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Performance Analysis: Assassin's Creed Unity (Digital Foundry)

RayMaker

Banned
Poor optimization on the ps4 port. 40% more powerful yet, no improvements in graphics, lower the stupid NPC count and get this running 1080p/30fps. I find mind boggling the XB1 version runs better, must be extra cash involved.

I wonder how the meeting went down

Phil: So we are getting screwed on the graphics front, its creating a bad image for the X1 and will stop us from world domination. $25 million aught to do it?

Yves:Ahem $25 mill, I wipe my french ass with $25mill I want a life size diamond statue of Aisha Tyler, nothing else

Phil: I will have to pull a few strings, but yes I can sought that out, but if the PS4 version is not inferior MS will destroy you faster then you can say Sacre bleu.
 
People are buying way too much into GPGPU. Games are harder to run things in parallel. AI and Physics for example is something that I have a hard time seeing running in parallel. AI tasks running in parallel would be hard to do too due to AI being a lot of branching code. Threading on the CPU can be difficult, on GPU its even harder because you have to break things down into smaller chunks and find ways to run as much as you can in parallel.

The math and physics dont compute though. There's simply no way such a tiny CPU upclock could result in such a huge frames differential. It may be a SMALL contributing factor, but there's no way the CPU is the sole or even primary culprit.

Edit: As far as GPGPU goes I agree they'd have a challenge offloading AI but it could be done. And everything else would be a natural offload, especially physics.
 

jackdoe

Member
I still have the game in shrinkwrap and while I'm tempted to open the game and test out how much of a clusterfuck it is on the PS4, I won't. I'll give Ubi until next Tuesday to release a patch that improves performance and improves resolution. If they can't, I'm going to return the game when I pick up GTA V and Dragon Age Inquisition at Best Buy.
 

Kinyou

Member
Poor optimization on the ps4 port. 40% more powerful yet, no improvements in graphics, lower the stupid NPC count and get this running 1080p/30fps. I find mind boggling the XB1 version runs better, must be extra cash involved.
So not only money paid for parity, but actually money paid to make the PS4 version run worse?

Yeah, OK, that doesn't sound like a tinfoil hat conspiracy at all
 
That's basically where I'm at with Ubisoft right now. They have been so disgusting for so long now that I don't even want anything to do with them. I've purchased every AC game from them in the past, so I was part of the problem leading to this shit. I encouraged them by accepting their past garbage and now I'm swallowing the crap that they think we're OK with.

No friggin' more. Yes, we're just talking about videogames and it's not like saving the environment, but I can save my money for more important things. Like videogames that aren't released in half finished states with microtransactions pouring out the ass and treasure chests that won't open unless you utilize the goddamn companion app.

Like companies that don't treat us like fucking morons pretending 30fps feels more cinematic. Like companies who don't insult entire fucking groups of gamers because of their pathetic laziness. Like companies which don't fucking spout PR vomit to appease their fucking marketing partners. Like companies which don't think gamers are so fucking pathetic that they'll believe any spewing ass diarrhea coming our way so we can play their shitty, buggy, barely functional repetitious grindwheel open world titles. Like companies that don't utilize grotesque DRM until the outcry forces them to change only to replace it with more DRM trash meant to squeeze more bucks out of consumers. Like companies who don't think they can fucking buy the media's silence with their threats or try to force unseemly day 1 embargoes so that consumers don't know what the hell they're getting. Where they now bathe in endless microtransaction nickle-and-diming in every fucking game they make.

I AM DONE WITH UBISOFT.

No, enough is ENOUGH Ubisoft. You're a piece of shit publisher with no value in the community. You have taken advantage of consumers you know enjoy AAA values by misleading them, forcing them to not have complete pictures of products they buy, trying to buy off silence or threaten people into complacency. You fucks don't get another dime from me EVER AGAIN.
iBNGzY17pQLZE.jpg


Requiescat in pace, Ubisoft.
 

viveks86

Member

Holy shit. Is this the angriest post you have ever made? o_O

I have to say that I share the same sentiment. Ubi is becoming the new EA. They aren't even trying to redeem themselves. I rarely ever consider boycotting games from a publisher, but I'm practically there now. Ugh!
 
