[MTMBStudios]

So is it possible to hit 60FPS on this reliably? It isn't that unoptimized right? I was planning on picking this up sometime down the road (never played the DLCs).

[brain_stew]

Alan Wake is one case where a downsampled picture looks as good as a native one. I have no idea why, but I guess it has something to do with the proper integrated AA.

Combining MSAA and high quality FXAA does wonders.

[aeolist]

One sound from Alan Wake that always comes back into my mind is the silent moan you hear when you reveal the yellow markings with your flashlight.

Sound design is overall great, so eerie and atmospheric

Petri I'm glad you're in this thread so I can say to your face how much I love your games. Max Payne was the first game I picked up when I first built a gaming PC back in 2001 and I've played through it and the sequel probably a dozen times each.

Alan Wake is impressing me just as much.

[jim-jam bongs]

HUD? What's a HUD?

One sound from Alan Wake that always comes back into my mind is the silent moan you hear when you reveal the yellow markings with your flashlight.

[Corky]

So is it possible to hit 60FPS on this reliably? It isn't that unoptimized right? I was planning on picking this up sometime down the road (never played the DLCs).

Let me reiterate, with one overclocked 560 ti I was around 50-60 fps everything max except AA and ssao at 1080p. That means if you have anything like 570,580, 6970, 7950, 7970 or similar you'll get 60 fps no sweat.

[mxgt]

So is it possible to hit 60FPS on this reliably? It isn't that unoptimized right? I was planning on picking this up sometime down the road (never played the DLCs).

After OC'ing my GTX570 a tad the only places I drop frames are when standing under lights but it's nothing drastic.

[jim-jam bongs]

Even with my crappy 460GTX it's staying between 30-45fps at 1600x900 on stock high settings. Couple of hitches here and there, like when a flare starts spewing out pretty coloured smoke (need a purple haze mod STAT).

[Jtrizzy]

Seems to be conflicting opinions here on in game v sync vs. D3d?

[Corky]

Seems to be conflicting opinions here on in game v sync vs. D3d?

d3d for life

[Jackpot]

How far have you gotten? There's a "golden trophy" of something related to Max Payne in a bookshelf . This is maybe hmm 30-40 min into the game?

Not to mention all of Alan's novels are named after Max Payne games or chapter titles from the game ("The fall of whatshisname", "Return to Sender", etc). And that some of manuscript pages you pick up are from Alan's books and are actually the narration files lifted from Max Payne 2 complete with Max voicing them.

In my head the Max Payne series is some kind of meta-dream taking place in the Alan Wake universe.

[Quicksilver4648]

[PetriRMD]

Petri I'm glad you're in this thread so I can say to your face how much I love your games. Max Payne was the first game I picked up when I first built a gaming PC back in 2001 and I've played through it and the sequel probably a dozen times each. Alan Wake is impressing me just as much.

Thanks, really appreciate that. Hope you enjoy Wake :)

[Dennis]

Alan Wake is one case where a downsampled picture looks as good as a native one. I have no idea why, but I guess it has something to do with the proper integrated AA.

I agree, most of the pics of AW that are posted make me go " oh is that downsampled ?" but nope, native AW looks amazing.

ITT: people who may need glasses.

[derFeef]

ITT: people who may need glasses.

I already have glasses :) And no, I don't need better ones.
The difference is really small, you got the be honest here.

[alphaNoid]

I wonder how well received the PC version is now? When announced recently, it seemed that PC forums I visit were all giggling at the attempt for Remedy to do this. But now.. I've seen a turn around. I see people on most forums, including this one.. generally excited!

I loved it on the 360 and this thread makes me want to play through it again. I never did the DLC ... so yea. Hopefully garnered support from both platforms will give us a big sequel.

I know I'm in for the XBLA version coming out soon.

