Current Generation Games Analysis Technical Discussion [2024] [XBSX|S, PS5, PC]

[Pjotr]

I would prefer mesh shaders with continuous LOD and higher performance over Nanite.

We also have games like A Plauges Tale Requiem that has a lot of foliage on screen and very little noticeable pop-in, and that game doesn't use Nanite or mesh shaders.

Nanite I feel, has just because away for developers to be lazy (and I hate that term) with certain things like LOD transitions, and not only is it not delivering the results on screen, it's also costing a lot of performance.

A Plague Tale Requiem is also not open world which means making LODs is less time consuming. Calling developers lazy means you still don't get the point. They are not lazy, they have a certain budget and time frame to make a game (and in some cases it's a new and less experienced team) and without nanite that same game would have looked worse or not be made at all.
Also Nanite does use mesh shaders for large triangles and I think you are overestimating the performance overhead of nanite. Just look at Satisfactory where they transitioned to nanite for some of their geometry and that made their game actually look better and have less LOD pop-in without tanking frame rate.

 

[DavidGraham]

Nanite doesn't completely eliminate pop in though (at least in it's current state), you still get shadows pop in, characters/dynamic objects pop in, light sources, light areas pop in and HLOD pop in. For old UE5 games, there is also foliage and terrain pop in.

In the beginning of this generation we intensely debated the importance of extreme high poly count vs the importance of accurate lighting (especially in regards to ray traced reflections and illumination). I think UE5 embodies the idea of that comparison perfectly, Lumen has been far more important and effective for image quality improvements and the next gen feel than Nanite.

However, we've yet to see a densely populated city (like in The Matrix demo) replicated in an actual UE5 game, it's quite possible that without Nanite, this kind of environment would be a pop in fest, restoring the importance of Nanite in this kind of environments, and putting it on equal footings with Lumen.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I think davis.anthony appreciates that - he calls out his own use of the word 'lazy' - but there isn't a straightforward term to replace it. Maybe we should use something like 'compromised'?

"Nanite I feel has become a workaround for developers who are compromised."