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Digital Foundry Face-Off: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC/PS4/XB1)

Frame rate drops 40-20fps in different moments. That's what DF face off said. So...not sure what's exactly it's better on xbone version. It's just uncapped.
yeah that's why I expected the xbone version to turn out superior, but I don't understand. Is the graphics vs framerate a trade off between the two versions, or is the unlocked framerate on xbone (despite being sometimes higher) work against it?
 

Sakura

Member
Yea, aside from character models, the game isn't really much of a looker, on my PS4 at least. Somewhat disappointing, especially considering the super long load times, and the poor performance (was fighting a boss yesterday that dipped to single digits). The way it looks you'd think it'd run at least at a constant 30.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
I never said the thread didn't have a point I was merely stating a fact.

So why are you even here if you think the thread is so ridiculous?

The point is not to find out which system is best. Obviously the PC I've spent £1500 on will out perform my £300 ps4.

What's interesting is measuring exactly what each system is capable of. Seeing what heights the PC can reach, how far users can push it beyond what the devs gave us, how much the devs can squeeze out of the inferior console hardware and the trickery and workarounds they use to produce the impressive results they do.

So no, it isn't ridiculous to compare a high end PC and a console.
 

Anarki

Member
Thanks for the details, the shots look great. At which points did you experience the framedrops?

Thanks, it looks better in-game, the JPEG compression of my screenshots don't do any justice.

I was experiencing dips in the last screenshot when I was up close to water.

I haven't played enough of the game yet to see if there are more dips in the frame rate in different areas.

I own a PS4 as well but after seeing the digital foundry comparison I opted to play it on my "low end" PC instead
 

Zakalwe

Banned
Yea, aside from character models, the game isn't really much of a looker, on my PS4 at least. Somewhat disappointing, especially considering the super long load times, and the poor performance (was fighting a boss yesterday that dipped to single digits). The way it looks you'd think it'd run at least at a constant 30.

What about the seamless, massive, detail rich open world? The game looks pretty great when you consider what you're getting here.
 
Nice one, only if you did read, you would realize that I said HBAO and not the NVIDIA coined HBAO+. You do realize that there are many versions of HBAO right?

Yes, and again, I am asking for your evidence of even HBAO. I'm not finding as many games as you listed. Just trying to set the record straight. ;)
 

Sakura

Member
What about the seamless, massive, detail rich open world? The game looks pretty great when you consider what you're getting here.

Ok?
The knowledge that it is a big open world doesn't make it prettier to look at.
And I wouldn't exactly say it is seamless.
It's also riddled with bugs and performance issues.
I'm not saying it's ugly or horrid to look at, but it doesn't look great either.
 

BiGBoSSMk23

A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
When is that 600 fixes patch coming?
 
When is that 600 fixes patch coming?

oPCs7oF.jpg


ummm.... uh oh. Good about the font size though.

Unless there's another 600 fixes patch I missed.
 

Thoraxes

Member
Even though it has good multi-core utilization, i've heard floating around that it's only up to 4 cores only?

Is there any merit to this claim? I was thinking of changing core affinity while playing for a performance improvement if so.
 

BiGBoSSMk23

A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
Unless there's another 600 fixes patch I missed.

Wow really?

I thought there was a new one recently sent in for certification that had 600 fixes lol

Must have a been an old thread...
 
I think it looks fucking gorgeous and I'm loving what I see on PS4. I'm just glad I don't have as high expectations of graphics as some people in here, when it's still relatively early in the current generation. We'll have better looking games later on, but like I said, I'm very happy that I don't have as high expectations as some, or that at the very least that my standards arn't demanding batshit insane graphics for me to enjoy watching the game I play.

peace!
 

Zakalwe

Banned
Ok?
The knowledge that it is a big open world doesn't make it prettier to look at.
And I wouldn't exactly say it is seamless.
It's also riddled with bugs and performance issues.
I'm not saying it's ugly or horrid to look at, but it doesn't look great either.

It's that you said it was disappointing, which to me suggested you weren't considering the other aspects too merely comparing it to the visuals of other recent games.

