Control, the new game from Remedy (the team behind Max Payne and Alan Wake), could very well become the new benchmark for visually stunning PC gaming.
By partnering with Nvidia, Remedy has successfully integrated some of the most impressive visual effects into Control. PC games in particular are looking more beautiful than ever, it can be hard to stand out these days, but Control certainly pulls it off.
For TechRadar 2019 Computer Gaming Week, we're talking to team members Remedy and Nvidia about how the two companies have worked together to push PC gaming to the limit with Control.
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)
Ray tracing wins
Ray tracing is one of the most exciting recent developments in the field of graphics for PC games. It's a technology, powered primarily by Nvidia's RTX GPU family, that enables PCs to deliver incredibly realistic light and shadow in a scene.
However, if the ray tracing is certainly impressive, and has a lot of potential, it also presents some problems. First of all, few cards support it, and it's often very demanding, meaning frame rates can drop unless you buy a very powerful (and expensive) kit.
Another problem is that there are different types of ray tracing and implementation methods, which can be confusing. So the first thing we wanted to know was the type of ray tracing used by Control.
"The control uses ray tracing through hybrid rendering, combining rasterization and ray tracing, with multiple ray tracing effects; reflections, transparent reflections, indirect indirect lighting, and contact shadows," explains Juha Sjöholm, Senior Engineer at Devtech at Nvidia.
So how does this technology work? "Radar beam reflections simulate the way light reflects off shiny and metallic surfaces, while transparent reflections allow the same effect on windows and other transparent surfaces.
"Traditionally, reflections were rendered using only the information displayed on the screen, and in pre-made cubemaps Cubemaps can capture parts of the scene that are off-screen, but not dynamic objects such as moving characters. Fusion from reflections on screen space and cube cards can often lead to a rather inaccurate and incorrect result."
"With ray tracing, we can easily generate accurate reflections, including dynamic objects and off-screen information."
Juha Sjöholm, Senior Devtech Engineer atSo how does this technology work? "Radar beam reflections simulate the way light reflects off shiny and metallic surfaces, while transparent reflections allow the same effect on windows and other transparent surfaces."
"Traditionally, reflections were rendered using only the information displayed on the screen, and in pre-made cubemaps Cubemaps can capture parts of the scene that are off-screen, but not dynamic objects such as moving characters. Fusion from reflections on screen space and cube cards can often lead to a rather inaccurate and incorrect result."
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)
In the past, game developers had to cut corners in terms of lighting, shadows, and reflections, which can have an impact on realism. The next time you play, look at a shiny surface or a mirror if you can, you may notice that this doesn't look right. According to Sjöholm, the ray pattern can solve this problem.
"With ray tracing, we can easily generate accurate reflections, including dynamic objects and off-screen information. In practice, and at its best, ray-shaped reflections allow gamers to see what's happening behind from them. "
It's little details like this, found in Control, that can make all the difference for believable and immersive graphics in PC games.
For example, Sjöholm explains how indirect lighting can be used in games to make graphics more believable. That's when the graphics card in your PC exhibits a slight bounce between non-glossy surfaces. “When this indirect light is taken into account, we get a more realistic image on the screen,” says Sjöholm. For example, a very bright red carpet could reflect a subtle red glow on a nearby wall. "
You can see this effect early on, Control, with the game starting at The Oldest House, a subdued bureaucratic building in New York City. "Indirect indirect diffuse ray tracing in Control consists of two parts: For neighboring surfaces, a real-time (dynamic) diffuse reflection bounce is evaluated. If a nearby area is not found, we use the ray information instead to sample a preconceived global illumination in a more optimal location. The end result is that the light appears more "natural" and objects "feel" better in the scene."
Another way to use ray tracing in Control for better graphics is to use collapsed shadows. “Contact shadows are a hybrid technique where we draw shadows to add precise shadows to any surface that is close to the shadows,” explains Sjöholm. "Shadow mapping techniques generally suffer from aliasing and the ability to capture fine details such as object-to-object contact, which can result in different types of erroneous patterns and "floating" objects on a surface. Contract shadows solve these problems and enhance realism."
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)
Although ray tracing makes a big difference in the graphical quality of PC games, can it be combined with 4K resolution? "It's possible to run 4K radio tracking, but it takes a lot of material," admits Sjöholm. But does that mean it's out of the question? "Depending on ray tracing capabilities enabled and if DLSS is used, the game may provide a playable 4K experience."
So it's possible on existing hardware, but some tweaking, and some would say compromises, need to be made to get the game running at 4K with ray tracing effects and a playable frame rate. It seems that we are still waiting for hardware capable of handling all the graphics functions associated with ray tracing at 4K resolutions. This may be possible with the next generation of Nvidia graphics cards.
