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Digital Foundry, Alan Wake 2 PC - Rasterisation Optimised Settings Breakdown - Is It Really THAT Demanding?

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter


adamsapple adamsapple called in sick so I'm replacing him.

Summary coming later.

  • This is mainly a video to address the "3070 540p" controversy. Another more in-depth analysis is coming
  • The Medium preset is Medium in name only. it has a bunch of settings at High and at least one at Ultra
  • The game uses signed distance field software ray tracing for reflections even on Medium settings with RT off (the lowest) instead of just static cube maps. This is similar to software Lumen
  • Uses a very robust GI system, even on Medium settings
  • Mesh shaders allow for very high detail models throughout the entire world. Clutter and objects aren't edged or sharp, they're very rounded
  • One of the most impactful setting is post-processing which if set to High is done BEFORE upscaling (meaning post-processing effects are done at native resolution) or Medium (post-processing is done after upscaling, meaning the resolution is upscaled too)
  • FSR2 is very flickery compared to DLSS2, mainly due to all the vegetation and specular highlights. As always, use DLSS if you can
  • At PS5 settings, an RTX 3070 outperforms it by around 43 % (not sure why Alex says 50% when 43 is closer to 40)
  • PS5 uses Primitive Shaders. Xbox and PC use Mesh Shaders
  • GPUs that lack mesh shaders support are out of luck. A 1080 Ti is consistently below 30fps and often in the lows 20s. A 5700XT is better and manages to hover around the 30s but their performance is very inconsistent with big lurches and spikes
  • The game still looks great on PS5 even in Performance Mode
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Comparison snippets.

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Zuzu

Member
That's a lot of Lows.

Does he also say what Quality equivalent settings are ?

No he didn’t cover quality mode which I think he should have done. Interestingly software ray-tracing is also being used on all both console and pc even if the actual ray-tracing option is off. The ray-tracing setting will turn on hardware ray-tracing if it’s turned on but if off software rt will be used instead.

Edit: whoops sorry, the post above shows that he did cover quality mode in that chart.
 
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This era of resolution upscaling on every game, specially from a quite low base resolution is destroying the consoles.

FSR is kinda like 30 FPS modes, in static it does the job so good, but once you move the camera.... foock
 

Denton

Member
Excellent video. Game looks super impressive even on low for sure. I am playing on high preset with HW RT disabled though. Perfect 60 and GPU is quiet.
 

Zuzu

Member
I think this is the first time I'm hearing that it uses software-based RT?

Yeah, this is the first time I’ve heard about it. Alex said that it’s using software ray tracing for some of its reflections even when ray-tracing is set to off in the settings. He said it’s similar to Lumen’s software ray-tracing

The mesh shader implementation is really impressive as well
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Ok that's better, Quality mode it is then.
The game still looks great in Performance Mode. It's not a kind of Performance Mode a la FF XVI you wanna avoid. it does a reasonably good job at maintaining 60fps and only dips to the low 50s in the most intense scenarios.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The game still looks great in Performance Mode. It's not a kind of Performance Mode a la FF XVI you wanna avoid. it does a reasonably good job at maintaining 60fps and only dips to the low 50s in the most intense scenarios.

Probably for subsequent play throughs, the first one I want to play with the most visual flare, the developers did say they always intended this to be a 30 FPS game on consoles.
 

Mortisfacio

Member
can you imagine what the requirements would have been if it wasnt just a walking simulator

If it were more action packed and fast paced, they'd have to reduce the visual quality more or wait until next gen for it. Current consoles are struggling. Jedi Survivor at 648p/30fps on PS5 still has me laughing.
 

Darsxx82

Member
It's a game that Remedy itself says was made based on 30fps. The main comparison had to be made about the console quality mode. At least in Alan Wake 2 they have put a table with the settings of the quality mode.

