Watch Dogs PC Modders Find Hidden "E3" Settings, Improve Performance - Update

[Olas]

Well this is certainly an interesting debacle. Even the cynic in me wouldn't have guessed that Ubisoft would actually sabotage the PC version of their game.

It makes me wish piracy actually had an effect on big publishers because this sort of monopoly needs to go bankrupt

What monopoly?

 

[Illessa]

Found some code in W_D:

They were really so stupid as to leave something like that in the code and then release the game to a playerbase famous for scouring through code for just about anything under the sun? Did they really think that was gonna go unnoticed?

I seriously doubt they did. No way decompiled code would look like that, the comment wouldn't be there, and that #else stuff is specifically compile-time logic that would vanish in the final files (that's literally the point of that syntax). So either W_D shipped with uncompiled C knocking about (veeeeeery unlikely), the source code leaked (which might be the case, but the coders would have no reason to expect it and sanitise their comments), or that snippet is made up/from somewhere else.

 

[Ldude893]

Found some code in W_D:

Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear...

This is the kind of dickery that I usually associate with EA or Activision. I guess we can confirm that Ubisoft is on par with those two publishers.

Also, is this Ubisoft's admission that PC beats consoles?

 

[CriticalMiss]

Everyone is over reacting. The game has female character models in it and, as Ubisoft's PR engineers have scientifically proven with science, you just cannot have female character models and their associated animations in a game with nice graphics. It's one or the other. To have both would require billions of dollars of investment in quantum cloud computing and thousands of man-hours animating each polygon! But hey, look. Assassin's Creed Unity guys. Look over there. Assassin's Creed!

Ubisoft really aren't having a good time this week are they?

 

[WouldYouKindly]

I mean seriously, it makes the game look and perform better? I'd love to know why Ubisoft decided it'd be a good idea to remove these features.

I've tried to avoid the line of thinking that consoles only serve as an anchor to slow down graphical advancement, but damn, what reason could there possibly be for deliberately sabotaging the PC version?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Either Ubisoft has just been caught with their pants down, or they like walking around without pants a lot.

I wonder if what happened with EA in the wake of Battlefield will happen to Ubisoft?

 

[Piorn]

OOOOOH NOOOOO, They used the hacking knowledge from Watchdogs and time-travel-pirated the Watchdogs HD version that was supposed to come out next year!
Or the HD DLC that was supposed to come out next year!

Also, I don't think it's malicious intent or anything. I wouldn't be surprised if the Console Manufacturers paid them quite some money to make it look like the current console generation isn't already obsolete Hardwarewise, and somehow produces the same graphics as PC.
That backfired nicely.

 

[saltyanon]

Or of course a huge multiplatform boycott that sends the message that consumers aren't idiots and they should stop lying to their customers.

Who are we kidding? That will never happen. Most consumers are idiots and will simply respond with "who cares?" as long as they get what they perceive, and what they were tricked into thinking, to be their money's worth.

The "smart" people are those that haven't made a purchase for a while now.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Surely there's a rational and reasonable explanation for this, right?

EDIT: Meanwhile I'm just enjoying the bokeh in that mod. Aaaah.

 

[Fireprufe15]

Some of the effects are real nice, while others like the DoF were clearly meant for trailer making as it makes the game damn near unplayable by defocusing almost everything 5 feet away from you.

 

[seditary]

Ubisoft is proudly marching down Fuckup Avenue straight to EA's backyard.

I've straight up stopped wanting BG&E 2 since I know Ubi will make it terrible.

 

[Somethingfake]

Welp, I'm going to enjoy the internet's reaction to this.

 

[alj]

Engage slow clap processor

I mean come on, why hide settings that make the game look better and perform better, even if there may be some issues with them you could always pop up a warning that this is not the "recommended" settings or whatnot.

And that comment ? Strange. Usually a de-compiler cannot find comments in the code as the compiler skipped over them but they may have used some setting in the compiler to preserve the comments in the binary file, possibly so it could be de-compiled later on so they can make a "HD" version for the PS5 and XBOX next one. What i find strange is a company as retarded as ubisoft has the good sense to comment there code in the first place.

I don't know who is at fault console makers for forcing ubisoft to also downgrade the PC version, ubisoft for listening to them or setting there sights too high for hardware that is already out of date by a good few years, or the customers for still paying for ubisoft to screw them over. If you want to play the game (and it does look like fun) wait a few weeks or for the first steam sale this will send a bigger message to ubisoft than any amount of spam to the directors.

