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

RedAssedApe

Banned
Man you people are gullible as fuck. Totally found this additional line of code in deferredambient.inc.fx!!!

DFIoL68.jpg

shout out to gaf. we matter. we really matter... :tears of joy:
 
So I avoided Watch Dogs altogether after all of the stuttering issues. Does this mod now make it worth it to jump in?

Nope. I spent the last hour or so playing with it, and honestly it's essentially the same. There are /no/ performance benefits; the game still stutters badly both on my AMD card and my NVIDIA card. The DOF is still a bit much, the bloom is waaay too much, the headlights are completely broken, and I really can't see a huge difference between the default rain and whatever this mod has changed.

It seems like the reason this stuff wasn't in the final game is because they couldn't get it to function properly. If it was all implemented far better than what the mod allows for, the game would be gorgeous. As it stands, not enough to get me to look past the other issues the PC version has.
 

Devildoll

Member
But the line IS in there, the thing is that it was a single line taken out of context, since the entire file had to do with PS360 settings, and thus didn't apply to PCs at all (the developer LITERALLY saying "Who cares about this PC setting in our PS360 build.")

We still only have one source for this, same person as the one that took the image of the code, with mentions of the TheWorse confirming, but no link to that confirmation.
 

Dire

Member
Honestly I don't think there any conspiracy here.

If you look at games like Assassin's Creed 3 and Splinter Cell: Blacklist, they scale vastly above the console versions on PC.

What I feel is more likely here is they abandoned these features long ago and then just assumed they either wouldn't work well and/or look good with the current version without actually testing it out, since they were presumably death marching to get the game out by the end.

Those games weren't getting simultaneous "next gen" releases.

You don't think there's any difference between PCs versions look vastly better than consoles that have been out (and on the same static hardware) for years vs PCs versions looking vastly better than consoles that released less than a year ago?
 

Piggus

Member
The shadows are really nice and make a big difference to the ambience at night. But I still don't get why there are no reflections for people and cars but other objects reflect on the ground. It's a little jarring. That depth of field is ridiculous though.

I'd like to see the fucking dumbasses at Ubisoft who made the decision to gimp the PC version spin their way out of this.
 

MaLDo

Member
We still only have one source for this, same person as the one that took the image of the code, with mentions of the TheWorse confirming, but no link to that confirmation.

Two.

The file has:

float3 GetRainLightProbeAmbient( float3 worldSpacePos )
{
....float3 volumeUVW = GetUnifiedVolumeUVW(worldSpacePos.xyz, CenterBaseZ);

....float4 finalUVW4 = float4(volumeUVW, 0);
....finalUVW4.z += (0.5f / PROBE_VOLUME_SIZE_Z);

....#ifdef READ_3D_TEXTURES

........#ifdef NOMAD_PLATFORM_XENON

............// On XBOX, since the texture filtering is good, we stick to
............// 8-bit texture. We dont use gamma because this would require us
............// to use one of the _AS_16 format the the shader becomes
............// texture cache stall bound. We opt for a manual (non-gamma-correct)
............// filtering using a sqrt() for encoding and x^2 for decoding.
............float4 encodedUpperColor = tex3Dlod(BigProbeVolumeTextureUpperColor3D,finalUVW4);
............float3 upperColor = (encodedUpperColor.rgb * encodedUpperColor.rgb) / (encodedUpperColor.a * RelightingMultiplier.y);

........#else

............float3 upperColor = tex3Dlod(BigProbeVolumeTextureUpperColor3D,finalUVW4).xyz;

........#endif

....#else

........// This is PC only, who cares.
........float3 upperColor = DefaultProbeUpperColor;

....#endif

return upperColor;
}
 

Sensisnow

Neo Member
Still having performance issues with 2 780tis in SLI. However, disabling SLI works wonderfully!

At 1440p with ultra settings my FPS averages around 50 on foot, and 40 while in a vehicle. Everything looks much, much better, and the stuttering isn't nearly as bad as it was on the vanilla version. I still get FPS drops while driving at high speeds, but to a much lesser, more tolerable extent.
 

epmode

Member
We still only have one source for this, same person as the one that took the image of the code, with mentions of the TheWorse confirming, but no link to that confirmation.

It's legit. I just did it myself. This page will help explain how to unpack the files from shaders.dat, although it's not quite straightforward: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=390238

I don't think it means anything, though. It's not some OH GOD UBI HATES PCS admission or anything.
 

