Fallout 4 Next-Gen Upgrade Patched: Fixed on Xbox, Improved on PS5 - But Issues Remain

after the many issues found in the Fallout 4 current gen upgrade for PlayStation 5 Xbox series X and S a new update has landed with improvements the good news first to get straight to it Bethesda game studios gives every console PS5 series X and S a newly labeled Graphics toggle in this new May 13th update it's now listed as performance mode and visuals mode here in essence it renames the performance onoff toggle we had before and crucially this now actually works on Xbox series X and S as it should it lets us properly switch between what the developer calls standard settings in the performance mode and ultra settings in the visuals mode more than that in a moment on top of this every console now also gets a separate toggle to run either of these Graphics modes at 30 or 60 frames per second or if you have a 120 HZ display connected a 40 FPS option opens up in the middle simply put this means we're able to arbitrarily choose our frame rate target regardless of the visual settings in place you no longer have to run at 30 FPS on the visuals mode for example with its ultra settings as was the case before the patch you get to make this call yourself even going as far as to let you run the visuals mode at 60 frames per second so in summary two Graphics modes and three frame rate options all of which gives us much more flexibility this time around the big question then does this latest May 13th update fix every issue every quibble we had with Fallout 4's current gen console upgrade how do all the consoles compare now with the top visuals mode selected and finally is it actually possible to run this visuals mode at 60 frames per second now or is there still a need for those lower 40 and 30 FPS options to get a stable reading let's find [Music] out okay let's address the Xbox situation first Chief among the issues when this new upgrade landed was that the performance mode toggle did not work on Xbox series X or S disabled or enabled either way it's only ran on the performance mode on Xbox always at 60 FPS using standard settings for foliage object and distant detail draw this obviously gave PS5 a big Advantage a couple of weeks back given that PS5 genuinely pushed to ultra settings using this very same option albe it at a 30 FPS cap but now with all machines updated to this new May 13th update this issue is indeed fixed on Xbox the performance mode runs exactly as it did before on Xbox series X and S at 60 frames per second with standard settings the interesting bit though is the visuals mode which now works and delivers a visible upgrade let's show a before and after patch comparison here the newly labeled visuals mode setting gets us improved Fage draw on series X compared to its former Incarnation with performance mode disabled it gets us better object draw and all the distant building detail at the top of the Cola factory is present too the fact that these settings didn't engage in the previous patch on Xbox is understood to be a bug so it's great to see the problem is solved today [Music] with that in mind how does series X compare to PS5 and series s in fact well predictably the three are now matched in their visuals modes where the higher ultra settings engage properly here's a three-way split to prove the point we have visuals mode selected on each machine and all are set to run at 60 frames per second I'll touch on this more in a minute but fixing the frame rate at 60 FPS rather than 30 FPS will have an impact on image quality it means that the game's Dynamic resolution scaling system engages a little bit more often in Open Spaces dropping to 18 72p but otherwise it will Peak at a native 4K resolution on PS5 and series X this way while Series S meanwhile Peaks at 1440p with drops to 1080p the main point though is that all three machines here now achieve parity in settings using this working visuals mode foliage object and building draw settings are a match all rendering in at the exact same range across the landscape and yes the only difference of note otherwise is the lower 1440p resolution for the series s machine which will affect image Clarity on the right side of the comparison here a good start all round then another Point worth mentioning is that the Xbox series X and S run with higher building lods than PS5 we're talking very distant long range lods in this case as seen from the top of the Cora Factory rather than on the ground as we found before this May 13th patch PS5 continues to not render all building and ground geometry detail from range so panning around the top of the building here you'll see chunks of the scenery and the front sign of the shopping mall are missing detail bizarrely PS5 setup here correlates with no known setting on PC it's lower than PC's absolute lowest setting a bit of an anomaly really given that every other setting every other scenario is a match between PS5 and Xbox systems but it is worth a mention also it must be said frustratingly all three consoles are still far from PC's absolute top settings if this is truly meant to be the visuals mode so to speak the hope is we're getting the absolute maximum settings out of a 2015 last gen title no such luck here even on the May 13th update Shadow quality up close stays as is from before the patch meaning there's no push to PC's true ultra settings here also notably the shadow drawer distance setting on PS5 series X and S remains at PC's medium setting just like last gen consoles we still have this visible Shadow Cascade as we run ahead again ideally we'd have the works here on Console especially if we're running on the visual setting at 30 FPS where there should in theory be enough