the following explanation: "Dead Space for PC is an equivalent experience to that on consoles. The controls are different and customizable, but we feel it’s in the best ability for the players to match what the console experience is like." Reviews of the PC edition are not yet appearing, it will be interesting to see whether this is considered an issue for others.
View : : :
48.
 
No subject
Oct 20, 2008, 00:56
48.
No subject Oct 20, 2008, 00:56
Oct 20, 2008, 00:56
 
What's with all these personal attacks? Your comments are hitting too close to each other's homes/life styles.

I don't really mind, I'm comfortable with my existence and if some 'tards on the Internet want to have EPIC RAGE over my disposable income, I'll just enjoy the lulz.

Not exactly on topic but... when I first moved out I was paying bills, utilities, insurance and everything on my own and still had money for computer parts and games, and I made $6.60 an hour back then. Not everybody pays $600 or $700 for rent.

It helps not drinking and not smoking, too. Or drugs. Videogames last longer.

Sorry. I don't have a 42" TV. I have a 24" 1080p LCD monitor and I prefer games on it 100x over a TV.

This is my favorite thing to say whenever someone tries to give me the tired old "consoles are like twenty times cheaper than PCs!!!!!1!!!11!!!!one!!!!" line. Maybe spending two grand on a low-quality high-def TV is cheaper then building...I dunno, Maximum PC's dream machine, but for that price I could re-build my rig, plus my monitor, which gives out a higher-quality picture than an expensive high-def TV.

I think unrealistically fast is better than unrealistically slow. Either way, playability takes precedence over all other considerations and from what I've read thus far, Dead Space is not very playable with mouse and keyboard.

Yes, "I think." Or rather, you think. Not everyone thinks like you think, and getting all blah blah blah whine whine whiiiiiiine isn't going to alter reality to please your particular demographic when something isn't what you want it to be.

And let's move on to...

As a PC game, this is unacceptable. It's like porting a PC RTS to a console without modifying the control scheme at all.

It's not a PC game, it's a PC port. Go rage about PCs not getting enough exclusive titles and how it should be made for the PC first, I'll wait.

Done? Anyway, this comparison is ridiculous. They're the same medium, but they're also completely different genres. You just don't want to accept the fact that controllers for the PC exist, it seems, even though a controller has no problem handling a game like this. It's not like the controller hasn't been around for twenty years, it's not a teenage illegal immigrant from mexico hiding in a bush for born-in-America Mouse to slide by while it whispers to its friend, "Look, an American! Let's steal his job!" It may excel at some things and falter where the Mouse excels, but it knows what its doing.

Besides:
Left Analog Stick: Moves pointer
Right Analog Stick: Moves pointer slower for more precision
Right Analog Stick (Click): "Select" button
D-Pad: Moves camera
Left Analog Stuck (Move while clicking): Change camera angle
L2 & R2 / Triggers: Zoom
R2 & R1 / Bumpers: Camera rotation

RTS games don't exactly have complex controls. They have complex GUIs.

Now, a related point is this:

To me, their response sounds like they just couldnt be bothered spending time to balance to game so that it still played well with a mouse (Epic did it with gears for the PC, they made the weapons less accurate and have more kick so that mouse users couldnt just waltz through the game)

And we see how well Gears was received for the effort. Anyway, the solution in Gears was fairly simple, since it was straight-up action. Not that I've played Dead Space yet, but it's supposed to have a higher emphasis on resource conservation etc etc. This certainly isn't the tamest expression of this sentiment, either, with plenty going as far to say the AI and core gameplay should be re-designed for the mouse/keyboard.

Here's the problem with that: games cost money to make. Today, this is quite possibly the most understated fact in entertainment. Budgets have not increased in a precise match for how much more effort it really takes to develop for the current hardware then the last generation of consoles and the PC hardware at the time. Even so-called big-name, "big budget" titles don't have many dollars to spare, if any. Building a game with fundamental differences for one platform compared to the other two it will sell better on (and you know it will sell better, even in the "good old days" of PC gaming that doomsayers about the platform love to talk about, console games outsold PC games pretty much as a rule,) isn't a little side project you spend an hour of the workday on for two weeks, tops. These things take a lot of work, not the game itself, but even these seemingly minor "considerations." And a lot of work means a lot more money.

They're already doing it by having the game on the PS3 as well as the 360 anyway, but here, the effort is worthwhile because the assumed return is massive.

With Gears, you're basically changing a few numerical values. To make fundamental changes means adding more playtesting to see if your new mechanics even work (and then more playtesting if they don't.) Also, more bug-fixing, because the inevitable alterations in the programming (especially if you think changing the AI is going to be, at all, simple) certainly isn't going to be perfect. Suddenly, the budget for multiple aspects of the development process has to double.

And the idea of making changes late in development, certainly at the distance from release when things like this always hit the news and we wank over it, is just ridiculous. It's like finishing a house, stopping before you complete it by putting on the last doorknob, and then sending a wrecking-ball through it so you can re-build the foundation.
NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES THEY'RE IN MY EYES AARRGRHGHGGAFHGHFGHFG!
Avatar 51686
Date
Subject
Author
1.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
2.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
4.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
7.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
8.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
10.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
13.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
     Re: No subject
14.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
      Re: No subject
26.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
     Re: No subject
27.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
      Re: No subject
28.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
       Re: No subject
3.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
5.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
12.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
6.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
9.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
15.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
16.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
17.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
35.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
36.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
11.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
18.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
19.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
25.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
31.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
34.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
43.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
20.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
21.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
22.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
23.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
24.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
29.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
41.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
42.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
44.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
45.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
    Re: PC Zone
46.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
     Re: PC Zone
47.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
30.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
32.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
33.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
37.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
38.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
39.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
40.
Oct 19, 2008Oct 19 2008
 48.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
No subject
52.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
58.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
60.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
49.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
50.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
51.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
53.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
54.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
55.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
56.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
57.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
59.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
61.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
62.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
65.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
66.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
67.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
63.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
64.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
68.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
69.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
70.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
71.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
72.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
73.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
74.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
75.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
76.
Oct 20, 2008Oct 20 2008
77.
Oct 21, 2008Oct 21 2008
78.
Oct 21, 2008Oct 21 2008
79.
Oct 21, 2008Oct 21 2008
80.
Oct 21, 2008Oct 21 2008
81.
Oct 21, 2008Oct 21 2008
82.
Oct 25, 2008Oct 25 2008