Delt31

Member
guys - this enhancement is a gaming miracle. Not only does the game look amazing now (actually looks very close to E3), more importantly the performance is much better with stuttering BEING NON EXISTENT. This is really pc magic. 3570 cpu and 780 gpu = 1080p maxed except texture on high and fps is 50-60.
 
How quickly people were quick to believe shows the state of consumer trust in Ubisoft.

The comment is present, and regardless of the fact that it's actually largely innocuous in context they've definitely earned the distrust. Personally, I just like the fact that an otherwise innocent little dev comment, the likes of which I've made thousands of times in committed code, is so hilariously relevant when considered beside the discussion here.
 

Kimppis

Member
So, let me ask this: why did Ubisoft downgrade the PC version if you don't even need a high-end rig (that is, significantly more powerful than the PS4) to run this "mod"? Few pages back someone mentioned that they can run it on 7850 just fine. So it was downgraded because of the last-gen consoles, not current-gen?

And what are these PC ports that look "significantly" better than the PS4/Xbone versions? BF4? And I'm not talking about resolution or framerate. I thought PS4 ports have been roughly comparable to PC's high settings. As a console gamer, I wouldn't call the difference between high and ultra "significant". But yeah, it's not like I game on a PC, so I don't know shit. And it depends on how you define "significant"...

Until mid-range PCs clearly outpace the PS4, it doesn't make any sense (to me) that average/medium PC graphics settings on a popular third-party games need massive downgrades. Or does it?
 

Authority

Banned


... Oh, okey.

Edit: PR & Events Manager Ubisoft Benelux . Holy fuck I give up.

PR by Ubisoft = WorseSoft.

At times like this the LAST thing Ubisoft needs is PR. What type of PR have they taught her? How do these people do it? This is going to re-open the broken nose and let blood run loose again.
 

UrbanRats

Member
Edit: PR & Events Manager Ubisoft Benelux . Holy fuck I give up.

PR by Ubisoft = WorseSoft.

At times like this the LAST thing Ubisoft needs is PR. What type of PR have they taught her? How do these people do it? This is going to re-open the broken nose and let blood run loose again.

The game is out, it sold more than they could ever wish for.
I doubt they'll lose sleep on a few gaffers being butthurt about the game's downgrade.
 
As douchey as this all is, quite honestly it's horrid. The game has sold so well ubisoft won't lose sleep from the crying on forums or even reddit.
 

The Cowboy

Member
The game is out, it sold more than they could ever wish for.
I doubt they'll lose sleep on a few gaffers being butthurt about the game's downgrade.
This isn't just a few gaffers who are seeing this now, this downgrade issue has gone pretty much viral at this point with loads of sites posting about it - as the post above states, this thread alone has over 1.3 million views (and god knows how many views in total for this issue from all sites combined).
 
Even if this thread gets a couple million views they still made out like bandits on the game. Unless somehow this information drops all future sales down into oblivion.
 

Grief.exe

Member
Even if this thread gets a couple million views they still made out like bandits on the game. Unless somehow this information drops all future sales down into oblivion.

It honestly never well. These mega-publishers understand that the majority of gamers have short memories.
They will just spend more marketing their next title and sales will only increase.

I haven't bought a Ubisoft title in years and I have washed my hands of EA entirely, but is that relevant in the larger picture?
 

Revengineer

Unconfirmed Member


... Oh, okey.

WOW.

Wow.

I understand her job, I do. She's PR. But holy shit, when things like this explode and melt down, PR needs to be saving face and working to win back the consumer(s), not lazily slopping together Twitter responses that amount to "I already said before it wasn't downgraded don't bring me this nonsense proof."
 

Delt31

Member
anyone getting random crashes with this update? Only issue right now is that I'm getting desktop crashes here and there.....
 

Devildoll

Member

It's legit. I just did it myself. This page will help explain how to unpack the files from shaders.dat, although it's not quite straightforward: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=390238

I don't think it means anything, though. It's not some OH GOD UBI HATES PCS admission or anything.

Okay, thats settled then.

WOW.

Wow.

I understand her job, I do. She's PR. But holy shit, when things like this explode and melt down, PR needs to be saving face and working to win back the consumer(s), not lazily slopping together Twitter responses that amount to "I already said before it wasn't downgraded don't bring me this nonsense proof."


Yeah, that is Baghdad Bob caliber denial right there.
Edit: Well maybe she's referring to the console versions, cause... who cares about PC, right?
 

lmbotiva

Junior Member
a little of topic but after all this downgrade BS im starting to believe that the footage they showed of AC unity looked to good on consoles, i don't man but im slightly panicked over ubisfot presentations now, im not saying i wont buy another game from them but i sure as hell will wait for better input from players and articles like DF to make a decision
 
This isn't just a few gaffers who are seeing this now, this downgrade issue has gone pretty much viral at this point with loads of sites posting about it - as the post above states, this thread alone has over 1.3 million views (and god knows how many views in total for this issue from all sites combined).

