PlayStation and Xbox also support contact shadows, something that was only present as a high quality feature in the PC version in GTA5. Motion blur by object is sometimes reserved only for PC releases, but it is present and exemplary in all console versions of RDR2. In spite of everything, we are facing an unexplored country, since the things we hope to see in a PC version are already available in the console versions. Being able to raise that level to increase its temporal stability and granularity accuracy is something I fully expect on a PC release – and it’s common in many other games that use a similar technique.
It looks great on consoles, but it’s definitely based on a low-resolution froxel grid, which introduces some subtle artifacts. Take RDR2 volumetric lighting, for example. In addition, there are areas where consoles make compromises in the resolution and fidelity of specific effects, which could be improved on the PC. Forced settings from the GPU control panel or an in-game option can dramatically improve quality in a potential PC version. And then there is the issue of anisotropic filtering, which is still a very weak area on consoles. What we can take for granted are common improvements to the PC space – higher resolution (although beating the Xbox One X’s native 4K is quite extreme, although feasible) and better frame rates with the RAGE engine historically supporting an unlocked performance. The application data suggests that the MSAA may have been removed, but if not, it can have positive effects, such as helping with the stability and general details of the geometric edges and potentially improving the quality of the transparency effects on elements such as foliage and hair. The RAGE engine achieved multi-sampling anti-aliasing support – MSAA – for longer than most engines, even offering support for a complex renderer like GTA5. The data from the app suggests TAA and FXAA charts together with ‘SAA’, which is new to us – (possibly SSAA – super-sampling?). There is a competent but aggressive way in temporal anti-aliasing, with some clarity in post-processing. compared to a possibly DX11 version of the game.Īnti-aliasing is also an area in Red Dead 2 that can be improved. Taking into account the current scenario, the console versions of RDR2 already have a great level of detail at a distance and transitions from the level of detail – but the PC can bring many improvements in this field, with grass kilometers from the camera – all with little overhead. But on the PC, you can actually increase the values by dramatically increasing the amount of detail from a distance – the cost here is a huge increase in CPU usage, something that a lower level API could solve.
GTA5 on Xbox One and PS4 had almost equivalent settings for the details of the vegetation in the distance. The data from the game application suggests only support for DX11, but the DX12 or Vulkan can dramatically reduce rasterization costs or enable greater diversity and scale of objects on the screen at any time. GTA4 did not support DirectX 10, but both Max Payne 3 and GTA5 use DX11 – both of which scale in an exemplary manner, with multi-core CPUs allowing the desired high frame rates to be achieved. Common to all these releases we have the use of Rockstar of what was then the most recent rendering API. Yes, GTA 4 still has problems with getting higher frame rates, but the set of graphics and overall scalability are fantastic. Grand Theft Auto 4, Max Payne 3 and the wonderfully backward port of GTA5 were all well above their console versions. That said, it is fair to say that if a PC version emerges, Rockstar’s previous releases suggest that the producer will take the time and effort to make the most of the most powerful technology – and that starts with the rendering API. And it is good to remember that Rockstar has not confirmed any version of the PC – although some data from the RDR2 application say so.
Will Red Dead Redemption 2 receive a PC version and, if so, what kind of graphics update can it offer? The truth is that versions for existing consoles already have cutting edge techniques, sometimes reserved for top PC GPUs so that, apparently, the options seem limited. How can Red Dead Redemption be improved on the PC?