Luchingador what? it's just not needed to have grphx settings on consoles, sure it would be kinda cool but useless in the end. I would rather wish pc to have more of a set grphx setting
Miller710 That is absolutely NOT true. Even on next gen consoles, Watch Dogs cannot run to it's full potential on neither the Xbone or PS4. You even have to have a pretty beefy PC to run it on absolute maximum. Last gen console games that where also PC games where always tweaked with lower settings to run smoother on the console. As technology advances, PC's will always be one step ahead of consoles. There just isn't the money and man power for consoles to keep.
+Spawn Cap I think it's just more on the side of people with higher resolution monitors.. like 1440p to 4k. because their monitor is at a higher resolution, they can lower the msaa a bit and do some tweeking first as to not draw out too much power from the GPU. and also most games have a default 60 fps, and if your monitor has a 144hz refresh rate, you would want to turn the vsync off. And, most of the time, people with high end rigs would want to play at ultra settings. that's why they all check 1st if the their settings is on ultra or not.
I'm not trying to hid the fact that I use a pavilion g6 which cannot have parts taken out of it and improve it but the fact that I'm use to 30fps all round means that I'm less greedy in a sense for better gameplay....
ikr, most games come with them already off and I have to turn them on. Iv played too many games where sound effects, loud music or just bad voice work makes it really hard to understand what is being said.
You missed free-sync (adaptive sync) which is just G-sync but industry standard and will work with all displays using displayport 1.2a. Basically a much better version of G-sync.
leerman22 (I'm asking you because you are the most recent comment here and seem to know stuff) g-sync was invented by nvidia, but if it applies to monitors does that mean some one with a radeon gpu can make use of it too? Thanks in advance.
TheKRWill However, amd is creating something called free-sync that as the name implies is a completely free add on that motor companies can patch in through firmware at the factory. As opposed to nvidia's gsync that adds around $200 to the cost of the monitor. It may already be out on some monitors, I can't recall though.
MetalAllDayAllNight I don't think you really understand what Vsync even is... If your PC is powerful enough then Vsync is pointless and activating it actually causes input lag. Vsync is used when you have a shitty PC with variable frame-rate causing screen tear because it can't consistently match your monitor's hz's. And even then Triple Buffer is always a better option anyway.
milspec Jimmy McNulty wishingW3L You guys have no clue what Vsync is (I'm disappointed in you wishingW3L ). You don't have to have a shit PC to experience screen tearing. It can, and does, occur on every gaming desktops, laptops aren't really prone to it. This happens because all screen tearing is, is the GPU and monitor being out of sync and they can be out of sync even if they are both operating at the same frame rate. If, for example, the GPU outputs a frame 60 times per second but the monitor starts drawing it half way through displaying the previous frame, it doesn't matter that the monitor displays a frame 60 times per second because there will always be two frames displayed at the same time.
Resolution: The answer wasn't quite correct in the video. The resolution you choose in the game settings is the resolution that the game is processed at, however the monitor might be a higher resolution than that. So it's not the number of pixels on the monitor necessarily. For example, i might have run a game at 1920x1080 but have a 2560x1440 monitor and have my monitor (or GPU) scale the game output to fit the monitor. Not a really big deal though.
If you don't want to come to PC well your missing out a lot. This stuff isn't complicated at all. Usually the game defualts to a good setting preset for your rig and if you want to start tweaking it then go ahead and play around. Its not hard and doesn't take long. PC is open and that's why we love it, we aren't getting our hands held by a company or this or that. Having the option to pump more juice in my rig if I want to is awesome. And older games have hella graphics mods. You just want to play vanilla games and don't care about mod support or customizing then stick with consoles. Thats how I was for a while and then I did a bit of research and now its rediculous how many mods I've played. Cod 4 into star wars or paintball. Battlefield 2 into better graphics. Skyrim into any game ever. Emulators. ROM hacks. Custom indie games. Over 100x as many games and indie games that either console due to compatibility. Life is filled with learning and this shit is easy_ don't be lazy. But maybe PC still isn't for some of you. To each their own.
