Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2021]

[chris1515]

 

[BRiT]

Full Interview Article @ https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2021-metro-exodus-tech-interview

The Making of Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
A Digital Foundry tech interview.

Metro Exodus's Enhanced Edition is a very important game - it's the first triple-A game we know of that's built on technology that demands the inclusion of hardware-accelerated ray tracing hardware. To be clear, the new Metro is not a fully path-traced game built entirely on RT, but rather a hybrid renderer where global illumination, lighting and shadows are handled by ray tracing, while other elements of the game still use traditional rasterisation techniques. The bottom line though is that this is the foundation for developer 4A Games going forward: its games will require a PC with hardware RT graphics capabilities, while their console versions will tap into the same acceleration features found on the ninth generation consoles. And while 4A is the first developer to push this far into next generation graphics features, it's clearly not going to be the last.

We've already reviewed the PC version of Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition and will be following up in due course with detailed analysis of the PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S renditions of the game. However, in putting together our initial coverage of the game, 4A Games were extremely helpful and collaborative in ensuring the depth and accuracy of our work. If you've seen our video breakdown of the title, you'll have seen the behind the scenes editor shots showing level design workflow before and after the transition to ray tracing - but that's just the tip of the iceberg. 4A were also very helpful in going deep - really deep - in explaining how their RT implementation works. On top of that, the developer gave us an excellent overview of the project: why it was time to move their engine to RT, how so many new technologies made their way into Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, and why we need to wait a little while until the console versions are released.

...

 

[BRiT]

Mass Effect Legendary Edition: PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S Tech Breakdown - 4K60 Achieved on Next-Gen?

A trilogy remastered. All three games in the Legendary Edition get tested today in a comprehensive look at PS5, Xbox Series X and S machines. The Xbox Series X version in particular is standout for a stable 4K60 mode - plus a bonus 120Hz option not seen on the PS5 system at present. But how do they stack up against each other - and what of the visual 'upgrades' over the original Mass Effect?

 

[JuniorJ92]

Kind of shocked by the stutters from the PS5... I was expecting locked frame rates from all consoles without any hitches.

 

[chris1515]

Kind of shocked by the stutters from the PS5... I was expecting locked frame rates from all consoles without any hitches.

It use backward compatibility mode on PS5 this is a mode where the console is far behind.

 

[Allandor]

It use backward compatibility mode on PS5 this is a mode where the console is far behind.

It is not if the game is aware of the PS5. Than it should be boosting to the max. It just can't use new features.
I guess the new engine is just very demanding. E.g. for one CPU core. 120fps does not work that well even with 1440p. So I guess it is a CPU limitation. Xsx can run the CPU at higher frequency when HT is not needed.
As there is no next gen update, yet it is not even using hardware decompression.

 

[snc]

It is not if the game is aware of the PS5. Than it should be boosting to the max. It just can't use new features.
I guess the new engine is just very demanding. E.g. for one CPU core. 120fps does not work that well even with 1440p. So I guess it is a CPU limitation. Xsx can run the CPU at higher frequency when HT is not needed.
As there is no next gen update, yet it is not even using hardware decompression.

Its obvious that this game in bc mode can’t utilize ps5 power when you see drop to 30fps in quality node and 37 in 1440p

 

[mr magoo]

Its obvious that this game in bc mode can’t utilize ps5 power when you see drop to 30fps in quality node and 37 in 1440p

there is significant difference in loading speed between xsx and ps5. Last time we saw difference this big i asked why is that and was told that this is due to BC mode, ps5 ssd disk speed is limited by cpu speed. Its a game from x360 era neither of consoles should have problem by running it perfectly at 4k 60fps.

 

[Allandor]

Its obvious that this game in bc mode can’t utilize ps5 power when you see drop to 30fps in quality node and 37 in 1440p

In that one scene it is strange. But overall it runs well. Can also be an software related problem in that scene (after all while adopting the engine to PS4/xbox there might just sneaked in some errors or less effective api routines used).

 

[Kugai Calo]

I wonder what does it take for a BC game to get full boost on PS5? On Xbox Series every BC game gets it plus there's the XboxOneGen9Aware thing.

 

[Allandor]

Mass Effect Legendary Edition: PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S Tech Breakdown - 4K60 Achieved on Next-Gen?

Btw, the game does not only use screenspace reflections. It also uses Render to texture or something like that. If you look at a reflecting surface (e.g. in the citadel) you can still see changes in reflection from "neon"-signs that are not in screenspace.
Therefore it uses a much lower resolution. Especially visible in the csec section on the citadel on the floor where is much aliasing visible because of the lower res reflections.

