Support NeoGAF

[chadskin]

In an attempt to squash launch controversy developers have been increasingly open about rendering resolutions and BioWare is no exception. As the developer revealed, Dragon Age runs at 900p on Xbox One and 1080p on PlayStation 4. The console versions both appear to use the same post-process anti-aliasing technique. As expected, this looks significantly cleaner when paired with the native 1080p image of the PS4 release, but still works well enough on Xbox One. Both versions also utilise HBAO and implement decent anisotropic filtering, though the lower resolution on Xbox One does leave textures looking a touch blurrier.

...

Performance-wise, both consoles do a good job of delivering a stable, consistent frame-rate but it is the Xbox One version that delivers the smoothest experience overall. Frame-rate drops are extremely rare, only appearing in the most extreme circumstances - for all intents and purposes we're looking at a locked 30fps. Unfortunately, the higher resolution on PS4 comes with a catch in the form of noticeable performance dips during strenuous sequences. During a normal run of play, the game does a good job of maintaining the target frame-rate but frame-rate faltered sometimes during battle sequences and sometimes even traversal across the landscape. Both versions use an adaptive v-sync setup that results in torn frames when the 30fps performance target isn't met, but thankfully, torn frames are contained mostly within the top 25 per cent of the screen, with less of a serious impact on image quality than you might expect.

Verdict:

The future of BioWare games is looking bright indeed. Dragon Age fans should be pleased by the combination of Inquisition's excellent visuals and stable performance, while its gameplay is receiving plenty of plaudits. From a technical perspective, even with the underwhelming cut-scene performance, Dragon Age: Inquisition is still the most optimised BioWare experience we've enjoyed on a console. Thankfully the firm has acknowledged these issues (which are mostly a concern for PC owners) and is apparently investigating solutions. Considering that much of the problem appears to be tied to animation rather than frame-rate, however, we're very curious to see what they come up with.

In terms of final recommendations, it's clear that if you have the muscle, the PC version is going to provide the best experience - but the console versions are still very impressive. If you don't mind minor frame-rate dips and feel that image quality is most important, it's easy to recommend the PS4 version. However, those looking for the most stable experience should instead opt for the Xbox One version. It's clear that neither console version is quite perfect but the level of graphical accomplishment and performance are an enormous improvement over every other BioWare console title we've played.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-dragon-age-inquisition-face-off

 

[Noobcraft]

Cool. Expected the PC win but between the two consoles it looks like everyone should be happy. 900P locked 30 (XB1) and 1080p mostly locked 30 (PS4) is great.

The judder in the cutscenes was pretty bad in the trial I played.

 

[adamsapple]

Visuals PS4
Performance Xbox One

its becoming something of a trend.

 

[Matush]

How does it run on PS3, is it "slideshow" like ME3?

 

[Kyoufu]

I think the only time I noticed frame drops on the PS4 version was in the area with constant rain, which itself was pretty minor.

 

[BeeDog]

Disappointing showing for PS4

 

[CozMick]

Goddamn this generation is gonna be over before it even begins.

900/1080p. sub 30 frames. Adaptive v-sync. Urgh.

I'd thought we'd see the back of this shit last gen and we're only a year in :/

 

[Elios83]

I'm playing the PS4 version and it's absolutely smooth and great looking considering the cross gen nature.

 

[adamsapple]

Goddamn this generation is gonna be over before it even begins.

900/1080p. sub 30 frames. Adaptive v-sync. Urgh.

I'd thought we'd see the back of this shit last gen and we're only a year in :/

Look at it this way.

This generation, developers are pushing equivalent to the highest settings available on current generation of PC's on these consoles from year 1.

 

[CozMick]

Visuals PS4
Performance Xbox One

its becoming something of a trend.

Please name them.

 

[SgtCobra]

Visuals PS4
Performance Xbox One

its becoming something of a trend.

Yeah if it does (it isn't yet) I think it's time for me to become PC only when it comes to multiplats. If there is no clear winner on the consoles then there is no need for me to buy multiplatform games for it, I don't want to sacrifice something to get something else.

Still, congrats to BioWare for delivering a decent experience on consoles (tech wise)

 

[Mr E.]

