Been investigating Lone Echo some more, also as Lone Echo 2 may arrive shortly. Today I did something different - following Pyroth's idea of reducing the blurriness of TAA (=temporal antialiasing) by increasing res, I increased resolution to a massive SteamVR res 300 % - that's 3480 x 3868 x 2 = 27 mill pixels per frame (including two eyes). Thus we're close to 30 mill pixels per frame.
That did not go incredibly well when starting the game using 4xMSAA 😂 - but the trick was to completely deactivate MSAA, while keeping on TAA. Now to my amazement I got solid 90 fps 😮 - And the image quality wasn't blurry and all jaggies were really close to being totally gone!
This requires a RTX 3090, not even a RTX 3080 will do - but ok, 3080 might do for res 250 % which probably will be nice too. But owners of Indices and RTX 3090 gpus can try this for optimal image quality in Lone Echo:
1. Set SteamVR to res 300% for Lone Echo.
2. Activate Temporal Antialiasing (done in-game).
3. Deactivate MSAA completely (done in game).
4. Max out all other settings (including sharpening = 2.0), but of course disable automatic resolution.
Now you've got what many might refer to as a jaw-droppingly awesome image quality and performance - I took a few shots:
Click on an image to see the full size (very important to see the details)
Not sure Olivia ever looked better (maybe on Reverb G2 - but I got solid 90 fps ;-)) - note how things in the background are sharp too.
Olivia in space - but the more important things are the distant objects - see how sharp the distant rocks are - this is thanks to the very high res
Maybe a boring picture, but check out her head wear - see the tiny threads and stitches? See the details in her skin? Res 300% removes nearly all TAA blur
Hands look totally awesome - but I guess they always did...
Textures and surfaces look sharp even with TAA thanks to res 300% - and all in solid 90 fps. These images do not fully capture the full in-game image quality, in-game it's easy to read the words in the background on the left, like "Harvestor" and "Helium3".
Dynamic shadows in Lone Echo are second to no other VR game - check out the high-res shadow
Cube-Sat - love those micro-scratches on the paint and never saw them so clearly before
I've always liked these decorations - and using res 300 % all is sharp and does not look blurry.
Just a simple example of (volumetric) lighting in Lone Echo - but it looks great
Res 300% isn't perfect, I guess res 400% with the RTX 4090 in 120 Hz would be even better, lol, but res 300% does look awesome. Res 300 % with TAA and with deactivated MSAA may be a great recipe for Lone Echo 2 too, we'll see when the time comes...
Btw, highest vram use according to fpsVR with res 300% was 10GB, but I did only test in the beginning of the game.
Just a few bonus pics - Index res 300% + TAA, but no MSAA:
Click to enlarge
Love those hands 🙂
The anomaly
Volumetric lights
The Kronos II mining station orbiting Saturn and some containers
To my great surprise Wilson's Heart, one of my favorite games, did not just work in solid 90 fps using Index res 300% (with maxed out in-game graphics settings), but also gave me solid 90 fps using res 400% 😮 This was really unbelievable 😮 - and it's now a superior VR experience to almost any other VR game. It's of course another testament to the incredible force of the RTX 3090.
That said, the first hour I played the game starting from my latest save game somewhat far into the game, I got solid 90 fps with res 400%. But starting a new game, much is going on and the rooms are really huge, and there res 400% will cause some motion smoothing to kick in. But in a few minutes you reach smaller locations and fps turn to solid 90. Using res 300% you will get solid 90 fps also in the start of the game.
But I prefer res 400% to res 300%. Res 400% is not wasted at all, because using lcd hmds this game has tons of jaggies. But not using res 400% - now the game looks mindblowingly awesome.
For those not having played Wilson's Heart - now may be the perfect time! But you'll need at least a RTX 3080, similar or close for 90 fps with res 300%. All shots are taken using Index res 400% - that's 4032x4480x2 = 36 million pixels per frame (both eyes included):
Click to enlarge!
Looking in the mirror never looked so good 😉
Awesome high-res dynamic shadows - see both hands and head/hair
Yes, gotta just looove those shadows!
Res 400% just looks real - great fun to read the comic books in the game
Immersion has never been better for me - but maybe G2 and Vive Pro 2 users don't agree, lol
These look like real lamps to me - check the textures and high-poly models (=lamps look perfectly round)
Wilson's Heart uses black & white graphics also to reduce texture storage sizes, and to be able to provide higher textures res than usually seen in VR games before Alyx and Boneworks arrived
Your heart - looks like metal
Strange choice in hospital art, but if it keeps the kids happy ...
Awesome mirror reflections
Alyx-class textures
Close-up on a bad day
Example of high-poly environments with impressive high-res textures
Ultramersion textures on common objects
Looks like a real drawing when you're inside the game
Shadows and lights
Handwritings maybe not that far from being photo-realistic thanks to res 400%...
My plan last evening was to play some Brass Tactics - that game did work too with res 400%, but did get some reprojections, might have to go for res 300& in that game... Might take some shots, one day... But got caught up in Wilson's Heart.
Btw, Wilson's Heart is playable in res 500% too - but then it's mostly 45 fps - not bad though, but I prefer res 400% and 90 fps.
@RuneSR2 wrote:
Great screenshots. The level of clarity is on par with my Quest 2 and good 'ol 980.
It is also worth noting for any Index users who also own a Quest 2, that Lone Echo will have reduced Glare and SDE on the Quest 2 compared to Index. Which really helps with the immersion and presence in a lot of the detailed scenes across Lone Echo.
Not to mention that added bonus of experiencing anti-gravity realism with a tetherless experience. Playing Lone Echo wirelessly with Quest 2 feels so much more realistic than when I first played it tethered to the Rift CV1.
😁
Greatly enjoyed Brass Tactics, once more thanks to the totally amazing brute force of the RTX 3090. Not only can I play the game in solid 90 fps using Ultra settings and ss 2.0 (or SteamVR res 200%) - but I can even up the res to Index res 300% and it's still smooth as butter. Res 400% did somewhat burn my Icarus wings, lol. Res 400% is playable, but I get some reprojections, so Index Res 300% it is.
I've actually saved this game as I did not like the performance with the GTX 1080 CV1 ss 2.0. Now, after all those years, I can finally play this awesome game. The game is from the makers of Age of Empires 2, and thanks to VR I can't think of any better strategy game than Brass Tactics. Knuckles work perfectly as Touch.
Just took a few shots - Index res 300% with Ultra settings.
Click to enlarge
Everything is sharp using res 300% - also check out the buildings in the background, outside the play area
Textures aren't ultramersion quality, but still look great - see the detail on the dome
More buildings - nice details, poly levels are fine
Your hands look awesome - much better inside the game
Awesome ground textures
A battle is ongoing - but check out the great dynamic shadows - also from the arrows when you're ordering soldiers to move
Just some random gold and jewels
A tower - just to show some details that many may easily overlook - devs gave much attention to details
Maybe a boring image - but check out the distant objects, these look very sharp due to res 300%
Just to show close and distant perspecitives
Some levels are quite large - still not problems getting solid 90 fps
Just to show some details from units - made of brass 😉
Some fun enemies - without spoiling much 😉
More close-up textures
Just to show roof tile textures - nice quality
Quite a fun use of the frunk:
Still haven't used mine for anything, maybe I should. If anyone has used it, do make a post about it!