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Digital Foundry: Doom Eternal on Stadia Looks Great - But The Lag is Just Too High

Beer Monkey

Beer Monkey

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
9,308
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...nal-stadia-looks-the-part-but-lag-is-too-high
  • They are using a GOD tier internet connection for residential
  • 79-100ms additional lag over X1X
  • Stuttering occurs at times (but rarely) "Despite this, there are still some minor, very infrequent stutters in performance."
  • Looks great with some differences
  • No film grain effect
  • FoV locked at 90
I'm playing games like this at 1080p/120 at this point so that's another whole thing they aren't competing on.

youtu.be

Doom Eternal on Stadia Looks Great - But The Lag is Just Too High

The biggest game release on Stadia these last few months gets a full tech breakdown - Doom Eternal looks stunning on Google's streaming platform. And yet in ...
youtu.be youtu.be
 
Last edited:
chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,071
​


The biggest game release on Stadia these last few months gets a full tech breakdown - Doom Eternal looks stunning on Google's streaming platform. And yet in comparison to Xbox One X there's a huge gulf in how enjoyable it is to actually play, put into perspective with input lag tests here.

Subscribe for more Digital Foundry: http://bit.ly/DFSubscribe Join the DF Patreon, support the work we do more directly and get access to years' worth of pristine quality video downloads: https://www.digitalfoundry.net
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Golden

Golden

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
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Dec 9, 2018
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Quite damning really for this style of game.
 
chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,071
TL;DW

- "Absolutely no wait at all" to start the game unlike consoles
- Tested on 300Mbit connection w/ Ethernet.
- Looks "stunning" on a purely visual level.

- Pixel count: 3200x1800p with possibility of dynamic resolution (but none spotted in testing)
- HUD is 4K, but some background elements resolve at 1080p (likely low res DoF buffer)
- 1080p displays show straight up 1080p picture.
- LoD deformation is similar to Xbox S but most other features similar to Xbox X with Film Grain and FoV slider completely removed.
- Motion blur options has more variety ala PC version.

- Some drops might be expected due to connection but mostly stuck to 60 FPS in DF testing.
- Noticeable delay in input lag compared to XBX version. Visual examples given.
- 19 to 24 frame-delay in every test on Stadia. Average 91 ms response time.
- Latency noticed and immediacy of actions is dull.
- "Hard to justify going with the stadia version that is unless you don't have any other console version"
 
OnionPowder

OnionPowder

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,323
Orlando, FL
Stadia is amazingly disappointing. Even worse than I expected actually. I thought it'd at least be a beast, but I'd have to play an inferior version of a lot of these games compared to my 2016 PC.
 
CypherSignal

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Oct 25, 2017
1,072
The note about MK11 having an extra 14-26ms of lag seems particularly interesting, given their session on D:E having an extra 80-100ms. On other cloud services, I've noticed significant variability in connection quality from one session to another, even on the same title, and I can't help but wonder if something similar may be happening with Stadia still -- it may explain some people's anecdotal experiences having such significant variance as well. An unpredictable QoS is very troubling for the platform, and hopefully the platform team is tracking that data properly and is able to react accordingly.
 
Koukalaka

Koukalaka

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Oct 28, 2017
9,290
Scotland
Until there's some sort of quantum leap in connectivity that massively reduces latency for the large amounts of data required to negligible levels, I just don't see cloud gaming being a realistic prospect for many genres.

The fact that Google is choosing to push twitch-y shooters in particular is kinda baffling in itself.
 
Dr. Doom

Dr. Doom

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,509
This is why I do not believe in cloud gaming. Nothing beats a standard installation. The fact of the matter is that no matter how good the service is, there will always be lag. And those milliseconds sure do add up.
 
Scottoest

Scottoest

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Feb 4, 2020
11,356
A twitch shooter was a really strange choice of "flagship" game for Stadia to highlight in their conference last year, considering it would be one of the least suitable candidates for game streaming.
 
