Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2024]

[XboxKING]

Looks like the devs focused primary on the PC version for this. The relative platform sales would be interesting to see.

I'd also love to see some more direct settings matched performance comparisons with comparable PC hardware.

It almost looks the same as the “ultra pc” which is good considering PS5 will turn 5 in a few months
Wish they’d clear up the frame pacing and maybe offer a 30fps mode and remove the 45 fps mode and change it into a 40/120hz mode, anyway the game is really great for a Chinese developers’ first console and ue5 title

 

[Remij]

John and Tom had a chance to check out The Plucky Squire on PC and they give their impressions of the early portions of what they played.

I'm really looking forward to this one. It looks so lovingly crafted and I love the styles they've went with. With the mixing of 2D and 3D graphics and gameplay, my hope is that there's a whole mishmash of classic 2D/3D gameplay types in here which pay homage to games of the past, ranging from classic NES games up to the early 3D days.

As for performance, they played on two different systems, both high end (4090 and 4080) and the performance is generally in the 200-400fps range.. so performance isn't much of an issue. They also mention the game has some slight stuttering as you transition between the 2D and 3D gameplay areas, but that it's not as bad as in other games. The game is also running on UE4 and not UE5.

 

[pjbliverpool]

It almost looks the same as the “ultra pc” which is good considering PS5 will turn 5 in a few months
Wish they’d clear up the frame pacing and maybe offer a 30fps mode and remove the 45 fps mode and change it into a 40/120hz mode, anyway the game is really great for a Chinese developers’ first console and ue5 title

Well no, it's a mix of PC medium (some lower) and high, with no HWRT.

Without the RT the differences range from subtle (e.g. textures) to pretty significant (e.g. the significantly improved particle effects).

With RT the differences are substantial IMO.

On performance, NXG did a roughly put together comparison to a 6800 for IGN and stated that the PS5 achieved around 66% the performance of that GPU, presumably all at PC high settings (a little higher than PS5) That's pretty much in line with performance expectations.

 

[XboxKING]

Well no, it's a mix of PC medium (some lower) and high, with no HWRT.

Without the RT the differences range from subtle (e.g. textures) to pretty significant (e.g. the significantly improved particle effects).

With RT the differences are substantial IMO.

On performance, NXG did a roughly put together comparison to a 6800 for IGN and stated that the PS5 achieved around 66% the performance of that GPU, presumably all at PC high settings (a little higher than PS5) That's pretty much in line with performance expectations.

I understand what you are saying, but when comparing 9800Pro or 8800GTS gts to at the time 5 year old consoles, you didn’t need to enhance the image 200-300%, you could tell which was PC or console even at 50 or 25% zoom; for reference 9800 Pro and Dreamcast titles or 8800GTS and original Xbox titles. They would not have even been able to run most of the games, let alone do it at such a comparable visual level

I hope you understand the difference has never been smaller, probably ever

 

[Dictator]

presumably all at PC high settings...

Surely the video says which settings were tested?

 

[pjbliverpool]

Surely the video says which settings were tested?

I didn't watch the whole thing so I could be wrong here but his PS5 equivalent settings were just blanket high, despite noting a couple of areas where high went beyond the PS5 settings.

The performance comparison was just a one liner saying something like "the PS5 performed at 66% of his 6800" which interestingly he classified as the PS5 over performing, but I'd say is right where it's expected to be, I.e. 2070S level.

 

[Charlietus]

I like how he says that "the performance mode has a 16% increase to input latency, showing that frame generation can be of benefit".

Does he know that that is a negative?

He makes it sound as if it's a positive in the video

Also, 6700-2070 super class of gpu's are doing 1080p 60 at medium in this game with rare drops. Those PS5 settings in performance mode are a bit dumb, as it's already been discussed.

 

[Jupiter]

IGN video but it's a DF team list

 

[XboxKING]

IGN video but it's a DF team list

Glad to see my boys made it big

 

[Globalisateur]

I like how he says that "the performance mode has a 16% increase to input latency, showing that frame generation can be of benefit".

Does he know that that is a negative?

How it makes it sound in the video it's a positive

Also, 6700-2070 super class of gpu's are doing 1080p 60 at medium in this game with rare drops. Those PS5 settings in performance mode are a bit dumb, as it's already been discussed.

This is awful indeed. I mean he was probably saying 16% is not much but that mode should have had a 50% or so of decrease of latency vs the 30fps mode, not a 16% increase. Pointless and what about that horrendous IQ. FG should never been used at those framerates.

