Digital Foundry: Destiny Beta XB1 analysis and PS4 comparison

It looks like every port should turn out great, that's awesome news and damn impressive for Bungie's first multi-platform release. I'm actually equally impressed by the game on a technical level. Textures, animation, skyboxes, post effects, and especially the lighting/shadows look great. The networking also seems impressive with players from other fire teams seamlessly joining public events or randomly appearing throughout the game. Some things could be improved, such as AA, filtering, and motion blur, but nothing is over done or thrown in your face. As usual for Bungie, they are doing a great job of using the tech appropriately for their art and design.

Can't wait for September 9th!
 
To be honest, even though there are vast optimisations ahead, I think the PS4 will have more to give at every point of this generation. I'm more inclined to believe that if there is a 'parity' game its because the PS4 hasn't been pushed harder. Hardly a controversial opinion, PS4 hardware is significantly more powerful than Xbox One hardware, especially the GPU.

Case in point, The Order: 1886 and Uncharted 4: A thief's end. Unreleased I know, but those two games look leaps and bounds ahead of everything else announced so far, visually.

It's not just ps4 games that blow current games out of the water. Quantum break on xb1 easily goes head to head with the order
 
It's also never going to happen with a cross platform game either. I've never seen a developer who does a cross platform game who maxes either console out. It's just not wise resource wise and financially. That's business. I think a lot of people forget that games are that. A business. They're going to set a bar of what they want to accomplish and get that out of the game on both consoles. You have to figure the PS4 is hitting that bar easier but the Xbone is capable of hitting it too now where

It depends on how you max something out. More enemies, larger levels, etc. is certainly much work. But stuff like using a better AA technique or tweak the draw distance should be fairly easy to do. Also we're not talking about a small developer with 4 guys in a garage. Bungie is huge and has thrown a ton of money at Destiny. I guess they even have separate teams for each console. If they go for full parity and do not even use the easy tweaks its on purpose and not because they are out of resources.
 
That's irrelevant. Trust me, if the PS4/XB1 version was forced to run at last gen resolution with last gen effects, there'd be just as much upset.

Yes, being on last gen inherently means the game is held back, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have use the PS4's extra power to make it better. With that said, this is still only the Beta, so waiting for the full release before making an final assumptions would be best. One things for sure, I won't be supporting parity
I guess you are going to be skipping Destiny then because Bungie doesn't seem to be interested in using the PS4's extra GPU horsepower.
 
It's not just ps4 games that blow current games out of the water. Quantum break on xb1 easily goes head to head with the order

Nah Quantum Break seems like it would go head to head with Infamous Second Son, not The Order 1886.

EDIT:
Ground Zeroes, Sniper Elite, Watch Dogs, etc...
We have lots of cross gen examples where PS4 version goes beyond XBO,
Probably because they chose to exploit the extra horsepower of the PS4, to me it seems like Bungie had a target of how they wanted the game to look and PS4 hit that target and later on in development the Xbox One also hit that target. Remember this is all from a 10% boost in performance which means they were probably close to a resolution bump anyways.
 
I guess you are going to be skipping Destiny then because Bungie doesn't seem to be interested in using the PS4's extra GPU horsepower.

Probably won't skip it. I'll buy it when it hits $20, or when I can pick it up in a B2G1 free sale at GS. But parity means I won't be there day 1. I just don't like it, never have.

Nah Quantum Break seems like it would go head to head with Infamous Second Son, not The Order 1886.

I don't think it's open world though. Either way, the Order looks way better from what we've seen (which is honestly not much from either title)
 
The numbers don't add up though. Xbox receives a 10% bump in GPU power, yet Bungie managed a 30% bump in resolution because of it.
I'm aware of that. Chobel posted on this and I'm inclined to agree with him. Although I'm leaning towards the console not being utilized 100% when it's 900p with the old SDK. Bungie probably couldn't get enough juice out of it to run 1080p and a steady framerate, but the SDK update might have given them that last push needed to get there.
 
