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Watch_Dogs original graphical effects (E3 2012/13) found in game files [PC]

DataGhost

Member
Wow if it really was that simple, why'd it take so long to unlock/discover it? Not to discredit the person that found it, thanks to him we found out about it.
 
The is the most embarrassing thing I've seen haopen to an already released game in years.

And if makes me really fucking angry that I about the PS4 version because remote play seemed more valuable to me than a resolution and AA boost. If I could have gone back I'd have bought it on PC for this mod.

Not to mention you could have used steam in home streaming as substitute as well
 
and the response!?

nmmdrY0.png

Phil go home, you're drunk.
 
Just tried the mod and to be honest, it's not for me. The night stuff is very cool, but the game does not look any better during the day - possibly a bit worse because you have to turn DoF off completely and some of the reflections on the water and stuff didn't look quite right to me. I don't think anything can help this game's flat, washed out look in bright sunlight. My 770 couldn't handle the ultra textures either, sadly.

The game already looked pretty cool at night anyway, so I'd rather just keep it as it is. Those headlight shadows were nice though.
 

HRose

Banned
You can bet that "Ubisoft's answer" to this will be patching out those files.

That's the patch you're waiting for, isn't it?
 
For those wanting to know how a lesser system does...

AMD FX6300@ 3.8ghz HD7870 24GB ram (irrelevant, but just posting for completion)

Settings


Have shadows on med because it gives me the greatest performance without loss of visual quality IMO.


Before


After

I saw zero change to my framerate. It's during the day though, I'll try and get another set of shots at night. And yes, it feels like there is less stuttering when I'm driving, but I'm not noticing much of a change in my actual FPS so it may be in my head.

And like others have said, the current DoF effect is all over the place... If you sit still it randomly shifts back and forth between closer and further depth, rather disorientating... but it's just a simple click away from being disabled... which I'll likely do since leaving DoF on contributes to my motion sickness.

A continuation from this, the same area but at night...

Before

After.

Again, zero loss to framerate even on my middest of mid-low machines. That pic sees a pretty huge improvement IMO, but what it doesn't show is the headlights bugging out like they did with the mod on fairly frequently.
 

Totobeni

An blind dancing ho
This remind me of Dark Souls 2 downgrade and removed lightning effects. but seems like From programmers didn't kept that in the PC code. It's just bizarre that a studio will removed these features (or hide them) instead of offer them in the settings for the PC version.
 

Borman

Member
For the e3 strings, that isn't unusual in game development. They usually employ a bunch of dirty hacks that they have no intention of keeping as-is just to get the game to look how they want it to look. Heck, Star Wars Battlefront III had a special "e3 roll" function that made rolling look a bit better, but in the comments of the code it admitted it was temporary.
 

flkraven

Member
Now that we've found code literally labelled "E3_<graphic>:1", is this the industries smoking gun with regards to bullshots and fake previews?

For years we've heard publishers and developers talk about how their previews were accurate representation of their work, and that they did everything in their power to release a product that is exactly as advertised. Meanwhile, we pull back the curtain to find switches labelled 'bullshit ultra mode' right in the code, clearly proving that they had no plans to include this representation in their final product.
 
I don't have screenshots, but chiming in with another mid-range PC that can play this mod with no performance loss. FX8350 at 4.4ish, 2GB R9 270X. With all-ultra settings it ran perfectly until it had to load a new area; dropping textures back down to high as they were before solved that. Hoping to be able to play with everything on ultra when the new version is out.
 
Lets make this more simple for everyone:

1402943413586ngopq.jpg

They actually called it E3 Rain and Theatre?

It can't mean what it looks like...can it?

Yup.

It started of with those few values being changed to '1', and now TheWorse has dug up a few more effects by unpacking the files.

wow haha, I think this is worthy of its own separate thread aside from the mod. To actually have the code switches literally named "E3" this and that. And flip a switch, you get E3 demo quality that disappeared at retail. To see it so clearly, that they have on and off for "E3 quality" but didn't use it, bizarre and hilarious. This image needs its own thread.

Even code-illiterates can understand this image. Discussion should branch from this mod to "Why isn't there "E3" after Ultra in the retail settings?"

haha it really says E3 wow that takes it over the top into Funtown.
 

Principate

Saint Titanfall
This remind me of Dark Souls 2 downgrade and removed lightning effects. but seems like From programmers didn't kept that in the PC code. It's just bizarre that a studio will removed these features (or hide them) instead of offer them in the settings for the PC version.

The obvious answer is they didn't want to QA test because hey that would cost more money,
 

xXBaconXx

Banned
The headlight shadows are a really nice addition, too bad enbling them more or less breaks the headlights. They flicker constantly.

