muhwahahahahaha... I'm baaaaaa-ck!

[essjayehm 58]

So, inspired by the $10 sale on steam over the holidays, I decided to (finally) get Sacred 2 installed on my PC.

After 2 or 3 years of (nearly) constant play on the consoles, my PS3 died long ago, and my brother took his Xbox when he moved a couple years back, so I do have to say I am a little excited to be playing again

 

I haven't tried playing online yet, but started a shadow warrior just to get used to the controls, etc and I have to say I am very impressed with the 'real' version so far. I could nitpick the things I like about console, but at the end of the day, I have I&B... and can get the CM patch if I so desire so I look forward to another few hundred thousand hours of Ancarian adventures.

[lujate 578]

There are a few things I like better on console, but overall I&B has more positives than negatives.

[wolfie2kX 528]

Er.. Scott.. Why am I having a major sense of deja vu..? I could have sworn you got the PC vesion many moons ago and were playing that already.

 

And by ALL means be sore to get the CM Patch sooner, rather than later. There are a number of minor niggling little issues in Ice and Blood that the patch fixes.

[gogoblender 3,072]

So, inspired by the $10 sale on steam over the holidays, I decided to (finally) get Sacred 2 installed on my PC.

After 2 or 3 years of (nearly) constant play on the consoles, my PS3 died long ago, and my brother took his Xbox when he moved a couple years back, so I do have to say I am a little excited to be playing again

 

I haven't tried playing online yet, but started a shadow warrior just to get used to the controls, etc and I have to say I am very impressed with the 'real' version so far. I could nitpick the things I like about console, but at the end of the day, I have I&B... and can get the CM patch if I so desire so I look forward to another few hundred thousand hours of Ancarian adventures.

 

 

Welcome back to Ancaria! There's been a lot of buzz about the Steam version lately, 10 bux is a steal! Im getting so many emails about the Wiki, hopefully we can get it all up and going in time to help all the new fans.

 

 

gogo

[Ysne58 236]

I'm keeping them updated over on the Steam forums. I also posted about the out of order bug there so everyone knows about that one.

[essjayehm 58]

Ah, so that was you, was it Cathy? I saw the post while I was perusing the Steam-o-verse.

First time using them and I was quite glad I did it thru them as I had a lot of issues just getting the game downloaded. Long story short, my PC died after getting about 95% of it d/l... then about 2/3 of the way thru the second d/l (after a week in the shop), I get booted from the 'free' network I use (probably from the tonnes of d/l I was doing). Then about 3 hours of manually installing the drivers (including searching Steam help pages for the answers... which were spot on) and forgetting to restart the PC, giving up, remembering that I had to restart for the drivers to take effect, and ...

 

Edit @ wolfie: I was playing Sacred Underworld... probably that's what you remembered

Edit2 - haha I just realized I bought the game on Dec. 21, and it 'only' took me a little more than a month to get it running on my PC. Just like a lot of posts I have read

[Ysne58 236]

I've got Skyrim and Oblivion. I am ambivalent about Steam/Valve. I'm debating about getting Sacred and Sacred 2 through steam just to have it in that library. Maybe they will have another sale.

[essjayehm 58]

Hey, I was just looking around here and I didn't find the answer I wanted, but I tried taking a screenie but I cannot open it without a third-party program.

 

Any soloutions out there, or do I have to download another program just for this? (Win7, Steam version, CM140)

[wolfie2kX 528]

Screen shots, I presume are what you're having a problem with...

 

For that, yes, you'll likely need an app that can do .TGA files - Targa format graphics.. I, personally, use a rather ancient (in computer terms) version of Paint Shop Pro I got that does them rather nicely. I have it set up so I can do a batch converstion from TGA to JPG format.

 

Guessing you're maybe looking for a freebie app - you could maybe get the Gimp. It doesn't do TGA files natively, but has a plug-in that does give you support. If you need more, send me a PM...

[essjayehm 58]

Cool... thanks for the reply, Pete. I tried thinking outside the box for a bit and tried to upload one to photobucket, but PB doesn't recognize the files.

[wolfie2kX 528]

Yeah.. Photobucket - or for that matter - 99.999% of the Internet won't recognize Targa files. It's just not an Internet friendly file format.

 

1.) TGA files tend to be bigger than JPG or GIF files that hold the same information.

2.) Much of the Internet is still concerned over the amount of data being shuffled around on the bandwidth available.

2a.) Smaller files = faster downloads = happier campers

3.) There are people out there that are limited by the number of GBs of data they can download per month.

 

One screenshot I got from Sacred 2 is 7.2 MB (or 7200 KB) in it's TGA incarnation while the same file, converted to JPG is 590 KB. That's roughly 1/12th of the TGA file's size.

 

Ergo, Having to do download more data to get the same effect is generally considered bad manners on the poster's part and thus, no one wants to deal with oddball formats like Targa. No browser that I know of supports the format.