Surprised the Xbone has a more stable frame rate! Weird.

 

[Marvel]

I'll take better fps performance for sure.

 

[CozMick]

Look at it this way.

This generation, developers are pushing equivalent to the highest settings available on current generation of PC's on these consoles from year 1.

So we ain't gonna see uncharted to uncharted 3 type visual jumps this gen.

I'm seriously disappointed

 

[Kezen]

This generation, developers are pushing equivalent to the highest settings available on current generation of PC's on these consoles from year 1.

That's not true at all. Many AAA releases are not a match for PC's "max settings" even disregarding AA.
Dragon Age, Far Cry 4, AC Unity, Shadow of Mordor to name a few.

 

[Fliesen]

Surprised the Xbone has a more stable frame rate! Weird.

how is it weird
it needs to push 31% less pixels.

if the cutback in visuals (in this case, resolution) is bigger than the disadvantage in computational power, the Xbone will offer a better frame rate.

 

[Guile]

Look at it this way.

This generation, developers are pushing equivalent to the highest settings available on current generation of PC's on these consoles from year 1.

honestly, it would be kind of weird if they weren't. i mean, these consoles are barely a year old, if they cant even push these kind of graphics then what was the point of even releasing new consoles?

 

[Chobel]

Surprised the Xbone has a more stable frame rate! Weird.

Yeah, I definitely didn't see that coming at all, especially after this tweet

 

[dampflokfreund]

Visuals PS4
Performance Xbox One

its becoming something of a trend.

They should find a sweetspot between performance and visuals on the PS4. 900p to 1080p needs more power than the more powerful GPU can output. Maybe 1728x975?

 

[Mr E.]

how is it weird
it needs to push 31% less pixels.

if the cutback in visuals (in this case, resolution) is bigger than the disadvantage in computational power, the Xbone will offer a better frame rate.

I was expecting the more powerful console to do 1080p no troubles.

 

[adamsapple]

honestly, it would be kind of weird if they weren't. i mean, these consoles are barely a year old, if they cant even push these kind of graphics then what was the point of even releasing new consoles?

I meant it in comparison to what we were seeing in the year-1 of PS3/360. A lot of people were comparing games to uprezzed Xbox 1 games. This generation's been better about that.

 

[Always-honest]

From what i've seen, the PS4 version looks really good and clean. Are the framedrops that much more than on the One?

I think the wording in these face-offs is a bit peculiar.

 

[Kuro]

They should find a sweetspot between performance and visuals on the PS4. 900p to 1080p needs more power than the more powerful GPU can output. Maybe 1728x975?

It sounds to me more like they're just treating PS4 as an after thought while they focus more on the Xbox One to try to get it running well with weaker hardware and esram.

 

[Zophar]

So a 1FPS difference is worth claiming that the XB1 trades substantially higher IQ for stronger performance? How many of these nominal differences in framerate are DF going to make hay over before their bizarre power parity narrative starts looking silly?

 

[WordsintheWater]

From what i've seen, the PS4 version looks really good and clean. Are the framedrops that much more than on the One?

I think the wording in these face-offs is a bit peculiar.

I noticed some frame drops in the PS4 version, nothing that lasted more than a second and it occurs so sparingly that I would rather have better image quality all the time and suffer a few frame drops every once in a while then have worse image quality all the time.

EDIT: In about 7 hours of playtime I noticed a frame drop about 3 times

 

[EGM1966]

So technically the best DA yet but still not 100% smooth. Still, sounds s lot better than their often shaky performance last gen.

What is if this gen with stuttering cutscenes though?

 

[Elios83]

So a 1FPS difference is worth claiming that the XB1 trades substantially higher IQ for stronger performance? How many of these nominal differences in framerate are DF going to make hay over before their bizarre power parity narrative starts looking silly?

They said in the article it's a minor thing, they are nitpicking to find differences that's all. Game is very smooth on PS4 and I'm 10 hours in.

 

[UnrealEck]

It looks like tesselation is abscent from the PC screenshots in their comparisons. Probably more things too.

edit: seems trees aren't tessellated, just plants (maybe more too)

 

[MrMatt555]

How I feel it goes down with sony:
Dev: we optimized the game to run at 1080p like you requested. However,if you would hear me out as to why I would recommend 900p...
Sony: no we need 1080p on all our games.
Dev: I understand but the game would perform bette.....
SONY: *throws money at them* go away you puppet.

