Red Dead Redemption 2

Even true HDR Game mode looked like bunk in my opinion. I know everyones system is different, but do try forcing HDR in Windows, disabling HDR in game, and selecting Vulkan render. I am just so blown away with how good it looks. Besides Forza 4 and Doom Eternal, it is some of the most impressive HDR I've seen. I was up on a hillside last night by the Trappers cabin, and and the sky was a nice shade of purple with the bright moon in the sky and a train with the lit windows went by. The whole think looks almost photographic. Same thing for the evening jaunts through town. The quality of lighting is just great. It's too damn bad that neither the screen grab function in Gamebar or Nvidia Experience seem to work with HDR.

Read your post a few times. Little confused-Are u saying HDR is better or worse for u? YOur first and last sentence seem to contradict. Anyways, I'm a graphics whore and I always liked that SDR pop with using dynamic mode on my Samsung JS9000 with AMP enabled. I love the over saturated colors and pops in my games. Although, HDR does seem to tune down the saturation in RD2, the light effects with HDR are really nice! I have gotten used to HDR and really like it now in all my games. I do keep the contrast and back light to max on my Samsung which helps to preserve that color pop that I like!
 
I know it likely sounds confusing. What I am trying to say is turn HDR on your "Windows HD Color Settings", and turn off the setting with the RDR 2 game. On my system, if I have the Vulkan renderer selected under display options in game, the HDR mode stays on when the game launches, and everything looks so much better and properly calibrated than with HDR turned on (Cinema or Game mode) within the game settings. Does that make any more sense?
 
I know it likely sounds confusing. What I am trying to say is turn HDR on your "Windows HD Color Settings", and turn off the setting with the RDR 2 game. On my system, if I have the Vulkan renderer selected under display options in game, the HDR mode stays on when the game launches, and everything looks so much better and properly calibrated than with HDR turned on (Cinema or Game mode) within the game settings. Does that make any more sense?

Hey thanks for the reply. Yes, it makes sense, but all u are describing is playing the game in SDR mode. U need HDR enabled in windows to see the HDR option under RD2, which sucks because other games launch just fine in HDR without having to have HDR enabled in windows. Vulkan, like DX12 is the API and has nothing to do with visual quality. You are seeing the oversaturared color POP with SDR mode, especially if u use a TV/Dynamic mode with high contrast. I love that POP with vibrant saturation as well, but have found that HDR provides a better experience with shadows, light, etc.
 
So with DX12 render you need it enabled in windows which is a limitation of Windows 10 itself. For Vulkan i'm able to have it disabled in the WIndows 10 control panel, but enabled in game it will work fine.

However, i've found that at least on my 2080ti and 3800x system, the DX12 mode runs both smoother and with a little more FPS when compared to Vulkan.

And yes, I also prefer HDR in this game. While it's not a true HDR game the increased contrast ratio for lightning I enjoy.
 
Stupid question, do you have to matchmake to play online or can you solo it?

Not taking bout the story mode. I don't like playing with a bunch of randos. SOmetimes I just want to take my sweet time and enjoy the graphics,etc.
 
In spite of not really loving this game, I just bought the PC version since it's on sale. Now I can sell my Xbox One without losing any exclusives :p
I have to say that HDR mode looks pretty dull even with things configured correctly. Normally I know to swap over to my TV's HDR config immediately when I see dull red colors. With this game in HDR mode, reds are always dull. That's even with saturation cranked as high as it will go. The console version was similar, but maybe even less.

Performance-wise I cranked everything as high as it will go and selected a 0.75 resolution render. That tends to work in most games, although this IS a Rockstar game. Almost all of them have random moments where your performance falls off a cliff. Even GTA5 will cripple your system with vegetation shadows cranked in the desert.
 
I play it at 1080p (with very high settings) on a 1080ti because reducing the in game render resolution looks worse imo.
I could play at 1440p with lower iq setttings, but naaa.
This is on a Samsung Q9FN UHD TV.
 
I'm tinkering around with graphics options right now. This game definitely works your hardware. I maxed everything (even the advanced items) out and set the resolution render to 0.75 of 4K only to pull FPS in the 20's.
After tinkering around a bit more, the defaults with a little MSAA and 0.75 resolution render average 59 FPS in the benchmark. Looks like I'm going with that.
Not sure how that compared to the X1X graphical fidelity in stills, but 60 FPS in a game like this is what I live for.
 
Honestly, the game is built from the ground up to be used with TAA. MSAA isn't worth the performance hit, and honestly I think the game looks better with the TAA.
 
You dabble in heresy sir!

There are some games that you can just tell were built for it, and it is typically console games. I recall Fallout 4 being similar. You loose some detail in the textures, but you can tell when they built the game they were relying on some of the blur TAA adds to achieve whatever look they wanted for the game. It completely changes the look of foliage in particular.
 
There are some games that you can just tell were built for it, and it is typically console games. I recall Fallout 4 being similar. You loose some detail in the textures, but you can tell when they built the game they were relying on some of the blur TAA adds to achieve whatever look they wanted for the game. It completely changes the look of foliage in particular.

I won't lie, I use TAA with the Nvidia Sharpening filter.. It's "alright" and yields the best performance soooo
 
Thank you one and all for your incredible honesty. It is so refreshing, particularly in these difficult times.


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I mean, if I could push 8x MSAA @ 4k w/ maxed out settings I would over TAA, but that ain't going to happen even with a 2080ti. From what I found 2x msaa didn't do a good enough job in removing shimmer as it was, and required FXAA to be applied over it.. At which point you blur the scene anyways.

So the choice is either lower levels of MSAA w/ FXAA vaseline blur over the entire screen, or TAA that has zero performance impact and a blur that is really only negative to texture detail.
 
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TAA is already enabled by default (with FXAA and MSAA turned off), so the devs probably did that intentionally.
As I got further into the game, I noticed that in spite of the #'s the benchmark spat out - the real game wasn't performing like that. I ended up having to turn a LOT of things down to high/medium to get where I wanted. I used this guy's configuration for the most part: Even though he has vsync off, I'm pulling 60fps basically all the time with it on. I'm going to stick with that setup as I don't honestly notice much difference in that vs. the higher settings.

I really hoped they'd make more tweaks to the PC version of the game. I hate how everything appears to go into slow motion in camps and buildings and whatnot. I assumed that was for loading (a la Mass Effect elevators), but it's still ever present in this version. It simply makes things take longer needlessly. Identifying and picking up items is still a chore. They offered more pad configurations, but there is still a lot of wonky overlap with all of them.

Not sure I have the patience to play through this again. I really like the world, story, and characters but it's still a pretty busted ass game. I'll be smiling one second and wanting to never touch this game again the next.
 
With a 2080ti and a 3900x I find DX12 runs better by a small amount. Finally, this is one of the few games where i'm glad to have gsync because I can crank the settings up a little higher and be under 60fps without it being an awful experience.

I agree with the prior person who said I wish Rockstar would work with nvidia to get DLSS 2.0 running with this game. It's one of the few games out there that we actually need the performance boost in, and it would make it look better as well.
 
As I'm playing through this again, I'm finding it a lot more enjoyable this time. I think it's mainly because I know to just straight up ignore all of those stupid ass meters the game throws at you. Eat & feed your horse occasionally and use one of those all-curing medicines when things hit the fan. Fence everything that isn't a collectible. There's literally no need for the other 500 different items. Rather than trying to aim yourself, just hit the aim button once to lock on to people. That's basically it. I really wish they actually just hid/removed all of that other nonsense because it really does make the game more of a slog than it should be. Well, that and the virtual lack of fast travel.
 
it has fast travel. buy the map, make camp and select fast travel.

You still have to get back and it's only from your camp :p That's why I said virtual. It only works 1-way and it's highly situational. Ditto with trains. The cinematic stuff kinda works, but it's slow. Risky, too. Half the time it works okay. The other half the time I'll come back from grabbing a drink or bathroom break and find my character dead or standing in the middle of nowhere with no clue what happened.
 
You still have to get back and it's only from your camp :p That's why I said virtual. It only works 1-way and it's highly situational. Ditto with trains. The cinematic stuff kinda works, but it's slow. Risky, too. Half the time it works okay. The other half the time I'll come back from grabbing a drink or bathroom break and find my character dead or standing in the middle of nowhere with no clue what happened.
no, you can set up camp anywhere and select fast travel but think you have to have the map(bought in main camp) to do it. everything else is true.
 
I really wish they actually just hid/removed all of that other nonsense because it really does make the game more of a slog than it should be. Well, that and the virtual lack of fast travel.
Consider that what you find a slog, other people find relaxing and methodical. And if you're playing it by just teleporting all around the map, you're missing the random events and unintended comedy - a lightning storm out in the middle of nowhere, or a bear knocking you off a cliff.

For me the game is an experience, not a relay race of task lists. I guess what I'm saying is, HOW DARE you play it your own way?! :D

That said, if you're playing on a couch with a controller, yeah, screw free-aiming - especially on horseback.
 
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Consider that what you find a slog, other people find relaxing and methodical. And if you're playing it by just teleporting all around the map, you're missing the random events and unintended comedy - a lightning storm out in the middle of nowhere, or a bear knocking you off a cliff.

For me the game is an experience, not a relay race of task lists. I guess what I'm saying is, HOW DARE you play it your own way?! :D

That said, if you're playing on a couch with a controller, yeah, screw free-aiming - especially on horseback.

