• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

What are you playing?

Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
943 (0.42/day)
What!?! Who plays games on PC?!? Use it to make money! That is why we have consoles for to play games the way it's meant to be played....(Just Joking)
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2019
Messages
122 (0.06/day)
I started playing EverQuest again lastnight
><

Don't hit me!
126268
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
693 (0.16/day)
System Name Old but gold
Processor 3770k @ 4.5Ghz
Motherboard Asus Maximus Gene V
Cooling Hyper 212 Evo
Memory 16Gb 1600 DDR3@2400 Cl11
Video Card(s) GTX 1080 FE
Storage SanDisk Extreme 120Gb SSD (os) , SanDisk 480Gb (Games), WD Caviar Black 4 TB (Games and storage)
Display(s) 32" Samsung HDTV 1080P
Case Some old Dell
Audio Device(s) Onboard HDMI
Power Supply EVGA G2 550w
Software Windows 10 Pro 1903
So I wish I was able to play this beauty that I just happened to win :)

 

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast
Supporter
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Messages
13,996 (2.34/day)
Location
Louisiana
Processor Core i9-9900k
Motherboard ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax ETS-T50 Black CPU cooler
Memory 32GB (2x16) Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX 4070 Ti Super OC 16GB
Storage 1x 1TB MX500 (OS); 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 2TB MX500; 1x 1TB BX500 SSD; 1x 6TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s) Infievo 27" 165Hz @ 2560 x 1440
Case Fractal Design Define R4 Black -windowed
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster Z
Power Supply Seasonic Focus GX-1000 Gold
Mouse Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)
I’ve been playing a good deal of Ghost Recon Wildlands, about 60 hours at this point. Had one funny mission that was so frustrating. I had to infiltrate this refinery and find the mine manager to get the location of a boss’s personal banker, or something like that.

First time I stealthily killed nearly every one on my way to him, and got killed trying to interrogate him while a rude cartel member shot at me and killed me.
.
The second time I rinsed and repeated, except I got to the roof and left in a helicopter for the mine, to rescue the personal banker so we could pump him for our own info. I fight my way in, rescue him, and die trying to get him out because more cartel show up.

I thought “screw this” as soon as it threw me to the beginning of the mission again. I went to the nearest safe house and grabbed a barebones no weapon chopper, flying 20m above the ground till the plant. I deliberately crashed it on the edge of the roof with their helicopter that had mini guns. :laugh:

I jumped out, interrogated the plant manager and took off in their undamaged chopper, leaving mine hanging off of roof by a landing skid. Used the mini guns to obliterate most of cartel members, extract the guy to the chopper again, and take to safehouse.

That’s what I like about this game. There is no one way, or right way to accomplish these missions:
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
22,569 (6.03/day)
Location
The Washing Machine
System Name Tiny the White Yeti
Processor 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI MAG Mortar b650m wifi
Cooling CPU: Thermalright Peerless Assassin / Case: Phanteks T30-120 x3
Memory 32GB Corsair Vengeance 30CL6000
Video Card(s) ASRock RX7900XT Phantom Gaming
Storage Lexar NM790 4TB + Samsung 850 EVO 1TB + Samsung 980 1TB + Crucial BX100 250GB
Display(s) Gigabyte G34QWC (3440x1440)
Case Lian Li A3 mATX White
Audio Device(s) Harman Kardon AVR137 + 2.1
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse Steelseries Aerox 5
Keyboard Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint II
VR HMD HD 420 - Green Edition ;)
Software W11 IoT Enterprise LTSC
Benchmark Scores Over 9000
I’ve been playing a good deal of Ghost Recon Wildlands, about 60 hours at this point. Had one funny mission that was so frustrating. I had to infiltrate this refinery and find the mine manager to get the location of a boss’s personal banker, or something like that.

First time I stealthily killed nearly every one on my way to him, and got killed trying to interrogate him while a rude cartel member shot at me and killed me.
.
The second time I rinsed and repeated, except I got to the roof and left in a helicopter for the mine, to rescue the personal banker so we could pump him for our own info. I fight my way in, rescue him, and die trying to get him out because more cartel show up.

I thought “screw this” as soon as it threw me to the beginning of the mission again. I went to the nearest safe house and grabbed a barebones no weapon chopper, flying 20m above the ground till the plant. I deliberately crashed it on the edge of the roof with their helicopter that had mini guns. :laugh:

I jumped out, interrogated the plant manager and took off in their undamaged chopper, leaving mine hanging off of roof by a landing skid. Used the mini guns to obliterate most of cartel members, extract the guy to the chopper again, and take to safehouse.

