Support NeoGAF

[selo]

Yep, having the same problem downloading the latests patch. What's going on? File hasn't propagated to all servers yet?

 

[EAPidgeon]

Yep, having the same problem downloading the latests patch. What's going on? File hasn't propagated to all servers yet?

Canada - Montreal worked for me.

 

[wutwutwut]

So I can run this at 50fps at 3440x1440 or at 60fps at 2560x1440. Decisions, decisions.

(3570k at 4.3 + 980ti)

 

[Blitzhex]

So I can run this at 50fps at 3440x1440 or at 60fps at 2560x1440. Decisions, decisions.

(3570k at 4.3 + 980ti)

This is why gsync is almost mandatory on high res 21:9.

 

[DarkChronic]

Was having trouble getting the patch to download for me as well. Switching to Vietnam servers did the trick.

 

[Newboi]

Edit: Nevermind, I found out how to change my download server.

 

[The Dear Leader]

how do you switch patch servers?

Download tab in the Steam settings.

 

[Evo X]

Seattle servers worked for me.

 

[wutwutwut]

This is why gsync is almost mandatory on high res 21:9.

I don't have the patience for dealing with the QC issues of the Predator X34 so I got a Dell U3415W.

 

[Redx508]

What monitoring tool are you using in the top left? It looks really sleek.

I'd also like to know, as that looks a lot nicer than the RTSS overlay.

its this one https://camwebapp.com/ CAM from NZXT

Terribly annoying bug but since no one gave a proper solution, go to the shooting range and start the tutorial again. You do not have to go through the tutorial, just leave and the text should "reset" and disappear.

ok ill try that next time i play

 

[Sini]

physically-based tessellation

What is this?

Point #3: Ive seen nothing about RotTR having "broken PBR." Please provide a source when making claims like that.

Surfaces reflecting off more light than they receive is quite huge departure from what PBR is supposed to be.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-tech-analysis

Point #7: Yes, the PureHair in RotTR is used only on Lara. I don't know the name of the hair tech being used in MD, and I don't know for a fact it is being used on every single character model. I think we can both agree, while it's more than adequate in MD, it isn't as technically impressive as RotTR's PureHair.

MD uses PureHair as well.

 

[-tetsuo-]

What are your settings ? Where you actually expecting the game to run well in such a high resolution using high to ultra settings ?

This is the first game to run anywhere close to this poorly, so yes.

 

[Blitzhex]

I don't have the patience for dealing with the QC issues of the Predator X34 so I got a Dell U3415W.

I have a 60hz VA 21:9, but there were no gsync models at all back when I got it. I personally wouldnt get one of the ips ones because of ips glow and qc issues. I was experiencing a lot of what you are, just being shy of 60 fps etc, so I relegated my 21:9 to office work, while I game on a smaller gsync monitor. Still waiting on that perfect gsync 21:9 monitor.

 

[jorimt]

What is this?

Ah boy, I knew someone would pick this one out. Should have worded it differently, but it was a long post to begin with. What I mean is, is that tessellation physically deforms geometry, whereas POM doesn't, that's all; I wasn't trying to coin a new technical phrase.

Surfaces reflecting off more light than they receive is quite huge departure from what PBR is supposed to be.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-tech-analysis

Thanks for the source. I never doubted it, I just wanted to see what he was referencing for myself. I never claimed RotTR actually looked that good, only that some of its effects where more impressive on a technical level when compared to MD. Again, technically impressive doesn't always mean visually impressive.

MD uses PureHair as well.

Ah, so it's a solution created by Square Enix/Crystal Dynamic (just read about it). I had no idea, because MD's implementation looks nothing like what was used in RotTR. Then again, Lara has long hair. I still think it is more refined in RotTR, but it's no slouch in MD either, just less performance intensive.

 

[Wag]

I would fucking hope so, lol

You'd think so but it's rarely the case these days. Hardly any new PC games are optimized for 2x SLI, let alone 3.

 

[OnionPowder]

Here's my rig:

i7-5820K @ 3.3Ghz
GTX 1080 @ Stock speeds
16GB DDR4 @ 2133Mhz
Installed on an HDD
Playing at 1920x1080 with max FPS of 144.

