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Batman AK PC Perf Thread of DARKNESS, NO SETTINGS [30fps cap / intro removal in OP]

Kezen

Banned
How do i enable photomode? i looked for it since some people been posting pics on the screen thread. They look pretty cool.

I'll look into reshades and what not. I just don't mess around until they are done patching i guess. Is it stable?

It's in the menu.
 
Tried it briefly with all settings turned on, as that's what I've always tested and it's still rough. It's dramatically better than at launch but not ideal. At launch I'd dip around between 60 and as low as about 20fps while in the batmobile or flying around (980ti, 16GB RAM, i7-2600k @4.5, Win 10). Yesterdays tests I was at 60 a lot more and the dips are now going no lower than 45fps (this is at 1440p) but that still sucks for playing. Constantly fluctuating between 45 and up to 60. I was also unable to get the framerate above 60, even if setting the frame cap to 90, this worked prior to yesterdays update. I can still play at 30fps without any issues, up to 4K. It just seems like this game was never meant to go over 30fps.
 
I really wish they would do justice to the game on pc. right now its a complete mess. even after all the updates. really tempted to get that refund. but i want to believe they will fix it, add photomode, and let me enjoy a good looking game already.

you can always buy it later and give it a try and then refund it again if it still doesn't work.

At this point I think it's an engine issue and they won't be able to fix it.
 

brau

Member
Awesome. i found the photomode. it was literally right there haha. Have to enable it in the game, not in the main menu. maybe thats why.

I am playing with settings to see what i can do with the game.

There are some serious pop ins here and there. event ho i have everything maxed out and the bar says i am still in the green.

That whole rain gif from earlier, is that really removed? the original looks pretty badass.
 
Awesome. i found the photomode. it was literally right there haha. Have to enable it in the game, not in the main menu. maybe thats why.

I am playing with settings to see what i can do with the game.

There are some serious pop ins here and there. event ho i have everything maxed out and the bar says i am still in the green.

That whole rain gif from earlier, is that really removed? the original looks pretty badass.

yeah, just like at launch theres almost no effect of the rain going down surfaces anymore
 

robotrock

Banned
First time I'm playing this since launch and it seems to run a fair bit worse? Launch I remember getting around 50fps with rare moments of 60fps, but with a whole lot of stutter. Now I seem to get around 30-40fps with a whole lot of stutter.
 

Buburibon

Member
yeah, just like at launch theres almost no effect of the rain going down surfaces anymore

They should've given us the option to toggle it off/on/full in the settings menu instead of forcing the lesser (downgraded) version down everyone's throat in order to try and improve performance.
 

Kezen

Banned
They should've given us the option to toggle it off/on/full in the settings menu instead of forcing the lesser (downgraded) version down everyone's throat in order to try and improve performance.

I can't even conceive how such a trivial effect can have any measurable impact on performance. It seems so incredibly simple to me, no advanced simulation, the surface proprieties don't seem to impact how rain flows.

Very odd.
 
First time I'm playing this since launch and it seems to run a fair bit worse? Launch I remember getting around 50fps with rare moments of 60fps, but with a whole lot of stutter. Now I seem to get around 30-40fps with a whole lot of stutter.

Not sure I want to even test it out at this point based on what I've heard. Around release, I was getting 45-60 out in the city, but 60 indoors, and the only stutter I was experiencing was while driving around (though on release day, it crashed a lot and was far worse).

If it's worse now, then I don't even know. Did you ever set any .ini files to read-only?

I can't even conceive how such a trivial effect can have any measurable impact on performance. It seems so incredibly simple to me, no advanced simulation, the surface proprieties don't seem to impact how rain flows.

Very odd.

It's almost like it was a bad port that's been abandoned.
 

Kezen

Banned
It's almost like it was a bad port that's been abandoned.

As I said in another thread this whole trainwreck could have been avoided, all it takes is a sensible approach to PC development. Consoles and PC do not share the same architecture so we can reasonably assume development practices are not the same, what works on consoles with unified memory may not work on PC or not provide the best results as evidenced here.