[jim-jam bongs]

I'm not sure I agree about parity, but I will say that AW is like RAGE in that the full-scene image it produces is really attractive which makes it look great at lower resolution. Having said that, it definitely looks better at higher resolution because of all the little background details popping.

I wonder how well received the PC version is now? When announced recently, it seemed that PC forums I visit were all giggling at the attempt for Remedy to do this. But now.. I've seen a turn around. I see people on most forums, including this one.. generally excited!

Not sure what forums those are, but people here have been excited since the announcement.

[Corky]

I already have glasses :) And no, I don't need better ones. The difference is really small, you got the be honest here.

lol, it's dennis :P troll poster no 1.

[jim-jam bongs]

Hey hey hey hey. Hey.

It's not trolling, his posts are always genuine. But he's still Dennis.

[AlStrong]

They wanted it on PC all along :(

At the same time, Remedy is a small dev house, so I'm just glad to see them be able to take the time in polishing the PC version.

[Corky]

Hey hey hey hey. Hey. It's not trolling, his posts are always genuine.

Yeah I know, which baffles me even more sometimes.

@Dennis486 Here you go mr smart pants, two shots - one native one downsampled. The 1% texture sharpness difference is negligible and you'd never discern the difference ( outside of the ssao being affected ) without a side by side comparison.

[jim-jam bongs]

( outside of the ssao being affected for some reason )

SSAO detail is resolution dependent, that's actually what the SS part is all about.

[Corky]

SSAO detail is resolution dependent, that's actually what the SS part is all about.

I see, again though the difference in terms of overall general IQ is absolutely negligible unless again you're doing an arbitrary side by side comparison. ( in the end the visual difference could even be a point of subjectivity, one is slightly darker ). Ironically here I am, calling him a troll and so tragically falling for it as well. Oh well.

[AlStrong]

I think the primary reason American Nightmare runs at native 720p is because of the advent of FXAA. It no longer has MSAA, which was costly as all hell in the first game.

This is just a guess, but it's possible they're using a light pre-pass deferred setup (or something like it) - since it doesn't use multiple render targets, this makes supporting MSAA on DX9 much easier, though they'd have to do per sample shading on the the lighting pass so that edges don't get borked (that would have made it very expensive on 360 since you're effectively shading 1920x1088 on the 960x544 framebuffer).

With fully deferred shading (4 render targets + depth), they'd have to render to a 2x2 times larger set of buffers in order to support 4xMSAA, but that's extremely brute-force... I'd be surprised if they do that considering they support up to 8xAA.

Anyways, back to AW: AN... maybe they use MSAA only on certain render passes. On the lighting pass, they could switch to no AA, and use FXAA to fix up those edges there. At that point, on 360, they'd only have to worry about the tiling/geometry cost of going to a higher res with MSAA.

Just a guess, mind you. Maybe one of the Remedy folk would like to chime in. *ahem* :D

[jim-jam bongs]

I see, again though the difference in terms of overall general IQ is absolutely negligible unless again you're doing an arbitrary side by side comparison. ( in the end the visual difference could even be a point of subjectivity, one is slightly darker ). Ironically here I am, calling him a troll and so tragically falling for it as well. Oh well.

Oh I was just doing my Atticus Finch impersonation, not arguing with you. The interesting thing about FXAA, SSAO etc etc is that they're currently being improperly used in my opinion. I think realistically we'll be sitting on 1080p as the most widely used resolution (once consoles catch up of course) for quite some time, however that doesn't mean we can't get a huge image quality and effect detail boost from upping the internal resolution (i.e. super-sampling).

That's actually what Tim Lotte was saying recently, and unfortunately the thread turned into "lol PC losers, even the godfather of FXAA says that lower resolution is better".

[Corky]

Oh I was just doing my Atticus Finch impersonation, not arguing with you.

I know you're not arguing lol ^^ <3

Guess I'm lucky I missed out on that thread.

[PowerK]

It's only been a couple of days, but they've been incredible with their support, from giving launch commands to addressing practically every issue mentioned in their forums that people have brought up directly with a reply.