No MSAA and I used the Very High preset and then turned off Sharpen filter and I'm getting above 90FPS most of the time. I haven't really seen any drops below that. I just got to prague so I don't know if I have hit any of the rough spots yet.

Game seems to be working great for me so far.

 

[SCB3]

Oh WTF the Game just totally screwed me and now I can't actually beat the game

Spoilers for final boss

So I finally get to

Spoiler

Kill Marchenko

, after several attempts I manage to do it fine.

Game doesn't register me as doing it, then as I leave anyway, Marchenko is on my radio telling me to face him!

So anyway, I carry on and finish M16 (Literally the only mission I have) only for it to tell me to go

Spoiler

kill Marchenko

, which I already have.

I literally cannot continue! I'm so angry cause I've loved every last second of this game up until this point, just so annoyed! Especially as its the last fn part of the game!

 

[heringer]

Did you try turning off exclusive Fullscreen

Yeah, I've tried everything suggested here. :/

 

[dr_rus]

Ah, so it's a solution created by Square Enix/Crystal Dynamic (just read about it). I had no idea, because MD's implementation looks nothing like what was used in RotTR. Then again, Lara has long hair. I still think it is more refined in RotTR, but it's no slouch in MD either, just less performance intensive.

That's because RoTTR had an extended Purehair implementation while DXMD is basically using the same console version of Purehair. Again, increasing the complexity here would've meant more geometry details, and we don't want that in our evolved gaming.

 

[jorimt]

^ Yup, that would explain it then.

 

[tuxfool]

Ah, so it's a solution created by Square Enix/Crystal Dynamic (just read about it). I had no idea, because MD's implementation looks nothing like what was used in RotTR. Then again, Lara has long hair. I still think it is more refined in RotTR, but it's no slouch in MD either, just less performance intensive.

This is a third party's opinion but Crytek tried implementing TressFx into their engine and found it (and similar techniques) to break when trying to make specific haircuts without flowing hair, which is why they abandoned the idea. They said it was hard to get good results.

Generally I find Tressfx to produce better results in for long hair than Hairworks' sausages, but it still breaks under specific conditions (i.e. when lara is upside down) and still requires alpha cards on things like her fringe. Hairworks produces much better results on fur than it does on hair.

Obviously here they did something in order to make it work with short hair. Coincidentally making the strands closer to hairworks' sausages.

Honestly despite its floatiness my favorite hair implementation is the one in Alice:Madness Returns.

 

[WadeitOut]

Yeah as some of you found out, if you get that content server error switch to Vietnam temporarily. This has been an issue on steam occasionally for years.

 

[dEvAnGeL]

im definitely not CPU bound, my CPU usage is 50 to 60%, the game has some serious streaming issues, like serious and it likes to eat vram like crazy, i had the settings on ultra and it was using 5.8 of my 6 gigs available sometimes

 

[jorimt]

This is a third party's opinion but Crytek tried implementing TressFx into their engine and found it (and similar techniques) to break when trying to make specific haircuts without flowing hair, which is why they abandoned the idea. They said it was hard to get good results.

Generally I find Tressfx to produce better results in for long hair than Hairworks' sausages, but it still breaks under specific conditions (i.e. when lara is upside down) and still requires alpha cards on things like her fringe. Hairworks produces much better results on fur than it does on hair.

Obviously here they did something in order to make it work with short hair. Coincidentally making the strands closer to hairworks' sausages.

Honestly despite its floatiness my favorite hair implementation is the one in Alice:Madness Returns.

My opinion, is the most natural solution for hair at all lengths, so far, is, ironically, the default in-game solution used in The Witcher 3 on Geralt. Obviously it has no technical merit (purely artistic), but it behaves well, lays well, and doesn't have a ridiculous amount of movement, like most of these attempts at physics-based hair. For instance, real-life beards at shorter lengths don't flow in the wind like leaves do on trees, but they apparently do with HairWorks.

Obviously, TressFX, PureHair, HairWorks and the like are all works in progress that will one day achieve fully convincing, realistic results, regardless of hair length and type. That day is not today.

That said, I think PureHair's application on Jensen himself is relatively effective, and mostly avoids the "sausage" look you mentioned.

 

[icecold1983]

After re-reading your last reply to me (^above^), I realized I may have been hasty in my response to you yesterday, and am going to try to amend it; while I sometimes attempt to correct others, I don't mind correcting myself when possible.