GPU overhead to max out most settings but even to this day we're seeing a compromised version of Fallout 4 on Modern systems for a future update this would really be high on the wish list a proper Ultra mode on Console even if it's only possible to run it smoothly at 30 or 40 FPS speaking of frame rate targets bethesda's choice to add a separate 30 40 and 60 FPS toggle is a fascinating move having more options is no bad thing I think even if it does give us this contradictory option of running the performance mode at 30 FPS the most exciting prospect though is in playing at 60 FPS on the visuals mode and whether it actually runs smoothly enough after all previously the visuals mode or the performance disabled mode as it was known then only capped at 30 FPS on PS5 now that we have the freedom to choose our Target freely 60 FPS is compelling but there is a downside to essentially doubling the frame rate spefic specifically the game's DRS system Dynamic resolution scaling adjusts the resolution more aggressively with a higher FPS Target selected so for example this is the visuals mode on series X comparing 60 FPS against 30 FPS at 30 FPS you're getting a native 4K image 99% of the time drops in resolution are possible but they are rare but by doubling the frame rate in pushing to 60 FPS it must lean into lower resolutions to keep its performance stable in this shot for example we're getting a lesser 1872 P pixel count while running at 60 FPS on the left it does take a pretty hard fulltime Zoom to show it off admittedly but you'll see Fish detail getting blurred in the upscale distant fine detail breaks up a little then again in other scenes interior areas especially there will be no difference at all between the frame rate [Music] targets the upshot then is that Fallout 4 engages DRS effectively this applies to both series X and PS5 also in my experience the 40fps mode accessible by running these consoles at 120 HZ from the system menus has similar Behavior to the 30fps mode it's a middle ground between the two but expect a native 4K image playing at 40 FPS more often than not all of this applies to Series S as well the only difference for Series S is it of course targets 1440p in the best case but running at 60 FPS in the visuals mode will incur the wrath of dynamic resolution scaling in this case taking us down to 1080p lowest rounding out the positive news then both Xbox consoles now allow for 120 HZ output which enables that 40 FPS option also to add to the options you're now able to force the game to run at a native 1440p on every mode and frame rate setting just set 1440p in the series X system menu and the game natively renders at 144 40p maximum so in terms of features we have parity with PS5 here the 1440p support mainly affects series X obviously given that Series S already targets 1440p internally at Best by default the final question then what's the best way to run Fallout 4 on PS5 series X or S right now to be blunt there are three consoles here Each of which have two Graphics modes with a further branch of three frame rate options for each and on top of that you're able to run all these options at 1440p as well that's a lot of permutations to cover about 36 in total still the summary of Fallout fors performance is really straightforward firstly regardless of whether you're playing on PS5 series X or s 60 FPS is typically a lock even on the visuals mode but there are issues take series X for example here let's go for the best case settings with the visuals mode at 4K output at 60 FPS generally speaking this runs well in a majority of areas but the drops where they do happen are clear and at times distracting major 100 millisecond plus hitches are possible here just as we start firing on enemies or Worse still trigger the landmines up ahead it's impossible to ignore these paes in play in a similar vein moving through the downtown Boston area with lots of complex buildings in view shows very sudden bursts of drop frames especially while running and typically just as a new location appears you get these aggressive lurches in performance there's no absolute consistency between runs either the wear and win a hitch occurs varies with every run all of which makes an exact side-by-side test impossible in fact the only spot where a sustained drop is a guarantee is this view from the top of the corga factory which takes us to the 50 FPS line it's the best way to stress the engine constantly but really an exceptional case the bottom line is 60 FPS in regular play on the visuals mode is viable on series X but you will have to tolerate a lot of these issues on the [Music] way so what's the solution to these drops for series X running on the performance mode at 60 FPS helps a little sadly even the performance mode suffers from hitching though there's no escaping the sudden bursts of dropped frames especially after entering a new area again again the landmine explosion is a good test here but on the upside I did notice the route through downtown Boston runs with less aggressive drops overall compared to the visuals mode it's still losing frames and taking us into the high 50s but it does help minimize the lurches we're seeing in the visuals mode it's hardly a radical difference and there's still potential for glaring drops and hitching but the rate and severity of these drops is at least minimized the cor Vega rooftop test also Bears this out on the performance mode we're getting a jump to 52 FPS a marginal increase over the locked 50 FPS on the visuals mode on balance then the main issue with hitching remains but the general frame rate dips in the performance mode do show a minor Improvement if these drops are still too much for you there is one last