Support NeoGAF

[viveks86]

AI Summary:

Console Performance Overview:

• PS5 and Xbox Series X: Both consoles feature identical settings with three modes: a 30 FPS quality mode (1440p), 40 FPS balanced mode (up to 1440p), and 60 FPS performance mode (864p-1440p). All utilize Unreal Engine 5 software-based Lumen for global illumination and reflections, though performance mode can suffer from blotchy SDF artifacts and shimmering (1:41 - 5:18).
• Xbox Series S: Offers two modes (30 FPS quality and 40 FPS balanced). While the experience is largely intact, it lacks a 60 FPS option and experiences uneven frame pacing in both modes (5:20 - 6:37).

PS5 Pro Technical Upgrades:

• Hardware-based Lumen: The PS5 Pro leverages hardware-accelerated ray tracing for more stable, accurate reflections and GI, significantly reducing the "blobby" artifacts seen on base consoles. It achieves reflections on transparent surfaces (like helmets) that closely rival PC's path-tracing results (6:40 - 8:46).
• PSSR Upscaling: The PS5 Pro introduces PSSR as an alternative to TSR, resulting in a sharper image with better treatment of fine details like hair and blinking lights. However, it comes with a performance cost of approximately 5 FPS and some minor reconstruction stability issues in performance mode (8:50 - 11:32).

Conclusion: While Directive 8020 is a visually atmospheric title, the PS5 Pro provides the superior console experience due to its hardware-based ray tracing and improved image reconstruction, though it still falls slightly short of the elite path-tracing options available on high-end PCs (11:34 - 12:52).

 

[adamsapple]

 

[adamsapple]

- First Supermassive game on Unreal Engine 5, featuring Lumen reflections and GI
- Drops support for PS4/XBO
- First game of the franchise / type to have any RT and Path Tracing (PC)

Base PS5/SX:
- 3 modes. 30fps quality, 40fps Balance, 60fps Performance
- All modes use Software Lumen combined with SSR.
- Lumen quality changes with modes, with Performance mode Software Lumen can cause blotches and dithering
- Quality and Balanced mode have higher grade Lumen quality. Balanced seems to omit SSR, keeping Lumen reflections only, this might be a bug.

- Performance mode: DRS targets 864p to 1440p, using TSR to upscale to 4K, typically being closer to lower end, frame rate is almost always close to 60 or well within VRR coverage
- Quality mode: 30fps with native 1440p using TSR to upscale to 4K. The 30fps is unevenly paced and causes a lot of camera judder
- Balanced: 1152p to 1440p DRS with TSR to 4K. Typically hangs at the 40 target in all scenarios but can still show some uneven frame pacing
- The aliasing in Performance mode leads to a lot of shimmering, drastically reduced in the Quality and Balanced mode

Series S:
- 2 modes. 30fps Quality and 40fps Balanced, no 60fps mode
- Quality: 900p to 1080p DRS, Balanced 720p to 1080p DRS, both up-scale to 1440p with TSR
- Includes software lumen and GI but at a lower grade than SX/PS5 and lower shadow quality
- Otherwise feature parity complete with the others

PS5 Pro:
- Includes hardware lumen in Quality mode with more accurate reflections than PS5/SX
- Can come close, but doesn't match PC's path tracing.
- Elsewhere in Balanced/Performance, some scenes show hardware RT in Perf and some don't, and Balance misses SSR like PS5/SX
- Includes a toggle for PSSR/TSR in options menu
- Perf: DRS 864p to 1440p, Balanced: typically 1440p, Quality: 1728p to 2160p
- PSSR shows sharper IQ, hair resolve and on 'grates' but still shows noise in fine detail
- PS5 Pro's PSSR Performance mode has a weird 'shifting' image issue with reconstruction that is absent when using TSR
- PSSR also causes a visible 5fps deficit compared to using TSR in Performance modes, the other two generally stick to their target.

 

[RedC]

Spoiler: Summary

Directive 8020 Technical Breakdown Summary (DF-Style)

---

Overall Impression

Supermassive Games makes major technical leaps with Directive 8020:

• first Dark Pictures game on:
  • Unreal Engine 5
• current-gen-only development:
  • PS5
  • PS5 Pro
  • Xbox Series X|S

Key upgrades include:

• Lumen GI/reflections
• fully player-controlled camera
• PS5 Pro hardware ray tracing
• PSSR support

---

Core Graphics Modes (PS5 / Series X)

All base consoles feature:

• Quality Mode — 30 FPS
• Balanced Mode — 40 FPS
• Performance Mode — 60 FPS

---

Lumen Lighting & Reflections

Base PS5 / Series X

Uses:

• software-based Lumen
• screen-space reflections (SSR)

---

Visual Strengths

The spaceship setting heavily benefits from:

• reflective metals
• glass surfaces
• atmospheric GI lighting

---

Main Problems

Software Lumen introduces:

• blotchy GI artifacts
• flickering shadow blobs
• shimmering reflections
• dithering noise

Reviewer says:

• these issues become especially visible in:
  • darker scenes
  • reflective corridors
  • blinking/strobing lights

---

Balanced Mode Bug

Possible SSR Bug

Digital Foundry noticed:

• Balanced Mode appears to lose SSR entirely

Affects:

• PS5
• PS5 Pro
• Series X

Result:

• weaker reflections
• only raw Lumen reflections remain

DF strongly suspects:

• bug/unintended behavior

---

PS5 / Series X Resolution & Performance

Performance Mode

Resolution:

• Dynamic:
  • 864p → 1440p
• Upscaled to:
  • 4K via TSR

---

Framerate:

• Usually near:
  • 60 FPS
• Drops:
  • mid-50s occasionally

Reviewer says:

• VRR largely smooths these dips out.

---

Quality Mode

Resolution:

• Typically:
  • native 1440p
• TSR reconstructed to 4K

---

Problem:

• uneven frame pacing

Even though:

• locked 30 FPS

Result:

• visible judder during camera pans

---

Balanced Mode

Resolution:

• Typically:
  • 1152p
• Max:
  • 1440p

---

Performance:

• 40 FPS target
• Still suffers uneven frame pacing/judder

---

Image Quality Problems Across Consoles

TSR Issues

UE5 TSR struggles heavily with:

• flashing lights
• grills/grates
• thin geometry
• subpixel detail

Result:

• shimmering
• breakup
• noisy image reconstruction

Reviewer says:

• higher-resolution modes help
• but do not fully solve problem

---

Xbox Series S Breakdown

Modes

Only includes:

• 30 FPS Quality
• 40 FPS Balanced

No:

• 60 FPS option

---

Resolution

Quality:

• 900p → 1080p

Balanced:

• 720p → 1080p

Upscaled to:

• 1440p target

---

Visual Downgrades

Compared to Series X:

• lower Lumen quality
• lower GI quality
• weaker shadows
• more aliasing

Still:

• surprisingly feature complete overall

---

PS5 Pro Enhancements

Major Upgrade: Hardware Ray Tracing

PS5 Pro upgrades from:

• software Lumen

To:

• hardware-accelerated Lumen RT

---

Benefits

Significantly improves:

• reflection stability
• GI quality
• reflection accuracy
• transparent reflections

Examples:

• helmets
• reflective glass
• metallic surfaces

---

Compared To PC Path Tracing

Still behind maxed-out PC:

• missing some reflected details
• no fully ray-traced direct shadows
• BVH pop-in still visible

But DF says:

• improvement over base PS5 is substantial

---

PSSR vs TSR Breakdown

PSSR Advantages

Reviewer calls PSSR:

• "clear upgrade"

Benefits:

• sharper image
• cleaner fine detail
• improved hair rendering
• better handling of:
  • grills
  • blinking lights
  • visual noise

---

PSSR Problems

1. Stability Issues

PSSR introduces:

• image shifting
• flickering
• reconstruction instability

Especially:

• when dynamic resolution changes rapidly

---

2. Performance Cost

PSSR costs:

• roughly ~5 FPS versus TSR

Most noticeable in:

• 60 FPS Performance Mode

---

Recommendation

Reviewer says:

• VRR display highly recommended for PSSR users

---

PS5 Pro Resolution Ranges

Performance

• 864p → 1440p
• Usually higher average than base PS5

---

Balanced

• Typically:
  • 1440p

---

Quality

• 1728p → native 4K

Highest console image quality overall.

---

Final Technical Verdict

Strengths

• major visual leap for Dark Pictures series
• strong UE5 atmosphere
• excellent facial/body motion capture
• improved lighting
• PS5 Pro RT implementation impressive

---

Weaknesses

• TSR shimmer/noise
• uneven frame pacing at 30/40 FPS
• possible SSR bugs
• PSSR instability/performance cost
• image breakup on fine detail

---

Best Console Version

Reviewer conclusion:

• PS5 Pro delivers:
  • the best console version overall

Thanks to:

• hardware RT
• higher resolutions
• PSSR image quality improvements

Even if:

• PC path tracing remains superior.

 

[Imtjnotu]

I'll take PSSR over dog shit TSR any day

 

[adamsapple]

I'll take PSSR over dog shit TSR any day

Owing to the nature of the game and its darker visuals, it doesn't really make the biggest of a differences, imo, other than Performance mode I guess where the shimmering is easily noticeable.

This is from base console Balanced mode, not even Quality. The IQ is pretty good, if not pin sharp, with TSR.

 

[Bojji]

Low res TSR and low quality lumen on base consoles look quite awful in places.

 

[winjer]

Low res TSR and low quality lumen on base consoles look quite awful in places.

