Isn't maxed out supposed to be... maxed out? Like everything on very high and view distance, detail distance and Vehicle density on 100?

In that case he isn't playing it on max, though I may be wrong.

Resistance_Kid

You obviously didn't get the memo Resistance_Kid, maxxed out no longer means "maxxing the settings out" on the PC. It seems to me that Maxxed out = whatever settings people can play the game at now. The point is if you need a fast i7 + 2 x GTX480's just to "max" GTA 4 out at 1920 x 1080 @ 30fps then you have to question those that claim they can run GTA 4 at very high settings and get playable frame rates.

At the end of the day I know it is futile arguing with those that believe GTA 4 is a well optimised game, they just refuse to accept it. The quality Rockstar Toronto put into GTA 4 and the patches is pretty abysmal. I remember patch 1.0.2.0 even removed a lot of game assets from the game which had to be re-added again in patch 1.0.3.0.

If the next GTA is of the same dubious quality as GTA 4 then I know I definitely will not be touching it with a barge pole and judging by many comments I have read from PC users I am not alone in that decision.

I have a Q9650 @ 3 Ghz (may overclock soon), 4 GB DDR2 OCZ Dual Channel Ram and a 480 GTX Zotac AMP!.HeavenIceDay

So you have a very decent system and a graphics card that completely eclipses the console gpu by a factor of at least 10. Yet despite all this you have to play the game at some settings that are hardly better than the console version and you think that is acceptable ? I just give up.

The insecure cynicism is abit too far because they have a point as seen in this thread.. oh $20 for a flash game? I think I should pirate it!illmatic87

I am sorry do you see anyone in this thread going "oh $20 that it too expensive so I will pirate it" ? No you see people saying that the game was over priced to begin with that is the reason for the low number of sales. I certainly have no intention of pirating this game, I tried the demo and I was actually amazed anyone would even dare ask $20 for the game myself.

I cannot believe what PC gamers will accept from indie developers these days, if a company like EA or Ubisoft had released Machinarium at $20 we would have been yelling that they are ripping us off and $20 for a "flash" game is unacceptable. Yet because it is an indie developer it is perfectly acceptable :? .

I can play the game fine on my rig with everything on high, water very high. View Distance 25, Detail distance 35, Vehicle Density 100, night shadows off at 1920 x 1080.

I get 38 fps in the BOGT benchmark (It runs better most of the time ingame) and 62 fps in GTA 4 and 55 in TLAD.

HeavenIceDay

Then may I suggest you contact Rockstar Toronto and tell them they are lying about their own game. They are of the impression to max GTA 4 out you need an i7 + 2 x GTX480's and even on that system you will only get a stable 30fps. That isn't ME saying that it is the developers of the actual game saying that.

It would have also been nice if you had listed your specs so we know exactly what hardware you are running this game on with settings that are barely above the console version in some cases eg view distance on the console is 21 and you only have it at 25.

Why should budget be a factor in pricing for games? It sure as hell isn't for films. Every film ticket is roughly the same price (changes depending on the cinema, not the film) regardless of budget. I payed $17.50 to go see Inception ($160 million budget) the other night, and $17.50 to see Wild Target ($1 million budget) a few days later. It's not about the budget that the price should be gauged. It's the quality of the product. If someone doesn't think $20 is appropriate for Machinarium, they shouldn't buy it.

The point is, the game is, right now, $5. I spend more money getting the train to university every day. This is a huge bargain.

1carus

Why should budget be a factor in pricing for games ? are you serious ? charging 20 bucks for a game like Machinarium is a rip off. Now you use movies as an example well good for you I don't go to the movies because I think they are a rip off. Do I agree you should pay the same price to see a $160 million movie as you do to see a $1 million movie ? No I don't, that is a rip off and that is one of the reasons why I do not go to the movies anymore.

What has annoyed me about the devs of this game is not that they are charging $20 for their game (that is their right). What annoys me is they are blaming piracy for low sales, the reason why Machinarium suffered sales wise is down to the ridiculous pricing. A flash game like this should never be more than 5 bucks instead they got greedy and expected people to pay $20 for it and sales suffered.

Now as I said I didn't pirate their game (hell didn't even know it existed) so it would be "unfair" of me to take part in this "pirate amnesty" they are clearly aiming this promotion at pirates, now since I am not a pirate I will keep my money in my pocket then and they can keep their game.

