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Digital Foundry: Latest Assassin's Creed Unity patch boosts performance

chadskin

Member
The good news is that performance is indeed a little better on both consoles, with PS4 particularly benefiting from the update. In particular, crowded scenes featuring hundreds of NPCs run a little more smoothly than before. While drops down to 20fps and the high teens still occur when the engine is heavily taxed, outside of these situations we see between a 2-5fps increase in performance in some scenes.

The new patch also improves performance on the Xbox One game, although the difference isn't as noticeable as it is on PS4. The main boost in frame-rate occurs in crowded or high-detail areas where NPCs are found, but also extends to other areas, albeit to a lesser extent. We also find that sometimes frame-rates remain similar to the game running with the day one patch enabled, while occasionally they are a little worse.

Overall, it's clear that the update has a noticeable effect on improving the frame-rate, but at what cost? Ubisoft's use of the word 'refurbished' when describing alterations to Paris is a curious one. There's the implication that suggests that a downgrade may have taken place - and assets changed - to combat the performance problems that have overshadowed the game.

However, after replaying several sections of the game and matching up footage with our previous captures, it's not exactly clear what has been adjusted. The level of detail across the NPCs and the environments appears to be the same, while level of detail (LOD) streaming doesn't seem any different. Some users have reported poorer NPC streaming with the new patch installed, but we couldn't replicate the issue.

On the whole, Assassin's Creed Unity does indeed run more smoothly after the latest update is installed, although the improvement is very much context-sensitive and we're still a long way off the locked 30fps seen in Black Flag. Compared to the pre-patched game, drops in frame-rate aren't quite so heavy, and the PS4 version now more closely matches the Xbox One release during gameplay. However, performance is still variable, failing to hit 30fps in crowded areas or in detailed locations.

Elsewhere, the good news is that a number of key bugs are also addressed: we didn't encounter characters falling through scenery and we didn't get stuck outside the world after dying or leaping to our death. In that respect, it's good to see progress being made in improving the unpolished nature of the original launch game, but the fact that it has taken four updates to get to this point is still difficult to swallow.

More: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/d...test-assassins-creed-patch-boosts-performance
 
Sony were probably able to boost the CPU but not as high as the XB1 CPU if it still doesn't match it as DF state.

Sony hasn't changed any clock speeds in their console since release. The ACU patch is just some optimization on Ubisoft's end. XB1 will likely always run better since it's CPU is 10% faster than the PS4's CPU. Ubisoft's job now is to get both consoles running the gaming at a consistent 30FPS but it seems they still can't do that.
 

Doc Morbid

Neo Member
Did the PC patch do anything? My frame rate is the same as it's been since launch, although to be fair that's not so bad since it was already running at 50-60 fps with settings nearly maxed out. I was hoping to get locked 60 with the latest patch, but guess not.
 
My PC version is completely broken after 1.4.0. Freezes randomly for 1-2 seconds, sometimes even crashes. Fps is all over the place too. It was perfectly fine at 1.3.0. I shouldn't have upgraded :(
 

Kezen

Banned
The patch helped with the performance on PC along with the new Nvidia drivers. Average is in the high 50's instead of 40.
 

system11

Member
Why don't they just decrease NPC spawns...

How dare you think they should target playability instead of artistic vision! Agree with above poster by the way. Anyone who had seen the reviews and still bought it knowing about the boatload of problems is telling Ubisoft etc that releasing broken products and then fixing them at their leisure (maybe) is reasonable in a £50 game with heavy microtransactions.
 

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
Obligatory cherry-picked example.

f5WuMav.jpg


The game definitely feels smoother overall, but that still sucks. Look at how consistently shitty the framerate is in those seconds.
 
Elsewhere, the good news is that a number of key bugs are also addressed: we didn't encounter characters falling through scenery and we didn't get stuck outside the world after dying or leaping to our death. In that respect, it's good to see progress being made in improving the unpolished nature of the original launch game, but the fact that it has taken four updates to get to this point is still difficult to swallow.

What a bunch of crock.

I've seen this happen in nearly every play through. My character still gets stuck in buildings and the ground leading to many unfortunate deaths. Then the LOD pop ups are so bad that NPC characters change hair/clothing when you run past them...
 

goonergaz

Member
Does this mean we are down to zero games where the X1 is the clear winner In DF 2014 face off?