And it is seamless within each massive open section.

Considering what the devs have achieved in terms of scope, I couldn't call the visuals disappointing. In fact, I'd say they were impressive considering what they have achieved overall.
 

Sakura

Member
It's that you said it was disappointing, which to me suggested you weren't considering the other aspects too merely comparing it to the visuals of other recent games.

And it is seamless within each massive open section.

Considering what the devs have achieved in terms of scope, I couldn't call the visuals disappointing. In fact, I'd say they were impressive considering what they have achieved overall.

Yea. It's disappointing because the performance is pretty bad given the way it looks.
If they achieved a huge richly detailed seamless open world, that loaded fast and ran at at least a solid 30, then sure I would be more OK with the visuals.
But to me, the given visuals for what they've achieved in scope, aren't impressive when it doesn't actually run well.
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
I really don't understand these threads. Is there any doubt that an i7, 980 and 16GB of ram is going to outperform either console?



You really think the great majority of people are playing this on the PC at comparable or greater settings than the PS4 at 60FPS. . .I got some swamp land in Crookback Bog I'd like to sell ya.

I don't know, I personally am. Looking at that AMD/Nvidia rollcall thread it looks like a lot of people here have 900 series Nvidia and 200 series AMD cards so probably quite a few people are.
 

skelekey

Member
It's that you said it was disappointing, which to me suggested you weren't considering the other aspects too merely comparing it to the visuals of other recent games.

And it is seamless within each massive open section.

Considering what the devs have achieved in terms of scope, I couldn't call the visuals disappointing. In fact, I'd say they were impressive considering what they have achieved overall.

It is seamless somewhat, but there are frame drops into cutscenes and loading/streaming issues in lead ins into boss fights. I sometimes worry if the game has crashed on me because it has three times.

Outside of Geralt and other character models, the game is not much of a looker on consoles. 2d foliage, flat textures such as rocks buildings, straw thatched roofs, etc. It is dense and there is some good use of lighting, but I will be eagerly awaiting price drops and mods for the PC version, as well as potentially buying a new card.
 

Skyzard

Banned
Seamless after loading transitions :p

Some areas are big but I wouldn't describe the game as a seamless open-world. They described it as multi-region open-world, which is fair.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Looks like an awful job for how the game looks on consoles. I miss the original style of the art. Not impressive for me.

People keep trying to tell me these are some of the best graphics, but this is my PS4:

anDQ7ir.jpg



Pine needles all but disappear into blurred textures at just a couple dozen feet away on the left bush.

I personally think it looks great
jpH5ZBh.jpg

QhseTK4.jpg
 

bede-x

Member
Now that I've read the article, I'm quite surprised that DF didn't take a closer look at the amount of NPCs and wild life on the different systems. Took a look at the PS4 version (around 14 minutes in):

http://youtu.be/7l0vIE62rFk

There's so few people on the streets. A shame since it really takes away from the "bustling city" feeling. Is it the same with wild life?
 

Noobcraft

Member
I don't see how anyone can look at this and say that while actually believing it. The game is clearly different on each platform.
People can't say they think it looks good on each platform? I won't say it's the best looking game on any one platform but I think it looks good.
Behold! My shots of what the internet tells me is blurry Vaseline smeared sub (full) HD'ness. The Xbox One version of The Witcher 3.
thu_may_21_21-43-22_cwkq5i.png

screenshot-original-3jqq1q.png

thu_may_21_21-45-15_cnkqkk.png
 

Skyzard

Banned
^Tad confused:

My shots of what the internet tells me is the blurry Vaseline smeared sub (full) HD'ness that is the Xbox One version of The Witcher 3.

Are those actual x1 shots or did someone black crush the image for a joke and that's what you meant?

Nearly half of the last image is 100% black.

Is that the console screenshot compression?
 

Chiggs

Gold Member
I started out on PS4 and immediately ran into the hang-on-load error. After some workarounds, I got past it, but the amount of bugs and glitches made the experience less than optimal.

