anonymo November 19, 2008 Share anonymo Member November 19, 2008 So the fall update hits today, and the big feature I'm so happy to see is the ability to install games to the hard drive. Supposedly early reports claim Fallout 3's stuttering/DRE's and frame rate have all improved along with minor improvement in load times. Can't wait to try it out! So there are other features too, I guess if people want to discuss them they can do it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler November 19, 2008 Share boiler Member November 19, 2008 I've really been looking forward to this update! I'm firing up the 360 when I get home tonight to check it out. I don't have boatloads of free space available on my hard drive so I probably won't use the install feature too much but I'm definitely doing it for Fallout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymo November 20, 2008 Author Share anonymo Member November 20, 2008 Oh wow! Such an improvement. The dashboard alone is super slick now and hitting the guide button while playing a game is no longer a scary prospect. Fallout runs amazingly better and I don't have to wear ear plugs anymore! I swear the draw distance has improved and you can actually see some of the unique encounters happening in the distance now! The only issue I have is with the avatars...looks like the birth of a MS cash cow to me, especially considering they provide you with some of the worst customizing options I've ever seen (slight exaggeration) and I expect to start seeing avatar clothing packs on the marketplace for 400 points or something ridiculous. Just let me make a pip boy and I'll be happy, my first attempt came out looking like that db from Dawson's creek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VooDooPC November 20, 2008 Share VooDooPC Member November 20, 2008 They added a proper 16:10 resolution for those playing on monitors finally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler November 20, 2008 Share boiler Member November 20, 2008 I didn't have much time to mess around with it last night, but what I saw I liked. The avatar thing is kinda silly to me so I spent zero time customizing it. I like the dashboard interface a lot better (kinda reminds me of the Vista tab scrolling). I'm going to install and fire up Fallout this weekend to check out performance. I am definitely looking forward to ditching the constant disc spin/read/fan noise. If I sat closer to my xbox it might have driven me insane by now. btw, sorry I missed your party invitation last night, mo. I got up to fix dinner, then noticed it when I came back to shut it down. I take it that is the "large group chat" type feature? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymo November 20, 2008 Author Share anonymo Member November 20, 2008 I was only going to tell you your avatar looked like a db anyways... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eXile November 20, 2008 Share eXile Member November 20, 2008 no xbox live for me so i guess ill be chillin w/ the old style. whats the specifics on this dl games to HD. wouldnt that kinda make renting the way to go or is there some way that they can prevent rental / copying to hd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymo November 20, 2008 Author Share anonymo Member November 20, 2008 no xbox live for me so i guess ill be chillin w/ the old style. whats the specifics on this dl games to HD. wouldnt that kinda make renting the way to go or is there some way that they can prevent rental / copying to hd? You still need the disc in the drive, it just loads from the HD. You can get the new update if you just connect to Xbox Live once, you don't need a gold account. I have heard that upcoming game releases will include the update on the disc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler November 21, 2008 Share boiler Member November 21, 2008 (edited) I was only going to tell you your avatar looked like a db anyways... I can't really argue with this statement. I'm gonna have to spend a little time on it today to make it a little less db-ish. I too heard that the update may be on future game discs, but if you have access to a high speed internet connection somewhere, just plug it in once to get the update then you're good to go. The install to hard drive thing just copies the essential game files to your hard drive so it's not constantly accessing the disc during gameplay. It speeds up load times and significantly decreases the noise factor. Like Mo said, you still need the disc in the drive to play it though. You will probably also need to delete the installed game content periodically as it would probably fill up your hard drive pretty quickly after a few games are installed. Edited November 21, 2008 by boiler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler November 24, 2008 Share boiler Member November 24, 2008 I just read on IGN that installing Halo 3 actually makes performance WORSE than running it from the disc. It has something do with with the fact that it was programmed to use some disc space as already as well as reading from the disc simultaneously. I tried installing and running Mass Effect, and didn't really see a marked improvement in performance. The load times may have been a little bit faster, but texture pop-in and the occasional frame rate hiccup (most noticeably in the Hot Labs on Noveria) were still there. I'm guessing this is a feature that will be most useful for newer games as developers start optimizing their games for it. Average game size seems to be around 6GB, so make sure you've got some space to spare. On a slightly related note: I maxed out my Mass Effect achievements this weekend: 1050/1050 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymo November 25, 2008 Author Share anonymo Member November 25, 2008 I just read on IGN that installing Halo 3 actually makes performance WORSE than running it from the disc. It has something do with with the fact that it was programmed to use some disc space as already as well as reading from the disc simultaneously. I tried installing and running Mass Effect, and didn't really see a marked improvement in performance. The load times may have been a little bit faster, but texture pop-in and the occasional frame rate hiccup (most noticeably in the Hot Labs on Noveria) were still there. I'm guessing this is a feature that will be most useful for newer games as developers start optimizing their games for it. Average game size seems to be around 6GB, so make sure you've got some space to spare. On a slightly related note: I maxed out my Mass Effect achievements this weekend: 1050/1050 Halo 3 already installs quite a bit onto your harddrive to load in tandem with the disc. It was basically cheating before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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