The numbers don't add up though. Xbox receives a 10% bump in GPU power, yet Bungie managed a 30% bump in resolution because of it.
Like df said the sdk alone was not enough to do that, more than likely they just needed that 10% for optimizing the games so that it stays at 30 fps at that resolution instead of maybe being in the mid 20's
 
Nothing special about them.
And there are much more examples like this.
You don't have to be a dev in a AAA studio, to know stuff.


Well, after the latest IGN / Ryan "Fanboy" McCaffrey interview, it is, somehow.

But to know how a game will perform? There's a ton of factors. Imagine late game Destiny with a huge amount of endgame enemies on screen at once, possibly on a larger scale arena. It's a safe bet the PS4 version will maintain a performance advantaged in scenarios like this anyway, and it could also be something that made the FPS fluctuate like crazy at 60. Or it could be something engine related.
 
The numbers don't add up though. Xbox receives a 10% bump in GPU power, yet Bungie managed a 30% bump in resolution because of it.

Maybe they were close to 1080p before but dropped it to 900p because resolutions in between don't work for what ever reason
 
Or 1080p/30 with better AA, and they are not using it, full parity with XBO version it's really strange...

Better AA should (have been) a no-brainer, especially since the current AA in Destiny isn't brilliant.
 
Yay, another parity thread already now.

Ugh..incredibly annoying people.

It looks like it's going to be a great game...stop whining about a game that was going to bee 900p on the X1 managing to get to 1080p. People quite literally would not be saying anything if the X1 stayed at 900p...derp.

I find this to be such an incredibly ridiculous thing to actually care about (or at the very least bring up in every single Destiny thread). Granted, this is a performance thread.

Do I need to go into every single thread acting like I deserve so much better for my $500 GPU and how the PS4/X1/Consoles hold it back? I'd say that would get very irritating and I'm sure there are a few that want/would do it, but seem to hold off.


Edit** Why are people completely ignoring the fact that Bungie only got to 900p on their own with the X1 while getting to 1080p on the PS4. There was no "parity" resolution wise, and it only now exists due to help from Microsoft. There's no parity in hardware, so the PS4 version should manage a massively stable framerate.
 
I've been playing each back and forth by switching inputs on my receiver for PS4 and XB1. The IQ seems much better on the PS4 and it's pretty evident. I'm curious how much the 1080p update is going to do. The blackcrush is also pretty bad on the XB1. I've raised the brightness, but it just makes it look worse. Now, if you haven't played the PS4 version first, the crushed blacks might not be as much of an eyesore as they are by switching back and forth.

The framerate on both is great though. Apparently they patched the PS4 version after the first weekend because it is now as smooth as the XB1 version. Both have some of the smoothest 30 fps I've seen. If I hadn't been told what it was, I would've assumed it was higher.
 
As DF said, that 10% GPU shouldn't be enough to go from 900p to 1080p. So either Bungie had a bit of headroom (other than the 10% kinect reserve) in xbone but choose not to use it for anything until now, or there will be some cutbacks to visual effects in release build.

Or the XB1 can do more than people give it credit for in the right hands?
 
Better AA should (have been) a no-brainer, especially since the current AA in Destiny isn't brilliant.

Agree, the AA is bad, awful under some light conditions.
This...
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I don't wanna come across like I'm trying to start something here, because I'm not, but why exactly does that make you glad? Do you not believe that devs should get the most out of each console individually?

I'm glad because it's almost on par, and to me it seems like Bungie is doing a good work with the XB1 even though PS4 seems to be the lead platform for Destiny.

maybe XB1 isn't as crippled as many might think.
 

You think they'll be able to find quotes from those "people"?
Yay, another parity thread already now.

Ugh..incredibly annoying people.

It looks like it's going to be a great game...stop whining about a game that was going to bee 900p on the X1 managing to get to 1080p. People quite literally would not be saying anything if the X1 stayed at 900p...derp.

I find this to be such an incredibly ridiculous thing to actually care about (or at the very least bring up in every single Destiny thread).