I pleaded my case with Best Buy and they swapped out the PS4 version for the PC. Glad I did. The game is much better on PC (I've got a pretty decent machine). Visuals are superior, frame rate is better and I'm not running into glitches and bugs galore.

I can't speak for the Xbox One version, but the PS4 was a mess. Something about that Day 1 patch and workaround caused a myriad of problems 3-4 hours into the game.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
People can't say they think it looks good on each platform? I won't say it's the best looking game on any one platform but I think it looks good.
Behold! My shots of what the internet tells me is blurry Vaseline smeared sub (full) HD'ness. The Xbox One version of The Witcher 3.
thu_may_21_21-43-22_cwkq5i.png

screenshot-original-3jqq1q.png

thu_may_21_21-45-15_cnkqkk.png
Yup, looks fine. Lacking a bit of crispness, but nothing terrible.

^Tad confused:



Are those actual x1 shots or did someone black crush the image for a joke and that's what you meant?

Nearly half of the last image is 100% black.

Is that the console screenshot compression?
Yea, you need to check your monitor's settings man. Hope nothing is terribly wrong, but something is definitely not right.
 

Skyzard

Banned
Yea, you need to check your monitor's settings man. Hope nothing is terribly wrong, but something is definitely not right.

Holy shit, opened it up in firefox and it's totally different to how it looks in chrome.

Thanks for the headsup.

O7onSLn.jpg


-latest chrome, latest nvidia drivers :S

Version 43.0.2357.65 m

Google Chrome is up to date.
 
^Tad confused:



Are those actual x1 shots or did someone black crush the image for a joke and that's what you meant?

Nearly half of the last image is 100% black.

Is that the console screenshot compression?

Looks absolutely fine to me. There is no black crush on PC monitor in any of those shots (or in-game), I can see into all of the shaded details.

Holy shit, opened it up in firefox and it's totally different to how it looks in chrome.

Thanks for the headsup.

O7onSLn.jpg

What the hell, the image doesn't look like that for me in Chrome.
 

Noobcraft

Member
Holy shit, opened it up in firefox and it's totally different to how it looks in chrome.

Thanks for the headsup.

O7onSLn.jpg


-latest chrome, latest nvidia drivers :S
I didn't believe you at first but now I do. That's bizzare. I wouldn't ever post the picture on the left lol, and if I had a game that did produce that picture I would burn it.
 

Skyzard

Banned
At least people weren't going blind or shy like I was thinking, ha. Previous shots I commented on were much more slight but that last one was nuts.

Anyway, nevermind :S Firefox for me it is then I guess, disabled extensions in chrome, resetting it and no differences. Wonder if it's to do with the recent nvidia drivers that introduced some crashing with chrome.

vivek86 was probably like wtf at my comments about some of his screens with sweetfx lol.
 
Man the shadow setting on ps4 is probably set to very low. Curious how much money I gotta spend to achieve max 60 fps and graphics on par with the PC pics. My PC currently have phenomii x4 black edition 3.4 GHz, 8gb DDR 3 ram, nvidia gtx 760. How much am I looking at for a 60 fps high to ultra setting? Sorry for off topic.
Edit: I usually play with vync off. I prefer frame rate over graphics.
 
Mh ok, this time I'm the weird one because I think it's looks rather meh on PC as well.
At least on screenshots.

Mostly because to me the artstyle looks so... I don't know, cartoony? cheap? Maybe it's the color palette from the shots I've seen like the one in the OP.

I'm sure it pulls off awesome stuff for an open world game but also on a technical level it doesn't strike as particularly amazing/more next gen looking compared to some other open world games. Though I guess the most comparable would Dragon Age and it probably beats that. Although there I like the art style more.


Anyway, seems the main difference that will persistent this gen is that consoles will turn off everything after 50 m to save resources. Would have more CPU power helped here or is that purely GPU-based?
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
One thing I'm surprised isn't getting discussed much is how good the AA method CDPR used is. Anyone know exactly what it is? It has excellent coverage without adding blur. IQ is damn good at 1080p on PS4.
 
Mh ok, this time I'm the weird one because I think it's looks rather meh on PC as well.
At least on screenshots.