That’s what I like about this game. There is no one way, or right way to accomplish these missions:

I remember that mission very well. It ends in that massive quarry doesn't it? Man I got swamped SO many times on that one. And yeah, you can totally exploit yourself into an easy win, I figured that out later :D
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
75 (0.03/day)
Taking a trip down memory lane by playing GTA Vice City. Was the first I ever played of the series and did so on PC. The mission The Driver still makes me want to throw my device away. Don't really know what the purpose of the mission was - why would I hire a driver I could beat? And he was useless anyway, dies during the heist and leaves Tommy to do the driving!
 
Joined
Sep 26, 2017
Messages
553 (0.21/day)
Location
Here
Processor Intel i9 11900K
Motherboard Z590 MSI ACE
Cooling Corsair H80i v2
Memory Ballistix Elite 4000 32GB 18-19-19-39
Video Card(s) EVGA 3090 XC3 ULTRA HYBRID
Storage 2x Seagate Barracuda 120 SSD 1 TB, XPG SX8200 PRO 1 TB
Display(s) Acer Predator Z321QU
Case Fractal Design Meshify C
Power Supply Asus ROG Strix 1000W
I'm still playing Kingdom Come Deliverance. Even with cheats to spa...spa...spa...speed it the hell up, it'll still take another 2 months. It's funny though, i can get off a horse now and the bandits will start running away. I'll have to chase'um down and wup'um with a sword. :)
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
28,107 (6.73/day)
Last edited:
Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Messages
2,184 (0.51/day)
Location
Deez Nutz, bozo!
System Name Rainbow Puke Machine :D
Processor Intel Core i5-11400 (MCE enabled, PL removed)
Motherboard ASUS STRIX B560-G GAMING WIFI mATX
Cooling Corsair H60i RGB PRO XT AIO + HD120 RGB (x3) + SP120 RGB PRO (x3) + Commander PRO
Memory Corsair Vengeance RGB RT 2 x 8GB 3200MHz DDR4 C16
Video Card(s) Zotac RTX2060 Twin Fan 6GB GDDR6 (Stock)
Storage Corsair MP600 PRO 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD
Display(s) LG 29WK600-W Ultrawide 1080p IPS Monitor (primary display)
Case Corsair iCUE 220T RGB Airflow (White) w/Lighting Node CORE + Lighting Node PRO RGB LED Strips (x4).
Audio Device(s) ASUS ROG Supreme FX S1220A w/ Savitech SV3H712 AMP + Sonic Studio 3 suite
Power Supply Corsair RM750x 80 Plus Gold Fully Modular
Mouse Corsair M65 RGB FPS Gaming (White)
Keyboard Corsair K60 PRO RGB Mechanical w/ Cherry VIOLA Switches
Software Windows 11 Professional x64 (Update 23H2)
@Cvrk I think it's more of making the wrap manually imo. I don't think there is a way to import layers or community made decals/vinyls unless there's one in the wild.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
22,569 (6.03/day)
Location
The Washing Machine
System Name Tiny the White Yeti
Processor 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI MAG Mortar b650m wifi
Cooling CPU: Thermalright Peerless Assassin / Case: Phanteks T30-120 x3
Memory 32GB Corsair Vengeance 30CL6000
Video Card(s) ASRock RX7900XT Phantom Gaming
Storage Lexar NM790 4TB + Samsung 850 EVO 1TB + Samsung 980 1TB + Crucial BX100 250GB
Display(s) Gigabyte G34QWC (3440x1440)
Case Lian Li A3 mATX White
Audio Device(s) Harman Kardon AVR137 + 2.1
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse Steelseries Aerox 5
Keyboard Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint II
VR HMD HD 420 - Green Edition ;)
Software W11 IoT Enterprise LTSC
Benchmark Scores Over 9000
On the menu for tonight...

