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Digital Foundry: Tekken 8 PS5 First Look - The First UE5 Fighting Game - Beyond The Demo, Near-Final Code Hands-On

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?


There's a very cool Tekken 8 demo available to try out now, but recently, we had the chance to take a look at a near-final version of the game with a lot more content. Here's John Linneman's impressions on the game, along with a range of footage from areas unseen in the current demo.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
- Story mode, secondary story arcade mode, tekken ball. Seems like there's even more content than MK and Street Fighter VI.
- Pacing of the story feels better than previous Tekken games.

- Footage and stats from a recent demo and event w/ PS5 build
- Unreal Engine 5
- 2560x1440p at 60 FPS in captured footage
- Does *not* utilize Nanite or Lumen
- Minor dips in non-playable segments, but actual fights are locked to 60 FPS
- Noticeably more responsive than Tekken 7 on PS4
- Load times are fast, ~4 seconds from character screen to battle arena
 
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Darsxx82

Member
- 2560x1440p at 60 FPS in captured footage
VGtech say demo show DRS 4k-1080p.... with FSR1. I don't know if it could be an indication that in the final game (or in the story mode) it was decided to lock at 1440p or if it was simply the resolution that dictated the moment... We'll see.
 

Senua

Gold Member
I'm guessing you all are referring to Lumen? Nanite is micropoly rendering and the consoles can run fine at 60fps since it's software driven.
Yea my bad I read it as Lumen. I'm going back to bed
 
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nowhat

Gold Member
So in an other thread people were going that "this looks like a PS3 game". Hyperbole is allowed, but come on.

Beside the graphics though, there's how it actually feels to play it. And as someone who was quite disappointed with Tekken 7... Tekken is back, baybee! This feels great, at least as far as the demo goes.
 

winjer

Gold Member
Sad that nanite isn't used, its the perfect genre to use it. This game with actual ray traced lightning would look spectacular.

This game doesn't use LODs, since stages are static.
So Nanite would be almost useless.
RT is a whole different matter. Software Lumen with SDFs could work well enough.
But with 60 fps, resolution might have to take a cutback to 1080p.
 
kazuya-mishima-tekken.gif


but really, looks just ok
 

Fake

Member
Good to know they want to priorize frame rate than Unreal Engine gimicks.

A fightning game need to stay 60 fps 100% of the time, so there is no room for nanite and lumen.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
This game doesn't use LODs, since stages are static.
So Nanite would be almost useless.
RT is a whole different matter. Software Lumen with SDFs could work well enough.
But with 60 fps, resolution might have to take a cutback to 1080p.
Nanite is more than LODs though. It allows devs to pack in a lot of detail thanks to virtualized geometry.

Technically a game like this wont need dynamic lighting so lumen would be useless but at the same time, whats the point of making a UE5 game when you cant use two of its biggest features?

Not blaming the devs. Blame is on Epic for making this engine so poorly optimized.
 

winjer

Gold Member
Nanite is more than LODs though. It allows devs to pack in a lot of detail thanks to virtualized geometry.

Technically a game like this wont need dynamic lighting so lumen would be useless but at the same time, whats the point of making a UE5 game when you cant use two of its biggest features?

Not blaming the devs. Blame is on Epic for making this engine so poorly optimized.

No need for nanite for that.
Mesh shaders or primitive shaders can have huge amounts of geometry, without the overhead of virtualized geometry.
 

Killer8

Gold Member
I'm glad the music is far better than the shit in Tekken 7. Actually evokes classic Namco from the old Tekken and Ridge Racer days. And for the stinkers there will be the jukebox to replace those.

Since this is near final code I wanted to see a comparison to the initial reveal. Feels like nothing they've shown since has lived up to the fidelity on display in that trailer.
 
- Story mode, secondary story arcade mode, tekken ball. Seems like there's even more content than MK and Street Fighter VI.
- Pacing of the story feels better than previous Tekken games.