 

[Cyan]

probably the best game made to date, indeed

 

[DavidGraham]

0:00:58 News 01: Indiana Jones headed to PS5
0:19:53 News 02: Hands-on with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
0:31:31 News 03: FF16 demo tested on PC!
0:47:13 News 04: Black State impresses
0:57:50 News 05: Gamescom Opening Night Live recap
1:06:45 News 06: Nvidia’s Gamescom announcements
1:19:14 Supporter Q1: Is disabling RT depending on the scene a good idea?
1:27:47 Supporter Q2: Is Series S preventing a Black Myth: Wukong release on Xbox?
1:34:33 Supporter Q3: Why did Wukong on PS5 use FSR and not TSR?
1:38:35 Supporter Q4: Could improved Wukong performance be a good selling point for PS5 Pro?
1:45:06 Supporter Q5: How will Microsoft differentiate the next Xbox?
1:52:21 Supporter Q6: Did Microsoft and Sony focus on the wrong features with PS5 and Xbox Series?
2:01:18 Supporter Q7: Is 12GB enough VRAM for graphics cards this generation?

 

[Flappy Pannus]

John and Tom had a chance to check out The Plucky Squire on PC and they give their impressions of the early portions of what they played.

I'm really looking forward to this one. It looks so lovingly crafted and I love the styles they've went with. With the mixing of 2D and 3D graphics and gameplay, my hope is that there's a whole mishmash of classic 2D/3D gameplay types in here which pay homage to games of the past, ranging from classic NES games up to the early 3D days.

As for performance, they played on two different systems, both high end (4090 and 4080) and the performance is generally in the 200-400fps range.. so performance isn't much of an issue. They also mention the game has some slight stuttering as you transition between the 2D and 3D gameplay areas, but that it's not as bad as in other games. The game is also running on UE4 and not UE5.1

Even those slight stutters should be gone by release. It's a saving bug, not UE4 stutter apparently - they're well aware of the pitfalls. Great to see.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827856745806328011

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827857756889677961

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So much graphics potential left on the table! Really glad the devs felt 'less is more' and smooth, consistent framerates is key, but what could they add, if anything, to make better use of the GPUs potential? How's the RT in this and could it be better?

 

[cheapchips]

So much graphics potential left on the table! Really glad the devs felt 'less is more' and smooth, consistent framerates is key, but what could they add, if anything, to make better use of the GPUs potential? How's the RT in this and could it be better?

There's no RT is there? That's why it's pulling 400fps+

 

[T2098]

So much graphics potential left on the table! Really glad the devs felt 'less is more' and smooth, consistent framerates is key, but what could they add, if anything, to make better use of the GPUs potential? How's the RT in this and could it be better?

I definitely saw some aliasing on high contrast edges in the video, so could benefit from having a supersampling AA option for higher end cards, although you can accomplish the same by using something like DSR in the driver, I suppose. I think cheapchips is right in that there is no RT in it, at least as it sits now.

 

[Remij]

Even those slight stutters should be gone by release. It's a saving bug, not UE4 stutter apparently - they're well aware of the pitfalls. Great to see.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827856745806328011

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827857756889677961

I'm very happy to see this.

I can't stress enough how important it is for game developers (at least in my own opinion) to engage with their player base and folks like Digital Foundry, and communicate issues which they are aware of and working on. It really goes a long way. Not only to bring forth issues and hopefully fix them, but it also helps when developers can clear up misconceptions or provide alternate explanations to issues.

 

[Cyan]

Even those slight stutters should be gone by release. It's a saving bug, not UE4 stutter apparently - they're well aware of the pitfalls. Great to see.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827856745806328011

https://twitter.com/x/status/1827857756889677961

great to know they are taking note and polish the games as much as possible.

On a different note, back into DF's video of Doom, when they say it's probably the best game ever is because maybe it is. It's a game that feels like a game. I mean, you take a key but bam! there is a trap, new doors open and monsters surround you. Not the biggest fan of shooters -they are ok- but Doom feels different.

 

[techuse]

Console video is up. Even YouTube compression cant hide how terrible FSR 2 looks.

60 FPS - 720p
40 FS - 900p
30 FPS - 1080

 

[Jupiter]

On the PC the picture quality with DLSS and Ray Reconstruction will be excellent. When I activate Ray Reconstruction in games like Alan Wake 2 or Cyberpunk 2077 nothing flickers anymore. Almost everything is perfectly smoothed. Without Ray Reconstruction Alan Wake 2 had a lot of specular shimmering in New York.

Games with DLSS and Ray Reconstrucion have the best picture I have seen in any games. I believe that this trend will continue in SW Outlaws on PC.