Original or Director's Cut

[Babo]

Hi. I own the original + expansion but i haven't played it. I want to know if the Director's Cut version offers anything better than the original because it seems that once I get the DC, it replaces the original in your library, so you I can only play either version. Price is not a problem, so please don't tell me that the DC contents aren't worth it, just tell me which version is better because somebody told me that the DC is even more buggy and had some cool features removed @@

[Puzzlemint]

Originally posted by Babo:

because it seems that once I get the DC, it replaces the original in your library,

No it doesn't. They're completely separate.

[Babo]

Originally posted by Ash Drakula:

First of all, buying DC will NOT replace original+dlcs in your library. You'll have both.

Secondly, DC has the Missing Link DLC fully integrated to the game (so it actually feels immersive instead of being another game...), boss fights are more roomy and there are more options to take on the bosses (except the last one, or at least I didn't see any significant changes), and there are the development commentaries all around the game world which are sometimes pretty interesting (and there's a 45-minute making of video included as well). Finally, there's a new game+ feature that allows you to carry over your augmentations for the next game, so you'll be able to get them all easily in 2 playthroughs.

As to the bugs and features removed... the only official "feature" removed is the golden tint. You know, yellow overflowing everywhere. But other than that, it's due to a bug/bugs. Most common bugs are graphical; and for the most part they're minor and hard to notice unless you compare the two. Bigger issues aren't really global; some have them, some don't. After that come the performance issues. These include FPS drops, stuttering and some settings not working (post-processing for example). Again, many of them aren't global, but from what I've been able to pinpoint, slight stuttering and a short FPS drop after loading an area are most common. Finally are the gameplay bugs; NPC social battles not working, a quest bugging or an interact option not displaying. These are AFAIK the rarest bugs, and personally I had none of them.

In the end though, it's a gamble; the game might work fine for you, it may work alright with some noticable bugs, or it might be broken completely (serious gameplay issues). From all the different posted specs, there seems to be no pattern to tell whether or not your PC can handle the bugs. If however the DC is on a 75% sale and you don't mind those few dollars, maybe give it a shot.

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation, i'm sure this is very helpful for people like me. And thanks A Puzzlemint for the reply.

If you can please tell me more about the golden tint thing, is it the highlighting enemies features, does removing that feature make a better or worse gameplay ? I don't mind the few dollars but I only have time to play one version so I want to play the one with the better gameplay.

[Ryat]

The gold tint is more of a look thing. It has no bearing on game play.

[murph]

These photos give a good comparison of the golden tint issue:
http://imgur.com/a/AjaRg

They also show how post-processing is completely non-functional in the Director's Cut, as well as how textures and entire models are simplified versus the original Human Revolution (look at scaffolding/windows). Performance is totally hit-or-miss in the Director's Cut due to the lack of patching, but the downgraded texures and broken post-processing are inherent of the DC and are shared by everyone with the DC regardless of hardware. Edit: Ambient occlusion also seems to be buggy in the DC, as seen in the 3rd photo in the link. Malik is supposed to be blurry.

[EolSunder]

Yep thats basically it. DC is a mixture of the game and the DLCs to make it more seemless and integrated, but sadly on an older non-patched buggier version of the game that may work or may not work ok on your computer based on that.

But really getting the DC when its on sale, its really a no brainer. It works on most computers fine and is a long fun game. If it doesn't work for you, well you wasted the same as a pack of ciggs, etc so not a big deal.

[Babo]

Originally posted by murph:

These photos give a good comparison of the golden tint issue:
http://imgur.com/a/AjaRg

They also show how post-processing is completely non-functional in the Director's Cut, as well as how textures and entire models are simplified versus the original Human Revolution (look at scaffolding/windows). Performance is totally hit-or-miss in the Director's Cut due to the lack of patching, but the downgraded texures and broken post-processing are inherent of the DC and are shared by everyone with the DC regardless of hardware. Edit: Ambient occlusion also seems to be buggy in the DC, as seen in the 3rd photo in the link. Malik is supposed to be blurry.

The original version's graphics is clearly better in those screenshots. If that's also how it is in the rest of the game then i'd rather play the original for the graphics ♥♥♥♥♥ i am. Thank you guys very much for the info.

[Barossa]

The only thing I've heard negative about DC is a possible optimization issue, but I've yet to encounter anything horrible.

[murph]

Originally posted by Old King (Barossa):

The only thing I've heard negative about DC is a possible optimization issue, but I've yet to encounter anything horrible.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/238010/discussions/0/810939350891608249/

List of 100+ bugs that are not optimization related.

[HyattvExcel]

If you use Nvidia card and don't mind the stuttering here and there (most common in Detroit Streets, but this is from my experience), along with improved boss fights that are actually fun to fight against this time, and not to mention new game plus, go for Director's Cut. Though yeah, it's true that the optimization is much better in the original HR.