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2014 High-Res PC Screenshot Thread of the Last Hope for Image Quality

Leibniz

Member
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BONKERS

Member
Pretty clear what he was trying to say.

If people stop judging PC games on stills that were taken during unplayable settings, it will make sense too.

Except that a LOT of times, it's NOT unplayable.

It's pretty amazing the AA and IQ you can get on PC man.

Two of the most important graphical enhancements you can get that are often just flat out ignored.
Heck, my only wishlist for the XBO/PS4 was simply more stable framerates with better textures and better AA/IQ at 1080p minimum. Those are things that don't cost millions of dollars and go a long way in making a game look better IMO. (And don't increase the cost of making a game if the hardware is simply good enough to manage the above)
(But instead as usual AA, stable framerates and IQ are ignored save for cheap throwaway attempts mostly/ with exceptions.)

Just look at all the promoshots released on games on consoles and look at how amazing the game COULD look. Well, on PC that level of fidelity is actually possible in real time at better than console framerates. (And bar minimum, 30FPS on par with consoles)


The shots that I personally take are usually playable with exceptions here and there. Just because I only have a GTX 570 and am waiting for the inevitable 880Ti
 

Blizzard

Banned
Nice Ether One shots! I put that on my wishlist. It sounds like it has an interesting story, but I didn't even realize it looked that nice.
 
Lamb Game 2014 (4K + 8xMSAA > 1080p (Lanczos2 Sharper)

Admired the thread for a long time... first time posting, please feel free to flog if I've messed something up.

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soontroll

Banned
Pretty clear what he was trying to say.

If people stop judging PC games on stills that were taken during unplayable settings, it will make sense too.

Not really. The only thing I do in my settings that makes the game unplayable is the 4K resolution which affects image quality, not lighting or particles or any of the other settings. For example, when I benchmark Batman AO, I can have everything on max at 1080p and get an average of 52fps. If I turn down all the ridiculous DX11 and Nvidia Physx effects, I get 140fps average.

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Lamb Game 2014 (4K + 8xMSAA > 1080p (Lanczos2 Sharper)

I think Bicubic is better, especially for banding (I was told that when I started posting).
 
Not really. The only thing I do in my settings that makes the game unplayable is the 4K resolution

A lot of games are easily playable at 4K (depending on hardware).

Pretty clear what he was trying to say.

Allow me to interject with a personal gripe about screenshots taken at high resolutions from nonstandard gameplay angles that has nothing to do with what that guy was actually saying though

What he actually seemed to be saying was that Infamous Second Son looks great plastered all over the console screenshot thread and that very few things in the PC thread compare.

Oh wait, no, that's probably just MY personal interpretation :p

He only mentioned lighting. Just seemed like a really silly comment in general (hence the reactions).
I think Bicubic is better, especially for banding (I was told that when I started posting).

Lanczos2 introduces more banding than lanczos3. I think 3 is better anyways - looks cleaner. That's what all my Bioshock Infinite screenshots have been downsampled with. And Assassin's Creed 4 before that.
 

soontroll

Banned
The art style in Bioshock Infinite is probably one of the most gorgeous I've seen in any game. I really need to buy it when it's on sale.

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A lot of games are easily playable at 4K (depending on hardware).

Yeah but with a single 670 there's only so much I can get out of 4K :(
 

Spazznid

Member
lol @ the "Unplayable" nonsense.

Am I going to have to come out of my temp retirement and put some more 10k shots? I got 30 fps in those...

People project this view on PC gaming and it annoys me.

Also, what's up everyone, been away a while. Still not back yet, but I check in.
 

IMACOMPUTA

Member
A lot of games are easily playable at 4K (depending on hardware).



What he actually seemed to be saying was that Infamous Second Son looks great plastered all over the console screenshot thread and that very few things in the PC thread compare.


Oh wait, no, that's probably just MY personal interpretation :p

He only mentioned lighting. Just seemed like a really silly comment in general (hence the reactions).


Lanczos2 introduces more banding than lanczos3. I think 3 is better anyways - looks cleaner. That's what all my Bioshock Infinite screenshots have been downsampled with. And Assassin's Creed 4 before that.

That is actually exactly the game that brought me to make the comment. But I'm not responding to screenshots, I actually own the game.

