Performance is a Mess

[Pepe]

So I don't think I am going to go overboard and type up some length analysis but my own experience with a lot of games today is that performance is often a software issues more than hardware. A great example is the recent release of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. It has some issues that this game has too (even with different engines) but it generally has run buttery smooth for me out of the box. Crytek is an excellent engine for performance as far as my general impression has been.

Anyway, this game has some real issues with performance:

1) Mandatory lumen
2) Mandatory AI anti aliasing*
3) Massive VRAM usage with reports of errors when running out of memory (I haven't experienced this one personally).
4) SSR having poor reflections or strange artifacts towards the edge of your screen on water surfaces.

Now, KCD2 also shared the issue with SSR and I had to turn it off. Lost fidelity but no more artifacts and even better performance. Another great example for modern gaming would also be Baldur's Gate 3. Great game. Runs much smoother than this game; however, it also forces players to use AI anti aliasing and/or upscaling along with the workarounds such as sharpness. In my opinion, this technology is great on paper and terrible in practice. It never doesn't come with some drawback to visual fidelity:

1) Blurr
2) Ghosting
3) Strange artifacts (in KCD2 edges wobble and/or expand and contract like they're inflating)

BG3 has a strange issue where AA directly effects the quality and appearance of hair on characters. Long story short, it looks terrible on everything that isn't TAA or DLAA. DLAA looks way better than TAA due to blur but it is frustrating since it never reaches the same clarity that MSAA can achieve. I don't think the games that require these technologies know how to optimize for a game environment that doesn't use them as a crutch. To this day. Total War: Shogun 2 with MSAA is crisp and stunning.

Anyway, I had to go into the Engine.ini to turn off SSR. I have used the optimization mods (and they do help. Ultimate fixes was the best for me), but irregardless the performance is janky and includes random dips. One spot I was able to test was the big fire next the Aeylid ruin right after you exit the sewer. Also, if you enter the ruin I see flickering square blotches (not quite pixels) on the stairs as I enter near my feet. I also did turn off Lumen at one point (and enjoyed immediate FPS gains) but then noticed even more texture artifacts due to the lighting/shaders when walking through the sewer after the Emperor is killed.

It is a mess. It has been frustrating to tweak and fix after purchase and I am generally happy with it (I get a FOV slider at least!) but I do have to turn off the FPS counter to help ignore the occasional dip in frames. I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts and also get this out there if anyone who matters or cares is doing rounds for community feedback.

Thank you!




Edit: Forgot to also mention the cursed flickering shadows on foliage in this remaster if you turn OFF AA. *shudders*

*Also, clarification: I felt the need to state AI antialiasing is mandatory but this could be more emotional that I intended. To get a pleasing graphical experience (as marketed by the game as a remaster) void of strange artifacts and shader issues, I personally have needed to use Software RT and AI Antialiasing in some way. In fact, AI Upscaling's release coincided with Raytracing as a way to allow us this incredible technology. I compared to BG3 and it's hair because, no, I don't technically HAVE to use DLAA but I also don't want my beard to look like hair extensions someone half-hazardly stapled on my character's face. It's so clear that it almost doesn't feel like a choice at all.

[Zanfr]

no. people on here prefer to argue "runs fine on my machine" "don't play on a potato bro!" instead of actually hearing out people who have issues and admitting there is something wrong with the engine.

[FN]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0rCA1vpgSw

Digital foundry's take on this. I want to play the game so bad but was bombarded with hitching/stutters, might buy again someday when they fix issues just like in starfield.

[FN]

Zanfr lähetti viestin:

no. people on here prefer to argue "runs fine on my machine" "don't play on a potato bro!" instead of actually hearing out people who have issues and admitting there is something wrong with the engine.

These are the narrow minded type you commonly face everywhere.

[patrick68794]

The game doesn't have "mandatory AI anti-aliasing" nor does it use "massive" amounts of VRAM.

SSR has those issues in every game because of how they work.

[Pepe]

patrick68794 lähetti viestin:

The game doesn't have "mandatory AI anti-aliasing" nor does it use "massive" amounts of VRAM.

SSR has those issues in every game because of how they work.

Okay

[patrick68794]

Pepe lähetti viestin:

patrick68794 lähetti viestin:

The game doesn't have "mandatory AI anti-aliasing" nor does it use "massive" amounts of VRAM.

SSR has those issues in every game because of how they work.

Okay

Look at that, no anti-aliasing or upscaling at all:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471354672

[Pepe]

patrick68794 lähetti viestin:

Pepe lähetti viestin:

Okay

Look at that, no anti-aliasing or upscaling at all:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471354672

I made a note in the OP but I don't rally care to engage with you if you just want to be right more than you want to listen to what I am saying. I was just venting a little on my very real experience.

Is it ascetic? Yes. But I am here to talk about the Graphics while simply existing in the game.

[patrick68794]

Pepe lähetti viestin:

patrick68794 lähetti viestin:

Look at that, no anti-aliasing or upscaling at all:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471354672

I made a note in the OP but I don't rally care to engage with you if you just want to be right more than you want to listen to what I am saying. I was just venting a little on my very real experience.

Is it ascetic? Yes. But I am here to talk about Graphics while simply existing in the game.

So you just want to be right and you're going to ignore anything that contradicts that even when presented with irrefutable evidence?

[Black Spice]

I'm on an old 2060 and it ran like junk, but luckily on pc you can tinker with settings and now it runs pretty good for me, i also switched screens and that alone improved my fps by 20 frames lol, i forget one is better than the other sometimes.

[Pepe]

patrick68794 lähetti viestin:

Pepe lähetti viestin:

I made a note in the OP but I don't rally care to engage with you if you just want to be right more than you want to listen to what I am saying. I was just venting a little on my very real experience.

Is it ascetic? Yes. But I am here to talk about Graphics while simply existing in the game.

So you just want to be right and you're going to ignore anything that contradicts that?

I trying to listen but you are here to fight. I am not.

[SparkzMentalz]

FN lähetti viestin:

Zanfr lähetti viestin:

no. people on here prefer to argue "runs fine on my machine" "don't play on a potato bro!" instead of actually hearing out people who have issues and admitting there is something wrong with the engine.

These are the narrow minded type you commonly face everywhere.

They're all just bored lames with no life. I just had some lame edit his reply to my thread on here to say "upgrade potato" lol.

[Pepe]

Black Spice lähetti viestin:

I'm on an old 2060 and it ran like junk, but luckily on pc you can tinker with settings and now it runs pretty good for me, i also switched screens and that alone improved my fps by 20 frames lol, i forget one is better than the other sometimes.

I got it somewhere I am happy with thankfully. It just falls short of other games that are leaning on these very expensive technologies to push more expensive cards. Happily settled with my 3070 though (low vram by today's standards I guess).

[patrick68794]

Pepe lähetti viestin:

patrick68794 lähetti viestin:

So you just want to be right and you're going to ignore anything that contradicts that?

I trying to listen but you are here to fight. I am not.

No, I'm here to try and stop people from spreading misinformation. Like saying the game has "mandatory" AI anti-aliasing when it doesn't.

[Pepe]

patrick68794 lähetti viestin:

Pepe lähetti viestin:

I trying to listen but you are here to fight. I am not.

No, I'm here to try and stop people from spreading misinformation.

Okay

[Smooth Operator]

Pepe lähetti viestin:

Anyway, this game has some real issues with performance:

1) Mandatory lumen

The mandatory lumen is only part of the main issue.
While forcefully disabling it in the .ini file, I got a miniscule performance boost, at the cost of indoor shadows and shadows on vegetation acting like white noise on a tv.