My view: The Xbox version is the best graphically.

[Mariachi37]

Ok, before i have pc fanoy nation reaching for my throat, let me explain my opinion here:

 

When CompUSA had it's GTA:SA sale for the Xbox and PC versions, i picked uo both for $60 total, which is not a bad deal , right?

 

Now, i first compared the Xbox version vs the PS2 vesion(had this since it's release) on my 27" Samsung HDTV both using component cables.

 

The Xbox version as many knows has higher quality textures, better lighting, much better shading(the sun casts shadows..ect), a better frame rate, better draw distance..ect

This was obvious, but so was the fact it has an annoying 'loading.." icon when CJ changes clothes or leaves his home. And so was the fact Rockstar decided to go with using the black/white buttons for in-car views, making drive bys a nightmare to perform.

 

Also, the jaggies and shimmering are out of hand in SA, and this version needed some kind of FSAA or quality mip mapping implemented, because it's nasty on the eyes.

 

So, then i'm really looking forward to the pc version, and after opening up it's nice box/manual combo(i love this way of packing a game), i'm thinking the pc version is where i'll be spending my majority of my SA time.

 

So i played it in 1024*768 with FSAA set to #3, mip mapping to on and set to Very High quality.

 

Now my video card is far from the best, but it runs Doom3,Far Cry,HL2..ect, it's a 128MB 9600 pro, so unless any game has shader 3.0 usage, i can max the game out, even if i must reduce the resolution.

 

Now, first off..i plug in my Radio Shack-->USB adapter so i can use my PS2 controller, and i map the controls almost exactly like the PS2 version, so i know finally in-car control is not a nightmare anymore on the pc, for a GTA game.

(like it was for both GTA3 and VC)

 

So i'm thinking...yeah this is sweet

 

And then i have to compare against my Xbox version, and then i'm thinking what happened to the quality of the textures/lighting and shading?

 

For instance, how come when i'm killed , and looking outside the hospital, i'm getting better quality textures from my Xbox version all around the hospital, when the pc version it's only good right above the staircase?

 

Why the heck is this happening when the pc version is supposed to be the clear graphical winner in SA?

 

Then i notice that alot of objects up close, be it sides of building, or some side road asphalt or the bball court next to CJ's house, has lesser texture quality then the Xbox version.

 

Then the quality of lighting hits me..i'm thinking, wait the Xbox version has some nice lighting effects, and where are they in this version?

 

This is the pc version here, of which nothing should be compromised, right?

 

Even the shading is not as well done as in the Xbox version, and it's so obvious as just around CJ's home all you get is the one set of cross wires being shaded, while the Xbox version has many things casting shadows such as tress and other things...even the firehrdt casts a shadow and had lighting going on.

 

Then i hooked up my Xbox(via a X2VGA adapter) to my other 17" Nec, and put the pc version in 640*480, and sure the Xbox version is full of jaggies _everywhere_ as well as the annoying shimmering effects, but the it's more colorfull(better lighting is the reason why) and feels more full..while the pc version looks bland in comparision.

The Xbox version feels like a more detailed SA, then the pc.

 

Now i love getting SA to run in 1200*1024 w/FSAA on #3, it's sweet seeing SA so crisp(finally) and without any jaggies(or just about), but it's lacking the picture quality of the Xbox version.

 

So with all this talk over SA being supperior gfx wise on the pc, i'm thinking wtf are these people smoking?

 

Now, a couple things:

 

1)If you are using the Xbox version on a SDTV or just in 480i in general, it looks alot more blurry and lacks detail of 480p.

 

2)The way the pictures are captured on the Xbox version..when shrunken in as it asks you if you want to save it, looks worse then what you seeing. Something went wrong with the way Rockstar captured the Xbox pics, these are lacking the true detail of the IQ.

 

Now, i can back this up(can someone tell me what dir the pc version saves the pics to?. TIA), with some pc pics of that hospital.

 

But to end this (your thinking..finally , has anyone actually compared the two versions head to head, both on VGA monitors?

 

Because you have to be blind to think the pc version has better overall quality, it's a cleaner..jaggy free image(thankfully), but it's a bland looking SA.

 

And while it's of course better then the PS2 version and does have high textures for the store fronts, it's overall a bit lower in quality then the Xbox version.

 

I don't think anyone (IGN did a horrible comparision) really compared the two, head to head, on VGA monitors.

 

Now all the pc fanboys can start ripping into me , but i would love to talk with anyone who has both versions, and at least the Xbox is running on a HDTV in 480p using component cbls.

[MNFirstBlood]

Im very sorry but i must disagree and say the pc version is slighty higher then the xbox version speaking of just graphics. I run mine in 1600x1200 everything all the way up including 4x mapping. Yes i have a HD tele and run my ps2 and xbox through component. It may be that my GFX card is slightly better : GeForce 6800ultra 256mb ddr3. speaking of overall game play the pc version kicks all others asses. With the mods and loading times alone make it better. The sacrifice if you are getting slighty lower graphics is a small price to pay. Especially when the graphics stink on all GTA's anyhow.

[Opius]

Nah, that's not fanboy-ism. Very balanced, thought out comparison.

 

The PC and Xbox versions are obviously better looking than the PS2 versions, but I've noticed that SAPC is running a lot slower than a lot of other games. Still, I'm running it at 1024X768, 4xAA, 16xAF, high graphics detail and I still get around 25FPS (of course, that's thanks to the frame limiter).

