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RUMOR: High Voltage Studios fired, Q-Loc brought in for MKX PC port

EdFig81

Original OBS mbr/VSM/G4S
If this is true, I still think that we're likely to be disappointed. This sounds like some PR blame shifting, not an actual solution. I believe NRS is the actual problem.

While I have no love loss for HVS, and though I won't be all that sad to see them go, I have a feeling that they inherited a lot of the issues from the main game ie NRS. I may be mistaken, but I don't recall too many PC exclusive problems. The memory leak, the shitty netcode, the Krypt bug, etc. were all found on the consoles as well.

NRS did fuck up by erasing everyone's game data (huge fucking whoops that one), and the timing/communication has been abysmal with the PC lagging almost a month behind consoles, but there is a legitimate question there about how much control they had over timing and communication (I assume these things would be dicated by NRS or WB, no?).

In any case, I'll gladly say good riddance and hope for better, but NRS should be kissing HVS's ass as well since HVS is effectively taking a huge portion of the blame that should fall solidly on NRS's shoulders.
If HVS didn't have so many issues prior to games they ported after they were already on console i could agree with this but due to their prior history right i am leaning towards the "I blame HVS" side.

HVS has ported to PC , MK9, Injustice & MKX. All outside of MKX came out after the console ports were done. MK9 came out way after the final console patch/verision. Also Injustice on Vita was ported over by HVS , which makes no sense to me as MK9 on vita was a pretty dam good port outside of graphic changes/small character changes. I also don't recall HVS making the vita port of MK9. HVS also ported injustice to PS4 which to my knowledge was a good port though i barely played it as i got it a week prior to mkx heh.

Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection was actually made on console by HVS then ported over to PC by Other Ocean. The PC version ported over has the same issues the Console version done by HVS has. On console HVS Verison had issues that took 2-4 months to fix some issues such as online (which is still bleh imo) but other issues were never addressed such as sound plus much more to list here. Online net code had to be redone and i believe they had to use MK9 net code as the fix. NRS also responded directly to issues including Ed Boon when the console versions first were released. They also ported this to pc with the same sound issues/online issues the game still has. Not to mention while i don't hate it many do games for windows live.

I want to blame WB/NRS only for hiring them again after their history, but who knows the reasons as to why:
1) They may have a contract that couldn't be terminated yet
2) May Forced by parent company as they have a deal with HVS
3) Who knows why i just hope that NRS didn't do it themselves as their history was bleh in the past.

Oh and one last thing aren't all of their NRS ports based on games build around the unreal engine? I am not a programer but i do recall reading that the benefit to making something based on the unreal engine (even if its heavily modified) is it does make it more easy to port over to pc and the other way around to consoles.

Anyway I hope they are able to repair the pc version so that it works properly.
 

Braindead

I want Kronika to step on my face
I wonder how much Q-Loc will be able to salvage without rewriting the entire code lmao.
 

qspec

Mortal
Like I said above, many of the issues that are being blamed on HVS were extant in the NRS-only console versions.

While I don't think HVS deserves to get away scot-free, I do think that we need to be reasonable as to which issues we are blaming them for. Memory leak? NRS. Time to fix memory leak? Probably HVS.
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
While I have no love loss for HVS, and though I won't be all that sad to see them go, I have a feeling that they inherited a lot of the issues from the main game ie NRS. I may be mistaken, but I don't recall too many PC exclusive problems. The memory leak, the shitty netcode, the Krypt bug, etc. were all found on the consoles as well.
This indicates to me that you probably don't play the PC version. There's no comparison -- whatever you thought about the netcode on PS4 or XB1, the experience on PC was absolute disaster. I had to stop playing on PC, because 3/4 of my online matches weren't even playable. I don't mean "rough" or "slightly delayed", but absolutely not playable.

When playing with the friend of mine that I convinced to buy the game, if I someone used an X-Ray, or even just used the menu in our match to look up frame data, his frame rate dropped to 1/4th of normal, and stayed that way until he exited the game and restarted it. When people complain about the console netcode they're complaining about certain matches lagging a bit or having input delay; not about the game becoming unplayable and having to restart the system.

There was also an issue where after a patch, gameplay was restricted to 1/4th of the users' screen. The other 3/4's went unused. We're talking about truly egregious issues.

If you had it, you'd see that even graphically, the game doesn't look like it's supposed to look. I tried using the sliders to adjust the visuals, but I couldn't come up with a group of settings that approximate what the console game looks like on the same monitor. Brights/dark areas are all out of wack, colors are washed out, etc. It's a mess.
 
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cR WoundCowboy

WoundCowbae <3
This indicates to me that you probably don't play the PC version. There's no comparison -- whatever you thought about the netcode on PS4 or XB1, the experience on PC was absolute disaster. I had to stop playing, because 3/4 of my online matches weren't even playable. I don't mean "rough" or "slightly delayed", but absolutely not playable.

When playing with the friend of mine that I convinced to buy the game, if I someone used an X-Ray, or even just used the menu in our match to look up frame data, his frame rate dropped to 1/4th of normal, and stayed that way until he exited the game and restarted it. When people complain about the console netcode they're complaining about certain matcnes lagging a bit or having input delay; not about the game becoming unplayable and having to restart the system.