 

[alexandros]

This is a dark10x article, right? Excellent work! As a PC guy I highly appreciate the in-depth analysis of the most important settings and the performance impressions from both low end and high end rigs. You even mentioned stuff like ini tweaks and the DRM speculation. I am genuinely impressed by the amount of care you put into this article. Again, nice work.

 

[dead monkey uk]

From what i've seen, the PS4 version looks really good and clean. Are the framedrops that much more than on the One?

I think the wording in these face-offs is a bit peculiar.

If you watch the DF video, the PS4 version is often sitting at 28-29fps when the Xbox One stays at 30fps. It's a bit disappointing that I am already playing games on the PS4 that are struggling to hold 30fps.

 

[Special C]

How I feel it goes down with sony:
Dev: we optimized the game to run at 1080p like you requested. However,if you would hear me out as to why I would recommend 900p...
Sony: no we need 1080p on all our games.
Dev: I understand but the game would perform bette.....
SONY: *throws money at them* go away you puppet.

I think this is overly dramatic but there is some truth to it. 1080p has become a bullet point this gen. The PS4 has the juice to get to 1080p but not without some sacrifices. People are overestimating the PS4's power advantage.

In this case it's not so much of a difference and would probably prefer the PS4 version if I had one.

 

[Elios83]

How I feel it goes down with sony:
Dev: we optimized the game to run at 1080p like you requested. However,if you would hear me out as to why I would recommend 900p...
Sony: no we need 1080p on all our games.
Dev: I understand but the game would perform bette.....
SONY: *throws money at them* go away you puppet.

I certainly wouldn't prefer to stick with a lower resolution to fix sporadic drops that can only be noticed on a graph.
In this game 1080p is the perfect choice for the PS4.

 

[Kayant]

How I feel it goes down with sony:
Dev: we optimized the game to run at 1080p like you requested. However,if you would hear me out as to why I would recommend 900p...
Sony: no we need 1080p on all our games.
Dev: I understand but the game would perform bette.....
SONY: *throws money at them* go away you puppet.

Joke post?

OT - without watching the video the difference in performance doesn't sound much and a good trend for much higher IQ

 

[CozMick]

So a 1FPS difference is worth claiming that the XB1 trades substantially higher IQ for stronger performance? How many of these nominal differences in framerate are DF going to make hay over before their bizarre power parity narrative starts looking silly?

1 frame difference is huge. 900 to 1080p is minimal. Oh and foliage doesn't ruin the fun this gen.

 

[Dizzy]

Yeah, I definitely didn't see that coming at all, especially after this tweet

30fps with minor dips is a console standard. There are far more games like this than there are console games that do 30fps locked.

They could hit 1080p 30 with a few minor framerate dips on ps4 and they went for it.

Xbone must have had sone pretty major dips, so they lowered the resolution accordingly.

I'd say they were right to do this. I want games to display my tvs native resolution. A few minor dips again is something I'm used to. Im not expecting an absolutely locked 30 fps in videogames are they can be variable in the amount of action on screen.

However if we were getting performance like say...crysis 2 or far cry 3 on ps3 where it dips below 20 and and seems to constantly run in the low to mid 20s range then I would want lower resolution.

 

[MrMatt555]

Joke post?

OT - without watching the video the difference in peeformance doesn't sound much and a good trend for much higher IQ

It's meant to be satirical but i honestly think Sony doesn't care if the frame rate hiccups. They're gonna ride this "we always do 1080p" train till the wheels fall off.

 

[alexandros]

How I feel it goes down with sony:
Dev: we optimized the game to run at 1080p like you requested. However,if you would hear me out as to why I would recommend 900p...
Sony: no we need 1080p on all our games.
Dev: I understand but the game would perform bette.....
SONY: *throws money at them* go away you puppet.

Not likely. What is likely is that some developers may be feeling kind of trapped in regards to their choices of resolution vs framerate. I can imagine a scenario where Bioware would prefer to lock the PS4 resolution at 900p to avoid any framedrops whatsoever and push more detail but they opt for the full 1080p in the end to avoid accusations of forced parity.

