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Far Cry AMD64 Edition - A First Look at 64-bit Gaming

 by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 10, 2005 4:51 AM EST
59 Comments | Add A Comment
59 Comments

64-bit Far Cry Image Quality

Performance is only one aspect of the new Far Cry patches - the biggest impact will be visual. The visual improvements in the new patches are definitely noticeable, but not across the board.


Hold mouse over image to see the same scene with the new 64-bit patches applied.

For example, the improvements range from very subtle in some levels (see above) to major in others. The improvements in the Pier level are quite bold as you can see by the screenshot comparison below:


Hold mouse over image to see the same scene with the new 64-bit patches applied.

The differences in the Pier level are numerous. First, the improvement to draw distance is very noticeable:


Hold mouse over image to see the same scene with the new 64-bit patches applied.

You can see additional detail in the rock textures:


Hold mouse over image to see the same scene with the new 64-bit patches applied.

And finally, the water looks a lot better in the 64-bit version:


Hold mouse over image to see the same scene with the new 64-bit patches applied.

And of course, there are the new levels that are only available to those running the 64-bit version:


Final Words

Although AMD and Ubisoft are definitely trying to provide 64-bit gamers with added value, it's honestly going to take games that depend on the benefits of a 64-bit OS to really sell the gaming population on 64-bit. For fans of Far Cry, there's no reason not to try the new patches, but we wouldn't expect a mass exodus to x64 Edition because of the content that's been enabled here.

AMD's goals are quite admirable, but the fact of the matter is that none of the visual improvements enabled by the Far Cry patches had anything to do with AMD64 or EM64T. They are artificially limited to run on those platforms alone, but could work just as well on a 32-bit platform.

64-bit Far Cry Performance
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  • AnnihilatorX - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - link

    #8

    You have to understand though, if AMD didn't put the money and effort in it these features won't be available at all.

    Plus they didn't charge you for extra for their CPU because they put some money into FarCry did they?

  • Backslider - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - link

    "AMD's goals are quite admirable, but the fact of the matter is that none of the visual improvements enabled by the Far Cry patches had anything to do with AMD64 or EM64T - they are artificially limited to run on those platforms alone, but could work just as well on a 32-bit platform."

    This sickens me. Enable special things for people who bought special hard ware, EVEN THOUGH THE HARDWARE MAKES NO DIFFERENCE TO HOW IT RUNS!

    Thats just a pathetic ploy at the customer to convince them to adopt new hardware they dont need.

    Sad Really. See if I buy anything from these assholes.

  • Anemone - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - link

    Nice to see ANY improvement, but it's tiny really. The painful detraction to this gain is that most 32 on 64 programs are running slower such that the gain in one is offset by losses in a dozen or more other apps.

    But we KNEW it would take years before the power of 64bit would become commonplace even having the hardware and an OS for the hardware. But I'm seeing nothing to make me compelled to switch yet, which kind of hurts the progress :(

    $.02

  • nserra - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - link

    Well I’m impressed the image quality is superb, but I don’t know if the added image quality has more to do with the graphics card than to the processor.

    Amd and Ubi should have made the older "image quality" mode available just to compare.

  • rqle - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - link

    nothing big, but the improvement is very much welcome.

  • AnandThenMan - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - link

    #2, exactly right.

    Mildly impressed with the gains, better than nothing.

  • wien - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - link

    Hmm.. That was mildly disappointing. I was sure the extra registers would have more of an impact than that.

  • weiran - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - link

    Heh, can't get Safedisc working in 64-bit?

  • Pjotr - Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - link

    What a pity, still, 4-6 % improvements are nothing to sneeze at, some 200 GHz meaning you can opt for a speed grade lower CPU and save some money.
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