I've discussed this a lot in the downgrade threadnaught back then, but I called it quits with Marcin's statement in good hopes that all this fuss was for nothing. But now that Ultra has been shown, I really find it hard to believe him anymore.
Before you jump at me and accuse me of being a rabble-rouser and a doomsayer, let me clear up the air a bit. The game is more than the sum of its parts and the mood, atmosphere, mechanics and story are world-class, if not some of the best in recent memory. On this scale no less. That's not what I'm worried about. I also acknowledge the great upgrades made in the last years since SoD. Skin SSS, PBR across the board, improved weather dynamics and bloody great character self-shadowing/occlusion just to name a few. I will gladly purchase this game because it has heart and because it is made by people who still believe in the craft of making games instead of churning out yearly formulas.
What ticks me off is my growing impression that the game on PC (and perhaps the PS4 for that matter) has been neutered by MS because of X1-specific limitations. Yeah I'm one of those guys. Cutting to the chase :
- Very clear difference in lighting, not from a shading perspective but in the broader dynamic range that the SoD trailer featured. We lost a few EVs of range, and that has nothing to do with art direction.
- Quality and consistency of the lighting on the foliage. Yeah, that beaten dead horse, for good reason.
- Hard-coded LOD distances and baked texture resolutions. This is unforgivable from a company that should really know better, and the pop-in issues have already been pointed out.
Now, before you make the point that it is impossible to develop to the strength of each individual platform : I am well bloody aware of the realities of multiplatform development. I acknowledge how complex and ever-changing at breakneck speeds a AAA game of that magnitude is. But understand that as a PC user, it's hard to not be angry when for umpteenth time, the door to a future-proofing feature is closed for the sake of console politics. And yes, we do have the horsepower.
I really expected more of CDPR. My last hope is that an EE will give those features back. Because there's no doubt in my mind that there's an incredible, world-class talent and passion for rendering and graphics at CDPR, begging to make its way on our machines to melt our cards.
I will purchase the game and gladly enjoy it, I also completely disagree with the hyperbolic statement that CDPR pulled an Ubisoft. They've shown reasonable gameplay expectations, for one. But at the same time, please don't insult our intelligence and say that nothing's been lost since SoD or that we couldn't run it.
*puts flame hat on*
