Tech Analysis: Dragon Age 2 Demo (360 vs PS3)

It's very late and has been sitting on the table for a few days now while I finish up something else I've been working on. Not really had the time to be fair. But here's our demo analysis of Dragon Age 2.

The PS3 usually gets the short end of the stick when it comes to multiplatform conversions. Just look at the likes of Red Dead Redemption or Bioshock, with their sub-HD rendering resolutions and use of screen blurring anti-alising techniques. Or, in the case of the latter; no AA with a simple blurring of the image instead. Of course, on the other side of the coin you have titles such as Vanquish, which commanded a tiny lead of its 360 counterpasrt with slightly better overall performance. And Mass Effect 2, with improved shadowing and athestically more pleasing lighting.

The original Dragon Age Origins almost found itself in the latter catagory; a game in which PS3 owners gained additional graphical upgrades in the form of increased texture filtering and better depth of field. While neither version looked particularly great - a fault of the game rather than the consoles inhability to run it - it was Sony's black box of tricks that, at first glance, came out on top. Except for in terms of performance: it was pretty dire in this regard.

Given the mediocre graphical look of the last game, the team at Bioware have stated on various occasions that they planned to improve on the visual make-up and engine powering the series for Dragon Age 2. And in the recent XBL and PSN demo, we can clearly see a few key changes. But most of all a tangible improvement all round, with the 360 build more than matching up to - and exceeding in certain areas - the PS3 code.


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PS3

The most obvious of these upgrades on both formats, is that the characters and environments in the game feature better use of normal mapping. There are a range of surfaces that appear curved and have a noticeable depth to them. By comparison, in the original Dragon Age many parts of the game featured fairly low resolution, flat textured areas of the environment, with characters that lacked some of the additional effects present in this sequel.

Of course, some of the low resolution elements remain. But here we also see an abundance of mixed hi and low resolution textures, and some key, higher quality elements interwined.

The armour on some of the characters for example, features low resolution textures, whilst some of the surrounding clothing uses higher quality ones. It's quite a visual discrepancy to say the least, with some very obviously poor texturework shoehorned into more detailed areas. On PC this varience is further enlarged. But, thankfully, on consoles appears much less of an issue.


360


PS3

In terms of the framebuffer, we see both versions rendering in 720p. The main difference here, comes in the form of anti-aliasing used in each version's graphical make-up. On 360, we get the standard issue 2xMSAA solution, while PS3 owners are granted a custom take on another MLAA implementation.

While we all know how MSAA works, MLAA is a somewhat lesser known beast. Despite being given a specific title, MLAA can feature a wide variety of implementations, each dealing with the scene a little differently. Universally though, they all have one thing in common: they only work on the finished rendered scene - basically as a post process on the framebuffer before it gets displayed on screen.

The choice of opting for MLAA makes sense when dealing with both consoles impacting memory contrasints compared to the PC, and especially on the PS3, whereby the additional processing power of the CELL allows you to free up more GPU cyclers for other tasks. And in Dragon Age 2, this seems to be the key reason for its uptake on Sony's platform: Better edge smoothing with less impact on memory and processsing requirements compared to MSAA.


360


PS3

As you can see above, this is definitely true. Pixel edges are smoothed over incredibly well, matching MSAA sampling well over the 4x limit a select few 360 titles employ. Naturally, you don't get any sub-pixel coverage or accuracy when dealing with MLAA. Although this seems to be far less of an issue in Dragon Age 2. On the PS3, the game looks even cleaner compared to its 360 counterpart. The AA is superb, and not just for a console title.

That said, there is another small niggle that comes with Bioware's custom form of MLAA. And that is the unwanted side-effect of blurring texture details. Essentially, all MLAA-based solution work around a purely edge-detect method of sampling: you find the pixels which look like an edge, and then apply the smoothing algorithm. However, with no geometry information to extract additional data from, you are left at the mercy of how effective your algorithm is at deciphering a legitimate edge, and faux-edges of sorts found in contrasting parts of a texrture map.

It's evident from the screens that in Bioware's case, the end result has very little impact on the image overall. Yes, there is some blur, but it is nothing overtly noticeably, nor does it really impact in any meaningful way. It is largely incosequencial.

So, in that respect, the PS3 versions gains the upper hand with regards to overall IQ, with better edge-sampling coverage, and with little in the way of annoying sub-pixel issues. Then again, DA2 looks clean and sharp on both platfroms. But it is definitely cleaner on the PS3.


360


PS3


360


PS3

Outside of the framebuffer make-up there is very little to seperate the two versions at all with regards to their graphical look. Lighting, like with Mass Effect 2 appears to be handled a little differently across both versions, although this has little imapct with no one version appearing better than the other.

