Date:
Monday , November 17, 2008
Author:
Mark Warner
Editor:
Brent Justice
Google +1

Fallout 3 Gameplay Performance and Image Quality

One of the most anticipated PC titles in history has finally landed, amid cries of rage and splendor alike. We're here to examine real-world gameplay experiences in Fallout 3 on six of today’s hottest video cards, always with an eye for value.

continued...

Evaluating Gameplay in Fallout 3

Fallout 3 performance, overall, is excellent. As you will see throughout the rest of this evaluation, we experienced stellar performance across the board. But there are a couple of potential issues that we would like to bring to your attention.

Framerate Cap

When using the AMD GPU based video cards in this evaluation, we experienced a hard framerate cap of 60 frames per second, whether VSYNC was enabled or not. With the NVIDIA-based video cards we used, we did not experience a cap on our framerate with VSYNC disabled. This means in the graphs you will see the AMD GPU based video cards maxing out around the 60 FPS line while the NVIDIA-based video cards are able to achieve higher framerates. Of course, once you hit 60 FPS playability impact is moot, but we needed to mention this since it is there.

Performance vs. Framerates

Overall, we experienced higher than expected framerates. But as we've said time and time again, that did not necessarily indicate an acceptable level of playability. The biggest performance problem with Fallout 3 is the issue of stuttering or "juddering". It produces a jerky quality in the gameplay experience, where it feels as though frames are being skipped. This problem is not reflected in the framerate counter, but it definitely happens, and it has a real detrimental effect on the gameplay experience. Effectively reducing the stuttering issue is best accomplished by lowering settings that affect system memory bandwidth usage, local video memory bandwidth usage, and CPU usage. Such settings include options like texture resolution, anti-aliasing, and resolution.

Thus, a high framerate does not necessarily equal a playable gameplay experience in Fallout 3.

The stuttering issue has affected the Gamebryo engine since Oblivion, so the likelihood of a fix for the issue coming from Bethesda in the form of a patch to Fallout 3 is slim to none. It may be lessened by new and updated video card drivers, but right now, the best way to mitigate the problem is to lower game settings until the problem either vanishes or is reduced enough to suit your sensitivity to the problem.

During our testing, we experienced the problem on both AMD and NVIDIA silicon. The way we "fixed" it was simple, and will be explained thoroughly in the coming pages.

Launcher Graphics Options

Clicking "Options" on Fallout 3's launcher application produces an interface to customize graphics options outside of the game. While this is not a new innovation, it is unusual in the sense that the out-of-game Launcher options are more complete than Fallout 3's in-game options.

Article Image

This is the first options interface you see when you click "Options" in the Fallout 3 launcher. It contains the usual suspects: Device, Resolution, anti-aliasing options, texture filtering options, and a collection of macro setting buttons labeled "Low", "Medium", "High", and "Ultra". Note that selecting the "Low" option automatically disables AA and AF, and sets the lowest possible quality settings, except for the "Texture Quality" option, which it sets to "Medium." Clicking on the "Ultra" button automatically selects the highest possible quality settings, and enables 4X MSAA and 16X sample AF. Clicking on the "Medium" and "High" buttons sets options somewhere between "Low" and "Ultra".

Additionally, if you click on the "Default" button, the game will attempt to detect the best possible settings for your computer. Please note that the "Low", "Medium", "High", and "Ultra" buttons will not alter the resolution that you have selected, but the "Default" button will. Clicking on the "Advanced" button will pop up another settings interface, with a very nice range of customizable options. The advanced options are shown below.

Article Image Article Image

The first advanced option we see in the first tab labeled "Detail" is "Texture Quality" and controls the resolution of the textures that the game will use. The "Radial" blur option controls the quality of the radial blur texture that Fallout 3 uses when the character takes damage in combat. The "Depth of Field" checkbox toggles the depth of field post-processing feature which is used to change the focus depth when your character is zoomed in on a target, using the VATS system, or talking to an NPC. The "Transparency Multisampling" option enables in-engine multisampling of transparency textures such as broken windows, foliage, and some transparent textures used in building rubble. The decal cap slider allows you to select how many decals, such as blood stains and bullet holes, are rendered by the game engine.