126283


can't wait. I hope its the pinnacle of 3.5 D&D ruleset gameplay after having wrestled my way through BG1 EE, BG2 EE and NWN2 :D Having a blast with this nostalgic, focused series of games :)

Can recommend. Revisiting these old classics now with the Enhanced Editions is a pretty good, comfortable experience (much better than its originals, for sure) especially at higher resolutions... and Pathfinder is looking to be a massive BG2-like experience... the perfect prelude to BG3? They finished their Season pass roadmap just a month ago so now's the time... its on sale 50% at Steam as well.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
3,281 (1.02/day)
Location
Buenos Aires
System Name Ryzen Monster
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X3D
Motherboard Asus ROG Crosshair Hero VII WiFi
Cooling Corsair H100i RGB Platinum
Memory Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (4x8GB) 3200Mhz CMW16GX4M2C3200C16
Video Card(s) Asus ROG Strix RX5700XT OC 8Gb
Storage WD Black 500GB NVMe 250Gb Samsung SSD, OCZ 500Gb SSD WD M.2 500Gb, plus three spinners up to 1.5Tb
Display(s) LG 32GK650F-B 32" UltraGear™ QHD
Case Cooler Master Storm Trooper
Audio Device(s) Supreme FX on board
Power Supply Corsair RM850X full modular
Mouse Corsair Ironclaw wireless
Keyboard Logitech G213
VR HMD Headphones Logitech G533 wireless
Software Windows 11 Start 11
Benchmark Scores 3DMark Time Spy 4532 (9258 March 2021, 9399 July 2021)
Unreal still looks good after all these years and I still remember when I fired it up with a new Voodoo II SLI setup.
unreal-win10.jpg
 
Joined
May 30, 2018
Messages
1,890 (0.79/day)
Location
Cusp Of Mania, FL
Processor Ryzen 9 3900X
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X370-F
Cooling Dark Rock 4, 3x Corsair ML140 front intake, 1x rear exhaust
Memory 2x8GB TridentZ RGB [3600Mhz CL16]
Video Card(s) EVGA 3060ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming
Storage 970 EVO 500GB nvme, 860 EVO 250GB SATA, Seagate Barracuda 1TB + 4TB HDDs
Display(s) 27" MSI G27C4 FHD 165hz
Case NZXT H710
Audio Device(s) Modi Multibit, Vali 2, Shortest Way 51+ - LSR 305's, Focal Clear, HD6xx, HE5xx, LCD-2 Classic
Power Supply Corsair RM650x v2
Mouse iunno whatever cheap crap logitech *clutches Xbox 360 controller security blanket*
Keyboard HyperX Alloy Pro
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores ask your mother
Still playing sottr to death. At some point I will probably do everything. Lara is ridiculously fit and OP... she's godlike. But it's pretty fun in an arcadey kind of way. Which reminds me, why is that a dirty word now? Why is simple and fun bad? In a game like this, I think it's how things ought to be, as it allows you to better take in the very dense and detailed environments which are a focal point in the game. Maybe that's my inexperience with the franchise talking, but has it ever not been a somewhat arcadey, terrain-puzzle/exploration game? That's what sticks out to me over its entire history. Pure camp. They even de-emphasized the combat. It's actually largely about the jungles and tombs, now. To me, that's great!

I don't know why I do these things to myself, but I was reading that quite a few people actually think the graphics in this game look bad... some of it comes off as trollish, but I get the impression that a lot of people legitimately believe that it's a massive step back. A lot of them comparing it to Rise... which I have played (though admittedly not beat,) but still don't see it. Just... no way, man! Nothing is revolutionized, but most things are marginally better. How is this a thing? But then, I feel like if you have to explain it to me... like you cannot show screenshots and have these other games just be intuitively better... yeah, nuff said. What's that line about how explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog?

But I guess some steam users think it looks worse, or even just bad in general? https://steamcommunity.com/app/750920/discussions/0/1742220359694882762/?ctp=1

I'm completely baffled by it. It all seems really nitpicky. I feel like it's really easy to cherry pick screenshots and then look at changes to the rendering engine and say "See it looks worse, and here's why! I'm a random person online and trust me, I know what I'm talking about. You only think it looks good because you don't. Your eyes are lying to you!!" Hard to take seriously, but the devils advocate in me says "Well, hey, Mike... maybe there's something to it."

And yet, when I sit and actually play the game, it looks night and day from most of the screenshots I saw in that thread. It really looks good! Consistently very good. And then there's the fact that a lot of the things they cite as deficits, very few games ever get right, anyway. There are always gonna be those random things that look like shit. The devil is ALWAYS going to be in the details. Of course plenty of things could always be done better, and have been. But it's all a balancing act. At some points I really had to laugh at the unwillingness to take in the big picture and see how all of the compromises are chosen to compliment each other and give you an image that best suits the look they're going for. If you don't like that look, that's one thing. Feel free to cite objective reasons for why, but beyond that I think it gets a little silly and elitist. It's easy to get stuck on technicalities. I've been down that road of not enjoying games as much because I fixated too much on the technicalities.