"Ray tracing in 4K is possible, but it requires hardware."
Juha SjöholmHowever, as Sjöholm has mentioned, DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) can be used to mitigate the impact of ray tracing on performance, thanks to the use of artificial intelligence. "DLSS can be used with ray tracing, and we recommend using both together. In many scenarios, the performance gains from DLSS will offset the impact of ray tracing, allowing you to game at higher frame rates, resolutions, and quality settings."
What kind of kit do you need?
So do you need an Nvidia graphics processor to experience ray tracing in Control? The answer is no...and yes.
"Well, technically, ray tracing in Control is not a feature exclusive to the Nvidia GPU," Sjöholm explains. "We did ray tracing with DirectX 12 DXR, so it's based on an open standard. Turns out Nvidia GPUs are the only ones that support this open standard at the moment. When new GPUs that support DirectX12 DXR, they should also benefit of ray tracing."
Therefore, when AMD graphics cards that support ray tracing become available, owners of these cards will benefit from Nvidia and Remedy's control work.
However, as Sjöholm points out, some features are only available with a green card. "Control also includes Nvidia DLSS, which is only available on Nvidia GPUs."
(Image credit: future)
No one can deny that ray tracing puts a lot of strain on your gaming console, especially with graphical word games like Control. But not everyone can afford a killer computer game. What kind of performance can users expect on average on desktop hardware, such as an Intel Core i5 processor and Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics processor?
"The controller offers a great experience without throwing a ray, but ray tracing really enhances the visuals in a positive way,"
Juha Sjöholm"With the RTX 2060, you can activate lightning reflections on opaque and transparent surfaces, and start the game with very smooth scrolling speeds," promises Sjöholm. So you can run control with ray tracing with Nvidia mid-range graphics card. But you may need to make some adjustments. "You can also enable and disable ray tracing effects in any combination to customize your experience, but you can also enable all ray tracing effects while making sure your gameplay is solid and smooth. DLSS will help you get the best possible result. frame rate at maximum graphics settings."
It seems that DLSS does a lot of work here. However, there was also a lot of talk about the high system requirements to really get the most out of Control. Does Nvidia expect PC gamers to upgrade their rigs, especially if they don't have an RTX card?
"The control provides a great experience without throwing a radio, but it actually enhances the visuals," says Sjöholm. "In fact, Control offers amazing effects and already presents itself as a showcase for ray-traced graphics. At the end of the day, only the player can decide if it's time for a hardware upgrade, but upgrading to a graphics processor that supports DXR seems pretty logical at this point."
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)
So basically yes. Nvidia hopes that games like Control will encourage gamers to upgrade their GPUs. But doesn't that mean there's added pressure to make it the best game, and the best game, gamers will ever see? "We wanted Control to be the best it could be for players." Using it on RTX hardware offers the best possible gaming experience," says Sjöholm.
Using modern technology to build a believable world
All of these new graphical effects are certainly interesting, but how important are graphics to creating an immersive and believable world?
"Immensely important," says Stuart MacDonald, Global Design Director for Remedy Entertainment. "Usually our games have visual concepts that are quite difficult to express, from the frozen look of Quantum Break to the liquid corruption of Hiss in Control, to the vision of a parameter.
"In Control, physicality was a key pillar for us, from telekinesis and destruction to materials and brutal architecture, which meant, for example, creating architectural spaces that needed good lighting solutions for the simplicity of the surfaces. and the details of the walls."
The results speak for themselves. When you load up Control and start looking around the building, there's something immensely familiar and trustworthy about the frame, and the graphics definitely contribute to that. Ray tracing, in particular, does a great job of making the world believable.
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)
"With ray tracing, it's possible to make the game world more realistic and correct," says Sjöholm. "It is possible to show details that were previously too difficult to capture. Ray tracing takes the quality of highlights, shadows and indirect lighting to the next level in Control."
Not only do the big action scene sets benefit from the technology, but also the smallest details. And it is these details that undoubtedly give the gaming world a more realistic look and feel.
"Interactions between different objects and surfaces are more detailed thanks to lightning-like contact shadows. With earlier techniques, smaller objects can appear to 'float' on surfaces. Touch shadows evoke the smallest details, which allows you to see interactions and contacts," says Sjöholm. "Notice how various office supplies cast shadows on the table they're on or how Jesse's (the player character's) walk becomes more realistic."
"When we started working on the game, we knew we would like to create a physics-based game."