Agreed.

[DieH@rd]

Steam capture

[Spookie]

Man using the Flair gun on an LED monitor burns out your retinas. It feels like I'm looking in to a light bulb like a moth. :|

[CaptainAhab]

The signal DLC is such a crazy step down in quality. Reused assets, tiny areas and corridors, and worst of all, you have to highlight every single item with the torch before you can pick it up or interact with it, which reminds me of when I used to make the margins bigger on high school essays to pad them out.

[Dennis]

Framerate is very stable except when a lot of fog and light suddenly emerges all at once.

[Persona7]

I have done some research but have not found a answer.

Is this game getting a retail release in North America?

[leng jai]

Everytime I use the flair gun my FPS dives to about 38.

[jim-jam bongs]

volumetric lights baybay

[squidyj]

Everytime I use the flair gun my FPS dives to about 38.

I could use a flair gun IRL. I'd be all having a dull day and then all of a sudden, PEWPEWPEW

flair!

[plagiarize]

I love episode 4 so much. From the beginning, to the bit everyone goes nuts about, to the dream like end... such a good episode :)

[Messofanego]

This is just a guess, but it's possible they're using a light pre-pass deferred setup (or something like it) - since it doesn't use multiple render targets, this makes supporting MSAA on DX9 much easier, though they'd have to do per sample shading on the the lighting pass so that edges don't get borked (that would have made it very expensive on 360 since you're effectively shading 1920x1088 on the 960x544 framebuffer). With fully deferred shading (4 render targets + depth), they'd have to render to a 2x2 times larger set of buffers in order to support 4xMSAA, but that's extremely brute-force... I'd be surprised if they do that considering they support up to 8xAA. Anyways, back to AW: AN... maybe they use MSAA only on certain render passes. On the lighting pass, they could switch to no AA, and use FXAA to fix up those edges there. At that point, on 360, they'd only have to worry about the tiling/geometry cost of going to a higher res with MSAA. Just a guess, mind you. Maybe one of the Remedy folk would like to chime in. *ahem* :D

o_O What language is this?! The jargon, it burns my ignorant mind!

[squidyj]

o_O What language is this?! The jargon, it burns my ignorant mind!

Rendering, bro.

[les papillons sexuels]

This game is on the precipice of greatness.

There's so many things, small things at that, which had they have been implemented would have made the game into something much more.

Even if they weren't able to implement full open-world-ness, had they at least implemented a metroid-esque way of travel through the areas you've already been too, I think the game would've been 10 fold better. Or maybe take a page from the odst book, with an open-ish hub world which spawns closed off night time sequences. There's just so many small things that you miss, with back tracking those things could be brought to the forefront. The game, even with it's linearity, feels very open, and justly so because of it heritage.

Throw in a bit more enemy variety and combat options (something which nightmare seems to be doing) and I think the game could've have been a perfect action adventure thriller.

[Dusk Golem]

I love episode 4 so much. From the beginning, to the bit everyone goes nuts about, to the dream like end... such a good episode :)

Episode 4 and Episode 8 (The DLC-originally Special-Two "The Writer") are definitely my two favorite episodes in the game. Over time I've grown a strange affinity for Episode 3 though, even though I hated it originally. It's the longest episode and might drag on a bit, but over time I came to appreciate how many cool gameplay moments happen in episode 3 and the trek through it all.

I can't say my opinion until a few days from now, but it'll be interesting to see what you all think of American Nightmare (those who have 360s, of course. Happy to see Wake getting more appreciation).

Even if they weren't able to implement full open-world-ness, had they at least implemented a metroid-esque way of travel through the areas you've already been too, I think the game would've been 10 fold better. Or maybe take a page from the odst book, with an open-ish hub world which spawns closed off night time sequences. There's just so many small things that you miss, with back tracking those things could be brought to the forefront. The game, even with it's linearity, feels very open, and justly so because of it heritage.