 

[Areloch]

Found some code in W_D:

They were really so stupid as to leave something like that in the code and then release the game to a playerbase famous for scouring through code for just about anything under the sun? Did they really think that was gonna go unnoticed?

I seriously doubt they did. No way decompiled code would look like that, the comment wouldn't be there, and that #else stuff is specifically compile-time logic that would vanish in the final files (that's literally the point of that syntax). So either W_D shipped with uncompiled C knocking about (veeeeeery unlikely), the source code leaked (which might be the case, but the coders would have no reason to expect it and sanitise their comments), or that snippet is made up/from somewhere else.

Without looking at the actual code myself(having problems finding the original posting of it, just references) looking at the screenshot there, that looks like shader code, not engine code.

Shader code isn't compiled like the native engine code.

As for the topic on a whole? Pfffthahahahahahahahahahahahaha haha aaahhh hahah. Man. I bet there's a couple of people that will be getting pink pieces of paper this week.

 

[Rozalia1]

Microsoft proves that decisions that console makers choose has a profound effect on games.

Xbone's ESRAM is the prime example. Devs need to use mega textures, a tactic from the 90s that makes the textures look worse than last gen, to get around the xbone's lack of RAM. Something that is already biting the PS4 in the ass, and it looks like only exclusives will take it to its full potential.

Developers are not the sole cause for badly made games. Sometimes console makers force them into it. Ubisoft however has chosen to make a bad game. Which not many developers do. A lot of the time its the way the consoles are made that stops them. They don't do what Ubisoft does.

Where exactly is the evidence of this forcing? Even with ESRAM limitations they aren't forced to put it on the Xbone. Many devs cry foul about the Wii U and don't put it on that, so why don't they do the same to the Xbone?

Also, I don't think it's malicious intent or anything. I wouldn't be surprised if the Console Manufacturers paid them quite some money to make it look like the current console generation isn't already obsolete Hardwarewise, and somehow produces the same graphics as PC.
That backfired nicely.

Did the big three stage 9/11 too? They own those black helicopters?
Why would they pay for a downgrade on PC when their business is doing fine. Why not pay to not have it on PC instead? If you are going to push a conspiracy theory than at least push it right.

Did it never cross your mind that something like this could well be Ubisoft's own doing without any outside force? After all if PC gaming was dead they'd be making more money so there is an interest there.

I don't know who is at fault console makers for forcing ubisoft to also downgrade the PC version, ubisoft for listening to them or setting there sights too high for hardware that is already out of date by a good few years, or the customers for still paying for ubisoft to screw them over. If you want to play the game (and it does look like fun) wait a few weeks or for the first steam sale this will send a bigger message to ubisoft than any amount of spam to the directors.

Citation needed on the apparent gun to Ubisoft's head by the big three.

 

[PCPLX]

Dare I hope to see an Emergency Jimquisition on this? It's so ridiculous, I don't really even know what there is to say on the subject. I just want to nod my head in catharsis while he rants.

 

[Illessa]

And that comment ? Strange. Usually a de-compiler cannot find comments in the code as the compiler skipped over them but they may have used some setting in the compiler to preserve the comments in the binary file, possibly so it could be de-compiled later on so they can make a "HD" version for the PS5 and XBOX next one. What i find strange is a company as retarded as ubisoft has the good sense to comment there code in the first place.

Doubt it, that would be dumb. Why would they decompile their own code? I've never known a big corporation to just chuck out their source code as soon as they ship (and I work in the VCS space so I've seen the kind of crazy webs of ancient projects these companies end up with). If nothing else you never know when an old codebase will have some asset that you can chop up and reuse in a new project .

Without looking at the actual code myself(having problems finding the original posting of it, just references) looking at the screenshot there, that looks like shader code, not engine code.

Shader code isn't compiled like the native engine code.

As for the topic on a whole? Pfffthahahahahahahahahahahahaha haha aaahhh hahah. Man. I bet there's a couple of people that will be getting pink pieces of paper this week.

Oh of course, mystery solved, thankyou . Been years since I dabbled in graphics programming so I saw the conditional inclusions and just went "Wah?" Yeah they probably should have taken the time to sanitise their visible code for that kind of thing. Then again I'm sure someone did get that task and they just grepped for swearwords and called it a job well done .