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hot take but I think sometimes frame drops can occasionally enhance a gaming experience

A lot of people are mad Dragons Dogma 2 is uncapped. That is dissapointing and I think 60fps locked is ideal. I'm not excusing it. But if you look on the bright side, huge frame drops can bolster some moments. For example a sorcerer unleashes a meteor on the battlefield and it dips heavily for a little while which shows it's so impactful that it shows even the game/console cannot keep up with the level of destruction.

I think Metal Gear Rising is the best example of this. When you slash an enemy a copious amount of times more than neccessary(like 100+ hits which causes the enemys body to be cut into hundreds of different parts), the FPS becomes all choppy emphasising the sheer badassery of what you're doing. Or when doing quick draw slashes against tons of enemies. Bayonetta 3 as well when you use the skyscraper sized summons to beat the shit out of skyscraper sized enemies in real time combat, the action is so intense the game literally cannot keep up.
 
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CGNoire

Member
A lot of people are mad Dragons Dogma 2 is uncapped. That is dissapointing and I think 60fps locked is ideal. I'm not excusing it. But if you look on the bright side, huge frame drops can bolster some moments. For example a sorcerer unleashes a meteor on the battlefield and it dips heavily for a little while which shows it's so impactful that it shows even the game/console cannot keep up with the level of destruction.

I think Metal Gear Rising is the best example of this. When you slash an enemy a copious amount of times more than neccessary(like 100+ hits which causes the enemys body to be cut into hundreds of different parts), the FPS becomes all choppy emphasising the sheer badassery of what you're doing. Or when doing quick draw slashes against tons of enemies. Bayonetta 3 as well when you use the skyscraper sized summons to beat the shit out of skyscraper sized enemies in real time combat, the action is so intense the game literally cannot keep up.
Same with Nes. Miss that slowdown when the shit goes down.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
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Portugeezer

Member
Wow that's nice and all, but what will happen is looking at a rock 60fps, panning over a large field instant huge drops. Feels like dogshit, not because of some meteor spell, but because uncapped shit in your face as you look anywhere further than 10ft ahead of you which is not a wall. Always has been shit, always will be shit, huge L by the devs if they don't have an option to cap the fps.
 
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tommib

Banned
I’m with you, OP. Back in the arcade games, we knew shit was going down when the screen was full of sprites and frame rate was tanking. Getting the same feeling playing Helldivers 2 on the extreme difficulties with dozens of enemies and explosions filling the screen. I like to feel the hardware being stretched because of extreme on-screen carnage.

Stay strong.
 
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Whitecrow

Banned
I also feel that way.
When so much shit is going on that tanks the framerate for a moment, it definitely has some kind of enhancing effect.

When the framerate is completely smooth, its lacking impact somehow.

Cant remember any example right now, but indeed i thought that a lot of times.
 
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Sometimes, your tire pressure randomly dropping to single digits can enhance the driving experience.

If a developer wants to do what you described - they can animate it to have that effect.
That would sort of defeat the point if its intentional. Knowing that its so hectic on screen or you're causing so much destruction the console is struggling to keep up is what makes it satisfying.
 
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tommib

Banned
I used to almost celebrate it. I remember using cheats in games and liking pushing the game/console past the stress it would normally be under.

Doesn't stop me being sensitive to it these days, though. Maybe it was the switch from CRT to LCD that made a difference and I wouldn't mind so much on the old tech.
I think people who grew up on Doom and Quake on their Pentium 100, when we didn’t have the option to cap frame rates, are more tolerant of unlocked frame rates.

It was normal to see frame rates fluctuating. Now we have a bunch of crybabies having panic attacks when they see a 59 fps screen grab from a digital foundry video.

Entitled brats that didn’t go to war.
 
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Perrott

Member
I also feel that way.
When so much shit is going on that tanks the framerate for a moment, it definitely has some kind of enhancing effect.

When the framerate is comoletely smooth, its lacking impact somehiw.

Cant remember any example right now, but indeed i thought that a lot of times.
Oh, I have a very good one: Shadow of the Colossus on PS2.
 

Loomy

Banned
That would sort of defeat the point if its intentional. Knowing that its so hectic on screen or you're causing so much destruction the console is struggling to keep up is what makes it satisfying.
Companies aren't in the business of showing their product can't handle things.
 

ToadMan

Member
Yeah there can be an induced kind of slow-mo effect that adds to the momentary experience during major carnage, and as others pointed out, some shmups deliberately dipped frames to keep the game playable during intense bullet hell moments. But usually these are intentional design decisions to let the frames dip.

FPS dips due to poor optimisations or untested system effects are bugs to be squashed. Nevermind bullshit like 30 fps for cinematic reasons.
 

manzo

Member
I agree and disagree, it's a double edged sword.
Many shmup developers have famously and purposefully induced slowdown for both impact and design purpose.

This. I could imagine if Ikaruga in 2001 would’ve come straight to PC, the complaints of slowdown during boss explosion would’ve been cried about.

For us who were more active in gaming between 1985-2000, slowdown was normal and a lot of time it just meant that shit is about to go down.

It was also cool when a boss exploded that it brought the systems to their knees just for the awesome fireworks.
 

RaduN

Member
Only when it is done on purpose for dramatic/artistic reasons (MGS) or when the potential slowdown is actually taken into acount when creating the design of the game (Cave shmups).
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
I’m with you, OP. Back in the arcade games, we knew shit was going down when the screen was full of sprites and frame rate was tanking. Getting the same feeling playing Helldivers 2 on the extreme difficulties with dozens of enemies and explosions filling the screen. I like to feel the hardware being stretched because of extreme on-screen carnage.

Stay strong.
Nothing beats the Ninja Gaiden 2 staircase. 1000 enemies dying at 10% normal speed while you scale this huge vertical climb. Everyone felt that fight.
 

Hohenheim

Member
Mad that the FPS is uncapped? But.. then why not cap it at the framerate you want in the GPU settings, like in Nvidia control panel?
I'll probably cap it at 120 fps. Or 60 if it goes under 120 in some parts.
 
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duck_sauce

Member
Could be some truth in it. If it happens exactly like that....

...in my experience, most of the time framedrops occur at random times and it does not enhance the gaming experience when the frame drops while i try to loot some random item outdoor in the woods (im looking at you day one witcher 3)
 
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