When the game is a little *too* demanding

Breck said:
It blows my mind how many devs seem to put optimization last on the priority list. I’d rather have a smooth experience on lower settings than a slideshow at max.

DLSS and upscaling are giving devs an excuse to optimize less. Back in the day, they had no choice but to squeeze every drop of performance out of hardware.

@Bennett
That’s true, but back in the day we were happy with 1024×768 at 60FPS. Now people expect 4K at 144FPS.

That’s 27x the pixels per second, plus higher detail, better lighting, and crazy physics simulations. No wonder it’s tough to optimize.

@Niko
And the NPCs better have ray-traced reflections in their retinas, goddammit.

Marlow said:
@Niko
And the NPCs better have ray-traced reflections in their retinas, goddammit.

Retinas that are completely hidden behind helmets, but still fully rendered. Because, you know… immersion.

@Niko
Yeah, but hardware today absolutely destroys what we had back in the day. You can run old games at thousands of FPS now.

Pax said:
@Niko
Yeah, but hardware today absolutely destroys what we had back in the day. You can run old games at thousands of FPS now.

Sure, but can they run at 1024×768 at 1620FPS? Because that’s the equivalent of today’s expectations. :laughing:

Warframe at max particles with a full laser-light-show build.

Mag used to blind people if they set their energy color to white. Hydroid and Vauban were also guilty of destroying people’s retinas.

Limbo? Nah, nobody builds him anymore. :joy:

@Daryn
Nah, Vauban is where it’s at. Nothing beats Bastille plus orbital strike for max eye strain.

Hadi said:
@Daryn
Nah, Vauban is where it’s at. Nothing beats Bastille plus orbital strike for max eye strain.

My eyes… and my room has a new heater. X.x

@Daryn
Warframe—where the true endgame is testing your monitor’s ability to survive a rave. :skull:

New boss mechanic: they don’t just attack you, they attack your FPS.

Looking at you, Shadow of the Erdtree

When a game is so demanding you say, “Who needs sleep? I’m gonna melt those bosses!”

Then your PC melts instead. :joy:

My Skyrim after mods. Need I say more?

Just ordered a new rig. My PC is struggling with modern games, and the ones I really want to play are the worst offenders.

My 5080 build arrives Friday. Until then, I’ll be sweating bullets. :sweat_smile: