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Digital Foundry: Wolfenstein Youngblood: Switch vs Xbox One X Analysis - How Well Can id Tech Scale Across Consoles?
- Thread starter chandoog
- Start date
Summary of specs
OP
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TL;DW
Switch:
- Switch: Docked: Dynamic resolution is less aggressive compared to Wolf 2. Comes to 720p very often with lows of 680p and lower observed.
- Switch: Portable: Mostly sticks at 540p range, DF didn't observe anything as low as 360p in their testing.
- Most effects are still there, volumetric lighting is low quality and jittery.
- AO has been eliminated/missing.
- Shadow quality and coverage is reduced.
- Textures are much lower resolution and blurrier.
- SSR missing as well.
- Lacks soft lighting of the other console versions.
- "Despite all of the cuts, it still looks like wolfenstein"
- DF comment it looks better in handheld because of the smaller screen.
- "It looks lower resolution than what the actual pixel count shows" - John
- Capped at 30 FPS but doesn't hold in most combat sequences.
- Average 25~ FPS in most firefights. Frame Pace spikes also occur in heavy scenarios
- Playable but lacks perfect fluidity.
- "Switch is a little bit sharper (compared to Wolf 2) but it does run pretty poorly, almost always under 30 FPS" Overall DF comment it's kinda improved since Wolf 2.
Xbox:
- Xbox X: Still retains the 3 dynamic resolution options (on/off/aggressive)
- Just with Dynamic res on (and not aggressive), frequent drops to 1440p seen.
- Even With aggressive dynamic resolution, frame rate drops still observed. With just Dynamic on, frame rate dips in 50~60 range.
- Native 4K mode averages around 40 FPS in DF's testing with more aggressive drops in later areas in the game.
- Overall DF commented, it does not seem as consistent as Wolfenstein 2
- "At it's worse, light years beyond Switch but feels inconsistent overall". - DF thinks it's not as refined as Wolf 2.
- DF did not get time to look at the XBOne/S version in time for the video. Not sure if it will be touched upon later.
- Author's comment: Based on this analysis and the previous PS4 specific video, I think the PS4 Pro version w/ aggressive scaling might be the best performing version since their video showed minimal/no frame drops when they were playing with it on and the lowes resolution drops observed were 1726x1440p.
Additionally, seems like the X version scales both vertically and horizontally when scaling resolution (with the 1440p comment) while the PS4 and Pro versions only scale in one axis. If this is incorrect, please correct me.
Switch:
- Switch: Docked: Dynamic resolution is less aggressive compared to Wolf 2. Comes to 720p very often with lows of 680p and lower observed.
- Switch: Portable: Mostly sticks at 540p range, DF didn't observe anything as low as 360p in their testing.
- Most effects are still there, volumetric lighting is low quality and jittery.
- AO has been eliminated/missing.
- Shadow quality and coverage is reduced.
- Textures are much lower resolution and blurrier.
- SSR missing as well.
- Lacks soft lighting of the other console versions.
- "Despite all of the cuts, it still looks like wolfenstein"
- DF comment it looks better in handheld because of the smaller screen.
- "It looks lower resolution than what the actual pixel count shows" - John
- Capped at 30 FPS but doesn't hold in most combat sequences.
- Average 25~ FPS in most firefights. Frame Pace spikes also occur in heavy scenarios
- Playable but lacks perfect fluidity.
- "Switch is a little bit sharper (compared to Wolf 2) but it does run pretty poorly, almost always under 30 FPS" Overall DF comment it's kinda improved since Wolf 2.
Xbox:
- Xbox X: Still retains the 3 dynamic resolution options (on/off/aggressive)
- Just with Dynamic res on (and not aggressive), frequent drops to 1440p seen.
- Even With aggressive dynamic resolution, frame rate drops still observed. With just Dynamic on, frame rate dips in 50~60 range.
- Native 4K mode averages around 40 FPS in DF's testing with more aggressive drops in later areas in the game.
- Overall DF commented, it does not seem as consistent as Wolfenstein 2
- "At it's worse, light years beyond Switch but feels inconsistent overall". - DF thinks it's not as refined as Wolf 2.
- DF did not get time to look at the XBOne/S version in time for the video. Not sure if it will be touched upon later.
- Author's comment: Based on this analysis and the previous PS4 specific video, I think the PS4 Pro version w/ aggressive scaling might be the best performing version since their video showed minimal/no frame drops when they were playing with it on and the lowes resolution drops observed were 1726x1440p.
Additionally, seems like the X version scales both vertically and horizontally when scaling resolution (with the 1440p comment) while the PS4 and Pro versions only scale in one axis. If this is incorrect, please correct me.
OP
OP
They've already done a dedicated PS4 video few days back, linked in the OP.
They did a live playthrough for PC earlier too, but I think Dictator may put out a PC specific video soon.
Ive been playing on xbox one x with a locked 4k resolution and I've been astounded at how sharp it looks. The dips haven't been extremely noticeable thus far. Not surprised given how good wolfenstein tnc looked
This is my view as well.
I just can't see the appeal of these deeply compromised ports.
Is it impressive that they got it running. Yes. But that doesn't mean I'd ever want to play it.
Its like getting Doom running on a calculator.
Sounds like X's performance is way behind PS4 Pro's performance? Didn't DF just do a video about how it's a locked 60fps on PS4?
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With the aggressive dynamic resolution option, yes.
Also, I commented in my last post, but it seems like X scales on both axis for dynamic resolution while the PS4 versions only scale horizontally. I might be wrong on this but that's what i understood from the videos.
I played Wolfy 2 on Switch and I returned it, first game I ever returned. It's was so bad, I have pretty low standard when it comes to performance given that I also play on consoles but im pretty sure it was running at 20 fps.
