Dark Souls I on PC

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Tue May 06, 2014 9:26 pm

I tried loading this up from STEAM and the interface is horrid on the PC. Did you guys try the first one on the PC and if so how did you cope with the interface? It seems they made zero effort to make any PC changes at all. Is there a setting I'm missing?

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue May 06, 2014 10:57 pm

It's the 'you need a controller to play it' setting.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Tue May 06, 2014 10:59 pm

Damn.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Wed May 07, 2014 7:56 pm

I am currently playing it using a Microsoft controller I bought basically for this game. With the controller it is pretty simple. I never tried it without the controller as I had read the warnings about it. Assassin's Creed is more or less the same although I have played the first two AC games with a mouse and keyboard.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:22 am

RISE!
Perhaps I was foolish, but I've always wanted to try this, and it's the daily sale on Steam right now at 75% off ($4.99). So, I figured I'd finally get it for that price. Even if I hate it I'm not out that much.

I've also been planning on getting an Xbox controller so I went ahead and ordered one of those as well since I figured I might as well finally learn how to use one and this game demands one. I installed DSfix and it appears to be working as I have 1920x1200 working fine in fullscreen. So, I'm all set and as soon as my controller gets here I'll take the plunge. Hey, better late than never, amirite?

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:21 pm

This is a great game. It does require patience though, as you will die often. There is a pretty good learning curve and the game does not hold your hand. But if you can get into it you will have a very enjoyable/frustrating/satisfying time.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:30 pm

Yeah, since I've never used a controller before, I expect to die at a record rate as I learn. I'm sure it will be very frustrating at first but I'm expecting it. I'm looking forward to it though. Naturally Amazon chooses now to wait a week to ship me my controller so I still haven't gotten it yet. Usually I get stuff from them within a few days.

While waiting for the controller I got my Pyro all created and ready to go. He's sitting in his cell waiting, bored as can be.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:36 pm

The hardest part for me in getting used to the controller was falling off things. I would walk along a small area, move a few controls and die falling off the cliff. The actual hack n slash part is pretty easy to pick up.

If you have any questions or problems post here and I will offer my help. This is a game with a large community, and the game kind of encourages the use of them.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 8:05 am

Scuzz wrote:If you have any questions or problems post here and I will offer my help.

Will do. Thanks very much.

Scuzz wrote:The hardest part for me in getting used to the controller was falling off things. I would walk along a small area, move a few controls and die falling off the cliff.

From what I've read, you dodge by pushing the stick in a direction and then hit the B button. If you hit the B button a bit early, you take a step back instead and it's really easy to take a step back right off a cliff that way.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Fri Jun 17, 2016 12:13 pm

There are some very good Dark Souls Let's Play videos on youtube. I have watched a few, for both the entertainment value and to see if I missed anything. Almost everyone at some time hits the wrong button and jumps back off a cliff.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:13 am

Speaking of entertainment value, I've been reading some beginner tips while waiting for my controller to get here, and some of them are quite hilarious. A sample:

Does this mean I won’t die?

Of course you’ll die, you’ll die a lot! A whole lot. I mean holy
crap are you going to die. You’ll just be dying substantially
less so then you would without my guide.

- Keep your Shield Up: This will keep you alive better than
anything else. With your shield up you will take little or no
damage from direct hits and your own melee attacks will go
largely uninterrupted. In short it’s the best defensive option in
virtually every situation.

-KEEP YOUR SHIELD UP! You must love the Left Bumper,
hold it tight! Never let it go, marry it, buy a house in the burbs
have a few kids. Seriously if you go blundering into new areas
with your shield down you will die, and you’ll have no one to
blame but yourself and the horrors that killed you will laugh at
your ineptitude saying “We might have been in trouble if he had
his shield up."

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 10:39 am

My xbox 360 controller finally arrived. It feels really solid and the layout feels really good in my hands. However, the buttons and controls are totally alien to me so I'm going to have to learn them as I go, I guess. Or as I die, I should say. I'm sure I'm going to set some kind of world record for Dark Souls dying until I can learn how to use this thing.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 10:49 am

Learning to use your new controller while playing what is likely one of the most punishing games available is either a great strategy or one that will break you.