The next tab is labeled "Water" and contains all of the available settings for the game's water. The "Water Refractions" checkbox enables the warping of reflected images in the water due to the natural refraction of light when it passes through water. The "Water Reflections" checkbox disables reflections altogether, producing an uninteresting water surface. The "Reflection Quality" drop-down box allows the user to select the resolution of the reflected image. Choosing a high setting here reduces the stair-stepping effect sometimes visible in the water reflections. The "Soft Reflections" checkbox toggles the blurring and softening of reflected images, reducing the hard edges seen without it. Next, the "Full Reflections" checkbox toggles the level of detail in the reflections. The "Water Displacement" option toggles the rippling effect caused by characters and monsters when moving through water. The "Depth Fog" option makes deeper water appear murkier by applying a depth-based fog effect. The deeper the water goes, the less detail will be visible from the bottom of the river, pond, or puddle. Finally, the "Water Multisampling" option reduces jagged edges on reflected objects in the water.

Article Image Article Image Article Image

The "Shadows" tab, obviously, contains options pertaining to shadows. The first option is a checkbox to toggle shadows completely. After that, the "Shadow Quality" and "Shadow Filtering" options control the accuracy and softness of shadows, respectively. The next two sliders control how many shadows are shown on the screen at any given time. Obviously, the "Max Interior Shadows" slider controls how many shadows are rendered in indoor locations, while the "Max Exterior Shadows" slider controls how many shadows are shown out-of-doors.

The next tab, labeled "View Distance" contains sliders to control the depth at which different world elements are no longer drawn. The "Object Fade" slider controls draw depth for small things like boxes, cars, bicycles and other minor objects. The "Actor Fade" slider controls the depth for NPCs and monsters. The "Grass Fade" slider controls how far away grass is drawn, and the "Specularity Fade" slider changes the depth at which reflective objects, such as cars and windows, are still shiny. The "Light Shade" slider determines the distance at which light sources begin to fade, while the "Item Fade" option controls the draw depth for usable things like landmines, weapons and ammunition, and Nuka-Cola bottles are drawn. And lastly, the "Shadow Fade" slider changes the distance at which object's shadows are drawn.

The last tab, "Distant LOD" contains 3 sliders that change the geometric detail, or mesh density, of trees, objects, and landscape in the distance. The "Tree LOD Fade" setting will determine the range at which detail is removed by simplifying branches and foliage as the camera move further away from them. The "Object LOD Fade" setting does the same thing, but for objects like cars, and even whole buildings. The "Land Quality" setting changes the level of detail found in the landscape in the distance.

In-Game Options

Article Image Article Image

Fallout 3's in-game graphics options are less extensive. You can change the brightness, HUD opacity, HUD color, and the color of the readout on the Pip-Boy. The "Texture Size" option is the same as the Launcher's "Texture Quality" option, only instead of High/Medium/Low; the options are "Large", "Medium", and "Small". The "View Distance" and "Distant LOD" options are also represented, but with normalized sliders; there are 15 notches on the in-game sliders, which does not directly correlate with the number of possible settings for every slider in the Launcher.

So, for the sake of completeness and precision, we used the Fallout 3's Launcher options panel for our evaluation.

Test Process

In smaller game zones, such as Rivet City, the Sewers, and Megaton, Fallout 3 performs extremely well. It is the exterior zone, the wasteland and downtown Washington D.C. where performance is most challenged. Therefore, we devised a testing procedure which takes us from Rivet City, the aircraft carrier-turned settlement parked in the Potomac, to Megaton, which is the first settlement you encounter after leaving the introductory sequence in Vault 101. The trip takes about 6.5 minutes, and takes us through some very densely detailed ruins of downtown DC, out into the wide and sprawling wasteland outside the city.