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

[putowtin]

I used to stick up for Ubisoft,
I'm a die hard fan of the Assassin's Creed series,
but this on top of the "women are hard to draw" crap from last week has tipped this calm gamer over the edge!

Pitch forks at the ready!

CAPTCHA: loaf of bread, no thanks, just had me lunch

 

[The White Hunter]

4

I honestly have no idea but the last time an Ubisoft game didn't run like arse on my PC never happened in the first place. I'm still not going to buy Watch Dogs.

hey, hey, Assasins Creed 1 ran just fine!

Nothing but slanderous lies.

Also AC1 sucks balls anyway.

 

[infinity_turtles]

I hope this causes more than a few crashes for Ubisoft's sake. Otherwise they are going to look so bad when this becomes well known.

EDIT:

Found some code in W_D:

snip

Welp. Nevermind then. Grab the torches and pitchforks.

From what I've heard, that line of code specifically effects consoles, so it makes sense not to care about it for the PC version.

*edit* I feel like it's very sad that I've been defending Ubisoft lately. I don't even like any of their fucking games.

 

[senkus]

The Escapist did not report that comment "This is PC only, who cares".
Awesome, job well done, Escapist.
So many websites brought it up, not explaining what it actually means in context (because they don't know).
But it's potentially inflammatory, so you HAVE TO report it. Dolla dolla bill, yall.
Spoiler alert: It's not a knock on PC, rather the opposite actually. [http://www.dsogaming.com/news/watch_dogs-unbelievable-hidden-comment-shows-ubisofts-arrogance-towards-pc-gamers-or-not/]

 

[CardinalPiggles]

On one hand I'm now actually interested in playing Watch Dogs, on the other hand I'm now not buying it because of principles and shit.

 

[black_knight1337]

1. They are nto doing it for money, but to send Ubisoft a message of their displeasure, because they think the best way to get companys attention is to threaten to take their money away.

Of course, the only way things will change will be when they start losing money. I doubt it'd actually get anywhere or have any long term impact though. Really depends on what their response is.

2. In European Union they actually do have legal ground.

I'm pretty sure that, if Ubisoft deliberately made the performance worse, they have the legal ground for a lawsuit and/or refunds.

Of course, law are different in other parts of the world so I might be missing something. But even IF they did intentionally sabotage the PC version, it would be almost impossible to prove. You could claim false advertising but the fact that it's a two year old demo couple with the fact that the pre-launch advertising was accurate hurts that claim significantly.

 

[J Tyran]

To the people asking WHY this happened: It's because Sony and/or Microsoft pressured Ubisoft to keep the PC version in line with the console one AND/OR because Ubisoft themselves want their games to be bought on consoles more than on the PC. Which is all mildly understandable - consoles offer more control over a product to the publisher instead of the consumer. It's more of a closed and controlled platform. A better looking/performing PC version would draw people to that platform, which doesn't help publishers and console manufacturers.

Really getting tired of this...where is your (and everyone elses)evidence that there is any forcing going on by the big three (I notice you're at least smart enough to not put Nintendo there).

You want proof, well getting our hands on Ubisofts financing would be damn hard but what about this?

Spoiler: PS4 will the Definitive version of Watch Dogs

http://www.examiner.com/article/rum...initive-version-of-watch-dogs?cid=db_articles

So yeah thats pretty much a smoking gun right there, you have Ubisofts PR guys running around claiming that the PS4 version will the "definitive version" while they are working with Sony in cross promotions with Sony, Ubisoft, the PS4 and Watch Dogs. Thats just one link, click here [https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=ps4+watch+dogs+is+the+definitive+version&safe=off] if you want to see how much time Ubisoft went around trumpeting that the PS4 release of Watch Dogs will the the "definitive version".

Then it turns out the deliberately disabled features in the PC version that would make it look better, how much more "proof" do you need? Thats pretty much case closed unless someone is determined to follow a pre conceived bias that flies in the face of facts.

 

[Rozalia1]

Because its simple. Those consoles have an actual market and an actual excuse. Those consoles are 10 years old. The Wii U is new, has no following, and is weak by modern standards. Weaker compared to its competition in the very same generation. It falls into the very same trap that developers don't like.

Wii U is weak. No one owns it. And its brand new to top all of this off. The other next gen consoles shit all over it in both sales and power. Even the xbone. Developers are done making 7th gen games, and Nintendo just barely got to 7th gen power. That's why this year's E3 was all about next gen.

