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[Colbert]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrHZicYIewg

Article: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2017-halo-wars-2-xbox-one-x-hands-on

"Halo Wars 2: how Xbox One X compares to base hardware and PC
Digital Foundry's first look at X scalability on a Play Anywhere title"

Update 1:

let's remember that this is an unfinished build not really designed for full-on Digital Foundry scrutiny.

The results are suitably impressive, but of course, we are looking at early Xbox One X code so we should expect to see some changes and improvements before the enhanced version releases in November. We only have really limited comparison points thus far - essentially based around the tutorial and the first mission - but there are areas where Xbox One X looks better than the maxed-out PC experience, though whether this down to work-in-progress lighting bugs or by deliberate design remains to be seen.

But there's no doubt at all that the developer has delivered a full, native 4K presentation here and lighting differences aside, Xbox One X is essentially on par from a visual perspective with the PC game running fully maxed out at ultra HD resolution. Texture work and effects fidelity are a match, for example, and while direct comparison points are hard to come by with the material we have, there's no sense that prospective Xbox One X owners are going to be shortchanged in terms of the rich visuals.

As a real-time strategy title, Halo Wars 2 is very much CPU-driven in its most epic battles, so as expected, the Xbox One X build operates at 30fps with an adaptive sync in play, screen-tear manifesting when the engine can't meet its 33ms per-frame render budget.

Update 2:

Update 3:
Article in "twitter view mode" that gives access to the screenshots for download: http://www.eurogamer.net/amp/digitalfoundry-2017-halo-wars-2-xbox-one-x-hands-on

 

[JaffeLion]

let's remember that this is an unfinished build not really designed for full-on Digital Foundry scrutiny.

keep this in mind, before reading.

 

[kokokko416]

So we got native 4K/30fps on XboxOneX?

 

[dark10x]

keep this in mind, before reading.

Despite that, the results are excellent so it's difficult to complain! Clearly they're on the right track visually.

 

[Bulby]

Shame its not hitting 60fps. That PC footage at the end looks so good.

 

[Backfoggen]

Plenty of native 4k titles on the horizon for the One X so far. Really nice.

 

[Colbert]

Added some quotes to the OP.

 

[membran]

Added some quotes to the OP.

How about this quote, then?

As a real-time strategy title, Halo Wars 2 is very much CPU-driven in its most epic battles, so as expected, the Xbox One X build operates at 30fps with an adaptive sync in play, screen-tear manifesting when the engine can't meet its 33ms per-frame render budget.

 

[Colbert]

How about this quote, then?

Was not finished adding things but thanks for providing the text!

Spoiler

Being at work!

 

[TechnicPuppet]

Pity there wasn't another processor option. Could have had most games at 60fps and 4k at near PC level standard.

 

[Lucifon]

With 2 months still to go and the GAMESCOM build no doubt being even older it certainly sounds like they're on track for the game to be pretty great on the X. We still play HW2 a fair bit so I'm looking forward to the X upgrades.

 

[Space_nut]

Graphically outstanding

4k native and highest pc graphical settings at the same dang time

 

[ProBusinessgamer]

Pity there wasn't another processor option. Could have had most games at 60fps and 4k at near PC level standard.

4K 60fps is not PC level, that is making a huge assumption about what people have in there mostly normal Mac/PC, most dont have the tricked out custom pc's. So thats a PC level if you have the right hardware, and most do not. And a key point is that this is native 4k 30fps unfinished and early.

 

[TechnicPuppet]

4K 60fps is not PC level, that is making a huge assumption about what people have in there mostly normal Mac/PC, most dont have the tricked out custom pc's. So thats a PC level if you have the right hardware, and most do not. And a key point is that this is native 4k 30fps unfinished and early.

I meant PC level as in most of the bells whistles very high or whatever. That at 4k 60fps.

 

[dr_rus]

Lack of some light sources on XBX is likely the explanation for additional shadows in the training area too - they aren't there on PC/XBO because there's a couple of lights which remove these shadows. Hopefully this is a bug and not a downgrade to hit 4K on XBX.

 

[scently]

Lack of some light sources on XBX is likely the explanation for additional shadows in the training area too - they aren't there on PC/XBO because there's a couple of lights which remove these shadows. Hopefully this is a bug and not a downgrade to hit 4K on XBX.