Ionic

Ionic

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Oct 31, 2017
2,735
Scottoest said:
A twitch shooter was a really strange choice of "flagship" game for Stadia to highlight in their conference last year, considering it would be one of the least suitable candidates for game streaming.
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I think the point was to show confidence in their platform. It's nice to be ambitious, but there's the matter of delivering.
 
toy_brain

toy_brain

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Nov 1, 2017
2,207
Interesting. I've been playing the Stadia version and its more than playable. I really cant perceive any lag at all.
I'm located in the UK. Playing at 1080p and on a 68mbps wired connection.
I also never get any drops or stutter.

I did have to turn aim acceleration down to halfway (I think most people just turn it off entirely), but that's a thing on all console versions I think.
Otherwise, playing on HMP difficulty, I'm maybe 2/3 through the game, I've done all slayer gates so far, and my experience sounds like most people's that were posting in the 'What difficulty are you playing on' thread. Tough start, eventually get used to the systems, then its a great (intense) experience.

At some point I'll get to try the PC version and see how it stacks up.
 
gofreak

gofreak

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Oct 26, 2017
7,736
Will watch later... but does it mention if latency improves with a lower resolution stream? IIRC, Stadia latency could be particularly bad when trying to stream 4K.
 
snausages

snausages

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Feb 12, 2018
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I played it at Gamescom last year and I feel like you could feel the lag hit in during camera turns, particularly as it got hectic. I was pretty bad at the game though so no idea how it impacts later on. Also this was August 2018

Doom Eternal is really fast once you get good at it though so this definitely isn't a platform I'd choose if I didn't have to
 
Fisty

Fisty

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Oct 25, 2017
20,227
This brings up an interesting point: with some content providers throttling speeds for non-essential traffic, where would this leave streaming games?
 
chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,071
Dest said:
Shocked I tell you, absolutely shocked.
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King_Moc said:
I'm stunned by this revelation.
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Lukemia SL said:
Amazing are these revelations.
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FancyPants

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
707
toy_brain said:
Interesting. I've been playing the Stadia version and its more than playable. I really cant perceive any lag at all.
I'm located in the UK. Playing at 1080p and on a 68mbps wired connection.
I also never get any drops or stutter.
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DF also registered almost no drops or stutter.

Tried the game on Stadia at a friend's house after finishing it on PC myself. I've also tried it with a controller on PC, which I didn't like at all. The Stadia version is noticably laggier than even that and to be honest I didn't like the idea of adjusting to a slightly laggy experience. Looks surprisingly good tho, and I couldn't spot any artifacts. Super impressed by that, but for me it was a far worse experience than just playing it on PC. As DF said, if you can - play it on local hardware.
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

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Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,366
Fisty said:
This brings up an interesting point: with some content providers throttling speeds for non-essential traffic, where would this leave streaming games?
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Doesn't seem to have impacted anything I've played recently. I don't think there are enough Stadia users honestly to impact the global speeds and PS Now already runs at 720p max so not really a lot to reduce there. Likewise GeForce Now in terms of max 1080p stream and it not having Netflix/YouTube levels of users.
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

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Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,366
FancyPants said:
DF also registered almost no drops or stutter.
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Yeah, the line in OP about 'stuttering occurs at times' is technically right but doesn't strictly match what the video is saying. DF says they didn't see anything bad in 2-3 hours of playtime but it's to be expected that you may see drops depending on the stability of your connection.
 
EvilBoris

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Oct 29, 2017
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ghostcrew said:
Doesn't seem to have impacted anything I've played recently. I don't think there are enough Stadia users honestly to impact the global speeds and PS Now already runs at 720p max so not really a lot to reduce there. Likewise GeForce Now in terms of max 1080p stream and it not having Netflix/YouTube levels of users.
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It's not Google's end which is the issue ,it's every user who has perhaps got some degree of traffic shaping or additional latency through additional traffic management
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

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Oct 27, 2017
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EvilBoris said:
It's not Google's end which is the issue ,it's every user who has perhaps got some degree of traffic shaping or additional latency through additional traffic management
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Gotcha. Guessing my ISP hasn't gone in hard on any gaming stuff I've done in the last week or so then!
 
