Source

Should make the game look better. Comparison video (Of older version of the mod), the difference is ridiculous.

EDIT: This post shows the depth of field in the latest version of the mod.

EDIT2:

Official Response

The dev team is completely dedicated to getting the most out of each platform, so the notion that we would actively downgrade quality is contrary to everything we’ve set out to achieve. We test and optimize our games for each platform on which they’re released, striving for the best possible quality. The PC version does indeed contain some old, unused render settings that were deactivated for a variety of reasons, including possible impacts on visual fidelity, stability, performance and overall gameplay quality. Modders are usually creative and passionate players, and while we appreciate their enthusiasm, the mod in question (which uses those old settings) subjectively enhances the game’s visual fidelity in certain situations but also can have various negative impacts. Those could range from performance issues, to difficulty in reading the environment in order to appreciate the gameplay, to potentially making the game less enjoyable or even unstable.

Thanks for playing Watch Dogs and stay safe on the mean streets of Chicago.

-The Watch Dogs Team

Thanks Mew2 for linking the response

9 years ago*

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So they purposely downgraded PC version in order to look the same like on console. Is this that new console next-gen that i've been hearing so much about?

9 years ago
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But "next-gen" is so awesome :O ultra mega "next-gen" graphics.

9 years ago
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what are you talking about ??? Next gen is all about next gen fish AI man. I mean every drop of rain in Watch_Dogs has its own AI built in.

9 years ago
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Rainiant AI

9 years ago
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WOW :O

9 years ago
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TBH, this is also bad for the consoles. If they're willing to downgrade a version and hiding it for the PC, who says they wont do the same to consoles?

9 years ago
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Ppl may try, PS4 and Xbone will burn in saint fire while running this game, since they already tend to have high temperatures barely running the game.

9 years ago
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Maybe they were planning a "High res" DLC for PC owners. Charge us for the 'extra' stuff they left out

9 years ago
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This "His Res Texture Packs" normally are bullshit and they include only textures, in Skyrim is practically never noticeable unless you compare it with the originals side by side, in Sleeping Dogs is at least something you see the game more clear and fps drops, but the default textures in this game are still better even than the "his res" Skyrim ones.

9 years ago
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However Bethesda gave the Hi-Res DLC for free which is kind of a nice move isn't it? Hi-Res textures do make a difference in Skyrim (unless you play in 320x240 resolution), I love to compare the official addon with modded textures from nexusmods.

I think calling it "bullshit" is a little bit strong.

9 years ago
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Ubisoft is seriously bringing out an HD Edition this November.

9 years ago
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Oh, Ubi...

Edit: someone posted some new vids here

9 years ago
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WOW

9 years ago
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This is why Consoles ruin games for PC's.
We can't have PC version looking way better than the console version, because nobody will buy the console version at full price when they can get a better game and save 33-50% from Pc sales.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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You must be a Console fanboy and like shitty graphics

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Read my original post. That is actually what I said.
Manipulate the sales so Consoles sell as well as Pc by keeping the graphics on the same level.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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tinfoil hat on

Sony and microsoft pays publishers for this kind of shit

tinfoil hat off

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Why don't you buy your own hat, cheapskate

9 years ago
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new tinfoil hat on
the tinfoil hat industry has been taken over by friendly tinfoil hat producers

9 years ago
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Well said Lechery. Bought Watch Dogs for full price to support Ubisoft, because they make good games, but after these things with WD , I don't feel like supporting Ubisoft anymore..

9 years ago
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This could be bad news for consoles too. If ubi is willing to do that with PC, who's saying they wont do that for the consoles too?

9 years ago
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whiner

9 years ago
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"nobody will buy the console version at full price when they can get a better game and save 33-50% from Pc sales."

That's a bit hyperbolic.

Not everyone is going to jump ship to PC gaming just because the games look prettier and are cheaper. PC games have always looked better, yet consoles have thrived regardless. Consoles are always going to be more popular because of the ease of use, and the fact that you buy one set-top box and you're good for all games for the next 4-6 years. No need to spend additional money on upgrades.

9 years ago
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consoles were easier to use, now everyday they look more like extreme handicapped pcs

9 years ago
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if the so-called next gen consoles needs to do this for the sake of not being humillated by pc when they barely have a year of life imagine what will happen in 2 - 3 years

9 years ago
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I don't own the game yet, and I don't care too much about graphics. But even to me, this sounds like a very stupid thing to do.

9 years ago
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those are some of the things that made piracy grow, this and abusive drm and dlcs .... ubisoft and ea are the cancer of pcgaming and i hope they go to bankrup even if i like some of their franchises

9 years ago
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Maybe they left it on purpose, knowing someone will find it, because if not all their work goes to trash and replaced by downgraded shit, because is sad when all their work is ruined by new "next-gen" consoles that can't handle games properly and ppl who call them idiots because they downgraded graphics, developers must value their work too, and money not always can replace it, at least not for all ppl.

I wonder how ppl who downgraded Watch Dogs feel, I don't think they're all happy with this decision "not to screw consoles"...what do you think?

9 years ago
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Sounds like management decided the game should be gimped on PC to have a similar experience as the under-powered "next-gen" consoles. Developers probably disabled the extra stuff the PC could handle, by request from the upper brass, but left it there on purpose so it would be found.

9 years ago
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That sounds like developers to me, they're why it was still accessible thank you developers but fucl ubi as a publisher.

9 years ago
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I feel bad for the devs that have to work in an enviornment where they're required to neuter their product. Like, I made a fantastic product and put all this work into making it something fun, unique and beautiful... and now you want me to destroy the product I created and poured all this effort into, not because it doesn't work as intended but because the product needs to not take advantage of the features of the platforms it's distributed on.

