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[POLL] What is your *overall* rating for this Pre-Alpha Release 5? (UNOFFICIAL)

Discussion in 'Release 5 Feedback' started by smack, Apr 27, 2014.

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What is your *overall* rating for this Pre-Alpha Release 5? (1=bad, 5=great)

  1. 1

    3.9%
  2. 2

    7.8%
  3. 3

    30.1%
  4. 4

    43.7%
  5. 5

    14.6%
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  1. smack

    smack Avatar

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    Ok everyone, for those of you who've had a chance to playtest this Pre-Alpha Release 5, what is your *overall* rating?

    Here were the areas highlighted in the release notes for R5:

    Combat and Magic Skills
    Linear Lighting Model
    Add On Store Conversion (Website)
    Weekend Access Keys (Login)
    Crafting
    Compass
    Overland Map Polish
    Combat Floaties
    Health Bars
    New Creatures
    Traditional Combat Shortcut Bar
    AFK Mode
    New Vale Scenes
    Player Housing

    Feel free to break out your ratings to those categories above or any others and elaborate in the comments below (or link to a thread you may have started already).

    Note: This poll is designed to show trends of overall sentiment with each subsequent Release. It's not designed to rate it as a final game, but merely as a snapshot of the community's opinion at that point in the development cycle. Previous polls here: R1, R2, R3, R4.

    Thanks for voting and looking forward to your overall feedback!
     
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  2. Doppelganger [MGT]

    Doppelganger [MGT] Avatar

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    There were a lot of things to be happy about in this release and although its not perfect (as we all know), I felt it was a better release than R4. The switch to linear lighting was a pretty big improvement, although for some reason, running the game now seems very CPU intensive and my processor was getting really hot! The visuals definitely saw a boost though. The compass was also a very nice addition and I think that was pretty well done.

    In regards to the controversial overland map, I really don't know what to think. I don't love it and I don't hate it. I can't put it into words, but it does seem a bit strange to me. I am sure it will go through many changes before release though. Speaking of maps, you know what else would be really nice? A mini map that the player could toggle with the "m" key. Just a small reference map for the local area that would pop up in the top right corner of the screen, perhaps with transparency. Many games of the past have utilized this and I've found it invaluable! It's something to consider.

    My two biggest complaints with this release are as follows: I feel the skills need to be more easily transferred to the bar at the bottom. The process of selecting them, then hitting "k" selecting and dragging them down to the bar seems a bit unintuitive and unnatural. I'll be honest, at first I couldn't even figure out how to do it and had to look it up! Perhaps we could skip that second step altogether? Maybe double clicking the skill will add it to the quick bar? I'm not sure what the solution is, but the way it is atm won't work...

    My second issue is probably something that will improve over time, but it's in regards to combat. As it stands, there isn't anything in the way of "collision" when you strike an enemy, or when you're struck. There needs to be some kind of force feedback or response when there is contact. Take Skyrim for example; you can feel it when you hit someone. In the current SotA model, your sword goes right through foes, you hear a thud and you see a number indicating the damage. There is no blood, no staggering enemy, and no feedback indicating there was a successful strike. I know combat is in a very early stage and will see improvement though, so I am hoping this is something that will be addressed.

    Altogether, this was an interesting release! Slowly but surely, were getting there...
     
  3. Dermott

    Dermott Avatar

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    Okay... here we go...

    Combat and Magic Skills

    This one is kind of "meh" so far. The combat DOES feel better than R4, and it did get a few more tweaks in the process of R5 so that there is a little variation in enemy challenge, but it's still really too basic right now to get a good feel for it. Once a couple of patches happened and I got equipped, combat hasn't been all that challenging. 3

    Linear Lighting Model

    One of the best changes I've seen. The lighting and shadows are looking VERY good and the dynamics of them simply amaze me at times. 5 all the way, especially if it's getting even better from here. Only complaint is that we don't really need the lens flare effect, much less how insane it can be.

    Add On Store Conversion (Website)

    Did not access thus N/A for me.

    Weekend Access Keys (Login)

    Did not access thus N/A for me.

