Digital Foundry: Destiny Beta XB1 analysis and PS4 comparison

The LAZY/EVIL DEVS conclusions were wrong, but SMAA actually is pretty great. It's been adopted by Arma III, several CryEngine games, Infamous: Second Son, and Watch Dogs, and it will probably continue to grow in popularity because it offers higher image quality than FXAA at only a marginally higher performance cost. It can also be used for temporal AA, which is something that more devs are starting to pay attention to.
Temporal SMAA has a lot of research going into it from a lot of studios. Hopefully they collaborate at conferences. I think it'll become the standard within a year, as well as getting some good results. Seems like the best balance of performance and quality for consoles.
 
Yea, it looked quite good, but it's one thing to show a video and another entirely for gamers to have their hands on and be able to play it. Even if there's no visual cutbacks (something I doubt), what will performance be like? If they manage to keep most graphical details intact, what about the AA solution they're using? Unless Microsoft's team of engineers really helped Bungie work wonders on the game's code, then something realistically has to give.

I don't expect total parity in graphical details between the two consoles, as that's not realistic. The way I see it, even if most details appear more or less identical between the two systems, the fact still remains that be it in the antialiasing department or some other more obscure area, the PS4 will always have its expected edge. My real concern, though, is the same one I've had since launch, that developers under pressure over not hitting 1080p, will begin aiming for that resolution to the possible detriment of games on the Xbox One. I'm fine with the Xbox One not being as powerful as the PS4, but the last thing I want on top of that is for the system to needlessly be fighting with one arm tied behind its back when all that would be required is a simple lowering of the resolution. The games still look amazing as far as I'm concerned.

If the Xbox One beta looks as good and performs as well as it does already on the Xbox One at 900p, then anything less than that same performance and visual quality once the game moves to 1080p would be a major stepdown. So, I think this game provides us with a unique opportunity to make a choice on which was the better way to go. I'm betting when all is said and done, the game will likely have been much better off at 900p. Would love to be proven wrong, but I doubt it.

Great post. I feel the same way. Of course higher res is better, but I'd rather 900p and smooth vs 1080p and choppy, if that's what it comes down to.
 
this just baffles me.

"no, don't buy games because you want to play them - buy them for CONSOLE WARS ONLY!"

rknxao.gif
 
Yeah I'm not sure if this is an Activision decision or not but seems strange.

Bungie avoiding the question or outright denying the possibility would be strange, but they've been pretty forthright about being very interested but not having any definitive plans to announce yet. This is a huge project and Bungie's first multiplat in quite a while, so I'm sure they want to give a PC version the attention it deserves.
 
Maybe some posters including myself know the effect of activating SMAA or FXAA because we've toggled the option when playing a PC game and looking at the FPS. So instead of discrediting our opinion do some research :)
 
So you read about an AA solution that seems like something better than FXAA, which now makes you qualified to pass judgement on what devs are competent and incompetent.

Did I say incompetent ? Stop making stuff up.

I said not implementing one of the accepted AA solutions that EVERY decent PC game implements or gives option to.....and going for an AA solution that was used extensively on Ps3 and 360

well if its not lazy what is it ? Its not exactly putting effort in is it.

People moaning about parity, I am siding with Bungie in that CPU optimisation Ps4 and Xb1 are roughly equal. But the FXAA is not good.
 
Maybe some posters including myself know the effect of activating SMAA or FXAA because we've toggled the option when playing a PC game and looking at the FPS. So instead of discrediting our opinion do some research :)

Did I say incompetent ? Stop making stuff up.

I said not implementing one of the accepted AA solutions that EVERY decent PC game implements or gives option to.....and going for an AA solution that was used extensively on Ps3 and 360

well if its not lazy what is it ? Its not exactly putting effort in is it.

People moaning about parity, I am siding with Bungie in that CPU optimisation Ps4 and Xb1 are roughly equal. But the FXAA is not good.

Okay. You guys got me. Good joke accounts.
 
Maybe some posters including myself know the effect of activating SMAA or FXAA because we've toggled the option when playing a PC game and looking at the FPS. So instead of discrediting our opinion do some research :)

I also agree the fxaa is total crap. It does not really take away aliasing it just blurs it and everything else. I much rather have no aa than fxaa.
 
I also agree the fxaa is total crap. It does really take away aliasing it just blurs it and everything else. I much rather have no aa than fxaa.
I wouldn't have as much of an issue with the blur if it actually was effective in cleaning up aliasing but as it stands it barely makes any difference AND adds blur.
 
Really great posts in this thread from you. Would read again, +5 Insightful.

Oh just saw the post history, this is not the first meltdown over this topic you had.

You have a pretty broad definition of a meltdown if you think mild call-outs of infantile lazy dev accusations qualify.

Continue your FXAA/SMAA toggling research, everyone.
 
I've been playing this nightly on my newly bought Xbox One and wow... I am a primarily Xbox gamer and that Xbox brand has been nothing but flak on GAF. I have to say, the Beta is impressive. 900p yes, but buttery smooth frame rate. Impressed.
 
This is a super good idea! Gimme a few minutes to compile a list. Make sure you stick around as I'll be digging into religion and gun rights shortly after!

Dunno what religion and gun rights have to do with it. Those things are not clear cut and are debatable. Hardware specs aren't as they are quantifiable.