Of course, I'm biased... I was wowed by the level design and the graphical presentation. And as I spend more time with the game, I only appreciate it more. Not because I think they're the best ever, but because they work really well together to create a cohesive feel that I find pretty immersive. I can't believe I just read 12 pages of that crap... let alone tried to take it seriously. At the end of the day, it's simple. If you can't see what they're seeing, no amount of explaining light bounce in a condescending way is gonna convince you that there's a problem. Because I do actually see how those changes manifest, and I like them :p

If the lighting system is the number one complaint... I'm not convinced. To me, it looks more photorealistic... less HDR-like. And I mean that in a literal sense. It doesn't show what your eyes might see... a camera doesn't have the dynamic range that your eyes do. The difference is on several orders of immense magnitude. The sky is hundreds of thousands of times brighter than everything else, yet our eyes see the blue and the clouds, in addition to the trees on the ground. Quite often, a camera does not. You have to expose for one or the other. To simulate that with a camera, HDR is the only option. Shadows look harder with normal techniques. The overall percieved contrast difference is much, much higher through even the best cameras than it is in real life. Most people seem to prefer that, though. HDR is still not considered a great compromise for many people. You get more details in shadows, but the contrast actually suffers quite a lot. In many ways it is a flatter image. Display technology will have to evolve a lot more before that changes. I'd definitely prefer dark with contrast over detailed with less contrast in the meantime. Compositionally, it simplifies the images and makes what you do see in a scene pop, even if you lose the ability to make out everything in a given area.

To me, the lighting adds a lot more drama and scale to the imagery. I like how things can be very dark when you're crawling through Peru's ancient tombs and dungeons. Makes them really feel huge and full of mystery. To me, it just makes sense. It's so intuitive I hardly notice. Similarly, jungles actually are very dark in many places, even in the daytime. You don't expect those places to be immaculately lit. I dunno. I think it's all madness to equate this to "shit graphics." I just don't understand what people expected it to look like. Completely missing the point imo.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
3,281 (1.02/day)
Location
Buenos Aires
System Name Ryzen Monster
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X3D
Motherboard Asus ROG Crosshair Hero VII WiFi
Cooling Corsair H100i RGB Platinum
Memory Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (4x8GB) 3200Mhz CMW16GX4M2C3200C16
Video Card(s) Asus ROG Strix RX5700XT OC 8Gb
Storage WD Black 500GB NVMe 250Gb Samsung SSD, OCZ 500Gb SSD WD M.2 500Gb, plus three spinners up to 1.5Tb
Display(s) LG 32GK650F-B 32" UltraGear™ QHD
Case Cooler Master Storm Trooper
Audio Device(s) Supreme FX on board
Power Supply Corsair RM850X full modular
Mouse Corsair Ironclaw wireless
Keyboard Logitech G213
VR HMD Headphones Logitech G533 wireless
Software Windows 11 Start 11
Benchmark Scores 3DMark Time Spy 4532 (9258 March 2021, 9399 July 2021)
Still playing sottr to death. At some point I will probably do everything. Lara is ridiculously fit and OP... she's godlike. But it's pretty fun in an arcadey kind of way. Which reminds me, why is that a dirty word now? Why is simple and fun bad? In a game like this, I think it's how things ought to be, as it allows you to better take in the very dense and detailed environments which are a focal point in the game. Maybe that's my inexperience with the franchise talking, but has it ever not been a somewhat arcadey, terrain-puzzle/exploration game? That's what sticks out to me over its entire history. Pure camp. They even de-emphasized the combat. It's actually largely about the jungles and tombs, now. To me, that's great!

I don't know why I do these things to myself, but I was reading that quite a few people actually think the graphics in this game look bad... some of it comes off as trollish, but I get the impression that a lot of people legitimately believe that it's a massive step back. A lot of them comparing it to Rise... which I have played (though admittedly not beat,) but still don't see it. Just... no way, man! Nothing is revolutionized, but most things are marginally better. How is this a thing? But then, I feel like if you have to explain it to me... like you cannot show screenshots and have these other games just be intuitively better... yeah, nuff said. What's that line about how explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog?

