• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

VRFocus: Epic’s UE4 showdown demo shown on Project Morpheus at 120hz

magnumpy

Member
What's wrong with a 1080p image using barrel distortion?

it effectively reduces the final perceived resolution of the image. so a 1080p image (incidentally the resolution of the screen in the oculus rift DK2) effectively looks like a 720p image for example.

06BNrcw.png


OrNAMGQ.jpg


these images show a before and after example of barrel distortion. the image has to be drawn this way because the VR HMD attempts to wrap the image around your entire FOV. of course the final image as perceived by your eyeballs doesn't look distorted, due to a combination of the barrel distortion+the correction provided by the lenses.
 

vpance

Member
Wonder if Sony's going to be the odd man out with 1x 1080p screen or if they'll switch to the same 2x 1200x1080 panels Vive and Rift are using.

According to impressions, despite Morpheus having the lowest res panel, screen door effect was actually the least pronounced because of the increased pixel density in the center of the display. It's a pretty ingenious solution.
 

Afrikan

Member
The PS4 is ALWAYS going to be outputting the games at 120hz for Morpheus.

be it 30fps, 60fps, or a 120fps game.

How Sony’s PS4 VR headset will bump 60 fps to 120 fps
http://ps4daily.com/2015/03/ps4-vr-headset-120-fps/

Reprojection creates an additional frame between the first and second frame, this way, 60 fps becomes smoother 120 fps. In fact, Sony has confirmed that reprojection will always be on, even if the game runs at 120 fps natively. This is to ensure that it’s always 120 fps no matter what.

Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida said that reporjection won’t require too much from the system to run. As he puts it, “It runs right at the very end, just before the frame is going to be displayed. It interrupts the GPU and does this little bit of work.”

Does this mean the image won’t look as good?

Sony’s reprojection software takes data from the first and second frame, and creates an average of the two, putting it in between. Since the images are moving so fast — 120 times per second — it’s hard to tell the difference. It would be more pronounced if reprojection was used to bump a 30 fps game to 60 fps.

Running at 120 fps natively instead of using reprojection would be preferred, but the current PS4 hardware won’t be up to the task unless image quality is sacrificed. The good news is that reprojection isn’t a novel technology.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
Is any of this useful for a regular 30fps game reprojecting to look 60, no Morpheus? The results on a TV with interpolation can be excellent on something with a rock solid 30fps, of course too much input lag. I remember DF had an article about someone attempting to do interpolation within the engine, I think it was one of the Star Wars games that he got working pretty well with it and no lag but I haven't heard anything for years.

edit: from 2010 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-force-unleashed-60fps-tech-article
Reprojection is different from motion interpolation. Instead of using a double of a frame, reprojection uses prediction from the motion tracking to insert a new frame after the initial 1/60th frame. So you get normal frame, predicted frame, normal frame, predicted frame, etc etc. Similar in concept, but the technique in which it is accomplished is different.

And no, I wouldn't expect to see this in normal 2d gaming. It's been possible before now, but is generally avoided because it causes artifacts. These artifacts are a lesser evil in VR than playing at 60fps, so it's a worthy, and perhaps necessary trade-off given the limited power available.
 

Nzyme32

Member
The PS4 is ALWAYS going to be outputting the games at 120hz for Morpheus.

be it 30fps, 60fps, or a 120fps game.

How Sony’s PS4 VR headset will bump 60 fps to 120 fps
http://ps4daily.com/2015/03/ps4-vr-headset-120-fps/

It will always output at 120hz but you can't do that reasonably from 30fps, there isn't going to be enough data to reasonably create the next frames without significant artifacting. 60fps should be fine with some artifacts. Although reprojection falls down when warping anything that isn't from a stationary position of head motion. Leaning, bending and other translation movements or steps will require building up more of the frame. This could restrict the type of games that get made in order to restrict that possibility - completely depends on how demanding a particular game is and how much leeway they have. Going at 120fps, no problems I'm sure since no reprojection required.

That article suggests they are going with 120fps specifically because they want to reduce sickness, but it is definitely also to allow for 60fps games to function, as native 120fps is going to be really demanding
 

Afrikan

Member
It will always output at 120hz but you can't do that reasonably from 30fps, there isn't going to be enough data to reasonably create the next frames without significant artifacting. 60fps should be fine with some artifacts. Although reprojection falls down when warping anything that isn't from a stationary position of head motion. Leaning, bending and other translation movements or steps will require building up more of the frame. This could restrict the type of games that get made. Going at 120fps, no problems I'm sure since no reprojection required.

well there are alot of next gen type of games that are in development for both Oculus/Vive and PS4.

