|OT| Horizon Zero Dawn - You Have My Bow

Yaska

"It depends" - Every lawyer ever,
Dec 18, 2018
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My only issues are that I get huge frametime jumps and there is annoying texture pop-in, but other than that at 1440p, no issues running constantly at 60fps + with some drops to 50s with everything but clouds at maximum..

Guess I'll try the GPU scheduler next.
 

texhnolyze

Child at heart
Oct 19, 2018
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Is there a definitive fix yet for the random crash? I've read multiple suggestions:

  • turning off Steam overlay and fps counter
  • turning off Steam cloud save
  • running the game as admin

But it seems like they're just placebo.
 

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
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As far as performance goes, I have absolutely butter smooth frametimes, and 100% GPU Utilization, playing at 3440x1440 using the Digital Foundry suggested settings, except Motion Blur off and AA set to Camera Based. V-sync turned off in game, turned on in Nvidia Control Panel.

90+ FPS frequently. I got 98 FPS in the benchmark. For reference I got 79 FPS in the benchmark with Ulitmate Quality preset.

My frametimes as I said are perfect, I do get occasional hitches from moving around the world but it is not frequent, and I do not have any hitches when just standing around.

I believe two things for why I'm having a much smoother experience compared to others.
1. I am using G-sync
2. I have Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling turned on. Before this setting I never got 100% GPU utilization in games, 99% at best.


Hardware Specs:
Windows 10, Version 2004 (Required for Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling)
2080 TI, 1980 Mhz Core, 7500 Mhz Memory, PCIE 3 x16
6700k, 4.6 GHz all cores
16 GB DDR4 3200 CL14
Game Installed on Crucial MX500 1TB SSD


An example of how my frametimes look, I'm honestly really happy with how the game performs on my machine!

That's an interesting idea about hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling. Your experience matches mine (very closely actually, but that makes sense since we have the same GPU and the exact same target resolution ;)).

That said, it might not have anything to do with GPU scheduling and simply be a result of having a 2080ti...

Is there a definitive fix yet for the random crash? I've read multiple suggestions:

  • turning off Steam overlay and fps counter
  • turning off Steam cloud save
  • running the game as admin

But it seems like they're just placebo.
All of that sounds completely placebo, FWIW.
As I said, for me it was running my GPU at the default power limit and clocks. Might also just be random of course, but as I said I had 2 crashes in one hour prior to doing that and 0 in 5 hours after the change.
 
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kafiend

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
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Not overly impressed with Steam pulling a "you purchased this way over 14 days ago so fuck off with getting a refund" policy. Despite their very own policies stating differently and me quoting them their own policies,
 
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ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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By the way, the game seems to be already "cracked".
Because there is no real copy protection in the first place.

Though some people will probably jokingly say that bad optimization and the need for a lot of future patches is the best copy protection possible :toucan:
But not me. I'd never make stupid comments like that.
 

Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
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Lol so it's not just me.
There's a part of me screaming in the void at how unprofessional it is to have such a documented problem and not fix it, neither on the original release, nor on the port when you have the time and opportunity to do so.

This really is going to be a deep discount 2021 buy :p.
 
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Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
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Well, 4 hours in, just got the ability to possess machines (to mount some and make others help me) and made the side quest of the two brothers and so far it has been very consistent in terms of performance, a dip here and there when there's a lot of fire or there are more than 2 machines firing at you but overall I consider the performance quite good, there are things to fix like the micro-stutter that happens in between cut-scenes but aside of that? it's running fine for me.

So, now enough about performance until later, let's see.... the first time I played this game it blew my mind and while in 2020 is not as mind-blowing as it was three years ago, damn, this is a really good lucking game, lighting, foliage, te contrast of natural creatures and machines, it's one of those games in which you can't stop taking pics and controls are WAY BETTER than on console for me, the fact that I can use KB+mouse makes it way more responsive and more comfortable for my own hands.

Anyway, just 4 hours in, let's continue :blobeyes::blobeyes::blobeyes:

 

Arkanius

Junior Member
Dec 21, 2018
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I really want to play this game but my 1080 Ti and 6700k would gladly soldier at 1440p60fps... but my mobo is limited to PCIe 8x since the 16x port is broken
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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I really want to play this game but my 1080 Ti and 6700k would gladly soldier at 1440p60fps... but my mobo is limited to PCIe 8x since the 16x port is broken
Even with 8xPCI-E Dictator had 70-80% load on his 2080Ti. Chances are good that even at 8x your 1080Ti will be fully utilized.
 