You can see the key indicator in the screenshots above. Notice how the specular reflections are in different places in both versions in the second shot, whilst the actual frame captures are the same. Colour tone also appears to be different too, seen clearly in the first batch of screens. Compared to the huge variance in Mass Effect 2, the lighting between versions is significantly closer.


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PS3

Also, the use of alpha-based effects, such as the flame effects in the cut-scenes see some small changes when comparing both games. They seem to be represented a tad differently on both platforms.


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PS3

Dragon Age 2 also features the use of self-shadowing across all platforms (PC, PS3 and 360). However, the effect looks to have been given a weaker implementation on the PS3. You can see in the shots above. The PS3 game appears to feature much lighter self-shadows, but also missing them on certain parts of the characters. The the impact from the beads around the character's neck, for example, barely cast a complete shadow in the above screens by comparison.

Outside of this, bar the way certain effects are handled, both versions are actually visually very close. There are a few passing oddities, but nothing remotely enough for either version to command a solid lead in this respect. The use of MLAA is by far the most impacting factor in the PS3 code.


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PS3

One area of the original Dragon Age that left a lot to be desired on the PS3, was its performance. It's safe to say that BioWare's first outing suffered at the hand of numerous framerate drops causing heavy slowdown. By comparason, the 360 game, although slowing down, maintained its baseline 30fps for longer stetches than on the PS3.

Here in the demo code, we find similar traits manifesting them selves during gameplay. Although it is also apparent that progress has definitely been made in this regard. Seeing as the demo is rather short, and that I've only been able to access the first part of it, its far to early to draw any solid conclusions. However, the fact remains that performance still the biggest factor seperating the two versions.

Dragon Age 2 opts to target a 30fps update, and runs with v-sync solidly enabled. As a result, we find that the game never tears but instead drops frames as it struggles to keep up with the renderer. Rather than the 360 leading on all fronts, here we see a difference in performance in both gameplay and in cut-scenes.

Gameplay-wise, both builds start out at 30fps. And both maintain this very well in the absence of any load. Simply running into a group of enemies, hacking and slashing away rarely leads to much, if any slowdown. Throw in a large foe into the works surrounded with five or six smaller adversaries, whilst strafing around and spining the camera, and we find that both versions will slow down to around the 20fps mark or so. But the defining element appears to be alpha-based. Effects like smoke and fire cause the PS3 game to drop frames more often, and lower down than its 360 counterpart.

Cut-scenes operate a little differently. Here we see heavy drops below both the 30fps and 20fps mark. However, it also appears that these drops are slightly less severe on the PS3. Even though at times, both slow down in equal measure. Just like during gameplay, large creatures and specific effects are the root cause - when there's little going on to stress the engine, both run smoothly at 30fps.


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PS3

From what we've played so far Dragon Age 2 is hardly representative of technical excellence. Low res textures, unimpressive effects, and a unstable framerate - mainly in the cut-scenes - can make for a unsightly experience at times. However, there's no doubt that the game looks much, much better than the first. Characters contain more detail, and the 360 build features an all round improvement in IQ. While PS3 users get the benefit of a vastly superior AA solution.

However, the demo is but a mere taster of what the game will have to offer. At least both versions seem to be almost on a par now. Performance aside - which still suffers more in gameplay on the PS3 - things are looking a lot better for Bioware's latest. But for an engine that is boardering on being five years old, upgraded for this sequel, one can only wonder just how far it will take them.

With the final game out in only a couple of days, I guess that we won't have long until we find out. If we get time, then expect an update. Hopefully we can also bring along a few comparison vids to the table too.

Dragon Age 2 Gets Texture Boost On PC

While it was previously common to assume that multiplatform titles on the PC would automatically benefit from featuring much higher quality art assets, in recent years this hasn't completely been true. Sure, PC gamers get higher resolution textures and higher quality/additional effects, but usually these are far off from pushing what is capable on the platform.

Dragon Age 2 may be another one of those games, one that is built around working on both consoles and the PC. But there's also no doubt that the PC version will end up vastly superior, if the original game is anything to go by. However, despite this Bioware have released a hi-res texture pack for their upcoming sequel, enhancing it even further.

Available from their website now, the download, which comes in at around 1.08GB, replaces many of the lower resolution assets with much more highly detailed ones. The downside, is that you'll be needing a graphics card with at least 1024MB of VRAM, along with using Direct X 11 to maximise this potential.

In a world where tailoring around the needs of the now low-spec consoles takes precedence, it's good to see some companies doing at least a little more with their PC releases. Although, a texture pack pales in comparison to the high-end specifics of both Crysis 2 and EA's recently unveled Battlefield 3, both of which look to fully take advantage of todays top-end PC hardware.

Updates At IQGamer

Okay, so as you might be aware there hasn't exactly been the most amount of updates here at IQGamer over the past week or so. The end result is that our plans for covering Killzone 3 - along with a few other titles - have been scuppered.