So, let's try this again (warning: minor wall of text incoming)...

Point #1: Yes, MD uses tessellation for character models only. It also currently creates smearing and unintended transparency on certain NPC face models. When compared to RotTR's use of tessellation, it is not technically impressive, as it doesn't function as intended (although it can and hopefully will be amended in a future patch).

Point #2: Yes, MD uses POM for surfaces in place of tessellation. This is not technically impressive, no matter how many surfaces it is applied to, or how good it looks, since it is virtually free performance-wise in this game. RotTR uses physically-based tessellation for every surface that is deformed (EDIT: or more clearly, uses tessellation to geometrically deform surfaces), and thus is technically impressive. This is not "like apples to oranges here"; POM is the cheaper alternative to tessellation in this case, and thus directly compares to it at a technical level, tessellation being the more technically impressive.

Point #3: Ive seen nothing about RotTR having "broken PBR." Please provide a source when making claims like that.

Point #4: Volumetric lighting is used just as much, if not more frequently in RotTR when directly compared to MD, and at the very least, matches the quality.

Point #5: This is where I realized where we were miscommunicating. When you say "There's also the fact about geometric density and moveable objects...ROTR simply does not compare here," you're getting "technical" mixed up with "design." First of all, when you're referring to "geometric density," I can only assume you mean the amount of detail in the MD's objects strewn throughout the environment, and I can only agree; I've never seen so much detail in every single pedestrian object I've come across in any other game when directly compared to MD. It is impressive, just not on a technical level. Any decent engine can do this if it prioritizes object detail within small, condensed areas, as opposed to RotTR, with it's priority on larger environments in a 3rd person perspective. That is comparing apples and oranges; It doesn't take more geometry to achieve this, just a shift in priority. Thus, it isn't, you guessed it, technically impressive, but instead, an excellent design choice for this specific game.

Point #6: Your point on moveable objects, is again, a design feature, not a technical one. MD, RotTR, and The Witcher 3 all have physics system. And I don't know if you've actually played RotTR, but several of the tombs have puzzles where you have to move crates, or break them open with your ice pick for parts. Just because MD uses its physics system in a creative way (Half-Life 2 did this over a decade ago), does not make it more technically impressive than the physics systems featured in RotTR or The Witcher 3.

Point #7: Yes, the PureHair in RotTR is used only on Lara. I don't know the name of the hair tech being used in MD, and I don't know for a fact it is being used on every single character model. I think we can both agree, while it's more than adequate in MD, it isn't as technically impressive as RotTR's PureHair.

Point #8: While MD's SSR is arguably used on more surfaces, I don't yet see how it's better than RotTR's. Without further investigation, I'd call it a wash.

Finally, to wrap up what you didn't address, MD's AO solution simply doesn't compare to RotTR's HBAO+ and VXAO solutions, nor does its cheaper DoF when compared to RotTR's bokeh effect. That, and MD's CHS, Very High Shadows, and Very High AO settings aren't functioning as intended, currently (in many, but not all scenarios) making the game look worse than on lower settings. And I'm not even going to get into MD's animations issues during conversations, since RotTR comes nowhere close to using that format in-game. On the flipside, RotTR has very poor post-processing AA solutions when directly compared to MD's TAA, MD arguably has above average texture work, and I'll admit it, paired with TAA, MD's PBR does look very nice.

I'm not even saying RotTR is a great looking game, it doesn't even have to be in order to be technically impressive. Heck, I don't really even like it personally. My point is, when it comes to future-proofed, proprietary effects that function impressively on a behind-the-scenes, number-crunching technical level, RotTR simply wins.

That said, sans the inferior AO and DoF, I find MD every bit as visually attractive, if not more so than RotTR. And, personally, on a story/gameplay/design front, there is no comparison here; MD wins.

Clearer?

energy conservation is either broken or completely missing from RotTR

 

[pa22word]

Anyone having issues where the UI breaks when downsampling?

I go anything about my native res and the UI bugs out by putting clicked prompts a little lower and to the left of where they actually are. Not a big deal for regular gameplay, but it makes hacking unplayable.

Also for the love of god turn off sharpening and use reshade to do a custom sharpening profile with lumasharpen. Makes the game look a hundred times better when using taa.