I don't think there will be a restriction with these types of games. At least the 60fps ones.

edit- I see what you're saying. The Heist game is a native 120hz game and we have footage of how it'll look with the user dojng the movements you are talking about. We'll just have to wait for other footage of games that are running at 60fps. Hopefully the next time someone demos that Eve Valkyrie game, they can try to break it with those movements...so we get a better idea.
 

Nzyme32

Member
well there are alot of next gen type of games that are in development for both Oculus/Vive and PS4.

I don't think there will be a restriction with these types of games. At least the 60fps ones.

All of them will be in development for all platforms - that goes without saying. Only first party or paid exclusivity (which will be few and far between) will lead to a game being on only one platform. Devs will want to get as much money as they can from the small user base. My point about games restriction is that any game demanding quick movement and translation is essentially asking for rendering more of a frame, in effect dragging a 60fps game higher. They either have to restrict movement or knock down graphical fidelity to compensate so that there is a good enough buffer to maintain it

I can't help but think relying so heavily on reprojection will lead to some weird artifacts in Morpheus games.

It is similarly used as Async Timewarp for Oculus, and I'd guess Valve do the same, but they in no way rely on it since it is going to effect the experience quite a bit. I have no idea on how stable it is or whether it effects presence though. However the fact that the others are not relying on using it suggests there are some more critical issues. For something where you are stationary it's a great solution - cockpit stuff, sat down on a swivel chair, those will be fine. Moving or leaning will get messy
 

Seanspeed

Banned
well there are alot of next gen type of games that are in development for both Oculus/Vive and PS4.

I don't think there will be a restriction with these types of games. At least the 60fps ones.
I think he just means certain movements can highlight the downsides of reprojection(causing extra nasty artifacts), so devs would want to avoid making games that use these sorts of movements - creating something of a limitation. I'm not 100% sure on this myself, but it's plausible.

edit- I see what you're saying. The Heist game is a native 120hz game and we have footage of how it'll look with the user dojng the movements you are talking about. We'll just have to wait for other footage of games that are running at 60fps. Hopefully the next time someone demos that Eve Valkyrie game, they can try to break it with those movements...so we get a better idea.
The Heist is 60fps. The only true 120fps demo was the little miniatures thing.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
It is similarly used as Async Timewarp for Oculus, and I'd guess Valve do the same, but they in no way rely on it since it is going to effect the experience quite a bit. I have no idea on how stable it is or whether it effects presence though. However the fact that the others are not relying on using it suggests there are some more critical issues. For something where you are stationary it's a great solution - cockpit stuff, sat down on a swivel chair, those will be fine. Moving or leaning will get messy
Oculus are doing it on GearVR, but it is not currently possible on PC VR, largely due to the lack of low level access. They are using other forms of timewarp, but not asynchronous timewarp/reprojection like this. It's definitely an advantage that Sony have with using their own machine to power their own headset. Gives them a level of control that does not currently exist on PC. But it will soon. The hope is that Windows 10 and things like DX12 and Vulkan will give the level of control needed to do async timewarp, so it shouldn't be too long before it exists on PC too.
 

Nzyme32

Member
Oculus are doing it on GearVR, but it is not currently possible on PC VR, largely due to the lack of low level access. They are using other forms of timewarp, but not asynchronous timewarp/reprojection like this. It's definitely an advantage that Sony have with using their own machine to power their own headset. Gives them a level of control that does not currently exist on PC. But it will soon. The hope is that Windows 10 and things like DX12 and Vulkan will give the level of control needed to do async timewarp, so it shouldn't be too long before it exists on PC too.

Ah, thanks for the info
 
Question Gaf, does anyone know if Morpheus games can be played with a standard dualshock 4. I wouldn't mind being more immersed in a game without having to do all the gimmicky moving around and stuff.
 
Looks fantastic. Really think Morpheus could be something really big on PS4 and console gaming in general. Mass market penetration might follow.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
Question Gaf, does anyone know if Morpheus games can be played with a standard dualshock 4. I wouldn't mind being more immersed in a game without having to do all the gimmicky moving around and stuff.
DS4 will definitely be one of the targeted control methods for Morpheus. But some games/experiences will require Move. No getting around it. And there is nothing gimmicky about motion controls. They are highly suited to VR, so it will be a different experience than anything you've had with them before. Don't write them off so easily or you'll miss out.
 

rjinaz

Member
DS4 will definitely be one of the targeted control methods for Morpheus. But some games/experiences will require Move. No getting around it. And there is nothing gimmicky about motion controls. They are highly suited to VR, so it will be a different experience than anything you've had with them before. Don't write them off so easily or you'll miss out.