    Crafting

    Same as R4, however, a bug with the recipe book made it slightly less enjoyable. Also it'd be nice to keep the recipes learned carried over per account and only lose them if the recipe is changed. Refilling the book each release takes a good bit of time that could be used for better purposes. 4

    Compass

    Great addition, but I would also like a minimap to be honest. 4

    Overland Map Polish

    Much better looking and the animated effects help out a lot. Also nice to be able to pan and zoom. 5

    Combat Floaties

    I could take or leave these. There's also the chat spam if needed, and other than giving an idea of how hard each blow hits, the health bar does a better job unless we had the actual HP numbers to work with. 3

    Health Bars

    Very helpful to have, although I wasn't against the health "dot" either. Both give a fair representation of how combat is going. 4

    New Creatures

    Mimic mimic freaking MIMIC! Best new creature in the release by far. The "variations on a theme" of Melee, Archer, Mage is ok, but needs to be fleshed out so that there is more variety between different monsters. I.E. Bone mages should be dealing in Death-based spells, archers should have different special attacks, etc. 4

    Traditional Combat Shortcut Bar

    I'm not a fan of it being the length of the numbers across the top of the keyboard. Drop it down by half to 5 keys, otherwise it seems decent once you get used to it. 4

    AFK Mode

    Handy, plus sitting down on the ground is nice. 5

    New Vale Scenes

    The older scenes are nicely fleshed out now, but some of the generic new scenes need this treatment still. Did not really spend time looking at the new villages. 4

    Player Housing

    Tested this in R1 so haven't really bothered since. Unless there's a specific new system they're wanting to work with, I already know how to deco a house. N/A

    So taking the scores I gave and leaving out those that I did not test/experience, yeah... 4 seems about right overall.

    I've posted other reactions and thoughts elsewhere.
     
  4. SmokerKGB

    SmokerKGB Avatar

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    Combat and Magic Skills: They seem pretty good for a 1st look at, although I don't understand why they use 2 interface windows, when 1 should do. I think the icons should be greyed until you ad points to them, then we should be able to drag the icon from the 1st window to our combat bar. I just figured out how to attack someone from afar, I was always using the number keys instead of clicking the icon, but you have to be in combat for them to work. I think there needs to be a combat key you can press, so that you sheath/un-sheath your weapon, double clicking is a pain, and auto attack doesn't work if you just use magic alone.

    Linear Lighting Model: I don't like it, I am using "fantastic" mode now, but linear lighting just makes everything dark, even in daylight. I tried all the different settings, and the lower settings just take away all the shadow effects, which I think are cool. So why the change in lighting? It was looking pretty good in R4. The sewers were too dark to see anything, and a torch made no difference at all.

    Add On Store Conversion (Website): It works fine, I turned over a few things, and plan to do more.

    Weekend Access Keys (Login): I'm Dev+ so it doesn't apply.

    Crafting: I don't like "discovery" too much, but once it's on the cheat sheet (wiki), it doesn't matter.

    Compass: It's great, just the right touch, but we do need a mini map to look at to find our bearing, most Ultimas had a roll out map, and a sextant gave your position.

    Overland Map Polish: I like it, traditional Ultima, I can get used to it.

    Combat Floaties: They're ok, got to have some kind of effects.

    Health Bars: Adaquit

    New Creatures: Cool

    Traditional Combat Shortcut Bar: Cool

    AFK Mode: Awsume

    New Vale Scenes: No more placeholders.

    Player Housing: Not enough to go around, so I didn't test.
     
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  5. Numa

    Numa Avatar

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    My score was actually 3.5/5.0 , downsized it to 3 since fractions aren't allowed in the poll & I felt at this point that a 4 was too high a score.

    Judging from the early response, this looks like a successful pre-alpha release.
     
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  6. Floors

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    Fractions of .5 are rounded up, generally speaking. :)
     
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  7. rune_74

    rune_74 Avatar

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    So you guys know about the combat skills...that is only a temporary until they have the deck system in place and will not be like that when it is.
     
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  8. rune_74

    rune_74 Avatar

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    So you guys know about the combat skills...that is only a temporary until they have the deck system in place and will not be like that when it is.
     
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  9. Solidus88

    Solidus88 Avatar

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    I actually thought that the overview map was just a placeholder..Now that I've done some research, it seems that it's the way they're going pretty much. I'm not too sure about it. I would have preferred the original overview, 2d-scale map view with an actual Avatar figure, as opposed to that ugly flag. What RG showed in the first build of the game looked so much better than what is in place currently in the game. I sure hope they reconsider.
     
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  10. PrimeRib

    PrimeRib Avatar

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    I don't really know what to say. Combat, navigation, crafting all needs tons of help. They're not expected to be done yet. Everything needs to just get much simpler and more straight forward.
     
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  11. Carlin the Druid Archer

    Carlin the Druid Archer Avatar

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    Generally happy with progression (given still alpha) but bit worried about their release date and how much needs to be done.