I wonder how the meeting went down

Phil: So we are getting screwed on the graphics front, its creating a bad image for the X1 and will stop us from world domination. $25 million aught to do it?

Yves:Ahem $25 mill, I wipe my french ass with $25mill I want a life size diamond statue of Aisha Tyler, nothing else

Phil: I will have to pull a few strings, but yes I can sought that out, but if the PS4 version is not inferior MS will destroy you faster then you can say Sacre bleu.

LOL
 
I still have the game in shrinkwrap and while I'm tempted to open the game and test out how much of a clusterfuck it is on the PS4, I won't. I'll give Ubi until next Tuesday to release a patch that improves performance and improves resolution. If they can't, I'm going to return the game when I pick up GTA V and Dragon Age Inquisition at Best Buy.

I don't expect them to fix anything other then bugs. Ubisoft might just chalk it up as a lost cause and fix it in their next AC game.
 
Games are harder to run things in parallel. AI and Physics for example is something that I have a hard time seeing running in parallel..

The opposite.
Games are highly amenable to being run in parallel - especially an open world with a lot of flocking behaviour, physics, or AI agents of one kind or another. It is definitely hard, and a field where the results gulf between experts and beginners yawns wide.
It is also something new for a lot of game developers, especially those who did not get much experience with PS3 SPEs.
 
I wonder how the meeting went down

Phil: So we are getting screwed on the graphics front, its creating a bad image for the X1 and will stop us from world domination. $25 million aught to do it?

Yves:Ahem $25 mill, I wipe my french ass with $25mill I want a life size diamond statue of Aisha Tyler, nothing else

Phil: I will have to pull a few strings, but yes I can sought that out, but if the PS4 version is not inferior MS will destroy you faster then you can say Sacre bleu.

Mon Dieu!
 
So not only money paid for parity, but actually money paid to make the PS4 version run worse?

Yeah, OK, that doesn't sound like a tinfoil hat conspiracy at all

I can't think of any other reason why the ps4 is running worse then the XB1.most reviews were also for the XB1 version, so that tells me ubi knew it was the better version.
 
The review embargo on a game that is OBVIOUSLY broken. They didn't ship the game and then realized, "Oh, wait. This doesn't seem to be working at all!" The DRM that Ubisoft uses. Microtransactions in a $60 game (and don't say it's been there since AC3, because I've been complaining about it since AC3. I know how long they've been adding this crap.). Telling us that "30FPS" gives the game a "cinematic feel" especially now that we realize the game doesn't even hit 30 half the time.

I could probably write an essay on things that Ubisoft has done wrong. It's not excusable at this point. If you need more, read the post by Amirox. Follow the links.

More on topic, they are greedy because they knew this game was trash. Unless they just never played their own product. Ubisoft has just went downhill in a major way within the last few years. Not trying to persuade you to hate Ubi or anything, just saying that I, personally, won't be buying another game by them until they begin respecting consumers. Plenty of other games coming out.

Probably the fact they push hard for pre-orders with discounts and exclusive items, many of which can't be cancelled upon the game's reviews if they are digital or shipped via online retailer.

And they hype up a desirable release opportunity to play but again they have embargoed away any chance you will have of knowing the game's general quality before mid day on release, for many that is 12 hours after they have the game in hand. If you open it, physical or digital, you are generally screwed come the reviews 12 hours later.

If you decide to wait on reviews, you will pay more and get less in game options because you didn't pre-order when they had discount and item incentives.

Uh...$99 macrotranactions inside a $60 game? Using F2P sales techniques inside a game with a retail price is absolute bullshit and the height of anti-consumer.

