[PC] Grand Theft Auto IV

[Bludd]

My biggest problem with Halo PC was the floaty controls and the super-low mouse sensitivity. No matter what I did, it never got as fast as I needed it and it just ruined it for me.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Perhaps you don't realize, but when Halo PC first came out even the best hardware at the time would dip into the teens in various spots, even with all the graphics options cranked all the way down.

As for GTA4, I'm not getting the impression it is that bad, just more demanding than most console ports. That only makes sense though considering the framerate on the console versions is crap, and upping the draw distances and such like PC versions have supported in previous GTA games isn't going to help either. As long as a reasonable gaming rig can run it notably smoother than my 360 while looking at least as good, I'll be pleased.

Than you wont be pleased. They guy whi I read doing benches had to go into the 14xx reso's with medium settings just to get above 30fps.

A screen from how that looks: http://members.lycos.nl/drifter/pic4.jpg

I'm also reading that especially the 4xxx cards have alot of problems. Seems like Rockstar really didnt care too much about quality..

 

[Silanda]

I was really looking forward to this, but after reading the reports on the net thus far I think I may be dreading playing it. After the abortion that was the PC version of Bully, and now this, I'm left wondering if Rockstar only test their ports on one PC.

 

[obonicus]

I was really looking forward to this, but after reading the reports on the net thus far I think I may be dreading playing it. After the abortion that was the PC version of Bully, and now this, I'm left wondering if Rockstar only test their ports on one PC.

And it's the same PC reviewers preview/review their games on.

 

[Neb]

"E-penis calmer"

Games readme file.

THE GRAPHIC SETTINGS OF GRAND THEFT AUTO IV PC

Most users using current PC hardware as of December 2008 are advised to use medium graphics settings. Higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available.

Graphics settings are limited by system resources by default. 256MB video cards force minimum settings by default. If a user bypasses these safety measures using command line arguments and exceeds their system resources, the users gaming experience may be compromised.


Video Mode
Resolution scaling effects water, reflections, shadows, mirrors and the visible viewable distance. The resolution settings relate to the amount of available video memory. At 2560*1600 the game will require 320MB of video memory in addition to all the memory required for content. At 800*600 the game will require 32MB of video memory in addition to the content. Medium resolution settings are recommended for most users as higher settings are only usable if there is available video memory.

Texture Quality
Texture quality affects the visual quality of the content of the game. High setting for textures will require 600MB of video memory at a setting of 21 View Distance in addition to the memory taken by the Video Mode. A medium texture setting is recommended for most users.

Render Quality
Render quality is the texture filter quality used on most things in the world rendering. Most people would know this as anisotropic filtering. Medium settings are recommended for most users and will provide filtering beyond what the console versions can execute.

View Distance
View distance scales the distance in which different objects in the world such as building and cars are seen. Raising this option increases the distance in which high quality objects must be loaded and will increase the memory it requires. Restrictions are established to ensure the game runs optimally for most users. A setting of 22 or more will provide PC users an enhanced experience over the console versions.

Detail Distance
Detail distance scales aspects of the environment that the View Distance setting does not including vegetation, trash and other moveable objects. A setting of 10 would be the equivalent to the performance on a console. This setting has little effect on memory.

Vehicle Density
Vehicle density scales the traffic density of the traffic in the game. It has no effect on the mission vehicles or difficultly of the game, but can have a significant impact on CPU performance

Shadow Density
Shadow Density controls the number of shadows generated for positional lights in exterior environments. These shadows are exclusive to the PC version and can have a major impact on CPU and GPU performance.

Crossfire/SLI
With the latest ATI driver (8-11 series) the game supports crossfire modes (ie. 4870x2)
SLI is currently unsupported. Support will be added through a future game patch as well as an updated Nvidia driver.

 

[obonicus]

"E-penis calmer"

Games readme file.

Forward-compatibility ahoy! Great to see that the Yerlis' philosophy lives on. Seriously, they should have called Medium 'high', high 'ultra high' and highest 'godlike'.

 

[Neb]

Yup.

Some sick amount of objects rendered at 100% draw distance. And AA is needed, and true AA not that horrible blurry filter fro mthe console versions.

Picture, from here

Spoiler

 

[Skrying]

Yup.

Some sick amount of objects rendered at 100% draw distance. And AA is needed, and true AA not that horrible blurry filter fro mthe console versions.

Picture, from here

Spoiler

Someone should inform those posters that they're retarded.... cool screenshot.

 

[Neb]

Give me AA and I'm in!

 

[Davros]

I'll probably wait untill it comes out on budget (unless someone returns it to the shop)
if i need a sanbox game i'll pick up saints-row 2 its suppossed to be the better game

 

[obonicus]

Is the 360's weird texturing bug gone from this version, by the way?

 

[kyleb]

And AA is needed, and true AA not that horrible blurry filter fro mthe console versions.

The 360 version has 2xMSAA. The lack of of an in-game AA option on the PC version is a bit disheartening though, any reports from people trying to force it though drivers?

 

[AlNom]

Something tells me MSAA with the huge draw distance would destroy the framerate even further

 

[kyleb]

I'm sure, but I'm not expecting to play the game with the draw distance cranked like that anyway. Again, I'm just hoping for at least 360 quality visuals with better framerate.

 

[Kaotik]

Sounds like a great release from what I gather on another forum; many nVidia users are having rendering error issues

Spoiler

and ATI users are just having bad performance
Guess next set of drivers from both parties will fix most severe issues, though.

 

[obonicus]

Someone should inform those posters that they're retarded.... cool screenshot.

Are they retarded? Does this compare favorably to Crysis? It's not like Crysis is a narrow corridor shooter, either. Why exactly isn't this a poor excuse? 'Our engine is so poorly optimized that only future computers will be able to play it on high!'

 

[kyleb]

Take a game you consider well optimized and imagine it being released a few years earlier when no hardware could run it smooth at max settings. That wouldn't make it poorly optimized, would it?

 

[Daozang]

And for what, whould that game be optimized exactly?

 

[kyleb]

Uh, for efficiency, what else would you expect? Or you thinking optimization is just a matter of culling down graphics options to make the highest settings run smooth on today's hardware?

Looking at this form another angle; imagine the original Doom was released today looking exactly as it did back then, but coded in such a backassed way that it goes though 20 times the workload to render. Sure, it would still fly at max settings on modren gaming rigs. It couldn't rightly be considered well optimized in such an inefficient state though, could it?

 

[obonicus]

Take a game you consider well optimized and imagine it being released a few years earlier when no hardware could run it smooth at max settings. That wouldn't make it poorly optimized, would it?

Well, that only works if the experience is 'future-proof'. Is GTA amazingly good-looking even at highest? Draw distance is nice, extra shadows are okay, but we're sorta looking at the PC port in comparison to the console versions, which had serious problems to begin with! Shouldn't we be comparing PC games to PC games?

When Crytek pulled this future-proofing talk (and got flak for it) they had a stronger argument, since Crysis is still the best-looking game on PC. And even they saw the flaws in their reasoning since Warhead isn't as demanding.