Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2024]

[davis.anthony]

No, the PS5 versions are quite a bit nicer. Forbidden West looks far better on PS5.

Far better perhaps, but not generationally better.

It's also perhaps the best example between the 2 platforms?

The Last of Us Part I isn't even on PS4.

I never said all games.

Ragnarok also looks quite a bit better on PS5.

Outside of resolution differences, there's not a lot.

and so does Ghost of Tsushima.

Again, biggest difference is resolution.

Not to the extent of Horizon but still appreciably better. Whatever the case, the Ultra preset on games released 2 years later on PC shouldn't match the quality version of a console with hardware from 4 years ago.

It doesn't work like that, going above PS5 costs time and money.

PC can do so much more.

Some PC's can do more, which can and does affect PC ports.

 

[davis.anthony]

Yes you do. You've acted like Sony's SSD is magic since Mark Cerny made his 'Road to PS5' presentation.. You've also came in here after every PC launch of a Playstation Studios game and pointed out issues that involved textures or loading.. and blamed the PCs architecture while chirping about how incredible the PS5's I/O. I remember you doing it with Ratchet and Clank because there was texture streaming issues with that game.. and you pointed out the miniscule difference in that portal sequence... Funny that Nixxes was able to fix the texture streaming issues and that the portal sequence is either the same or faster without DirectStorage. Same thing happened with the Spider-man games. Oh, and the same thing happened with Horizon Forbidden West. Turns out they were just texture streaming bugs and were fixed. Now God of War's texture/model pop-in has been fixed as well and was never anything to do with I/O at all. Hell, I believe you also came in here after The Last of Us released and blamed a whole host of that games issues on PC just being inefficient and lacking the PS5's super-duper magic I/O and SSD.

There's a trend of a Sony first party game releasing, then you showing up here calling out and blaming its issues on PC architecture. I assume we'll see you again on Friday or Saturday after Until Dawn has released.

I think it's fair to say that after all the hype from Cerny about PS5's SSD and I/O it's actually been a pretty big flop.

A side from quick loading in the odd game it hasn't done anything like Cenry said (like loading assets as the camera moves) and hasn't done anything that wouldn't work on Series Consoles.

We'll have to wait until the end of this generation to asses it fairly but so far, the I/O complex seems to be a waste of transistors compared to Series console implementation.

 

[Below2D]

Far better perhaps, but not generationally better.

It's also perhaps the best example between the 2 platforms?

Not expecting the PC version to be generationally better, but if the games scaled as nicely as Rift Apart, I'd be happy. It's certainly not a generation beyond the PS5 version, but still quite nicer.

Outside of resolution differences, there's not a lot.

No, there is a lot. Much better textures, improved reflections, draw distances, shadows...everything, really. It's like the lowest preset on PC vs the highest preset according to Jetpack Interactive. There's more than just resolution.

It doesn't work like that, going above PS5 costs time and money.

I know how it works, which is why I said that after 2 years, their games should at least have all the option to look substantially better than on PS5. Some of them such as Uncharted and TLOU actually look worse. They've done good improvements for much lower-budget games like Returnal and Rift Apart, you'd think they'd put more effort into their flagship franchises but no.

 

[davis.anthony]

Not expecting the PC version to be generationally better, but if the games scaled as nicely as Rift Apart, I'd be happy. It's certainly not a generation beyond the PS5 version, but still quite nicer.

Rift Apart was special as it was the 3rd game ported to PC so the Devs were using an established port of the engine.

The engine already had ray tracing support as the PS5 games had it, so adding extra ray tracing to the PC version is easy.

Contrat to something like Forbidden West that has an engine with no ray tracing, it would have been a rather large job to update Decima with ray tracing for the PC.

No, there is a lot. Much better textures, improved reflections, draw distances, shadows...everything, really. It's like the lowest preset on PC vs the highest preset according to Jetpack Interactive. There's more than just resolution.

I've just watched the DF video on Ragnarok again and Johns opening lines...

"Unlike the likes of Horizon Forbidden West, the differences are a little more on the subtle side"

I know how it works, which is why I said that after 2 years,

The time between PS5 and PC release is irrelevant.

What is relevant is budget and how long the developers have to do PC port.

If they have 6 months, you're not going to get much.

their games should at least have all the option to look substantially better than on PS5.

How?

The average PC isn't much better than PS5, so why make settings that the largest install base can't use?

All that stuff gets factored in.

Some of them such as Uncharted and TLOU actually look worse.

Do they still look like that now?

From what I remember, they're better now.

They've done good improvements for much lower-budget games like Returnal and Rift Apart, you'd think they'd put more effort into their flagship franchises but no.

Why bother when they don't sell well.

 

[Below2D]

I've just watched the DF video on Ragnarok again and Johns opening lines...

"Unlike the likes of Horizon Forbidden West, the differences are a little more on the subtle side"

Yes, and he doesn't say it's just resolution, so what are you arguing here? HFW looks much better than the PS4 version. GOWR still looks a lot better, but not to the extent of Forbidden West, and has a lot more going on than resolution.

Also, no, Rift Apart was not the third game ported to PC. Horizon, Days Gone, God of War, Death Stranding, Uncharted, both Spider-Man games, Sackboy...it was like the 8th game or something like that.

The time between PS5 and PC release is irrelevant.

What is relevant is budget and how long the developers have to do PC port.

If they have 6 months, you're not going to get much.

They took a year and a half.

How?

The average PC isn't much better than PS5, so why make settings that the largest install base can't use?

All that stuff gets factored in.

Nic strawman. This doesn't stop games like Black Myth Wukong, Cyberpunk, and a myriad of others from looking way better on PC. "The average PC" isn't an excuse and has never been.

Do they still look like that now?

From what I remember, they're better now.

They're still bugged.

Why bother when they don't sell well.

Ah, so half-ass it because they don't sell? Smart move...maybe put some effort into it in the first place? If they don't sell, why do they even bother? Sony is one of the biggest publishers in gaming and they've expressed a keen interest in growing their presence on PC. Those middling late ports won't cut it. If they stop doing them because it isn't as successful as they had anticipated, they only have themselves to blame.

 

[Karamazov]

biggest graphical leap of the same game between last gen and current gen is still Fortnite, you can even switch between "generations" on PS5/XsX by toggling 120hz mode ON/OFF

BTW that was a cool feature in the Halo remaster, i wish more games did that, but it must be hard to implement, like for example TLOU1 remake.

 

[Albuquerque]

Mod mode: I'm not really interested in the five-year-old retort battles. Make your points, back them with reasonable sources where you should, and don't act like a child. Examples of child like behavior include the use of phases like "copium" and "you just can't" and "hahahahaha". I've done some mild cleaning, there should be no more need for cleaning hereafter.

I've already put at least one person into a two-week grass-touching field trip in the last 24 hours, I'm perfectly fine to put a few more in timeout if they'd like to continue the childish banter.