I don't put any blame on Rocksteady (they have done their job on the console versions), from where I'm standing this is all on WB who cheaped out and did not put their partner in the best conditions.
 

Buburibon

Member
I can't even conceive how such a trivial effect can have any measurable impact on performance. It seems so incredibly simple to me, no advanced simulation, the surface proprieties don't seem to impact how rain flows.

Very odd.

I agree it most likely doesn't affect graphics performance at all, but I'm thinking the people responsible for patching the game have somehow concluded a downgraded version would ease the streaming of assets and help with the stutter.
 
It's ultimately WB's fault, though the first release date being missed doesn't suggest Rocksteady properly met milestones. Everyone involved is responsible for the end product, and we won't know to what extent until the development history is revealed.
 

10k

Banned
Okay the second island is where the performance hits take place. I can drop to the high 20's just gliding around town.

The only way this game will ever work on PC is if it's redeveloped from scratch it seems. Keep the assets but do all the coding again. It won't happen thou.
 

Kezen

Banned
Okay the second island is where the performance hits take place. I can drop to the high 20's just gliding around town.

The only way this game will ever work on PC is if it's redeveloped from scratch it seems. Keep the assets but do all the coding again. It won't happen thou.

I doubt the potential profits would recoup the costs in that case. So, it's fair to say that AK will probably not be "fixed" for everyone. Although I have to say my experience with it has been good (very few crashes, satisfactory performance), it's a competent Batman game and I enjoyed even before the interim patch.

Do I wish it was even better ? Needless to say I do.
 

Sober

Member
It's ultimately WB's fault, though the first release date being missed doesn't suggest Rocksteady properly met milestones. Everyone involved is responsible for the end product, and we won't know to what extent until the development history is revealed.
From what I heard (and maybe we - collectively - have already discussed this) it seemed like rocksteady could barely get the thing running months before the delayed release. Like single digit framerate stuff too.

Wouldn't be surprised if they had to focus all their time on consoles, IG got a really outdated build they had to work off of, and everyone just decided the PC version was just gonna be this, and by the time of the re-launch I wouldn't be surprised if they decided that spending money on it wouldn't be worth the cost so they're just hoping that in a few years' time the hardware on PC improves so much that people buying it on a Steam sale the future will just brute force the thing.
 
cross posting a comparison i did with the new october patch

new game, not a save load
batmanak_2015_11_01_0g0sqt.jpg


ps4
jpg


can someone provide a console screen from the current build to confirm they didnt actually "fix" the rain on consoles

also, i dont remember if this has always been the case, but even the downfall of rain seems much lower and less dense than on consoles. consoles often seem like a massive storm, whereas the pc version seems like a light sprinkle
 

MNC

Member
Game doesn't even want to start anymore. First time booting since I think August? Wanted to try for performance ends. Any ideas?
 

dh4niel

Member
I'm playing the game full screen, 1080p with everything on normal except level of detail which is set to high. I get an almost consistent 60fps. I see it drop to as low as 47fps during Batmobile sections. Any gliding and on foot stuff can drop to at least 55. I know my system can probably handle a lot better than that but I had to make a compromise to get a decent frame rate. The devs on the other hand shouldn't have to.

Windows 8.1
GTX 970
i7 4970K @4.0
Installed on a 7200rpm HDD
 
cross posting a comparison i did with the new october patch

new game, not a save load
batmanak_2015_11_01_0g0sqt.jpg


ps4
jpg


can someone provide a console screen from the current build to confirm they didnt actually "fix" the rain on consoles

also, i dont remember if this has always been the case, but even the downfall of rain seems much lower and less dense than on consoles. consoles often seem like a massive storm, whereas the pc version seems like a light sprinkle


these are two pics i took yesterday on PC. Rain looks pretty good here, used a filter in photomode but that`s it:

 

brau

Member
Got some screenies.

Hmm... it kinda sucks that i can't get this to run on 4k properly. it hiccups quite often with all the nvidia works. Not sure if they make much of a difference, except for the smoke.


