Pirated Final Fantasy XV Runs Better Than Purchased

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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The Dark Side of Gaming is reporting that the pirated version of Final Fantasy XV has shows some significant performance differences from the version you would purchase via Steam. A lot of this looks at load times for the game and maps contained within, however performance using a spinning data drive while actually gaming, looks to be hampered as well. Yea DRM? The video of the testing is below, however not terribly exciting. Thanks cageymaru

Check out the video.

In conclusion, the pirated version of Final Fantasy XV runs better than the Steam version. We don’t know whether this is due to the Denuvo anti-tamper tech or due to optimization issues that can be resolved via a future patch. The point is that the pirated version has significantly less stuttering, loads way faster, and runs better/faster as it is not plagued by the unoptimized scenes that we’ve witnessed in the Steam version!
 
What is more likely the DRM for steam which has been around for a decade and I might hear a peep once a year on this or a game which was knowingly buggy on day one gets a patch and is now less buggy. *scratches head. Oh yeah...steam DRM. Lets keep poking that and maybe ONCE in a lifetime we get it right and can say "see, I told you so".
 
Trepidati0n said:
What is more likely the DRM for steam which has been around for a decade and I might hear a peep once a year on this or a game which was knowingly buggy on day one gets a patch and is now less buggy. *scratches head. Oh yeah...steam DRM. Lets keep poking that and maybe ONCE in a lifetime we get it right and can say "see, I told you so".
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It's fitted with denovo 5.0
 
shatterstar said:
Not surprised. For starters, every Final fantasy game released on Steam has been buggy/had performance issues from day one with weeks-months of waiting for a fix.

It's just another sloppy SquareEnix port.
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No it is not.
 
I've had steam_api.dll mess up other games, the dev's usually blame your pc though, even if it's 5x the recommended requirements.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I still haven't seen a single reason to buy this for PC when I already own it on PS4.
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And if you don't own it on the ps4 you can get it for the ps4 at bargain bin prices.

Basically if you want the 4k version with a first person view added on with all the dlcs, then you'll want it on the PC.

If you want the game for.. well the game itself, getting it for ~15$ isn't a bad deal (https://glyde.com/buy/used-Final-Fantasy-XV-Day-One-Edition-PlayStation-4/12076696)
 
Oh let me think will adding a few ms to a shit ton of function calls increase performance or decrease it....hmm I dunno. Meh ship it and well figure it out after the fact!
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I still haven't seen a single reason to buy this for PC when I already own it on PS4.
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Because PCMasterRace? You dirty console peasant.

lkwFJlV.gif
 
DPI said:
In any case I trust the analysis of Durante (of DSFix for Dark Souls fame) much more than a known pro-piracy blog with flawed testing methodology and an axe to grind. He concluded:
Denuvo DRM has no performance impact on Final Fantasy 15
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To say it has no performance impact would be wrong, the performance impact might be *negligible* but it will have something. Any programmer will be able to tell you that an extra function call will add *something* to the time. Pedantic of me? Sure...but its not nothing.
 
DPI said:
It's hard to take seriously the claims of a known pro-piracy blog that's tried many times to push the "Denuvo kills performance" FUD narrative, but they're not doing apples-to-apples here. They took the .EXE from the demo build of the game, and are comparing it to the final/current build. And they're using a bizarre test configuration with low-resolution + spinning disk to try to arrive at what seems like a preconceived conclusion.

But if their test results are reproducible, then the testing only suggests something changed between builds - its not conclusively that "DRMz killz performins" . Because I would bet a bitcoin that if the (pirate) demo .EXE had Denuvo copy protection enabled, then performance would remain exactly the same.

In any case I trust the analysis of Durante (of DSFix for Dark Souls fame) much more than a known pro-piracy blog with flawed testing methodology and an axe to grind. He concluded:
Denuvo DRM has no performance impact on Final Fantasy 15
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Wait, Durante works for PCGamer? I'm not sure I'd trust that source. But either way we live in a world where we can perform this thing called benchmarks. Someone should do that.
 
kju1 said:
To say it has no performance impact would be wrong, the performance impact might be *negligible* but it will have something. Any programmer will be able to tell you that an extra function call will add *something* to the time. Pedantic of me? Sure...but its not nothing.
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Cool. By all means split hairs on the meaning of "no performance impact", but the forest you're missing is this: throughout the years, Denuvo-enabled titles have been benchmarked, including by pirates and pro-piracy blogs. Many of those titles ended up cracked, and in many of those cases the developer removed Denuvo and reissued the game. Pirates then re-benchmarked the game, Denuvo-free, ready to see ALL TEH EXTRA FPS so they could prove once and for all Denuvo really killz performance!