Do I need to go into every single thread acting like I deserve so much better for my $500 GPU and how the PS4/Console hold it back? I'd say that would get very irritating and I'm sure there are a few that want/would do it, but seem to hold off.
You're missing their entire point. One system objectively has better hardware. No game should be exactly the same if the hardware is better. Posts in this thread seems to want them to use the extra power for better AA or something. No one is bitching about the Xbox One running at 1080p and your silly PC comparisons (Unless it's a shitty port, no PC game will look or run exactly the same as the console version if you have better hardware) doesn't make any sense when you actually look at the complaints.
Instead you go into every thread and complain about people wanting more from a more powerful console in a tech analysis thread. Doesn't seem very logical.
Yeah...I don't understand his logic.
 
closing the gap on a PS4 system has yet to hit it's full potential.

I have both and played the beta on both and they're both great looking and playing.

I'm a gameplay over graphics sort of guy anyway.

I will be buying on both systems so I can play with all my friends.

I just think that saying that it's catching up, when realistically at this stage we should see both consoles on a par.

there have been some really suspect choices in hardware by Microsoft, essentially them doing a 180 on the always online part is going to cause it to struggle, as essentially no developer in a single player campaign can take advantage of the microsoft servers to free up gpu so they can make games look better.
 
I'm glad because it's almost on par, and to me it seems like Bungie is doing a good work with the XB1 even though PS4 seems to be the lead platform for Destiny.

maybe XB1 isn't as crippled as many might think.

There's nothing about the XB1 components that say it cant run a modern game at 1080p at 30fps
 
That's irrelevant. Trust me, if the PS4/XB1 version was forced to run at last gen resolution with last gen effects, there'd be just as much upset.

Yes, being on last gen inherently means the game is held back, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have use the PS4's extra power to make it better. With that said, this is still only the Beta, so waiting for the full release before making an final assumptions would be best. One things for sure, I won't be supporting parity

There is valid reason to keep a consistent graphical feature set between platforms. Additional effects can change the art style and increase the possibility of bugs. What about the PS4 version do you think could be improved, without changing the art?
 
I don't wanna come across like I'm trying to start something here, because I'm not, but why exactly does that make you glad? Do you not believe that devs should get the most out of each console individually?

Cross gen and cross console developers work to deadline and budgets, they get as much out of each console as the budgets and deadlines allow.
 
Seems like they could at least increase the lod pop in on objects or increase anti aliasing on ps4..

Yeah, I was thinking this too. I'm not expecting the PS4 version to run at 60fps or anything crazy like that when I complain about parity, but I would like to see some small little extras like those. Knowingly not using the console to it's fullest just rubs me the wrong way.
 
I'm aware of that. Chobel posted on this and I'm inclined to agree with him. Although I'm leaning towards the console not being utilized 100% when it's 900p with the old SDK. Bungie probably couldn't get enough juice out of it to run 1080p and a steady framerate, but the SDK update might have given them that last push needed to get there.

Nope, the ps4 was around 50% faster. Those 10% reserved for kinect aren't even calculated in that number.

Even without the 10% boost the GPU is still 50% more powerful...
 
Or the XB1 can do more than people give it credit for in the right hands?

That makes no sense. What exactly do you mean in the "right" hands. Shouldn't the PS4 be that much better than because said hands are "right".

Remember the PS4 has a hardware advantage. There should never be parity unless the developers aren't trying to push the consoles.
 
To the people bitter about parity or claiming Bungie is gimping the PS4 version, do you guys realize that this is a business and resources aren't infinite? We're still early in the generation where teams are moving engines to these systems, we have plenty of time to see how these games push forward on our systems. I'm saying this as a PS4 only owner btw.

The amount of unfunded speculation spoken as fact is already mind-blowing, 3 pages in... 3 pages!

This is neogaf =P

Happens with all aspects of game development from the business to the technical side.
 
Nope, the ps4 was around 50% faster. Those 10% reserved for kinect aren't even calculated in that number.

Even without the 10% boost the GPU is still 50% more powerful...
Where did I ever deny that the PS4 is stronger than the Xbox One? I'm well aware of the numbers.

And it's not 50% stronger ;) The Xbox One GPU is capable of 1.31TFLOPS and the PS4 GPU is capable of 1.84TFLOPS. Do the math it's not 50% ;)
 
I find this to be such an incredibly ridiculous thing to actually care about (or at the very least bring up in every single Destiny thread). Granted, this is a performance thread.

