3381

It’s a proper patch. Patch notes are here:

http://store.steampowered.com/news/6272/

Fixes:

  • We have addressed various issues that can occur for players that would result in ‘stuttering’.
    o Stutters that are the result of graphics driver shader processing are now removed or significantly reduced.
    o Stutters that are the result of data streaming have been removed or significantly reduced.
    o Performance has been improved and made more stable on dual-core systems. This could previously also result in stuttering.
  • Fixed issue where some players couldn’t complete the Motherly Ties side quest.
  • Fixed an issue where doors in Omega Ranch sometimes wouldn’t open.
  • The TYM medical card should no longer fall through the table if an  NPC’s body comes into contact with the card.  Players already stuck in  this area will need to revert to a previous save before the card fell  through.
  • Occasional hangs for some players during video-playback have been fixed.
  • A crash on startup when running DX11 on a single-core CPU has been fixed.
  • An issue causing Eyefinity setups to not be correctly detected for some players has been fixed.
  • Fixed an issue where the HUD would get permanently disabled for some players.
  • Fixed certain issues that caused the mouse cursor to be able to leave the game-screen on multi-monitor setups.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the mouse cursor to not be visible in-game  when the user has mouse trails enabled in Windows. We still recommend  disabling mouse trails for a smoother in-game mouse cursor.
  • Fixed issue where ammo count for collected guns is incorrect when Adams weapon is augmented.
  • In DX9 mode:
    o Fixed error message for some users when trying to use FXAA Medium or FXAA Low anti aliasing modes.
    o Fixed shadow-mapping ‘lines’ on some graphics hardware when using anisotropic filtering.

Feature Additions:

  • The Enter and Numpad-Enter keys can now be bound to game actions in the keyboard control menu.
  • Intro logos can now be skipped on all but the first run of the game.
  • Added windowed mode.
    o Selectable in the menu, and can be toggled between windowed, fullscreen, and fullscreen windowed using ALT-ENTER.
  • Added an option to change the text language of the game. This setting  only changes the text language, the audio is controlled by the language  option in Steam.
3382

Yeah! Played a bit this morning, and the micro stuttering appears to have gone away. It now moves a step closer to my GOTY.

3383

Actually, you see more of the world as a gun nut because when you stealth, you have to stick to certain paths/vents. I’m already seeing much more of the levels I previously sneaked through and I am very impressed at the amount of paths the developers put in the levels. There’s also a neat balancing thing where sneaking = more XP (ghost, smooth operator), but murder = more credits (from the guards) which lets you buy more stuff and of course Praxis kits to make up the XP difference. The optimal route would I guess be stealth kill everyone to get their $$$ and the XP bonus, but I don’t have 1/5 of the patience it would take to do that.

So far really enjoying my murder run (just finished Highland Park).

3384

You realize, of course, that there is a middle ground where you do combat but just don’t kill people that puts you through both. I believe that there are maybe seven rooms total that I haven’t completely cleared out (many after a mandatory alarm thing in the second hub), but I’m still getting Smooth Operator in every zone ('chievos, yo) and Ghost in most. I call it the Batman mode because it REALLY feels like Arkham Asylum. To date, the only hackable things that I haven’t hacked are some alarm panels (there’s a LOT of those) and one computer in a room with a camera where I couldn’t find the security hub in Montreal, and I still snuck over and found out what was in it and determined that it wasn’t particularly useful. So you can totally do both. I find it the most enjoyable way to play the game, because it turns almost all of the environments into a puzzle game where you have to figure out who to take down and in what order to knock out all the dudes without anybody seeing you or hearing you or slapping the alarm.

3385

Yeah, I just played through the very first full level last night – maintaining my reputation as Slowest AAA Dude On Qt3 – and I found myself gravitating to that playstyle as well. There were a few rooms with multiple dudes who just wouldn’t stop standing right next to each other, and I couldn’t figure out how to stealth-takedown them, so I just went past them altogether, but for the most part it was whack-a-mole city. I too really like playing that way – knock 'em out, get the XP bonus, get the ghost bonus, AND pilfer them while they’re unconscious! What’s not to like?