Superfluous and completely annoying, non-functional DRM platform that has the bonus of not working at ALL to deter pirates while inconveniencing the average person. Pirated copies of their games actually do work better simply because the DRM has been removed.

Giving public lip service to the issue by having company reps admit they know DRM doesn't work but then continuing to use it anyway.

I'm sure there's more that bother others but those are the main ones that bother me.

So how does microtransactions work in ACU? You spend $60 and you will have to pay more as you play to get what should have been there for yours to unlock and use in the base game, in the first place?
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I wonder how the meeting went down

Phil: So we are getting screwed on the graphics front, its creating a bad image for the X1 and will stop us from world domination. $25 million aught to do it?

Yves: Hoh-hoh je suis le fromage hoh hoh for $25 mill, I wipe my french ass with $25mill I want a life size diamond statue of Aisha Tyler, nothing else

Phil: I will have to pull a few strings, but yes I can sought that out, but if the PS4 version is not inferior MS will destroy you faster then you can say Sacre bleu.

Yves: Oui oui

Phil: So yes?

Yves: no I have to take a piss you stupid american

Phil: huh

Yves: Let me tell you of zee secret of ubisoft. all our games are programmed using zhe Quiz Whiz

I want a crepe hoh hoh

fixed
 
I can't think of any other reason why the ps4 is running worse then the XB1.most reviews were the XB1 version, so that tells me ubi knew it was the better version.

Can't wait for PC benchmarks for this game where weak GPUs outperform better ones. If that doesn't happen, I'm willing to side with the conspiracy theorists.
 

shootfast

Member
I can't think of any other reason why the ps4 is running worse then the XB1.most reviews were the XB1 version, so that tells me ubi knew it was the better version.

Could have something with the new ps4 firmware breaking the game, I remember on the last weeks bombcast a publisher resent a bunch of review copies as XB1 because the PS4 firmware update broke the game.
 

Kinyou

Member
I can't think of any other reason why the ps4 is running worse then the XB1.most reviews were the XB1 version, so that tells me ubi knew it was the better version.
That probably has more to do with the marketing deal than ubisoft knowing which version runs better. The PS4 version also runs better during the cutscenes than the xb1 version. How comes that? Did MS only pay for gameplay FPS?
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Could have something with the new ps4 firmware breaking the game, I remember on the last weeks bombcast a publisher resent a bunch of review copies as XB1 because the PS4 firmware update broke the game.
It was Dragon Age that has the issues and apparently the 2.02 update fixed it.
 
Holy shit. Is this the angriest post you have ever made? o_O

I have to say that I share the same sentiment. Ubi is becoming the new EA. They aren't even trying to redeem themselves. I rarely ever consider boycotting games from a publisher, but I'm practically there now. Ugh!

Yep. Although Ive basically been only buying their games for $15 or less for years, with all of their latest bullshit I've switched to a full-on soft boycott in which I'll only buy their games used. I picked up AC4 for $9 used and ironically its the best game in the series. But with how Unity is shaking out I'll be getting it in some Best Buy pre-owned sale next year at this time for $12 and feeling ok with that price.

At this point, EA is positively pro-consumer compared to Ubi. Which just sounds...weird...to say. But its true. Origin is functional, even borderline good. They haven't gone nuts with microtransactions (yet). Hell, even Access is a decent to good value depending on your taste in games and what you already own (though I don't like the trend of everyone offering a sub service, there's no doubt the value is there for casual gamers who don't mind playing last years sports titles).
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
That probably has more to do with the marketing deal than ubisoft knowing which version runs better. The PS4 vesion also runs better during the cutscenes than the xb1 version. How comes that? Did MS only pay for gameplay FPS?

Yves asked for a night with Phil's wife, Ms. Philomena Spencer. But Phil could not do it. So he only got gameplay FPS.
 

Reg

Banned
How does having 10000 NPCs actually improve gameplay? Would having 5000 NPCs instead make any difference?

