Battlefield 4 official discussion/thread. [PS4,XO,PS3,X360]

[Billy Idol]

Game is to buggy atm: every other game crashes...if the game does not crash...the server crashes...if nothing crashes: sound does not work...lag is a prob...if everything works perfectly (about 1 out of ten games)...MP is fantastic and super well made imo...all the changes are quite smart imo and highly welcome...so far only improvements across the board!

Now get the damn thing stable and I'll be a happy duck!

 

[Billy Idol]

DF posted HQ 60fps footage. Looks great for a 60fps launch title.

To be honest...even my ol PC easily outperforms what is shown here...I dl'ed everything onto my PC and watched all three version (playing PC). Not sure how much quality is lost due to encoding...but clear winner is PC...and I am not even playing on ultra, just high at 1080p...and yeah...for this game imho: resolution counts.

Watching the vid...I have to scratch my head how one could think X1 looks better. The X1 captures are completely broken and the comparison is useless imo and not fair.

 

[steveOrino]

The aliasing in high contrast areas on the PS4 single player video was pretty bad but the X1 was unacceptable, especially in the outdoor areas, shimmering and step artifacts everywhere. They should switch to a different post AA method.

Err, nvm, I forgot they are using some sharping filter on the X1, thats probably why it looks so bad.

 

[ultragpu]

The combination of lower res (last gen res 720p), poor AA and messed up contrast really makes the Xbone version look uglier than sin. How anyone could not tell the difference between this and PS4's version is literally beyond me.
But regardless both versions look like turd compared to a certain exclusive fps, so I hope BF5 would fair better next time without the shackle of currentgen plus more development time.

 

[BoardBonobo]

Rose tinted specs are the order of the day. Or in this case green tinted.

 

[RudeCurve]

I think we already know about DF's weird "black crush" capture anomaly with the X1 version which has been argued to death in the DF thread, no need to beat that dead horse in this thread as well...

As for the PS4 version's soft and less sharp overall look I think that has to do with the layer of Virtual Vaseline over the graphics output...

Just found out the X1 version supports head tracking and lean and voice via Kinect 2...nice.

Currently watching X1 BF4 Showdown between USA and Europe on Xbox Live...

 

[Bagel seed]

The combination of lower res (last gen res 720p), poor AA and messed up contrast really makes the Xbone version look uglier than sin. How anyone could not tell the difference between this and PS4's version is literally beyond me.
But regardless both versions look like turd compared to a certain exclusive fps, so I hope BF5 would fair better next time without the shackle of currentgen plus more development time.

Jack Frags has already said that most journalists and youtubers he's talked to have agreed with him that the PS4 version was noticeably better, and MP to boot. They'd have a better clue, as they've played it instead of watching super compressed poorly captured yt vids.

 

[RudeCurve]

DF's videos are 60fps and high quality...I trust my own eyes....

DF posted HQ 60fps footage.

 

[ultragpu]

Jack Frags has already said that most journalists and youtubers he's talked to have agreed with him that the PS4 version was noticeably better, and MP to boot. They'd have a better clue, as they've played it instead of watching super compressed poorly captured yt vids.

I have to take back some of my words from before, the PS4 version from DF's HQ capture did look pretty good on my TV, but it still seem to have a slight blur of fxaa effect compared to the PC version. The Xbone version simply looked atrocious with the extreme black crush and low res buffer.

 

[djskribbles]

The over-aggressive sharpening amplifies the ringing/shimmering on wires and foliage on the X1 version... it's probably even worse in person. Maybe that's why the media are pretty much unanimous in saying that the PS4 version looks better. Artificially sharpening the picture is something that movie studios do on some low bitrate Blu-Rays to make up for a lack of detail... I think they applied it way too strong here. Aliasing/ringing can look outright ugly at times.

Dramatized example of this: http://www.flatpanelshd.com/pictures/pictureQuality_sharpen.jpg

The crushed blacks and overblown whites also makes the X1 version perceptibly sharper with greater contrast. With like-for-like captures, the differences in 'sharpness' is much less noticeable. Overall, it's a matter of preference I guess... While the PS4 version clearly has the technical advantage, some people prefer an artificially sharpened image. You can, however, achieve that same 'look' by turning on the Edge-enhancement setting or maxing out the Sharpness control on your TV.

