How does RDR2 achieve such a smooth 30fps on PS5? Any lessons here?

[WhateverItTakes]

Short simple thread. I know it has no enhancements beyond the PS4 Pro version. I've been playing pretty much everything at 60 since the PS5 came out and some games are pretty jarring to go back to the lower frames.

But goddamn if RDR2 isn't smooth even in the busy moments, let alone the quiet. I don't see any judder or any distractions, just smooth animations in incredible vistas. Is it something to do with the general heavy pace of the game? Or do Rockstar do something technical I don't understand?

Post other 30fps locked games that still feel smooth- I remember Last of Us II being similarly impressive and I'll have to redownload to check the high framerate mode once my black Friday SSD arrives.

 

[Replicant]

Because it was a smooth 30fps on PS4

 

[Kromis]

You pay for it with the input lag/animations though :)

It's quite a looker though. Still waiting on that next-gen upgrade though...

 

[ASleepingMonkey]

It was an extremely competent game on last gen too, probably far more than it should've been.

 

[Charcoal]

That's what happens when you take 9 years to develop a sequel.

 

[Stowaway Silfer]

So this is the feel of 60fps

 

[Skyebaron]

Its just good motion blur. Its not smooth, that shitty lag is still there.

 

[.exe]

Good frame pacing perhaps.

 

[JRedCX]

It has great per-object and per-pixel motion blur so it makes sense.

 

[s y]

it's a very slow game with proper frame pacing and motion blur.

Spider-Man/Ratchet/Last of Us 2/Uncharted 4/lost legacy all play smoothly in their 30fps modes.

 

[sosainas]

Nice motion blur implementation, no frame pacing issues, and good animations.

Still 30fps tho so motion clarity is shit.

 

[Grips]

Felt like the game was designed around low fps, so the 30fps, like the pace and smell the roses ambiance fits perfectly.

I tried to play 60 and it felt odd so went back to 30 with ultra settings on.

 

[jett]

There's nothing special about it.

 

[Jazar]

I loved the game, but I'm not touching it again until I can get 60fps on PS5

 

[Tokyo_Funk]

Console with faster processor and GPU than console with game designed for 30fps can run came more consistently basically. That and the game isn't exactly rendering massive cities/crowds or anything over the top.

 

[LebGuns]

There was nothing smooth about the significant input lag and long animations gameplay wise tbh

 

[SDR-UK]

There's nothing special about it.

Also it's not a smooth 30fps lmao. Go to Saint Denis and watch the framerate tank.

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Not on PS5.

 

[jett]

Not on PS5.

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Damn it somehow I read PS4. Disregard I guess.

 

[BossAttack]

You pay for it with the input lag/animations though :)

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Hehe, yep.

 

[Heliex]

I understand what you mean OP, I had the same feeling playing Death Stranding pre- Directors Cut. It was the only time I was ever fooled into thinking that a 30 FPS game was running at 60 and I do not know why. It was just a really smooth experience so I think that was a part of it. I'm probably gonna make a thread on this topic specifically.

Also, how well optimized is RDR2 on PC? I've been dying to play this game at 60FPS but I'm done waiting for a Next gen upgrade.

 

[Anth0ny]

technical marvel

runs at a rock solid 4K/30 on xbox one x

it's madness

 

[RivalGT]

Targeting 30 fps help I'm sure, the game has frame rate drops on lastgen hardware, but current gen systems wont have any issues playing it at 30 fps.

 

[markavacado]

Checkerboarded 4K.

looks way sharper and runs just as stable on Series X where it's running in native 4k

 

[Deleted member 24021]

Checkerboarded 4K.

looks way sharper and runs just as stable on Series X where it's running in native 4k

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Hey that's great, not what the topic is about though

 

[WhateverItTakes]

Thanks for the input (lag.... Gettit?). Definitely jealous there isn't a full 4K PS5 update but y'know, Rockstar. Interesting how the input lag seems to be such a factor without me feeling it- my TV has a pretty low one in general, and I totally felt the difference when I played wario ware at my brother's place to the point where it felt surreal.

It's funny how relative all those performance points can be and it comes down to what your brain is acclimatised too.

 

[flipswitch]

This has to be one of the smoothest looking 30fps game there is. Great that it's now a locked 30fps everywhere . I really thought this was a technical marvel on base PS4.

 

[White Glint]

it's also a slower paced game. Once you set your aiming sensitivity high or ride around fast enough the 30fps still gets in the way.

 

[Patitoloco]

Perfect framepacing plus a good motion blur (also helps that the pacing of the game is somewhat slow in nature)

It's the key to make a 30fps game run well.

 

[Deleted member 87246]

I wonder if tv motion modes to make the game look 60fps would work in RDRII considering how slow/methodical everything is in it and even the combat heavily revolving around dead aim and not twitch reactions.

 

[jsnepo]

It wasn't a fast paced game due to slow and sluggish animation.