Considering how "aggressive" can stick very closely to 60 on a base PS4 they should have really made the compromises necessary to get a locked 60 on X.
Seeing it drop like that even in that mode is disappointing
Seeing it drop like that even in that mode is disappointing
I wonder how close Pro and X look in terms of resolution, if the difference is barely noticeable, then they really should have done the same for X as they did for Pro.
I'll never understand the point on comparing the switch version with the xbox one x version.
not a smart move since after the patches it was nearly perfect.
was this tested with the d1 patch?
not a smart move since after the patches it was nearly perfect.
was this tested with the d1 patch?
Apparently it's better than Wolf 2. Which I thought was fine in handheld mode.
Yep I think it was Day 1 patch. 1.01 or so? good to hear that it's better at least but with the small sticks and blurry image I won't buy any AAA port for Switch except NBA2k, because bed time franchise mode is the best
Disappointing X version. I guess I'll postpone playing it till Scarlett, where it should probably be able to hit locked 60 in the native 4K mode.
The same way the boxed console players play tons of games that hover around 25fps and drop effects, texture and game resolution constantly.
I don't remember the last game I played in sub 720p with less than 60fps . Ill let you continue your battle
Yeah, that seems like the first switch port I would not want to play.
I just recently played through doom on the switch after playing it on the ps4 pro and was pleasantly surprised, but this seems way more compromised.
I just recently played through doom on the switch after playing it on the ps4 pro and was pleasantly surprised, but this seems way more compromised.
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RE: Switch version, in the video they say the switch version looks lower resolution than it actually is, maybe the post effects/TAA are making it appear worse than it actually is.
Ben Pack from Giantbomb put up this picture on his twitter, and needless to say it is not flattering:
Ben Pack from Giantbomb put up this picture on his twitter, and needless to say it is not flattering:
Doom and Wolf 2 run and look about the same on Switch (after the Wolf 2 patch) and they say this game looks better overall than Wolf 2 on Switch, so it should look and run better than Doom.
I think Wolf looks pretty decent on Switch (for being on Switch). Though if they say that it looks better in portable they are out of their heads, it looks leagues better on docked mode. The draw distance decreases, fog increases, and resolution drops in portable. I thought it looked overall decent in docked mode.
Find both playable personally, me and the wife are having a blast going through it, but it definitely is a game that has a pretty drastic difference between the two modes.
If you thought DOOM switch was fine hard to imagine you'd have any issues with Wolf 2 or this one as I find the performance generally similar across the three Bethesda games.
Find both playable personally, me and the wife are having a blast going through it, but it definitely is a game that has a pretty drastic difference between the two modes.
If you thought DOOM switch was fine hard to imagine you'd have any issues with Wolf 2 or this one as I find the performance generally similar across the three Bethesda games.
Maybe not sub 720p (that's related to the realities of the Switch), but if you play on consoles you're not getting a premium experience and your resolutions and framerates are lower and far less consistent. Your experience could be better if you actually cared about these things you thread whine about. Some of this forum's favourite exclusives regularly drop to the 20s in framerates and have awful frame pacing. Consoles = compromises. What you deem as a "good enough" compromise is different than what others deem as acceptable.
I'm playing on the Switch handheld and I was surprised by how hard the first boss was. He turns semi-invisible for much of the fight, and the image quality is so low on the Switch that he gets a buff to basically full invisibility.
I feel like the footage in this video makes it seem worse than it is somehow. They even say that at one point. I don't remember either Doom or Wolf2 being 720p for the majority of the time, this sounds like a clear improvement over those.
Bonus hard mode!
Quick semi-related question: did the aggressive res scaling get added to vanilla Wolf2 on PS4 Pro and does it help maintain rock solid 60fps there? I know it smoothed things over on X quite a bit but I could still feel some dips. Wondering if Pro got it and was the most stable console version again.
It's pretty on-point, though. The textures on Switch are quite blurry.
Why? The point is to see how close it gets to the 'full fat experience'. It's not intended to slam the Switch version - nobody expects it to match a more powerful machine.
if you dont have a pc, ps4 or xbox, and you only have a switch and didnt watch this video of comparison, you can't really know how the game will look on max setting so you are just used to the inferior port.
isn't just like Plato's cave? Once you see something you can't come back to the way it used to be, therefor, staying ignorant (only have the switch port) won't bother you since you don't know how the game run on max settings
Also i had terrible grades in english and psychology so im probably all wrong
OP
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Again, they've already done a dedicated PS4 video. Wouldn't make much sense to rehash it again.
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This is a good question, I rented the Pro version when it initially came out and returned it after beating the campaign. Didn't keep it long enough to see any subsequent patches.
Can anyone confirm this ?
Ok I may be completely, absolutely wrong, but in a case as extreme as this, wouldn't it be more apropriate to simply render the game completely at 360p?
It scales correctly to 720, keeping the image sharp, and I'd guess that would be more than enough to bring performance up to par. I'd rather have a solid lower res than the bad frame pace and fuzzy image.
It scales correctly to 720, keeping the image sharp, and I'd guess that would be more than enough to bring performance up to par. I'd rather have a solid lower res than the bad frame pace and fuzzy image.
Also - nobody should read into why certain videos have certain platforms. It's always a combination of who's available to work on the video + when we get the code.
We got Xbox late and I had to buy it on Switch myself. That's why those two came last.
We got Xbox late and I had to buy it on Switch myself. That's why those two came last.
Yes
Christ going from PC/XB1X to the Switch version really highlights how god awful the framerate is for those versions.
Pro got it and it feels a lot more stable. Resolution is noticeably lower though. Same thing for Youngblood
oh, i didn't know this wasn't them! i just assumed they've done this like past bethesda games on switch.