And it also looks as the eyes of the characters reflect their surroundings.

 

[snc]

there is significant difference in loading speed between xsx and ps5. Last time we saw difference this big i asked why is that and was told that this is due to BC mode, ps5 ssd disk speed is limited by cpu speed. Its a game from x360 era neither of consoles should have problem by running it perfectly at 4k 60fps.

Yes in bc mode loadings on ps5 can be few times longer than for native app (good example nioh)

 

[scently]

I wonder what does it take for a BC game to get full boost on PS5? On Xbox Series every BC game gets it plus there's the XboxOneGen9Aware thing.

BC games use the full PS5 power. It just doesn't use its advanced feature set nor is it a native PS5 game. In this, both consoles are the same. I suspect any abnormal issue here is a software issue and not because its not using the full PS5 boost available to BC games.

 

[Allandor]

there is significant difference in loading speed between xsx and ps5. Last time we saw difference this big i asked why is that and was told that this is due to BC mode, ps5 ssd disk speed is limited by cpu speed. Its a game from x360 era neither of consoles should have problem by running it perfectly at 4k 60fps.

Yes, loading times are really strange, though.
Can it be that the path CPU -> SSD storage is really slow and optimized for the access via extra hardware? I really don't think that they clock down the CPU to a jaguar-frequency, else we wouldn't get higher framerates after all. But the loading times in BC mode seem to be strange. Yes the CPU must decompress all the stuff but the same must the xbox do for bc games as long as there is not native port. And the CPU is not that much faster. But maybe those are the blocks on the CPU sony has cut down, as they are not needed for PS5 native games and mostly only used for decompression stuff.

 

[Globalisateur]

BC games use the full PS5 power. It just doesn't use its advanced feature set nor is it a native PS5 game. In this, both consoles are the same. I suspect any abnormal issue here is a software issue and not because its not using the full PS5 boost available to BC games.

No. Some games do not. All PS4 games are given a specific GPU clock. Most games are given the maximum clock available, others not, probably because of compatibility.

 

[snc]

BC games use the full PS5 power. It just doesn't use its advanced feature set nor is it a native PS5 game. In this, both consoles are the same. I suspect any abnormal issue here is a software issue and not because its not using the full PS5 boost available to BC games.

nope, firstly its gcn compatible insturction mode so no ipc improvement, second there are few compatible modes so clocks also could run slower than normal

 

[Deleted member 11852]

RT will also present some issues. If your game is aiming for a particular lighting aesthetic then game directors, much like lighting directors in movies, will be fighting realistic light using diffusers and colours that mute reflections.

Who is this shrewd bastard who could see RT lighting wouldn't be some magical panacea and may require developers rethink their balance of lighting?

Another thing is that there is less placing of fake lights. Often a stylistic decision would have required a lighting artist to set up maybe a soft spotlight that had no real source, or even a straight up region of ambient light. These are generally done to achieve the effect of natural light propagation. Lights do that automatically now: they bounce around corners and (because of DDGI) they gradually work their way into dark recesses without any access to direct illumination. So, a lot of that work can now be done with just the basic light sources on their own, and more realistically so at that.

And a third effect, in terms of actual work done on this project was that artists went through and removed/rebalanced everything. Ray tracing in the first launch of Metro Exodus on PC made a lot of places darker than they should have been, especially interiors or the tunnels where there was no natural sunlight. Now that pretty much every light in the scene (technically only the shadowed ones) can add to the GI, the effect is to have more light than would have been there in the original. So, we could remove some fake lights and tone down or even remove 'real' lights where appropriate.

There will be a bit of a learning curve here.

 

[scently]

nope, firstly its gcn compatible insturction mode so no ipc improvement, second there are few compatible modes so clocks also could run slower than normal

I said they both run BC games boosted. I also said they don't use any advanced feature set. This includes better IPC and other stuff. This is the same on both the PS5 and XSX. As for clocks and what not, the fact its running at 4k60 means its running at full clockspeed.

 

[snc]

I said they both run BC games boosted. I also said they don't use any advanced feature set. This includes better IPC and other stuff. This is the same on both the PS5 and XSX. As for clocks and what not, the fact its running at 4k60 means its running at full clockspeed.

BC games use the full PS5 power

pure bs statement but you can stay with your opinion

 

[Globalisateur]

I said they both run BC games boosted. I also said they don't use any advanced feature set. This includes better IPC and other stuff. This is the same on both the PS5 and XSX. As for clocks and what not, the fact its running at 4k60 means its running at full clockspeed.

No (not sure for PS5) and no (that has nothing to do with it: the PS5 flag is located in the game code, the CPU and GPU clocks are set in the PS5 OS).