    Main areas I would like to see polished (or at least know they are working on) are:

    1. NPC facial expressions: At the moment they all look like zombies lurching around the place.
      I'd like confirmation that they will be doing some kind of facial expression rigging for a future release.

    2. NPC chat: I'd like some kind of pop-up with the NPC's 'head and shoulders' in it, so I can properly see who I am talking to.

    3. Ambiance of fires/lighting: I like the graphical improvements of moving to Linear lightling, BUT the fires have lost the warm glow they used to throw out.

    4. Walking: Needs to be a bit faster. Walking is useful in tight spaces like housing and perhaps sneaking around in dungeons, but it is painfully slow at the moment.

    5. More NPCs (background NPCs)... they need more random NPCs like children (where have all the children gone?) Don't need to be detailed or time consuming, just a bunch of slightly customised 'clones' (different hair colour,type etc) they could quickly spit out to fill up the world (maybe this is a later job for them, given they can really do it at any stage).
     
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  12. Sindariya

    Sindariya Avatar

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    Combat and Magic Skills
    • loved the combat and spells so far
    • at the moment you need a heavy armor to fight properly
    • healing and resurrection should be usable without targeting anybody or be in a combat

    Linear Lighting Model
    • to be fair I don't noticed it really
    • I only noticed, that the night is now really dark and even the dungeons, sometimes you really have to wear a torch to see anything

    Add On Store Conversion (Website)
    • works, still miss the option to only use the credit points without a payingmethode

    Weekend Access Keys (Login)
    • met some of them in chat who were confussed if they had to do something to get access

    Crafting
    • highlighting of the recipe book doesn't work
    • caused big delays, still don't know if I click wrong using the recipebook

    Compass
    • doesn't really help to orientate

    Overland Map Polish
    • looks now more like a child book
    • still don't like it

    Combat Floaties
    • what are floaties?

    Health Bars
    • want it back under the combat bar, hate it on the side. looks like wow

    New Creatures
    • want to have the mimic chest as a pet

    Traditional Combat Shortcut Bar
    • so far so good

    AFK Mode
    • is good

    New Vale Scenes
    • haven't seen them

    Player Housing
    • like the new lots without fences
    I wasn't disappointed but bored after the second day. the fights were to easy at the moment. I avoid quests I want to do them in the final game.
     
  13. Lord_Darkmoon

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    I had quite a bit of fun with R5 and it seems to be coming together as a real game.

    Combat and Magic Skills
    Combat felt ok for a Pre-Alpha, just the animations were a bit strange sometimes.

    Linear Lighting Model
    Liked it and made the game look better.

    Add On Store Conversion (Website)
    Didn't use it.

    Weekend Access Keys (Login)
    Didn't use it

    Crafting
    Didn't craft.

    Compass
    Was ok, but didn't look at it most of the time

    Overland Map Polish
    Catastrophic, awful, a big mistake! I hate the cloth map! This is nothing like Ultima. The new textures, animations and functions didn't make it any better.

    Combat Floaties
    Big mistake to include this as it totally destroys immersion and includes another generic MMO feature every other game has into SotA.

    Health Bars
    The same as with combat floaties... big mistake and I hope those are just placeholders until they get the visible wounds in the game.

    New Creatures
    Really liked them.

    Traditional Combat Shortcut Bar
    Was ok. But I would love to have an UI that is less intrusive. Maybe clicking on the enemy and then some radial menu pops up which allows you to choose the attack.

    AFK Mode
    Didn't use it.

    New Vale Scenes
    Some were really good, others need more work. But generally there are too few scenes and it gets repetitive very fast.

    Player Housing
    Not in the least interested in housing.
     
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  14. Kaisa

    Kaisa Avatar

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    While it obviously still needs a lot of work I think this release was the best one yet. I rated it a 4 out of 5. Here is my breakdown of the different catagories.

    Combat and magic skills:
    Combat was very basic still but functional. A lot of animations are missing but I knew they would be. What we have seen skill wise seems interesting so far I look forward to seeing the skill trees more fleshed out.

    Linear lighting model:

    I like this change a lot. Graphically the game looked noticeably better this release then it did previously. However even with a torch dungeons/sewers and night is too dark. Torches and other light sources really need to give off more light and have a bigger radius.