Good luck.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:07 pm

The opening area is a tutorial one, so read the signs on the ground and try to remember what they tell you. You may even benefit from writing some of them down. I know I forgot some that later in the game I had to relearn.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 1:38 pm

I actually created a document with the Dark Souls 360 controller layout/buttons and have been trying to memorize that. So, I already pretty much know which buttons do what in the game. Being able to instantly and instinctively use them without thinking is the problem. I just need a lot of practice. If I can find a big enough room without anything around to kill me, I'll do some drills to burn in muscle memory.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 1:42 pm

Scuzz wrote:The opening area is a tutorial one, so read the signs on the ground and try to remember what they tell you. You may even benefit from writing some of them down. I know I forgot some that later in the game I had to relearn.

Reminds me of the superjump tutorial in Half-life. Thanks for teaching me something that I won't have access to for 90% of the game.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:51 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:
Scuzz wrote:The opening area is a tutorial one, so read the signs on the ground and try to remember what they tell you. You may even benefit from writing some of them down. I know I forgot some that later in the game I had to relearn.
Reminds me of the superjump tutorial in Half-life. Thanks for teaching me something that I won't have access to for 90% of the game.

It's not so much access, everything they teach you is something you can instantly use. It is just trying to remember all of those variations in a short space, during which time you may not try to use them at all, is just beyond my memory. Assassin's Creed drives me insane with all the variations they try to teach you during the game. It is much more complicated.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 6:37 pm

I was finally able to beat the first area boss, the Asylum Demon. While the fights with the hollows leading up to that was easy, the boss fight itself was pretty frustrating. Half the time I'd miss my plunge attack when stepping off the balcony and then he'd just stun me and finish me off before I could even move. After dying a lot, I finally got better at getting out of his way and, after landing the initial plunge attack, just rolled around hacking him with my axe until I could get some distance. I switched to my pyro glove and burned him down. Hah, it only took about 10 tries. My main problem was hitting the wrong buttons by accident which got very, very frustrating and I said some bad words in a loud voice. Anyways, onwards to the next thing that will slaughter me. Hopefully I'll get better at this controller thing sooner rather than later.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 7:30 pm

You will get used to the basic attack and defense controls. Raising the shield, changing weapons etc. The next area is a good place to practice some of the other commands, backstab and parry.

But don't be surprised if after 35 hours you still accidentley jump off a cliff or kick instead of block.

Nice work with the first boss.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 9:12 pm

ColdSteel wrote:My main problem was hitting the wrong buttons by accident which got very, very frustrating

it'll get better after about 15-20 hours of usage.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Thu Jun 23, 2016 8:32 pm

I'm in the Undead Burg now at level 10. I ran through the Fire Link Shrine graveyard earlier grabbing some shinies on a suicide run (those giant skellies are no joke). So now I'm using the Winged Spear and a wooden shield I picked up in Undead Burg. I also found an undead merchant there and bought the repair kit and the endless storage box to dump my extra stuff in. So far so good. I'm just doing some grinding now to try to build up some more before I face the next boss. I'm killing all the non-boss mobs pretty easily now at least. I killed some kind of lizard critter than came out of a barrel I broke and it dropped a titanite shard and 2 twinkling titanite. I gather those are used to level up equipment somehow but I need to figure that all out later.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Fri Jun 24, 2016 11:25 am

Yea, the items you got from the crystal lizard are used to upgrade weapons or armor. But you will need to wait until you find a blacksmith before you can do that.

Practice parrying on the enemies in the Undead Burg. Not everyone can do that, but if you can it is a great ability to have. Also backstabbing.

One other thing, you may want to consider a range weapon. A bow can be used to snipe enemies from a far and can help separate groups of enemies.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Fri Jun 24, 2016 4:11 pm

I've been doing the backstabbing all along as much as possible but I'll work on practicing parrying now because I haven't been doing that at all.