OP
OP
Beer Monkey

Beer Monkey

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
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Wasn't trying to be misleading about stuttering, OP has been edited.

Again, they were playing on a god-tier, highly optimized consumer internet connection.
 
zombiejames

zombiejames

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Oct 25, 2017
11,934
I think people would be a lot happier with Stadia if it weren't marketed as a console competitor/replacement. These comparisons are absolutely killing the service.
 
Bahlor

Bahlor

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Oct 25, 2017
541
Germany
toy_brain said:
Interesting. I've been playing the Stadia version and its more than playable. I really cant perceive any lag at all.
I'm located in the UK. Playing at 1080p and on a 68mbps wired connection.
I also never get any drops or stutter.

I did have to turn aim acceleration down to halfway (I think most people just turn it off entirely), but that's a thing on all console versions I think.
Otherwise, playing on HMP difficulty, I'm maybe 2/3 through the game, I've done all slayer gates so far, and my experience sounds like most people's that were posting in the 'What difficulty are you playing on' thread. Tough start, eventually get used to the systems, then its a great (intense) experience.

At some point I'll get to try the PC version and see how it stacks up.
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Ya same for me, no issues at all. Just a slight more lag on CCU with controller but no felt input lag at all on PC with M+K. On the other side, games like Rage 2 and Wolfenstein: Young blood suffer from the same weird smoothing that feels like lag. (Maybe that stuff just doesn't translate well to game streaming) After setting that to 0 I didn't have any issues on Doom Eternal. Games like Destiny2, Division2 or Serious Sam Collection never feel like that and are absolutely smooth, even in fast situations.

Also when watching others play the Stadia version, I've never seen someone actually walk around like in the video, almost like they intentionally walked into walls etc. Not stating that they did, but the issue might be somewhere else here, maybe the wifi connection of the controller, the location itself or whatever. Also I don't why bandwidth is always mentioned, that is most likely never an issue as long as you have 30+Mbit. But who knows... network setups, especially from companies could also make this a worse experience, or ISP or just the distance to the Google servers...
 
HardRojo

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Oct 25, 2017
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What I gather is that this would be a very competent version were it not for the input lag issues. What a shame, high input lag is very noticeable and annoying when you've played platformers and fighting games for a good while.
 
SwampBastard

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Nov 1, 2017
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It's been flawless for me, or at least near enough that I haven't noticed any issues with it. *shrug*
 
cakely

cakely

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Oct 27, 2017
13,149
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Beer Monkey said:
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...nal-stadia-looks-the-part-but-lag-is-too-high
  • They are using a GOD tier internet connection for residential
  • 79-100ms additional lag over X1X
  • Stuttering occurs at times (but rarely) "Despite this, there are still some minor, very infrequent stutters in performance."
  • Looks great with some differences
  • No film grain effect
  • FoV locked at 90
I'm playing games like this at 1080p/120 at this point so that's another whole thing they aren't competing on.

youtu.be

Doom Eternal on Stadia Looks Great - But The Lag is Just Too High

The biggest game release on Stadia these last few months gets a full tech breakdown - Doom Eternal looks stunning on Google's streaming platform. And yet in ...
youtu.be youtu.be
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

79-100ms additional lag?

Yeah, that's a hard no from me.

I see the members of the Stadia OT are already here to tell us DF is wrong.
 
AtomicShroom

AtomicShroom

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Oct 28, 2017
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So much for Negative Latency™.

Just pull the plug already, Google! With next-gen consoles looming around the corner, you're going to have even more trouble even generating any sort of buzz around your inferior streaming service!
 
Bojanglez

Bojanglez

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Oct 27, 2017
375
chris 1515 said:
It is very dissapointing. End of the year new console generation and soon new PC GPU and CPU are a much better choice.
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In some ways Yes, unless you do not have time/money/space/inclination for a new console or PC. I really think that Stadia is (or at least should be) aimed at the more casual market, those that are not reading forums like this. Lots of people might want to hop into the odd game, but for various reasons may not want dedicated hardware to do so, I imagine that is who they will be going after eventually (but who knows).
 
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