 

[Langdon Alger]

I'm using the global "high" setting, with no MSAA, and I'm not seeing a ton of jaggies, but everything looks washed out and blurry. Like it's hard to tell where one object ends and the other begins. Or like there's Vaseline on the screen or something. This games looks worse than Alice: Madness Returns, which I just finished playing, and that's a PS3, 360 game. Very weird.

 

[BigTnaples]

I'm using the global "high" setting, with no MSAA, and I'm not seeing a ton of jaggies, but everything looks washed out and blurry. Like it's hard to tell where one object ends and the other begins. Or like there's Vaseline on the screen or something. This games looks worse than Alice: Madness Returns, which I just finished playing, and that's a PS3, 360 game. Very weird.

Something is wrong. The game looks fantastic at high settings. Even better the higher you go...

 

[pa22word]

I'm using the global "high" setting, with no MSAA, and I'm not seeing a ton of jaggies, but everything looks washed out and blurry. Like it's hard to tell where one object ends and the other begins. Or like there's Vaseline on the screen or something. This games looks worse than Alice: Madness Returns, which I just finished playing, and that's a PS3, 360 game. Very weird.

Disable sharpening, download Reshade, enable smaa and lumasharpen set at sharp_strength 0.50 and sharp_clamp 0.010.

 

[icecold1983]

I'm using the global "high" setting, with no MSAA, and I'm not seeing a ton of jaggies, but everything looks washed out and blurry. Like it's hard to tell where one object ends and the other begins. Or like there's Vaseline on the screen or something. This games looks worse than Alice: Madness Returns, which I just finished playing, and that's a PS3, 360 game. Very weird.

you can always turn off taa and get back some sharpness if you dont mind a screen full of shimmer.

 

[zombipuppy]

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere, but after these two patches, are the High and Very High Shadows option still switched?

 

[Lockjaw333]

I'm usually an anti -sharpening guy in all scenarios. I've been disabling sharpness on TVs for years. I always turn it off in games as well. Witcher 3 being a good example, it looks fantastic with no sharpening.

This game however looks really bad with sharpening disabled. I'm usually a proponent of a softer, less aliased image. I've always thought fxaa for example got a bad rap, it doesn't blur so much as it neutralizes all aliasing in the image.

The TAA in this game though is really blurry. With sharpening disabled it looks like a game from several years ago at best. I've really tried to live with it, but I can't.

The sharpening unfortunately is way over the top. It actually introduces artifacts much like cranking the sharpness on a tv will. They need to add less aggressive levels.

For now though I play with it on.

 

[jorimt]

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere, but after these two patches, are the High and Very High Shadows option still switched?

High and Very High shadows were never switched. Very High shadows are a step up from the High setting, but Very High shadows break in certain scenes, whereas High shadows do not.

 

[pa22word]

I'm usually an anti -sharpening guy in all scenarios. I've been disabling sharpness on TVs for years. I always turn it off in games as well. Witcher 3 being a good example, it looks fantastic with no sharpening.

This game however looks really bad with sharpening disabled. I'm usually a proponent of a softer, less aliased image. I've always thought fxaa for example got a bad rap, it doesn't blur so much as it neutralizes all aliasing in the image.

The TAA in this game though is really blurry. With sharpening disabled it looks like a game from several years ago at best. I've really tried to live with it, but I can't.

The sharpening unfortunately is way over the top. It actually introduces artifacts much like cranking the sharpness on a tv will. They need to add less aggressive levels.

For now though I play with it on.

You can already fix it with reshade my fellow soft image brother!

Reshade with lumasharpen set to the configurations in my previous post makes the game look a hundred times better than the default sharpen configuration.

 

[NIN90]

So how do I do this sweetfx/reshade sharpening thing? I've taken a couple of looks at some presets in my time but there's hundreds of variables and I get paralyzed the instant I take a look at them.

 

[Lockjaw333]

You can already fix it with reshade my fellow soft image brother!

Reshade with lumasharpen set to the configurations in my previous post makes the game look a hundred times better than the default sharpen configuration.

I will have to look into reshade for the first time ever. I'll let you know how I make out.thanks!

