Firewatch's PS4 performance is terrible
- Thread starter Diprosalic
- Start date
Correct, SECTR tools were created specifically for this game. I already posted this but we're on a new page so people undoubtedly won't see my second to last reply.
From their list of games:
Campo Santo's Firewatch was patient zero for SECTR. Many of the core authoring tools and streaming technologies were developed to help them implement their vision of an immerse, seamless national forest. SECTR not only powers their world streaming but also serves as an authoring solution that allows everyone on the team to easily edit different parts of the world.
Goose_Se7en
Banned
Been playing the game for the last hour and a half and it certainly has it's problems.
Slowdown when climbing rocks
Slowdown when rappelling down the shale slides and right after stuttering when panning the camera.
Slowdown when the game autosaves and when you return to action after pressing the options button.
Problems for sure but to call the performance on PS4 "terrible" is hyperbole - like most things on the internet - the game as it stands is playable.
Besides the observations above and the bad slowdown when panning the camera on occasion it plays just fine.
Slowdown when climbing rocks
Slowdown when rappelling down the shale slides and right after stuttering when panning the camera.
Slowdown when the game autosaves and when you return to action after pressing the options button.
Problems for sure but to call the performance on PS4 "terrible" is hyperbole - like most things on the internet - the game as it stands is playable.
Besides the observations above and the bad slowdown when panning the camera on occasion it plays just fine.
DietRob
i've been begging for over 5 years.
I'd like to expand a bit since a quote from me was used in the OP. The game is far from being 'unplayable'. I'm certainly going to play it again later on tonight.
In a game like this where the environment is such an important part of the experience it's disappointing that it suffers these technical issues. I usually don't notice dropped frames and screen tears. But since the main theme of the game is paying attention to the environment you are in and not firing a gun at bad guys these problems tend to stick out.
In a game like this where the environment is such an important part of the experience it's disappointing that it suffers these technical issues. I usually don't notice dropped frames and screen tears. But since the main theme of the game is paying attention to the environment you are in and not firing a gun at bad guys these problems tend to stick out.
finalflame
Banned
Great information. I guess poorly optimized/premature middleware is to blame for these issues, then. At least it makes me hopeful that they will be able to iron out the stuttering over time working with the SECTR devs.
I wouldn't say poorly optimized tho, I think a combination of a new version of Unity in combination with a new form of middleware pipeline for streaming assets that Unity isn't very good at, small dev team, small resources, small amount of dev time, and the biggest contributing factor of millions of people with either different hardware configurations on their PC, and software/hdd combinations on PS4 simultaneously testing this game's ability to perform at the same time things like this will happen.
The best thing to remember is to make developers aware so they can recognize the issues quicker, and effectively fix the problem, there's no better troubleshoot than every conceivable situation being played out in a non-testing environment, unfortunately that's only possible at the consumer level after finalizing, and after doing everything you can on the development side to mitigate these problems.
fastballspecial
Member
It's not perfect. And it didn't bother me enough to stop me from playing or enjoying my time. That's as much as I can say.
MassiveNights
Banned
I'm shocked by how bad this is. I can handle average framerates but it keeps stuttering when I do anything other than walk forward slowly.
It's really jarring because they've tried to make effort to make using tools and the walkie talkie feel intuitive and immerse you in it.
Really disappointed.
It's really jarring because they've tried to make effort to make using tools and the walkie talkie feel intuitive and immerse you in it.
Really disappointed.
finalflame
Banned
Well, I didn't mean poorly optimized in the sense of they did a bad job, but rather that the factors you listed contributed in the use of a premature (read: new) piece of middleware on a new version of Unity for a relatively large-scale game with limited engineering resources. I'm guessing the reasons why the asset streaming is causing hiccuping and stuttering issues on PS4 goes all the way down to how Unity is interacting with the hardware/OS at a very low level, and hence why Sean mentioned involvement from both Unity and Sony in investigating. Makes sense.
But yah, it's entirely plausible they tested this internally on dev machines using SSDs instead of HDDs, which might've minimize exposure to these issues if the latency is at all related to storage -> memory access/pipeline. In fact, when I played the demo at their booth at PSX I don't remember any jarring performance issues, so I wonder what changed (probably just a demo build with a small chunk of the game vs. scaled to the entire game).
I'm stoked to get home and play it tonight anyways.
Because the game is streaming new chunks of data as you pan to the sides or move forward quickly. It sucks, but this makes total sense given the last ~15 posts of discussion about SECTR and what is most likely the cause for the hiccuping/stuttering.
Fachasaurus
Member
Any word from Campo Santos on a patch or acknowledging these issues?
They seemingly released a patch on PC not too long ago.
They seemingly released a patch on PC not too long ago.
Yeah I get you now, I just usually associate "poorly" with either lazy, or a lack of trying. Like if you hired someone to repaint your house and they spray painted it with a cheap can of paint, you would say the paint job on that house was poorly done
putting more onus on the person who did it's ability to even do their job adequately. Which these people can because of how difficult it is for even multi million dollar production companies to do what they are.
finalflame
Banned
See here and here for Sean's (dev) very candid response to the issues.
