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http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-destiny-alpha-tech-analysis

It starts with image quality. Memory and performance constraints on Xbox 360 ultimately limited what the studio could accomplish last generation and left us with sometimes-rough image quality - especially on its pre-Halo Reach offerings. On PS4, the jump to full 1080p resolution makes a massive difference. With the focus on massive worlds filled with far-reaching detail, the move to a higher resolution dramatically improves the experience. Moving away from the experiments with temporal anti-aliasing has instead lead to what appears to be the now commonplace FXAA. While the image is sharp and relatively clean, certain subtle details appear slightly blurred as a result of this. Regardless, the end results are vastly superior to any previous Bungie release and allow its artwork to shine in a way it previously could not.

Mentioned in the Siggraph presentation, and visible in last year's demo were instances of tessellation (or, on reflection, perhaps parallax occlusion mapping). It's difficult to say based only on this alpha release but it certainly appears to be absent in our experience. The environment certainly doesn't appear to benefit from this effect (we couldn't find examples like the ones we saw during E3 last year) while obvious edges remain visible on character models as well. The amount of scene geometry present at any time is still relatively impressive, however, with massive, detailed scenes visible from any distance, but it's disappointing that some of the smaller details aren't fleshed out further. At least enemies and objects appear to be visible from great distances, deftly avoiding any noticeable pop-in throughout.

Performance wise, Destiny delivers a stable 30fps regardless of on-screen action, interrupted only by issues with frame-pacing. There are regularly instances in which a singular frame remains on-screen for an additional 16.7ms, creating a run of three identical frames, followed by a single frame. This interrupts the cadence of frames required to deliver a stable 30fps, creating a slight judder during motion. This issue manifests itself in our consistency graphs as a series of spikes and dips at random intervals - as opposed to the flat 33ms line you'd get from a locked 30fps title with appropriate frame-pacing.

The game appears to have no troubles maintaining a consistent level of performance both in normal missions and multiplayer but the ordering of certain frames gives the impression of subtle frame-rate hiccups leading to a less fluid experience. What's interesting is that there is a history of this issue with Bungie games even on Xbox 360. While Halo Reach was free of this defect, both Halo 3 and Halo ODST suffered from a very similar issue. It was something some of us noticed back in 2007 but weren't fully able to understand what was causing it at the time. Thankfully, unlike those titles, Destiny manages to completely avoid any additional drops in performance, producing an overall smoother experience - but we can't help but wonder if this is a simple bug that could be easily patched, as we saw with a very similar scenario in Need for Speed Rivals.

There's still a fair amount of time to wait until Destiny is ready for its debut on store shelves but, at this point, it's shaping up to be one of the most beautiful cross-gen games in development. There's no single technique here that pushes Bungie's technology beyond the competition, but everything is executed very well and creates a cohesive, beautiful end result. For the most part, the features detailed in the studio's presentation last year appear to be fully accounted for and the 2013 demo is generally representative of what we experienced in the alpha. The most significant flaw remains the frame-pacing issue, which we would very much like to see addressed in the final product as it would have a positive impact on the fluidity of the experience.

 

[Jb]

So that's why I thought the framerate wasn't a smooth 30. Interesting.

 

[DC R1D3R]

game looks a beauty, but fuck me, that 30 fps makes me limp.

 

[StuBurns]

I think it looks okay, but it certainly looks like a HD port of a PS360 game. It's the first time I've played a game and felt it was drastically hurt by being cross-gen. Everything feels so inert and barren. It's pretty disappointing presentation wise.

 

[Jburton]

It is definitely missing effects apparent in trailers and the E3 2013 gameplay demo.

Being Alpha I expect another layer of polish before release, possibly for the beta.

 

[Whipped Spartan]

It's gotta be 30! That's the Bungie feeling.

 

[Fried Food]

wait a minute, Destiny is a cross gen game?

 

[OccamsLightsaber]

Oh fuck me, I thought this game was current gen only.

 

[pieatorium]

Being Alpha I expect another layer of polish before release, possibly for the beta.

Game is out in 3 months, doesn't matter what they call it this is the beta.

 

[adamsapple]

wait a minute, Destiny is a cross gen game?

Yeah, its for PS3/360 as well.

 

[OldKingDoran]

30fps is disappointing, but expected

 

[amar212]

To me it looks simply amazing in every aspect.

 

[Jburton]

Game is out in 3 months, doesn't matter what they call it this is the beta.