But I guess some steam users think it looks worse, or even just bad in general? https://steamcommunity.com/app/750920/discussions/0/1742220359694882762/?ctp=1

I'm completely baffled by it. It all seems really nitpicky. I feel like it's really easy to cherry pick screenshots and then look at changes to the rendering engine and say "See it looks worse, and here's why! I'm a random person online and trust me, I know what I'm talking about. You only think it looks good because you don't. Your eyes are lying to you!!" Hard to take seriously, but the devils advocate in me says "Well, hey, Mike... maybe there's something to it."

And yet, when I sit and actually play the game, it looks night and day from most of the screenshots I saw in that thread. It really looks good! Consistently very good. And then there's the fact that a lot of the things they cite as deficits, very few games ever get right, anyway. There are always gonna be those random things that look like shit. The devil is ALWAYS going to be in the details. Of course plenty of things could always be done better, and have been. But it's all a balancing act. At some points I really had to laugh at the unwillingness to take in the big picture and see how all of the compromises are chosen to compliment each other and give you an image that best suits the look they're going for. If you don't like that look, that's one thing. Feel free to cite objective reasons for why, but beyond that I think it gets a little silly and elitist. It's easy to get stuck on technicalities. I've been down that road of not enjoying games as much because I fixated too much on the technicalities.

Of course, I'm biased... I was wowed by the level design and the graphical presentation. And as I spend more time with the game, I only appreciate it more. Not because I think they're the best ever, but because they work really well together to create a cohesive feel that I find pretty immersive. I can't believe I just read 12 pages of that crap... let alone tried to take it seriously. At the end of the day, it's simple. If you can't see what they're seeing, no amount of explaining light bounce in a condescending way is gonna convince you that there's a problem. Because I do actually see how those changes manifest, and I like them :p

If the lighting system is the number one complaint... I'm not convinced. To me, it looks more photorealistic... less HDR-like. And I mean that in a literal sense. It doesn't show what your eyes might see... a camera doesn't have the dynamic range that your eyes do. The difference is on several orders of immense magnitude. The sky is hundreds of thousands of times brighter than everything else, yet our eyes see the blue and the clouds, in addition to the trees on the ground. Quite often, a camera does not. You have to expose for one or the other. To simulate that with a camera, HDR is the only option. Shadows look harder with normal techniques. The overall percieved contrast difference is much, much higher through even the best cameras than it is in real life. Most people seem to prefer that, though. HDR is still not considered a great compromise for many people. You get more details in shadows, but the contrast actually suffers quite a lot. In many ways it is a flatter image. Display technology will have to evolve a lot more before that changes. I'd definitely prefer dark with contrast over detailed with less contrast in the meantime. Compositionally, it simplifies the images and makes what you do see in a scene pop, even if you lose the ability to make out everything in a given area.

To me, the lighting adds a lot more drama and scale to the imagery. I like how things can be very dark when you're crawling through Peru's ancient tombs and dungeons. Makes them really feel huge and full of mystery. To me, it just makes sense. It's so intuitive I hardly notice. Similarly, jungles actually are very dark in many places, even in the daytime. You don't expect those places to be immaculately lit. I dunno. I think it's all madness to equate this to "shit graphics." I just don't understand what people expected it to look like. Completely missing the point imo.
The graphics in SOTTR are some of the best around. As you say, what do people expect?
 
Joined
Jun 11, 2019
Messages
634 (0.32/day)
Location
Moscow, Russia
Processor Intel 12600K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X
Cooling CPU: Noctua NH-D15S; Case: 2xNoctua NF-A14, 1xNF-S12A.
Memory Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 @3600CL16 2*16GB
Video Card(s) Palit RTX 4080
Storage Samsung 970 Pro 512GB + Crucial MX500 500gb + WD Red 6TB
Display(s) Dell S2721qs
Case Phanteks P300A Mesh
Audio Device(s) Behringer UMC204HD
Power Supply Fractal Design Ion+ 560W
Mouse Glorious Model D-
Bloodstained: Ritual of The Night is incredible, starting my 2nd playthrough on harder difficulty now. Instant classic for fans of the old Castlevania games and definitely a great treat for most of Metroidvania fans. Just don't get it on Switch, runs like crap there judging by reports.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
22,569 (6.03/day)
Location
The Washing Machine
System Name Tiny the White Yeti
Processor 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI MAG Mortar b650m wifi
Cooling CPU: Thermalright Peerless Assassin / Case: Phanteks T30-120 x3
Memory 32GB Corsair Vengeance 30CL6000
Video Card(s) ASRock RX7900XT Phantom Gaming
Storage Lexar NM790 4TB + Samsung 850 EVO 1TB + Samsung 980 1TB + Crucial BX100 250GB
Display(s) Gigabyte G34QWC (3440x1440)
Case Lian Li A3 mATX White
Audio Device(s) Harman Kardon AVR137 + 2.1
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse Steelseries Aerox 5
Keyboard Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint II
VR HMD HD 420 - Green Edition ;)
Software W11 IoT Enterprise LTSC
Benchmark Scores Over 9000
Unreal still looks good after all these years and I still remember when I fired it up with a new Voodoo II SLI setup.
View attachment 126303