Quite frankly, apart from the missing headlights on the warthog, the opening tutorial looks alot better on the X1X than on the X1/PC. The missing spotlight gave the area more depth and the shadow detail is great.

 

[thelastword]

Wow, dips to 23 fps on XBONEX and 21 fps on XB1.....I'm also not seeing the extra lighting detail the DF guys spoke of the XBONEX version over PC, if anything, I'm seeing light sources missing from the XBONEX version, even when XB1 and PC has them...

The Tech guy did say that MP is much more chaotic and demanding, so I imagine some cutbacks or optimization may have to come in at some point. I could also imagine that later portions of the SP could get more chaotic as well, with more A.I and explosions on screen....I guess we will see how it improves on the XBONEX come launch day, but at this point, PC is looking solid at 4k 60fps...I wonder which other GPU's will be able to hit the same......In any case, IQ on XBONEX is pretty solid at this point, but perf needs to match it tbh...

 

[Liabe Brave]

Despite that, the results are excellent so it's difficult to complain! Clearly they're on the right track visually.

Is there any chance you can start including links to the screenshots you're using for comparisons? The inline comparison tool is neat, but the results seem pretty bad (this is a 200% zoom).

The PC on the right already shows distortions from JPEG noise, but the One X capture on the left has just been demolished by compression. I know this article is very early, but the artifacts shown here are completely misleading as to how the game actually looks. Direct downloading of screens may be more steps, but it's also closer to the truth (much closer, in this case).

 

[KageMaru]

Is there any chance you can start including links to the screenshots you're using for comparisons? The inline comparison tool is neat, but the results seem pretty bad (this is a 200% zoom).

The PC on the right already shows distortions from JPEG noise, but the One X capture on the left has just been demolished by compression. I know this article is very early, but the artifacts shown here are completely misleading as to how the game actually looks. Direct downloading of screens may be more steps, but it's also closer to the truth (much closer, in this case).

I think John explained in the tomb raider thread that they currently don't have a way to present higher quality images in something like PNG when displaying 4K images but are working on a solution IIRC.

 

[Liabe Brave]

I think John explained in the tomb raider thread that they currently don't have a way to present higher quality images in something like PNG when displaying 4K images but are working on a solution IIRC.

Yes, in the comparison tool. That's why I suggested just having links to the original shots that get loaded into the tool. So you could still use the interactive version for a quick-but-not-as-accurate look, but also download the originals to see what the true quality is.

 

[BLAUcopter]

Plenty of native 4k titles on the horizon for the One X so far. Really nice.

Glad I skipped halo wars 2. Gonna be hella sweet in 4K!

 

[KageMaru]

Yes, in the comparison tool. That's why I suggested just having links to the original shots that get loaded into the tool. So you could still use the interactive version for a quick-but-not-as-accurate look, but also download the originals to see what the true quality is.

Oh I see, yeah sorry didn't put that all together.

 

[Colbert]

Is there any chance you can start including links to the screenshots you're using for comparisons? The inline comparison tool is neat, but the results seem pretty bad (this is a 200% zoom).

There is a way to extract the screenshot from the articles. Just replace "articles" in the link by "amp" and you will get access to the screenshots. It's a different view mode used by the twitter app!

http://www.eurogamer.net/amp/digitalfoundry-2017-halo-wars-2-xbox-one-x-hands-on

I added the first screenshot series to the OP!

 

[m23]

Such a great game, I'll definitely have to do another campaign run when I do get an xbx.

 

[thelastword]

Is there any chance you can start including links to the screenshots you're using for comparisons? The inline comparison tool is neat, but the results seem pretty bad (this is a 200% zoom).

The PC on the right already shows distortions from JPEG noise, but the One X capture on the left has just been demolished by compression. I know this article is very early, but the artifacts shown here are completely misleading as to how the game actually looks. Direct downloading of screens may be more steps, but it's also closer to the truth (much closer, in this case).

I normally don't look at screens at DF anymore, I just look at the videos, I watched the Halo Wars 2 video at 4k....The cutscenes looked a bit fuzzy but in-game it looked pretty sharp with solid enough AA...

What are we looking at here though, are these the same quality shots across PC and XBONEX? I mean, are they both JPG's or PNG's.....Is it a 1:1 comparison in terms of pic quality?


