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[SapientWolf]

Actually, I take that back. Some of the comparisons aren't using the same time of day, so they're not valid.

 

[captainnapalm]

Just discovered the weirdest fix. I was pretty much resigned to playing with vsync off and enduring occasional screen tearing, because I couldn't find any vsync solution that really worked, but I discovered that if you turn the ingame vsync on while playing, switch to borderless mode and then switch back to full screen, you get proper vsync that doesn't shoot down to 30fps when it drops below 60.

I've tried it twice now and it's worked each time. No more screen tearing!

 

[Angel Abaddon]

Just discovered the weirdest fix. I was pretty much resigned to playing with vsync off and enduring occasional screen tearing, because I couldn't find any vsync solution that really worked, but I discovered that if you turn the ingame vsync on while playing, switch to borderless mode and then switch back to full screen, you get proper vsync that doesn't shoot down to 30fps when it drops below 60.

I've tried it twice now and it's worked each time. No more screen tearing!

Yeah, I'm playing with 1/2 Vsync for locked 30fps, and have to do that everytime or it locks it at 20 for some reason.

 

[Betta Lines]

Actually, I take that back. Some of the comparisons aren't using the same time of day, so they're not valid.

Exactly. TOD and weather makes such a huge difference to the visual quality of Watch Dogs. I see no evidence in any of the daytime shots that this 'mod' does anything at all.

 

[Chance Hale]

Is that the new deferredfx PC or do those tweaks actually make a difference?

 

[Garuda1One]

im sure this has been asked before.. but i cant seems to have SweetFX running for watch dogs, i put it in bin folder, tried running it with or without RadeonPro, but still nothing...

am i doing anything wrong ? im using the one with x60dlls,,,

spec :

windows 7 64 bit
i7 4770k
16gb
gtx 690
running downsampled from 2560x1440

running it well at 60fps with occasional drop to single digit. All setting at ultra except texture at high, my 690 cant handle ultra texture,, maybe because it has 2GB of RAM per chip x2..

 

[TheD]

Did this already get posted? A guy over at guru3D made an XML with over 200 tweakable variables. No idea if anyone cares about making the game look better considering how its current performance issues, but here's a link.
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=389848

If you are talking about the thread starter, no, it is just bullshit.

The moron breaks a bunch of the game's lighting then cries like a shit when people point it out.

The only thing of worth in that thread is that 5th post (that has a tool to unpack and then make patched versions of the game's files, including the engine config).

P.S: I did post that link just up the page.

 

[captainnapalm]

im sure this has been asked before.. but i cant seems to have SweetFX running for watch dogs, i put it in bin folder, tried running it with or without RadeonPro, but still nothing...

am i doing anything wrong ? im using the one with x60dlls,,,

Running Fraps maybe, or the Uplay ingame overlay. You can turn that off in Uplay settings.

 

[b0bbyJ03]

Anyone seen http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=389848 ?

Post 5 has info about pushing the LODs out (hopefully meaning less car pop in).

Edit: I tried it and it clearly is pushing the LODs out (framerate tanking), but it has no effect on the car pop in

Edit2: There is a fuck ton of things to configure in the defaultrenderconfig.xml file, Remember how "medium" textures drop geometry quality? well that is because the "low" option (there is no Ultra setting, so medium = low, high = medium and Ultra = High) has the SkipHighQualityGeometry="1" option.

Edit3: There is an option under Road called "RoadSpawnSacredZoneRadius="13"", I wonder if that has anything to do with car spawning?

Edit4: Nope.

If you remove the high quality geometry from the high textures in the same way it's removed in the low, Will that fix the stutter on the high (ultra) texture setting?

 

[TheD]

If you remove the high quality geometry from the high textures in the same way it's removed in the low, Will that fix the stutter on the high (ultra) texture setting?

The in game LoD setting looks to do the same thing, so you could try that.

 

[Skyzard]

If you are talking about the thread starter, no, it is just bullshit.

The moron breaks a bunch of the game's lighting then cries like a shit when people point it out.

The only thing of worth in that thread is that 5th post (that has a tool to unpack and then make patched versions of the game's files, including the engine config).

P.S: I did post that link just up the page.

wut!

try this:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7w4g1ved9qh5kgc/GamerProfile.xml

 

[Confidence Man]

Reflections are improved in that xml, but not much else. Once you put the gamma adjustments he made back to default I'm not sure you would even notice the differences most of the time. In exchange you get a massive amount of hitching and some rendering bugs.

You can see how the reflection of the sign is more accurate and brighter in the second pic, but that's about the only thing I've noticed while running around aside from the performance drop.

 

[Skyzard]

Even in daylight? I've found it looks quite a bit better...maybe it's my imagination but lighting on NPCs, the way cars look and just lighting in general seems better to me :S Will try more testing....next week when back from holiday. Or maybe tomorrow morning.

 

[dmr87]

Went and got the game on PS4 while they iron out their performance problems. Plenty of friends have it on PS4, so I'll keep the PC version for the pretty graphics. Will come back after the patch.

But man...going from 4k on PC to whatever it is on the PS4 is ... :x

That 900p mush.

