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Digital Foundry vs GTAV on XONE - performance analysis

mocoworm

Member
Click link for FULL article

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-grand-theft-auto-5-performance-analysis

Living up to its word, Rockstar has indeed delivered a native 1080p release, and it adheres pretty closely to its target 30fps - a far cry from stuttering last-gen versions. The game's many enhancements are varied and worthwhile - however, our first impressions suggest an expertly crafted remaster with some lovely features, as opposed to a top to bottom revamp designed to exploit the capabilities of the new consoles.

. The Xbox One version's consistent update is a radical departure from the lacklustre performance of its last-gen siblings - gameplay is mostly locked at 30fps with just minor fluctuations beneath its target. Curiously, despite a consistent update, judder can manifest a little during gameplay - a curious effect. We'll need to look into this a little more, but we can rule out frame-pacing as an issue,

As it transpires, 1080p resolution is something of a doubled-edged sword. On the plus side, it's clear that the arrival of the new wave of consoles has really spoiled us. Returning to the PS3 game, the native 720p pixel-count looks decidedly sub-par in the modern era - a state of affairs not helped by the heavy-handed post-process anti-aliasing, which blurs jaggies well enough, but adds a heavy shimmer to gameplay in motion. A similar anti-aliasing technique is in play on Xbox One, but the good news is that the far higher pixel count makes for a much cleaner presentation. That said, the stark resolution increase highlights the lower poly counts though, and while the lighting model remains frequently stunning, it's not really on par with the materials-based lighting seen in next-gen engines.

Overall, our first impressions of this spruced-up GTA 5 are positive. Technologically, the game demonstrates its last-gen roots quite clearly, but the quality of the original work still stands up overall. It's also great to see that Rockstar has gone the extra mile with this version, revisiting the game and improving the base assets considerably while adding a compelling new gameplay option. Quite where the PlayStation 4 version fits into the equation remains unknown at this precise moment. While we were able to acquire the Xbox One version ahead of time, we'll be buying the PS4 version on release day along with everyone else. We'll report back with more analysis and some initial comparisons as soon as we can.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
The meat:

The Xbox One version's consistent update is a radical departure from the lacklustre performance of its last-gen siblings - gameplay is mostly locked at 30fps with just minor fluctuations beneath its target. Curiously, despite a consistent update, judder can manifest a little during gameplay - a curious effect. We'll need to look into this a little more, but we can rule out frame-pacing as an issue, as the straight-line frame-time graphs in the video below demonstrate.
As it transpires, 1080p resolution is something of a doubled-edged sword. On the plus side, it's clear that the arrival of the new wave of consoles has really spoiled us. ... A similar anti-aliasing technique [to the PS3 version] is in play on Xbox One, but the good news is that the far higher pixel count makes for a much cleaner presentation. That said, the stark resolution increase highlights the lower poly counts though, and while the lighting model remains frequently stunning, it's not really on par with the materials-based lighting seen in next-gen engines.
 
Doesn't really say much

but 1080 and a solid 30fps is pretty good.

Interested if there are any differences between the two, traffic density, crushed blacks, etc. I am kinda jelly of the ds4 stuff.
 
If there is an actual game-changer to this remaster, it comes from the inclusion of the first-person perspective mode. It's a little disorientating at first, and takes some getting used to - but it's here that elements of the remastering process come to fore. Each vehicle is gifted with a completely redrawn dashboard for those all-important driving sections, and it's also here that the quality of the higher resolution textures becomes crucial to the experience. It's difficult to believe that the mode would have worked well at all with last-gen, lower resolution art in place - viewing the assets up close and personal in first-person mode practically demands the upgrade Rockstar has implemented here. The only minus point is that it also serves to emphasis that texture filtering isn't great (a common complaint with many PS4 and Xbox One titles), with ground art becoming very fuzzy not too far in front of the player.

First person mode is definitely intriguing though - a whole new spin on the game, and a substantially harder challenge too in that you're forced to be much more aware of your surroundings - something that the default third person camera helps with immensely. Of course, you can switch between the two at will, though we reckon that the GTA hardcore will be going for a complete playthrough in the new mode.