 

[elPolloDiablo]

Also, how well optimized is RDR2 on PC? I've been dying to play this game at 60FPS but I'm done waiting for a Next gen upgrade.

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I t runs really well on PC in my experience. At Console equivalent settings it's doable to get 60 fps on mid range hardware, while still looking gorgeous.
I run a 3700x and a 2080 and use DSR just under 4k with mostly high + ultra settings and get 60fps (with DLSS Quality). Just watch de DF vid on which settings have the largest performance impact. Alex's optimized settings are a great place to start.

 

[W17LY]

Perfect framepcing and motion blur. That's the only "secret sauce" for smooth 30fps.

 

[Tiny Chihuahueño]

Now rotate the camera and try to discern anything from the background. Playing this on an oled wasn't the greatest idea.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

That's Forza Horizons whole thing. The quality mode is totally worth it because the motion blur is excellent and it never drops frames.

 

[Linus815]

It's still one of the very few 30 fps games that I actually didn't mind the framerate of .RDR 2's general slower pace, combined with the native 4k IQ on the X1X, did make a pretty damn good combo. The game doesn't require you to constantly pan the camera and most of the map has very large vistas, draw distance as far as the eye can see, making the lack of motion clarity less intrusive.

There is no real trick to it, and obviously whatever framedrops occured on PS4 (or X1) are smoothed out by the current gen consoles. The game just has good framepacing and motion blur.

That being said, once I played it at 60+ fps, on PC, there was no going back. as I always say, games at 30 fps can be amazing, but at 60+ they are just even better.

 

[NuclearCake]

Hopefully they add support for 60FPS-120FPS on consoles because 30FPS is not smooth at all.

 

[NuclearCake]

Now rotate the camera and try to discern anything from the background. Playing this on an oled wasn't the greatest idea.

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This would be a problem on a LCD too, maybe even worse with the slow response times. Modern Sample and Hold displays without any Black Frame Insertion are going to have blurry motion at 30FPS. There is no real way around it.

 

[NeoBob688]

One good thing is the game does parallel processing relatively well, it eats 4 CPU cores for breakfast and still gains up to 8 CPU cores, that helps combat the shitty Jaguar CPUs of last gen hardware and makes the game bottleneck less in general.

 

[Martinski]

It was running at stable 30 fps on last gen too?

 

[zombiejames]

Good motion blur. It should be a crime to release a game without it at this point.

 

[Dyno]

Does it? It feels really messy to me on the performance side. I absolutely adore the game though and would pay extortionate amounts for a next gen version. I've got about 20 minutes of edited and saved clips of emergent bullshit hilarity that just couldn't happen in any other game. I cant think of anything else with the tech for a punch to follow through the guy and into my horse, with the horse kicking me on my ass for it. Its sublime in so many ways.

But the performance in general really holds it back. The motion blur required by the framerate combined with the resolution make the image way muddier than it could be

 

[Deleted member 46948]

That's what happens when you take 9 years to develop a sequel.

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Oh boy oh boy I can't wait to see how polished TES VI is!
(/s, obviously)

 

[WonderingRogue]

This only goes to show how crappy 30fps really is, when people praise its smoothness thanks to the excellent smearing blur.

Not only do you lose temporal clarity when dropping from 60 and double the latency, you need to add the equivalent of smearing Vaseline accross the screen anytime the camera moves in order to hide judder, losing even more detail.

Imho 30 fps is only just ok on very slow moving games where the camera is also mostly fixed or slow moving.

 

[Kinthey]

Some nice motion blur goes a long way

 

[Pankratous]

30FPS is literally always smooth.

It's only when it drops below, frequently drops down and up again, or has bad frame pacing that it isn't.

 

[Deleted member 10044]

Going back to this game after playing everything else with 60 fps is like torture for me. Rock solid 30 fps don't change that.

 

[Linus815]

30FPS is literally always smooth.

It's only when it drops below, frequently drops down and up again, or has bad frame pacing that it isn't.

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It literally is not. Without motion blur, a slow panning shot at 30 fps will result in very obvious judder.

 

[Snake Eater]

That being said, once I played it at 60+ fps, on PC, there was no going back. as I always say, games at 30 fps can be amazing, but at 60+ they are just even better.

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well sure, if you have a capable PC that's worth thousands then go for 120FPS at 8k if you can

 

[astro]

It's the illusion of being smooth with good motion blur. The issue is that the responsiveness doesn't match the illusion.

30FPS is literally always smooth.

It's only when it drops below, frequently drops down and up again, or has bad frame pacing that it isn't.

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No it's not.

 

[Pankratous]

It literally is not. Without motion blur, a slow panning shot at 30 fps will result in very obvious judder.

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It's the illusion of being smooth with good motion blur. The issue is that the responsiveness doesn't match the illusion.



No it's not.

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Is for me.