Just look at that RTRT!

Still playing sottr to death. At some point I will probably do everything. Lara is ridiculously fit and OP... she's godlike. But it's pretty fun in an arcadey kind of way. Which reminds me, why is that a dirty word now? Why is simple and fun bad? In a game like this, I think it's how things ought to be, as it allows you to better take in the very dense and detailed environments which are a focal point in the game. Maybe that's my inexperience with the franchise talking, but has it ever not been a somewhat arcadey, terrain-puzzle/exploration game? That's what sticks out to me over its entire history. Pure camp. They even de-emphasized the combat. It's actually largely about the jungles and tombs, now. To me, that's great!

I don't know why I do these things to myself, but I was reading that quite a few people actually think the graphics in this game look bad... some of it comes off as trollish, but I get the impression that a lot of people legitimately believe that it's a massive step back. A lot of them comparing it to Rise... which I have played (though admittedly not beat,) but still don't see it. Just... no way, man! Nothing is revolutionized, but most things are marginally better. How is this a thing? But then, I feel like if you have to explain it to me... like you cannot show screenshots and have these other games just be intuitively better... yeah, nuff said. What's that line about how explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog?

But I guess some steam users think it looks worse, or even just bad in general? https://steamcommunity.com/app/750920/discussions/0/1742220359694882762/?ctp=1

I'm completely baffled by it. It all seems really nitpicky. I feel like it's really easy to cherry pick screenshots and then look at changes to the rendering engine and say "See it looks worse, and here's why! I'm a random person online and trust me, I know what I'm talking about. You only think it looks good because you don't. Your eyes are lying to you!!" Hard to take seriously, but the devils advocate in me says "Well, hey, Mike... maybe there's something to it."

And yet, when I sit and actually play the game, it looks night and day from most of the screenshots I saw in that thread. It really looks good! Consistently very good. And then there's the fact that a lot of the things they cite as deficits, very few games ever get right, anyway. There are always gonna be those random things that look like shit. The devil is ALWAYS going to be in the details. Of course plenty of things could always be done better, and have been. But it's all a balancing act. At some points I really had to laugh at the unwillingness to take in the big picture and see how all of the compromises are chosen to compliment each other and give you an image that best suits the look they're going for. If you don't like that look, that's one thing. Feel free to cite objective reasons for why, but beyond that I think it gets a little silly and elitist. It's easy to get stuck on technicalities. I've been down that road of not enjoying games as much because I fixated too much on the technicalities.

Of course, I'm biased... I was wowed by the level design and the graphical presentation. And as I spend more time with the game, I only appreciate it more. Not because I think they're the best ever, but because they work really well together to create a cohesive feel that I find pretty immersive. I can't believe I just read 12 pages of that crap... let alone tried to take it seriously. At the end of the day, it's simple. If you can't see what they're seeing, no amount of explaining light bounce in a condescending way is gonna convince you that there's a problem. Because I do actually see how those changes manifest, and I like them :p

If the lighting system is the number one complaint... I'm not convinced. To me, it looks more photorealistic... less HDR-like. And I mean that in a literal sense. It doesn't show what your eyes might see... a camera doesn't have the dynamic range that your eyes do. The difference is on several orders of immense magnitude. The sky is hundreds of thousands of times brighter than everything else, yet our eyes see the blue and the clouds, in addition to the trees on the ground. Quite often, a camera does not. You have to expose for one or the other. To simulate that with a camera, HDR is the only option. Shadows look harder with normal techniques. The overall percieved contrast difference is much, much higher through even the best cameras than it is in real life. Most people seem to prefer that, though. HDR is still not considered a great compromise for many people. You get more details in shadows, but the contrast actually suffers quite a lot. In many ways it is a flatter image. Display technology will have to evolve a lot more before that changes. I'd definitely prefer dark with contrast over detailed with less contrast in the meantime. Compositionally, it simplifies the images and makes what you do see in a scene pop, even if you lose the ability to make out everything in a given area.