If you were talking about advantages such as kinect or rumble triggers or XBL then I see your point as those things are subjective as to what people consider an advantage or disadvantage.
 
He wants to avoid a shitstorm, such as the ones that always ensue when those other topics are discussed. (Yes, I curse at children.)

But again why would it cause a shitstorm? These things are quantifiable. For example if the ESRAM is faster by some quantifiable measure and that's pointed out, nobody is going to balk except for crazy people who wouldn't have cared about the facts anyway.

The only time I've seen a shitstorm is when people like Panello came here, obviously lied, doubled down, and then disappeared. That's understandable that people would be peeved. Nobody likes an egotist lying to them.
 
Dunno what religion and gun rights have to do with it. Those things are not clear cut and are debatable. Hardware specs aren't as they are quantifiable.

If you were talking about advantages such as kinect or rumble triggers or XBL then I see your point as those things are subjective as to what people consider an advantage or disadvantage.

urk made a joke about other controversial subjects because he didn't want to fan the flames of another console war argument. Even if he said "Yeah, Xbox One is way weaker." it would have lead to people making 500 million fanboy shitposts because that's just what happens.

Saying Bungie would use the strengths of each platform just meant that they would try to make good use of each system's hardware and other features.


But again why would it cause a shitstorm? These things are quantifiable. For example if the ESRAM is faster by some quantifiable measure and that's pointed out, nobody is going to balk except for crazy people who wouldn't have cared about the facts anyway.

It would cause a shitstorm because people would reply with things like

"Oh, so you're betraying AND insulting the audience that made you what you are? Thanks a lot, Bungie!"

or

"Haha, suck it Xbox fans! Your system is bad and you're all serfs who are unable to effectively mount an armed rebellion against the Sony lords who force you to live as subsistence farmers!"

He wasn't going to go into nitty gritty technical details about developing on each system because he is a community manager.

Jesus Fucking Christ
 
The only time I've seen a shitstorm is when people like Panello came here, obviously lied, doubled down, and then disappeared. That's understandable that people would be peeved. Nobody likes an egotist lying to them.
Shit storm? It was the usual stuff. People quoted him and laughed at Penello or were shocked that he would say something like that or people applauding him for speaking the truth.

There are posters from both sentiments in this very thread.

That post should not be emulated. :-P
 
urk made a joke about other controversial subjects because he didn't want to fan the flames of another console war argument. Even if he said "Yeah, Xbox One is way weaker." it would have lead to people making 500 million fanboy shitposts because that's just what happens.

Saying Bungie would use the strengths of each platform just meant that they would try to make good use of each system's hardware and other features.




It would cause a shitstorm because people would reply with things like

"Oh, so you're betraying AND insulting the audience that made you what you are? Thanks a lot, Bungie!"

or

"Haha, suck it Xbox fans! Your system is bad and you're all serfs who are unable to effectively mount an armed rebellion against the Sony lords who force you to live as subsistence farmers!"

He wasn't going to go into nitty gritty technical details about developing on each system because he is a community manager.

Jesus Fucking Christ

Ah i see I didn't know he was a community manager. My mistake, I thought he was someone in the know about the development details. My apologies.

I thought urk was a programmer or someone steeped in development who could offer some info about what aspects the Xbox one was stronger in, that us people on the outside didn't know about. That would silence some people who are complaining about the supposed parity. That it's not because the ps4 isn't getting pushed, but rather that the Xbox one is actually able to reach parity based on hardware advantages people just don't know about.
 
Who is even using FXAA these days? SMH Bungie...

At least use SMAA or MSAA on PS4.

Goddamn near everyone is using FXAA for pretty much everything, and a lot of modern engines aren't very MSAA-friendly thanks to deferred rendering.

FXAA kinda sucks, but it's kind of disingenuous to act like it's some woefully outdated peasant tech when SMAA only started showing up in console games in the last year or two.
 
Goddamn near everyone is using FXAA for pretty much everything, and a lot of modern engines aren't very MSAA-friendly thanks to deferred rendering.

FXAA kinda sucks, but it's kind of disingenuous to act like it's some woefully outdated peasant tech when SMAA only started showing up in console games in the last year or two.

Guess I'm too used to PC tech these days. I never use FXAA. Console devs should really stop doing this to their textures.
 
Ah i see I didn't know he was a community manager. My mistake, I thought he was someone in the know about the development details. My apologies.

I thought urk was a programmer or someone steeped in development who could offer some info about what aspects the Xbox one was stronger in, that us people on the outside didn't know about. That would silence some people who are complaining about the supposed parity. That it's not because the ps4 isn't getting pushed, but rather that the Xbox one is actually able to reach parity based on hardware advantages people just don't know about.

The improvement are known, Bungie already said that they were able to reach 1080p because of the June SDK update allowing them to disable Kinect and reclaim some GPU resources. As far as actually pushing the PS4, you'll have to take urk's word on that.

But clearly that won't happen because some people are more interested in the drama, so we're back to square zero where urk is a liar, Bungie takes secret parity bribes from Microsoft, and I go to orbit and set my destination to Planet Fuck to escape all of this.
 
SICK BURN ON ME OUT OF NOWHERE

If you were worth your salt you would have made a new ViDoc about the minutiae of optimizing Destiny for PS4 and Xbox One on your smartphone and PM'd it directly to Jomjom. We're all very disappointed in you.
 
Top Bottom