Civ5 using DX11 Graphics: The way it's meant to be played!

[bhavv]

2. DX11 AND DX10 has tesselation, frankly i dont know what DX11 does that DX10 doesnt do in civ5. Maybe depth of field or something?

This is completely incorrect, DX10 does NOT have tessellation. This was implemented into DX11 cards, and even if DX10 manage to support it, it would not be able to run it as none of the DX10 cards have dedicated tessellation processing like the HD 5000 and GTX 400 range does.

Do your homework on DX11, DX10 CANNOT even run this:



Its funny that DX11 and Tessellation are working so great in Civ V, but as usual, tech noobs on the forums are quick to write it off as something that is meaningless and would work on older hardware when it absolutely wouldnt.

 

[Panda_Power]

Thanks for doing a DX11 comparison!

I didn't realise you could change the zoom level, that's excellent! Where is the config.ini file? I have Steam installed on my F drive and I can't find it anywhere in there and I've been through the usual C drive documents folders and can't find anything to do with Steam or Civ 5 in there!

*Edit*
I found one "config" file in the "my games" folder, but it looks like it's encrypted....it's just lines and lines of garbled characters. The graphics settings and user settings config files I can read OK.

 

[Ossian]

This is complete bogus on the texture department and disabling of AA. It is the same crap they pulled with the original Crysis until people hacked the configs and enabled the highest settings. People called them on it and they enabled the highest settings in DX9 with not much difference between DX9-10 in their expansion pack.

I call bull on Fraxis. Game is superb though.

 

[frozenwings]

You guys know you can force AA in the Nvidia control panel in specific applications, right? I have no idea why they disabled AA in DX9, but you can definitely force it and it looks just as good (to me anyway) as in the DX11 in game AA options. Granted you don't get all the benefits of DX11, but at least all the edges are smoothed out.

Now this is obviously going to put a strain on your graphics card so if you're running Civ 5 on a graphics card that is between minimum and recommended, you might get some lag. For the Nvidia side, this will probably work best on a 200 series card. Not sure if you can force AA with ATI drivers.

You noted that the shadows were great in DX11, but you it doesn't appear you even have them turned on in DX9 from looking at the screen shots. The only difference I can tell between Civ 5 with forced AA in DX9 and Civ 5 with the AA in DX11, is that there are no reflections in DX9.

 

[mva5580]

There are differences, but in my opinion they're very subtle. Not enough to warrant someone saying "Wow, I should get a new DX11 card for this game." Not even close, really.

 

[tokala]

And it should be emphasized that a DX10 card is sufficient to get the main benefits of the DX11 mode, namely the sharper textures. As one of the posters above commented, it looks like the DX9 mode is intentionally crippled.

And I have yet to see a screenshot comparing the terrain with a DX10 and a DX11 card. I still suspect that the hardware tesselation support of DX1 don't make much of a difference (looks not much different on my DX10 hardware compared to the Gallery shots images).

And if someone could figure out how to access the close in zoom capability in the retail/demo config.ini, i would be most grateful.

 

[bhavv]

And I have yet to see a screenshot comparing the terrain with a DX10 and a DX11 card. I still suspect that the hardware tesselation support of DX1 don't make much of a difference (looks not much different on my DX10 hardware compared to the Gallery shots images).

DX10 does not support Tessellation. It wouldnt even be able to use the Tessellation slider.

DX10 is very slow and crap, games optimised for DX10 actually run slower on DX10 hardware than they do under DX9.

Games optimised for DX11 run faster in DX11 than DX10 mode, as proven in other DX11 games like Battleforge.

DX11 is vastly more efficient than DX10, the differences isnt purely in visual, but how well the engine handles the calculations.

And I have yet to see a screenshot comparing the terrain with a DX10 and a DX11 card.

It wouldnt be any different to the OP pictures since the game only has DX9 and DX11 modes.

 

[ainwood]

And if someone could figure out how to access the close in zoom capability in the retail/demo config.ini, i would be most grateful.

Look in \My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\ for the config.ini file. Line to change is:

; How close you can get (11.0=default, 4.0=debug zoom)
Minimum Zoom Level = 4.000000

As for DX10 vs DX11? Not sure, haven't tried it. But as someone noted, DX10 doesn't support tessellation.

 

[Panda_Power]

DX10 was a big fail and that's why the jump to DX11 happened so quickly. There should be just 2 options, 9 & 11, which there are.

 

[Paragon]

I'm very confused.

I have a DX10 card and have been playing the game in Direct X10-11 mode.

What exactly am I missing out on by not having a DX11 card (aside from a faster experience according to bhavv)?

My game runs smoothly and fast, but am I running with the graphics I see in the DX9 screenshots here, or the DX11 ones? I'm sorry if this has been answered, but I read all the replys and am still very confused.

 

[sav]

If I don't care about the graphics quality, should I run the game in DX9 or DX10/11 mode? It seems to work in both, but I haven't the time so far to closely analyse them...

 

[chaotoroboto]

not bad, but the effects are negligible. you'd have to look that close to see *any* difference

I spent all day playing on a DX9 machine while sitting next to someone playing on a DX11 machine, and I have to tell you, the differences are NOT subtle at all. The DX11 is so profoundly superior, on every inch of the screen, in every possible way.

 

[remconius]

I played the demo last night DX9 on my nvidia 8800 GTS (all settings high) and I was surprised at how responsive it is. Sometimes it blurs a bit when moving the camera but a second later everything is sharp again.

Personally Civilization is not about graphics for me (although 5 looks awesome) and I dont think i'll upgrade to DX11. If, however, it starts to be slow in big games I will consider spending 200 euros on a better Videocard.

 

[tokala]

Look in \My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\ for the config.ini file. Line to change is:

; How close you can get (11.0=default, 4.0=debug zoom)
Minimum Zoom Level = 4.000000

config.ini is there, but it looks to be encypted. Maybe a demo "feature"

 

[Paragon]

config.ini is there, but it looks to be encypted. Maybe a demo "feature"

Yes, it's encrypted in the game's .exe file in the full version. Too bad

 

[bhavv]

I'm very confused.

I have a DX10 card and have been playing the game in Direct X10-11 mode.

What exactly am I missing out on by not having a DX11 card (aside from a faster experience according to bhavv)?

My game runs smoothly and fast, but am I running with the graphics I see in the DX9 screenshots here, or the DX11 ones? I'm sorry if this has been answered, but I read all the replys and am still very confused.

Just tessellation I think.

 

[sk065]

Could someone oblige and do a DX10 vs DX11 comparison?

 

[Panda_Power]

I don't think one person can because if your card only supports DX10 in the first place then you won't have access to DX11 and if you have a DX11 GPU then you only have the option to select DX9. You can't select DX10 with a DX11 GPU.

 

[sk065]

I don't think one person can because if your card only supports DX10 in the first place then you won't have access to DX11 and if you have a DX11 GPU then you only have the option to select DX9. You can't select DX10 with a DX11 GPU.

Fair point. Can anyone therefore confirm that DX10 cards get AA options on the setup menu and that DX10 supports unit reflections on water?

Thanks

 

[Shurdus]

The dx9 graphics are meagre, but to upgrade to dx11 for this game... Haha, no.