• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

R_Deckard

Member
There is this. I will add that tessellation is indeed used for terrain, but not other features such as rocks etc.

Then there is the nonsense with claiming 16 bit colour. That is so much BS, one has to wonder who in their right mind would/could claim such a thing.
I said this earlier, he is talking about the shadows on console at the training stage..does no-one watch/listen anymore!?
 

usp84

Member
Arent these comparison getting more and more useless?

I mean pretty much every game gets at least 3-4 patches and most times they improve the game a lot on all platforms meaning that the day 1 face-off doesnt mean much.
 
I watched it, he says "ruts and ridges" I.e. Terrain.

Sigh, you are misquoting while quoting. "Ground is tesselated to allow more dense and organic look to ruts, ridges, and rocks"

It does not allow for more micro detail in the traditional sense. terrain generation tesselation has a completely different function. It is moreso used to handle how distant terrain ground LODs (smoothly instead of loading in blocks).

It used to be done on the CPU, but now it is done on the GPU.
 
You ignored the other poster that replied to your post, providing links to evidence...

I didn't check that far back.

And this shows Terrain Generation. Not what I was on about but yes to generate some bumps of course.

See Dicator93's post
NX gamer "Ground is tesselated to allow more dense and organic look to ruts, ridges, and rocks"

I asked for some evidence of the statements in the NX gamer video
 

R_Deckard

Member
Sigh, you are misquoting while quoting. "Ground is tesselated to allow more dense and organic look to ruts, ridges, and rocks"

It does not allow for more micro detail in the traditional sense. terrain generation tesselation has a completely different function. It is moreso used to handle how distant terrain ground LODs (smoothly instead of loading in blocks).

It used to be done on the CPU, but now it is done on the GPU.
Still not sure on your point, it uses tessellation in the ground and in the game including water. You are pulling semantics cause it suits your agenda ( and not for the first time I may add with you ). I think anyone trying to pull anything from this says more about them than the video, just like most of the DF is bias crew me thinks!
 
Still not sure on your point, it uses tessellation in the ground and in the game including water. You are pulling semantics cause it suits your agenda ( and not for the first time I may add with you ). I think anyone trying to pull anything from this says more about them than the video, just like most of the DF is bias crew me thinks!
He uses words without knowing their meaning and misattributes them. Yes, that is my point. I focus on semantics, because NxGamer abuses semantics in his videos.
 

R_Deckard

Member
He uses words without knowing their meaning and misattributes them. Yes, that is my point. I focus on semantics, because NxGamer abuses semantics in his videos.
Sorry you are wrong, but that is clear from your posts.

He states fact in video backed up by other sources and devs, but you are right based on the word "rock" please man your fan is showing :)
 

tuxfool

Banned
I didn't check that far back.

And this shows Terrain Generation. Not what I was on about but yes to generate some bumps of course.

See Dicator93's post
NX gamer "Ground is tesselated to allow more dense and organic look to ruts, ridges, and rocks"

I asked for some evidence of the statements in the NX gamer video

Oh, right. No that statement is wrong of course.
 

tuxfool

Banned
Sorry you are wrong, but that is clear from your posts.

He states fact in video backed up by other sources and devs, but you are right based on the word "rock" please man your fan is showing :)

It is a different function. If he states that it is used for rocks then he is clearly looking at tessellation being used for micro detail.
 

thelastword

Banned
That's not true, even before patch 1.03.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATHbz60IA_U
I don't know if you can call that a ripple effect, that looks so static and ridiculous. If you want to see a ripple effect, see the difference in the NX video when he spoke about it.
BlackNinja said:
* Dynamic TOD -- pretty much the best in a game to date. This is so so important to get right and CDPR nailed it. It's the overall best feature in the game IMO.
I think this looks amazing personally, NXgamer was also very impressed as he highlighted in the video, it's definitely one of the best weather systems out there, similar to Kojima's Phantom Pain solution. NX had nothing but praise for it.

* PBR -- absolutely excellent use of physicall based materials. Rivaling The Order and AC:Unity. Excellent use of fading 2 different shaders over time when the rain hits. I don't think I've seen this used before.
The PBR shaders are very good in this game, I won't put it in the same class as 1886, but it interacts very well with their lighting solution. Best PBR shaders in a large world game/rpg.....bar none.

* Tessellation on the terrain -- probably there. But I'd need verification from a dev that is there.
It's shown right there in the NXgamer video, it's been shown in screens in several shots and I've also referenced an interview in several threads which denotes the use of tessellation in several other areas by the devs. They use it sparingly, it was dropped for geralt and characters but it's there on ground, rocks and other areas.

* POM -- used in dungeon floors and open ways for the towns. NX never commented the use of this feature in the video.
Now, there's evidence for tessellation, but I'm not convinced that the screens you posted indicate POM. This does not look like pom to me. POM looks like it was in when the initial trailers was shown, especially that famous wall comparison pic in the Witcher downgrade thread. Here, I'm not convinced at all.

