Was graphics quality stealth-nerfed in the last update?
- Thread starter Katkon
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Hmmm.... I've always had the innards of the station "blued out" until I get almost to the slot. I doubt it's anything to do with the Xbox One though, as it's currently a few versions behind the main PC/Mac build, and seems to be MUCH higher detail than I get on my second gaming rig and my laptop (non-GTX and Intel Mobile 4400 respectively). My GTX560Ti is probably closer (but still poorer overall) than the Xbox One graphics. Bearing in mind that the Xbox One runs a fixed quality level, and PC games can go all the way up to 11, there's no reason to suspect Frontier are pandering to anyone. Just optimisation. Think of the AAA games (Project Cars) which are mindblowing on PC, but still excellent, although poorer, on the consoles.
So you think that rather than branch the game and make the changes for the Xbox version. They are taking the already released PC branch and making all the changes to optimise it for Xbox and then branching it?
That isn't how you port something.
The Xbox overlay isn't in the PC version. So can you give a common sense reason why graphical settings for the Xbox version would exist in the PC release?
I think its far more likely this is a combination of either bugs and/or optimisations for actual PC hardware that have been made in the past year of development. The frame-rate in the station used to max out at 40fps even on a relatively good PC, as of 1.3 we get a solid 60fps in the station. Asteroid fields weren't much better.
The Xbox version is the same game as the PC/Mac version, so there's no allusion to dumbing down anywhere.
I'm not a developer, and I'm not commenting on how they are producing the Xbox version because I don't know - all I can do is judge what is said by DB and what I see in my game:
I was in the neutron fields one month ago and I'm back again now - There's a huge change since my last visit....
Here's the neutron field in 1.2
Neutron stars as far as the eye can see!
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View attachment 47645
Here's the neutron field in 1.3
I can only see neutron stars with 26 light years of my current position!
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David has publicly said several times that the xbox will be the full PC edition, not dumbed down.
So what happens if the xbox is discovered by devs to struggle to render for example the neutron fields when displayed like the PC version (ie thousands of stars displayed)...they can't produce a dumbed down version for xbox, so they have to nerf the PC version.
It appears that they don't want to release an xbox version (however they produce it) that is in any way inferior to what PC users get.
The neutron fields in 1.2 were amazing....you really got a clear sense of the scale of the field.....thousands of stars going on for thousands of light years. Now I can only see a tiny number of stars.
Its a real shame.
Others have reported similar graphical nerfs:
Rings:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=156243
Ships
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=157780
If the change in the way the neutron field is displayed has not been done as a result of the limitations of the xbox, then why ? Unfortunately FD are keeping quiet on the subject. If its to assist with compatibility on lower spec PCs then surely they would have made this change only apply to the "low" and "medium" graphic settings in the game options....it should not be included in the "high" and "ultra" settings. People who have forked out huge sums of money for high spec PCs are really being done a disservice by FD here. I can only hope that if it is due to the limitations of Xbox, then some time after the xbox release FD do the honourable thing and un-nerf the PC.
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This is a really good example, I'm glad you posted it!
People need to stop arguing over why this has happened, and all admit that something has happened. We have proof. It's a fact that cannot be denied. The graphics are now no longer as good as they were. In some cases it might be a bug, in other cases it may be intentional. We do not know, but what we do know is that the graphics have changed.
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Could be..
There is no reason for the devs to take a crap on people who can actually support graphics like these. What gives FD?!
Again I think its more likely to do with bugs or optimisation for the PC version which didn't produce especially great frame rates under all circumstances.
I just can't get my head around the idea that a developer would port a game to a new target platform and change the source build when you can easily make all the change you make in the new target build. It just doesn't make sense to me and nobody has given me a good reason for why it would be done in that insane manner.
And I think it doesn't make sense that they would 'optimize' things for the PC version for people who weren't having any problems at all!!! Not everyone runs on a potato, sir! We need answers, FD!
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I'd guess that its a combination of two things:
1. Microsoft have insisted on a like-for-like release on xbox (i'm speculating of course)
2. David's public statement "xbox players will get exactly the same as PC players at release"
Once he's said that, he's committed to it.....if the xbox can't cope with thousands of neutron stars displayed (for example), FD have no choice but to nerf PC. What else can they do ?
I hope that after all the dust settles on the xbox release, the PC version will be ramped up again.
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Exactly. Far as I am concerned both of those to reasons are ridiculous.
1) It makes no sense to "nerf" the source platform when you are porting to a new platform.
2) It makes no sense to "nerf" graphics on high-end PCs in order to get the game to run on medium to low end PCs.
I have no clue about game development and perhaps that shows with what I am saying. But as far as I am concerned both the above scenarios are equally as daft as each other. (That's not to say they are not happening, because really - who knows).
Stealth nerfed since beta. And your not alone.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=161646
It makes far more sense. We are all downloading the PC build. Nobody here is downloading the XBox build and running that on the PC. Developers often do optimisation parses on PC games. I'm running on a fairly powerful PC (GTX 970, 4GHZ) and have noticed the frame rate drop in stations, looking at the cockpit and in asteroids. I've also noticed the improvements over the past year and a half of development.
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Frame rates have certainly increased. Frame rates in asteroid belts are now the highest they have ever been. I get a constant 75fps in a ring system when using the Rift now...and that is pretty much the first time that has ever happened.
But...the ring systems also look the worst they have ever looked (aside from that time perhaps in beta where the mid-distance ones all looked like 2D sprites).
Personally, it's not a trade off that I am happy about.
Well as we have already discussed. You may well have identified an issue or it might be something that Frontier can clarify.
I just think it coinciding with the console release allows for a rather convenient witch hunt for some. It would be fine if there was some kind of logic to it, but I haven't heard any yet.
Can someone please post comparison shots from the Xboned and PC? I bet they're pretty close now, hahaha. Go figure. Can't wait for Star Citizen! FYI, a coworker of mine downloaded Elite: Dangerous and he was scared his console was going to explode, he never heard the fans spin so much before. But nope, no way did FD lower the PC's graphics for the Xbox, that is just impossible!
But yes, someone please post comparisons for the two.
But yes, someone please post comparisons for the two.
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Yes there is an issue I'm sure of that. When I get time I will post some more screenshots for what I have seen. But basically it seems that the dust issue is a bug, when on the light side of a ring, the dust is present, but on the darker side the dust is absent. So that certainly appears to be a bug / glitch.
I'm starting to suspect the downgrade in the quality of the rocks themselves though (including the shadow changes) might be deliberate.
Apparently yes, masked under the argument "we're making the game better".
That's why I never trust trailers and official gameplay and that's why I cancelled The Witcher 3 preorder.
Showing people one thing and selling them another thing is the norm nowadays.
As a designer, I can't show my client one thing and, after he agrees to pay, sell him a stripped down design because the original file I created crashes his PDF Reader.
So I start to "optimize" the design by removing certain effects. I could re-create those effects using other methods, to make it look the same, but that takes too long and I cba. He won't notice anyway.
Familiar?
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