They were mainstream 30 years ago. Back in the age of the dinosaurs and Ronald Reagan. Their golden age ended 20 years ago in the age of Clinton. Its now been roughly 10 years since they mattered in the mainstream space. Halo, COD, God of War, etc have all dethroned Nintendo.

Nintendo relies on Nostalgia. The new generation has nostalgia for games too edgy for Nintendo. You should know that when Halo became retro along with Medal of Honor. Now that those kids grew up without childhood memories of Nintendo, it lost its main draw. It will only get worse from here on out.

No amount of your Nostalgia will change that. Nintendo isn't slipping, it already slipped. We all knew this was coming.

Ubisoft is scared of everything. Even Pre-owned games. If it was PC only, they would ruin their sales by pulling shit like this. Just like Microsoft ruined their sales when they tried to take away used games.

Consumers are not at fault for someone else's unfounded fears. They would go bankrupt in that market, and nothing would be wrong about it. Free market with actual competition from the little guy, unlike the console monopoly.

And what sabotage? Its Ubisoft pushing out another cheaply made cash grab. I saw it a mile away. All their games are gimped.

Watch Dogs is a zombie game they should have left in its grave. But they didn't because money.

There are more PS2s out there than there are PS3/360s so by your logic why aren't they pushing a PS2 version? Its down to them, no releases, downgrades, taken features, and so forth is all down to the dev.

Nintendo aren't some little unknown company actually, even those "dudebros" as they are apparently called have at the very least heard of Nindendo and its titles.

People were saying that Nintendo was finished 10 years ago, and they'll likely say it in 10 years time too.

doing fine?
Xbox division that overall is a loss to Microsoft (only lately started being profitable and havent covered the loss yet) thats also struggling to sell machines.
Sony reporting massive losses and clsoing divisions while their entertainment remains theri only lifeboat (so they are going to do everything they can to keep it as profitable as they can)
Nintedo has everincreasing loss while thier console isnt selling well at all, a 3 times younger PS4 has outsold it already.

So no, they arent doing well, they are struggling to the point of getting desperate.

Xbox has always been that way and they aren't really struggling to shift machines, they may not have PS4 level sales but they have plenty of time to avoid a disaster (look at the PS3).

Stretching to find any excuse with Sony aren't you now? Can't find anything in gaming so you'll just fish elsewhere...

Nintendo has been in the business a long time, they'll recoup as they always do, and besides what would Nintendo even have to do with this sort of thing? The PC platform likely don't even register to Nintendo, as in they really couldn't care less for it. They haven't promoted "top graphics" in a long long time.

So Ubisoft are being big meanieheads and have shown they don't care about you, and your platform...and you're blaming the big three still? Either you're a really big Ubisoft mark which is why you want to shift the blame elsewhere, or you're a PC mark who hates on the competition to nonsense levels because you have to justify being a mark.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

I can only come to two rational conclusions from this:

1. Ubisoft hates PC gamers so much they would willingly sabotage the platform as punishment (although forcing Uplay is punishment enough, honestly)

2. They deliberately made it worse so that it wouldn't look superior to the "next gen" consoles. This game was no doubt supposed to be a system seller and showing just how much better it would look on PC kind of takes away from the magic of "next gen"

I mean, it looks better AND performs better (insert mindblown.gif) there is NO logical reason not to deliberately take that away. This would seem like legal grounds to sue them, they deliberately and willingly sabotaged their own game while promising a much better experience.

 

[Rozalia1]

To the people asking WHY this happened: It's because Sony and/or Microsoft pressured Ubisoft to keep the PC version in line with the console one AND/OR because Ubisoft themselves want their games to be bought on consoles more than on the PC. Which is all mildly understandable - consoles offer more control over a product to the publisher instead of the consumer. It's more of a closed and controlled platform. A better looking/performing PC version would draw people to that platform, which doesn't help publishers and console manufacturers.

Really getting tired of this...where is your (and everyone elses)evidence that there is any forcing going on by the big three (I notice you're at least smart enough to not put Nintendo there).

You want proof, well getting our hands on Ubisofts financing would be damn hard but what about this?

Spoiler: PS4 will the Definitive version of Watch Dogs

http://www.examiner.com/article/rum...initive-version-of-watch-dogs?cid=db_articles

So yeah thats pretty much a smoking gun right there, you have Ubisofts PR guys running around claiming that the PS4 version will the "definitive version" while they are working with Sony in cross promotions with Sony, Ubisoft, the PS4 and Watch Dogs. Thats just one link, click here [https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=ps4+watch+dogs+is+the+definitive+version&safe=off] if you want to see how much time Ubisoft went around trumpeting that the PS4 release of Watch Dogs will the the "definitive version".