Interesting that this info was out prior to that 2014 face-off yet they didn't release it until after the face off...I suppose a situation where the XBO had no hope would have been unthinkable...gotta keep pushing that substantial CPU advantage
 

Alx

Member
I'd have a problem supporting a company that releases unoptimized games. Also for that parity bullshit.

Do people still believe in "that parity bullshit" when the company obviously struggles to get good performance out of both consoles ? If they had held back the PS4 version for whatever reason, they wouldn't have needed 4 patches to get it to the current status.
 

Joey Ravn

Banned
Last time I checked (right after the latest beta NVIDIA drivers and the latest official patch), the game still had severe stuttering with SLI, making it completely unplayable on my system. No other game I own has these issues. Bad SLI scaling? Sure. But 1-2 second freezes? Not one.

GG, Ubisoft.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
Obligatory cherry-picked example.

f5WuMav.jpg


The game definitely feels smoother overall, but that still sucks. Look at how consistently shitty the framerate is in those seconds.
Yea, that's still poor. There will be no miracles. Hopefully the patch makes it just that little bit more playable for some people.
 

CozMick

Banned
Obligatory cherry-picked example.

f5WuMav.jpg


The game definitely feels smoother overall, but that still sucks. Look at how consistently shitty the framerate is in those seconds.

But on the other hand....

Edit. Removed image. Don't wanna cause console wars.
 

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
But on the other hand....

I am not trying to make a console war point, I am just pointing out the generally crappy frame rate in some scenes, and that is the worst drop in the video.
 

lucius

Member
Well that's good they improved it, still don't really want to support this game right now the way it was handled so bad.
 

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
Point taken. I removed the image :D

Your screenshot was fine, though, that was a bad drop, too. Differences between platforms in particular screenshots are irrelevant anyway, if the scene is not exactly the same.
 

Static Jak

Member
Last time I checked (right after the latest beta NVIDIA drivers and the latest official patch), the game still had severe stuttering with SLI, making it completely unplayable on my system. No other game I own has these issues. Bad SLI scaling? Sure. But 1-2 second freezes? Not one.

GG, Ubisoft.
The stuttering seems to be happen to me and I'm on a single GPU. It isn't too frequent but enough to put me off playing.

I'm using a 970 and performance can go from 60 to 20 for any random reason that I can't pinpoint. If we at least had more options to turn on or off graphic features. As is, most of it is tied to 3 or so options. Black Flag wasn't great with options but it's a million times better in comparison. At least you set stuff like motion blur, reflections, god rays and other little things that add up.
 

Zafir

Member
The stuttering seems to be happen to me and I'm on a single GPU. It isn't too frequent but enough to put me off playing.

What card do you have?

In terms of single player(COOP was a buggy mess plagued with server issues but that's another discussion), I've really not had issues with Unity. On Max settings(apart from AA), I was getting 30-40FPS with my 970.

Far Cry 4 is another thing entirely, that has awful stuttering on my card, makes it impossible to shoot anything while driving. Dunno if they ever fixed it, I haven't touched it since release.
 

Pjsprojects

Member
Pc version seems unchanged. Glad I bought the game from Origin Russia,was only £12 and some faffing around to sort the language.
 

Static Jak

Member
What card do you have?

In terms of single player(COOP was a buggy mess plagued with server issues but that's another discussion), I've really not had issues with Unity. On Max settings(apart from AA), I was getting 30-40FPS with my 970.

Far Cry 4 is another thing entirely, that has awful stuttering on my card, makes it impossible to shoot anything while driving. Dunno if they ever fixed it, I haven't touched it since release.
I'm on a 970. I might try messing with some settings. Issue I have, and this is getting more common, is that all the smaller effects like motion blur, DoF and other effects are being bundled into one setting of low, med and high.

Those options separate might have small performance hits individually but it adds up.

I haven't played FC4 yet but I've been keeping up to date on it's patches. Far as I can see, they've made attempts to sort out the stuttering in their last patch. I've seen a mix of people either stating the stuttering is gone or at least reduced and others saying it's still there.

Ubisoft has just been a complete disaster this year. They couldn't even get Tetris working correctly!
 

Zafir

Member
I'm on a 970. I might try messing with some settings. Issue I have, and this is getting more common, is that all the smaller effects like motion blur, DoF and other effects are being bundled into one setting of low, med and high.

