Horizon Zero Dawn

[KentState]

The only issues I ran into was playing at 4k maxed out when it launched, but that was before Ampere. With either my 3090 or 3080 Ti, I haven't had a single issue. Even the 3080 on my laptop does fine.

 

[Stuka87]

anyone on PC run into texture problems, and if so, how did you fix them?

mine are all over the place - from pop-ins and/or failure to load to completely sudden LoD changes...it really takes away from what should be a visually stunning game. i'm really disappointed.

fwiw: purchased through GoG, running on a 3060 6gb w/ AMD 5800H cpu.

Turn the texture quality down to minimum and give it a test. You don't list what resolution your screen is, but 6GB of VRAM is listed as being enough for 1080P.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Turn the texture quality down to minimum and give it a test. You don't list what resolution your screen is, but 6GB of VRAM is listed as being enough for 1080P.

2560x1440. The game shows 4400/6000mb being used, so plenty of vram available.

I also dropped the resolution to 1920x1080 and STILL had texture issues

 

[Stuka87]

2560x1440. The game shows 4400/6000mb being used, so plenty of vram available.

I also dropped the resolution to 1920x1080 and STILL had texture issues

Texture quality doesn't change between those two resolutions though. I still suggest dropping textures to absolute lowest to test. The issue could very well be disk I/O.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Texture quality doesn't change between those two resolutions though. I still suggest dropping textures to absolute lowest to test. The issue could very well be disk I/O.

It's on an internal nvme SSD (Samsung 970), but I suppose I'll try installing it to my C drive instead.

 

[Stuka87]

It's on an internal nvme SSD (Samsung 970), but I suppose I'll try installing it to my C drive instead.

I would drop setting sway down before doing that. Also maybe have Afterburner up to monitor CPU usage to see if you are maybe limited on that side of things.

 

[Fenixgoon]

I would drop setting sway down before doing that. Also maybe have Afterburner up to monitor CPU usage to see if you are maybe limited on that side of things.

Definitely an interaction between resolution and textures/detail.

4k - slideshow with even the slightest amount of detail on, broken with details off (buildings missing, etc.)

1440p on low textures seems good with most details up, but eventually runs into LoD issues.

1080p with just about everything up seems to work best.

I'll take it, even if I can't push as hard as I want (still not discounting bugs/glitches but I know a 3060 isn't going to push 4k maxed out too)

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Definitely an interaction between resolution and textures/detail.

4k - slideshow with even the slightest amount of detail on, broken with details off (buildings missing, etc.)

1440p on low textures seems good with most details up, but eventually runs into LoD issues.

1080p with just about everything up seems to work best.

I'll take it, even if I can't push as hard as I want (still not discounting bugs/glitches but I know a 3060 isn't going to push 4k maxed out too)

Very odd, I was able to run it at 1440p with a 1080ti with zero issues.

Incredibly fun game btw, and a solid port. Didn't feel particularly 'consoley', though the difficulty was pretty easymode throughout. I ran into a single fight that was actually difficult, one of the corrupted groups... a pair of the mole things? or whatever. Still tons of fun though.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Very odd, I was able to run it at 1440p with a 1080ti with zero issues.

Incredibly fun game btw, and a solid port. Didn't feel particularly 'consoley', though the difficulty was pretty easymode throughout. I ran into a single fight that was actually difficult, one of the corrupted groups... a pair of the mole things? or whatever. Still tons of fun though.

Yeah I think I'm just unlucky. Hopefully a patch or driver update will magically fix things but for now I'll roll with 1080p

 

[Fenixgoon]

So the thing that seemed to make the biggest difference was playing on my laptop screen at native resolution (1920x1080) instead of upscaling to an external monitor whose native res is 4k. After that, it was mostly smooth sailing.

Beat the campaign, and I will say HZDPC, despite the glaring and frustrating technical flaws, is an excellent game. If I had stopped at ~10 hours of playtime, I would have given this game 2 stars because i kept having massive texture pop-ins and other issues. With all that resolved, it can't be a 5/5, but it definitely gets a 4/5.

The story is fairly boring to start, but once things pick up, it becomes really engrossing between the holograms (required plot points) and audio logs (optional). The two together really paint a fascinating picture. I also loved how the major plot points in the latter ~50% were very exploration driven - few enemies in the area - which encouraged exploration and allowed you time to read/listen.
Combat is quite enjoyable once you power up a little, understand the damage mechanics, and have some resources at your disposal besides the basic bow. The beginning is definitely an uphill battle.

Graphically, the game is stunning when textures aren't popping in, with beautiful environments ranging from lush jungles to snowy mountains. Interestingly, I found Aloy's face to be not as detailed as some other characters (normally the PC has the most details) - just an observation, not a judgement.

Aloy is a master climber unparalleled skill, which allows vertical elements but also makes for some comical moments if you're not suspending disbelief at that exact time (did i really just make this jump from one rock to another that's in the middle of a waterfall and NOT have my hands slip off?) there are also QTE moments on extremely long jumps that don't actually require QTE button presses. The first time I encountered this, I thought for sure I'd have to do something, so the slow motion is just included for dramatic effect. It created a dramatic moment the first time, but after that, I really would have liked for those jumps to occur at full speed. I got quests to do, yo.

Most crafting materials for ammo/traps are readily obtainable - i probably had too many - but getting fish bones for certain upgrades was ALWAYS a pain. despite all the rivers and streams, fish seem to be pretty sparse. so you just need to farm one specific spot.

 

[mikeymikec]

anyone on PC run into texture problems, and if so, how did you fix them?

I started playing in late 2023 (RX 6700 XT, Maximum quality settings, 1080p, vsync). I've played through virtually the entire 'complete edition' and I noticed two blatant offenders - one when walking out of Meridian city for the first time, it's a long path down and lots of visible distance into the distance. There was a big splodge on the horizon that constituted about 10% of my 1080p screen that was obviously wrong.

I noticed a second one in the Frozen Wilds area during a quest involving the dam that had been allowed to flood, when Aloy and another character were manipulating pump controls in tandem, there was a small splodge where the water meets the platforms.

There might have been one other splodge in the game I recall seeing, but I don't remember specifics.

---

I really enjoyed this game. It took me a while to get into it (I'd guess 2 hours), but I've been burning the midnight oil on gaming for the first time in years!

 

[igor_kavinski]

burning the midnight oil on gaming for the first time in years!

Dang. You should've monetized your effort with a youtube video and your own commentary!

 

[mikeymikec]

there are also QTE moments on extremely long jumps that don't actually require QTE button presses. The first time I encountered this, I thought for sure I'd have to do something, so the slow motion is just included for dramatic effect. It created a dramatic moment the first time, but after that, I really would have liked for those jumps to occur at full speed. I got quests to do, yo.

I couldn't help but think of this game as "TR 2013 minus QTE and survival horror/porn". Throw in Batman AA detective mode and Witcher 3 melee combat and that about sums it up IMO. In a way I'm much appreciative of its TR2013 aspects because it annoys the hell out of me that TR2013 is a TR game with virtually no puzzles which IMO makes it not a TR game. HZD can give me my TR2013 fix without irritating the hell out of me.

I want to know more about the Ted Faro side of the story because the nugget that was dropped during the GAIA quest opened up quite a few possibilities IMO. Maybe they'll elaborate further in 'Forbidden West'?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I started playing this a few months back but squirreled to other games. It's a great looking game and I have not experienced any issues in the 6 or 8hrs I have in. Always enjoy bow combat.