Sounds neat. Almost enough to justify buying it again at full price.

PS4 analysis and comparisons coming soon,

Overall, our first impressions of this spruced-up GTA 5 are positive. Technologically, the game demonstrates its last-gen roots quite clearly, but the quality of the original work still stands up overall. It's also great to see that Rockstar has gone the extra mile with this version, revisiting the game and improving the base assets considerably while adding a compelling new gameplay option. Quite where the PlayStation 4 version fits into the equation remains unknown at this precise moment. While we were able to acquire the Xbox One version ahead of time, we'll be buying the PS4 version on release day along with everyone else. We'll report back with more analysis and some initial comparisons as soon as we can.
 

danowat

Banned
Shimmer is really distracting, other than that, it looks stunning on the Xbox one.

First person is a game changer, although the car handling doesn't really lend itself to FP that well, especially with increased traffic
 
Doesn't really say much

but 1080 and a solid 30fps is pretty good.

Interested if there are any differences between the two, traffic density, crushed blacks, etc. I am kinda jelly of the ds4 stuff.

Based on the Digital Foundry Analysis video, there doesn't appear to be any black crush at all. Which is good, seems to be much more of a rarity now on Xbox One.
 
I'm a little confused. If DF has to buy the PS4 version on release day for testing, how did they get a XB1 copy as it would appear that Sony has a co-marketing deal in place for the game? Maybe I'm overlooking something.
 

omonimo

Banned
I'm a little confused. If DF has to buy the PS4 version on release day for testing, how did they get a XB1 copy as it would appear that Sony has a co-marketing deal in place for the game? Maybe I'm overlooking something.
DF is cheek to cheek with MS.
 
Interesting how they got XB1 and not PS4 early, doesn't Sony have marketing rights?

I'm a little confused. If DF has to buy the PS4 version on release day for testing, how did they get a XB1 copy as it would appear that Sony has a co-marketing deal in place for the game? Maybe I'm overlooking something.

Maybe they specifically asked for the X1 version to see what the performance was like?
 

omonimo

Banned
Sorry, I mean the CPU bottleneck this being another sandbox game.
The reason why Unity it's a disaster it's more because for the rushed launch. Cpu on xone can't handle 5 fps of advantages with just 10% of more speed. It's science fiction think that.
 

hagege_s

Banned
I doubt there will be much in the way of problems with the PS4 build, it doesn't look to be CPU-bound on the Xbox One.

Yeah but according to a lot of Gaffer (and journalists) the game has framerate drops on PS4. And when you're watching DF's analysis (witch is on Xbox One), it's 30 fps rock solid.

So I'm worried.
 

jiggles

Banned
From the hour and a half I played on PS4 last night, it sounds like the XB1 version runs better. The frame rate dips were a lot more frequent than I was expecting.
 
I think the problem starts with the assumption that a co-marketing deal automatically means thats the only copy a reviewer can get.

Yeah, I vaguely remember someone saying they had the choice between the X1 and PS4 version of FC4 for review purposes and Sony have the marketing rights on that game...
 

fedexpeon

Banned
Switch seamlessly between camera perspectives on the fly (including from first person to third person), switch radio stations, weapons and camera angles, and even quick-toss a grenade in the middle of a firefight – all with a swipe or a tap on the Touch Pad.

Game changer. Literally.

More FPS needs to use the swipe inputs for weapon swap, and special ability. But dang, quick-toss grenade input? Brilliant. I would love to see that in a COD game for those close quarter situations.
 

bombshell

Member
I think the problem starts with the assumption that a co-marketing deal automatically means thats the only copy a reviewer can get.

On PS4 it has 26 reviews submitted to Metacritic, on Xbone it has 1 review.

They must have asked specifically for the Xbone version, but I don't know why.
 

omonimo

Banned
CPU restrictions for CPU-heavy open world games.
It's happened a single time. It's out of my mind to see people believe it's became the regular expectation in the free roam. What happened in Unity is not the rule, there are tons of factors more complicate than the simple cpu bottleneck matter. 10% is almost nothing in real world for the cpu tasks. Don't look Unity how something of 'regular'.
 