 

[RyudBoy]

Based on the comparison video, the PS4 version tears way more often in addition to dropping as low as 25fps. Only noticeable at the top of the screen, though. Same thing happened with COD:AW on XB1, and it got crapped on by a bunch of trolls. Wonder how they feel about this.

 

[gofreak]

How I feel it goes down with sony:
Dev: we optimized the game to run at 1080p like you requested. However,if you would hear me out as to why I would recommend 900p...
Sony: no we need 1080p on all our games.
Dev: I understand but the game would perform bette.....
SONY: *throws money at them* go away you puppet.

I don't think this has anything to do with Sony, but going by the article and the video, the devs made the right choice. It seems framerate dips are extremely rare. Curtailed resolution is a constant. It would be silly, IMO, to cut resolution to smooth over such rare dips. If I was playing on PC I would not dial down my settings to compensate for that kind of infrequent hiccup. The framerate seems pretty solid.

 

[Stone Ocean]

So a 1FPS difference is worth claiming that the XB1 trades substantially higher IQ for stronger performance? How many of these nominal differences in framerate are DF going to make hay over before their bizarre power parity narrative starts looking silly?

It's a 1 frame difference? So much for "performance"

 

[Seanspeed]

Disappointing showing for PS4

Seems pretty good to me. A more solid 30fps would be great, but for a huge, beautiful RPG, its not bad at all compared to how many similar games tend to run on consoles.

Frostbite seems to be a really great engine.

 

[alexandros]

Frostbite seems to be a really great engine.

Indeed. Impressive visuals, good performance, highly scalable.

 

[ninjablade]

here is the link the frame rate video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzn7lIGfhoo

XB1 is locked at 30fps, while the ps4 is a solid 30fps, so i see nothing wrong with what written in this article. 1080p solid 30fps> 900p/ locked 30fps for me.

 

[Zophar]

It's meant to be satirical but i honestly think Sony doesn't care if the frame rate hiccups. They're gonna ride this "we always do 1080p" train till the wheels fall off.

Is Sony actually using "true 1080p" as a bullet point over its competitors in marketing materials or is this just something people assume?

 

[Feindflug]

So we ain't gonna see uncharted to uncharted 3 type visual jumps this gen.

I'm seriously disappointed

Seeing how much more straightforward PS4's hardware is when compared to the PS3 I highly doubt that we'll see such a big visual jump this gen.

Back on topic Frostbite continues to run less than ideal on the consoles - PS4 especially should be able to run this at 1080p with a solid v-synced 30fps, this engine kinda reminds me of Source which run very good on the PC but for some reason on the PS360 run much worse than what was expected.

 

[Tak3n]

yet again it seems the first for 1080p on PS4 is hurting it.....

they have started down this road now, and the thread explosions tell us that anything other than 1080p on PS4 is not accepted... crazy really I am firmly in the performance camp rather than the visuals

 

[travisbickle]

How I feel it goes down with sony:
Dev: we optimized the game to run at 1080p like you requested. However,if you would hear me out as to why I would recommend 900p...
Sony: no we need 1080p on all our games.
Dev: I understand but the game would perform bette.....
SONY: *throws money at them* go away you puppet.

Lol, no way is a dev going to drop 30% resolution to solve sporadic drops in frame rate. No conversation happens just devs trying to optimise for all eventualities at a higher resplution is more difficult.

 

[SolidSnakex]

yet again it seems the first for 1080p on PS4 is hurting it.....

they have started down this road now, and the thread explosions tell us that anything other than 1080p on PS4 is not accepted... crazy really I am firmly in the performance camp rather than the visuals

It's a 1-2fps advantage for the Xbox One in certain sections. It's highly unlikely that you're going to notice something like that unless you have a frame counter going while you play.

 

[Seanspeed]

So a 1FPS difference is worth claiming that the XB1 trades substantially higher IQ for stronger performance? How many of these nominal differences in framerate are DF going to make hay over before their bizarre power parity narrative starts looking silly?

Actually, its about consistency. A game holding a steady 30fps will look and feel smoother than one that has regular drops, even if they are minor drops(its more than 1fps often enough).