Then it turns out the deliberately disabled features in the PC version that would make it look better, how much more "proof" do you need? Thats pretty much case closed unless someone is determined to follow a pre conceived bias that flies in the face of facts.

Spoiler

Really now you're passing rumors, and the fact Sony promotes something as evidence that your conspiracy theory is fact?

 

[josemlopes]

Its well known you never buy from Ubisoft.

They sure as fuck like to fuck it up with dumb shit, and the dumb shit that ruins the game certainly doesnt need to be bought (like Watch Dogs), but fuck me if I ever regretted buying Driver San Francisco, Assassins Creed Blackflag, Splinter Cell Blacklist, both Far Cry 3 and Blood Dragon, and Shoot Many Robots.

If the fuck up is what makes you not want the game or the game itself doesnt interest you then fine, dont buy it, makes complete sense, but to not buy something simply because its tied to things that didnt affect the product you are interested doesnt seem fair to me.

A lot of people didnt bought Titanfall but were interested in it simply because it was EA even after the fact that the game didnt suffer from any of the issues that EA games are known for (being the only issue present the fact that you needed Origin, but that is an excuse that doesnt hold up much if the user doesnt object Steam either)

 

[DTWolfwood]

At least when it goes for cheap, i can pick it up and have a mod make it look awesome.

Really hope TB does a video update on this.

 

[Rozalia1]

Because now the ps2 is too old. Just like the PS3 and Xbox 360 is too old. Right now they are pushing Next gen, and leaving old gen behind. Its now a unified effort to get people to switch. Devs support those consoles because people will be switching to them and they will become the norm.

That, and the ps2 is obsolete since it doesn't support modern TVs and games on the new consoles outshine old ones. A ps2 game wn't compete with a PS4 game. People will always go for the PS4. Devs on consoles don't actually make any decisions, its the executives in the publishing department. Who are informed by charts and figures and the CEO.

Devs do what they are told on console. On PC, that doesn't happen. Two consoles are supported because the higher ups find the cost to profit potential to be negligible. The Wii U isn't because its a disaster on all sides, especially on the technical level. Its all about power, age, and where the market is going.

And the market is leaning to more powerful hardware on more mainstream names. Nintendo is known for childhood nostalgia, and without that they are nothing.

Knowing about a franchise is not the same as buying it. No one is buying Nintendo. Nintendo is on a downward slope, and the wii was a fluke that only delayed it.

Did they invest in the future with the money? No, they kept on expecting everything to be fine until it wasn't.

And now the wii U is DOA, and the money is draining fast. They didn't listen to dev demands and now they are paying for it.

Fifa games still have PS2 versions year after year, and the second/third world where the PS2 has a good base still exists.
People have been hyping Nintendo's death forever so don't be too confident.

 

[josemlopes]

Its well known you never buy from Ubisoft.

They sure as fuck like to fuck it up with dumb shit, and the dumb shit that ruins the game certainly doesnt need to be bought (like Watch Dogs), but fuck me if I ever regretted buying Driver San Francisco, Assassins Creed Blackflag, Splinter Cell Blacklist, both Far Cry 3 and Blood Dragon, and Shoot Many Robots.

If the fuck up is what makes you not want the game or the game itself doesnt interest you then fine, dont buy it, makes complete sense, but to not buy something simply because its tied to things that didnt affect to product you are interested doesnt seem fair to me.

A lot of people didnt bought Titanfall but were interested in it simply because it was EA even after the fact that the game didnt suffer from any of the issues that EA games are known for (being the only issue present the fact that you needed Origin, but that is an excuse that doesnt hold up much if the user doesnt object Steam either)

People were pissed when Uplay went down and shut down all their games on Watch Dog's launch day. That's why you never buy from Ubisoft, and if you do you schedule your playtime around their launch schedule.

It was on reddit for a week. It became news. Every PC gaming forum whined about Uplay fucking up shit. On top of this, Ubisoft over hypes their games so you will always go in with way too high expectations. If you do buy Ubisoft, it should always be on sale.

Spoiler: But...

I always buy on sale

Shit, you might as well have said "You never buy anything at launch day" and I would have agreed with you on the spot. Saying to never buy from Ubisoft usually means never buying from Ubisoft no matter what.