I don't really know why people are trying to flame me. Is it not accepted that 8 year old consoles have been holding pc games back? (Consoles are where the money is, etc, etc) But now we're finally seeing massive improvements to lighting and fx.
PC will always win via brute strength with increased resolution and frame rate, but the games posted on this page before my original post just look so flat and boring compared to what we will be getting in the near future.
And I can't wait for games that look like infamous second son but with insane resolution and 60 fps on PC.
 

soontroll

Banned
That is actually exactly the game that brought me to make the comment. But I'm not responding to screenshots, I actually own the game.

I don't really know why people are trying to flame me. Is it not accepted that 8 year old consoles have been holding pc games back? (Consoles are where the money is, etc, etc) But now we're finally seeing massive improvements to lighting and fx.
PC will always win via brute strength with increased resolution and frame rate, but the games posted on this page before my original post just look so flat and boring compared to what we will be getting in the near future.

Yeah consoles have been holding games back and it's good that the next 2 years will see a nice improvement. I don't think people had much of an issue with that part of your post.

I don't really know why people are trying to flame me
...
And I can't wait for games that look like infamous second son but with insane resolution and 60 fps on PC.

There are a few reasons why your post was flamebait:

-You said you were unimpressed with the screenshots due to the new console tech, which makes no sense since the new tech sucks in comparison. How can you be unimpressed with games that still won't run at max settings on the new tech?

-You called the lighting shitty, which it isn't. The 'flat' lighting is mostly from the 4-5 year old games such as Burnout and maybe Castlevania and even then they have unique art styles which means they aren't supposed to look realistic (take Bioshock Infinite for instance). The shots showing off Crysis 1's lighting arguably still look better than anything I've seen from Infamous: SS (the lighting isn't that amazing and the lack of player shadows with certain lights comes to mind) and that's a 7 year old game. Infamous does do particle effects at night and puddle ripples/reflections really well, I'll give it that.

-You can't claim that there aren't already (PC) games that look like/better than Infamous: SS and not expect to get flamed.

Anyway, back on topic:
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UnrealEck

Member
What he actually seemed to be saying was that Infamous Second Son looks great plastered all over the console screenshot thread and that very few things in the PC thread compare.

Oh wait, no, that's probably just MY personal interpretation :p

He only mentioned lighting. Just seemed like a really silly comment in general (hence the reactions).

Actually, it was also my interpretation too. Or impression.

That is actually exactly the game that brought me to make the comment. But I'm not responding to screenshots, I actually own the game.

Ahh so we were right, Neo.

And I can't wait for games that look like infamous second son but with insane resolution and 60 fps on PC.
But now we're finally seeing massive improvements to lighting and fx.
...but the games posted on this page before my original post just look so flat and boring compared to what we will be getting in the near future.

Infamous' lighting is amazing. Right. Gotcha. Crysis 3 (a last gen and PC game) never existed. Gotcha.
 

BONKERS

Member
Actually, it was also my interpretation too. Or impression.



Ahh so we were right, Neo.



Infamous' lighting is amazing. Right. Gotcha. Crysis 3 (a last gen and PC game) never existed. Gotcha.

I guess neither did Metro 2033 or Metro LL, or Crysis 2 DX11 with Maldo's Texture mod. Or Even Skyrim with mods. Or other games too, have you seen the likes of Lost Planet 3 or Spec Ops The Line with good IQ/AA? They look A-Mazing. Castlevania LoS2,DmC and any of the Batman games on PC also say HAI. (The so-called next-gen only Batman game so far hasn't really looked at all much better than what was already available in the PC versions of the previous 3)



Infamous looks good no doubt. But it's far from perfect looking and certainly IMO doesn't make any screenshots here look awful even by a long shot. (Just look at Anno 2070, that's got a few years on it now and it still looks great in those screenshots. Not everything has the same aim.)

Infamous has a lot of low resolution lighting effects too and the AA and framerate are subpar and unstable. (Why they would leave the framerate uncapped resulting in unstable performance is beyond me. You either aim for a stable locked 60, or a locked 30. Don't be stupid and just let it run rampant.)


A lot of games are easily playable at 4K (depending on hardware).



What he actually seemed to be saying was that Infamous Second Son looks great plastered all over the console screenshot thread and that very few things in the PC thread compare.

