Technology

A stealth upgrade for Control on PC dramatically improves its visuals


Remedy’s Control has at all times been a particular recreation for Digital Foundry. Originally launched in 2019, the PC model specifically wowed us with its slick destruction physics and groundbreaking ray tracing implementation. The studio has since moved onto new tasks like Alan Wake 2, however remarkably one of many builders – Filippo Tarpini – has continued to refine the PC model of the sport, including a superb implementation of HDR sorely missed within the unique launch (and the Ultimate Edition upgrade) together with a variety of different enhancements, together with improved constancy to the already wonderful RT, improved texture streaming and a extra totally featured DLSS implementation.


The HDR upgrade is probably the most game-changing enchancment, added as a result of Tarpini is such a giant fan of the function. Control at all times featured a contrast-heavy vidual design, and HDR offers larger native brightness and distinction, wealthy color tones with out banding errors – and even additional element resolved owing to the larger dynamic vary, together with much less blown-out bloom results. I will not waste too many extra phrases describing this enchancment, as a result of we have put collectively a video captured and mastered in HDR to indicate the development. If you are watching on a regular, non-HDR show, you may get a tonemapped presentation – however what shocked me is that the distinction can nonetheless be seen to a sure diploma.


Beyond simply exhibiting comparisons of the variations supplied by native HDR, I wish to remark subjectively the way it amps up the sport’s visuals. Given what number of putting scenes there are with nice color and darkness distinction, it’s good to have HDR preserving that native variation within the scene, so it doesn’t look as monochrome because it did earlier than. I vastly choose the HDR look to the ‘raised gray’ aesthetic you may be used to, however for those that choose the unique look, Tarpini has even included this an choice within the modded model of the sport. So you get HDR’s brightness, however with the extra monochrome look from the unique launch. There are different tweakables to play with too, together with the flexibility to tweak the brightness of UI parts – which can resolve with a piercing depth in any other case.


Here’s our full HDR video for Filippo Tarpini’s Control upgrade. It might not be an official patch, but it surely’s too good to not strive – and Filippo himself does work for Remedy…


Beyond HDR help, different enhancements are added to the mod too. The unique Control’s ray tracing used often one pattern per pixel for most results. With the mod set to extremely RT, that is ramped as much as a number of rays per pixel. For tough reflections, this implies they preserve their brightness stage and true form significantly better, wanting fuller and the quantity of noise is vastly decreased when utilizing one thing like DLSS. All ray-traced results now ought to look extra steady at extremely over the outdated excessive, however it’s often most noticeable within the brightest reflections which can be caught at grazing angles.


That extremely setting additionally will increase the decision of volumetric results, which appeared good earlier than however look a contact higher now with much less aliasing, however this setting significantly helps the shading of glass which additionally appears to be tied to the volumetric lighting – thus scaling their high quality to the a lot highly effective GPU {hardware} we’ve entry to as of late.


Another benefit from the brand new patch is how texture loading is finished by way of a better texture streaming high quality setting. Even on extremely within the outdated recreation, simply operating via the world might trigger textures to load in late, visibly flipping in high quality. With the brand new max texture streaming high quality choice, this behaviour seems to be practically utterly eradicated. Once once more simply one other smaller tweak to make the sport scale a lot increased for present gen GPUs.


Going again to the place all of it started, with Alex’s unique take a look at the PC model of Control and its (for the time) state-of-the-art ray tracing help.


Further tweaks goal improved picture high quality, initially with improved texture high quality with DLSS enabled. With the mod, the mipmap for textures is scaled accurately with the output decision, whereas earlier than solely the feel streamer itself was biased. That means in sure eventualities, textures at a distance are of a a lot increased high quality. On prime of that, DLAA help is carried out, which is finest described as DLSS operating at native – relatively than internally sub-native – resolutions. This is nice because it produces higher high quality than the prevailing TAA answer in lots of areas, together with decreased ghosting. There are a couple of different nips and tucks as properly, reminiscent of how movie grain now shows accurately with DLSS on – whereas earlier than it primarily disappeared.


In normal, we’re iterative enhancements to only make the visible expertise extra polished with fewer seen artefacts – however Tarpini remains to be working on enhancements. For instance, a difficulty we noticed with extremely RT reflections was rapidly corrected. Either manner, these good iterative high quality enhancements do have a value. For the brand new extremely ray tracing setting, there are huge efficiency hits from utilizing it, even on a giant GPU. We’re a 30 to 40 % drop to efficiency. Interestingly, DLAA has little efficiency influence – it prices practically the identical as normal TAA, whereas wanting loads higher.


Ultimately although, this mod is properly value a glance, even whether it is technically unfinished. What’s clear to me is that with the options it possesses and the care and a spotlight put into creating it, it is successfully an unofficial patch – the standard is actually there. It enhances Control in lots of significant methods in order that it scales into the long run for the way more highly effective PCs to come back, whereas delivering a variety of respectable enhancements for at the moment’s {hardware}. Fancy giving it a glance? Grab the mod here.



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