Why are the PC versions of games always inferior graphically than the console versions?

[Smash Bandicoot]

Y'know, since they have more time and way less technical and storage limitations, you'd expect the graphics to be better, right?... well, no.

 

The graphics in the PC versions of GTA games are pretty much always worse, they get rid of ingame map details like bushes, and they f*ck up the atmospheres from the Playstation versions.

 

GTA SA is a prime example:

They got rid of the beautiful sunset effects and filters and decided to downgrade it, despite being on superior hardware

 

Why does Rockstar do this?

[Americana]

I dunno, but Grand Theft Auto IV looks better on PC than on consoles. Too bad about the performance...

Edited September 16, 2021 by Americana

[sefus]

Console master race

[ADropInTheOcean]

11 minutes ago, Americana said:

I dunno, but Grand Theft Auto IV looks better on PC than on consoles. Too bad about the performance...

It varies tbh, GTA IV and V definitely look better on the PC but the 3D trilogy is a mixed bag. GTA 3 maybe has a more cohesive and consistent color palette, but for some reason, Vice City and San Andreas are missing a f*ckload of good visual effects like the yellow bloom that added a lot of warmth to VC and those gorgeous gradient skyboxes that really made mornings and evenings special in SA. I don't think it's at all unfair to say that there are downgrades in those two.

[Ash_735]

For GTA3/VC/SA it's because they were designed for low end GPU's at the time which did not have shaders that could work fast enough. the PS2 had an incredible alpha transparency handling which meant it could display a lot of tricks on screen at once, a lot of the filters for these games rely on such effects (and especially things like the outlines, grass in SA, etc). It wasn't until 2003 onwards that shaders became common standard on even the low end GPUs. Same reason why the movies on PC use the older MPEG-1 instead of the DVD standard MPEG-2 that the PS2 version uses.

 

Grand Theft Auto IV was a mess in general.

 

Grand Theft Auto V is fine and works great really in comparison to the rest.

[ADropInTheOcean]

1 minute ago, Ash_735 said:

For GTA3/VC/SA it's because they were designed for low end GPU's at the time which did not have shaders that could work fast enough. the PS2 had an incredible alpha transparency handling which meant it could display a lot of tricks on screen at once, a lot of the filters for these games rely on such effects (and especially things like the outlines, grass in SA, etc). It wasn't until 2003 onwards that shaders became common standard on even the low end GPUs. Same reason why the movies on PC use the older MPEG-1 instead of the DVD standard MPEG-2 that the PS2 version uses.

 

This is a really good and informative answer, thanks for helping to solve a doubt that has plagued me for a while. Only thing I'd add is that, as discussed above, while the port of GTA IV is indeed a colossal mess in terms of performance, it does look substantively better than its console counterpart - which is probably to be expected given that seemed to have been the time when high-end GPUs and modern PC performance enthusiasm really took off.

[CynicalMexican]

15 hours ago, Ash_735 said:

For GTA3/VC/SA it's because they were designed for low end GPU's at the time which did not have shaders that could work fast enough. the PS2 had an incredible alpha transparency handling which meant it could display a lot of tricks on screen at once, a lot of the filters for these games rely on such effects (and especially things like the outlines, grass in SA, etc). It wasn't until 2003 onwards that shaders became common standard on even the low end GPUs. Same reason why the movies on PC use the older MPEG-1 instead of the DVD standard MPEG-2 that the PS2 version uses.

 

Grand Theft Auto IV was a mess in general.

 

Grand Theft Auto V is fine and works great really in comparison to the rest.

 

Nail on the head. Sadly, for those running good PCs in 2021, this creates even more problems, trying to calibrate a game made for 2004 hardware. So much f*cking frustration.

 

GTA 3 has the least issues in my experience. 

[B Dawg]

On 9/17/2021 at 12:35 AM, Americana said:

I dunno, but Grand Theft Auto IV looks better on PC than on consoles. Too bad about the performance...

Only in texture size and shadow + vegetation quality, but otherwise, no. Weird removals of vegetation around the map, missing/broken graphical effects, etc...

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https://libertycity.ru/gta-4/articles/4346-gta-iv-complete-edition-xbox-protiv-pc.html

Edited September 18, 2021 by B Dawg