I love the zaniness that goes on in the world. There are way more random events compared to GTA and such. That's probably the best thing about the game. It feels more "alive" than any other game has.
I just wish that the game gave you the option of speeding things up here and there for the sake of timeliness. I like to play games in small 10-15 minute bursts and it's tough to accomplish anything in this game in that amount of time. If my wife wants to watch TV or something, she knows "just let me finish this mission" might as well have a 30-minute timer attached to it. That's assuming I don't get ambushed.
I also have gripes with the inventory and dozens of OCD meters for all that you do. Although, having played the game before I know you can mostly ignore them. The game is kinda like the first Witcher in that it introduces you to a bunch of stuff early that is both daunting and pointless.
 
For those of you who want fast travel. There's a "trainer" you can install that enables it.
https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/120?tab=files

Simply place a marker and hit f11. I've played through the game on PS4, and this is great for my second playthrough on PC.
It's really easy to install.

It comes with a crapload of other cheats, so if you are tempted, then just avoid hitting f5 in game.
 
I am on the last part of the 6th Chapter, almost the end of the game. Well, I have not been this emotionally invested in a game in a very long time, it is that good.
 
Hmm, I'm somewhere in Chapter 2 on the Xbox, but now on the fence of buying for PC to exercise the 2080ti....
 
Hmm, I'm somewhere in Chapter 2 on the Xbox, but now on the fence of buying for PC to exercise the 2080ti....

If you have a 2080ti, the settings I found on Reddit (posted higher up on this page) will provide the same or better graphical fidelity as the Xbox One X plus 60fps all the time. It's a way better experience. Assuming you have a SSD/NVMe drive, you'll also save a LOT of time waiting on loading screens.
It's a fun experience once things open up a bit. The first chapter is a bore and the gameplay mechanics they throw at you early are barely even needed most of the time. If they are, the game will typically remind you anyway.
I do still feel the game is a hair overrated since the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. The game world and greater storyarch are straight-up unmatched, though.
 
If you have a 2080ti, the settings I found on Reddit (posted higher up on this page) will provide the same or better graphical fidelity as the Xbox One X plus 60fps all the time. It's a way better experience. Assuming you have a SSD/NVMe drive, you'll also save a LOT of time waiting on loading screens.
It's a fun experience once things open up a bit. The first chapter is a bore and the gameplay mechanics they throw at you early are barely even needed most of the time. If they are, the game will typically remind you anyway.
I do still feel the game is a hair overrated since the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. The game world and greater storyarch are straight-up unmatched, though.

OK thanks.

Hmm, to play on an xbox one x with HDR/OLED and 30fps, or 2080ti with ultrawide and ~60fps...
 
Eh, while I use HDR on this game, it's not a real HDR game. The HDR helps with the dark situations, but none of the colors in the game were built for the higher depth. I'd take higher FPS over HDR support for this title.

It's not like AC Odyssey or something where the game was built from the ground up to make use of the higher dynamic range and color bit depth.
 
Eh, while I use HDR on this game, it's not a real HDR game. The HDR helps with the dark situations, but none of the colors in the game were built for the higher depth. I'd take higher FPS over HDR support for this title.

It's not like AC Odyssey or something where the game was built from the ground up to make use of the higher dynamic range and color bit depth.

Does HDR actually affect performance in RDR2? In most games there's no difference with it on vs. off.
 
Bizarre, I have a 5.0Ghz overclock and I noticed that this is the only game that often runs the CPU at a lower frequency than 5.0Ghz in some spots. Monitoring with Intel XTU it's not any sort of throttling either, and all other games I play (such as Modern Warefare, Division 2, etc...) hold at 5.0Ghz the entire time.

Of course I can force my system to hold @ 5.0Ghz full-time by choosing "High Performance" in the Windows power options.

So for kicks, I ran an experiment with the built in benchmarking tool....with my CPU fixed at 5.0Ghz (Windows "High Performance" mode) I averaged 62.4fps with a minimum of 39.1fps. With my "Balanced" mode selected, I averaged the exact same 62.4fps, but had a much better minimum fps of 51.8...

Again, this is the only game that doesn't hold 5.0Ghz clock full time. Weird.
 
Oh, and I have finally finished the game and loved it. This is not a spoiler but just something to look forward too: Let the final credits play through, which is about 30 minutes long, and shows you what happened with the other characters of the original gang. Then once it is complete, there is more game to play after that, although I think it is more just a open world type thing at that point, where you can do as you please and even finish up some of the side things.
 
Oh, and I have finally finished the game and loved it. This is not a spoiler but just something to look forward too: Let the final credits play through, which is about 30 minutes long, and shows you what happened with the other characters of the original gang. Then once it is complete, there is more game to play after that, although I think it is more just a open world type thing at that point, where you can do as you please and even finish up some of the side things.
I"m about to finish this for the second time (first on PS4, 2nd on PC). and I did not know this, so thanks for the heads up.
I'm on the wrong side of 40, and have been playing PC/console games since early 80's. I can safely say I have put more hours in this game than any other game I've played. I just can't stop playing it.
 
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