    Add on Store conversion:
    N/A

    Weekend access keys:
    N/A

    crafting:
    didn't do much crafting seemed about the same as R3 with just a few more recipes to start with. Still not a fan of the whole random discovery system. It just doesn't make sense to me. Just putting some materials on a crafting table and somehow magically figuring out how to make a chair or a sword it makes no sense. However I will live with it and likely just end up using the Wiki once the game goes live.

    overland map polish:
    Map does look better this release. It still kinda sucks though. However at this point I am willing to see what they can do with this map. Though I still wish they would just go back to the original map.

    combat floaties:
    To be honest never really paid attention to these.

    health bars:
    I hope once the game is more developed we will not need these as much. However for right now they were useful for telling if you were taking damage and if your enemy was taking damage.

    new creatures:
    The mimic was very cool totally took me by surprised and kicked my butt when I clicked on it lol!

    traditional combat bar:
    was functional more or less

    afk mode:
    neat I really like the ablity to sit anywhere!

    New Vale scenes:
    Liked them over all but there does seem to be too much repetition in the hex scenes currently though. I think this is just because there isn't that many scenes made yet.

    Player housing:
    I didn't get to test this. I did really like the new player towns though! The lack of fences really looked much better! A mini map would be nice however it was pretty easy to get lost and relocating your house could be a real pain.

    compass:
    Nice to have, but to be honest didn't really pay much attention to it.
     
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  15. StarLord

    StarLord Avatar

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    Stupid me: I voted "2" but meant "4".
    Grafics are way better now. Also more details. Scenes are very nice, no flat terrains, different plants; especially the woods are great.
    Combat was OK, Crafting too
     
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  16. Winfield

    Winfield Legend of the Hearth

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    Combat and Magic Skills - magic deck was fine for me. Allocate spell points, put in the deck, then pick which ones go to the tool bar. I like seeing the skill tree when deciding strategically what skills I need, then also have the short list of ones I've picked so I can quickly change them around tactically just before combat (or during combat).

    Linear Lighting Model - Liked it a lot!

    Crafting - discovered more recipes - thanks for better starter ones - can't wait to 'learn' more through concepts like "use coal to help heat the iron you are pounding on" so we know when to add coal to the blacksmith; vs just assembling an item.

    Compass - great addition. As for the mini map idea, I think it should only reveal what a person has discovered. And that it is a separate toggle from the compass - I like the immersion of the compass, mini map destroys some immersion. Use M and Ctrl M.

    Overland Map Polish - getting better. To me, I just want to navigate and move around on the overland map. How fancy it is... is not that important to me personally.

    Combat Floaties - nice to see some idea of impact of a weapon or spell (the numbers), but again, would make that a toggle.

    Health Bars - Nice - dot was fine with me too.

    New Creatures - keep them coming!

    Traditional Combat Shortcut Bar - no opinion

    AFK Mode - It is alright, good to see when someone is away. Change the note from AFK to Zzzz though - AFK breaks the immersion. Seeing people sit on the ground in the middle of the street though is a bit strange. Give everyone a little stool to sit on would be better and put them in a "thinking pose" with one of their hands on their chins, and/or on city streets they slide over to the edge of the road and sit on the ground or a stool.

    New Vale Scenes - getting better - glad they are more complete

    Player Housing - biggest area I spent time on, including player towns. Made an open-air house, so I was creative with furnishing a blank canvas for a house and having friends and guests over to visit. Issues with some interactive furniture (chairs, chests). Really liked the no fences option with small marker stone - was hard to see in some cases, but that's the fun of it... tromping through the woods. When placing a mage tower, a tree limb and leaves went right into the house - need to check tree limbs upon house placement. My write up about a player town experience in Valemark is here.

    Bottom Line - lots of progress. Some things added for more convenience or information to the players tends to reduce immersion. But we all know the game has to be fun in many ways for all of us. Keep toggles on many of the options please so we can enjoy individual play styles too.
     
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  17. Sunsanvil

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    Combat and Magic Skills
    While we got a peek at the skill trees, we saw nothing of the so called deck system so there really isn't anything to comment on....at all...other than the fireball spamming parties in Owl's Head.

    Linear Lighting Model
    Many complaints about things suddenly being too dark so again not really anything to comment on since all the lighting will need to be fixed before we will actually see what the new model looks like

    Crafting
    Frankly, weekends are just too short to grind resources to do any sort of meaningful testing. Sorry, I have a life and only have a few hours on the weekend. Only found out late Sunday they hadn't fixed the infinite node bug. If you want us to act like testers, treat us like testers and give us a decent bit of loot to start with for the weekend.

    Compass.
    It worked.

