FromSoftware games on PS4 fixed the brakes, but only on broken consoles
In almost all games FromSoftware on PlayStation 4 there is a common feature - they slow down. Moreover, they slow down in a special way: formally, the frame rate withstands 30 fps, but at the same time the frames per second are drawn unevenly, due to which there is an unpleasant feeling of braking.
As Digital Foundry says, an enthusiast under the nickname illusion put together a patch that consists of only three tapes of code. It does fix the uneven frame rate, but there are a few issues with it. The patch was published some time ago, and now Digital Foundry conducted the tests and reported the results:
Short version of the Digital Foundry video:
- All FromSoftware games have the same frame rate problem on standard PlayStation 4 and Xbox One including Elden Ring.
- The amateur patch fixes almost all the frame rate issues encountered in Digital Foundry. Exception - open world in Elden Ring, but even then performance with the patch is smoother than without it.
- Digital Foundry talked to illusion. He explains the situation like this. FromSoftware applies its own formula to calculate how to output 30 fps to the screen. But the formula is too simple and I don't "understand" when it is necessary to draw a new frame.
- The patch changes this: instead of using a 30 fps limiter from From Software, the game starts applying the system function of PlayStation 4 itself - SceVideoOutFlipRate. It provides the correct frame rate for outputting frames.
Why FromSoftware won't issue a fix officially since it's so simple? Digital Foundry suspects that the studio does not like the large increase in response time in the control: for example in Bloodborne the patch adds an extra 78 milliseconds to the "input lag". A similar flaw is in the quality mode in the remake Demon's Souls on PlayStation 5: there are no problems with the frame rate, but the "input lag" at 30 fps becomes 85 seconds more than at 60 fps.
The illusion patch can only be installed on a hacked console PlayStation 4. Therefore, finally DigitalFoundry leaves a warning: hacking the console is not recommended: you will lose access to network functions and will not be able to run games that require firmware version 9.0 and higher. Which, in general, does not negate the fact that it is broken PlayStation 4 you can do amazing things - for example, 60 fps in Bloodborne.