Some people bought PS4 because it's the more powerful console of the two, of course they're allowed to wish for games to actually take advantage of that extra power.

e: i'm slightly confused as to why you even entered the thread, it's obvious it was going to be full of parity talk

Do I need to go into every single thread acting like I deserve so much better for my $500 GPU and how the PS4/X1/Consoles hold it back? I'd say that would get very irritating and I'm sure there are a few that want/would do it, but seem to hold off.

Lots of people have been doing this since X360 and PS3 came out
 
Yay, another parity thread already now.

Ugh..incredibly annoying people.

It looks like it's going to be a great game...stop whining about a game that was going to bee 900p on the X1 managing to get to 1080p. People quite literally would not be saying anything if the X1 stayed at 900p...derp.

I find this to be such an incredibly ridiculous thing to actually care about (or at the very least bring up in every single Destiny thread). Granted, this is a performance thread.

Do I need to go into every single thread acting like I deserve so much better for my $500 GPU and how the PS4/X1/Consoles hold it back? I'd say that would get very irritating and I'm sure there are a few that want/would do it, but seem to hold off.


I'm sure if you're $500 dollar GPU was forced to run Destiny only at console settings, you'd be pretty upset. Not really comparable, but still.

There is valid reason to keep a consistent graphical feature set between platforms. Additional effects can change the art style and increase the possibility of bugs. What about the PS4 version do you think could be improved, without changing the art?

Better AA, maybe some better effects, something along the lines. I'm not saying it'd have to be twice the framerate or anything, that'd probably be impossible since the hardware differences aren't that big. I wouldn't mind an unlocked framerate though, if they could get it to something like TR.
 
If they're gong to get 1080p on Xbox One, at least remove the garbage FXAA with something better on the PS4...no reason why they can't try and optimize further on the PS4.

I feel like they just got 1080p running on PS4 and now are putting all of their efforts into getting the Xbox One version up to speed rather than spending more time on PS4. So frustrating.
 
Yay, another parity thread already now.

Ugh..incredibly annoying people.

It looks like it's going to be a great game...stop whining about a game that was going to bee 900p on the X1 managing to get to 1080p. People quite literally would not be saying anything if the X1 stayed at 900p...derp.

I find this to be such an incredibly ridiculous thing to actually care about (or at the very least bring up in every single Destiny thread). Granted, this is a performance thread.

Do I need to go into every single thread acting like I deserve so much better for my $500 GPU and how the PS4/X1/Consoles hold it back? I'd say that would get very irritating and I'm sure there are a few that want/would do it, but seem to hold off.

Instead you go into every thread and complain about people wanting more from a more powerful console in a tech analysis thread. Doesn't seem very logical.

Where did I ever deny that the PS4 is stronger than the Xbox One? I'm well aware of the numbers.

I'm aware of that. Chobel posted on this and I'm inclined to agree with him. Although I'm leaning towards the console not being utilized 100% when it's 900p with the old SDK. Bungie probably couldn't get enough juice out of it to run 1080p and a steady framerate, but the SDK update might have given them that last push needed to get there.

Based on what DigitalFoundry is saying there is little to no difference in performance between the two consoles for this game in the beta. The post I just quoted from you earlier in the thread makes the assumption that the SDK might be the difference in why there is such parity between the two versions. This goes against your statement you just made where you're aware of the numbers. Seems illogical.
 
There should never be parity unless the developers aren't trying to push the consoles.

No offense to the quoted poster but I wonder if anyone else is getting sick of the sub-tone (or overt criticism) of the devs.

In developing a multi-platform title what is the business justification for pushing what amounts to "polishing" on one platform over another?

If there's a performance difference (as there appears to be at the moment according to DF) then I'm interested to hear and read about it and the devs should address it as best they can as I sure they are trying.

But trying for 10 petals on the flowers of the PS4 version instead of 5 on the XBO version is a waste of time.
 
I really don't see graphical/performance parity as an issue with a cross-gen game where they're working to push out 4 version of a game. 1080p, a stable framerate and a decent looking game regardless of current-gen platform is a decent thing, in my eyes.

The bigger problem, in regards to parity, is content.
 
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