Yeah I get you now, I just usually associate "poorly" with either lazy, or a lack of trying. Like if you hired someone to repaint your house and they spray painted it with a cheap can of paint, you would say the paint job on that house was poorly done
Hah, can totally see how it would come across that way. I'll be honest in that I first came into this thread with guns blazing not understanding what was going on, but after the great discussion about the issues in the last few pages paired with Sean's comments on Reddit it has become clear they're doing their best to work with what they have. Cheers!
I played it. Yeah the frame rate is mostly around 30. It sometimes good up when there isn't munch on screen. I'm very susceptible to this stuff and I can clearly see it but it doesn't bother me. If that sort of thing bothers you then don't get it I guess. The camera controls are fine, up and down is much slower than side to side but again, doesn't bother me. Game looks very pretty.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I already bought it but I may hold off to play it if this is the case.
Yeah, in this generation I think it's harder to understand why games are performing worse on more powerful hardware; and it has a lot to do with more and more complexity of the games being made now. A lot more things are being added into the mix not only gameplay wise, but on the technical level which creates even more problems that are impossible to predict until it becomes an apparent enough issue.
elitewillie1
Banned
I've never been sensitive to FPS number or drops, but damn this game is rough. I guess since they only thing you do in the game and look around at stuff, I notice it like crazy. For me, the game is basically jacked. I am playing it with my wife and even she notices. Keeps asking me why the game keeps stuttering and stuff.
I was extremely excited about buying this game, but this honestly has left a sour taste regarding Campo Santo. I even bought the damn theme.
I honestly can't understand why they would release the game in this state. Did they not test the game on a PS4? It not like different PS4s have different configurations. Did they just say "well it performs like crap but we have to release it so oh well?" I really don't understand.
I'm loving the game in terms of story but damn is the performance rough. I wanted to stop playing but since my wife rarely likes to watch me play games, and in this instance decided to watch me play I decided to keep on trucking and enjoy our time together playing.
I was extremely excited about buying this game, but this honestly has left a sour taste regarding Campo Santo. I even bought the damn theme.
I honestly can't understand why they would release the game in this state. Did they not test the game on a PS4? It not like different PS4s have different configurations. Did they just say "well it performs like crap but we have to release it so oh well?" I really don't understand.
I'm loving the game in terms of story but damn is the performance rough. I wanted to stop playing but since my wife rarely likes to watch me play games, and in this instance decided to watch me play I decided to keep on trucking and enjoy our time together playing.
ryanofcall
Member
Just played ~2h. It's not as bad as some people say, at least for me. I had similar framerate problems with GTA V on my Xbox 360 after it came out.
But it's not perfect by all means, so it's allright to call out on it, I guess
But it's not perfect by all means, so it's allright to call out on it, I guess
Game just kicked me out while on day 2. Not sure what triggered it the crash. When I reloaded, Delilah began a totally new conversation that Hank stopped before the crash. Maybe I walked too far beyond a point that would have triggered it and game went nutty?
At times, when walking or climbing, it just stutters or freezes as if it's saving, but it's not. I suppose it only feels jarring since I'm coming directly from playing The Witness. Aside from that, it's not bad.
At times, when walking or climbing, it just stutters or freezes as if it's saving, but it's not. I suppose it only feels jarring since I'm coming directly from playing The Witness. Aside from that, it's not bad.
Diprosalic
Banned
fwiw the dev replied to my reddit pm and he was really nice and even offered to paypal me my money back (which i declined).
I just played about 2 hours on PS4. I'm somewhere
but I'm taking my time. There's definitely some hitching around autosaves but nothing like you'd expect from taking this thread at face value. Unless the performance takes a nose dive after the first two hours the response seems completely overblown.
I won't defend the trend of shipping broken games over the last few years, but this isn't an example.
in Day 2
I won't defend the trend of shipping broken games over the last few years, but this isn't an example.
finalflame
Banned
Agreed on all points.
I doubly agree this is the main issue with all software today
Has to run on everything no local optimization and under the hood stuff is so beastly it takes forever lol
Gray Matter
Member
The game isn't completely unplayable, but I'd be lying if I said the framerate doesn't bother me.
elitewillie1
Banned
I get it but why sell the game if it isn't ready. I think every developer has just gotten spoiled because they can sell the game in whatever state and then sell it.
On the Reddit post the guy from Campo Santo admits that they knew it had issues. Why did they think it was OK to sell it with issues? If you bought a house and it was messed up, would you be cool with the developer telling you that he would fix it later?
Everyone here is always arguing that the Gaming Medium needs to be respected more but then we accept this kinda of stuff from developers. Why?
sabertoothzombie
Member
I was on day 77 and I got clipped through the wall. No matter what I tried I couldn't get out and when trying to reload the game, I'm thrown back in that wall. I had to delete the local storage and download the online one, put me back two hours...
Sucks, cause I was really enjoying it and this was the first fuck up I've had. Thought I was going to make it the whole game.