No, it's an Alpha build ..... the beta is out next month and will have greater content and a newer build.

 

[Shredderi]

I think it looks okay, but it certainly looks like a HD port of a PS360 game. It's the first time I've played a game and felt it was drastically hurt by being cross-gen. Everything feels so inert and barren. It's pretty disappointing presentation wise.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[Persona7]

wait a minute, Destiny is a cross gen game?

Yes. 360,PS3,Xbox One and PS4.

 

[DC R1D3R]

30fps is disappointing, but expected

so i should expect to be disappointed?

 

[Thrakier]

One more. Framerate must be a real beast to program.

 

[Madness]

I think it looks okay, but it certainly looks like a HD port of a PS360 game. It's the first time I've played a game and felt it was drastically hurt by being cross-gen. Everything feels so inert and barren. It's pretty disappointing presentation wise.

Well it was something they've been wanting to do since 08, and probably started development in 2009 and definitely starting in 2010, so they probably had been working on it for last gen consoles for a few years. I mean the dev kits for ps4 and Xbox One probably only came to them in late 2012, or even early 2013 seeing as how no dev really knew Sony would use 8gb gddr5.

Plus this is an alpha. I imagine the actual game will look and play much better. Being a huge Bungie/Halo fan, I was always impressed with what they were able to do in the past, no reason not to think they won't have the traditional Bungie quality/polish on this.

I'm guessing their next game which will be pure next gen ground up, will be the REAL looker for Bungie.

 

[Whipped Spartan]

Does anyone think a meaningful base of customers is still buying on PS3 or X360?

Didn't Ubi say watchdogs only moved 20% on those systems? In which case it's implied that more people on each individual next Gen system bought more than both last Gen combined.

Hope Bungie didn't waste to much time there. Maybe it go farmed out.

 

[Backfoggen]

Game straight-up looks like something that should be able to run at 60 fps or at least a good unlocked frame rate.

 

[Dictator93]

Lack of AF again.... man is that so odd.

Also, lack of a per-object blur these days for a 30fps game seems kinda dumb.

 

[Basileus777]

No, it's an Alpha build ..... the beta is out next month and will have greater content and a newer build.

These are just market terms thrown on it. This is in no way an alpha build.

 

[darthbob]

No, it's an Alpha build ..... the beta is out next month and will have greater content and a newer build.

Development on Destiny started in 2009, so this is most certainly not an Alpha build, they're just using that as an easy to understand name for this release.

If anything, what we're playing would likely be an internal 'Delta'.

 

[Whipped Spartan]

These are just market terms thrown on it. This is in no way an alpha build.

I think it's funny this is a new trend in consoles to say alpha and beta on early online access or stress tests.

Even funnier that companies are selling there access to platforms as exclusive like Destiny and evovle.

 

[Thrakier]

Lack of AF again.... man is that so odd.

Also, lack of a per-object blur these days for a 30fps game seems kinda dumb.

No AF...again? WTH.

 

[NBtoaster]

It doesnt look like the art is being limited by last gen. The visuals look very consistent unlike their previous games. Shame about the FXAA though.

 

[BPoole]

Whoa, I thought Destiny was 60fps for some reason. All interest is gone now. Console FPS with a gamepad AND 30fps. Can't do it. Won't do it.

 

[RooMHM]

Bungie really are average. But this isn t a popular thinking. Sad truth...

 

[JB1981]

Think the exteriors look great, interiors not so much

I'm happy with the presentation considering the vast scale of the game. Please let's not compare the look of the game to more linear shooters.

 

[OldKingDoran]

so i should expect to be disappointed?

Well if you want 1080/60fps on next gen consoles, for the most part yes.

Its more disappointing when its a shooter as well

 

[Kuldar]

Lack of AF again.... man is that so odd.

Did you read the article?

Textures are generally of high resolution, with plenty of detail even under close examination but this is somewhat tempered by the spotty anisotropic filtering implementation. It seems to be applied in a selective fashion with some surfaces appearing relatively clean at oblique angles while others lose quite a bit of detail.

 

[DC R1D3R]

Whoa, I thought Destiny was 60fps for some reason. All interest is gone now. Console FPS with a gamepad AND 30fps. Can't do it. Won't do it.

it's as though they're laughing at us!

 

[Boss Mog]

I knew it didn't feel liket a smooth 30, it felt really bad at times, i hope they fix this.

 

[Jburton]

Whoa, I thought Destiny was 60fps for some reason. All interest is gone now. Console FPS with a gamepad AND 30fps. Can't do it. Won't do it.