I have 2 guestions for you. 1 why do you care about do people play on consoles or pc's it's not like you know these people or anything. 2 Do you think someone will throw his ps4 away and build a new pc because some random guy posted a comment on the internet?
I don't totally care, but I recommend people to PC because I was just someone who played on consoles my whole life. I built a PC when I was 16, 17 now, and it's just a great experience. If you don't choose PC then that's fine. I just really enjoy the experience and urge way more people to play on the platform since all the features and cheaper games. Your right, the average joe might not go, but someone who wants an even better gaming experience, has a job and wants to experience even more titles, and epic emulators, well it's likely he'll go into PC. That's also why the community is usually older.
Haha, I love how you had the Uncle Sheogorath's loading screen tips installed on Skyrim. And great video, I wish I had this when I first started learning.
AndrewAttackkk Well if you consider ensuring that your games don't look like shit then yes they do absolutely nothing. In fact things like tessellation do so little that it was conveniently left out of Tomb Raider for PS4 and PS4 version of Last of Us despite two entirely different people noting that Tomb Raider looks worse off and less detailed for not using tessellation and another noting how the higher resolution of Last of Us actually looks worse in places due to the fact it's just a higher resolution and no tessellation which leaves things looking rather blocky and sticking out like a sore thumb. So yeah tessellation does nothing and is so easy on resources that it's used in every PS4 game...oh wait. Also anti aliasing does nothing?. So you like playing games with shimmering jagged edge mess all over the screen?. Or are you telling me you never noticed all those horrible jagged edges all over the place?.
I find it funny that console gamers flock to pc videos and claim it is complicated to fatom. And when you goto PS4 vs X1 video, they get technical saying stuff like PS 4 has new AMD Jaguar CPU wuth 8cores and it has unified GDDR RAM. Bunch of hypocrtis if you ask me lol
4:05 "In fact, at 4K, aliasing pretty much stops being an issue"... Well, maybe if you're sitting ten feet away from a 55" 4K screen.. But not if you're, say, using a 40 or so inch 4K as a monitor, because a 40" 4K monitor would have the same pixel density as a 20" 1080p monitor. And I sure see the benefit of AA on my 20" 1080p monitor ; ).
bliglum Why in the world would you buy a 40 inch 4k monitor for gaming? I can understand if its for say the family room but you should never get anything over 24 inches for gaming
Nick Paxton What? Nothing over 24 inches for gaming? Hahaha!! Where on earth did you get such ludicrous advice? Maybe 24" is seen as a good sweetspot? I currently have a 2 display setup, a 27" monitor, and a 46" TV, and I game just fine on both of em! : )
bliglum 27" 16:9 or a hefty 21:9 monitor is pretty much the largest you should go for if you're gaming at a desk sitting down directly in front of it. A 40" TV on a desk is ridiculous, especially considering if you're sitting close enough to it, the pixel density argument you brought up completely negates the benefits of gaming at 4K in the first place. AA in 1080p is a given.
heliontide I dunno dude, I've got a 27" at home and I would have no problem at all stepping it up a bit. But hey! That Barnacules Nerdgasm guy has three 46" screens set up on his desk! Go tell him he's doing it wrong!!
This was really helpful. I've always just stuck to the presettings, but now that i kinda know what they do i'll be forever tweaking now. Thanks a lot and i can't wait for part 2 :]
although my laptop is for gaming I always go to the options and turn everything low; I care about performance more than about quality or realism, I don't care about hi res not realistic depths and such I may have a little OCD but not that level of obsession I like a nice image as long as it keeps the game playable, without any unneeded adds 2k,4k, etc I don't give a single point of care! I like what I have and that's it
Thank you for making this video! I found it very helpful and easy to understand. I favorited this video because this is the kind of information I will need to look back on in the future when i forget what this stuff means. Looking forward to part 2.