Mostly because to me the artstyle looks so... I don't know, cartoony? cheap? Maybe it's the color palette from the shots I've seen like the one in the OP.

I'm sure it pulls off awesome stuff for an open world game but also on a technical level it doesn't strike as particularly amazing/more next gen looking compared to some other open world games. Though I guess the most comparable would Dragon Age and it probably beats that. Although there I like the art style more.


Anyway, seems the main difference that will persistent this gen is that consoles will turn off everything after 50 m to save resources. Would have more CPU power helped here or is that purely GPU-based?
Past a certain point, particular game isn't very CPU-sensitive on PC (as illustrated in Durante's analysis), so I'm not sure these differences have much to do with CPU.

Honestly, I've been playing it on PS4 and have it on PC as well and it looks exactly like what I've come to expect from a multiplayer PS4 game of this scope. It could probably use more tinkering but I'm not expecting PS4 games to look that much better. Hell, I think it looks damn great for a console game, even if a maxed PC version blows it out of the water.
 

Javin98

Banned
One thing I'm surprised isn't getting discussed much is how good the AA method CDPR used is. Anyone know exactly what it is? It has excellent coverage without adding blur. IQ is damn good at 1080p on PS4.
Because system wars is far more entertaining /jk

But really, the AA solution does look pretty good. The PS4 version has pretty good IQ for an open world game. Definitely better than GTA 5 and DA:I but I think I:SS has better IQ overall. Still, hopefully, we get more of this type of IQ this gen. IQ in current gen games is one thing that is a generation ahead of last gen games.
 

Piggus

Member
PC version is fantastic. I got it running at a solid 1080p 60 fps with everything on Ultra (with Hairworks off) and with shadows and foliage tweaked to beyond Ultra settings. Combine that with a good ReShade config and it's easily the most impressive looking game I've ever played.
 

viveks86

Member
One thing I'm surprised isn't getting discussed much is how good the AA method CDPR used is. Anyone know exactly what it is? It has excellent coverage without adding blur. IQ is damn good at 1080p on PS4.

There are 2 post processing AA solutions running. One looks like FXAA and the other is an in-house temporal AA solution.
 

Piggus

Member
But Mark Cerny told us!

Man is disappointing consoles are getting performance this poor, is almost like if both MS & Sony went into this gen not really wanting to

Both went in not wanting to lose hundreds of dollars per consoles sold when there's so much uncertainty in the industry. That said, Sony's strategy was much more gaming-centric and they were willing to take more risks hardware-wise than MS. They got very lucky with the GDDR5 situation. Both could have definitely invested more in the GPU, but MS was truly short-sighted going with a GPU that was considered a low-end budget card as far back as 2012.

The most ridiculous assumption they made was assuming people wouldn't care if the system didn't run most big games at 1080p, the native res of most displays. Had they actually wanted to build a 1080p capable machine, they would not have ignored AMD's own GPU spec recommendation for 1080p. They were too focused on having a 8 gbs of RAM for all their non-game media features and were unwilling to risk the cost of GDDR5, so they had to use a crappy memory solution that's slower AND ate up a good chunk of space on their APU, resulting in a weak GPU.

What in the actual fuck were they thinking.
 
Both went in not wanting to lose hundreds of dollars per consoles sold when there's so much uncertainty in the industry. That said, Sony's strategy was much more gaming-centric and they were willing to take more risks hardware-wise than MS. They got very lucky with the GDDR5 situation. Both could have definitely invested more in the GPU, but MS was truly short-sighted going with a GPU that was considered a low-end budget card as far back as 2012.

The most ridiculous assumption they made was assuming people wouldn't care if the system didn't run most big games at 1080p, the native res of most displays. Had they actually wanted to build a 1080p capable machine, they would not have ignored AMD's own GPU spec recommendation for 1080p. They were too focused on having a 8 gbs of RAM for all their non-game media features and were unwilling to risk the cost of GDDR5, so they had to use a crappy memory solution that's slower AND ate up a good chunk of space on their APU, resulting in a weak GPU.

What in the actual fuck were they thinking.

Neat info :)
 
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