BlackNinja said:
All in all, the most technically driven open world game to date. CDPR was always known for brute-force rendering algorithms that basically bring graphics cards to their knees. They've done it again here. Even with my Titan X, I have to turn some options down to get a locked 30fps @ 4k. The amount of information going on in 1 frame is just mind-blowing, especially when you add rain, fog (from Foglets), TOD lighting reflection, near a swamp with SSR on the water, hairworks as he's moving, foliage with several layers of alpha masked sprites, wind blowing the deforming trees all in one given frame. It's an incredible achievement actually.
I agree, when it all comes together it looks very accomplished technically, but I still believe it could be better, especially on consoles.[/QUOTE]
There are too many discrepancies between the versions that point out that they needed a bit more time under the hood. The medium texture issue for one, using lower than low PC settings AO and shadows at times, missing water shaders and effects, framerate problems due to double buffering, long load times for both textures and the game itself. There's a lot that could be improved, that's why we're getting so many patches anyway.
 
The PBR shaders are very good in this game, I won't put it in the same class as 1886, but it interacts very well with their lighting solution. Best PBR shaders in a large world game/rpg.....bar none.

I don't see any asset in 1886 that is better than W3 with regards to PBR. In fact, W3 actually does a little more. For example the reflections are real in W3. They are only AO capsules in 1886. Also the simulated refraction shaders actually pass light through so you can see through them (i.e. transparency).
 

Tripolygon

Banned
I don't see any asset in 1886 that is better than W3 with regards to PBR. In fact, W3 actually does a little more. For example the reflections are real in W3. They are only AO capsules in 1886.
The Witcher is a better put together game than The Order (though they are very different games not worth comparing) but not in visuals, not even close. Not in material detail, texture detail, Asset detail, AA, lighting etc etc.
 
The Witcher is a better put together game than The Order (though they are very different games not worth comparing) but not in visuals, not even close. Not in material detail, texture detail, Asset detail, AA, lighting etc etc.

I don't want to make this a graphics contest about The Order vs. W3. I'll just say I strongly disagree -- especially coming from viewing W3 @ 4k on PC.
 

Monger

Member
If I rolled my eyes any harder, they'd roll out of their sockets. The differences are not remotely worth building a livingroom PC for (I like playing on a giant screen with 5.1 surround), but that's just me.

How does playing on a pc limit the screen size or surround output? The 10 ft wide screen in my theater doesn't really care if it's a console or a pc.
 

Tripolygon

Banned
I don't want to make this a graphics contest about The Order vs. W3. I'll just say I strongly disagree -- especially coming from viewing W3 @ 4k on PC.
There is a screenshots thread. You can render the W3 in 8K and it still will not compare to The Order in terms of visuals. Strongly disagree all you want, does not make it true, in fact you can prefer the look of W3 still does not put it close to 1886 in terms of asset details in the game.
 

GavinUK86

Member
There is a screenshots thread. You can render the W3 in 8K and it still will not compare to The Order in terms of visuals. Strongly disagree all you want, does not make it true, in fact you can prefer the look of W3 still does not put it close to 1886 in terms of asset details in the game.

yeah i agree. the order blows the witcher out of the water in the visual department. one is open world and one is linear though so it's always going to push tech more. i've yet to see an open world game that's better looking than a linear game.
 
There is a screenshots thread. You can render the W3 in 8K and it still will not compare to The Order in terms of visuals. Strongly disagree all you want, does not make it true, in fact you can prefer the look of W3 still does not put it close to 1886 in terms of asset details in the game.

I am not a fan of judging games' graphics based on screenshots. I really like to judge based on what I see when playing the games.

You care to go into specifics as to how The Order's PBR implementation is superior to W3's implementation? I feel a lot of gamers think the Order looks so good because of it's desaturated color scheme (which makes assets look photoreal). I agree it looks great, but just because a game has desaturated colors doesn't make it have superior graphics technology.
 

Tripolygon

Banned
I am not a fan of judging games' graphics based on screenshots. I really like to judge based on what I see when playing the games.

You care to go into specifics as to how The Order's PBR implementation is superior to W3's implementation? I feel a lot of gamers think the Order looks so good because of it's desaturated color scheme (which makes assets look photoreal). I agree it looks great, but just because a game has desaturated colors doesn't make it have superior graphics technology.
I prefer the look of games like Tearaway, Flower, Trine, Ori to that of The Order but desaturated or muted colors does not make it look photoreal. Real life is not muted, it can look very colorful and saturated and also muted depending on weather condition or what you're looking at. This thread is not a screenshot comparison thread so i will not post screenshots but i have spent probably close to 10hrs in The Witcher 3 and have yet to see a single texture or material that looks better than anything in The Order. Although i am playing it at 1080p 30fps and detail set on high.
 

thelastword

Banned
Looking at nxgamers video xbone version has bit of one second freezes that's not in other versions.
Looks like it's in all versions, look at Blim's framerate videos of both PS4 and XB1 in the swamp area. There are slight freezes and stutters when Geralt is just walking, I suspect it's a loading issue.