To me, the lighting adds a lot more drama and scale to the imagery. I like how things can be very dark when you're crawling through Peru's ancient tombs and dungeons. Makes them really feel huge and full of mystery. To me, it just makes sense. It's so intuitive I hardly notice. Similarly, jungles actually are very dark in many places, even in the daytime. You don't expect those places to be immaculately lit. I dunno. I think it's all madness to equate this to "shit graphics." I just don't understand what people expected it to look like. Completely missing the point imo.

The complaints I see on that link are about brightness and lighting balance. Too dull/dark picture. Maybe they need to rediscover the gamma curve... and install the correct driver version. Their loss ? :p
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Messages
2,925 (1.15/day)
System Name System V
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard Asus Prime X570-P
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212 // a bunch of 120 mm Xigmatek 1500 RPM fans (2 ins, 3 outs)
Memory 2x8GB Ballistix Sport LT 3200 MHz (BLS8G4D32AESCK.M8FE) (CL16-18-18-36)
Video Card(s) Gigabyte AORUS Radeon RX 580 8 GB
Storage SHFS37A240G / DT01ACA200 / ST10000VN0008 / ST8000VN004 / SA400S37960G / SNV21000G / NM620 2TB
Display(s) LG 22MP55 IPS Display
Case NZXT Source 210
Audio Device(s) Logitech G430 Headset
Power Supply Corsair CX650M
Software Whatever build of Windows 11 is being served in Canary channel at the time.
Benchmark Scores Corona 1.3: 3120620 r/s Cinebench R20: 3355 FireStrike: 12490 TimeSpy: 4624
Grabbed State of Decay: YOSE yesterday. Enjoying it so far.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
3,281 (1.02/day)
Location
Buenos Aires
System Name Ryzen Monster
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X3D
Motherboard Asus ROG Crosshair Hero VII WiFi
Cooling Corsair H100i RGB Platinum
Memory Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (4x8GB) 3200Mhz CMW16GX4M2C3200C16
Video Card(s) Asus ROG Strix RX5700XT OC 8Gb
Storage WD Black 500GB NVMe 250Gb Samsung SSD, OCZ 500Gb SSD WD M.2 500Gb, plus three spinners up to 1.5Tb
Display(s) LG 32GK650F-B 32" UltraGear™ QHD
Case Cooler Master Storm Trooper
Audio Device(s) Supreme FX on board
Power Supply Corsair RM850X full modular
Mouse Corsair Ironclaw wireless
Keyboard Logitech G213
VR HMD Headphones Logitech G533 wireless
Software Windows 11 Start 11
Benchmark Scores 3DMark Time Spy 4532 (9258 March 2021, 9399 July 2021)
Racing dirty in Grid Autosport, just like the AI. Not a bad result in the end, although my car was beginning to pull to the right after so much damage.
I also added the rearview mirror mod which shouldn't be used if you're last in the pack.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
1,430 (0.28/day)
Location
Romania
Processor Ryzen 5700x
Motherboard MSI B350 Gaming Pro Carbon
Cooling be quiet dark rock pro 3
Memory GSKill Aegis 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz CL16
Video Card(s) PowerColor Radeon RX 7800 XT Hellhound 16GB GDDR6 256-bit
Storage Seagate Barracuda SATA-II 1TB , HyperX Savage 240GB SATA 3
Display(s) Benq EX2780Q
Case Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 900
Audio Device(s) Sound BlasterX G6
Power Supply Seasonic prime TX-650
Mouse Marvo Scorpion G981
Keyboard Razer Blackwidow Elite - Yellow Switch
Software Windows 10 Pro
365 subs @Splinterdog keep at it!