There was also an issue where after a patch, gameplay was restricted to 1/4th of the users' screen. The other 3/4's went unused. We're talking about truly egregious issues.

If you had it, you'd see that even graphically, the game doesn't look like it's supposed to look. I tried using the sliders to adjust the visuals, but I couldn't come up with a group of settings that approximate what the console game looks like on the same monitor. Brights/dark areas are all out of wack, colors are washed out, etc. It's a mess.
#yourinternetsucks
 

catscratch

Fun Sucks
Expected. When you fuck up THIS badly, and your parent company is owned by Hollywood execs who generally have little tolerance for any bullshit besides their own, you're not gonna last.

The thing is, I wouldn't celebrate too early. Even if the new dev team is competent, there's always the possibility of them being handed an undocumented mess that's borderline impossible to work with. I wouldn't be surprised if it took months for the new team to wade through layers of byzantine code until they get all of this sorted out, and the PC version may not be on track right away like we all want.

As for lolworthy issues: my game would typically crash 5-10% of the time just after exiting character select in ranked, which would give me a disconnect on my record. So now I have like 7% disconnects without actually having pulled once and my record is permanently tarred. Thanks High Voltage. That's not even going into the fact that on an i7, 24 gigs of ram, SSD, and a Titan GTX I STILL experienced frame rate drops, shitty loading times, improperly - laughably I would say - rendered shadows, and general stutter. Plus all of the unplayably laggy matches, ping indicators having NOTHING whatsoever to do with actual ping (I had green connections that were somewhere around 200ms and 1-bar connections that were obviously 20ms or less), games that ran in slow motion... OK, I'll stop, but trust me, the netplay was a joke. You got maybe one quality match in 3, on a GOOD day.
 

Immortal

Blind justice....
Beside the mess at premiere. And obvious problems with patching (still missing one hotfix) or beta Tanya (dust + on block).

Game works almost flawlessly for me. And im playing at 4K and rock solid 60 fps.

Just to be clear i always thought and still think that HVS sucks.
 

ZeZe

The smart stuff!
I have constructed conspiracy theory regarding WB actually giving few fks about PC version:

Capcom announces SFV as cross platform between PS4 and PC. Then: Microsoft launches poll to know, how Killer Instinct on PC would be viewed. Then: KI on PC confirmed at E3 as cross platform between Xbox and PC. Then: WB get their sht together, go Konami on HVS and hire other dudes to fix MKX on PC. If that's correct, I gotta say this might be first time when I look with sympathy at Capcom and Microsoft.
 

BoromiRofGeo

Kombatant
I have constructed conspiracy theory regarding WB actually giving few fks about PC version:

Capcom announces SFV as cross platform between PS4 and PC. Then: Microsoft launches poll to know, how Killer Instinct on PC would be viewed. Then: KI on PC confirmed at E3 as cross platform between Xbox and PC. Then: WB get their sht together, go Konami on HVS and hire other dudes to fix MKX on PC. If that's correct, I gotta say this might be first time when I look with sympathy at Capcom and Microsoft.
this makes a lot of sense actually. sf5 on a pc will be amazing, and i will be playing both Sf5 and KI on a pc with a lot of passion. i have like 150 hours of mkx on steam on a pc and half of that is trying to make game work.
 

VenomX-90

"On your Knees!"
That's why people need to make some noise, even if the usual suspects (the sheep) call you a whiner or a complainer. If people would "adapt" to the PC version then we would have HVS still butchering the PC port until today and months to come.
First things first ppl need to adapt to the game in general. instead of crying for buffs and nerfs etc.
 

C-Sword

Warrior
I blame WB & NRS for hiring

PDP to make their controllers instead of MadCatz
HVS for the ports
And whoever is responsible for the netcode.

I don't expect much improvement from the next game, they're clearly looking for the cheapest deals possible.
 

BillStickers

Do not touch me again.
The long-standing HVS and NRS partnership probably just comes down to locale and networking; both are Illinois-based companies and HVS has been around since the Midway days. It speaks volumes about the issues with the port, though, when NRS is no longer willing to give business to its own hometown due to poor quality of deliverables, not to mention two missed deadlines for prev-gen consoles.
 

Johnny San

Shazzy's Biggest Fan
I have constructed conspiracy theory regarding WB actually giving few fks about PC version:

Capcom announces SFV as cross platform between PS4 and PC. Then: Microsoft launches poll to know, how Killer Instinct on PC would be viewed. Then: KI on PC confirmed at E3 as cross platform between Xbox and PC. Then: WB get their sht together, go Konami on HVS and hire other dudes to fix MKX on PC. If that's correct, I gotta say this might be first time when I look with sympathy at Capcom and Microsoft.
Hmm. Interesting development. You hit the nail on the head on that.
 

qspec

Mortal
This indicates to me that you probably don't play the PC version. There's no comparison -- whatever you thought about the netcode on PS4 or XB1, the experience on PC was absolute disaster. I had to stop playing on PC, because 3/4 of my online matches weren't even playable. I don't mean "rough" or "slightly delayed", but absolutely not playable.