Sucks, cause I was really enjoying it and this was the first fuck up I've had. Thought I was going to make it the whole game.
finalflame
Banned
The entire point was that the growing complexity of games and accessibility to independent game developers via engines like Unity, Unreal 4, and Lumberyard means that it makes it increasingly difficult to fully "iron out" a game, especially when you don't have control over it from the ground up (you're at the mercy of the engine you're using). Would you prefer Firewatch, which has a very small team and limited budget, not come out at all before they were effectively bankrupt? Or that independent developers have no means to materialize their ideas because there are not enough accessible tools out there like Unity, and the cost of developing your own engine before even starting to work on the game itself is prohibitively high? You can only dedicate so much time to working on a game before releasing it so you can get a return on your investment and survive.
It's not financially viable for small studios to work on games as long as AAA studios can with the backing of major publishers. At some point, they need to do the best they can within the constraints of their budget, and tools like Unity and the middlewares used during the process to make development time acceptable might cause issues you simply cannot resolve in time for your target release date (which is, again, constrained by your operating budget). That seems to be the case here. Despite what people think by looking at the art style of the game, the vast open landscapes and seamless gameplay is somewhat hardware intensive and a feat to be achieved on an engine like Unity. Its already been addressed that the game is using a scene asset streaming middleware that is in its infancy and might not be perfect. Further, it's likely the issues we're seeing need to be worked on not just by Campo Santo, but also with Sony (low-level hardware support) and Unity (who knows how the engine interacts with the hardware).
It's unfortunate that the end result is a less-than-perfect product, but unfortunately we can't always expect perfection from small studios that take on ambitious projects, lest we prefer to forego having games like Firewatch at all.
So I'm still playing got my first loading luck up really far in. I does have issues and I wish it was butter smooth. But I don't think the issues are that bad. I feel like when ever a game isn't flawless we get some Monty python burn the witch mentality going on. Enjoying it so far, hope they patch it soon for the ones waiting.
DietRob
i've been begging for over 5 years.
Made it to loading day 77 and got my first freeze. Prior to that I could see some of the graphics on the ground glitching out in what looked like fault lines. Kinda weird to explain but there were graphical cracks in the ground.
At least it didn't lock up my PS4. Hopefully I'll be able to load back in because even with the performance issues I'm really enjoying the story.
At least it didn't lock up my PS4. Hopefully I'll be able to load back in because even with the performance issues I'm really enjoying the story.
thatJohann
Member
It's fine. I played it and loved it and all that technical shit didn't impact my game as its not call of duty. It's a slow exploration game. Who cares? It's awesome.
Diprosalic
Banned
it isn't as multiple people have proofed with crashes and glitches, nevermind the constant stuttering and fluctuating framerate
it's actually worse for me in a game like that. you should be immersed, stuff like that just takes you out of it
the hundreds of people posting in here?
Dr.brain64
Member
Seems like the devs had some hard time on the ps4??
Sucks it's at this state but I'm sure they can fix it.
Sucks it's at this state but I'm sure they can fix it.
Man I wish I could get my money back. I'm at a later point in the story when the game crashed at a cutscene. Ok no big deal. I'll just go ahead and load it up from previous save. Repeat steps but cutscene doesn't happen and it tells me to head to main lookout. I get to main lookout with no new objectives. So I look up what was supposed to happen next when my game crashed and now it seems I'm stuck. Thanks developers, I'll just read/watch the rest of the story. Even though I was enjoying the game, they won't get my money again.
reelbigtink
Member
Well this sucks. I bought it before seeing this thread and haven't had a chance to check it out yet.
finalflame
Banned
Just accidentally glitched the game by unintentionally running through an invisible wall. Can't get back over. Stuttering I can understand, but this really sucks.
ugh_the_boot
Banned
Wow another promising game released as a piece of shit. Almost every second game coming out seems to have some sort of major issue with it's performance. Wtf?! This is a new low for the industry, 2016 is off to a horrible start. Lets hope the next few big releases buck this trend. A few dips in performance and glitches here and there is excusable but Firewatch and Xcom 2 seemed to have taken it to a new low.
After playing for a few hours it's tolerable, but far from ideal. A 30fps cap would go a long way to making it seem more consistent. I did have one crash but thankfully it was immediately after an autosave point. There's quick stutters at checkpoints but it doesn't seem worse than a Halo game or something. The worst I've seen in terms of framerate are one specific rappelling point where it just flat out tanks.
I think that most people who are very interested in this game will likely be fine with it, it's not a dealbreaker, but those on the fence or very sensitive to shifts will want to wait a bit. It's not a disaster like I was worried it would be from this thread but it's certainly not polished on the technical front.
I think that most people who are very interested in this game will likely be fine with it, it's not a dealbreaker, but those on the fence or very sensitive to shifts will want to wait a bit. It's not a disaster like I was worried it would be from this thread but it's certainly not polished on the technical front.
WoolyNinja
Member
Game seems fine to me on PS4? Maybe a couple of hiccups here and there but otherwise fine. I think these problems are being blown way out of proportion.