This will be a story worth telling only so much as it generates clicks for the story teller, outside of that it'll change nothing at all. It won't certainly won't effect Ubisoft's bottom line. It may even help sell a few more PC games for them.
 

UrbanRats

Member
This isn't just a few gaffers who are seeing this now, this downgrade issue has gone pretty much viral at this point with loads of sites posting about it - as the post above states, this thread alone has over 1.3 million views (and god knows how many views in total for this issue from all sites combined).

Yeah but this isn't the first time they hugely downgrade a title right? And yet they keep selling a boatload of copies.
Some people may be annoyed by this stuff, but they'll still buy their games.
 

Revengineer

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah but this isn't the first time they hugely downgrade a title right? And yet they keep selling a boatload of copies.
Some people may be annoyed by this stuff, but they'll still buy their games.

I won't.

Unity looks awesome. Not buying it, I don't care what reviews it gets. Not touching The Division. Not buying anything until I know it matches what they show pre-release, and not buying EVER if the game is buggy and completely unlike prior examples of it shown to the public.

I have not bought Watch Dogs yet. I will buy it the second Ubisoft patches it to run RESPECTABLY as it is, and reasonably with ALL EFFECTS FROM E3 2012/13 patched in.

Until then, I may or may not finish the game, but fuck Ubisoft.
 

Authority

Banned
The game is out, it sold more than they could ever wish for.
I doubt they'll lose sleep on a few gaffers being butthurt about the game's downgrade.

So you are saying this has no effect? I am not following. No one is saying that they are going to commit suicide about it but right now and in connection with other issues, Ubisoft is rivaling and/or reaching the hate level with EA never alone their fucking arrogant attitude which I can guarantee you that is how it is right now.

Granted we are not in the perfect state of consumer awareness but not everything is about direct result. Empires don't fall in a day or two and Ubisoft won't be affected for now. But empires can fall as easily as some studios that have been shutdown. What I am trying to say is that I do not believe this is one of the most convenient times where big corporations can be at ease no matter what. And I do believe some decent Ubisoft higher ups have got some feelings about this situation...but that is because I always have faith in humanity no matter how gullible it is to do so. It saddens me that PC Gaming has to go through this shit and it is really painful to see 100 threads try to "fix" and "sort it out"...there is nothing in the world that disgusts me, one of the things, than shitty arrogant companies, shitty customer service and misleading products. I hope one day the gaming community will sort itself out and start being more and more proactive.

This is the only industry that gets away with too much shit. Only courts + punishment (big fines) can sort out big multi-million business. I really don't understand what the gaming industry is operates in such an apparently lawless market that absolutely shit business practices are norm, default or expected.

And people might not like this but as long as the media is with us, there is always a chance for things to get better. And again granted that nothing will change but you never do what is right because you are hoping for some global change. You do what is right and it is up to the consumers to follow. You do what is right because that is what is right.

Companies need to be taken to court and be straighten out.
 

MaLDo

Member
TheWorse is not a member but he has a message



TheWorse said:
Well thank you all gaffers for this, for the exposure, for the feedback, for the support.. I mean I can't even describe what I feel right now, not even about the 1 million views. It is so weird because a week a go I was just a simple person trying to find mods for Watch Dogs because I'm so obsessed with graphics but then I realized.. "why can't I make one?" I mean even if you don't think this is a mod I'm so greatful to make this a better experience for gamers and for showing once again why pc is so much better than anything else. Again, thank you so much for all of this! I higly appreciate every comment and critique.
 
so are there any direct comparison screens?

Not a direct comparison because the game won't put me in the same place every time reload a save, but same settings/time of day for sure (Ultra everything, 1080p and SMAA):

Unmodified

Modified

In a few hours when I come to terms with the fact that I have nothing to play on my new PS4, I'll probably spend the time to get a shot for shot direct comparison.

Edit:

Random not comparison screenshots from .7:


 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
Again, I want to reiterate to TheWorse, as far as I'm concerned this thread has fuck all to do with Ubisoft and their PR and E3 and consumer rights and what is or isn't a mod, and 100% to do with the work he is doing to make a game I frankly enjoy quite a lot look and play better. Thank you and keep your head above the nonsense. I'm psyched to see what else you can get out of this thing before all is said and done ;)
 
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