Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion Archive [2014]

[DavidGraham]

Both GPUs seriously punching above their weight then in the consoles, the 7870 is basically the PS4s GPU and the R7 260 similar to the 7770 based xbox one.

The PC version has way more graphics than consoles (shadows, HBAO+, LOD, textures) not to mention the higher resolution and the MSAA.

True, but from my own tests increasing aa when cpu limited makes little to no difference, as does increasing resolution.

Both consoles could go for 1080 p 4xmsaa and still be in the same ballpark they are now.

Not necessarily, higher shadows and LOD settings in the PC version increase the CPU load too. Also, increasing the resolution and MSAA will affect consoles negatively because of resources (bandwidth) contention.

 

[DJ12]

I'm not saying the consoles could match the PC, just the resolution and AA with all other settings remaining as they are now.

Obviously the more advanced features available on PC would cause a considerable hit.

 

[Newguy]

Those 295X2 and 690 results showing dual GPU cards don't work (scale)? SLI works though.... memory constraint for the 690 instead of SLI not working?

 

[dumbo11]

The whole thing is rather strange - the "pop-in" (where the hat magically appears) doesn't seem to be normal pop-in (as other characters with the same hat don't gain a hat at that point).

Similarly, the PS4 slowdowns on the rooftop section don't seem to have anything to do with anything that's happening.

 

[DJ12]

Maybe the AI is running for people doing their cooking in the houses below. Maybe they're hosting a 250 seat dining event.

 

[function]

Calculating lighting variables for a large area / volume? eXtReMe culling?

1000 AI dancers contemplating the upcoming rave?

*unf unf unf* /bass

 

[Malo]

From the benchmarks looks like I'd be better off running DSR and MSAA2x on my 970, will probably perform better and look better. Still, this game requires a beefy computer! I'll barely be able to push 30-40fps on my 3570k+970 at 2560x1080. As long as it rarely dips below 30fps I'll be content though as long as the visuals are that good.

 

[Boxercide]

A post on the official blog claims they will be fixing the framerate issues. I think it will be interesting to see if they actually can or not. If so, i think it lends credence to the 'they just ran out of time' argument.

 

[Smarf]

A post on the official blog claims they will be fixing the framerate issues. I think it will be interesting to see if they actually can or not. If so, i think it lends credence to the 'they just ran out of time' argument.

"[L]ooking into" does not mean fixing. I wouldn't expect a major improvement unless they actually do reduce CPU load in some way. If they couldn't get this sorted out in 4 years, I don't know how they'll get it done now. Ubisoft surely knew what kind of performance they'd achieve well before launch and decided that maintaining a solid 30 FPS wasn't doable even with a delay.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

"[L]ooking into" does not mean fixing.

I particularly liked, and by 'liked' I mean deride:

"In addition, we are already looking into many of the other issues you’ve told us about"​

Framerate issues, what framerate issues?

 

[Malo]

"[L]ooking into" does not mean fixing. I wouldn't expect a major improvement unless they actually do reduce CPU load in some way. If they couldn't get this sorted out in 4 years, I don't know how they'll get it done now. Ubisoft surely knew what kind of performance they'd achieve well before launch and decided that maintaining a solid 30 FPS wasn't doable even with a delay.

Exactly. With a title in development this long, fixing framerate issues means disabling something in the rendering path or reducing crowds etc. I can't see them suddenly finding some magic performance.

 

[AlNom]

Free Plague DLC wipes out Paris population?

or... Animus Malfunction DLC removes everyone unimportant to the story.

 

[Scott_Arm]

It's not as if algorithms and code can't be optimized. It just depends on the state of what was released.

 

[AlNom]

It's not as if algorithms and code can't be optimized. It just depends on the state of what was released.

Sure, but is it something that won't need a 20-50GB download? (rhetorical)

 

[Scott_Arm]

I don't plan on buying the game, but if I did and there was a 20GB patch to fix performance issues, I'd download it.

 

[Malo]

A 20Gb patch would mean all texture resolution reduced then a sharpen filter applied, voila! Performance increase.

 

[AlNom]

I probably would too, but I'm thinking more of the scale of what's needed on their side. If they had to change a ton of things in the core game assets + QA -> time++

 

[DJ12]

Surely just setting the npc count from 200 to 100 would do the trick?

 

[AlNom]

Surely just setting the npc count from 200 to 100 would do the trick?

Perhaps.

It's curious they don't expose an NPC density option.

 

[TheWretched]

I've gotten my PS4 copy today. The performance really is... VERY variable. But it is playable, in my opinion. Though since I was a "poor poor child" growing up on underpowered PCs, I am used to low framerates and I can bear them probably a lot better than average joe. One scene (just before the late title card) was obscene, though. Not single digits, but... boy that was a harsh drop (going from inside to outside into a fiery smokey congregation of a lot of people... nearly as bad as the endgame stuff of AC1 on PS3, if anyone remembers).