 

[LordMonty]

Meh Ubisoft are run by morons. I have little hope for anything they release anymore.

 

[webkilla]

Good god. And that code comment.

This is almost as infuriating at the ME3 ending. Almost.

 

[RJ 17]

Seems Ubisoft really wants EA's Crown of Most Hated Game Company. I wonder what excuse they'll trot out for us this time.

 

[Xzavion]

Seems Ubisoft really wants EA's Crown of Most Hated Game Company. I wonder what excuse they'll trot out for us this time.

Well for me they already took over that title with what they did with Prince of Persia(2008).
(releasing DLC consoles only, and raging every single PC user who actually bought the game, when they released it without DRM stuff)

Needless to say, I haven't bought a single game from Ubisoft since.

 

[J Tyran]

To the people asking WHY this happened: It's because Sony and/or Microsoft pressured Ubisoft to keep the PC version in line with the console one AND/OR because Ubisoft themselves want their games to be bought on consoles more than on the PC. Which is all mildly understandable - consoles offer more control over a product to the publisher instead of the consumer. It's more of a closed and controlled platform. A better looking/performing PC version would draw people to that platform, which doesn't help publishers and console manufacturers.

Really getting tired of this...where is your (and everyone elses)evidence that there is any forcing going on by the big three (I notice you're at least smart enough to not put Nintendo there).

You want proof, well getting our hands on Ubisofts financing would be damn hard but what about this?

Spoiler: PS4 will the Definitive version of Watch Dogs

http://www.examiner.com/article/rum...initive-version-of-watch-dogs?cid=db_articles

So yeah thats pretty much a smoking gun right there, you have Ubisofts PR guys running around claiming that the PS4 version will the "definitive version" while they are working with Sony in cross promotions with Sony, Ubisoft, the PS4 and Watch Dogs. Thats just one link, click here [https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=ps4+watch+dogs+is+the+definitive+version&safe=off] if you want to see how much time Ubisoft went around trumpeting that the PS4 release of Watch Dogs will the the "definitive version".

One

Then it turns out the deliberately disabled features in the PC version that would make it look better, how much more "proof" do you need? Thats pretty much case closed unless someone is determined to follow a pre conceived bias that flies in the face of facts.

Spoiler

Really now you're passing rumors, and the fact Sony promotes something as evidence that your conspiracy theory is fact?

No they are not rumours, they are actual quotes coming out of the marketing departments of Sony and Ubisoft. Straight from the horses mouth, one of those quotes came from Jonathan Morin, the Creative Director for Watch Dogs. Straight from him, that is not "rumour".

At the same time Sony are advertising The True Watch Dogs Experience, Only on PS4 [http://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/watch-dogs-ps4?CMP=soc_us__gm_psblog_topbanner_3_4_14]

So we have,

-The creative director of Watch Dogs telling us that the "definitive" version of Watch Dogs will be on the PS4
-Sony claiming that the "The True Watch Dogs Experience" is only on the PS$
-PC release has deliberately disabled/hidden/obfuscated settings that would put the graphical fidelity of the PC version beyond the console versions

Boom, smoking gun, case closed. Sony and Ubisoft where collaborating on the marketing for Watch Dogs and the PS4, all supported by the facts and the modding scene has revealed the truth about the disabled and hidden settings. Now here is where the speculation begins,

Ubisoft either didn't want to jeopardise that relationship or Sony gave Ubisoft some incentive for nerfing the PC release, I wont claim to 100% know why they did it but its undeniable that they did do this.

 

[Jandau]

Really getting tired of this...where is your (and everyone elses)evidence that there is any forcing going on by the big three (I notice you're at least smart enough to not put Nintendo there).

Also these graphics would draw people to the PC platform... are we in the 1990s? You really believe that the big three has undergo a campaign to hide the fact better graphics are possible on PC?
Graphics being better on the PC is well known, and yet the sales of most titles show that it really doesn't matter.

I stated quite clearly that I find it just as likely that it was Ubisoft's idea, meaning that no pressure was needed. And Ubisoft has a long history of favoring consoles over the PC. As for evidence of THAT fact, just do a quick search for "Ubisoft" on pretty much any gaming journalism site and skim the results for the past 3-4 years.

As for your second paragraph, you are missing the point. Of course everyone knows that you can have better graphics on the PC. But just because you can have a superior product on one of the platforms doesn't mean you want to make it that way, especially if you have a vested interest in other platforms...