Great explanation of the settings. You should of gone over some other post processing AA filters which appear in games - the best one I've seen so far is SMAA.
This is a great explanation! Now I just have to watch this video every time a game comes out, instead of googling every option :D I wish more games would put a before/after picture in the settings with a small description...
This episode was great. I think it's nice that we get to learn more about how this medium we like so much works... If you could have more episodes about how the actual tech behind video games and the consoles work, that would be awesome.
+Johnny Jab Yup the poor bastards have to play on an even playing field without hackers and cheaters and bugs for a far cheaper price i don't know how they cope the poor scum . Must be hell having a life and not wasting it fucking around with a ridiculous amount of options that have to be added because half of us wouldn't be able to play the fucking thing if it didn't . :) .Poor poor console gamers they don't know the shit there missing .
woofalot13 hey man , hackers and shit ? they are your problem not mine. Ill just lay back and keep in check with the new upcoming games , deciding whether they are worth of me playing them ...
When I talk about tessellation it's about textures matching up. Hexagons, cuboids and chevrons will all tessellate nicely. Escher (I think) was one of the best at it. I still find it difficult to make my own textures match up but that's more of a mapping issue.
Not going to even browse comments, probably full of ignorant peasants who claim that PC costs $4000 and what not. Anyway at least we have the advantage of tweaking the experience and not to settle with what devs thought was best for us. I mean if my game doesnt run in 60fps I will lower the settings. "OH WOW!! Lowering the settings? Cant be true! All PC gamers are graphics whores! Hes probably lying!" But what I find really funny is that every time a PC gamer mentions graphics he is instantly called graphics whore and that he only cares about graphics and not gameplay, but when you start your awesome console wars, then its all about which console has better graphics.
***** "Overclocking, what the hell is that? Stupid PC gamers and all their mods can't play real game because they probably suck at it. Also I don't have time to no-life and build a PC and then mod stuff or overclock or what do you do in your moms basement, I have a girlfriend and I go to parties, PC no-lifers. - /after googling what is overclocking/- Besides you cant tell the difference and there is actually no difference between 30fps and 60fps so you waste your time to just get a couple more frames? AHAHA so sad, get a life man." Pretty much the average console fanboy after reading your comment.
Also just a note. There's about a 99.9% chance you Google-d everything you were just talking about at some point. Outside of some hardware and settings knowledge I'd bet you know jack about coding/programing. I'd much either but I'm not the one lying to feel smart.
The beauty of playing on a console is the developers will be the ones dynamically setting these for optimized gaming experience while you just launch and play. That's why sometimes I play games on consoles because when I play on PC I get all neurotic about the graphics settings and spend hours there before actually playing the game, but I still game on PC if its an RTS or FPS.
Your not a real PC gamer if you do not understand the PC options... basically like TotalBiscuit :).... btw MLAA is the ATI version of TXAA... both are different both have different antialiasing techniques
get real, i bet you have the most basic understand of what they are. and judging by your TB mention, its based only on his description (he corrects himself all the time, meaning even he doesnt have a great understanding)
You would actually be surprised lol... I do understand most features within games like Metro Last Light with parallax mapping, debris destruction, fog volumes and cloth physics.. I know what they are yet they aren't a graphics option at all.... don't be so quick to judge a book by its cover ahaha
Thanks, Cam, for not saying that screen tearing can not happen at framerates below the refresh rate just like every other "tech expert" out there. As you said, screen tear will happen anytime vsync is off- any time that the GPU and monitor are not in sync!
No need for V-SYNC or G-Sync. I just play in borderless windowed mode it fixes all screen tearing. And if the game doesn't have borderless windowed mode I just use the program borderless gaming.
Justa318i the only world. within the first three seconds of the video you heard the trademark american "T tapping" e.g. pronouncing "little" like "liddle", "butter" like "budder". it sounds cringey as fuck, especially when combined with a native scottish/english accent. unmistakeable.