Just keep your eyes open for the future.

[Felix Lighter]

As good as the nighttime scenes look, it's the daytime scenes that seemed to have improved the most graphically from the console version. Daytime scenes on the 360 seemed to suffer the most from the compromises they had to make. Now they look just as good as the rest of the game.

I have done some research but have not found a answer. Is this game getting a retail release in North America?

Yes. The retail version will release on March 2nd

[plagiarize]

As good as the nighttime scenes look, it's the daytime scenes that seemed to have improved the most graphically from the console version. Daytime scenes on the 360 seemed to suffer the most from the compromises they had to make. Now they look just as good as the rest of the game.

yeah, somehow the low resolution geometry framebuffer was more obvious during the daytime than at night, where the volumetric lighting and atmospheric effects really shone.

[Xyber]

I am very pleased by the performance I've been getting so far. All settings maxed out at 1920x1080 and I get 55-60 FPS most of the time and dip down to about 45 in some areas. Don't think I've ever seen it go under 40 FPS.

My specs are:
i5 2500k@4,5GHz
6950 2GB unlocked shaders and overclocked to 890MHz
8GB RAM

Really surprised that people with GTX580 only get around 30 FPS in some cases. AMD having better drivers on launch day, am I dreaming?

[mhayze]

Can anyone with a 120hz monitor confirm that the game runs at 120hz, and isn't locked to 60hz (assuming you can adjust your graphics setting appropriately)?

[Alextended]

Can anyone with a 120hz monitor confirm that the game runs at 120hz, and isn't locked to 60hz (assuming you can adjust your graphics setting appropriately)?

Goes to 75hz fine, so it's not locked to 60. Dunno if it would be locked to 75 though.

[scitek]

[Xyber]

Can anyone with a 120hz monitor confirm that the game runs at 120hz, and isn't locked to 60hz (assuming you can adjust your graphics setting appropriately)?

I tried playing with low settings and I got 116 FPS (checking with Fraps), so it is not locked.

[FGMPR]

I've just lost over an hour's worth of play because the Steam came up with a sync error with the steam cloud and my saves. Steam wouldn't let me play the game until I chose to either upload the save on my HDD to the cloud, or use the last cloud save. I chose the wrong option and now I'm back a chapter.

FFS dev's, GIVE US CONTROL OVER OUR OWN SAVE GAMES!!!! Let me save in multiple slots, relying on a single slot has fucked me over twice already and its pissing me off to no end.

[PowerK]

I've just lost over an hour's worth of play because the Steam came up with a sync error with the steam cloud and my saves. Steam wouldn't let me play the game until I chose to either upload the save on my HDD to the cloud, or use the last cloud save. I chose the wrong option and now I'm back a chapter. FFS dev's, GIVE US CONTROL OVER OUR OWN SAVE GAMES!!!! Let me save in multiple slots, relying on a single slot has fucked me over twice already and its pissing me off to no end.

I don't get it. Isn't this end-user error ? Because when STEAM asks you to choose between save files to sync (client vs cloud), it gives you information on date & time of each files. All you need to do is to choose later one.
Also, you can choose not to use STEAM cloud feature. (Just untick it).

[Gez]

Is this Bruce Willis or not?

[FGMPR]

I don't get it. Isn't this end-user error ? Because when STEAM asks you to choose between save files to sync (client vs cloud), it gives you information on date & time of each files. All you need to do is to choose later one. Also, you can choose not to use STEAM cloud feature. (Just untick it).

It didn't give me any date or time that I could see. I'll never agree with having a single save game as its too risky. Someone on this thread already lost hours worth of play and even excluding this latest problem (at the very least, steam should take care of this automatically by using the latest save) I was stuck because the game auto-saved passed a point where I had made an error and I couldn't just go back 5mins previous but had to start the chapter again.

It's a shit system, full-stop.