Image Quality and Framebuffer Speculations for WIP/alpha/beta/E3 games *Read the first post*

[Deleted member 11852]

I think the more you know the better you can cover a type of media. It is sad that people do not understand the technical issues because then they cannot articulate why something feels the way it feels or draw connections between different games.

Many reviews do include observations about obvious technical shortcomings like low framerates, screen tearing and poor controls due to high latency and these are things which can be expressed without a deep technical knowledge. I don't think pixel counting nor understanding the cache coherency scheme of the system bus are essential, though. I like and read mainstream reviews to tell me about the game and I'm grateful all the hate-filled vitriol fanboy fuel is isolated to specific sites.

DF's articles on Eurogamer are an interesting read but I get in, read the article, avoid the comments and get out quick.

<UIImage: 0x167476b0>

 

[arhra]

The pics captured from gamersyde videos:

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_our_videos_of_driveclub-15909_en.html

What kind of AA technique they have used?

Some kind of postprocess, by the looks of it. Seems to be doing a fairly good job on the stuff it covers, but still has problems in all the typical spots (subpixel detail, near-horizontal/vertical/45 degree angles, and presumably temporal stability).

Looks like they've implemented something to improve the quality of the power/phone wires compared to earlier footage, too. They're still far from perfect, but much better than they were in older builds.

 

[ultragpu]

Any word on bloodbourne alpha?

I'm on the phone can't see anything.

 

[nightshade]

The pics captured from gamersyde videos:

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_our_videos_of_driveclub-15909_en.html

What kind of AA technique they have used?

Compression aside they still looks quite ....bad?
I mean bad with respect to texture filtering, edge shimmering and the lack of shadows.

 

[Rangers]

Pretty much any game looks bad by FLV video screens versus other types of media (example, GAF gifs).

Compressed (which all are to a degree) video screens are the worst...

And for that matter all framebuffer gameplay screens tend to fail under close scrutiny as well. Sometimes I think that will be the mark of true diminishing returns or something, when gameplay framebuffer grabs look good.

 

[tuna]

Many reviews do include observations about obvious technical shortcomings like low framerates, screen tearing and poor controls due to high latency and these are things which can be expressed without a deep technical knowledge. I don't think pixel counting nor understanding the cache coherency scheme of the system bus are essential, though. I like and read mainstream reviews to tell me about the game and I'm grateful all the hate-filled vitriol fanboy fuel is isolated to specific sites.

DF's articles on Eurogamer are an interesting read but I get in, read the article, avoid the comments and get out quick.

<UIImage: 0x167476b0>

The cache coherency scheme does not matter in the experience a player has. The resolution can have an impact.

However, I would really like to have a vocabulary and analysis for how different game mechanics function. Then reviewers could describe things like LBP's jumps better than "floaty".

 

[Deleted member 11852]

However, I would really like to have a vocabulary and analysis for how different game mechanics function. Then reviewers could describe things like LBP's jumps better than "floaty".

Ah, but most gamers will know what "floaty" means, even though it's imprecise language. The mainstream sites are writing reviews for the greater majority, who aren't Beyond3D posters. You'd need to educate both reviews and readers. You could argue that educating readers is part of a imparting knowledge but I think the risk of everything melting into a fanboy megarage would be considerable. Rather than have a generic review of game and game mechanics you're edging toward platform specific technical analysis and that'll spawn arguments not discussion of the game.

As Digital Foundry has shown, it's all too easy to cock up. If DF are prone to mistakes, what hope do regular reviewers at IGN, GameSpot, C&VG, Eurogamer, EDGE, GamerTrailers and GamerSyde have?

Let's agree to disagree

 

[London Geezer]

There would be lots of ways to write "floaty" or anything else, but remember these reviewers need to cater to a very wide audience whose first language might not be English. In fact I'd think that the vast majority of the audience would not speak English as a first language.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

A large part of these mainstream pieces of writing is to be entertaining. Dry technical analysis makes little sense outside the specialist press. For me, 'floaty' LBP jumps is more descriptive than 'high momentum and moderately low friction on landing with slight left/right directional in-air acceleration for mid-jump control.'

 

[Sh1nn]

Alien (PS4)

 

[DieH@rd]

Specular aliasing... Ruining IQ of nextgen games since 2013. :-/

 

[ultragpu]

PS4 Alien shots look 1080p native with a strong dose of Post AA. Gonna grab my copy tomorrow and get some decent quality captures.
Found some better shots on Gaf.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That's pretty blurry. I mean, cinematic. CA in the top right is scary.

For comparison, image from Alien : http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140805233803/avp/images/3/34/Ash_studying.png

Plenty blurry, but virtually zero CA.

 

[ultragpu]

That's pretty blurry. I mean, cinematic. CA in the top right is scary.

For comparison, image from Alien : http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140805233803/avp/images/3/34/Ash_studying.png

Plenty blurry, but virtually zero CA.

But you do concur they're 1080p right CA or no CA?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Yep

 

[ultragpu]

Always reassuring to hear Shifty's word, now I must get back to watch Alien before I commence Isolation.

 

[Globalisateur]

AC Unity recent ~900p XB1 gameplay

Very disappointed by the image quality. They have gone downhill since AC4 IMO.

Why didn't they simply re-use AC4 AA? AC4 had better AA and better AF, everything was much sharper, even at 900p on XB1.

The recent gamersyde HQ video (with native 1080p with incredibly good AA) was definitely from a PC build.

 

[DrJay24]

It's both blurry and an aliased mess. Grats Ubi.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Very disappointed by the image quality. They have gone downhill since AC4 IMO.

The inside environments are nothing to write home about but the outside environments look great. Unfortunately, from the VideoGamer article:

There’s still a bit of time to go, and the version we got our hands on could well be several revisions and optimisations old, but Unity’s performance issues are concerning. Targeting 900p and 30fps, it sports the same slightly vaselined look as its stable mate, Watch_Dogs, and gets very muddy and choppy in motion.

The framerate behaves more erratically than an aristocrat during peasant uprising – obviously it depends on the scene, and the engine seemed to handle quieter streets and interiors without too many issues, but when trying to replicate moments from the trailers, perched up high, looking down on the crowd gathered at Notre Dame, the FPS took a nose dive into the low twenties.

This happened a lot, especially during the kind of rooftop chases you can expect to be getting into pretty regularly. We were playing an Xbox One build, but were told that both console versions are the same.

Obviously not final retail code, though.

 

[sogeking]

Assassin's Creed Unity will run at 900p/30fps on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Ubisoft has confirmed, with the publisher opting to aim for platform parity to avoid discussion over any differences in performance.
http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/assas...y_is_900p_30fps_on_both_ps4_and_xbox_one.html