OP

Ex-User (119)

Junior Member
Oct 19, 2018
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SO guess what! My mobo had my PCI slot set to Auto and some reason, gen 2 was selected = 8x

16x fixed mostly everything haha
Yep, no stuttering and no crashing. 60 FPS. Mostly lol.
Yep, no stuttering and no crashing. 60 FPS. Mostly lol.
yaaaay now go play with the best boo
 

Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
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I'm happy that they are talking to us.
They better, with the state the port released in. I don't like how they are downplaying it as "some" when it affects so many people. I think they wouldn't communicate nearly as much without the pressure of Steam's user reviews. After all, they did feel comfortable releasing the game in that state in the first place.
 

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
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All of that sounds completely placebo, FWIW.
As I said, for me it was running my GPU at the default power limit and clocks. Might also just be random of course, but as I said I had 2 crashes in one hour prior to doing that and 0 in 5 hours after the change.
Hmm I never tinkered with my GPU settings, so I wonder what causes my crashes. I'll try these placebo fixes for now, but I hope a patch will fix them. They're irregular and unpredictable, but at least they dont happen all the time...and thank god the game has a robust save system.
 
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MonthOLDpickle

我會打敗你!!
Oct 31, 2018
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Hmm I never tinkered with my GPU settings, so I wonder what causes my crashes. I'll try these placebo fixes for now, but I hope a patch will fix them. They're irregular and unpredictable, but at least they dont happen all the time...and thank god the game has a robust save system.
Try setting pagefile to 16GB or greater, I haven't crashed lol.


Also is there any type of rare item or currency I need to be aware of?
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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Hmm I never tinkered with my GPU settings
My brother wanted to test the game on his PC (family sharing) and I know that he has no GPU or CPU overclock. The game crashes for him too.

They better, with the state the port released in
You are correct, but directly addressing user concerns and problems is unfortunately not common practice in this industry. Even if they are using PR friendly formulations. Maybe even a bit more noteworthy as this is a console exclusive studio.
Also is there any type of rare item or currency I need to be aware of?
You'll need certain items from enemies to buy weapons. There are also five power cells located in the world that you can use to activate a special old world power armor.
 
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LEANIJA

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I just found out I was indeed using my PCIe x4 slot instead of the x16 slot... they look the same! Anyway, I swapped my GPU to the x16 slot - and increased the pagefile to 16GB just in case, let's see how it goes.
 
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MonthOLDpickle

我會打敗你!!
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I just found out I was indeed using my PCIe x4 slot instead of the x16 slot... they look the same! Anyway, I swapped my GPU to the x16 slot - and increased the pagefile to 16GB just in case, let's see how it goes.
Top first one is usually the fastest, then the third one down.
 

low-G

old school cool
Nov 1, 2018
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Since Steam didn't immediately refund my purchase I decided to give Horizon ZD another shot. I think those really nauseating drops are pretty few and far between. I ran into a few more, but I suppose it is related to HUD elements changing or otherwise that known bug. It's terrible as an early experience. I watch the framerate and it's often over 100 fps, but when you get this swooping down to <25fps it is truly lurching.

I'm only going to play the game when I have some patience for the bullshit.

Also I think the HDR is really terrible in the game, makes all the characters look even more waxy and uncanny. Definitely a better visual impression with it off. I just don't think the rendering pipeline suits the HDR output at all. I think it's because the highlights, specular and otherwise, aren't as bright as they would be in real life. It's a simple mistake but it ruins the whole presentation in HDR.

Compare it to some other games that really nail specularity in HDR (which I can't name and which really increases aliasing, mind, but it looks extremely natural).
 
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LEANIJA

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Top first one is usually the fastest, then the third one down.
yeah I had it in the third, to avoid the GPU being to close to the giant CPU cooler and the SSD... but I plopped it into the first slot, and it seems to have fixed my problems so far. No crashes in my playsession now, but it also wasnt very long. I'll report back when I next get to play for longer.
 

MonthOLDpickle

我會打敗你!!
Oct 31, 2018
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yeah I had it in the third, to avoid the GPU being to close to the giant CPU cooler and the SSD... but I plopped it into the first slot, and it seems to have fixed my problems so far. No crashes in my playsession now, but it also wasnt very long. I'll report back when I next get to play for longer.
Next time you can use GPU-Z to see what speed it is at.
 
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MonthOLDpickle

我會打敗你!!
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Also I am OCDing..wish there was a way to tell how many side quests and errands etc that are in an area?

How many in the first area you get to after tutorial where you need to craft fire arrows?

I did mother spear one
odd grata bead one
Got the sister looking for borther atm one
 

texhnolyze

Child at heart
Oct 19, 2018
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Also I am OCDing..wish there was a way to tell how many side quests and errands etc that are in an area?