work around taking series X as an example again the best way to keep performance steady is to resort to a lower frame rate Target 40 FPS is a good middle ground I think setting the console to 120 HZ you get a 40 FPS option that makes most of these drops invisible or at least lessen their impact keeping to the visuals mode with 4K output selected the top of the corga factory inevitably locks at 40 FPS this way you keep the superior ultra settings for Fage draw and at a constant 25 millisecond frame time it feels much smoother in motion but but again the hitching issue isn't entirely eradicated here even if we run this landmine test at 1440p at 40 FPS it's still not avoiding the problem still if you want the best case from series X the 40 FPS option is the one to use and it almost goes without saying that the 30 FPS mode will go a step further here it's an extreme measure but 30 FPS will keep the frame rate leveled out with minimal drops though it is admittedly quite a big sacrifice to make what about the Xbox series s then the four terlop machine well to start almost every data point from series X applies to Series S it targets 1440p instead of course but the core issues in Hitching which is in theory more of a CPU side issue remain again most areas will run fine with 60 FPS and visuals mode selected it's just that the hitches and drops in complex areas like downtown Boston are again a distraction here in fact the drops on Series S around the city are often more aggressive based on this eye test where they do appear we're hitting the 50 FPS line in the same spots as series X but even going under that into the high 40s at points the evidence does suggest Series S drops in the exact same moment but to a greater extent to put this into some perspective the Cora rooftop stress test on the visuals mode runs constantly at 47 FPS on Series S which is a step step down from the 50 FPS on series X there are a few solutions to series s's frame rate issues the catch being that they're less effective than they are on series X dropping to the performance mode for a start will inevitably help a little but does not solve the rate of hitching you'll also see major drops around the downtown Boston area visible bouts of dropped frames as we Sprint around its Alleyways performance mode is far less effective here than it is on series X though at the very least the frame rate in this Cora rooftop shot gets a boost to 52 FPS this way on Series S once again then the best work around is to use the 40 FPS mode with 120 HZ output selected from the series s system menu you get a much tighter and more consistent frame rate Line This Way by dropping to 40 of course many of the hitching issues remain regardless but this mode is a great way to hide the game's more General sub FPS drops that's the situation on Xbox in a nutshell of course many of these new features were already on the PS5 like 120 HZ support with 40 FPS and the 1440p mode except now the PS5 version on the May 13th update lets you manually pick your frame rate target the main benefits on PS5 is that this now lets you run the visuals mode at 60 FPS rather than being stuck at 30 but again it has similar issues in holding 60 as the Xbox machines UPF front there is a problem with hitching once again here this area with the zombies and landmines is a classic culprit lots of hitching here as we move through the barricade this doesn't happen in every run but it is possible and in the event it occurs it's impossible to ignore and likewise we see it across downtown Boston as well anytime we break into a Sprint we also get a similar pattern to series X here in terms of the more General frame rate lurches as we run through the city again this one's hard to measure in terms of the severity and regularity on PS5 by comparison at points it's worse than series X at points it's better and to use a more methodical test the overview from the corga rooftop has PS5 running at a flat 50 FPS just like series X on the same visual setting at 4K output so again it boils down to the same conclusion PS5 is 1440p output option and the performance mode will have a small impact here but the drops under 60 FPS will still be visible at times it doesn't entirely remove them from view the best way to disguise a majority of these drops on PS5 is to use the 40 FPS cap if you're able to the 40 FPS mode running at 1440p in this case will hide a lot of the drops you might see otherwise that's the May 13th update covered then the upside to the patch is really that we're getting a great set of options and modes in Fallout 4 between 60 40 and 30 FPS frame rate targets a 1440p output mode and two graphic settings there's a lot of flexibility here the only catch is that even in the very best case none of these modes 100% solve all of Fallout 4's performance problems on Console The Hitching we see on every platform form points to a more deeply rooted engine level issue in moments where PS5 series X and S attempt to draw in lots of complex geometry it's a problem to solve in another patch update perhaps at the very least Xbox series X and S get parity with PS5 features with a graphics mode toggle that actually works now still there's a lot that needs fixing Beyond this not least the ultra wide support on PC even today as of editing this video anyway it remains unpolished with stretched UI elements it's something I'll be keeping an eye on and I'll be back if we see any significant changes on Console or PC but that's all for me today if you 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Channel: Digital Foundry

Views: 189,970

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Id: 9e86pAP6sUo

Length: 19min 32sec (1172 seconds)

Published: Tue May 14 2024