Update To Post
Hmmmm....going to the article and browsing the pics, it would seem something is a bit off......The XBONEX version is not as sharp as PC, is it dynamic 4k perhaps, Is it FXAA or is it a slightly lower rez than 4K? Or perhaps it's using software CB to 4K? Just trying to figure why it looks less sharp.....I've also seen more aliasing and visual noise on the railings and the white stripped lines at the hangar/base...

 

[Colbert]

I normally don't look at screens at DF anymore, I just look at the videos, I watched the Halo Wars 2 video at 4k....The cutscenee looked a bit fuzzy but in-game it looked pretty sharp with solid enough AA...

What are we looking at here though, are these the same quality shots across PC and XBONEX? I mean, are they both JPG's or PNG's.....Is it a 1:1 comparison in terms of pic quality?


Update To Post
Hmmmm....going to the article and browsing the pics, it would seem something is a bit off......The XBONEX version is not as sharp as PC, is it dynamic 4k perhaps, Is it FXAA or is it a slightly lower rez than 4K? Or perhaps it's using software CB to 4K? Just trying to figure why it looks less sharp.....I've also seen more aliasing and visual noise on the railings and the white stripped lines at the hangar/base...

If you really watched the video you may have noticed that DF mentioned that the cut scenes are still 1080p. The game is also native 4K (not dynamic) and no CBR!

 

[MagusMaleficus]

Hold up... Adaptive vsync? Am I bonkers for thinking the X is supposed to do vsync on a system level? Adaptive vsync is a no-go for me...barf.

 

[Vashetti]

Hold up... Adaptive vsync? Am I bonkers for thinking the X is supposed to do vsync on a system level? Adaptive vsync is a no-go for me...barf.

For non-X-enhanced games.

 

[dcll]

I like this new shift to where everything is compatible with the next system and I dont mind an optional more power box every few years

 

[MagusMaleficus]

For non-X-enhanced games.

Well that's pretty shitty. The X is a wee bit less interesting to me now.

 

[thelastword]

If you really watched the video you may have noticed that DF mentioned that the cut scenes are still 1080p. The game is also native 4K (not dynamic) and no CBR!

I'm aware, that's why I mentioned they look fuzzy....The first few second of the video was a cutscene and it looked a bit low rez with jaggies...Transitioning to in-game everything bumped up and looked sharper because of the higher resolution...There's still something amiss with the XBONEX IQ vs that of PC at 4k native though under more scrutiny though....I guess we shall know more with more footage etc...

Hold up... Adaptive vsync? Am I bonkers for thinking the X is supposed to do vsync on a system level? Adaptive vsync is a no-go for me...barf.

V-sync does have computation costs...At 900p or 1080p, the XBONEX can do 16xAF, lock vsync and framerate on every XB1 title that is not CPU bound.....Hell, I'm pretty sure MS could implement AA to that as well if they wanted....In a ground up title for XBONEX, with a high rez or 4k resolution, better graphical settings etc....They cannot guarantee 16xAF and proper vsync in every title...In some scenarios they may have to allow 30 or 60fps title to tear to hold up framerate and maintain a higher controller response.....They're called tradeoffs, no piece of hardware has infinite amounts of power..

 

[Liabe Brave]

There is a way to extract the screenshot from the articles. Just replace "articles" in the link by "amp" and you will get access to the screenshots. It's a different view mode used by the twitter app!

http://www.eurogamer.net/amp/digitalfoundry-2017-halo-wars-2-xbox-one-x-hands-on

I added the first screenshot series to the OP!

This is neat, thanks! But the One X shots from the "amp" version are still massively compressed JPEGs and look terrible.

What are we looking at here though, are these the same quality shots across PC and XBONEX? I mean, are they both JPG's or PNG's.....Is it a 1:1 comparison in terms of pic quality?

No. For whatever reason, the One X shots are compressed much more than the PC shots. That's almost certainly why it looks overall much softer, despite being the same resolution.

The only notable thing unmentioned by DF that I can see through the compression is that the One X seems to have banding issues with its lighting gradients. (A couple textures appear lower-quality too, but that could easily be an artifact of the differential compression, which practically ruins the One X shots.)