I might get cloaking and armor just so I have the option to blast the fuck out of them if I get bored with stealth, but we’ll see. I think I want to play this game in whatever way suits my mood at the time – wonder if jack-of-all-trades is a viable playstyle, or if you really have to specialize…

Also, I too am very happy with the post-patch performance, though I also upgraded my NVidia drivers from 253.92 to 280.whatever, and that probably had an even bigger effect. On my SLI 8800GT system at 1920x1200, it is smooth as glass now. Really vastly better :-D

…and after reading the previous page of this thread, it’s clear that jack-of-all-trades is totally viable if you are an XP farmer, which I am. YES!

3386

I don’t let things like alarms get in the way of my killing two guards standing next to each other.

It seems like most of the people in this thread have a neurosis about a Ghost bonus, yet I don’t see the point if it means that you lost out on the XP of a room full of dudes that you could have taken out but didn’t want to because ohhh noooeeess teh alarmz!!

Probably the same people that quickload if they miss some XP or miss an item datastore.

3387

It would have to be a room full of ten guards taken down with actual takedown maneuvers to add up to the same total. If you put the Smooth Operator bonus on top of it, that’s another five.

3388

I guess I’ll be a woefully under leveled maniac then. It’s so very silly how much they’ve improved the gunplay system and yet give you absolutely no rewards for using it.

3389

From what everyone has said, it doesn’t really matter. You’ll have Praxis points for days no matter which path you choose … which kind of sucks because it would have been nice to have to make hard choices about abilities.

3390

Well, I don’t know what they did to “improve” performance with this patch, but my performance is actually much worse now. I just started a second playthrough after installing the patch, and my framerate is much worse, and I am getting regular CTDs. Honestly, I preferred my performance before the patch… the stuttering when entering new areas was tolerable, as my gameplay was perfectly smooth once the area was loaded, and I think I maybe crashed once during my entire first playthrough. The constant crashing now, however, is making the game near unplayable for me. I haven’t changed anything else on my system since my last playthrough, so it has to be the patch. So disappointing.

3391

According to that Gamasutra (I think) comparison to the original Deus Ex, going full Rambo in DXHR nets you far fewer Praxis points. You lose so much with the takedown bonuses. It’s a significant difference. Though if you’re just shooting you don’t need that many augmentations anyway.

The article’s author didn’t like the fact that one method rewarded players much more than another.

3392

According to that Gamasutra (I think) comparison to the original Deus Ex, going full Rambo in DXHR nets you far fewer Praxis points. You lose so much with the takedown bonuses. It’s a significant difference.

But I guess the question becomes … is “far fewer” the same as “not enough”?

3393

Only like 1/3 of the Praxis upgrades make much of a difference, so it doesn’t even matter. You get tough decisions like whether you should take Aim Assist or Stealth Enhancement. Bonus that the Radar upgrade actually makes things worse.

3394

I addressed that in the sentence directly after the ones you quoted. Did I ninja edit that or did you remove it deliberately?

3395

I just suppose it’s weird that there’s so little augmentation that deals with shooting. Give me a body part highlighter or something. I’m not even sure how reducing recoil helps since there are so few bullets that miss due to recoil.

3396

A VATS-style upgrade would have been swell.

3397

Even just a targeting highlight to let you know what area of the body your bullet will hit.

3398

These SWAT dudes don’t seem to like that I murdered all the Purity First members. Bunch of freakin’ liberals.

3399

A surprising number of those are guys waiting on triggered conversations. If you get close enough without being spotted, they’ll yack at each other for a while and then split up.

For the occasional situation where they don’t split up, you can tazer one and take down the other, or use the Reflex aug to take down two at once. The stun gun is the preferred approach for this not because it’s nonlethal, though the extra 10-20 XP doesn’t hurt, but because it’s instant and silent, just like takedowns.

3400

A shotgun or remote mine also works.

Speaking of remote mines, I find it both hilarious and disconcerting that when someone notices a mine, they immediately jump away from it, land on the floor, and start screaming as if they just had their leg blown off, but the mine hasn’t actually detonated.

Also, I think this game rates up right next to Metroid Prime as having the best menu music ever.

Another question though for all of you violent types, did you end up liking the revolver or the 10mm handgun more? I don’t think I need to really carry two pistols, but right now in the first act of the game I’m feeling like the 10mm handgun just feels better for headshots.