Your loss, quality game based on the Alpha alone and in no way do the technical aspects diminish any enjoyment whatsoever.

 

[Applecot]

Isn't this an MMO foremost? I don't get why people were expecting 60fps.

 

[Dictator93]

Did you read the article?

Yeah I read it, i also looked at the screenshots where the lack of AF on many surfaces is very obvious.

AF is generally look like 1x or 4x.

 

[Blackthorn]

Whoa, I thought Destiny was 60fps for some reason. All interest is gone now. Console FPS with a gamepad AND 30fps. Can't do it. Won't do it.

Guess who missed out on the entire Halo series then.

They scraped by a niche following despite their unforgivable framerate.

 

[TrebuchetGames]

Development on Destiny started in 2009, so this is most certainly not an Alpha build, they're just using that as an easy to understand name for this release.

If anything, what we're playing would likely be an internal 'Delta'.

Yeah exactly. The game is out in September, so with a game of this scale it's not an Alpha. They are in the final stretch now just fixing bugs. The "Beta" they are doing will have more things switched on I would expect and more people in the game.

It's good that they are testing the servers in advance though...no one wants those day 1 issues. If i didn't want the white PS4 so much I probably would be undecided if I was going to get it or not, but what I've played so far has been enjoyable.

The frame rate seemed fine to me, though i only saw about 4 people in the surrounding areas and some NPC's so not exactly lots happening.

 

[JB1981]

This is probably the best looking MMO ever actually

 

[cheezcake]

Can FXAA please go extinct already. SMAA is only marginally more intensive and gives much better results.

 

[Whipped Spartan]

Bungie really are average. But this isn t a popular thinking. Sad truth...

Their presentation , story telling and gameplay is what made Bungie. Not graphics.

What's strange is they decided to make a MMO.

 

[BPoole]

Guess who missed out on the entire Halo series then.

They scraped by a niche following despite their unforgivable framerate.

A cross gen game that looks as graphically poor as Destiny does and has those trademark Bungie animations should be running in 60fps on PS4/XB1. This game is supposed to last 10 years supposedly, and right off the get go Bungie is restricting the fluidity of gameplay by sticking with 30fps

 

[StealthGoblin]

I'm not concerned about how it looks as I've never found a Bungie game to be graphically wow inducing. My biggest concern is that the game looks as boring as hell.

Still, what they've achieved graphically will be impressive if all of the versions look good and run smoothly.

 

[Jomjom]

Maybe Bungie can do what Square is doing with FFXIV and drop support for the last generation version after a while so that the current gen version can have everything updated like graphics, larger world, etc. etc. this game is essentially an MMO so it will have to evolve and grow as time goes by and that means tossing aside its restraints at some point.

I really applaud Square for being bold enough to say at a certain date we are doing away with the PS3 version completely because its holding back the game and ruining the experience. You get a free upgrade to current gen, but if you refuse that's on you.

Although they arent getting a subscription fee, so I dunno how much work they would be willing to do.

 

[Man]

It's good. It's certainly not offensive like Halo 3 was on launch (sub-hd, horrible aliasing, constant framerate hickups due to recording).

It's not a looker like Killzone or inFamous but it's a Good platform for lots of co-op sci-fi shooter action. It handles a lot of enemies and large environments. The God-tier interface and other details ties it up nicely.

 

[darkwing]

why not use SMAA

 

[The Xtortionist]

Framerate needs to be an unwavering 30fps with good motion blur in the final game. Fix this shit Bungie.

 

[Hip Hop]

Whoa, I thought Destiny was 60fps for some reason. All interest is gone now. Console FPS with a gamepad AND 30fps. Can't do it. Won't do it.

How did you manage to play games last gen?

this is getting ridiculous.

 

[ZehDon]

I think Destiny is really lacking visually, frankly. Really just feels like a higher resolution last-gen game - which, I suspect it is, ultimately. The realtime lighting and self-shadowing are nice, but everything else is serviceable at best. Glad to hear the FPS hiccups are just pacing problems, hopefully they can clear that up.

 

[Canis lupus]

This game looks so good I hardly felt like I was playing a cross gen game. I am constantly taking screenshots with the Share button lol.

I'm not concerned about how it looks as I've never found a Bungie game to be graphically wow inducing. My biggest concern is that the game looks as boring as hell.

Still, what they've achieved graphically will be impressive if all of the versions look good and run smoothly.

Are you playing the alpha?