I did notice some trickling of water when i got the suit. but its not as prominent as in teh gif. :(
I feel like everytime something triggers a cutscene the water starts to fall on the suit as if it was dry. So its not easy to spot.
 

dEvAnGeL

Member
weird, when i run the game at 1080p i only get 56% GPU usage and my frame rate fluctuates a lot while gliding or driving, change it to 1440p and i get 96% GPU usage most likely due for the extra res but my frame rate stays 95% of the time locked at 60, only drops when driving and making havoc all over the place
 

Red Hood

Banned
I really wish they would do justice to the game on pc. right now its a complete mess. even after all the updates. really tempted to get that refund. but i want to believe they will fix it, add photomode, and let me enjoy a good looking game already.

I'd say get a refund and if - which is a VERY big if at this point - they fix the game almost completely in the future, you can always buy it again. At this point Arkham Knight - and more specifically WB - isn't worth your money. And that pains me to say as a big Arkham fan.
 

brau

Member
I'd say get a refund and if - which is a VERY big if at this point - they fix the game almost completely in the future, you can always buy it again. At this point Arkham Knight - and more specifically WB - isn't worth your money. And that pains me to say as a big Arkham fan.

Yea. been trying to get a refund. But i got my copy from GMG. apparently they are not honoring the refund after they released the last patch. =\ we'll see what happens.
 
has anyone with windows 10 actually first hand confirmed that it runs better with 12 gb of ram

It doesn't.

In fact after the first major patch it ran great for me. Smooth 60fps even in the batmobile.

Then I had to reinstall windows 10 for a few reasons and now it runs like shit again.
 
Yea. been trying to get a refund. But i got my copy from GMG. apparently they are not honoring the refund after they released the last patch. = we'll see what happens.
According to Rock Paper Shotgun, GMG is honoring refunds according to WB's policy of the end of 2015.
 

Red Hood

Banned
Yea. been trying to get a refund. But i got my copy from GMG. apparently they are not honoring the refund after they released the last patch. =\ we'll see what happens.

According to Rock Paper Shotgun, GMG is honoring refunds according to WB's policy of the end of 2015.

Yep, just like Winterblink mentioned GMG has said they will be honouring refunds as well. And if by any chance customer service should give you trouble - which I don't expect them to - just forward them this link: http://steamcommunity.com/games/208650/announcements/detail/128710596369779495 - It's the official statement from WB.
 

brau

Member
Awesome. I read this just a bit earlier. but thanks for the heads up guys. I'll be returning this game, and maybe picking it up on sale waaaay later.
 

10k

Banned
What a shame for people with lower builds. I'm actually really enjoying this game so far. I guess if people really want to enjoy it they'll play it on consoles or put up with it on PC.
 

captainpat

Member
I don't know what this new patch did (I only launched the game once before the patches) but now I can't even launch or play the game in full screen. Apparently it's an issue that largely affects laptops.
 

JRW

Member
Does this look like normal GPU usage? I'm being serious because I'm not sure lol just seems strange the way the usage fluctuates like crazy.

I played Batman for a couple hours today and it ran pretty good, mostly 60fps with a few pauses/stutter but very acceptable, Instead of worrying about performance I was enjoying the game, It's turning out to be REALLY good so far (if you liked previous Arkham games).

GPU is an R9 290X 4GB

mt8uOgU.png
 
Does this look like normal GPU usage? I'm being serious because I'm not sure lol just seems strange the way the usage fluctuates like crazy.

I played Batman for a couple hours today and it ran pretty good, mostly 60fps with a few pauses/stutter but very acceptable, Instead of worrying about performance I was enjoying the game, It's turning out to be REALLY good so far (if you liked previous Arkham games).

GPU is an R9 290X 4GB

mt8uOgU.png

That either is GPU throttling due to temperature / power (weird), or stuttering due to hitting a vram wall IMO.

What is your VRAM usage in the game?
 

Lime

Member
Does this look like normal GPU usage? I'm being serious because I'm not sure lol just seems strange the way the usage fluctuates like crazy.

I played Batman for a couple hours today and it ran pretty good, mostly 60fps with a few pauses/stutter but very acceptable, Instead of worrying about performance I was enjoying the game, It's turning out to be REALLY good so far (if you liked previous Arkham games).

