Stray plays best on PS5, as shader compilation stutters impact another Unreal Engine game on PC

Digital Foundry's Tom investigates Stray on PS5, PS4 Pro, PS4 and PC - is this the purrfect cross-platform prowler or do some versions come with sacrifices?

[RaidenBlack]

a bit more optimization before release? what's that?

[Eonjay]

Why is this such a problem on PC? Is it because it wants to compile shaders specific .to your hardware? Can they have a default set for vendors or ranges of cards?

[RaidenBlack]

its an inherent UE4 problem that demands a bit more optimization care from the PC porting devs.
The problem's not exclusive to UE4 however as recent Elden Ring showcased the same problem as well.
Haphazard PC porting jobs results this. (There are many stellar PC ports as well and it shows that devs were adamant to deliver a good PC port)
And that's not all. There are numerous extra nuisance PC players have to deal with a bad PC port. Like publishers adding Denuvo to PC ports which just eats the frames and is an absolute cancer.

[gold_drake]

i think its more of a UE4 issue than anything else.

[masterfox]

of course it plays best, is a Playstation console. ;)

[DefaultComment]

What biased and sickening answer.

[Deathdeliverer]

That it bothers you that much is what’s really sickening @Defaultcomment. If that’s his OPINION it’s his OPINION.

[Eonjay]

I picture you so mad you just walk up and strangle him when clearly isn't being as serious as you. A PS5 is nothing more than a mass produced, more accessible, and methodically optomized custom PC. In much the same way companies like Sony and Microsoft found success with cloning PC architecture we have seen thing come from console and make PC even better.

[Master-Tonberry]

"Sickening" Hahahaha! things like paedophiles, animal cruelty the current price of fuel and Lizzo's underwear pics are "sickening". That answer is just favouritism from personal preference. Lighten up you melodramatic baby.

[Aloymetal]

Relax, it will come to the Switch in a year or two with full 4k/120fps, Raytracing and a great discount price of $9.99...

[MrBaskerville]

Sickening? What are you, Morrisey?

[MadLad]

Yet I still buy most of my games on PC over my PS5. Weird.

Must be a glutton for punishment, I guess.

[Duke19]

Shame that something as powerful as a 3090 also gets hit with slowdowns

[Neonridr]

poor optimization on the PC side. Patches will fix it no doubt.

[Magic_Spatula]

On multiplatform titles, it's always the PC version that gets the shaft on release. There have been very few exceptions, but PC most always gets the shaft.

[MadLad]

But also ends up being the most future proof version when everything is said and done.

The games automatically improve with the continuation of technology. On console you typically are buying remasters or hoping for upgrade paths.

[Eonjay]

The thing that seperates the PC from consoles is componet interchangeability. Consoles are fixed PCs. Where as with regular PCs, the amoumt of different configurations makes if exponentially more difficult to optomize for. There is no perfect setting for all PCs. This is why PC gamers are usually presented with menus that allow them to more accurately target their setups. Also developer skill comes into sharper focus here. Its biggest advantage is also its greatest weakness.

[Magic_Spatula]

@Eonjay
Oh that's definitely true. No developers no matter how skilled or talented they are can account for the vast amounts of system configurations that exist.

[GoodGuy09]

Pc optimization and bad shader caching/lack of compiling has been getting me sick of pc gaming lol. Elden ring still hasn't been fixed, smh.
Don't know if nvidia or mcsft with windows and DX are the problem but I've definitely experienced dx12 as being the problem and devs not doing a good job with it. I wonder if valve has a way for us to install their deck's os on our pcs? As the deck's os apparently has absolutely no problem with it.

[Smellsforfree]

You can install SteamOS on your own computer ( https://store.steampowered.... but my understanding is that shader compilation has to do with your hardware. What they have done with their cache downloads on SteamDeck are specific to the SteamDeck hardware.

[Eonjay]

So in that way Steam advantage here is being a fixed target like a console.

[Father__Merrin]

You will always have issues on pc. Ppl on n4g pretend pc is plug and play with zero issues this is untrue. Google any GPU and any game with the word performance issues and you get lots of complaints.

[MadLad]

You can find anyone saying anything about anything if you purposely go and Google it.

Been gaming on PC since the release of Bioshock Infinite. Was literally the first game I played on it, actually.
I have about a thousand games on Steam, and a few hundred elsewhere.

I've experienced very little issue over all these years playing on PC. Have 3 vastly different setups.

We're two very different people though. I'm a PC gamer who never runs into many of the constant issues you always speak on.
You're a "PC gamer" who seemingly hates the platform, outside of simply stating you use it all the time.

[JeffGUNZ]

As a PC gamer, the "issues" most people will run into is a poorly optimized port from a developer. It's not like it's some kind of jigsaw puzzle. The lure to PC gaming is spec'n out your components, building it, and watching it post. Then the evolution of upgrades and optimization of your rig. It's much more expensive then consoles for sure, but it's just an entire different experience. When I switched to PC gaming 5 years ago, I came from a PS4 and Xbox One, playing on a High end Samsung TV. When I switched to PC, it felt like I had been gaming my whole life in the stone age. A lot of people talk nonsense about how troubling PC gaming is, but it is just console fanboy BS. Sure, if someone buys a crap prebuilt and tries to play something on higher settings, they will run into issues. Yet, the group of PC gamers who are building their rigs, it's hardly ever any issues outside a bad port from a developer. Who ever Sony uses does it right, Days Gone port was absolutely perfect and so was Horizon.

[LatteXIV]

Uh, no, lol... I don't know about Days Gone but Horizon was faaaar from perfect. I remember the first week of release, the graphics optimization was terrible, and shader caching on the load screen would take like ten minutes; it was a coin flip on whether or not it would crash, and even to this today the game still runs like ass despite being a generation old. Cyberpunk 2077 performed better and more consistently and we all know how great that one was.

[JeffGUNZ]

@ LatteXIV

You're right on Horizon, I totally forgot there were issues as I didn't get that right at release. I waited about 6 months due to other games I was playing. Apologize for that. I got Days Gone day one and that was great. Cyberpunk was an absolute disaster on all platforms, but if you had a RTX card (20 series and up) it was stable but still filled with bugs.

[Jin_Sakai]

I never understand these PC comparisons to begin with. As if everyone playing has a high spec PC. Everyone has the exact same experience on PS5.

[Destiny1080]

the PS5 completely and utterly destroying a 3090 setup

a 400 dollar console

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

In a poorly 'optimised' indie game. What a win for the PS5!

[MadLad]

These people need their random outliers to grant themselves brownie points.
Doesn't matter if it's a random indie title whose developer didn't do their due diligence in making sure they put an actually finished product on store shelves.

I hear there's also issues on the PlayStation side of things. Maybe the dev isn't great on the technical side of things.
The game isn't my cup of tea, but I acknowledge it's done well in reviews and many people like it. I'm also hearing of technical issues being had across the board that aren't reflective of sometimes perfect scores.

[Einhander1971]

It's all about optimization, that's why the consoles are the best.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

I played it for a couple hours and got bored with it. I felt like all I was doing was pressing X. I’m more of a dog person anyway.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

Finished STRAY campaign last night on original PS4. Even though it runs at 30fps still looked good with a little hiccup when saving and going into new areas . Other than that only had one glitch when I got stuck in a window. Very fun and relaxing game to play on all platforms.