How many in the first area you get to after tutorial where you need to craft fire arrows?

I did mother spear one
odd grata bead one
Got the sister looking for borther atm one
You should be able to see the available side quests in the area from your map. They're marked as green ! icons.
 
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Alexandros

Every game should be turn based
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Durante , Dictator , I want to thank both of you for truly elevating the quality of PC game technical coverage over these last few years. I don't have a high-end graphics card so performance on mid-range hardware is very important to me and I imagine to many other people out there. In particular the "1080p, 60 fps, better-than-console settings" crowd is very big in size so I hope that you guys will keep covering that for as long as it makes sense to do so.
 

Yaska

"It depends" - Every lawyer ever,
Dec 18, 2018
73
141
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That's an interesting idea about hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling. Your experience matches mine (very closely actually, but that makes sense since we have the same GPU and the exact same target resolution ;)).

That said, it might not have anything to do with GPU scheduling and simply be a result of having a 2080ti...

All of that sounds completely placebo, FWIW.
As I said, for me it was running my GPU at the default power limit and clocks. Might also just be random of course, but as I said I had 2 crashes in one hour prior to doing that and 0 in 5 hours after the change.
I tried the HW scheduler on 2080 FE, I did not see any differences in frametimes or framerates, when targeting 1080p and 1440p both.
 
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Arkanius

Junior Member
Dec 21, 2018
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I took the game for a trial run to check if it works well on my PC
4K locked at 30FPS with the NVCP seems very stable with a 1080 Ti

At 1440p it overs around 70-80 FPS on the DF Optimized settings

Seems to work fine... was I expecting more of my card for a 3 year old game? Definitely.

Speaking of HDR, what settings are you guys using for OLED screens?
 
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Ghazi

Junior Member
Jul 10, 2020
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Not overly impressed with Steam pulling a "you purchased this way over 14 days ago so fuck off with getting a refund" policy. Despite their very own policies stating differently and me quoting them their own policies,
How often do you refund? I have managed to get games purchased months ago refunded but I only refund maybe one or two games every couple years.
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
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Surprised to hear about the refund issue as well.

Also, a question to anyone who knows.
How is the DLC handled, do they lock it behind some story progress, can you accidentally go there? Is it a new area entirely?
 
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kafiend

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
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How often do you refund? I have managed to get games purchased months ago refunded but I only refund maybe one or two games every couple years.
A couple times I think. I put in to have the issue looked at by an actual person so we'll see how it goes.
It's a lot of people having the same issue by the looks of things where the auto refund thing does not work for the same reason of pre-purchasing more than 14 days ago.
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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Surprised to hear about the refund issue as well.

Also, a question to anyone who knows.
How is the DLC handled, do they lock it behind some story progress, can you accidentally go there? Is it a new area entirely?
It's a completely new area with high level enemies and its own quests. Story wise it is meant to be played close before the end of the game. You won't survive there otherwise anyway.
 

MonthOLDpickle

我會打敗你!!
Oct 31, 2018
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Nice!

Is there a non-spoilery quest list for each area? I don't see ! on my map, only when I get near the quest giver.
 

ISee

Oh_no!
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Sorry, quoted the wrong thing. I was talking about the reddit debug analyze.

edit: 32GB for me
 

Prodigy

Sleeper must awaken
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That post was about finding quests. ISee



What amount of RAM do you have or what is your pagefile set to? I have 16GB onboard and setting a pagefile of 16GB+ completely got rid of my crashes lol.
I havn't had any crashes with 16GB RAM, but checked my pagefile just in case, in performance options it says "Total paging file size for all drives 3407 MB"
is that at all normal?
 

MonthOLDpickle

我會打敗你!!
Oct 31, 2018
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I havn't had any crashes with 16GB RAM, but checked my pagefile just in case, in performance options it says "Total paging file size for all drives 3407 MB"
is that at all normal?
Yes. TBH I think forcing PCI to run at 16x was the real fix for me. But I am done testing, game runs so I will just play lol..


I should really not post that late anymore.

Ram= 32gb
Pagefile = never bothered to change it. It is whatever Windows thinks it needs.
No need, I took it as you had 32GB of onboard RAM. Yea did nothing wrong. Though I did ass/u/me that it was onboard.
 
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OP

Ex-User (119)

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That post was about finding quests. ISee



What amount of RAM do you have or what is your pagefile set to? I have 16GB onboard and setting a pagefile of 16GB+ completely got rid of my crashes lol.

32gb and page file whatever default windows stuff is