On the other hand, almost no one is playing this game, so it doesn't matter.

 

[Imtjnotu]

Owing to the nature of the game and its darker visuals, it doesn't really make the biggest of a differences, imo, other than Performance mode I guess where the shimmering is easily noticeable.

This is from base console Balanced mode, not even Quality. The IQ is pretty good, if not pin sharp, with TSR.

Don't own a base console so I'll be going with pisser

 

[Bojji]

On the other hand, almost no one is playing this game, so it doesn't matter.

True.

Pro has hardware RT + PSSR, I think that's quite impressive.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Thread 'Digital Foundry: Directive 8020 - PS5/PS5 Pro/Xbox Series X|S + Pro Ray Tracing Upgrades vs PC Path Tracing!'

Yesterday at 3:51 PM

AI Summary:

Console Performance Overview:

• PS5 and Xbox Series X: Both consoles feature identical settings with three modes: a 30 FPS quality mode (1440p), 40 FPS balanced mode (up to 1440p), and 60 FPS performance mode (864p-1440p). All utilize Unreal Engine 5 software-based Lumen for global illumination and reflections, though performance mode can suffer from blotchy SDF artifacts and shimmering (1:41 - 5:18).
• Xbox Series S: Offers two modes (30 FPS quality and 40 FPS balanced). While the experience is largely...

• viveks86
• Replies: 21
• Forum: Gaming Discussion

 

[adamsapple]

On the other hand, almost no one is playing this game, so it doesn't matter.

 

[RedC]

I've started playing it, so by the end of this weekend, I should be where you are.

 

[Ryseer]

Owing to the nature of the game and its darker visuals, it doesn't really make the biggest of a differences, imo, other than Performance mode I guess where the shimmering is easily noticeable.

So we glazing this pile? This game looks about as fun as my Kidney stones a few years ago
This is from base console Balanced mode, not even Quality. The IQ is pretty good, if not pin sharp, with TSR.

 

[viveks86]

1728p +PSSR2? Exactly how I want my resources to be used...

Was there literally no other setting they could crank up instead without jumping all the way to path tracing? Ughhh

 

[Zuzu]

Hardware lumen for PS5 Pro in all modes (performance, balanced and quality) and PSSR image quality. That's a good upgrade for the Pro.

 

[Karim]

1728p +PSSR2? Exactly how I want my resources to be used...

Was there literally no other setting they could crank up instead without jumping all the way to path tracing? Ughhh

I start to think some developers choose such higher resolution to avoid the possible artifacts of the upscaler/raytracing combo. I suspect Cyberpunk also intentionally avoid raytracing reflections on the street just for that. I seen the horrid consequence of the multiple different raytracing buffer combined with the upscaler in Pragmata.

 

[viveks86]

I start to think some developers choose such higher resolution to avoid the possible artifacts of the upscaler/raytracing combo. I suspect Cyberpunk also intentionally avoid raytracing reflections on the street just for that. I seen the horrid consequence of the multiple different raytracing buffer combined with the upscaler in Pragmata.

That's a good theory if performance mode had such artifacts on pro. It goes all the way down to 864p and isn't bad with PSSR. They could have easily settled for 1080p and scaled other settings way up imo. Oh well.

 

[adamsapple]

That's a good theory if performance mode had such artifacts on pro. It goes all the way down to 864p and isn't bad with PSSR. They could have easily settled for 1080p and scaled other settings way up imo. Oh well.

Probably a combination of developers not wanting to put extra effort and them not wanting to distinct the versions that much as their biggest marketshare will be base PS5/SX.

 

[viveks86]

Probably a combination of developers not wanting to put extra effort and them not wanting to distinct the versions that much as their biggest marketshare will be base PS5/SX.

In what way would that impact game sales? They have PT in their engine, so it's not like they are deliberately keeping it all consistent looking across the board. There could be some bottleneck they are hitting. If they put extra effort to implement hardware lumen just for Pro, then they have already gone past a cursory upgrade.

If we see how the pro version compares to the non-PT version on PC, we will get a better idea on what additional options were even worth it. May be nothing short of PT was worth it and so they cranked resolution up.

 

[Steve Holt]

PS5 Pro is a beast

 

[Karim]

That's a good theory if performance mode had such artifacts on pro. It goes all the way down to 864p and isn't bad with PSSR. They could have easily settled for 1080p and scaled other settings way up imo. Oh well.

Perfomance mode not use raytracing reflections. The artifacts I talked it's a mix of different raytracing use with reflections involved combined to the delay of the upscaler work. You can see hideous trials ghosting pixelation in Pragmata when the character moving on reflective metallic surface and 1080p is not that worrying for the PSSR2 to justify this broken behaviour. Guess it's a combination of multiple lower buffer effects and the raytracing "attitude" to be "slower" compared other rendering stuff. But well it's a guess.