 

[Skyzard]

Need moar max graphics

 

[Confidence Man]

Even in daylight? I've found it looks quite a bit better...maybe it's my imagination but lighting on NPCs, the way cars look and just lighting in general seems better to me :S Will try more testing....next week when back from holiday. Or maybe tomorrow morning.

He did make some changes to gamma and contrast which will make daytime look better, but those aren't really in the realm of technical improvements. For my shots I set his gamma and contrast settings back to default and used sweetfx on them both.

Shadow resolution has been improved though which does look better.

Another comparison:

 

[Evo X]

Yeah, not a fan of that XML. I prefer the vanilla settings overall.

It would be great if there was a way to just improve the reflection and shadow quality. Those are the only noticeable differences.

 

[TheD]

Yeah, not a fan of that XML. I prefer the vanilla settings overall.

It would be great if there was a way to just improve the reflection and shadow quality. Those are the only noticeable differences.

I can do that, just give me a minute.

Eidt: Anyone know of a good file hosting site?

Edit2: http://www16.zippyshare.com/v/92136597/file.html try that, Just put those files in the data_win64 folder.
Note that I have changed it for ultra settings only and I have not tried to change the water reflection res due to some bugs that have been reported.

 

[Dries]

Does the dreaded texture setting also apply to character models in cut scenes?

 

[Aranath]

I've finally managed to get things relatively playable by turning textures down to high, everything else on ultra/max with no V-sync, 2x TXAA and 1620p resolution. Stays above 30 99% of the time, with very rare moments of stutter.

i5 3570K @ 4.2
GTX 780 OC'ed
8GB RAM

 

[scitek]

If you are talking about the thread starter, no, it is just bullshit.

The moron breaks a bunch of the game's lighting then cries like a shit when people point it out.

The only thing of worth in that thread is that 5th post (that has a tool to unpack and then make patched versions of the game's files, including the engine config).

P.S: I did post that link just up the page.

Well, you've already pointed it out, but I was going to say I'm pretty sure the settings in the xml actually work lol

Whether or not he's "improved" things is debatable, but I appreciate the fact we can tweak the game well beyond what we knew about a week ago. Is there anything in there that would possibly help the stuttering? Like LOD tweaking or anything?

Thanks to you guys making improvements, by the way. I look forward to trying some of these out.

 

[red731]

Bumping this up.

Finished the game and performace was pretty good for my tastes, but is there indication from Ubi when the patch will drop?

 

[Dries]

I've quit playing till the patch arrives. Also a deja-vu feeling btw: I had the EXACT same thing with Far Cry 3.

 

[Dennis]

About that xml edit discussion above.....

.....is it possible to just get the improved reflections that Confidence Man reports without breaking the lighting or anything else?

 

[Jeremy]

That XML looks really good to me as far as what I see on the screenshots. Closer to that E3 video. Didn't know any of that had been done.

I also came to ask about the god damn stability patch but seems there's no new information.

 

[TheD]

About that xml edit discussion above.....

.....is it possible to just get the improved reflections that Confidence Man reports without breaking the lighting or anything else?

My post up the page has it (also ups shadow res).

 

[GHG]

My post up the page has it (also ups shadow res).

So thats the same file without his gamma modifications? If so, thanks.

 

[Dries]

I wouldn't mind that extra tesselation. Is that somewhere up for grabs too?

 

[dmr87]

So, still no word on the patch?

 

[Damian.]

So is Ubisoft trying to force 30fps into relevance by making a smooth 60fps virtually impossible to achieve in their games on purpose, or are they really this oblivious on how to code a fucking game properly?

 

[symphonask]

I think my save file is corrupted - press 'Continue' an it gets stuck on the loading screen. 15 hours of progress down the drain. Quick google shows that it isn't an uncommon problem either.

This game was such a disappointment.

 

[lmbotiva]

im starting to believe that there will be no patch for this, it is amazing that this game has been out for 2 and a half weeks and is still broken, UBI makes good games but this seriously has put them on the spot about how much they care about the PC fan base, disgusting

 

[plumpblumpkin]

So, still no word on the patch?

Ubisoft simply does not give a shit. When was the last game with performance issues they actually fixed??

 

[Chance Hale]

Anyone had this happen? Don't think it's my videocard as other games work without issues. It's locked to the checkpoint though so exiting the game and coming back doesn't fix it :/ Hard to finish the chase to see if it'll fix itself.

 

[K.Jack]

Anyone had this happen? Don't think it's my videocard as other games work without issues. It's locked to the checkpoint though so exiting the game and coming back doesn't fix it :/ Hard to finish the chase to see if it'll fix itself.

What is your GPU and how hot is it running?

 

[Chance Hale]

What is your GPU and how hot is it running?

It runs around 70-80C after a while but it's a 780Ti.

As I said, the game loads in like that even when the videocard is cool which makes me think it isn't the issue. Loaded up a few other demanding games to see if something was going wrong but they worked without issues.

Edit: And I've played 4 or 5 hours with the ti without issues(other than the performance still being impossible to maintain at 60 and stuttering)

 

[Gibbo]

So, still no word on the patch?