Not sure if it really improves gameplay all that much. Perhaps it helps with the immersion. But dropping the character count by 30-40%
(numbers out my ass)
would still leave a memorable amount of characters on screen.
 

charsace

Member
I don't think I was clear. I meant that you can't run AI and Physics in parallel. You either run the AI then the physics or the physics and then the ai. The nature of the game loop makes it hard to run things in parallel and just impossible to run game systems.

I know physics benefits from running in parallel on the gpu. Almost anything that doesn't have a lot of branching and/or doesn't have to access a harddrive will benefit from running on a gpu in parallel.
 

Cole Slaw

Banned
Am I reading this correctly—firmware 2.0 actually broke ps4 games?

...aren't firmware updates supposed to make shit run better???

Wtffff is Sony doing over there in San Diego or wherever it is that they're supposed to be making a FreeBSD distro
 
That probably has more to do with the marketing deal than ubisoft knowing which version runs better. The PS4 version also runs better during the cutscenes than the xb1 version. How comes that? Did MS only pay for gameplay FPS?

To me it's obvious ubisoft made sure to focus on the XB1 version cause of the marketing deal. Just look at the specs, both systems are similar, except the ps4 has huge advantages in gpu power and memory speed, while the x1 might have a 10% advantage in cpu speed, yet a huge advantage is showing up in the XB1 version, does that make sense, since this never actually happened before on these consoles.
 

Jomjom

Banned
I wonder if this will become a trend as more games become current gen only. It would be really bad news for Sony if the PS4 was more expensive and was performing worse than the Xbone.
 
I'm never one of those "moneyhat" type of guys at all. But when I see that the XBOX version actually runs better than the PS4 version, it really just makes me think of what really happened here? Almost every multiplat runs a little better on PS4 doesn't it? The PS4 is the better hardware correct? So what exactly happened here? This is an honest question btw, this isn't sarcasm.
 
I'm never one of those "moneyhat" type of guys at all. But when I see that the XBOX version actually runs better than the PS4 version, it really just makes me think of what really happened here? Almost every multiplat runs a little better on PS4 doesn't it? The PS4 is the better hardware correct? So what exactly happened here?

exactly how I feel.
 
I don't think I was clear. I meant that you can't run AI and Physics in parallel. You either run the AI then the physics or the physics and then the ai. The nature of the game loop makes it hard to run things in parallel and just impossible to run game systems.

The excuse ubisoft is feeding is that there are too many NPCs. 1000s are quoted, and cpu is quoted as a limiting factor.

With 100s or 1000s of NPCs you have enough granularity to run more parallel computations than either PCs or Consoles have cpu cores PLUS GPU compute units to keep busy.

If the load is such that the frame rate still suffers you can selectively disable cloth physics or simplify AI behaviour, because the player is just not going to notice in a large crowd that NPC #358 has a coat that is not correctly moving in the wind. If it still suffers you can reduce the crowd density and make it less of a priority than the frame rate.

Sorry, it is stupidity drawing conclusions about cpus, gpus, or programming based on a game that has decided it is more important to render in a certain way than it is to keep a certain frame rate.

All this is about priorities and nothing more. Ubisoft team had priorities that most people don't agree with.
 
I wonder if this will become a trend as more games become current gen only. It would be really bad news for Sony if the PS4 was more expensive and was performing worse than the Xbone.

If publishers want to sabotage their own games and destroy their reputations, they can go right ahead.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
To me it's obvious ubisoft made sure to focus on the XB1 version cause of the marketing deal. Just look at the specs, both systems are similar, except the ps4 has huge advantages in gpu power and memory speed, while the x1 might have a 10% advantage in cpu speed, yet a huge advantage is showing up in the XB1 version, does that make sense, since this never actually happened before on these consoles.
This is what I think as well. No shady backroom deals or anything like that, just Ubi making a political decision based on the marketing deal and hoping the PS4 could just power through the game when ported over.
 

jayu26

Member
I wonder if this will become a trend as more games become current gen only. It would be really bad news for Sony if the PS4 was more expensive and was performing worse than the Xbone.