 

[RudeCurve]

Finally watched the HQ PS4 SP video and the aliasing is still very noticeable though slightly less than the X1. Also it seems the X1 version has higher color saturation while the PS4 seems to have a slightly washed out look. I guess ultimately it's going to come down to personal preference as to which version "looks better" to your own eyes.

When watching various Blu-ray movies some are too soft for my liking so I adjust the built-in sharpening option in the player itself instead of the TV. My Blu-ray player for some reason has better sharpening algorithm than the TV. I think it's due to the player doing the decoding so it's better to have image adjustment/enhancement done at the source rather than the destination display.

I think if EA/DICE decided to use this engine in a sci-fi FPS it would be a huge hit....hint...

Be afraid, be very afraid...

OMG....USA vs Europe Obliteration was insane. Major Nelson is da boss! Never knew he was this good.

 

[Delta9]

Looks about the same

 

[djskribbles]

The mind is easy to fool... color saturation (and sharpness to a lesser degree) appears higher because of the lack of depth in the gamma on the X1 capture because of the RGB range bug. The transition from black to white, or light to dark isn't smooth like it should be. Shadow detail is black and subtle white detail is completely lost to white... this makes colors pop more. You can get the same picture by mis-matching your levels on the PS4 version (which I do not recommend).

This image is meant to demonstrate how colors can look very different based on their surroundings. The colors are supposed to be the same, but It's a compressed jpeg so the colors are actually slightly different, but it still proves my point:
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/streams-of-consciousness/files/2011/12/Color-Constancy_sm.jpg

As for the aliasing, the X1 version can look very bad on certain levels IMO. The problem with artificially sharpening the source image is that you can't really get rid of the negative effects that they produce (ie ringing and aliasing). On the flip side, you can artificially sharpen the PS4 image by turning the sharpness control up. I can see how some prefer artificial sharpness, because some people actually like Blu-Rays mastered using heavy edge-enhancement. I've even seen people prefer 1080p Blu-Rays with artificial sharpness over 4k remastered editions that have far more real detail.

I think if EA/DICE decided to use this engine in a sci-fi FPS it would be a huge hit....hint...

Not sure what you're trying to prove by this comment.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Watched the 60fps vid for Xbox One. The black crush is really terrible. It's too bad they didn't get a good capture at limited range, which should look closer to what we'll see at retail. I'm gonna keep my X1 at limited until I know that bug has been fixed. Otherwise, it looks like a pretty big jump from current gen, regardless of whether it looks as good as PS4 or not. I'm not that sensitive to shimmering, because I don't play PC games.

 

[RudeCurve]

The mind is easy to fool... color saturation (and sharpness to a lesser degree) appears higher because of the lack of depth in the gamma on the X1 capture because of the RGB range bug. The transition from black to white, or light to dark isn't smooth like it should be... shadow detail is black and subtle white detail is completely lost to white... this makes colors pop more. You can get the same picture by mis-matching your levels on the PS4 version (which I do not recommend).

Yeah the black crush is a problem with DF's capture not with the game or console itself. The capture equipment that EA handed out doesn't have that issue. I think that argument is done and buried so no point in repeating it ad nauseum. As for the color saturation not saying it's better or worse it's just an observation. X1 version has much more saturated blues you could see it in the sky when the camera pans up to the heli. It's also evident in the rain level. Could be due to contrast doesn't really matter. In the DF thread people were saying the X1's colors are closer to the PC version...*shrug*

http://imageshack.us/a/img30/3198/g73u.png
http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/10-29-2013/Cga4zT.gif
http://imageshack.us/a/img62/5310/8n11.png

This image is meant to demonstrate how colors can look very different based on its surroundings. The colors are supposed to be the same, but It's a compressed jpeg so the colors are actually slightly different, but it still proves my point.

As for the aliasing, the X1 version can look very bad on certain levels IMO. The problem with artificially sharpening the source image is that you can't really get rid of the negative effects that they produce (ie ringing and aliasing). On the flip side, you can artificially sharpen the PS4 image by turning the sharpness control up. I can see how some prefer artificial sharpness, because some people actually like Blu-Rays mastered using heavy edge-enhancement. I've even seen people prefer 1080p Blu-Rays with artificial sharpness over 4k remastered editions that have far more real detail.