Yeah but according to a lot of Gaffer (and journalists) the game has framerate drops on PS4. And when you're watching DF's analysis (witch is on Xbox One), it's 30 fps rock solid.

So I'm worried.

Could they have been playing a pre-patch version? If it does have frame rate drops on PS4, that would be very odd.
 
On PS4 it has 26 reviews submitted to Metacritic, on Xbone it has 1 review.

They must have asked specifically for the Xbone version, but I don't know why.

The X1 version would be the one to most likely have issues/compromises compared to the PS4 version?

Then again, seems the PS4 version might have some frame-rate issues...
 

Seanspeed

Banned
On PS4 it has 26 reviews submitted to Metacritic, on Xbone it has 1 review.

They must have asked specifically for the Xbone version, but I don't know why.
That's just one possibility. Maybe they couldn't get a review copy and after asking around, were able to secure an XB1 copy from some other source?
 

Tycho_b

Member
Maybe they specifically asked for the X1 version to see what the performance was like?


Hard to believe they need to buy games they are testing.

Looks like someone wants to prove X1 is an option for multiconsole holders who want to rush to stores and buy the game today.
 

Indeed. Wild accusations thrown around without even a shred of evidence to back them up. It really is quite annoying. Is your opinion the same with the writer's? You win. Does the writer have a different opinion? Accuse them of bias, you win. Sigh.

Anyway, it's cool that Rockstar managed a 1080p resolution on both consoles and managed to update the visuals too, but I think that given the last-gen roots the game they should have maybe strived to achieve a 60 fps framerate. The game looks undeniably good but 60 fps doesn't quite seem outside the realm of possibility.
 

Putty

Member
Too much speculating going on here. Maybe just wait for the full analysis. People have different perceptions of framerate hiccups so you'll obviously get a varying array of comments.
 

omonimo

Banned
Yeah but according to a lot of Gaffer (and journalists) the game has framerate drops on PS4. And when you're watching DF's analysis (witch is on Xbox One), it's 30 fps rock solid.

So I'm worried.
A lot of gaffer said Devil Within was smoother on xone.
 
Hard to believe they need to buy games they are testing.

Looks like someone wants to prove X1 is an option for multiconsole holders who want to rush to stores and buy the game today.

Pretty sure DF have mentioned a few times before having to buy other versions themselves...
 
I'm worried that this will have more framedrops on PS4 for the same reason AC: Unity had them.

I doubt that will be case here.
Considering the X1 version is pretty solid in terms of performance and 1080p, there shouldn't be much difference between both versions, not much left to improve since the PS4 version is also aiming for 30fps and assets should be identical across both platforms.
 

Putty

Member
Yeah but according to a lot of Gaffer (and journalists) the game has framerate drops on PS4. And when you're watching DF's analysis (witch is on Xbox One), it's 30 fps rock solid.

So I'm worried.

From the acticle.

"gameplay is mostly locked at 30fps with just minor fluctuations beneath its target. Curiously, despite a consistent update, judder can manifest a little during gameplay - a curious effect."
 

danowat

Banned
Did you read the thing xb1 has drops too.

Certainly not noticeable for me, felt very, very smooth, what I played of it, not a hint of stutter or shudder.

Wonder if using an external USB3.0 HDD helps with content transfer of streamed content?
 

STEaMkb

Member
The Digital Foundry analysis says the Xbox One version is mostly locked at 30fps but suffers minor fluctuations; to say nothing of a separate stuttering issue, which they have yet to determine the cause.

How many reviewers mention the PS4 version suffers the same? None that I have read.
 

slash3584

Member
From the acticle.

"gameplay is mostly locked at 30fps with just minor fluctuations beneath its target. Curiously, despite a consistent update, judder can manifest a little during gameplay - a curious effect."

Yeah IIRC this happened too in the Destiny beta (or was it the alpha?)

The judder made it look like it was dropping frames.
 
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