Well, almost. You see, behind the scenes I'm working on a few other projects - tech-related of course - which will eventually benefit readers of this site, in time. Currently, this means juggling a barrage of video editing, writing and having to head off to my day job also. All of which leaves very little time to work on additional content for IQG.

However, the end result should be well worth the wait. And once I get completely up to speed there will be more content forthcoming. Until then, you'll all just have to bare with me for a bit. Rest assured that I'm not sitting around and taking time off. Having worked on one thing or another practically every day of last year, I'm not about to stop now.

Anyway, this was just a little update to let you all know that I haven't simply disappeared and left IQGamer behind.

Microsoft Opens Up Kinect SDK

While the Kinect might have been 'hacked' early on, with plenty of intriguing homebrew software showcasing potential beyond most concepts MS has in current retail software, everything had to be done via custom tools and without access to Microsoft's skeletal tracking software. However, the company did officially state that they 'intended' Kinect to effectively become an open system of sorts, allowing home users to spurn their creativity in producing software for the device. And now that is finally become a reality.

Today, Microsoft revealed that it would be releasing a non-commercial version of the Kinect for Windows software development kit (SDK) at some point this spring, with a fully-fledged commercial version coming further on down the line.

"Microsoft's investments in natural user interfaces are vital to our long-term vision of creating computers that are intuitive to use and able to do far more for us. The fruits of these research investments are manifesting across many of our products, Kinect for Xbox 360 among them."

The company hopes that this will bring about an influx in new controls interfaces being developed, many of which could lead to even better Kinect gaming experiences. Although, it also appears that Windows-based applications are initially as important here. The fact that Windows 8 is hotly debated to have some kind of camera-based motion control as standard, and that the initial run of SDKs is aimed at the non-commercial, academic market shows that MS are covering all bases.

The release of the non-commercial SDK is primarily aimed at academic research companies and home enthusiasts, giving them a range of tools to make starting out developing for the device a lot easier. Whereas, with the commercial SDK release afterwards, creators and companies can produce retail products which use the device, much like in the way XNA allows smaller teams and individuals create Xbox 360 experiences on a budget.

Currently the kit only concerns Windows development and not development for the actual Xbox 360 console it self. It is perhaps more likely that MS will expand the XNA program to include a Kinect component to that SDK, rather than allow full access to the console's development environment.

Tech Report: Killzone 3 MLAA Update

MLAA, for many, might be considered the 'holy grail' when it comes to anti-aliasing on the PlayStation 3. As more traditional methods, such as MSAA and QAA, are either too bandwidth heavy or, in the case of QAA specifically, feature unwanted IQ impeding side-effects, Sony's custom AA solution largely mitigates both of these concerns. But it's not perfect. MLAA has its own set of drawbacks, and as a result needs to be tweaked accordingly when used in different titles.

By far the most impressive use of MLAA thus far, comes with its inclusion in Sony's God Of War 3. Killzone 3 however, demonstrates both the benefits and limitations of the technique: there is both ample coverage of well AA'd pixel edges and a myriad of frequent sub-pixel issues. By comparison, the QAA found in KZ2 does a better job of dealing with this, although at the expense of having clean and crisp IQ. Texture details are blurred, and image sharpness is lost.


With Killzone 3 quickly approaching release, and with the single-player demo now available to all, we thought it a good idea to see just how well the MLAA works in the latest public build of the game, saving any definitive conclusions until our final tech report on the final retail game.

The latest demo allows us to scrutinise the game closely on a near-fully ISF caibrated display, which I might add, features very liitle in the way of grayscale errors (noticeable by eye that is), perfectly set contrast, brightness and sharpness. Plus the gamma curve is at a ideal 2.2. Thus, this allows us to get by far the most accurate picture of what is going on.

By contrast, the build I played at the Eurogamer Expo (same demo level) was presented to attendees on uncalibrated Bravia displays, left on eye-blazing Dynamic modes, and the game itself shown off in 3D, upscaled and distinctly fuzzy. Hardly test material, if there was any to be had.

So, with that out of the way, today we're going to take an updated look at the use of MLAA in Killzone 3. Obviously, the question is, just how does it fare at this point in regards to its current implementation?


The end answer is actually very well. All things considered. While the use of MLAA still has its problems, the many benefits that it does provide - to both the engine and the finished graphical look of the game - does indeed, mitigate these somewhat. Image clarity is far superior to that of Killzone 2 - texture detail is reassuringly sharp, the display is crisp and the level of AA is excellent on regular pixel edges.

As we mentioned earlier, the use of MLAA needs to be customised when used in different types of games, each with their own visual nuances. In most cases, titles with objects made up of larger geometry, rather than ones with smaller, finer details are perhaps most suited to the technique. Killzone 3 falls into the later bracket, and as a result we see some obvious side-effects of the morphological solution that break the otherwise accomplished use of AA.


