Same game, different level of graphics detail, different framerate. Choose wisely young padawan!

News & General Discussion
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Same game, different level of graphics detail, different framerate. Choose wisely young padawan!
(Link to tweet if you want to vote there too)

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Totally depends on the graphics style. If I had a game that was all realistic and detailed and ran too slow, instead of merely turning down detail I would try to come up with an self-satisfying aesthetic that performed better. Although performance is king, in the sense that without it a game is unplayable, at least for me graphics quality is not simply some expendable attribute that can be sort of thrown down the plughole as soon as framerate starts becoming a problem.

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I need more info.

What type of game? What type of game play? What type of artistic style (cartoon or photo-realistic)?

Without this I feel uncomfortable in placing a vote.

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Hey! my vote was a tie breaker.
Who says one nerd’s vote doesn’t count.

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The question is designed so you don’t know and cannot assume the game type, so that your preference is clear overall :slight_smile:

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if the game is faster moving though I would probably prefer 60fps. I’m not sure why 30fps would be 4x quality though and not 2x. ?

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Moar pretty == moar better.

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Because typically you can add a lot more detail than double when gaining 16 milliseconds. Poll is for everyone, not just programmers!

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It’s not a question of preference though. If you want to make it a question of preference, you might as well ask whether people prefer 30fps or an asset flip.

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For a designer or programmer. But this poll is not just for those people, but everyone. So it has to be general. If you reduce it to game type, you remove preferences entirely. The poll would not exist due to this narrow thinking. The truth is more complex.

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The poll only suggests that when no context is given, people would prefer x. However in more specific circumstances there is a very high chance that their preference would change.

Seems like pretty limited value to me.

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I don’t think there is a very high chance their preference would change unless they were technical game developers.

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Since I don’t feel any real difference between 60 or 30, it’s not much of a question.

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The correct answer is “it depends.”

I voted for 60 fps just because I remember one of the early Forza racing games on Xbox 360 decided to go with 30 fps and “prettier” rather than the more standard 60 fps for racing games.

Two problems:

  1. 30 fps is not as playable in a racing game.
  2. The “prettier” option from several years ago doesn’t look very pretty now, so it seems like a waste in retrospect.

So it depends. For a racing game or a super-twitchy fighting or other twitchy action game? Yeah, 60 fps. Sacrificing framerate for better visuals might not make sense if you expect gamers to revisit the game years later.

For the vast majority of games, like third-person adventure or whatnot, 30 fps is perfectly fine. So, it depends.

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If they actually have an informed preference on the current poll then they have at least some level of technical knowledge. You can see the 30fps argument all over the place in PS4 game communities, so most fans are aware of the differences and tradeoffs to some extent.

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You can play any genre fine at 60 but not every one at 30, so without context I feel like the answer can only be 60 for people who also play “fast” games (like I play among others, so I voted 60), and all those that only play things like RPGs and strategy games without caring about any of the more fps-critical genres (like e.g. fighting games) will likely vote for 30 with more detail and fx.

Without at least giving the genre of the game as a point of reference, I feel like the data you are collecting is mostly non-actionable, but it might point towards whether or not it’s worth asking the target audience for a specific project or not. At time of writing I would say “yes” to that.

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It’s very actionable - naughty dog made similar observations - just not for obvious reasons. I’m not disclosing my reasons because it might prevent further discussion.

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In genres that depend on quick, precise actions (first person shooter, racing, etc), a higher frame rate is very important. Serious gamers can even tell the difference between 60 FPS and 144 FPS. 30 FPS is not adequate for serious gamers playing certain types of games.

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What did you do before 60 fps was a ‘thing’? Pole position, RC Pro-Am, Mario Cart, Top Gear, all Nascar racing titles before 60fps. All good racing titles - none 60fps.

Please don’t make a shooter or racing game! :slight_smile:

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If you’re saying 60 fps doesn’t enhance modern racing games, then I simply disagree.

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