I bought a short bow and arrows from the undead merchant once I figured out my fireballs had no range or accuracy at all. Handy for pulling mobs one at a time if nothing else. I'll upgrade it when I find something better. This game is quite fun.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:41 pm

I'm trying to get past the Taurus Demon now and it's not much fun. Fighting him is fun enough but dying and then having to clear all the mobs from the bonfire all the way back to him every single time I die is not. Dreading doing that makes me tense during the fight and then I flub things up. Frustrating. I keep trying to roll past him but he takes up almost the entire walkway and I roll right into him most of the time. Putting it down for a while.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:43 pm

Remember jumping down on the demon at the start of the game, there is a place to do that with this demon as well.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:50 pm

Yes, that's what I've been trying to do. Though I'm able to land it, afterwards my back is to the doorway and he's blocking my way. There's no room to roll by him on either side. I wish that when I land on him I could jump forward after the attack animation finishes so that I was on the other side of him and wouldn't be trapped. Instead I always land back where the doorway is and he can just crush me at his leisure. Frustrating.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Sat Jun 25, 2016 2:07 pm

I finally got the hang of plunge attacks and had the Taurus demon down to very low health. And I finally beat him. But it was a pyric victory at best because we killed each other at exactly the same time. So, though the doors opened and the way was made clear to the next part of the map, I ended up not getting any rewards at all for winning the fight, which really sucked. Oh well, I guess I can make it up with some soul grinding. Hopefully he didn't drop anything else good except souls.

In the next section I talked to Solaire (Praise the Sun) and got some white soapstone. Then I stuck my nose out on the long walkway for a second and a big dragon came swooping down and let loose with massive flame along the whole causeway. I ran back the way I came and got a bit toasted but survived. The nice thing was when he did that he toasted all the skellies on the walkway and I got the souls for that. Anyway, I'm up to the Undead Parrish at level 15 now so progress is being made.

One weird thing today. I've been playing all week and in all that time I haven't seen a single message, bloodstain, ghost, or anything else relating to other players. Today there's suddenly messages on the floor every 5 feet and bloodstains and ghosts everywhere. I don't know what happened but it's kind of unnerving.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Sat Jun 25, 2016 2:38 pm

ColdSteel wrote:One weird thing today. I've been playing all week and in all that time I haven't seen a single message, bloodstain, ghost, or anything else relating to other players. Today there's suddenly messages on the floor every 5 feet and bloodstains and ghosts everywhere. I don't know what happened but it's kind of unnerving.

Weekend warriors?

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Sat Jun 25, 2016 3:17 pm

One thing about using Dark Souls to learn how to use a controller is that it uses the controller different than basically every other game. I've been using controllers my whole life, but after a while of playing Dark Souls games, I still find myself using the d-pad to navigate menus and the shoulder buttons to try and attack, even in normal games.

This doesn't work in any game besides Dark Souls. Dark Souls is...a unique button layout.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Sat Jun 25, 2016 6:05 pm

Chaz wrote:This doesn't work in any game besides Dark Souls. Dark Souls is...a unique button layout.

Hey, wonderful. This will probably traumatize me for life for using the 360 controller for other PC games.

Anyway, I've now made my way though the Undead Parish, killing the giant boar on the way. I reached the bonfire and blacksmith there and reinforced my winged spear to +5, which was well needed. I got a hollow soldier shield from a dead hollow along the way so I've switched over to using that. I also killed the giant knight in black and got the firekeeper soul and upgraded my flask. All in all, things are looking up.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:57 am

You are doing very well. The black knights are tougher than the first few bosses. Did you kill the black knight in the undead burg?

From the blacksmiths room you have several directions to go, although one will not open until you do something else first. But from here the game opens up for awhile.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 12:43 pm

Scuzz wrote:You are doing very well. The black knights are tougher than the first few bosses. Did you kill the black knight in the undead burg?

Well, it wasn't a black knight, just that huge mini-boss that guards the firekeeper soul. He was slow and easy. That said, I did indeed kill the black knight in the burg. He was guarding a blue tearstone ring which I've been wearing for quite a while now. It's saved my life several times. I died a few times to the BK and then got smart and lured him to an open area and then I could dodge his attacks better. Black Knights leave lots of openings after they finish an attack so I wore him down with spear pokes and killed him. That said, I don't plan on messing with more of them a whole lot unless they are guarding something. Oh and he dropped a black knight sword when he died, which was nice, though I'm not going to be using that.

