Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion Archive [2014]

[Shortbread]

Shadow of Mordor article was posted: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-shadow-of-mordor-face-off

In a nutshell:
-PS4 is 1080p and XB1 is 900p.
-PS4 has higher resolution shadows and more dense vegetation (PC quite a bit more dense than both).
-Both consoles versions are a vsynced (and nearly locked to) 30fps.
-Motion blur doesn't seem to be working on PC.

It seems the PS4 edition is the best value overall... I will pickup the PC edition just because of the 4K gaming capabilities and too tide me over until DriveClub's release. Hell, I got to pick up Alien: Isolation as well... Its going to be a busy October of gaming.

 

[Reynaldo]

Motion blur works on PC and so does the post processing AA, by setting the motion blur option to camera only, the camera + object setting seems to be bugged and disables these 2 effects. I left a comment there but I doubt it will get noticed and the article corrected.

 

[-tkf-]

XB1 with Lower Res shadows, reduced vegetation and 900p, seems a bit harsher than usual?

Interesting that we are seeing the PC´s limited Video memory showing it´s head so early in this generation, i already mentioned it as a future problem, but so soon?

 

[djskribbles]

XB1 with Lower Res shadows, reduced vegetation and 900p, seems a bit harsher than usual?

Interesting that we are seeing the PC´s limited Video memory showing it´s head so early in this generation, i already mentioned it as a future problem, but so soon?

Usually it's just 900p vs 1080p with everything else the same. Is SoM an open world game?

 

[steveOrino]

Interesting that we are seeing the PC´s limited Video memory showing it´s head so early in this generation, i already mentioned it as a future problem, but so soon?

I don't see why not. These consoles have a nice chunk of unified memory and the poor suckers who thought they could get by with 2GB-3GB cards (on the highest settings) for an entire generation are going to be really upset. It will probably get worse if the platforms reduce the memory reservations for the OS.

I am in the market for a new videocard but was waiting to see if the mid-high range would be affordable north of 4GB... apparently not yet.

BTW, Is SoM using virtual texturing of some sort to have a memory requirement that high?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Virtual texturing should reduce the VRAM requirement.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

The ultra setting doesn't really improve things that much, it doesn't even really require 6GB and matching the console settings it isn't needed either. 3GB so far is plenty to match the console versions. "Highest settings" is a very loose term anyway.

 

[dobwal]

Should we assume that the Xbox One sports the best AA option?

LOL.

It is the blurriest.

 

[Starx]

Face-Off: Forza Horizon 2
The end of the road for Xbox 360?

Forza Horizon 2 on Xbox One is a highlight of the new console era: a phenomenal package of state-of-the-art rendering technology, open-world gameplay and a brilliant driving simulation melded into an outstanding arcade-style racer. Could this remarkable achievement really translate across to the vintage 2005 Xbox 360 hardware?....

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-forza-horizon-2-face-off

 

[DavidGraham]

Shadow Of Mordor's 6GB VRAM requirement for Ultra textures is a joke. Consoles have High textures and they look fine. And the High texture setting on PC is already better due to the better use of AF. There is no real need for jacking up the hardware required for so little visual improvements. The Evil Within also requires 4GB for the maximum texture settings, just like Watch_Dogs, but at least these two offer tangibly better textures than the console versions.

 

[Rangers]

I dont know, my brother showed me the ultra textures and the improvement seemed somewhat noticeable.

 

[pjbliverpool]

Motion blur works on PC and so does the post processing AA, by setting the motion blur option to camera only, the camera + object setting seems to be bugged and disables these 2 effects. I left a comment there but I doubt it will get noticed and the article corrected.

Very interesting thanks. Is it the same AA that's applied tot he console versions and is it applied at all detail settings automatically or only at the higher settings?

 

[dumbo11]

I dont know, my brother showed me the ultra textures and the improvement seemed somewhat noticeable.

I get the impression that 'ultra' is intended for >1080P - do you know what resolution you saw it at?

 

[joker454]

I dont know, my brother showed me the ultra textures and the improvement seemed somewhat noticeable.

Is it only noticeable when your face is up against a wall, or is it also noticeable just generally speaking? Because personally I'd have expected good af to be somewhat more important than a 6gb "no extra variety just more resolution" texture pack during general gameplay on typical 1080p displays.

 

[betternatethanlever]

I get the impression that 'ultra' is intended for >1080P - do you know what resolution you saw it at?

Why? I can see a clear difference between high and ultra texture setting at 1080p.

 

[Cyan]

Face-Off: Forza Horizon 2
The end of the road for Xbox 360?



http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-forza-horizon-2-face-off

A good article, although I missed a proper comparison showing still shots and not only youtube videos. I didnt find a gallery there that properly compares both versions.

On a different note, I think that when it comes to AAA games if DF wants to rush an article to get to some meaty details then that's fine, but they could create a new article or expand upon the first with a more in-depth comparison.

Additionally, they are very focused on AAA games, but really great and fun games like Defence Grid 2 get the cold treatment simply 'cos they aren't AAAs.

I am not asking them to create a full fledged article on new generation games of all kinds, not like AAA games, but at least a quick listing of resolutions and maybe the Antialiasing could be really cool, especially when you take into account they have the means for that.

 

[temesgen]

A good article, although I missed a proper comparison showing still shots and not only youtube videos. I didnt find a gallery there that properly compares both versions.

On a different note, I think that when it comes to AAA games if DF wants to rush an article to get to some meaty details then that's fine, but they could create a new article or expand upon the first with a more in-depth comparison.

Additionally, they are very focused on AAA games, but really great and fun games like Defence Grid 2 get the cold treatment simply 'cos they aren't AAAs.

I am not asking them to create a full fledged article on new generation games of all kinds, not like AAA games, but at least a quick listing of resolutions and maybe the Antialiasing could be really cool, especially when you take into account they have the means for that.

Are there enough clicks to sport that though? DF provides a good service but it's free bc advertisers support it, I doubt there is enough interest to justify the work even if we'd appreciate it the numbers are too small relatively speaking.

 

[Sigfried1977]

Are there enough clicks to sport that though? DF provides a good service but it's free bc advertisers support it, I doubt there is enough interest to justify the work even if we'd appreciate it the numbers are too small relatively speaking.

They still do a bunch of smaller games though. Trials or just about every Housemarque game ever released in the history of ever for example. I would have loved a comparison between the original Abe's Odyssey and its Unity-powered New 'N' Tasty reimagining for example.

 

[Malo]

I'm not sure why something like Defense Grid 2 would need a DF article though.

 

[steveOrino]

Alien Isolation is up. Parity at a cost on the X1 version. It sometimes hits 30fps but mostly in the high 20s and that judder and screen tearing is terrible. This parity crap is just going to hurt gameplay in the end.