For a start, it's pretty clear that most objects get a fair amount of edge smoothing - more than what would be possible with 4xMSAA in many scenarios. However, the more complex and intricately detailed parts of the environment - ones made up of small pieces of geometry - suffer from noticeable edge shimmering, and what looks like soft, crawling edges.

With more in the way of detailed geometry being pushed about on screen this time around, the use of MLAA isn't perhaps as impressive as it would be in a completely different scenario. The greater the amount of thin geometry in the scene, the less in the way of decent edge smoothing is present. In the end, we're left with anything between 2x to 16xMSAA levels of anti-aliasing in total, with that being largely scene and geometry size dependant.

That said, the core of the issue is sub-pixel based; when looking at the actual pixel edges - and most of the scene in general - you can see that those edges have been smoothed off. And to an extremely high standard.


For those who aren't aware, MLAA only works on pixels. It doesn't cover sub-pixels (triangles that are smaller than the pixel size of the rendering resolution).

You see, MLAA works on finding edges by analysing the pixel structure in combination with using a depth buffer. It doesn't work on geometry at all. High contrast areas stick out clearly, and thus these parts of the scene effortlessly receive AA. Low contrast ares - like transition between textures - are harder to detect. But unlike QAA, Sony's MLAA implementation doesn't blur texture details.

By comparison, MSAA - and indeed SSAA (supersampling) - work on both the pixel structure and on available sub-pixels to some extent, meaning that the accuracy of the anti-aliasing is superior in comparatively high levels to MLAA, even if it is far more performance heavy. MSAA generally incurs a higher memory and processing cost than MLAA. Definitely in the case of 4x or more, but also compared to 2x in terms of KZ3's implementation; which is not only computationally lighter, but consumes less memory as well.



In order to tackle the current sub-pixel shimmering issue, Guerrilla Games would have to modify their MLAA code to work on both pixel and sub-pixels through an entire scene. This would come at a greater processing cost overall, whilst eroding away a larger amount of memory, thus reducing the very benefits that MLAA provides - it's relatively cheap, great on high-contrast edges, and can provide up to 16xMSAA type coverage on some surfaces.

Failing that, the other option that they could use, is to combine 2xMSAA following up with MLAA afterwards. Having both forms of AA would provide better sub-pixel coverage ( as in, they would have some), while obtaining much higher quality edge smoothing as a whole. However, like we've just discussed, additional resources would be required that would take away from other parts of the game's graphical make-up. In which case, MLAA on its own is more than a fair compromise.


But for now, the demo privides us with a good indication of how the final game will fair. Sure, the code is at least a couple of months old. But Guerilla have had ample time to to make small improvements since work on the demo was completed. In any case, its current implementation of MLAA - as seen in the demo - is still vasty superior than the low level of MSAA found on consoles. There's plenty of edge smoothing that is completely successful, which helps put to rest some of the niggles that come with the technique.

Sony Locks Out Hacked PS3 Users From PSN

Phase one of Sony's plan to re-secure the PS3 came with a series of firmware updates. But now the company is turning towards the very individuals that use these exploits; whether that be for homebrew use or for piracy.

In a statement issued on the company's PlayStation Blog, Sony revealed that it would ban anyone found using the GeoHot exploit - or any exploit, jailbreak or otherwise, for that matter - from the PlayStation Network. However, users are still being given a chance. So long as they remove all software and hardware pertaining to the hack, they will be clear to use PSN services as per usual.

"Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 System terminated permanently.

"To avoid this, consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorised or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems."

This was added to with further input from James Gallagher, manager of the PS Blog:

"By identifying PlayStation 3 systems that breach our guidelines and terminating their ability to connect to PlayStation Network, we are protecting our business and preserving the honest gameplay experiences that you expect and deserve.

"Rest assured, this message does not apply to the overwhelming majority of our users who enjoy the world of entertainment PlayStation 3 has to offer without breaching the guidelines detailed above, and we urge you to continue doing so without fear."

For users of devices such as PS Jailbreak and other hacking solutions, this is something that was always going to happen - it was inevitable. But for the more serious of homebrwers, Sony's latest decision is unlikely to sway them away from downloading and creating custom content for their consoles, while the ability exists for them to do so.

After all, this was something that the hacking community experienced before with the PSP: being locked out of playing new release titles at the expense of being able to continue running custom code and modified firmware.

However, the idea behind the company's most recent tactic, is to minimise the damage caused by piracy - the downloading and distribution of copied games - while also deterring others from potentially opening themselves up to these possibilities.

Along with the 3.56 system software update - and a few new patches currently being worked on - Sony seem to be targeting every avenue in the hopes that the current leak will be contained, at least partially. But more importantly, kept well away from the mainstream public domain. At least, while they still have that chance.