 

[pa22word]

So how do I do this sweetfx/reshade sharpening thing? I've taken a couple of looks at some presets in my time but there's hundreds of variables and I get paralyzed the instant I take a look at them.

Launch Mediator, click on the SweetFX tab, click Lumasharpen, set sharp_strength to .050 and sharp_clamp to .10. Click back over to the setup tab and hit permanent push to application.

You will have to have the DXMD executable already preselected in the first drop down box, though. You can find it by going into steam and right clicking the game, and hitting "browse local files" under the "retail" folder.

 

[jorimt]

So how do I do this sweetfx/reshade sharpening thing? I've taken a couple of looks at some presets in my time but there's hundreds of variables and I get paralyzed the instant I take a look at them.

Easiest manual way? Download this:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/07k361l502b6wfk/ReShade+2.0.3+with+SweetFX+2.0.7z

Open the zip, locate and drag the below files into your install directory/retail/ folder:

SweetFX Folder
Sweet.fx
Reshade64.dll
Reshade.fx

Renamed Reshade64.dll to "dxgi.dll"

Go into the SweetFX folder (now inside the retail folder), open "SweetFX_settings.txt" and enable or disable effects with a 1 or a 0 in the list. More settings for each shader are below the list. Default effects toggle button is scroll lock.

Having SweetFX enabled will have a 1-2 fps performance hit, even with lumasharpen.

 

[paperspace]

You can already fix it with reshade my fellow soft image brother!

Reshade with lumasharpen set to the configurations in my previous post makes the game look a hundred times better than the default sharpen configuration.

The only problem is it ruins all text/UI in the game.

 

[Profanity]

High and Very High shadows were never switched. Very High shadows are a step up from the High setting, but Very High shadows break in certain scenes, whereas High shadows do not.

Is there word on how many other scenes there are apart from Jensen's apartment that are broken?

 

[NIN90]

Thanks guys.

 

[pa22word]

The only problem is it ruins all text/UI in the game.

Considering how terrible the game looks by default, I'll take some funky looking but completely readable text over the choice of a butt-ugly sharpening effect with sharpening artifacts all over the place or N64 era Vaseline blur on everything.

 

[jorimt]

The only problem is it ruins all text/UI in the game.

That's always been the downside of SweetFX.

Is there word on how many other scenes there are apart from Jensen's apartment that are broken?

Not that I know of, and I can't imagine anyone who would want to go to the lengths it would take to test it and find out. I like doing screenshot comparisons, but not that much.

My logic, is if it's broken in that scene, it's more than likely broken somewhere else. Safer than sorry for me. The options are there for a reason however; enable what you want.

 

[OnionPowder]

NVM, it's in the OP.

While I'm here, I changed textures to Ultra and performance has stayed the same. Looks and runs perfect for me.

 

[Zabojnik]

Easiest manual way? Download this:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/07k361l502b6wfk/ReShade+2.0.3+with+SweetFX+2.0.7z

Open the zip, locate and drag the below files into your install directory/retail/ folder:

SweetFX Folder
Sweet.fx
Reshade64.dll
Reshade.fx

Renamed Reshade64.dll to "dxgi.dll"

Go into the SweetFX folder (now inside the retail folder), open "SweetFX_settings.txt" and enable or disable effects with a 1 or a 0 in the list. More settings for each shader are below the list. Default effects toggle button is scroll lock.

Having SweetFX enabled will have a 1-2 fps performance hit, even with lumasharpen.

This method isn't working for me. The game or rather DXMD.exe crashes immediately, before I even get to the launcher. What could be the problem?

 

[paperspace]

This method isn't working for me. The game or rather DXMD.exe crashes immediately, before I even get to the launcher. What could be the problem?

Try skipping the launcher.

Put -nolauncher in Launch Options.

 

[Zabojnik]

Try skipping the launcher.

Put -nolauncher in Launch Options.

Nope, still crashes.

 

[Social]

The performance has been pretty great on my 750ti. I mostly reach 30+ fps with some really good settings that look very decent at 1080p. I also turned my FOV way up.

 

[CyberPunked]

.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

Anyone having a problem where the contrast is totally blown out in vendor shop screens? To the point where it's hard to read the text. Didn't happen until after the patch yesterday and AFAIK I haven't changed anything on my end. Everything else in the game looks normal.