Artificial sharpening can be good or bad just depends on what pleases your eyes. I'm into photography and a lot of times the RAW output from certain lense combinations on DSLRs are not sharp enough to my liking. This is why some DLSRs have in camera processing and even do noise reduction etc. There's really no right or wrong...it's all down to choice. As for Blu-rays there are many that are way too soft IMO....and the reason is because they're using a camera lense which has it's own optical properties in addition to focus which is never perfect in movies...

Not sure what you're trying to prove by this comment.

That was for EA....they should be looking at creating a brand new FPS franchise based on sci-fi...something like the Infiltrator techdemo from EPIC but using their Frostbite 3 engine.

Looks about the same

The HQ videos are free for anyone to download, no need to tell them what to actually look for and where. If it's really obvious then people will be able to decide for themselves...

Questionable GIFs don't really help your cause...

Oh and congrats to Major Nelson and Team USA for the clean sweep of Team Europe in the BF4 Showdown!:smile:

 

[RenegadeRocks]

To be honest...even my ol PC easily outperforms what is shown here...I dl'ed everything onto my PC and watched all three version (playing PC). Not sure how much quality is lost due to encoding...but clear winner is PC...and I am not even playing on ultra, just high at 1080p...and yeah...for this game imho: resolution counts.

Watching the vid...I have to scratch my head how one could think X1 looks better. The X1 captures are completely broken and the comparison is useless imo and not fair.

exactly, 1080 counts in a MP game, effects don't. No one plays on Ultra i MP due to too many smoke and particle effects blocking the vision. Everyone plays on the same settings on consoles , so that is fixed but we want to see th emax clarity possible in an MP game, especially one focussingon long range combat. I really wish DICE had sacrificed some effects in MP and made it 1080p native on the ps4, something I cannot do with my BF3 on PC due to my hardware.

and why are people still watching and discussing DF footage still when it has been debunked as faulty capture !

btw, Floodzone feels empty with 24 players. but the game is rock solid MP fun !

 

[szymku]

I don't think that resolution diffrence is neglible or irrelevant for picture quality especially if game is played on bigger screens like mine (65").
Nevertheless, in my opinion BF4 is not so impressive, it is only slight improvement over BF3.
Definitively not in the same league as Ryse or KZ:SF but still better looking than CoD competition.
I don't understand why it's not in 1080 p on both consoles, when it is not so demanding even on average modern pc, powered by 7790 or 7850 Radeons.
I also expect that XBone ports will vastly improve as developers work out the best ways to handle Esram. Just wait fr BF5 .

 

[RudeCurve]

I don't think size of screen is all that relevant...it's about viewing distance...but yeah things should improve going forward. I'm completely satisfied with the single player fidelity at its current state for this particular game, however I think MP maps seem kinda lacking in texture resolution and overall level detail.

 

[novcze]

DF posted HQ 60fps footage. Looks great for a 60fps launch title.

As I wrote in DF thread:

I only watched PS4 MP video, BUT why they have their video in Limited RGB range, while they supposedly capture their video in Full RGB range. Of course it looks washed out if black have RGB value 16,15,16.

Anyway, for me 60 fps is huge win and I can't wait to play BF4

 

[ultragpu]

I don't think that resolution diffrence is neglible or irrelevant for picture quality especially if game is played on bigger screens like mine (65").

Yeah I also play on a 65" and I definitely share the sentiment. Maybe the difference isn't as pronounced for those 32-37 inchers.
If Dice plays it smart next time, they could set the SP to 30fps which should make PS4 version 1080p with a few more graphics features such as Bokeh DOF and more foliage maybe. The Bone should also receive a healthy res boost if not reaching 1080p and get rid off that desperate sharpening, contrasting attempt to cover up the deficiency. So on face value or marketing purpose you can please literally everyone. I mean honestly how many of you cared about a 4hour campaign that runs at 60fps? Just do it Dice and I can guarantee you BF5 would be MUCH, MUCH more well received.