I also just came back to the burg and killed Havel so I have his ring now as well. He was a PITA. His ring is GREAT.

I haven't killed the gargoyles yet. I tried it once and it was going pretty well until the second one popped up. I think I'm going to summon both Solaire and that other knight I just freed to help me out with them. Hopefully I don't get PvP ganked as soon as I turn human.

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 1:18 pm

I've been playing this on Xbox recently and am not much past your current location. I'm loving the game so far, but I have stepped away for a few days due to frustration with the Capra Demon. Talk about a pain in the ass...

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 1:45 pm

That Black Knight sword is a great weapon, but you probably don't have the stats for it yet. Also it levels up with special materials.

And you have already killed Havel.....nice work. His ring is the best in the game.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 1:47 pm

disarm wrote:I've been playing this on Xbox recently and am not much past your current location. I'm loving the game so far, but I have stepped away for a few days due to frustration with the Capra Demon. Talk about a pain in the ass...

I don't know your build but the standard strategy with the Capra Demon is to get up the stairs as fast as you can, take out the dogs and then do the run around with the demon. Jump on him, run up stairs, jump on him etc.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 7:38 pm

Today I defeated the gargoyle bosses and rang the bell. The 2 NPCs I summoned to help made it a cakewalk, didn't die once. After that I defeated the titianite demon, which took a few tries but went really easy when I decided to use spells instead of fighting him toe to toe. Too much loose rubble in there to get stuck on for that. Then I explored darkroot garden up to the butterfly boss and called it a day. I had no flasks or spells left by then. All those damn giant statues and trees in the previous area were a giant pain and used up my resources. I did get the partisan spear and some elite knight armor there which was nice.

So, I think next I'm off to the lower undead burg and I'll be fighting the Capra Demon next as well. I'm not much looking forward to it after hearing how much of a pain that fight is.

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 9:56 pm

Scuzz wrote:
disarm wrote:I've been playing this on Xbox recently and am not much past your current location. I'm loving the game so far, but I have stepped away for a few days due to frustration with the Capra Demon. Talk about a pain in the ass...
I don't know your build but the standard strategy with the Capra Demon is to get up the stairs as fast as you can, take out the dogs and then do the run around with the demon. Jump on him, run up stairs, jump on him etc.

That's the strategy I've been trying, but I have yet to get a good run where I'm successful at getting up the stairs at the beginning and then surviving long enough to kill the demon. I'll get back to it and succeed soon...just decided to finish up another game I've been playing first. I have managed to get closer to pulling it off little by little, so I just need a little more practice.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 6:15 am

I was expecting a super rage-fest after hearing years of "OMG the Capra Demon is the worst." When I actually got to it, it wasn't actually that bad. I think it took me about eight runs, but that was all. If you open the shortcut back to Firelink, the run back to the boss is quick and easy. The strategy above of beeline for the stairs, kill the dogs, then the demon, is good advice.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:08 pm

I also beat the Capra Demon this evening. I actually rolled past the dogs and up the stairs on the first try. Unfortunately, I killed the first dog and was working on the second one at the top of the stairs and the demon hit me all the way up the stairs with a jump attack and killed me. After that I had about 5 tries in a row where I would roll towards the stairs past the demon and one or both dogs would block my roll and it was all over. On about the 6th or 7th try I made it back up the stairs and this time I went all the way to the right on the narrow ledge there and killed both dogs. From there on, it was easy to kill the demon.

So now I'm exploring the Depths. I killed a few butchers, rescued a guy and made it to a bonfire. I figured that was a good place to stop for the night. You know, I always figured I might like this game if I ever got a chance to play it. Sure enough, I absolutely love it. Even when I'm not playing it, I'm thinking about playing it. Great game.

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 3:28 pm

I loaded up my game today and finished off the capra demon on my second try...so easy today that I can't understand why it was such a problem before. Now I'm off to explore the Darkroot Garden...