Horizon: Zero Dawn - Graphics de-Gushing

The shadowmap filtering is really exceptional, no flicker or artifacting 99% of the time, makes UC4 look bad by comparison in that aspect, Aloy gets a special treatment during gameplay but regular npcs don't look bad either

horizonzerodawn_20170bfk1g.jpg

horizonzerodawn_20170iajhx.jpg

horizonzerodawn_201707gj1t.jpg
Which console were these taken from? I'm assuming PS4 Pro. Can someone replicate this with PS4? I'm looking at it, and I'm wondering if what we're seeing here is conservative rasterization hardware.

edit: hmm, just looked at DF compare. It would appear to be the same? I'll wait for a confirm.

edit 2: oh wait, you're using photo mode right?
 
Last edited:
Which console were these taken from? I'm assuming PS4 Pro. Can someone replicate this with PS4? I'm looking at it, and I'm wondering if what we're seeing here is conservative rasterization hardware.

edit: hmm, just looked at DF compare. It would appear to be the same? I'll wait for a confirm.

edit 2: oh wait, you're using photo mode right?

No, these are from gameplay but I'll be testing the game on OG Ps4 and see if there are any differences. That was my first reaction as well, I thought these shadows look similar to the HTFS used in the PC version of Watch Dogs 2.
 
No answer on my little question? Do I see displacement maps here and there especially on rusty old structures, or are those just very high poly meshes - needlessly so, if that's the case?
 
No answer on my little question? Do I see displacement maps here and there especially on rusty old structures, or are those just very high poly meshes - needlessly so, if that's the case?

I'll check that out as well, might be. This game is doing so many things it's hard to list them all at once.
 
No, these are from gameplay but I'll be testing the game on OG Ps4 and see if there are any differences. That was my first reaction as well, I thought these shadows look similar to the HTFS used in the PC version of Watch Dogs 2.
This looked similar to the HTFS shadows used in The Division for Maxwell 2+ cards, which I guess we were thinking along the same lines.

Yup, please post some results!
thanks
 
Woah, woah, back up for a minute. Horizon using a method similar to HFTS on PS4? That's crazy if true. It's very demanding even on the most powerful PC's. 0_0

Well, a telltale sign of HFTS would be shadows increasingly softening the further the object casting it is from the surface. Inversely, the shadows would be sharp and well defined when the object is in close proximity to the surface. So far, I've only seen Aloy's shadow being sharp and high res. The shadows around the world are all soft and diffused regardless of proximity to the surface on which the shadows are cast onto.

Would love to see the results, Clukos!
 
Pretty sure it's just normal cascaded shadows.

Haven't noticed proper umbra/peumbra. ( No PCSS)
Nor pixel perfect near hit area which would indicate some form of raytracing. (Polygons or screenspace.)

Will have to check when I have time.

They do have quite large jump in resolution between the cascades, which helps to reach large distances.
 
Last edited:
Shadows seem the same on Ps4, will be posting some screens later on. As for the geometry deformation, I don't think that's tessellation, maybe it's just high poly geometry
Not wicked sick hardware then. Just a wicked sick engine.
 
Funny to see a real life photograph altered to look more like an ingame screenshot...
 
Back
Top