9 years ago
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WHAT THE FLYING SPAGHETTI SAUSAGE IS THIS SORCERY UBISOFT?

9 years ago
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Your avatar fits so well with your comment.

9 years ago
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Isn't it :D

9 years ago
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Question is will our computers be able to handle it?

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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I'll definitely try it when i get home then.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Yeah, I'm sort of waiting for them to get it all sorted before I mess with it.

9 years ago
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Lol, I was wondering it too. I couldn't imagine what would happen with my GPU if the official version is already such bugged mess.

Well if the devs don't fix it, the modders will. But now I actually don't want to buy WD on any of my platforms anymore..

9 years ago
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For me it works much better. Now it's playable although I have only dual-core processor. Not smooth but playable.

9 years ago
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I've been using this mod since the day it was released and a lot of things have been added since but performance drop isn't noticeable. Maybe a drop by 2 or 3 FPS, but it also got rid of most of the stuttering for me.

9 years ago
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Somehow it runs a tiny bit smoother...and looks a shit ton better, to much DoF though....

9 years ago
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Maybe there's a hidden achievement for when you hack all the original content back into the game. It might have been Ubi's plan all along.

9 years ago
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Too risky considering the shit they already have gotten for the downgrade.

9 years ago
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haha, great!

9 years ago
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lol would have been an epic easter egg :p

9 years ago
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I added a comparison video (with and without the mod).

9 years ago
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Eh? It was possible to tweak settings in game files before to make it look better. And make DoP insanely high for screenshots also was an option.

9 years ago
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Sure, but that didn't enable the shaders. The mod even has performance improvements.

9 years ago
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Jesus that DoF is disgusting to look at.

9 years ago
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Is that blur on the after part actually there or is it just my eyes? It looks pretty blurry compared to the before.

9 years ago
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So they wanted the PC version to look uglier than on consoles?

9 years ago
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There's where Such doge meme should be. I mean srsly, beautiful graphics ñ.ñ

9 years ago
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That ugly DOF tho

9 years ago
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The mod creator said it will be tuned/made less extreme. You can always turn it completely off too, which I would do since having constant DoF is the wrong way to have it in a game.

9 years ago
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the mod got updated some minutes ago and the Dof should be better now. clicky for v0.7

9 years ago
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Looks like they wanted to make a graphic DLC and earn some more money later with that improvements... ^^

9 years ago
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Cool. Hopefully I can run the game without watching a one slide a minute show anymore.
Edit: It runs more smoothly and more slowly. O.o

9 years ago
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Yea it adds a s**tton of useless Depth of Field which is annoying in-game (tho it looks "cool'n'cinematic" on videos and screenies), also a little bit of color correction nothing to write home about. Also better graphics aren't gonna make the game better (or should I say less mediocre).

Boris Voronstov will make an ENB which is going to look way better anyway. Check this out if you don't know what ENB is

9 years ago
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It adds a lot more than just DoF, which has been adjusted in the latest version anyway.
EDIT: Doesn't ENB only work with DX9? If it still does, he would have to develop a new version for DX11, since WD is only DX11.

9 years ago
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Mother of hot dogs, the difference o_O But if you look at 1:10, the depth of field gets crazy, hurted my eyes xD

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Or you could just turn off DoF until its fixed.

9 years ago
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Ignoring the DoF the game looks so much better, its more then that its:

  • -Fog Changes
  • -Bloom with lowered values
  • -HeadLight Shadows
  • -Custom settings updated
  • -Changes to the main Watch dogs file to allow many higher graphics textures
  • -DISABLED CASCADE SHADOW MAPS DUE TO BUGS AND BAD QUALITY
  • -LOD Changes.
  • -Other several Tweaks.
9 years ago
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What...so the E3 version wasn't pre rendered like originally thought? They just gimped the PC version so console people would not bitch about the game looking tons worse?

Now all we need is a performance patch and I can play the rest of this game(Stopped after chapter 1 and said fuck it i'll wait)...

9 years ago
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Now all we need is a performance patch
Some people are saying that enabling these hidden effects also improves performance.

9 years ago
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It does slightly, not enough though...and that really is strange as all hell, you would think they were hiding these effects to bring up fps.

9 years ago
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heh, just like AC3 huh, arrived in boston and stopped playing until after a year

9 years ago
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Now I watch this and want to cry. I was really looking forward to playing that exact mission...

9 years ago
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Well, you can go after DeMarco in some other side quest, and there is a main story quest taking place in there. But I feel your pain :( .

9 years ago
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The worst part is that when I tried to use a jam com, the mission failed me. ;_;

9 years ago
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This is sad.

9 years ago
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And where are physics, conductio,...?

9 years ago
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Not in the game, that's for sure.

9 years ago
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well, it is obvious that ubishaft downgraded the pc performance and graphics. I mean look at this, It's part of the watch dogs code

9 years ago
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You're the second to post that, isn't that a joke, or is that actually real...cause if it is...what...I doubt thats real though...

9 years ago
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Its real. Learn to unpack the shader.dat file. You'll see it for yourself.

9 years ago
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Just might do that.

9 years ago
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It's real, but out of context. Compare it to the PC code:
http://www.dsogaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/WD-Hidden-Comment.jpg

That's not a 'who cares about PC' comment. It's a 'if you know what you're doing, you won't care about my comment' comment.

9 years ago
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Bilateral is right.
It's more like " This (code) is PC only, for those who care about the comments " .

Also, if not convinced, the one writing the comments has really good punctuation. So a "?" wouldn't be that hard to type, if he meant a different context.

9 years ago
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Exactly, that could perfectly mean, "PC handles rain light treatment differently, this area doesn't matter"

9 years ago
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Closed 9 years ago by Desidiosus.