One fucked up game (technically) = trend...that's great logic there.
 

Skilletor

Member
I'm never one of those "moneyhat" type of guys at all. But when I see that the XBOX version actually runs better than the PS4 version, it really just makes me think of what really happened here? Almost every multiplat runs a little better on PS4 doesn't it? The PS4 is the better hardware correct? So what exactly happened here? This is an honest question btw, this isn't sarcasm.

It happens. MGS2 on OG Xbox was terrible compared to the ps2 version even on better hardware.
 

sdornan

Member
This is what I think as well. No shady backroom deals or anything like that, just Ubi making a political decision based on the marketing deal and hoping the PS4 could just power through the game when ported over.

I think it's kind of a moot point anyway, seeing as it performs terribly on both consoles.
 

truth411

Member
People are buying way too much into GPGPU. Games are harder to run things in parallel. AI and Physics for example is something that I have a hard time seeing running in parallel. AI tasks running in parallel would be hard to do too due to AI being a lot of branching code. Threading on the CPU can be difficult, on GPU its even harder because you have to break things down into smaller chunks and find ways to run as much as you can in parallel.

Actually it's my understanding that physics would be right up GPGPUs alley.
 

Jomjom

Banned
Why would it become a trend?

Well for one, ME has many more marketing partnerships in the pipelines. Also it seems like maybe this performance advantage might come from the more powerful CPU. If more devs opt to put more NPCs on screen for no reason like ACU...
 

vpance

Member
I'm never one of those "moneyhat" type of guys at all. But when I see that the XBOX version actually runs better than the PS4 version, it really just makes me think of what really happened here? Almost every multiplat runs a little better on PS4 doesn't it? The PS4 is the better hardware correct? So what exactly happened here? This is an honest question btw, this isn't sarcasm.

According to a poster earlier in the thread the beta for Xbone came out in the summer. PS4's came out last week. Ubisoft practically copied the Xbone version, set the .ini file target = PS4 and shipped it.
 

Reg

Banned
Well for one, ME has many more marketing partnerships in the pipelines. Also it seems like maybe this performance advantage might come from the more powerful CPU. If more devs opt to put more NPCs on screen for no reason like ACU...

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Your ps4 will remain the superior console.
 

truth411

Member
I wonder how the meeting went down

Phil: So we are getting screwed on the graphics front, its creating a bad image for the X1 and will stop us from world domination. $25 million aught to do it?

Yves:Ahem $25 mill, I wipe my french ass with $25mill I want a life size diamond statue of Aisha Tyler, nothing else

Phil: I will have to pull a few strings, but yes I can sought that out, but if the PS4 version is not inferior MS will destroy you faster then you can say Sacre bleu.

LOL!
 
I think it's kind of a moot point anyway, seeing as it performs terribly on both consoles.

I've said it before but I think this is what may prove that there isn't some gross backroom deal going on. If the game ran particularly well on Xbox One then it would make sense. As it is it just looks like a badly made game.
 
I wonder if this will become a trend as more games become current gen only. It would be really bad news for Sony if the PS4 was more expensive and was performing worse than the Xbone.

Keep hoping and praying, bruh!

1% of multiplats running better on X1 = "Trend" now?
 
I fucking got it!

Sony's anti-DRM message was in complete contrast to Ubisoft's plan and practices and so a partnership with MS was forged. It makes so much sense.
 

RayMaker

Banned
I wonder if this will become a trend as more games become current gen only. It would be really bad news for Sony if the PS4 was more expensive and was performing worse than the Xbone.

Though based on a current gen engine it will be interesting to see how the current gen GTA5 performs with ts larger crowds and all that. It is an CPU intensive game, DF gave the nod to the PS3 version for performance.but maybe sony will pay R* not to use all the X1's CPU tehe.
 
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