Exactly this. I hated motion controls last generation with a passion, but I'm looking forward to using them with VR, they really help with interaction and therefore immersion.

That being said, I imagine most of the VR games I opt to play will still be with a traditional controller possibly until somebody comes out with something that just works better and is more comfortable/convenient than the controller.
 
DS4 will definitely be one of the targeted control methods for Morpheus. But some games/experiences will require Move. No getting around it. And there is nothing gimmicky about motion controls. They are highly suited to VR, so it will be a different experience than anything you've had with them before. Don't write them off so easily or you'll miss out.
Thanks info, its just I am so tired after working 10 hour shifts so when I turn on the game I don't want to have to move so much to play it.
 

Kinthalis

Banned
Oculus are doing it on GearVR, but it is not currently possible on PC VR, largely due to the lack of low level access. They are using other forms of timewarp, but not asynchronous timewarp/reprojection like this. It's definitely an advantage that Sony have with using their own machine to power their own headset. Gives them a level of control that does not currently exist on PC. But it will soon. The hope is that Windows 10 and things like DX12 and Vulkan will give the level of control needed to do async timewarp, so it shouldn't be too long before it exists on PC too.

Actually, I'm pretty sure Nvidia is already doing this, though I'm not sure if the tech is out in the wild yet for VR devs. But Nvidia cards at least are capable of interpolating frames based on direct motion feedback form the VR headset.
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
jmga said:
It is just Asynchronous Time Warp misused to duplicate frames.
Heh.

camac002 said:
Is any of this useful for a regular 30fps game reprojecting to look 60, no Morpheus?
Simply put - yes, timewarp is just a very simplified method of doing what that StarWars techdemo did. That said, latency implications tend to be more complex than that article would have you believe, and camera being your head in VR has implications that don't scale well to interpolating larger time-deltas.
 
Is "Reprojection" pretty much motion interpolation or is this something interesting?

Not sure, but I thought typical interpolation added a metric ton of latency. Whatever method this is reduces it a ton apparently.

Sort of off topic but it seems like svvr just blew past with no real news. Or at least on gaf anyway.
 

Javin98

Banned
I've found this PDF which describes some of the optimisations and stereo improvements made for the Showdown demo, including those lovely volumetric effects.

http://static.oculus.com/connect/slides/OculusConnect_Epic_UE4_Integration_and_Demos.pdf

Hopefully this'll help coerce developers away from billboard particles in all kinds of games.

edit: I'm still salty we lost this after Drake's Fortune:

UnchartedExplosion.gif

Volumetric or no, I fucking hated that explosion effect. Good riddance.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
I think the concept of temporal reprojection is one of the most important rendering tricks that has been devised by the computer graphics industry/community in the last decade or more.

And of course Carmack is (probably) the one to have invented it (he described it publically first anyway).

Taking a late latency frame and then distorting the frame with available data creates a feeling of responsiveness that is far more important than the small distortions created by the technique... as long as that distortion is small and consistent enough.

Which Sony's take is - using it to create in between frames while you wait for a new frame to render is a genius way and probably the most effective implementation of the technique to date.

It simultaneously solves latency issues and hardware requirements - consistently rendering at 30fps for 120fps low latency response is a way broader and more applicable approach than rendering a full 90fps and using a bit of async time warp to pick up the slack.

Moreover, we're seeing this temporal reprojection technique used by Microsoft and combining it with the cloud and prediction modelling for some really interesting results.

I also think that this is the true pathway to wireless HMD. Send visual data (either from a local PC - better reliability, more control; or a cloud system) to processor equipped system ala Gear VR, and use the on board processors to handle reprojection. It'll really be the pathway to the future of VR; one device that works in concert with other technologies as our own personal point of interface to the information/virtual world.

Because the alternative for low latency wireless right now in the 1ms range is expensive. Like 2k for the commercial product expensive, and it of course doesn't have the kind of bandwidth you'd need for really compelling VR (at least not without reprojection).
 

hesido

Member
It should help silence some critics that we'll only see PS2 quality graphics with VR on PS4 after the news of Oculus Rift's VR requirements.