    Overland Map Polish
    See my extensive comments in specific threads.

    Combat Floaties
    Why do we see everyone's (NPC's and creature's) health outside of combat?!?

    Health Bars
    Ok

    New Creatures
    Didn't find any.

    Traditional Combat Shortcut Bar
    I'd like it to pop up when double clicking on a foe. Irritating to have to flip from toolbar to combat bar in order to start a fight with a fireball.

    AFK Mode
    Sure

    New Vale Scenes
    Didn't come across any.

    Player Housing
    Of absolutely no interest to me, though frankly if houses will be decked out as ridiculously as what I saw this weekend (junk all over the place), I may have to forgo online modes of all kinds.


    I'm somewhat concerned that with over 12 months behind and (allegedly) only 6 months ahead, the fundamental mechanics of the game arnt even there.
     
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  18. Duke Olahorand

    Duke Olahorand Localization Team

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    Well, I voted 3, but more due to individual issues. Somehow these test periods seem always to hit time frames, in which I'm specially low on time to play.
    Combat and Magic Skills
    Too fast used skills did reduce mainly to Fireball, sometimes Healing.
    Especially without adequate armor one had his difficulties to even try something in melee as I was testing this.
    Linear Lighting Model
    The shadows sometimes were a bit unnatural - especially torches in the dungeon gave me that impression.
    Add On Store Conversion (Website)
    Did not use it yet.
    Crafting
    Dismissed due to lack of time.
    Compass
    Helps to keep the direction, but without a fitting map only minor use.
    Overland Map Polish
    More performant now, I liked it.
    Wishes: Ability to make notes to positions on the map, keep chat open and not to lose the open game windows if returning to a hex field.
    Combat Floaties
    Was there anything floating? Somehow missed this.
    Health Bars
    Better than R4, where I always confused the own and enemy bars.
    New Creatures
    Great Mimicking chest. Need one tamed as walking carry box :)
    Traditional Combat Shortcut Bar
    The bar defaulting to Tools and not responding to clicks on icons if not in direct combat is inconvenient and counter-intuitive.
    AFK Mode
    Liked it to hear music in the tavern without playing. Should not stop, if the window gets the focus, only after click or keypress.
    New Vale Scenes
    As far as I could explore, fine.
    Player Housing
    Without land to claim I was really not that happy about the situation. No chance to test anything, if you have been late with lot claiming.
    The houses without fences have there Pro's and Con's.
    Finding the own house again seems to become a huge problem out there in the forest.
    Other stuff:
    Footsteps and music don't go well together.
    Client patched to death to version 94 (Launcher could not find game) did cost me about 5 hours to fix - each attempt ended with a semicomplete or complete download, finally had to uninstall the game and start from the scratch. That were 5 hours less to test and play.
    Getting stuck without zone command working (did in some situations return the character to the same position in dungeon, where he was stuck in): There should be a point of return, to which a player can bring his character in such situation.
    Graphics: That the quality went up did show not only optical, but also in the fact, that my video card started to increase noise at fantastic, which it didn't in the builds before.
    Side note: The German translation of release notes prepared by Sindariya and myself was helpful for our German players.

    As we can say - for an interim build well done again, but still a lot to do.
    Thanks to the team for providing this milestep to us.
    *Salute*
    Olahorand
     
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  19. Sir Seir

    Sir Seir Avatar

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    I was hoping they would put the basic skill card deck in for R5 (and Chris even said it was done and working) so I missed having that. The new scenes and new player hamlets were great. Combat with skills was fine but had zero tuning (everything was 5/10/20 HPs). Wish the Light spell would have worked, tough to use shield skills or 2H weapons in the dungeons without a light source. Loved the lighting, btw, hope they keep things dark at night and in the caves.

    I'm still a fan of the overland map; enjoyed the updates but would like to zoom even further and be able to scroll around a more (why not?) My assumption is they are still planning to add discovery and fog of war, etc. And that they'll let me travel over the mountain (just at a very slow pace). Movement on the map seemed too fast; I could walk from the top of the map to the bottom now in less than a minute and we were promised a 30 minute walk for the mainland (don't think the mainland is 30x the size).
     
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  20. Doppelganger [MGT]

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    Now that you mention it, this was my experience too. While the linear lighting is an improvement, it seems to have made things darker. I found the dungeons and the prisons to be a bit too dark, even with the use of torches. Perhaps the developers could include a brightness slider in the video options for the game? Either that or make the torches cover a wider radius!
     
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