Mikko Orrenmaa, Technical Team Leader, RemedAllowing the player to interact with the world is another important aspect of building a believable world. But how interactive is the world around you?
"The world is very interactive in Control. When we started working on the game, we knew we wanted to create a physics-based game," says Mikko Orrenmaa, Head of the Technical Team at Remedy Entertainment. "To make this happen, we've developed new internal asset-breaking tools and a new workflow that allows content creators to create environments that can be destroyed."
One of the first things you notice when you play the game and start fighting is how the environment around you is being destroyed. Bullets rip chunks of wood and concrete from the walls, while realistically shattering window panes. All this creates an exciting and immersive experience.
This, as Orrenmaa explains, has required a lot of work. "On the engine side, we've rewritten our entire physics system to allow the Northlight engine to handle all of the game's responsive and destructive environments. We're also adding particle collisions to improve the appearance of destruction." "
It's not just the way the world looks, but the way it sounds. "We also had to tweak our AI and audio systems. Having a dynamic and responsive environment affects how sounds work when you destroy objects and move through the debris you've created. The AI characters also need to react and be able to navigate properly in this recently destroyed environment."
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)
So what kind of challenges has this level of detail and destruction spawned?
"Having a lot of destruction in the game presents different challenges in how to break objects properly and ensure that the player can meaningfully interact with objects," says Orrenmaa. “On the content creation side, it adds extra work to the team because any destructible content needs to be defined based on when and how it breaks. A chair made of metal legs and a feather padded seat breaks differently than a wooden chest, which breaks differently than a desk with drawers, etc.
This hard work and attention to detail certainly paid off, as Control enjoyed one of the most realistic worlds we've seen in a recent PC game, despite its long history. Speaking of which...
Master the art of storytelling
Computer games also put a lot of emphasis on storytelling to attract players and get them playing. Remedy is particularly known for making games with strong stories, as well as innovative ways of telling them. Did you try something new with Control?
"It's not a shame to say that all of our previous games have been pretty linear," admits Vida Starcevic, Community Manager, Remedy Entertainment.
"We knew the path we wanted the player to take and we took you down that path." Control is much more open when it comes to level design: you can go wherever you want, if you are creative with your abilities and your environment. This meant that we had to find a different way to tell the story of Jesse and the Federal Bureau of Control. "
"It's not embarrassing to say that all of our previous games have been pretty linear."
Vida Starcevic, Community Manager, RemedPart of the narration of this story is to use the world of beliefs created by Remedy. “We use a lot of stories about the environment, like videos around the world that the desktop produces, files and audio messages that you can find. There are also characters that you can talk to to find out more about the world.”
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)
So exploration definitely pays off, according to Starcevic. But if you don't want to learn all the things in the world, no matter how precise you've made them, that doesn't mean history will confuse you. "You won't miss an important part of the plot if you don't read a hidden document in a room behind a locked door. The whole crucial plot element lies in the path of the main quest, but we've hidden a lot of secrets throughout the game and it is profitable to find them."
Control's story, no spoilers here, is easily one of its best features. But who was the biggest influence on the Control team?
"We were never inspired by video games or just one medium," says Starcevic. "The main inspiration for Control comes from Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy and the film adaptation of the first book Annihilation (directed by Alex Garland). We were also inspired by some of the motifs in Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves. By Of course, creators like David Lynch and Stephen King also inspired us."
"It gets pretty weird, you fight a refrigerator and a mirror at some point."
Starcevic lifeOf course, Control's environments are just as amazing as the story. "In terms of aesthetics, office architecture is heavily influenced by the architectural style of brutalism."
So it's a mix of intoxicating influences. How does control become strange? "It's getting pretty weird. You fight a refrigerator and a mirror at some point.
That's a great answer. But we're seeing great PC games, both AAA and Indie, coming out these days, and that can make games, no matter how good, barely stand out. What distinguishes Control from modern games?
"There aren't many games where you have to think of a secret facility dedicated to the study of supernatural phenomena," Starcevic tells us.
"There are even fewer games where you have a gun that changes shape, an inverted pyramid that talks to you, or where you're being chased by an evil rubber duck." Control is distinguished as much by the strangeness of the narrative and setting, as by the combination of telepathy-based mechanics and the moving weapon. "
When it comes to pushing the limits of PC gaming, it might not just be about graphics...
Welcome to LaComparacion 2019 Computer Gaming Week. We celebrate the world's most powerful gaming platform with in-depth articles, exclusive interviews, and essential buying guides that showcase all of those PC games you can offer. Visit our Computer Game Week 2019 page to see all of our coverage in one place.