Well, it's not interactive. Sure you can look around through it but there's nothing more than that. My GS6 with GearVR has some impressive 3D videos as well.

I do think the games on Morpheus will look good for what's driving them though. A game designed entirely around VR meaning the rendering techniques and the way effects are added will have the biggest effect on the quality of the graphics. If games are built around new VR techniques to focus on performance, we could see some really awesome games.

I know you are not entirely downplaying the achievement here, but equating this with VR 3d videos?
 

Seanspeed

Banned
I know you are not entirely downplaying the achievement here, but equating this with VR 3d videos?
Not a completely fair comparison no, but people should definitely take into account that you can definitely do more with a barely interactive tech demo than you can with a fleshed out game.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
That's not Sony's 'take' on it, that's what asynchronous timewarp is.

Here is a great article by an Oculus employee recently explaining the technique, its advantages and drawbacks:

https://www.oculus.com/blog/asynchronous-timewarp/

Nah, async time warp is the oculus 'brand name' and implementation for temporal reprojection (because you notice Sony's and even other players avoiding the name time-warp).

Oculus' implementation is primarily to use real frames and use async time warp to reduce latency between movement and visual perception.

Maybe inbetween frames is a part of the Oculus SDK - but Sony's approach is explicitly to use inbetween frames by default.

The difference is significant when we're talking about the kind of rendering loads expected from higher end VR applications.

And yeah, that is a great article for summarizing the limitations of temporal reprojection/timewarp. You'll note that the article mentions that variable frame rates are worse with timewarp than stable framerates (and using it to double or even triple/quadruple frame rates).
 

Man

Member
Not a completely fair comparison no, but people should definitely take into account that you can definitely do more with a barely interactive tech demo than you can with a fleshed out game.
I believe this barely interactive demo was running on PC using Sli Titans last time displayed.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
Nah, async time warp is the oculus 'brand name' and implementation for temporal reprojection (because you notice Sony's and even other players avoiding the name time-warp).

Oculus' implementation is primarily to use real frames and use async time warp to reduce latency between movement and visual perception.

Maybe inbetween frames is a part of the Oculus SDK - but Sony's approach is explicitly to use inbetween frames by default.

The difference is significant when we're talking about the kind of rendering loads expected from higher end VR applications.

And yeah, that is a great article for summarizing the limitations of temporal reprojection/timewarp. You'll note that the article mentions that variable frame rates are worse with timewarp than stable framerates (and using it to double or even triple/quadruple frame rates).
Sony are using it to more of an extreme, but the technique is the same. Just because Sony calls it something else doesn't mean it's different. You can use it in different ways and we'll see async timewarp being used as Sony does on PC eventually. It will not be called something different.

I get what you're saying, though.

I believe this barely interactive demo was running on PC using Sli Titans last time displayed.
Single 980, and that had to power 2160x1200 at a solid 90fps.
 

UrbanRats

Member
Probably been answered before, but, can't they use this reprojection thing in like, Bloodborne, so i don't have to suffer that atrocious input-lag/30fps slow response, whenever i dodge an attack? i'd take some artifacts for a response as good as Dark Souls 2 at 60fps on PC, ffs.

EDiT: Yup, saw your post, Sean, ok i'd probably take some artifacts, again, to have a decent response time in an action game like Bloodborne.
it's really painful to go form DkS2 on PC or Bayo 2 on WiiU, to Bloodborne, in that sense.
 

Man

Member
Killzone Shadowfall (PS4 launch) used temporal reprojection to achieve 60fps in MP. Took some time (weeks) before it was discovered to be a technique. With 60fps of true source- frames: up-projected to 120hz should be pretty impressive.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
Probably been answered before, but, can't they use this reprojection thing in like, Bloodborne, so i don't have to suffer that atrocious input-lag/30fps slow response, whenever i dodge an attack? i'd take some artifacts for a response as good as Dark Souls 2 at 60fps on PC, ffs.

VR reprojection is not suitable for HDTV gaming. First, reprojection is great for rotating head. Everything else causes issues [after all, reprojection is just taking of the last frame and moving it a bit across the screen].

Secondly, reprojecting the frame on HDTV will cause appearance of blank [black] space on the screen. This is fine for VR because user can see only small part of display [rest is not visible because lenses are focused on centers of SBS areas], but on HDTV that would be unacceptably to many.

