Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion Archive [2014]

[Scott_Arm]

ha ha ha, ok then.

 

[AlNom]

 

[Strange]

Just to see if it's true, I rebuilt my database for PS4, expecting it to do little to nothing.

To my surprise... It did affect performance. a LOT. Even in the really heavy areas.

http://www.twitch.tv/nut1234567890/c/5497466

This was just recorded. The game surely didn't run this smooth before.

 

[Malo]

This is one of the first games I've seen to indoor/outdoor transition so seamlessly, so there's probably a lot of data streaming going on constantly. The environments are very detailed with a lot of unique (at least in a small area) texture work and objects. So that might be why a possible improvement could come from a "defrag"?

Is Unity much smoother on a PS4 with an SSD?

 

[TheWretched]

One thing I noticed is... going into the upgrade menu, it shows your character up close and very detailed. In this screen, the console starts to scream from heat (PS4 that is). And only a slight handful of sections in the game have this result (climbing high towers and synchronizing). Guess no AI and no streaming really results in massive heat here^^

Either way. I like the game so far. Loading times are abysmal, though, even just for resetting a mission (i.e. not teleporting far and wide between locations).

 

[Arwin]

Since 1.02 (but perhaps it was in older versions as well) I noticed that going into the games menu, settings etc. causes the PS4s fans to spin up to max as well.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Digital Foundry vs Far Cry 4

PlayStation 4 analysis only at present, PC and Xbox One to follow.

Highlights

• Faultless 30fps at 1920x1080.
• PS4’s visual setup is easily comparable with 2012's Far Cry 3 on a PC's maximum settings, using very high resolution normal maps and an acceptable grade of anisotropic filtering.
• Ubisoft delivers a unique solution here. To tackle all of these elements as best it can, a new Hybrid Reconstruction Anti-Aliasing (HRAA) system is in place for the game.

The solid performance here is reminiscent of the strong showing of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag last year - there's the sense that Ubisoft has built upon and refined an existing engine technology and in PlayStation 4 we finally have the hardware required to enjoy a good balance between excellent visuals and good, consistent performance. Right now, we've only seen the game running on the Sony platform, but we're intrigued to see how Far Cry 4 scales on PC, and there's also the small matter of Xbox One to address.

 

[Arwin]

Yeah, noticed it before I had to go out. Already updated techingames.net ... (HRAA added, with link to the Siggraph presentation, which is quite interesting)

 

[Nesh]

why 1920x1200? isnt it an odd choice? Doesnt it also eat a little bit more GPU performance for that slight resolution increase?

edit: ok I see it was a typo

 

[Deleted member 11852]

why 1920x1200? isnt it an odd choice? Doesnt it also eat a little bit more GPU performance for that slight resolution increase?

Sorry my bad, it's 1920x1080. I copied and pasted most of the text but typed that short line out.

 

[London Geezer]

Just to see if it's true, I rebuilt my database for PS4, expecting it to do little to nothing.

To my surprise... It did affect performance. a LOT. Even in the really heavy areas.

http://www.twitch.tv/nut1234567890/c/5497466

This was just recorded. The game surely didn't run this smooth before.

You're welcome!

 

[Malo]

Since 1.02 (but perhaps it was in older versions as well) I noticed that going into the games menu, settings etc. causes the PS4s fans to spin up to max as well.

Uncapped fps going crazy high?

 

[TomRL]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-vs-far-cry-4
Ticks all the boxes and looks Byotiful. Good show Ubisoft.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Far Cry 4 has great image quality and performance, but it looks so damned uninspiring. I never thought that part of the world could look so boring and lifeless.

 

[AlNom]

Just needs a Blood Tiger spin-off featuring King Babar and his army of elephant storm troopers vs Shere Khan.

 

[DavidGraham]

Just got ACU on PC, I can see why it's so taxing, the game is drop dead gorgeous, easily the best lighting I have ever seen in this generation, to the point that in-game cut scenes and fly-bys now look exactly like CGI movies. Characters look fantastic as well, this game will definitely win the graphics award this year, no other game came even close. The only complaint I have is the horrible LOD pop in on pedestrians, this needs to be fixed fast as it's distracting.

It is also the highest game to consume CPU resources, it runs well (30fps+) at Ultra everything if you are not extravagant with resolution.

 

[pjbliverpool]

Well, when Ryse first came to PC, performance on AMD GPUs was so far ahead of NVIDIA, that even Titans and Maxwells were left to bite the dust, all because Crytek used a lot of compute techniques for the visuals. It took a driver and a patch update to fix the situation. So I wouldn't rule that out.

http://pclab.pl/art60277-5.html
http://pclab.pl/art60277-6.html

Whoa I had no idea the new patch had that much impact! That's pretty spectacular!

 

[hesido]

Well I don't like this trend in consoles: Having performance issues because I haven't rebuilt my database for a while or not turned off online or background apps that may be slowing my game down. We'll be buying defrag applications before we know it.

 

[pjbliverpool]

Just got ACU on PC, I can see why it's so taxing, the game is drop dead gorgeous, easily the best lighting I have ever seen in this generation, to the point that in-game cut scenes and fly-bys now look exactly like CGI movies. Characters look fantastic as well, this game will definitely win the graphics award this year, no other game came even close. The only complaint I have is the horrible LOD pop in on pedestrians, this needs to be fixed fast as it's distracting.

It is also the highest game to consume CPU resources, it runs well (30fps+) at Ultra everything if you are not extravagant with resolution.

Sounds awesome, I'm trying to hold off getting it until the Tessellation patch comes out but it's tough! Have you played Ryse (on PC) and if so would you say ACU still looks better? Ryse was easily the best looking game I've ever played.

 

[DavidGraham]

Have you played Ryse (on PC) and if so would you say ACU still looks better? Ryse was easily the best looking game I've ever played.

Yes I did, before ACU, back then I also believed Ryse to be on the top of graphically impressive games, but after ACU, I don't think that anymore, in fact after loading some Ryse levels, they looked cartoonish in comparison to ACU, the visuals (basically the GL lighting) in this game makes it impossible to enjoy any lesser graphics, even from recent titles like COD AW, Shadow Of Mordor or even Crysis 3. The discrepancy is jarring. This is the first time I felt like this in years. The game is simply astonishing to look at.

I'm trying to hold off getting it until the Tessellation patch comes out but it's tough!

NVIDIA wants to apply tessellations on some terrain and rooftop surfaces, I think secondary characters (the crowd) are the ones who need it the most considering their poly count is modest (adaptive tessellation will also eliminate pop ins) , but I understand that would affect performance much more than terrain.