Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2021]

[Globalisateur]

FYI 4k is checkerboarded from a native resolution of 1527p.

Full graphics mode would need to be around 1250p60 in this game, as it roughly takes 3x the GPU power to double a games framerate.

We don't really know as PS5 seems to have good headroom in the native 4K mode. They had to search for one rare drop at 2088p in the most hecti conditions (remember the game could drop to 20fps on mid-gen consoles), the vast majority of the time the game is native 2160p locked 30fps.

And you can't really use the CBR mode for the hypothetical high quality 60fps mode as CBR and native 4K modes have different settings.

 

[snc]

So last year's details of adding RT are out I guess.

probably they chose to add more visible effects like hulk smashing debriefs and higher resolution vs rt and I think good choice

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

I wonder if the performance differences will be fixed in patches

 

[cheapchips]

Nice to see DF being able to get a pre announcement hands on.

 

[cwjs]

I understand the practicalities (and probably the desire not to always get dragged into console wars) but it's always a disappointment for me when DF does one console coverage like this. Obviously there's a story here with the comparison, judging by other press, bummer when DF doesn't get out in front of it with the best analysis.

 

[Jay]

I understand the practicalities (and probably the desire not to always get dragged into console wars) but it's always a disappointment for me when DF does one console coverage like this. Obviously there's a story here with the comparison, judging by other press, bummer when DF doesn't get out in front of it with the best analysis.

Can only go with what is available to you.

 

[Shortbread]

After the excellent FPS Boost results from Prey and Dishonored Definitive Edition, the technology works just as expected on Skyrim - but while frame-rates have never been better on the Fallout games, resolution is capped at 1080p on Xbox Series X, the same as Series S. What's going on there, what workarounds are available, and just how fast do these games run on the X if we do manage to get full 4K resolution working? Tom and Rich discuss.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

Amazing technology.

Anyone got any insight on how this will be rolled out across games? Presumably only on Microsoft acquired/owned studios, or when one gives their permission?

 

[see colon]

Amazing technology.

Anyone got any insight on how this will be rolled out across games? Presumably only on Microsoft acquired/owned studios, or when one gives their permission?

They said somewhere (I can't remember, so no link, sorry) that they were asking developer/publisher permission and that some have opted out because of plans to remaster or rerelease games.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

They said somewhere (I can't remember, so no link, sorry) that they were asking developer/publisher permission and that some have opted out because of plans to remaster or rerelease games.

This seemed a bit mental when, I think was BRiT said it, and it's a shame it's not just a toggle any user can enable/disable for any game. But I'm assuming Microsoft do not want to undermine any plans publishers may have for paid upgrades or their own remasters. Mass Effect Legendary Edition springs immediately to mind.

Because of this approach I honest am a bit pessimistic about how many games will get get to run better. Even if a publisher has no plans today, they might in six months so plenty will just pass on giving permission. It would be a shame because from what we've seen so far, this is just a win-win scenario for gamers.

 

[see colon]

I think we'll see a fair amount of adoption. If you look at what happened with 360 backcompat, there was way more happening there than I expected, and I think the fact that there is no devleoper/publisher investment really helps. Activision sells Black Ops 2 for $40 on Xbox Store, for example, and that's only because it's available via backcompat. It was $20 before it was added to that program. If a publisher can get a bump in sales by having Microsoft do some work for free, they will do it.

In the case of BO2 backcompat, Activision released the zombie maps as part of the Zombie Chronicles on PS4/XBO at $29.99. I feel like they have 2 products propping up the value of each other there. COD Ghosts is both BC and has a native release on Xbox One, as well as Modern Warfare (COD4), so it isn't like BC would completely remove the incentive for a remaster. The same should be true for FPS boost.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I think we'll see a fair amount of adoption. If you look at what happened with 360 backcompat, there was way more happening there than I expected, and I think the fact that there is no devleoper/publisher investment really helps.