Nope. If you're counting on a patch to solve your performance issues, I suggest keeping your expectations in check. I think what we are seeing with watchdogs is similar to Ass Creed 3. Just FYI, none of the patches that they released on that game helped with the performance

 

[chickdigger802]

am i crazy or does the game work better with uplay in offline mode? lmao

 

[CyberPunked]

The Worse, creator of the mod on Guru3d: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=390114&page=40

Has made massive discoveries/improvements. He has discovered that almost all of the shaders and improvements seen in 2012 and 2013 are still in the game files, such as the e3 2012 explosions. For now he has managed to implement dynamic shadows from headlights, the increased rain density, increased NPC density, as well as 2012 e3 bloom and lens flare.
When he manages to unpack certain files, he will be able to activate everything, such as POMs, etc.

 

[Face it Tiger..]

The Worse, creator of the mod on Guru3d: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=390114&page=40

Has made massive discoveries/improvements. He has discovered that almost all of the shaders and improvements seen in 2012 and 2013 are still in the game files, such as the e3 2012 explosions. For now he has managed to implement dynamic shadows from headlights, the increased rain density, increased NPC density, as well as 2012 e3 bloom and lens flare.
When he manages to unpack certain files, he will be able to activate everything, such as POMs, etc.

where are your naughty gods now?

 

[Tablo]

The Worse, creator of the mod on Guru3d: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=390114&page=40

Has made massive discoveries/improvements. He has discovered that almost all of the shaders and improvements seen in 2012 and 2013 are still in the game files, such as the e3 2012 explosions. For now he has managed to implement dynamic shadows from headlights, the increased rain density, increased NPC density, as well as 2012 e3 bloom and lens flare.
When he manages to unpack certain files, he will be able to activate everything, such as POMs, etc.

WHY WOULD UBI LEAVE THIS STUFF LOCKED
DAMN...
Just put it as an "extreme" option with no guarantees etc. smfh

 

[red731]

MFFW LOOKING AT THEM IMAGES

HOLY SHIT

 

[Windom Earle]

The Worse, creator of the mod on Guru3d: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=390114&page=40

Has made massive discoveries/improvements. He has discovered that almost all of the shaders and improvements seen in 2012 and 2013 are still in the game files, such as the e3 2012 explosions. For now he has managed to implement dynamic shadows from headlights, the increased rain density, increased NPC density, as well as 2012 e3 bloom and lens flare.
When he manages to unpack certain files, he will be able to activate everything, such as POMs, etc.

Ohoh, I wonder how this will run.

MFFW LOOKING AT THEM IMAGES

HOLY SHIT

Damn. There should be a new thread for this.

Included in this mod(not all features are available yet):

-Changes to the default fog values
-Enabled bokeh DOF for the main cameras
-Stuttering Improvements
-E3 2012 Bloom
-Performance Improvements
-Enabled Headlight Shadows
-LoD Changes
-Reflection changes
-Added 3 new cameras to the game(closer, normal, further)
-Rain changes(High quality rain drops, properly reacting to light, etc)
-LensFlares(WIP)
-Lighting changes(TESTING AND WIP)
-Civilians density changes

And many more things.. SOON.

 

[Deaf Spacker]

The Worse, creator of the mod on Guru3d: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=390114&page=40

Has made massive discoveries/improvements. He has discovered that almost all of the shaders and improvements seen in 2012 and 2013 are still in the game files, such as the e3 2012 explosions. For now he has managed to implement dynamic shadows from headlights, the increased rain density, increased NPC density, as well as 2012 e3 bloom and lens flare.
When he manages to unpack certain files, he will be able to activate everything, such as POMs, etc.

Holy shit.

 

[Nokterian]

The Worse, creator of the mod on Guru3d: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=390114&page=40

Has made massive discoveries/improvements. He has discovered that almost all of the shaders and improvements seen in 2012 and 2013 are still in the game files, such as the e3 2012 explosions. For now he has managed to implement dynamic shadows from headlights, the increased rain density, increased NPC density, as well as 2012 e3 bloom and lens flare.
When he manages to unpack certain files, he will be able to activate everything, such as POMs, etc.

Unbelievable that Ubisoft downgraded it so bad that this is the real version we saw in 2012.

 

[j0hnny_385]

These look out of this world. O_O

Does it take a huge toll on the performance, though?
Anyone did any testing?

 

[Cuban Legend]

been following that guy since he cracked the ability to enable headlight shadows. Couple of GAFers post in that thread over at Guru3D.

If he can get his mod optimized for performance and work on perfecting the things he's unlocked so far, the potential his discoveries have will be unstoppable once the community pitches in and starts scouring the game's packed files for E3 goodies!

 

[Windom Earle]

Dennis will have a field day with this.

 

[red731]

Dennis will have a field day with this.

Oh yes, yes he will. And it will be glorious!

ed: From guru3d's william456 http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4840746&postcount=332

 

[Objectively Bad Opinion]

does it enable POM

Ah, I see that it doesn't. I'll wait to reinstall the game until he's done then.