This deserves its own topic. i am into Alice, Madness Returns and i have to say i am a bit disappointed - after only about an hour (or two)

It is another dark - even darker - and moodier game than the original. As in the original, Level Design is top notch and the artwork is spectacular. It is an amazing world with apparently the same issues as the original game - it is hack and slash. Original ideas are repeated over and over (and over) and over and there is no sense of progression. i got an upgrade on my weapon but don't notice any difference (other than it takes less hit points to dispatch an enemy).

Some great things .. and some boring things repeated over-and-over. Still there is that sense of exploration and i do want to see what is next. Looks like a '7' .. but that can chance. A decent game but probably not worth $60.

Also there are some bugs. Like getting stuck. And some textures are pretty low res. i will press on.

As to the Duke Nukem Review .. today? did i say today?


i can write it in a few hours .. but there there is the issue of screen shots including 3D Vision and Surround .. and making the review readable
- This weekend for sure! The Kington 96GB SSD benching is done. A VERY NICE SSD it is!! Faster than the 128GB version where it counts and it will be up right after the Duke review (i am making the charts on my "breaks" from Alice) and before the Alice review
BtW Alice is kinda strange in S3D; i need to spend time with tweaking the settings.

The frames are capped at 30 ... here is a workaround ..

Go to >>Documents/My Games/Alice Madness Returns/Config

Open aliceEngine.ini with Notepad (about 1/3 of the way down the list)

Find MaxSmoothedFramerate and change it to 61

Save and exit

The Duke Forever demo completely turned me off from buying the game. The FOV is way too narrow, and the humor isn't even close to funny IMO. The game is a case of taking too long, trying to do too much, and being a victim of it's own ambition.

As i understand it, the demo is not representative of the final game

viewtopic.php?f=60&t=22398

The game is a blast to play!
(see link above)

My DNF review will be out ASAP! (tomorrow, probably). The Alice review will be out next week after the 96GB SSD review.


Alice is getting varied. The varied and exotic level design more than compensates for perceived deficiencies
-- i'd now be inclined to give it 7.5/10, so far (still some damn irritating jumps and puzzles0

I just wanna give Zogrim some attention for his PhysX comparisons:

http://physxinfo.com/news/5883/gpu-phys ... s-returns/

From the Alice Reviewer's Guide:

Alice: Madness Returns PhysX Settings:
There are three different levels of PhysX in Alice: Madness Returns: Low, Medium, and High. These settings can be adjusted by selecting the Options button, then clicking Video from the Alice: Madness Returns main menu. Each produces a different level of in-game effects and respective hardware requirements. Each of the settings is explained in detail below:

PhysX “Low”
All in game GPU-accelerated PhysX effects are disabled.

PhysX “Medium”
Enables GPU-accelerated PhysX elements including dynamic Cloth, PhysX Debris Particles, Volumetric Smoke, and Destruction particles.

PhysX “High”
Enables all GPU-accelerated PhysX elements enabled within the “Medium” setting as well as the Doom enemy volumetric oil simulation

Here are the effects:

Alice Effects
* Feather effects when Alice double-jumps
* Feather effects when Alice glides after a double-jump
* Rock mesh particles when Giant Alice stomps (Chapter 4)

Alice Weapon Effects
* Rock mesh destruction particles when the Hobby Horse hits the ground the first time
* Volumetric Smoke sprite particles and floating ember particles when the Pepper Grinder gun is used
* Glowing peppercorn mesh particles from Pepper Grinder Gun projectile impacts
* Tea volumetric steam sprite particles when the Teapot Cannon projectile impacts

AND the list goes on and on and on

Nvidia tested Alice and PhysX on High with a GTX 560 and found it ran about 3-4x faster than on the CPU
-- PhysX *is* particularly implemented well in this game

OK, technical lesson over -- i back to Wonderland

A GTX 560 for graphics and PhysX or a GTX 560 dedicated to PhysX and another card handling graphics?

Also, did the game install PhysX? Which version? (interested to know if it is based on the new 3.x PhysX).

Thanks, was curious!:)

You do realize that i need to actually test this using a GTX 560 or 570?



i am guessing that they are talking about using a GTX 560 for PhysX versus using a GTX 560 and the CPU for PhysX.

After installing Alice on 6/16 (and i didn't check before), i still am using Nvidia's PhysX System SW 9.10.0514 which show installation of 6/12 (which was when i installed the latest drivers again)


i am glad to share. i feel slow getting this information out - somehow it feels like my DNF review should be up already, my SSD review should have been up last week (i am writing both reviews simultaneously) and i am *still* on chapter 1 (a very long chapter) of Alice

Just test the PhysX settings with the card you are currently playing the game with. The 3-4x performance improvement should hold roughly equal regardless and should let you judge if nvidia was talking about a seperate PhysX card or not.