 

Xbox version I can't comment on, because my HD kit turned out to be counterfeit and only works through the green cable

[tommy vercetti guy]

Oh, oh, and the PC version have the realistic road textures

[EVOLUTIONGSR8]

i dont care wha tppl say...pc is the best but......you have to wait for so long in order to get it...i have on ps2 and pc..pc the best.

[tommygun1]

See this is what I like, somebody in another thread really went on an all out smear campaign. But like Opius said, this was well thought out.

 

I will say that, as always, its easier to make the game run better on XBox because it has a fixed amount of computing power. That means they can taylor the game to work flawlessly. PC's on the other hand are really diverse, so I can put up with a little bit of a speed hit.

 

Either way, I'm in to SA for the mods, and thats primarily a PC thing.

 

[Mariachi37]

Guys, thanks to all replying back with respect, i did'nt want to come off bias in any way here, i was just explaining what i'm noticing in comparing the two versions.

 

A questions for all:

 

1)When you take a picture in the pc version, where does it get saved?(what directory?)

Because i looked everywhere and cannot find my pics.

 

I never gave my overall view, here's a quick anaysis.

 

The pc version, even with my few complaints on texture quality,lighting/shading..a the annoying heat wave effect that ATI cards seem to have, is a no brainer for the best overall version because there are no load times more then a millisecond(so SA seems feels more like a seemless world), playing in eithier 1024 or 1280 with FSAA or not, makes SA feel look more like a real 'world', the draw distance is better then the Xbox's, and the control..finally works alot better in-car, because of Rockstar supporting it better for controllers like the PS2's DS (w/adapter), even the box-manual combo is one sweet looking package.

 

About the Xbox's version, i said what i liked about the textures/lighting is amazing/and shading is on almost everything..as well as a higher poly count(as the pc does), and Rockstar added the normal custom tracks feature and better sound in 5.1 helps, but..

the in-car control was poorly done and at least they should have went to the GTA:DP like controls for that or at least make the buttons remappable, the 'loading.." icon becomes annoying, and sure we all know when the sceen goes black it's loading(any version), but to see a "loading.." icon takes the feel of SA's seemless like 'world' away, a bit.

 

And the lack of FSAA is inexcusable as i'd easily take a hit on texture or lighting quality to have some sort of FSAA put in.

 

With the GTA:DP, Rockstar deliver the best overall versions of those games on the Xbox(even if the on-foot control lacked free looking), and sadly, this XBox version seems rushed out in many ways.

 

The pc version seemed more like a finished product this time, and maybe this had to do with getting both out at the same timeframe, and the Xbox version done, a good time before the Xbox360 arrives.

 

And that really is inexcusable, even if they did do a good job on tetxures/lighting/shading and the frame rate is improved over the Ps2's, but the rest of the package was not nearly up to the DP's standards, imho.

 

It's still a good port(and easily the best overall console version of SA), but the pc is a excellent port just like the Xbox's GTA3:DP was in late 02'.

 

And still with all it's faults, the Xbox version is still the fastest selling game the Xbox has had besides Halo2.

 

FYI: The pc version is #1 on it's charts as well.(64% for the Xbox, 34% for the pc, in sales since 6/7)

 

But no matter which version anyone plays, SA is one of the most amazing games from this generation, and the series should only get better with the next gen consoles and pc video cards.

 

[Mariachi37]

See this is what I like, somebody in another thread really went on an all out smear campaign. But like Opius said, this was well thought out.

 

I will say that, as always, its easier to make the game run better on XBox because it has a fixed amount of computing power. That means they can taylor the game to work flawlessly. PC's on the other hand are really diverse, so I can put up with a little bit of a speed hit.

 

Either way, I'm in to SA for the mods, and thats primarily a PC thing.

 

"See this is what I like, somebody in another thread really went on an all out smear campaign. But like Opius said, this was well thought out."

 

 

^^

Thank you those are kind words, and it's what i love to see in all forums, are informative and non bias opinions.

 

"I will say that, as always, its easier to make the game run better on XBox because it has a fixed amount of computing power. That means they can taylor the game to work flawlessly. PC's on the other hand are really diverse, so I can put up with a little bit of a speed hit."

 

Exactly, that's what comes to my mind when you see the occasional good Xbox ports but only a marginally better pc port. It's a fixed platform and much easier to get alot more out of, and i think that can show in ways such as the GTA:DP's quality or the solid Doom3 Xbox port, and for this version it does show in the ways i mentioned..and it is impressive(the shading especially on all objects comes to mind, and texture quality was a good jump up from the PS2's), but those impressive things were almost nullified by the one's you are thinking, what happened here?(ie..no FSAA, bad mapping of in-car buttons, the annoying loading icon..ect)

 

And i think a 8 month timeframe to develop ports to the pc and Xbox is maybe asking too much, especially when we have seen both versions of Vice City done very well, when each was developed solely with that platform in mind.

 

I think this may have hurt the pc version by not having better scalling to the better video cards(such as adding more DX9 shader support), just like the Xbox version's faults.

I think with more development time..one at a time(say a June--> pc, Oct--> Xbox) release, the timeframe would have helped out both alot more.

 

Anyway..i'm done and i'll shut up now(your thinking does he ever shut up! , and thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

 

[Martini Racing]

I agree, Mariachi. Mine ran better on X-box, too. But then again, my pc sucks, so who's to say really? Other than you, I mean.

[tommygun1]

It saves in your san andreas folder where your save games are.

Most likely this is the address

 

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\GTA San Andreas User Files