DirectX 11 support after launch vs buggy DirectX 11 support at launch

[Red Hawk]

PC gamers have been rather disappointed that some recent major releases, such as Shogun 2: Total War and Crysis 2, do not support DirectX 11 out of the box and instead opted to patch in DirectX 11 support at a later date. On the other hand, Dragon Age II was released with DirectX 11 support immediately, but was beset by performance issues and glitches that are being addressed through patches. Would you rather have such glitchy DirectX 11 support out of the box or wait for proper support until later?

 

[Schadenfroh]

I would rather the game use OpenGL, to speed my full adoption of Linux

But, I do not care which API or which version of an API a game uses, as long as the gameplay is great.

 

[SMOGZINN]

I would much rather they take their time and get DX11 right the first time. I'm not a beta tester.

 

[DeathReborn]

I'd prefer them to stop bodging API's into games and fix the numerous gameplay & story bugs that seem to just get more and more common. I don't care if all games for the next 5 years still use DX9, just as long as they stop releasing things with so many bugs.

 

[alcoholbob]

I would rather Dragon Age II actually be a good game over something as frivolous as DX11 support.

 

[Texashiker]

PC gamers have been rather disappointed that some recent major releases, such as Shogun 2: Total War and Crysis 2, do not support DirectX 11 out of the box and instead opted to patch in DirectX 11 support at a later date.

I would rather developers release a finished product.

Saying they will patch the game later, is like buying a car or truck, and the company will be out to your house later to install the body panels, cd player, head lights or the hood.

we would not accept buying an unfinished product like a car, truck or motorcycle, so we should not accept unfinished software.

 

[gorcorps]

I want a working version, but that doesn't excuse the lack of DX10 in Crysis 2. At least give us that

Or (as mentioned before) if you're going to stick with DX9 it better be pretty much bug free. I was one of the few who really enjoyed Crysis 2, and played it to completion despite the issues... but I'll admit that even looking past the visuals the game itself was still way too buggy. Multiplayer had the most frustrating issues, though the single player seemed to get worse as I got closer to the end.

 

[dpodblood]

I would rather they push back the release date until the product is finished.

 

[gorcorps]

I would rather they push back the release date until the product is finished.

This logic makes no sense. By releasing it early they cater to the group that want it early, but you yourself who want to wait can still do so. In fact it's better for you because there's a good chance you'll be able to find the game cheaper by the time it's patched. So from your perspective nothing has changed because you didn't play the game till it was TRULY finished anyway, but now you can find it cheaper.

 

[Schadenfroh]

This logic makes no sense. By releasing it early they cater to the group that want it early, but you yourself who want to wait can still do so. In fact it's better for you because there's a good chance you'll be able to find the game cheaper by the time it's patched. So from your perspective nothing has changed because you didn't play the game till it was TRULY finished anyway, but now you can find it cheaper.

Well Brandon, you see, the publishers do not think that way. They will only support it if it continues to sell well or they have some DLC to milk. Take a look at Alpha Protocol or KOTOR 2, the publisher followed that reasoning and told the developer to forget the last chapter of KOTOR 2 and bug testing and just ship it as is long before it was ready / finished and they can patch it later.

The game was riddled with bugs and had an abrupt ending, then the reviews were rather poor because it was so buggy and unfinished, did not sell as well as expected (KOTOR name only went so far) and then the publisher killed the patching of it due to low sales

 

[Skurge]

I would rather they push back the release date until the product is finished.

DiRT 2 was delayed for DX11, it came out with almost no bugs, I can't even think if a single one, but f1 2010 was released without DX11. The game has been patched, but has a ton of bugs. After they added DX11 in a patch, all sorts of issues came up. Low res rain drops, messed up glove textures, missing puddles, etc. Have you ever seen a patch break more than it fixed? Well this was one. The game only had that patch btw.

 

[KaOTiK]

Can't even expect a game to launch without bugs, the severity of the bugs varies widely though. Personally I rather see everything in the game when it launches. Reason being, too many publisher are quick to pull support on a game after it launches leaving it a buggy mess anyways, might as well be a buggy mess with all the features in it from the start. At least then there is a chance the community can make an unofficial patches/fixes to resolve larger issues. I have more faith in the community then I do publishers these days (the devs aren't the ones to blame in 99% of the cases as they have to do what they are told from the pub).

 

[Red Hawk]

Well Brandon, you see, the publishers do not think that way. They will only support it if it continues to sell well or they have some DLC to milk. Take a look at Alpha Protocol or KOTOR 2, the publisher followed that reasoning and told the developer to forget the last chapter of KOTOR 2 and bug testing and just ship it as is long before it was ready / finished and they can patch it later.

The game was riddled with bugs and had an abrupt ending, then the reviews were rather poor because it was so buggy and unfinished, did not sell as well as expected (KOTOR name only went so far) and then the publisher killed the patching of it due to low sales

Well in Alpha Protocol's case, Obsidian delayed the game a year or so. But instead of using that time to tighten the features already there, they kept adding more features. To their credit, though, there were very few if any story bugs (that I noticed).

DiRT 2 was delayed for DX11, it came out with almost no bugs, I can't even think if a single one, but f1 2010 was released without DX11. The game has been patched, but has a ton of bugs. After they added DX11 in a patch, all sorts of issues came up. Low res rain drops, messed up glove textures, missing puddles, etc. Have you ever seen a patch break more than it fixed? Well this was one. The game only had that patch btw.

Dragon Age Origins 1.03...

 

[greenhawk]

PC gamers have been rather disappointed that some recent major releases, such as Shogun 2: Total War and Crysis 2, do not support DirectX 11 out of the box and instead opted to patch in DirectX 11 support at a later date. On the other hand, Dragon Age II was released with DirectX 11 support immediately, but was beset by performance issues and glitches that are being addressed through patches. Would you rather have such glitchy DirectX 11 support out of the box or wait for proper support until later?

I perfer it done properly to start with. What is at release is what the developers want it to be (ie: Blizzard style). The "support / fix issues after release" is more dependant on the game selling, and if their are no penny pinching bean counters in power that make the promises, then do nothing.

No idea about shogun, but the last I heard about the Crysis 2 DX11 issue, was that the developers have anounced they made no such promise and that their will be no DX11 for the game. What it is at release is what it will be doing forwards. So those that purchased on that promise, got shafted.

any thing done in regards to DX is that it needs to be included from the start, a last minute change to add it (untested bugs) is worse than adding it after release (promises that get broken for some "reason").

In the end, I would want the developers to be honest up front more than worrying about how they deal with a feature.

 

[(sic)Klown12]

Crytek did confirm a DX11 patch. There was a rumor that they denied a couple of weeks before they made the official announcement
http://www.mycrysis.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=22276

 

[Rifter]

They should get there shit together first IMO.

One of the reasons i used to love console games is because they had to work right away, before PS3 and Xbox there was no patching or internet connections for consoles so it had to be tested and it had to work. This means it is no doubt possible to do good quality control and beta testing but nowdays they just dont care and patch later which is BS IMO.

This is why i never buy new games i wait at least a year for the games to get patched enough to be playable.