Loading in this game for textures, geometry and of course when you die is awful on consoles. It's clear consoles were behind pc in the development cycle. This is something they need to work on or even patch, it affects consoles really bad and even causes framerate dips as well, though slight. I especially dislike seeing the slow loading of textures on consoles.....it looks very bad.

This engine, though remarkable in some areas needs some work in others, especially on consoles. There's no way consoles should have 5x times worse load times than PC after you die.

I watched it, he says "ruts and ridges" I.e. Terrain.
That's what he said "sometimes the accent gets me". There is definitely tessellation in the game and it's been proven by both NX and other sources. Some people just want to find something wrong in NX's analysis though, so it's a witchhunt sometimes. Well....maybe all times.

I can see 16-bit shadow maps on consoles.. but how would he know that?
Nx seems to have a good eye for these things, I didn't catch it myself but I'm thinking he's experienced enough to know what he's talking about. Perhaps he will explain it a bit further in the next video.

Or they haven't made it to Velen. Gamersyde put up footage of Velen swamps running at sustained 20 fps on the PS4 version.
http://www.gamersyde.com/hqstream_the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_swamps_1_03-34759_en.html


Yeah here's the Xbox One footage of the same area.
http://www.gamersyde.com/hqstream_the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_xb1_fps_analysis_swamps_1_03-34750_en.html
Never saw that PS4 video before, yeah it runs similar to the cutscenes with double buffered vysnc. I'm sure this will be patched, but it's good that this video came about. I would have thought that CDPR had taken care of this universally, but there's still elements of it in the PS4 version in gameplay.

On the flipside, I don't see how anybody could use this as evidence that PS4 needs to lower it's resolution or lower effects, that's preposterous. How could anyone still believe that the XB1 will outperform the PS4 in framerate in a 900p to 1080p scenario. It will only happen if it's a bad port or needs further optimization on the PS4. This will be patched in 1.04 I'm thinking, but it's good that these videos are surfacing, because the dev may not know about it at this point. Yet again, evidence to show they needed more time on the consoles.

Having watched the videos though, I noticed something that I observed and commented on after watching the first set of framerate/comparison videos from DF. Only here; with weather in fray, I'm observing a bit more.

In the DF videos, I saw dust effects being more pronounced on the Sony platform by and large and I mentioned it, but in blims videos, the fog effects are more pronounced in the PS4 video just the same, yet another effect, how coincidental? It would seem the XB1 video hardly has fog, (if any at all), whilst the PS4 version is consumed with the effect in comparison (the same can be said about dust in the Df video). I also notice that particles effects have slightly less spread or volume in the XB1 version and are also less common in battle, didn't see it in the XB1 video at all that blim uploaded.

The biggest revelation this time around and kinda surprised me a bit (since many said they were similar) is that weather effects look way superior on the Sony platform, (of course I'm just comparing the two videos atm). The trees blew more violently in the PS4 version, wind effects looks much stronger, there was lightning effects at every turn in the PS4 video (quite visible) coupled with heavy fog and thunder followed at every turn. Weather just looks more potent on the PS4 version and also effects in general. I challenge anybody to watch the two videos(blims videos) back to back and say that they don't notice anything at all. Effects are definitely dialed back on the Microsoft platform.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
It would have been awesome if CDPR had provided the PC version free for those who had bought the console version.

So far Valve with Portal 2 is the only instance of this happening and only if you got the game on PS3.

Nevertheless, Witcher 3 will go on sale and be dirt cheap before too much longer. I'd expect $10 on GOG Black Friday.
 
So Neogaf, what version do I get? I have a Nvidia EVGA 2gig 960 SC in my PC
and a PS4. I'm leaning towards the PC version but honestly, the PS4 version looks really damn close to the settings I'd probably have to play at on the 960 anyways. Did the recent patch help the PC version pull farther ahead then the consoles? Thanks for the tips/recommendations.

When are where did you get your 960? The Witcher 3 has been free with it since at least early this month. If you bought it from one of the retailers taking part in the deal where you live, I'd check and see if you can get a code even if it's been a few months.

http://www.geforce.com/GetWitcher3
 

Kezen

Banned
thank god my Asus can run this afterall
the PS4 version looks horrible compared to PC
and im not even obsessed with graphics

Horrible is not the word I'd use, overall all three versions of the game are structurally similar with of course compromises that had to be made due to hardware limitations.

Even in its "downgraded" form the game is one of the most (if not THE most) taxing game on PC. Even top-end systems can suffer at 1080p.
 
Top Bottom