 

Which is why I suggested something like PSP or Gimp or even Photoshop LE (Not cheap, but still cheaper by lightyears than it's big brother, the full version of Photoshop)... You'll need to convert the files from .TGA to .JPG or even .PNG (another popular format available that offers higher compression). But once you've got 'em converted, you should be golden.

[gogoblender 3,072]

Hey, I was just looking around here and I didn't find the answer I wanted, but I tried taking a screenie but I cannot open it without a third-party program.

 

Any soloutions out there, or do I have to download another program just for this? (Win7, Steam version, CM140)

 

I use Ifranview, downloaded it years ago for Sacred screen shots. I love the program. Free, VERY small, super fast, and snaps open with a single click/shortcut, built hundreds of pix into wiki with it!

 

gogo

[Ysne58 236]

I use Ifranview too. I found out about that here on this forum.

[essjayehm 58]

Thanks for the replies, everyone... now for some more?

 

 

since I have to download another program anyway... I will ask a related question: should I just go for a recording program, and use the screen shot capabilites from that for my games? I have heard postive things about taksi but I don't know what other (free/cheap) programs are out there.

 

TIA!

[Tybudd 6]

There are a few things I like better on console, but overall I&B has more positives than negatives.

 

 

So, inspired by the $10 sale on steam over the holidays, I decided to (finally) get Sacred 2 installed on my PC.

After 2 or 3 years of (nearly) constant play on the consoles, my PS3 died long ago, and my brother took his Xbox when he moved a couple years back, so I do have to say I am a little excited to be playing again

 

I haven't tried playing online yet, but started a shadow warrior just to get used to the controls, etc and I have to say I am very impressed with the 'real' version so far. I could nitpick the things I like about console, but at the end of the day, I have I&B... and can get the CM patch if I so desire so I look forward to another few hundred thousand hours of Ancarian adventures.

 

NO, No, no!!!

 

Coming from a pure consoler of Sacred 2 (so far), how dare you guys throw out a dry comment about what you might or might not like about Sacred 2 on the different platforms w/o any sort of elaboration, and then just continue posting along in the topic expecting us simple single platform gamers to not even notice!!!

 

Elaboration requested: What are the comparable pros and cons that you've personally seen/experienced so far?

 

Steam:) What is that, as a consoler I'm completely lost in the relation between steam and Sacred2?

Edited January 31, 2013 by Tybudd

[essjayehm 58]

Hmmm... where to start?

Steam - not sure the best way to describe it, but the simplest explaination is that they sell PC games. You do have to d/l a 'client' program to your own PC before you can 'use' it, but there is also a community (forums) and I think maybe you can join MP games via their servers (for some games, but not Sacred).

The most important thing Steam has done for people who want to play Sacred, is to offer Sacred Gold (Sacred 2 + expansion, Ice and Blood) as a single, hassle-free download. Not sure if you are aware, but Sacred 2 was always a huge pain to get running for a lot of people, as well as people who had the "North American version" had a very hard time installing the Ice and Blood expansion. You had to patch the game several times, etc... and many, many threads here are devoted to getting the game running on PC.

 

I am still getting used to the game again, but the main points I always held for the console version were:

Plug'n'play: Insert disc and play. No hassles, patching, running as Admin, deactivating UAC, blahyadablah. EDIT - Steam literally evened the playing field on this point, it is kina moot, now.

Controller: PERFECT for the game, IMO.

Inventory system: while I was on console, I thought it was better; and now that I have played PC, it is MUCH better on console.

I'm rushing a bit, there could be other points I am forgetting... but to sum up what the PC version does better (aside from the major rebalancing of the I&B expansion) can be summed up with a couple of simple comparisons (console version : PC version)

ice cream : banana split

fries : poutine

[Tybudd 6]

From what you have it seems like Console has a slight edge, I know not being able to socket Niob rings in lower level gear is a big difference. But what about Graphics and gameplay?

 

Controller fits into the gameplay question.

[Stormwing 40]

Hmm, I'm kinda biased when it comes into Sacred 2, pc vs. consoles, since I've only ever played the pc version, so in my books it owns.

And well, considering, it has Ice & Blood and CM-patch, which consoles don't and on the latter, I think, would never even get. I'm sure expansion would've happened, if not bankrupt, etc. But that's beside the point.

From pics I've seen, pc version beats in the graphical section too. Though, need to admit, that you'd need more resources to run it in full settings.

 

Also, I can't personally delve into controllers, but as "born" pc-gamer mouse and keyb seems to fit into ARPGs better. Again, biased, but I've tried few titles on ps3 and noticed I can't really get into the controller feel. Namely Mass Effect 3, Saint's Row 3, and so on. But that's just my personal input, mind you.

 

Just thought of throwing my two cents into the fray. Scott can surely give more precise inputs.