There are no games on PC as advanced or with tons of textures that run better than GTA or exist. Graphics might not be that great but everything other than graphics is the best ever created, all the technical stuff that makes the game work.

PC has the best version if you can max it, and it still is the best at console settings, only thing they should have fixed from the start was the micro stuttering near water which was fixed in EFLC and the latest GTA IV patch, the rest is flawless considering everything it has going on, and you keep telling about graphics, I only said one gig of VRAM, even a mainstream card can max it out on 1280x960 or similar ws with 1 gig of VRAM, nobody said anything about it being the next Crysis.

DanielDust

Your maths are a little off for a starters, to max GTA 4 out at 1280 x 960 you need at least 1.2gbs of Vram and I am interested to hear what you think a mainstream card is if you think one can max it out and still get playable framerates. I have a Quad + GTX260 and the game is unplayable (sub 10fps) with settings maxxed at 1280 x 960.

Now of course you are not going to believe me and claim there is something wrong with my machine (despite the fact I play all games at 2048 x 1152 maxxed out except GTA 4). So here it is from Rockstar Toronto tech support whom are on record as saying you need a fast i7 + 2 x GTX 480's :-

We tested similar settings on a fast core I7 with 2 GTX 480's in SLI and seeing a pretty consistant 30fps. The hardware to run this game at FULL MAX settings at 60 fps does not yet exist but the game is coded such that when it does it will take full advantage.Rockstar Toronto

source

The game was a horrible port and GTA 4 deserves all the bashing it gets the game runs horribly on pretty much all hardare. It was clear from the start the game was a mess, when it was first released many couldn't even run the game at all on decent hardware.

Now for those that want to know what the console settings are, we have some of them :-

Resolution = 1280 x 720 @ 30fps

Texture Quality = Medium

Reflection Quality = Medium

Shadow Quality = High

Render Quality = Low

View Distance = 21

Detail Distance = 10

Vehicle Density = 33

Night Shadows = Does not exist on the console

source

This settings have changed since patch 1.0.7.0 when Rockstar completely reworked the shadows. I tried the console equivalent settings on my Quad + GTX260 and I barely get above 30fps for most of the time and see dips below 30fps at console settings it really is a horribly optimised port.

As to whether I will bother with the next GTA after the mess that was GTA 4. Well firstly there will be another GTA on the PC, the PC version sold incredibly well in European territories. I don't know if I will bother with another GTA on the PC myself, I am sick of this "release it on the console first and then the PC a year later" crap and the whole attitude Rockstar has towards PC gaming is just plain insulting. I will see what they do with the next GTA on the PC before deciding but if they don't pick up their game on the PC then they won't see my money.

Are you guys kidding? This is a major problem with gaming today. Just because a game is 2d doesn't mean it's worth less or less effort has been put into the product.1carus

No the major problem with gaming today is developers setting unrealistic prices for their wares. I very much doubt that Machinarium had a million dollar budget did it ? Yet they have been selling this game for $20 for a whole year, that is almost half the price we are expected to pay for the latest multimillion 3D blockbuster game. Hell you can even buy Mass Effect 2 now for $20 and I am willing to bet that cost a hell of a lot more to make than Machinarium did.

So for our $20 we got an adventure game in 2D (yeah I bought a GTX260 so I could play 2D games), was basically a java/flash game and lasted all of 7 hours according to reviews... my my what a bargain NOT. This game should have been $5 to start with not a year after it was released and coming with the "oh people pirated our game" crap.

Well we will see on the 10th that is when they are releasing a demo so we can all test it. Personally judging by the specs needed to max this game out (with physx's) and the fact the recommended specs are a quad with an 9800gtx I am not expecting much from the game.

Well since I never pirated their game I think it is only fair I don't take part in this "Pirate Amnesty" either. When I heard about this amnesty I went and had a look at the game, my initial reaction was "damn they were charging 20 bucks for that ?". But I forget myself obviously being a PC gamer means I am scum and I steal everything according to some users on here.

I think it was a bit of a low blow from this developer to call a "sale" of a 1 year old 2d java game a "pirate amnesty", a more apt name would be "our game is now at the price it should be for a 2d java game".

There are just too many to list :? but two of the most memorable ones to me were GTA 4 and Saints Row 2.

Hm it would have to be a toss up between Mass Effect 1 or 2, at this point I would go for 2 myself it just feels more epic. I don't really like the rest of Bioware's catalog since it tends to be "ye olde dungeons and dragons" stuff which isn't my cup of tea.