S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat Screenshots Compare DirectX 10 and DirectX 11

By Chris Faylor, Sep 25, 2009 9:15am PDT

To demonstrate S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat's support of DirectX 11, publisher bitComposer has issued some new screenshots from GSC Game World's latest.

Direct X10 vs. Direct X11

Explained bitComposer: "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat will support two of the most important features of DirectX 11: 'tessellation' and 'compute shaders.'"

The creepy post-apocalyptic PC action-RPG hits German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) in November, then Europe and North America in Q1 2010.

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39 Threads | 185 Comments

  • Compute shaders are exciting as far as performance is concerned, but tessellation support is THE SHIT.

    Basically what tessellation does is increase the number of polygons in an object. The amount of polygons an object has determines how round it is. Increasing the number of polygons that a face has, say, is very important -- wrinkles will be actual polygons instead of textures painted on a flat surface -- ears and noses will no longer be jagged and pointy -- teeth and eyes will be rounded and smooth. It's the difference between Lara Croft in the latest Tomb Raider and Aki from Final Fantasy, The Spirits Within, wrinkles in her clothing and whatnot. Combined with a good LOD, nearer characters will be super-hi-polygon and realistic looking, while characters that are farther away will have their polygons reduced accordingly.

    Both of these advancements are extremely exciting, and I for one can't wait to see what can be done on DX11 hardware and software.

    I think a lot of the backlash is because we're in a global recession and people are more money-conscious and don't like the idea of upgrading. Of all the comments I read, the one thing they all have in common is that in essence they all come down to a question of "worth". Is it "worth" it. Well, if you enjoy new technologies, and computers are a love and a hobby and you want to see advancements like "Toy Story" graphics, then it is certainly worth it. If you don't care about graphics or advancements in technology, then why the hell are you still a gamer, anyway? We're in an age where gaming and technology are one and the same; a Siamese twin. The two are inseparable and entwined now, forever. Some of you may resist it but it's not going to just stop or become simpler all of a sudden. Technology is going to keep advancing gaming and immersion and complexity whether you want it to or not, so either get used to it or jump ship and stop buying games and new consoles. But don't come into a gaming website, maintained by people that love games as a hobby and past-time, and insult us because you're too poor or not passionate enough to enjoy the latest technology for what it is.

    Furthermore, it also comes down to the fools that bought into marketing hype instead of looking up what Direct 10 and 11 actually are. I'm glad many of you now know that marketing is tricky, and you're now skeptical of new technical jargin, but your gullibility regarding marketing is hardly a reason to be angry at the technology itself, and is downright ignorant.