When playing with the friend of mine that I convinced to buy the game, if I someone used an X-Ray, or even just used the menu in our match to look up frame data, his frame rate dropped to 1/4th of normal, and stayed that way until he exited the game and restarted it. When people complain about the console netcode they're complaining about certain matches lagging a bit or having input delay; not about the game becoming unplayable and having to restart the system.

There was also an issue where after a patch, gameplay was restricted to 1/4th of the users' screen. The other 3/4's went unused. We're talking about truly egregious issues.

If you had it, you'd see that even graphically, the game doesn't look like it's supposed to look. I tried using the sliders to adjust the visuals, but I couldn't come up with a group of settings that approximate what the console game looks like on the same monitor. Brights/dark areas are all out of wack, colors are washed out, etc. It's a mess.
Well man, you've drawn the wrong assumption then. I'm a massive PC gamer to the point that I generally don't play UNIEL or Xrd simply because I despise having to turn on my PS3. You'd have been better off implying that I don't know how good the PS4 users have it... because I don't.

But all of that said, most of the issues you are talking about still afflicted the PS4. They simply affected it for less time. Google it. It will take you seconds to find PS4 users complaining about freezes. The Krypt bug that sucked? Yes... console users got it too. The memory leak? Check. Shitty netcode? Yup.

Look I'm not trying to apologize for HVS. There are PC exclusive problems: GPU specific issues, redownloading the entire client, slow turn around, month long wait on balance patches, erased save files, etc. some or all of which are due to HVS.

I'm just trying to stop this 'grass is greener' bullshit when NRS deserves plenty of credit for the thousands of people no longer playing MKX on the PC. At worst, I'm just calling my shot. No matter who handles the port, there are going to be some issues unless NRS cleans up their side of the house too.
 

sling1414

Apprentice
Just to add something to the confirmation of this rumor, previously on HVS's twitter bio it said something along the lines of "company behind MKX for PC"

Well that has been removed from their bio lol
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
Well man, you've drawn the wrong assumption then. I'm a massive PC gamer to the point that I generally don't play UNIEL or Xrd simply because I despise having to turn on my PS3. You'd have been better off implying that I don't know how good the PS4 users have it... because I don't.

But all of that said, most of the issues you are talking about still afflicted the PS4. They simply affected it for less time. Google it. It will take you seconds to find PS4 users complaining about freezes. The Krypt bug that sucked? Yes... console users got it too. The memory leak? Check. Shitty netcode? Yup.

Look I'm not trying to apologize for HVS. There are PC exclusive problems: GPU specific issues, redownloading the entire client, slow turn around, month long wait on balance patches, erased save files, etc. some or all of which are due to HVS.

I'm just trying to stop this 'grass is greener' bullshit when NRS deserves plenty of credit for the thousands of people no longer playing MKX on the PC. At worst, I'm just calling my shot. No matter who handles the port, there are going to be some issues unless NRS cleans up their side of the house too.
I've been playing the PS4 since day one and not experienced any of the issues I listed in my post.
 

aldazo

Waiting for Havik
Now it reads "branches/daily_qa1/buildid: 644887" instead of "branches/daily_qloc/buildid: 644887"
Do someone know if this disconfirm the rumor?
 

D4G

Win At All Cost
After Killing 2/3's of the player base I'm not as happy as I should be, but excited nevertheless.

Good job NRS.

As for You HVS...
 

Diego de Souza Costa

***The Soul Consuming Darkness***
First things first ppl need to adapt to the game in general. instead of crying for buffs and nerfs etc.
what are you talking about dude ?!.... buffs/nerfs ????? this has nothing to do with that... jesus christ... people bought this game and the game was not working(still not working for a lot of people) and now, that pretty much 80% of the people who bought the game, is not playing anymore, they are finally trying to do the right thing.....

P.S. 15k people on the first week, now, 3k a day, with luck.... really sad, this game is really good... they only have themselves to blame...
 

Red Reaper

The Hyrax Whisperer
Administrator
U wanna grab my vita
Pick Martian
OH teleport

Watch the frames go bye bye and tell me their port is ok?

I still feel cheated about that
Wrong studio though.. That version was ported by Armature Studio..

Judging by the amount of likes you got though, not many people do their research before passing judgment....
 

Red Reaper

The Hyrax Whisperer
Administrator
Injustice offline is ok but heres one very big issue.
Play 2 players and with custom controls and if someone switches who they are playing with the buttons reset almost all the time between matches after a switch and you have to change the buttons.

This has not been patched they have worked on the online but at the point they released the last patch i lost hope in playing the game.

I don't remember who but someone tried to run an event on injustice on pc and everyone had issues. I played Injustice on PC at Pax in Boston this yr they had a set up when you can win stuff (won a keyboard/ssd) however the buttons kept on glitching for everyone who played.
That is a significant issue..

Glad you mentioned that. I kould give them somewhat of a pass on that since button issues were present on the PS3 since the beginning and that probably karried over, but with MKX on PC being terrible they just aren't worth the risk. I hope another studio takes over from now on.