I'm kinda playing KurtzPel. ...kinda. A short intro is coming on my channel soon.
126388
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
3,281 (1.02/day)
Location
Buenos Aires
System Name Ryzen Monster
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X3D
Motherboard Asus ROG Crosshair Hero VII WiFi
Cooling Corsair H100i RGB Platinum
Memory Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (4x8GB) 3200Mhz CMW16GX4M2C3200C16
Video Card(s) Asus ROG Strix RX5700XT OC 8Gb
Storage WD Black 500GB NVMe 250Gb Samsung SSD, OCZ 500Gb SSD WD M.2 500Gb, plus three spinners up to 1.5Tb
Display(s) LG 32GK650F-B 32" UltraGear™ QHD
Case Cooler Master Storm Trooper
Audio Device(s) Supreme FX on board
Power Supply Corsair RM850X full modular
Mouse Corsair Ironclaw wireless
Keyboard Logitech G213
VR HMD Headphones Logitech G533 wireless
Software Windows 11 Start 11
Benchmark Scores 3DMark Time Spy 4532 (9258 March 2021, 9399 July 2021)
366 subs now @Cvrk :)
I reinstalled Glidos earlier today, having got a free unlocked version a year or so ago when the dev was giving them away for a limited period.
In fact , he may still be doing so here:
Anyway, talk about skill fade. I had to go through the whole set up again for Tomb Raider as I couldn't remember the settings for my GOG version. I also patched it with the new FMV and groovy textures, making sure the Glidos settings were correct, which for me were Direct 3D 1600x1200.
Some lovely pixels in there.
tr1-gog-glidos.jpg
 
Joined
Mar 10, 2015
Messages
3,984 (1.12/day)
System Name Wut?
Processor 3900X
Motherboard ASRock Taichi X570
Cooling Water
Memory 32GB GSkill CL16 3600mhz
Video Card(s) Vega 56
Storage 2 x AData XPG 8200 Pro 1TB
Display(s) 3440 x 1440
Case Thermaltake Tower 900
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum
Joined
Apr 1, 2019
Messages
207 (0.10/day)
Processor 3700x @ 4.3
Motherboard Crosshair 7 hero
Cooling Kraken X62
Memory 16GB Trident-Z 3200
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX2080 XC Ultra
Storage Samsung 960 evo 500gb NVME
Display(s) ASUS ROG Swift PG348Q
Case NZXT H500
Audio Device(s) Phillips SHP 9500s.....Audio Technica AT 2035 microphone.....Scarlett 2i2 audio interface.
Power Supply EVGA 850W Supernova G2
Mouse Model O
Keyboard Corsair K65
Software Windows 10
Sneaking up on enemy armor in Squad.
20190707202512_1.jpg
20190707202553_1.jpg
 

W1zzard

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
27,893 (3.71/day)
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory 48 GB
Video Card(s) RTX 4080
Storage 2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
Display(s) 30" 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Software Windows 10 64-bit
Is anyone not getting notification alerts for this thread? I tested it and it seems to be fine?
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
22,569 (6.03/day)
Location
The Washing Machine
System Name Tiny the White Yeti
Processor 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI MAG Mortar b650m wifi
Cooling CPU: Thermalright Peerless Assassin / Case: Phanteks T30-120 x3
Memory 32GB Corsair Vengeance 30CL6000
Video Card(s) ASRock RX7900XT Phantom Gaming
Storage Lexar NM790 4TB + Samsung 850 EVO 1TB + Samsung 980 1TB + Crucial BX100 250GB
Display(s) Gigabyte G34QWC (3440x1440)
Case Lian Li A3 mATX White
Audio Device(s) Harman Kardon AVR137 + 2.1
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse Steelseries Aerox 5
Keyboard Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint II
VR HMD HD 420 - Green Edition ;)
Software W11 IoT Enterprise LTSC
Benchmark Scores Over 9000
Is anyone not getting notification alerts for this thread? I tested it and it seems to be fine?

I am and always have...
 
Joined
Oct 25, 2018
Messages
1,484 (0.66/day)
Location
SortOfGrim
System Name Merc v8
Processor Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670 Gaming X AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15
Memory 2x 16GB-6000
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 4070 Ti SUPER
Storage Solidigm P44 1TB & 2TB, Crucial MX500 2TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG Swift PG27UQR
Case Caselabs Mercury S8
Audio Device(s) Schiit Magni & Modi, Edifier S351DB, DT 770 PRO
Power Supply Seasonic Vertex PX-850
Mouse Logitech G600
Keyboard Glorious GMMK Pro custom
Software W11Pro
Is anyone not getting notification alerts for this thread? I tested it and it seems to be fine?
Are you sure or aren't you?

And I didn't get any, btw. edit: I get email notifications but not when I'm on the site (bell)
 
Last edited:
Top