Volound Are you fucking serious? This is the most obvious 'soft' Scottish accent I've ever heard that I'm honestly surprised you're stupid enough to think otherwise. Proof that there are just some RU-vidrs undeserving of their sub bases.
***** calling that a "soft scottish accent" is ridiculous. if you want to hear a "soft" scottish accent, listen to RP (completely neutral) and then a scottish one. this is nowhere between the two. this is americanised scottish. only a moron would contradict me on that, and you pretty much confirmed that to be the case with your whiny "sub base" remark.
There are lots of PC gamers who don't know what tessellation, texture filtering... means. These terms aren't that simple to just know from every day life because we never use them unless you are working with it. Games rarely tell you what they actually do or they want to help you but are just annoying because they first show a tool-tip if you try to change a setting... Looking at you CS:GO. I had the same problem myself a couple of years ago when I got into PC gaming. No one really explains them or they are explained but very poorly. I wish games would do a better job at explaining them with a simple popup on the bottom of the screen when you move your cursor over them. Still I have problems knowing what some things do because only that 1 game or 2 are using it and no else.
great episode! although i know what every settings are supposed to do, but not in so many words. p.s. you forgot to mention that amd have their on solution to the screen tear- ''free sync''.
***** Actually SMAA and MSAA are very different... SMAA is screen-based AA (just like FXAA) and MSAA is multi-sampling. The first SMAA solution was created by Crytek for Crysis 2 or 3 and it had a very good quality/performance ratio. It make almost no difference when you run it (performance wise), just like FXAA, but it really help with the jaggies. Latest Ubisoft games also allow for their costume SMAA solution and it works really good. For example, Watch Dogs on the PS4 uses SMAA and even tho it's 900p, you really can't see that much aliasing.
FINALLY A VIDEO perfectly explaining what anti-aliasing does lol my friends don't understand it and get confused when i show them what it does but this sure will make them understand!
well, I don't have a 4000$ pc, it's an average pc, and the only game that I can't run and play is Fallout 4. And I'm not ashamed about that at all. I play games (when I have some free to spend) just to have some fun and that's it. I don't care for amazing graphics or something like that.
***** My pc is nothing special :) Intel q9550 quad core, AMD radeon R7 240 2GB ddr3 graphics, 8GB RAM ddr3 ... Battlefield 4 high settings, Battlefield 3 high settings, Flight simulator high settings, DIRT 1 & 2 high settings, ARMA 3 high settings... and more. And I'm very pleased by that , I can afford a better and newer pc , but this one still runs great ... for games I like to play ...yes Assassins creed (haven't purchased a newest one yet) but all of the assassins creed played on high settings, truck sim too, farm sim 15 also , many many more, generals :D list is long I can't even remember some of the games :D
***** well for these pc'c today it's an old guy :D but runis like young boy :D I would like an i7 some day and TITAN :D but as long this pc runs ok I won't change it ...
+Shomy4u If you are having trouble with FO4, disable vsync but lock the frame rate to 60fps with some software (i use nvidia inspector but have no clue to what you can use with your amd card). This helps quite a lot as vsync in that engine introduces input-lag and well, as always v-sync just sucks if your card cant get al least 60fps easily. You have to lock the fps to 60 or else the game will behave oddly, that's because the engine counts time with frames, so if your card goes to 120fps on the inside of a building, everything in the game will literally go twice as fast.
The video config process is quite simple: if it uses acronyms, you turn it off if it's a weird word that should describe a micro-climate more than a video-process (e.g. anisotropic), you turn it off if it makes cutscenes behave like powerpoint presentations, you... well, you get the idea
I think the most important point of resolution in this day and age is that you should ALWAYS match the native resolution of your monitor/projector. Used to be when we had CRTs that you could go down in resolution to get a better performance, because CRTs don't have a static resolution, but that's over with.