GPU is an R9 290X 4GB

mt8uOgU.png

the R9 290x is a fucking nuclear reactor. It gets so hot. It's mostly capped at 84 if you're running Silent bios or 94 if you're running Performance bios. So if you card reaches that temperature, then it starts throttling to decrease its temperatures.

Seeing how you're running a custom fan profile with Afterburner, I suspect you are decreasing the fan speed manually so the fan speed doesn't scale with the heat.
 

Nerrel

Member
I said "fuck it" and finally decided to start playing last night. To my surprise, the game runs well. There are some dips and small stutters in the framerate, but no outright hangs or dramatic freeze-ups like users have been posting video of. It's an imperfect 60fps, but it's 60fps. The game looks amazing as well.

I've got all the regular settings maxed out except texture quality, which doesn't seem worth going any higher on. For Gameworks I'm using the enhanced rain and light shafts, since they look noticeably better and don't amount to much of a performance hit.

The only real problem is that even after disabling chromatic aberration I can still see the shit all over the peripheral areas of the screen. I'm not sure if this is a glitch or if the setting only impacts the aberration in the center of the screen (Also, the Steam controller kind of sucks for this game so far).

This is the system I'm running. For being below 12GB I'm surprised I haven't hit any major snags:
Windows 10x64
i52500k (4.6ghz)
8GB RAM
GTX 970
 

JRW

Member
That either is GPU throttling due to temperature / power (weird), or stuttering due to hitting a vram wall IMO.

What is your VRAM usage in the game?

VRAM usage has topped out at a little over 3GB so it hasn't hit the 4GB barrier yet.

the R9 290x is a fucking nuclear reactor. It gets so hot. It's mostly capped at 84 if you're running Silent bios or 94 if you're running Performance bios. So if you card reaches that temperature, then it starts throttling to decrease its temperatures.

Seeing how you're running a custom fan profile with Afterburner, I suspect you are decreasing the fan speed manually so the fan speed doesn't scale with the heat.

I tried manually setting the Fan speed to 95% just to see how GPU usage behaved but it's exactly the same (wild fluctuations) GPU temp doesn't exceed 61C @ 95% fan rpm, maybe I should try other games to be sure it's not just Batman, even if I just stand still in one spot for 5 minutes the gpu usage behavior doesn't change.
 
You do realize that Arkham City is a previous gen game, right?

Yes, yes, I do.

Do you also wish Arkham Knight looked like Arkham City? Which is a seriously inferior looking game?

Of course not. Don't be silly.

I think you both missed the intent of my post. AC, finally, is running as I would expect it to. AK is not. (Not saying AK should easily do 5k / 60) Maybe once/if they get sli working, but I dunno.
 

dr_rus

Member
I think you both missed the intent of my post. AC, finally, is running as I would expect it to. AK is not. (Not saying AK should easily do 5k / 60) Maybe once/if they get sli working, but I dunno.

I dunno. I'd say that AK is running as I would expect from a new gen open world game on my system. I'm basically above 60 in 2560x1600 most of the time with everything on max including NV's effects. I'd say that's pretty good.
 

Lime

Member
I tried manually setting the Fan speed to 95% just to see how GPU usage behaved but it's exactly the same (wild fluctuations) GPU temp doesn't exceed 61C @ 95% fan rpm, maybe I should try other games to be sure it's not just Batman, even if I just stand still in one spot for 5 minutes the gpu usage behavior doesn't change.

Maybe it's your CPU causing bottlenecks by either being to old or too hot?
 
I tried manually setting the Fan speed to 95% just to see how GPU usage behaved but it's exactly the same (wild fluctuations) GPU temp doesn't exceed 61C @ 95% fan rpm, maybe I should try other games to be sure it's not just Batman, even if I just stand still in one spot for 5 minutes the gpu usage behavior doesn't change.
DF stated that the port is overly CPU reliant and my CPU usage is often incredibly high, sometimes hitting 99% when gliding about, even with level of detail setting on low (which should lessen the load on the CPU - doesn't seem to make a difference so put it back to high).
 
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