I also like that there's fog in the morning now.
 

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Wow if it really was that simple, why'd it take so long to unlock/discover it? Not to discredit the person that found it, thanks to him we found out about it.

Probably because no one suspected that it would actually be that simple, and that Ubisoft had actually done all of the work only to have it deactivated and "hidden". Also this requires unpacking the files, so it wasn't as simple as just opening a text file in a directory and changing variables like Microsoft Flight Simulator.

But once unpacked, yeah it's that simple.
 

jacobeid

Banned
It can't mean what it looks like...can it?

It probably does which makes me even more angry at Ubi. I'm glad that I never buy their games at full price. They don't deserve it in comparison to studios like CDPR or intelligent Systems (I know that Ubi is a publisher, not a Dev).
 

Zomba13

Member
Good thing GAF doesn't have E3 settings in the code. Don't want to flip that on and have GAF down for half the day.
 

CamHostage

Member
This remind me of Dark Souls 2 downgrade and removed lightning effects. but seems like From programmers didn't kept that in the PC code. It's just bizarre that a studio will removed these features (or hide them) instead of offer them in the settings for the PC version.

It makes sense to me why they would have excluded them, if it didn't test right in their QA process. And also, they could have at any time released a patch to change the graphics to enable some of the more advanced techniques (and still can, it's all in the code, they could be back in the lab testing a patch that gets the parameters to a point that display is consistent enough to release wide and just got beat to it... well, maybe.)

But it is bizarre that Ultra graphics uses none of these features as options (they could have had an "Experimental" graphics setting that lets PC users use this un-QA'ed graphic effects set.) And it's hard to say that it was a QA when just toggling it on is working OK for a good number of users.
 

rashbeep

Banned
Probably because no one suspected that it would actually be that simple, and that Ubisoft had actually done all of the work only to have it deactivated and "hidden". Also this requires unpacking the files, so it wasn't as simple as just opening a text file in a directory and changing variables like Microsoft Flight Simulator.

But once unpacked, yeah it's that simple.

This. I'm sure at least everyone on here (myself included) never imagined these effects still being hidden away in the game's files. It's something that's not generally seen.
 

MarkV

Member
Are you guys even trying the mod? It's pretty clear why a lot of these things were disabled.
I do like the bloom, though.

Anyways props to TheWorse.
 
Did he change the colors too? That after pic looks really desaturated.

Not sure if the mod changes saturation or anything else, but the colors are certainly different... but it appears to only be on objects with lighting on them. Could be a post processing effect, I'm not sure.

Your screenshots always hurt my eyes they're so blurry.

An effect of the current implementation of DoF in the mod. Worse is that it goes in and out of focus closer and further away, seemingly at random. An update to the mod is supposed to fix that.
 

Jibbed

Member
Not sure if the mod changes saturation or anything else, but the colors are certainly different... but it appears to only be on objects with lighting on them. Could be a post processing effect, I'm not sure.

It's to do with the fog effects, I think.
 
"Fix" reflections? There is nothing wrong with them. It would take an extreme amount of extra resources to fully render a relfection in real time. It's just not possible. This is an open world game.

Duke Nukem 3D did it in 96 and that's totally not the point. It's how goddamn fucking awful the implementation is.
 

Handy Fake

Member
While I like the Bokeh effect in this picture, it kind of gives the impression that the hero is super short sighted - which would make sense since he looks at his smartphone like 90% of the time

Or crossing a busy road in the rain like Mr fucking Magoo.
 

ChapaNDJ

Banned
And kadzait got banned for trolling TheWorse's thread claiming he stole his work. Shit was hilarious.

He's got what was coming to him.
He also got banned from 3DGames. That being said, he was an annoyance and didn't contribute anything at all.
Not to mention that he polluted every thread where he posted.
So yeah, good fucking riddance.
 

Dennis

Banned
While I like the Bokeh effect in this picture, it kind of gives the impression that the hero is super short sighted - which would make sense since he looks at his smartphone like 90% of the time

In that screenshot the DoF is too much, absolutely. But on the darker screenshot I posted on the last page, we are getting close to a level of DoF that makes the game more real/cinematic.

If the effect can be toned down and not shift so awkwardly - it will be a good addition to the graphics.

These two look pretty good to me:

watch_dogs2014-06-161bffzn.jpg


watch_dogs2014-06-1615bbzj.jpg
 

AkuMifune

Banned
Wooooow gaming journalism wtf.

GAF always looking to start a witch hunt. This isn't like Ubi intentionally hid something and you're not giving the modders the credit they deserve for creating all these new assets.

OH WAIT.

Yeah, Games Journalism missing the point again. But where else would they get all that neat Ubi merch for free?
 
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