Star Control Reboot: Nitrous Engine Stress Test

Channel:

internisus

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351

Published on February 1, 2014 4:56:56 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0rO2DjaFzE

Game:

Kerbal Space Program (2015)

Duration: 16:22

10,249 views

44

Oxide Games and Stardock Entertainment have made available a stress test/benchmarking utility that showcases the engine that will be used for (among other things) the forthcoming Star Control reboot. I've recorded some footage and tried to demonstrate the capabilities of the engine as well as its interaction with my hardware by repeatedly toggling anti-aliasing and seeking varied perspectives of the space battle. The footage was recorded using a capture card so that there is no impact on performance. Watch as much or as little as you like; I find it surprisingly mesmerizing.

As you can see, the engine is capable of rendering enormous space battles, but a large number of units on screen while anti-aliasing is active severely tanks the framerate even with strong hardware. Performance is much more steady while AA is turned off, but then the quality of the graphics takes a substantial hit, with even the overall starscape in the background losing its definition. This is all to be expected. Unfortunately, there aren't many more useful graphics options; the launcher provides a simple quality setting, but it didn't affect performance on my computer nearly as much as AA did, so I left it at the Extreme level.

The benchmark correctly identified my hardware (Intel 4770k and Nvidia GTX 680), but you don't need to extrapolate your own computer's capabilities based on mine; find out yourself with the free stress test! You can download it here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/267130/ The tool does include some interactivity, as you can choose a ship on which to focus the camera and then zoom, rotate, and pan from there. As I mentioned, it's more fun to watch than you might expect from a benchmark!

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