But, there is a way to artificially increase the framerate of Boodborne. Killzone Shadowfall used an interesting technique to double their framerate for MP. They've created artificial frames by rendering one full frame, and then creating new one by taking interlaced frames from last full frame and procedurally creating pixel colors for the rest of the lines. That way, they created more responsive MP mode that nobody noticed was "faking it" for more than half a year.


How well does the actual technique work though? This sounds somewhat close to "every game is 1080p" ...
It works, but it has its problems. Sony mentioned them, but [rightfully] they deem them "acceptable".
 

Zaptruder

Banned
Sony are using it to more of an extreme, but the technique is the same. Just because Sony calls it something else doesn't mean it's different. You can use it in different ways and we'll see async timewarp being used as Sony does on PC eventually. It will not be called something different.

I get what you're saying, though.


Single 980, and that had to power 2160x1200 at a solid 90fps.

It's a semantic quibble. Kinda like the difference between gsync, freesync and variable refresh rate. Yeah, they all have root in the same idea, but there are differences in the specifics of implementation. From what I understand, Oculus has a preferred way of doing things... but their SDK seems like it should be flexible enough to allow for other approaches if developers want to delve into it. At least that's what I hope.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
It isn't a problem since there is no reason to not scale to other hardware since there is no minimum, only a recommended spec. All games and apps will not have the exact same requirements, but can recommend similar specs.

Oculus have already talked of some applications running on integrated graphics, and SteamVR specs so far have minimum settings at TBA while recommended is 970

Palmer Luckey: "We would love to get minimum specs out there, but every piece of software is dramatically different. We have some of our own first-party applications running on integrated graphics, but publishing that as a min-spec would be pretty misleading for anyone looking to play games".


I thought Oculus published a minimum spec after that quote? 2xUSB3.0, HDMi with specific features, GTX970 or higher? At least for games.

Scaling to other hardware at all levels (including integrated) is risky on PC if the developer cannot guarantee framerates being locked. I wonder if oculus or valve will have tools that allow developers to benchmark the host system and set graphics levels accordingly?

Stable framerate across so many PC hardware combinations and the plethora of graphics options (both in-game and driver level) is probably the biggest challenge to PC VR IMO.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
It's a semantic quibble. Kinda like the difference between gsync, freesync and variable refresh rate. Yeah, they all have root in the same idea, but there are differences in the specifics of implementation. From what I understand, Oculus has a preferred way of doing things... but their SDK seems like it should be flexible enough to allow for other approaches if developers want to delve into it. At least that's what I hope.
I'm sure by the time async timewarp is possible on PC on a widespread level, the Oculus SDK will have evolved to a point where any and all of this potential will be possible to play around with.

I thought Oculus published a minimum spec after that quote?
Just a recommended spec.
 

bj00rn_

Banned
Just as I predicted... it's going to take ages to get rid of 2D warping once devs realise they don't really need to go native when they have a crutch to lean on. I hope this isn't also going to lead to a warp-bonanza on other platforms.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
I'm struggling to believe that the PS4 will be able to deliver that quality of graphics in a real game given how it struggles to deliver a solid 30fps on newer next gen multiplatform games.

Maybe the devs will sprinkle magic pixie dust on the compiler.
 

kami_sama

Member
I've found this PDF which describes some of the optimisations and stereo improvements made for the Showdown demo, including those lovely volumetric effects.

http://static.oculus.com/connect/slides/OculusConnect_Epic_UE4_Integration_and_Demos.pdf

Hopefully this'll help coerce developers away from billboard particles in all kinds of games.

edit: I'm still salty we lost this after Drake's Fortune:

UnchartedExplosion.gif

Wow, the document you linked is great. It's awesome to see game development like this.
 
I'm struggling to believe that the PS4 will be able to deliver that quality of graphics in a real game given how it struggles to deliver a solid 30fps on newer next gen multiplatform games.

Maybe the devs will sprinkle magic pixie dust on the compiler.

That unreal engine 4 image does look like something the ps4 would have problems with
even running at 30fps given its 1080p. But we will see this E3, personally i think VR will be
interesting when next gen happens. Given what Oculus rift is saying for recommended specs.
 

virtualS

Member
Very encouraging news, especially re UE4 optimisation on PS4.

Doesn't VR prove that people who claim to be unable to perceive the difference between 30 and 60 fps have no idea what they're talking about?

Clearly human vision runs up to 120Hz or higher if that's needed to produce convincing VR.
 
Top Bottom