 

Oh, and considering Steam, it really is quite nifty system nowadays. Too bad there's probably no way to get any Workshop contents into games like Sacred 2, but that section is a big plus in general. Would use that for Skyrim for example, if I wasn't using so many big mods, which simply can't fit into the constraints of Workshops.

Tad offtopic, sorry, but just thought of saying that.

[wolfie2kX 528]

I'll have to 2nd what Stormwing had to say - keyboard and mouse on a PC rocks compared to the limited number of controls you get on a console. Think about it for a moment. You've got the entire keyboard that can be mapped to a game - and that's usually 101 - 104 keys vs how many do you get on the XBox or PS3 these days? And we can't forget to add in +3 for the mouse buttons...

 

On the other hand, with the consoles, you DO get a few things you can't get on the PC - namely because of those limited number of controls. Stuff like having your Combat Arts all available at the same time instead of 4 or 5 (with the PC version of FA or I&B respectively.)

 

As far as not being able to use higher level rings on your lower level characters... It's not so bad. It does take a bit more effort and planning - not to mention keeping your eyes open to what drops you get. There's always a slightly better piece of kit dropping - or so it seems. But that IS part of the challenge.

 

It's far too easy to build a character in Silver and equip them with Niobium gear - and all it does is make the game too easy.

 

Not that you can't use ANY Niobium level stuff on Silver. Niob runes are Armor level 50. So in all fairness, you have to suffer a bit until you get to level 40 or so (with Armor Lore to give you access to higher level gear), but that's OK too. Niobium Smith Arts are also available on lower levels and give a boost to armor level and an even bigger boost to the armor than the Silver Smith arts.

[essjayehm 58]

From what you have it seems like Console has a slight edge, I know not being able to socket Niob rings in lower level gear is a big difference. But what about Graphics and gameplay?

 

Controller fits into the gameplay question.

Alrighty, back from work, time to elaborate!

 

Gameplay: As far as Fallen Angel, console definietly had a huge edge; since in the consoles, RpH worked, but in PC it did not. The addition of Ice and Blood (IMO) puts the PC version ahead of console (working RpH, new class, new areas, rebalancing of the game), and if you add the CM-patch (many, many bugfixes), it gets very far ahead.

 

Graphics is a tricky question: all console play the same game, graphics details, etc... but different PC's have to utilize different graphics settings just to get this beast running, so if you have a PC that is comparable to a PS3 (processing-wise), then PC wins... but lower-end machines will probably lose in this department.

 

Even when I played on console, socketing high-level rings into low-level gear was a no-no. Makes the game way to easy (when it isn't that hard to start with if you have a competent guide/toon). So I never considered that in my comparisons. One huge thing is local co-op... but for me this meant shopping runs! On PC you have to teleport from town to town to reset merchant inventories... but as the second player in local co-op, you ony have to quit and rejoin the server to get a fresh stock of goodies. ie. load up your Niob dude and run into town and park him near a merchant. Join game with level 2 shopper and you have access to level 2 gear with Niobium-quality modifiers, with 'instant' inventory resets.

 

I can say that the keyboard controls are quite clunky compared to PC and I have to look away from the screen to do half of the stuff I can do with a controller without looking down. BUT, that could just take time/practice to master the keyboard controls.

[lujate 578]

A few other things.

 

On consoles, you can view both hard and soft skill points. On PC all you see are soft points. Console allows you to view equipped relics while in a vendor but PC does not. Ground targeting CA's are also easier with a mouse.

[Tybudd 6]

Awesome, from what you guys are saying, it seems I might have to bite the bullet and get the PC version, its fairly cheap, and about the amount I'd spend on an expansion pack anyways since I've never played with a Dragon Mage and agains the new bosses, ect.

 

 

At first I was thinking of picking that over Sacred 3 due to my devestating disappointment of not having Local/Couch Co-op but heck, on cpu you don't have it either in either Sacred 2/3.....

[Tybudd 6]

A few other things.

 

On consoles, you can view both hard and soft skill points. On PC all you see are soft points. Console allows you to view equipped relics while in a vendor but PC does not. Ground targeting CA's are also easier with a mouse.

OMG Luge nice points, didn't know that about the hard and soft points, but man the Ground targetting CA's on console are incredibly annoying. To Efficiently be able to use my High Elf's Pyro Shower, I had to combo it with my fireball, since in a combo the Show will automatically target the area of the person that the fireball was aimed for. The Hold the button and drag and then let go method seemed like they were trying to have a mouse action with a controller just feels strange and like a change in gameplay when I have to do so.

[essjayehm 58]

Yeah, I found (particulary) Lost Fusion almost unplayable on console, since the 'ideal' target for all LF ca's is never the one the "random target generator" picks for you on console. Major pet peeve of mine (the targeted CA's on console).

For me, the HE's meteor spell was always paired with Magic Coup, (with RpH to insta-recharge the combo). Today's special: Incendiary Spam.. watchout, it's spicy!