Oh wait, no, that's probably just MY personal interpretation :p

He only mentioned lighting. Just seemed like a really silly comment in general (hence the reactions).


Lanczos2 introduces more banding than lanczos3. I think 3 is better anyways - looks cleaner. That's what all my Bioshock Infinite screenshots have been downsampled with. And Assassin's Creed 4 before that.

I personally prefer just plain Bicubic. Smoother and Sharper end up being too blurry or adding too much ringing to the image for me.

Trine 2's SSAA uses a Bicubic filter and it looks fantastic as a result.

Serious Sam 3 also offers Bicubic and BiSharp , even Lanczos!
 

IMACOMPUTA

Member
.
Actually, it was also my interpretation too. Or impression.



Ahh so we were right, Neo.



Infamous' lighting is amazing. Right. Gotcha. Crysis 3 (a last gen and PC game) never existed. Gotcha.

Of course there are exceptions.. Really, comparing the "best" PC has to offer to a launch window console game on extremely inferior hardware is in favor of my argument.

In my opinion, the most impressive thing in SS is how lighting dynamically illuminates objects. That's something I'm not sure has been done better on PC....
Other than maybe Arma 3.

Did somebody really just say that Spec Ops: The Line looks good?

:(
 

soontroll

Banned
.

Of course there are exceptions.. Really, comparing the "best" PC has to offer to a launch window console game on extremely inferior hardware is in favor of my argument.

In my opinion, the most impressive thing in SS is how lighting dynamically illuminates objects. That's something I'm not sure has been done better on PC....
Other than maybe Arma 3.
You've got to be trolling now. LOL.

Did somebody really just say that Spec Ops: The Line looks good?

:(

https://www.flickr.com/photos/120329137@N06/sets/72157643179830725/
 

jet1911

Member
The lesson to be learned is that you don't fuck with or question people who spend a lot of money on hardware.

Well when we'll see the first next gen only game release on PC this thread should be more interesting from a "tech" point of view. Right now it's mostly downsampled shots of last gen games with last gen limitations.
 
The lesson to be learned is that you don't fuck with or question people who spend a lot of money on hardware.

It's not even just that. It felt like someone trying to rub Infamous SS in our faces for some reason. Thing is, we've already posted screenshots of the really impressive games in the PC thread. We're not going to do it on every page forever though. There hasn't been a tech pushing PC game lately so the only screenshots to post are mostly from older games. But because Infamous Second Son is currently all over the console thread, someone feels the need to come in here and be like "Hey PC guys, Infamous Second Son. Suck it!"

I'd really love for that game to also be on PC because it really does look impressive. Although one of the most impressive things about it is how clean they managed to get it to look on consoles, and that's pretty much a moot point on PC (more AA options, downsampling and what have you). I mean we're not about to go into the console thread and be like "yeah, Infamous SS is clean, but we can downsample from 4K so I'm not impressed." It's been quite the opposite (for me at least). I don't have a PS4 so I've only been in that thread admiring it.

My hope for "next gen" is that we would start seeing console games being pushed more so that we'd get more interesting tech in PC games as well. But seeing that locked up in PS4 exclusivity crushes my soul.
 

GavinUK86

Member
It's not even just that. It felt like someone trying to rub Infamous SS in our faces for some reason. Thing is, we've already posted screenshots of the really impressive games in the PC thread. We're not going to do it on every page forever though. There hasn't been a tech pushing PC game lately so the only screenshots to post are mostly from older games. But because Infamous Second Son is currently all over the console thread, someone feels the need to come in here and be like "Hey PC guys, Infamous Second Son. Suck it!"

I'd really love for that game to also be on PC because it really does look impressive. Although one of the most impressive things about it is how clean they managed to get it to look on consoles, and that's pretty much a moot point on PC (more AA options, downsampling and what have you). I mean we're not about to go into the console thread and be like "yeah, Infamous SS is clean, but we can downsample from 4K so I'm not impressed." It's been quite the opposite (for me at least). I don't have a PS4 so I've only been in that thread admiring it.

My hope for "next gen" is that we would start seeing console games being pushed more so that we'd get more interesting tech in PC games as well. But seeing that locked up in PS4 exclusivity crushes my soul.

It'll be interesting to compare console Arkham Knight to PC in October.
 
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