This is why many people stick to consoles, there isn't all of these complicated options (not for you, o-mighty PC players) but for us, console gamers, it is REALLY, really conplicated to start out and we don't want to spend many hours into googling all these things. Consoles are of lesser quality, yes, but they are easy to play. Just put the game in and some minor options and Voila, it is ready :). And... Pc's a lot $$$$ than consoles :/. Wish I had one though..
I've been a PC gamer for roughly 3 years and never had a problem with these. In most games I'll just leave the default settings unless I notice FPS under 60. Also a lot of games have brief explanations of these when you hover over them. Also PC's are a lot cheaper than consoles! If you are interested in getting one for your budget I'd be glad to help!
1st it may sounds hard to understand but 99% of games on pc have premade graphics options with low medium high ultra etc. 2nd pc can cost less that an xbox one and do more than a ps4,but do please inform yourself before talking 3rd console gaming now is just bad and this is coming from someone that has a ps1,ps3&ps4.you have to install and wait for a bunch of things before actually playing
Speak for yourself, I've been a console gamer for years but am switching to PC this gen. It's not rocket science, learning about components/jargon etc, which is also enjoyable in its own way. There are lots of vids like this one to help you out. As for price, a PC is only as expensive as you want it to be. I'm on a budget but the machine I have in mind should handily beat PS4 and Xbone without breaking the bank. Not trying to be rude but do yourself a favour and do some cursory research, you might be surprised what you learn.
Should have mentioned that FXAA does NOT work well with straight lines that are detached. For example a rope will look like parts of it are dissapearing with FXAA on because it doesnt know its a standalone line. MSAA however can anti-alias it fine, on an additional note there are multiple versions of MSAA. Multi-sample, Adaptive multi-sample, Supersample Adaptive is just the same but also applies itself to transparent textures which makes it infinitely better as a lot of games use this to cheat out on using actual polygons. (E.G. a fence with a lot of wire is just a texture with transparent bits in between) thats why in most games you cant shoot through the little holes in wired fences and such.
That would be what is called subpixel aliasing. Should be noted that more advanced forms of SMAA (say SMAA T2X, as used in Crysis 3 and Assassin's Creed IV) do a pretty decent job and handling such aliasing.
***** Yes, but especially in black flag with SMAA you can see that all the ropes on the ships are still very aliased as they are individual things. Correct me if im wrong but MSAA is not post processing and SMAA is.
thanks for this explanation Cam, i'm a complete simian when it comes to technical jargon, so spelling it out and showing me pictures is infinitely more useful than reading a damn wiki page that spells it out with a cascade of technical terms that makes my head hurt and want to throw bananas at the screen. looking forward to part 2!
One of the first things I do the most when starting a new game. is to quit the game using Task-manager, then finding the config file and change from 1600x1024 to 1920x1080. Games usually use 1600x1024 for some reason, and that causes the screen to show weird colours.
4:05 not entirely. It depends a lot on the monitor size, but upping the resolution does help. If you render at higher resolutions than your monitor supports (as long as the gpu does) you can downsample, which is kinda an AA method.
"and before you turn off subtitles" You mean "before you turn on subtitles" right? Almost every game I played I immediately turn on subtitles for. Makes things much easier to understand.
I like to downsample to 4k or 5k on a 21.5 inch monitor, for the cleanest picture possible. If I can't hit solid 60fps will lock my frames to 30, 40 and 50 depending on the game. Love all this options on pc.
Please try to cover tressfx & nvidia hair works. I know they are basically the same but I want a little more in depth detail as to which is better & less performance intensive.
I can never use FXAA. It does a half-decent job at correcting aliasing at the cost of making the image look ten times worse via blurring. 1440p plus 2x MSAA is how I roll.
Awesome stuff, Thanks muchly!!. just in the process of rebuilding my skyrim and these vid's will definitely help me understand what I'm doing.. appreciate that..