In the case of transcoding old gen games on newer gen hardware (it's not backwards compatibility because the hardware is not running the original code), it felt like this took a long, long time to happen because it took years. Microsoft's team were plugging away on a few titles at a time and it took a long while for some games to get the transcode treatment. Gran Theft Auto IV took four years to arrive. Microsoft stopped this effort in June 2019 having completed 577 titles out of 2,154 released on 360.

 

[BRiT]

I wouldn't say they stopped the effort. They paused the effort, so they could work on the BC improvements for the next-gen Xbox Series consoles.

Who knows if there will be new X360 games added in the future, as most of it all falls to contracts and tracking down license owners. I hope there will be some newer X360 titles added over this generation.

 

[iroboto]

Labour $$$

I suspect if Sony was willing to pay labour costs to make it DRS instead of DRS CB, it would have been done.

Another prime example of how wide inconsistent performance can be, and when people shit on me for saying something could be 4K vs 1440p -- well this is my main argument. Nothing to do with the hardware necessarily, but if MS was willing to invest a couple many thousand for the version on Xbox to be supreme (re-write the render pipeline for Series consoles) and Sony did not care for their upgrades, you could see that type of differential.

 

[BRiT]

Labour $$$

I suspect if Sony was willing to pay labour costs to make it DRS instead of DRS CB, it would have been done.

But don't they kind of have DRS anyways when in "Quality Mode"? Should be able to leverage the work done there for the PS5 native, did different team(s) handle the Xbox/PC version than the PS5 version?

 

[iroboto]

But don't they kind of have DRS anyways when in "Quality Mode"? Should be able to leverage the work done there for the PS5 native, did different team(s) handle the Xbox/PC version than the PS5 version?

Unfortunately we'll never know. I can't tell you why, same reason I can't tell you why we had no AF at the start of last generation

All I recall is there being so much hoopla about it, that Sony put out a memo about remembering to apply texture filtering lol

 

[Shortbread]

Labour $$$

I suspect if Sony was willing to pay labour costs to make it DRS instead of DRS CB, it would have been done.

Another prime example of how wide inconsistent performance can be, and when people shit on me for saying something could be 4K vs 1440p -- well this is my main argument. Nothing to do with the hardware necessarily, but if MS was willing to invest a couple many thousand for the version on Xbox to be supreme (re-write the render pipeline for Series consoles) and Sony did not care for their upgrades, you could see that type of differential.

If Sony doesn't improve its BC tools, then having BC in PS5 was a waste of time and possibly wasted R&D ($) which could have gone towards a beefier GPU design. And if the thought process is "no one really cares for BC on PS5," then Sony should have really skipped on BC.

 

[iroboto]

If Sony doesn't improve its BC tools, then having BC in PS5 was a waste of time and possibly wasted R&D ($) which could have gone towards a beefier GPU design. And if the thought process is "no one really cares for BC on PS5," then Sony should have really skipped on BC.

Yea, I agree from that perspective. But also gaming has changed since PS3 days. Online components, live games receiving updates etc, games with extremely long tails are fairly normal now. I don't think players are expected to rebuy their libraries like they did in the past. BC was a paramount importance to them. I think successful titles, like Fortnite, Destiny, CoD, etc, will always get the best from PS5 hardware. But titles not so successful, like Avengers, may be looking to shrink teams on those since the return is not expected to be high in the long run.

 

[Shortbread]

In this week's DF Direct Weekly, Rich is joined by Alex Battaglia and the #FreeWillJudd campaign reaches its inevitable conclusion with Will's first appearance on the show. Topics discussed are listed below, but also look out for Rich not knowing the difference between a wireless controller and a headset, along with more details on the brutal demise of Alex's power supply. John and Audi couldn't make the shoot yet still somehow managed to get some Retro stuff in!

 

[Vega86]

BC is going to be really important unless big games can suddenly be created faster.

It seems game development optimization for new consoles are becoming slower and slower and I mean big games are still based on older gen.

Sony will eventually have to invest in it regardless, specially towards the next (PS6) generation unless they're planning to soon quit as a console vendor (but not as a digital gaming platform a.k.a 3rd party).

Maybe I'm just being a bit of a debby downer. It's only been a few months with the latest gen machines.