Those options separate might have small performance hits individually but it adds up.

I haven't played FC4 yet but I've been keeping up to date on it's patches. Far as I can see, they've made attempts to sort out the stuttering in their last patch. I've seen a mix of people either stating the stuttering is gone or at least reduced and others saying it's still there.

Ubisoft has just been a complete disaster this year. They couldn't even get Tetris working correctly!
Well, I think regardless of settings it may be tough to get 60 FPS on Unity. Ubisoft PC ports are never made with 60FPS in mind. Fortunately it doesn't bother me that much, as long as it's staying 30+, I'm good.

I dunno, Ubisoft released some good stuff earlier in the year, like Might & Magic X, Valiant Hearts, and Child of Light. I think they've just been rushed off their feet this autumn trying to cram a load of releases in and not really having the man power or time to complete. It's surprising that The Crew actually was working well, seems to the only one that did.

Should of held back the releases really, but I assume they didn't due to it probably messing up their yearly cycle. Hopefully they learn from their mistake, there was enough outrage at it.
 

Alienous

Member
I'm looking at the footage, and the PS4 version seems to still be running consistently lower than 24 frames per second in crowded areas. Lower that a movie.

It still doesn't look like something I'd want to entertain playing.
 

Xando

Member
Man, i wonder what went wrong with PS4 development. Looks like they needed another ~ 3 months to get this into a release state.
 
Wish I never bought this game, sitting here waiting for patches to make the game run smoother is getting tiring. At least this patch improved it somewhat, I hope they cut down the amount of NPC's no matter how much they say it doesn't affect performance, I have a feeling it does. Any more news on performance patches, or is this one the last one?
 

Cels

Member
Digital Foundry said:
While drops down to 20fps and the high teens still occur

Ubisoft said:
Rigorous quality control is of paramount importance to us

in all seriousness it's an improvement even if it's a small one.

were the holiday sales (#5 in NPD for November, still pretty solid) worth the blemish to Ubisoft's reputation? the game obviously could have used some more optimizations but it will never reach a stable 30fps on consoles.
 

Marlenus

Member
XB1 will likely always run better since it's CPU is 10% faster than the PS4's CPU. Ubisoft's job now is to get both consoles running the gaming at a consistent 30FPS but it seems they still can't do that.

Doubtful, this game is just a mess.

Here is a review of the 5350 and the 5150, these are 4 core Jaguar CPUs that run at 2.05 Ghz and 1.6 Ghz respectively. This link shows how they perform when paired with a 7970 GPU in various games.

Given these are 4 core variants running with a much more powerful GPU this is about as CPU limited as you can imagine which makes it pretty much the maximum advantage you could get from a CPU clock speed increase. In this case the increase in clock speed is 28.125% and the average frame rate increase across the games tested is 10.6%. Assuming similar scaling that would give the Xbox Ones 9.375% clock speed increase a maximum 3.53% FPS advantage from the CPU alone. Any difference above this is very likely to be due to other factors, such as optimisation.
 

Static Jak

Member
Should of held back the releases really, but I assume they didn't due to it probably messing up their yearly cycle. Hopefully they learn from their mistake, there was enough outrage at it.
I honestly think they should have released Rogue across all platforms this year and had Unity for next year.

It could very well be because they stretched themselves thin with Watch_Dogs, The Crew, Unity and Far Cry 4, Rogue along with a good few smaller titles.

I hope they cut down the amount of NPC's no matter how much they say it doesn't affect performance, I have a feeling it does.
NPCs most take a performance hit, how could they not? Especially with the likes of MSAA or TXAA turned on with the PC version. Can cause major slowdown in crowed areas. And the large crowds feel unnecessary in a lot of places. You could shave down the number of NPCs in a lot of areas without it being very noticeable.
 
Jesus Christ...the game still frequently dips below 30fps after a performance patch? What the fuck happened to Ubisoft?

And another thing - I don't even think the crowded areas look good. There are way too many NPC's on-screen at times, it just looks messy. And the way Arno moves through them is weird. Surely the NPC's have some effect on performance? I'd love for them to just reduce the amount of on-screen NPC's, even if it has minimal effect on performance.
 
For multiplatform games in future where the CPU is a bottleneck for the PS4, developers should just take some of the load off using GPU compute. In that instance the PS4 has a significant advantage if the developers can't/don't want to optimise for the PS4 CPU.
 
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