In Forza MOtorsport comparasion they didn't and it would have been interesting to know how far the hardware was being pushed in the quality modo also vs PC Ultra. In fact, it later emerged that , in FM quality mode, XSX implement more vegetation.

That said, Alan Wake 2 on consoles looks exceptional. As I pointed out in the ForzaMotorsport comparison, people get carried away with the words low vs Ultra when the vast majority of settings require 400% zoom to be differentiated. Only the cases of some key settings (shadows, reflections, and lighting are key) are referential and truly impact the visual aspect.

Great Work from Remedy
 

Denton

Member
For reference, I set the PS5 performance preset settings on my PC (3080Ti, 5800X3D) and get 146fps overlooking the town. So yeah I would not say the game is badly optimized.

alanwake2screenshot20gje05.png


However, enabling RT (let alone PT) cuts framerate down heavily. I think RT is more demanding here than in Cyberpunk and lot more than Control. I think I will just play in high preset with RT off, in 2880x1620 (via DLDSR) with DLSS quality (so internal rendering is 1080p). This gives me super clean, sharp image with stable 60fps.

What the heck is "medium+,"high? Or something not quite medium but not exactly high?

Yes, setting between those two.
 
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shamoomoo

Member
There's another video coming up. This was to address the requirements controversy that had people losing their minds over needing a 3070 for 1080p/DLSS performance. The analysis is coming later.
It sounds like an anti-PS5 video disguised as an "analysis." Alex opening monologue gives it away and what's the point of this micro analysis when the comparison is between the PS5 and one GPU without any other context?
 

Zathalus

Member
No need, everyone knows that the CPU has no influence over game performance whatsoever...
Its highest setting (Path tracing, 4k, 60FPS) recommendation is a Ryzen 7 3700x. Its not heavy on the CPU at all. Just posted above is a 5800X3D getting almost 150fps while being GPU limited. A 3700X should get over 100fps if you run into a CPU limited situation.
 

Mithos

Member
As someone that would need/want 60fps. see ya in 5 tears or so...
Also I play at 1080p so native or bust, or 1000% improvement on picture quality if using DLSS/FSR tech.
 

Denton

Member
It sounds like an anti-PS5 video disguised as an "analysis." Alex opening monologue gives it away and what's the point of this micro analysis when the comparison is between the PS5 and one GPU without any other context?
This is wrong take away. There was a controversy before release where people were worried about the game being badly optimized on PC specifically, because according to posted reqs, 3070 was going to give worse performance than PS5.

This video is direct adress of that. To make people less worried about PC optimization. It is a fantastic video, if anything.
 

Zathalus

Member
It sounds like an anti-PS5 video disguised as an "analysis." Alex opening monologue gives it away and what's the point of this micro analysis when the comparison is between the PS5 and one GPU without any other context?
Its pretty clearly intended to address the drama that was going on about the PC requirements. Using the PS5 is simply to point out that no, the game is not badly optimized for PC.
 

Skifi28

Member
Its pretty clearly intended to address the drama that was going on about the PC requirements. Using the PS5 is simply to point out that no, the game is not badly optimized for PC.
The drama was created by Remedy themselves, but it was perceived (by some) as some form of insult towards PC gaming as a whole and now the defence force has come to the rescue (in video form for our convenience). But instead of being mad at Remedy for starting the whole shit, they're defending them while "attacking" everyone else. Honestly, It's been really weird watching it all unfold.
 
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Zathalus

Member
The drama was created by Remedy themselves, but it was perceived (by some) as some form of insult towards PC gaming as a whole and now the defence force has come to the rescue (in video form for our convenience). But instead of being mad at Remedy for starting the whole shit, they're defending them while "attacking" everyone else. Honestly, It's been really weird watching it all unfold.
The video is attacking no one, it simply points out the game is not demanding as feared, gives out console equivalent settings and goes into a bit more depth surrounding some of the settings involved. It also sheds some light on how cards without mesh shaders are impacted. It's a pretty useful video if you are a mid range PC gamer.
 
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