- Footage and stats from a recent demo and event w/ PS5 build
- Unreal Engine 5
- 2560x1440p at 60 FPS in captured footage
- Does *not* utilize Nanite or Lumen
- Minor dips in non-playable segments, but actual fights are locked to 60 FPS
- Noticeably more responsive than Tekken 7 on PS4
- Load times are fast, ~4 seconds from character screen to battle arena
4 s is not fast. It's average. 1 second would be fast for such a game.
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
That's not what Nanite is. Maybe you meant Lumen.

(Nanite would be pretty pointless in a game like this.)
I know what nanite is, they could have unlimited details in the fight stages, cant use it on the characters, but thats the point. Interactions with the stage is minimal - a perfect usecase for nanite.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I know what nanite is, they could have unlimited details in the fight stages, cant use it on the characters, but thats the point. Interactions with the stage is minimal - a perfect usecase for nanite.

But it's not like there are big worlds with big camera movements here. The stage detail is pretty much always viewed from about the same distance, no? That makes Nanite pretty pointless. Nanite isn't about "unlimited detail", it's about transitioning from low LOD to max LOD smoothly (basically per pixel) as the camera gets closer, and not having to manually create lower LOD versions of different geometry. If you're always at max LOD it serves little purpose.
 

March Climber

Gold Member
So in an other thread people were going that "this looks like a PS3 game". Hyperbole is allowed, but come on.
It’s the art style, hit effects, and kind of the lighting too. I don’t know how to describe it properly, but it’s like putting the highest resolution clothing and environmental textures possible on older aspects that don’t feel as new.

The best thing I can compare it to is when someone creates a 4k textures mod for a game like Skyrim. Skyrim still feels like it’s age no matter how much people dress it up to look better.

Edit: Also I’m not one of the ones who said ‘it looks like a PS3 game’ I’m simply explaining why someone would come away from this game thinking it. The cutscenes and closeups look nice but the minute the fight starts I can kind of see what they’re trying to point out.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
It’s the art style, hit effects, and kind of the lighting too. I don’t know how to describe it properly, but it’s like putting the highest resolution clothing and environmental textures possible on older aspects that don’t feel as new.

The best thing I can compare it to is when someone creates a 4k textures mod for a game like Skyrim. Skyrim still feels like it’s age no matter how much people dress it up to look better.

Edit: Also I’m not one of the ones who said ‘it looks like a PS3 game’ I’m simply explaining why someone would come away from this game thinking it. The cutscenes and closeups look nice but the minute the fight starts I can kind of see what they’re trying to point out.
Sad Road Trip GIF by Hyper RPG
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
But it's not like there are big worlds with big camera movements here. The stage detail is pretty much always viewed from about the same distance, no? That makes Nanite pretty pointless. Nanite isn't about "unlimited detail", it's about transitioning from low LOD to max LOD smoothly (basically per pixel) as the camera gets closer, and not having to manually create lower LOD versions of different geometry. If you're always at max LOD it serves little purpose.
LOD is just one of the benefits. Here is how Epic advertises nanite:

  • Multiple orders of magnitude increase in geometry complexity, higher triangle and objects counts than has been possible before in real-time
  • Frame budgets are no longer constrained by polycounts, draw calls, and mesh memory usage
  • Now possible to directly import film-quality source arts, such as ZBrush sculpts and photogrammetry scans
  • Use high-poly detailing rather than baking detail into normal map textures
  • Level of Detail (LOD) is automatically handled and no longer requires manual setup for individual mesh's LODs
  • Loss of quality is rare or non-existent, especially with LOD transitions
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
LOD is just one of the benefits. Here is how Epic advertises nanite:

  • Multiple orders of magnitude increase in geometry complexity, higher triangle and objects counts than has been possible before in real-time
  • Frame budgets are no longer constrained by polycounts, draw calls, and mesh memory usage
  • Now possible to directly import film-quality source arts, such as ZBrush sculpts and photogrammetry scans
  • Use high-poly detailing rather than baking detail into normal map textures
  • Level of Detail (LOD) is automatically handled and no longer requires manual setup for individual mesh's LODs
  • Loss of quality is rare or non-existent, especially with LOD transitions

The bolded things are exactly because of what I said. With Nanite you only need one version of each model, the max LOD one. Nanite then dynamically simplifies the geometry as that model moves further from the camera and takes up fewer pixels on the screen, instead of the traditional method where you have a few different discreet LOD models that swap at different distances.

But if you're always gonna show the max LOD Nanite won't really make any difference. It doesn't really allow you to display more polygons at once (that's still limited by system resources), it just lets you use max LOD models at all rendering distances (but it doesn't actually render all those polygons until you get very close).

Nanite also has its own overhead, so again, in a game like this where the camera is relatively static and the LOD doesn't change (if that's the case - I haven't played it) I don't think it's really beneficial.
 
It’s the art style, hit effects, and kind of the lighting too. I don’t know how to describe it properly, but it’s like putting the highest resolution clothing and environmental textures possible on older aspects that don’t feel as new.

The best thing I can compare it to is when someone creates a 4k textures mod for a game like Skyrim. Skyrim still feels like it’s age no matter how much people dress it up to look better.

Edit: Also I’m not one of the ones who said ‘it looks like a PS3 game’ I’m simply explaining why someone would come away from this game thinking it. The cutscenes and closeups look nice but the minute the fight starts I can kind of see what they’re trying to point out.
How I feel exactly. But my main problem with Tekken is that the animations are still the same from the PS1 days. Of course they are technically more advanced, but just looking at them they feel the same. Just look at MK, you can clearly differentiate any entry from the other in many ways. If only Tekken were like that. And I was a fan back in the day, so I’m not hating it.
 

Ivan

Member
I still find something strange in UE look and I still think their own engine would look much better. I guess namco disagrees...
 

NT80

Member
How I feel exactly. But my main problem with Tekken is that the animations are still the same from the PS1 days. Of course they are technically more advanced, but just looking at them they feel the same. Just look at MK, you can clearly differentiate any entry from the other in many ways. If only Tekken were like that. And I was a fan back in the day, so I’m not hating it.
MK's animations are and always have been absolute garbage though. I keep expecting to see an improvement but it's the same stiff rigor mortis looking moves yet again. Some of Tekken's actually look like the moves of real martial artists. Saying it looks like a PS3 game is ludicrous. It's the best looking fighting game so far.
 
Nanite is more than LODs though. It allows devs to pack in a lot of detail thanks to virtualized geometry.

Technically a game like this wont need dynamic lighting so lumen would be useless but at the same time, whats the point of making a UE5 game when you cant use two of its biggest features?

Not blaming the devs. Blame is on Epic for making this engine so poorly optimized.

Because UE5 is still the best 3rd party middleware engine out there. Experience with UE in the jobs market is ubiquitous and it's also one of the best if not the best documented engine; especially in Japanese.
 

Skifi28

Member
MK's animations are and always have been absolute garbage though. I keep expecting to see an improvement but it's the same stiff rigor mortis looking moves yet again
Agreed, easily the worst part of the modern MK games.
 
MK's animations are and always have been absolute garbage though. I keep expecting to see an improvement but it's the same stiff rigor mortis looking moves yet again. Some of Tekken's actually look like the moves of real martial artists. Saying it looks like a PS3 game is ludicrous. It's the best looking fighting game so far.

Not better looking than mk1 unless the PC turns out to be drastically better than ps5. No way no how on ps5 after playing both. I was hoping it would top mk1 but it doesn't. The 1440p resolution doesn't help. Makes some backgrounds look muddy on ps5 like the state with the big tree in the background, so higher res on PC could help.
 
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