Except each time that happened - Mass Effect: Andromeda, for example - the denuvo-free version benchmarked exactly the same. But you never heard a peep about it because the "denuvo kills performance" FUDsters are cowards that can't admit they were wrong. They were never interested in the truth, they only cared about supporting their narrative.

This would be easy for anyone to test. Benchmark denuvo-enabled games, hold onto those benchmarks, and if/when the publisher removes denuvo, re-bench. Publish results to much clickbait headline fanfare.
 
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DPI said:
Cool. By all means split hairs on the meaning of "no performance impact", but the forest you're missing is this: throughout the years, Denuvo-enabled titles have been benchmarked, including by pirates and pro-piracy blogs. Many of those titles ended up cracked, and in many of those cases the developer removed Denuvo and reissued the game. Pirates then re-benchmarked the game, Denuvo-free, ready to see ALL TEH EXTRA FPS so they could prove once and for all Denuvo really killz performance!

Except each time that happened - Mass Effect: Andromeda, for example - the denuvo-free version benchmarked exactly the same. But you never heard a peep about it because the "denuvo kills performance" FUDsters are cowards that can't admit they were wrong. They were never interested in the truth, they only cared about supporting their narrative.

This would be easy for anyone to test. Benchmark denuvo-enabled games, hold onto those benchmarks, and if/when the publisher removes denuvo, re-bench. Publish results to much clickbait headline fanfare.
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You missed my point.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I'm not a console peasant, there are just some games that are better enjoyed with a controller from the comfort of my bed. I don't limit myself to one platform. 90% of my games are on my PC, but some..see the first sentence.
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Having to learn the controls for xv on kb/m was a little wonky at first, but in a system that essentially just comes down to right click left click and spamming shift + f until it runs out I realised that it wasn't gonna matter. Yes having a controller hooked up would have been more functional, but Once I started playing I pretty much just played the game straight through to the end so there wasn't a lot of free time for me to think about different setups.

I do have to admit though, it took me at least 15 or so hours to figure out I could use items, and how to do so on a keyboard, god it was awful. The ascension grid pretty much felt pointless, and I still don't know what tech points do or why/when to use the keyboard 6,7,8,9 keys to activate them. If I decide to go kill that giant turtle mountain I'll probably have to get familiar with them, but It just wasn't necesary in my playthough. I made the mistake of doing all the monster hunts I could early in the game which overleveled me by an estimated 15 or so levels making the playthrough fairly basic. Not sure if this was intentional on their part or not intended to be done initially?

I bought the steam version on launch, and tried the 3dm copy to measure performance and honestly couldn't tell any difference. There may have been some initial load in time differences but I wasn't measuring, the game ran so smooth on both a 970 media box and also my 1080ti desktop that I really couldn't notice any difference between the two versions. People can bitch and moan about DRM but I've just never seen game breaking disruption from it, and I'm completely against all forms of DRM in gaming.

Regardless of your opinions on DRM, FFxv is a pretty fun game, I'd put it a step below zelda and Xenogblade 2, if that gives you an idea of where it should rank over the last year or so of top notch RPGs.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I'm not a console peasant, there are just some games that are better enjoyed with a controller from the comfort of my bed. I don't limit myself to one platform. 90% of my games are on my PC, but some..see the first sentence.
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But you are a console peasant cause you can hook a controller up to your PC, and the PC can be hooked up to a TV. Console peasant logic, I swear.
 
DukenukemX said:
But you are a console peasant cause you can hook a controller up to your PC, and the PC can be hooked up to a TV. Console peasant logic, I swear.
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Sorry I'm not single or poor so I don't need all forms of entertainment connected to one Tv. Neither am I wasteful of my money and as such I don't need multiple PC's connected to TV's for tasks that can be completely handled by a console. Also I like Games, as such I don't find it necessary to screw myself out of being able to play good ones because of misplaced elitism. I got to play FFXV a long long time ago.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Sorry I'm not single or poor so I don't need all forms of entertainment connected to one Tv. Neither am I wasteful of my money and as such I don't need multiple PC's connected to TV's for tasks that can be completely handled by a console. Also I like Games, as such I don't find it necessary to screw myself out of being able to play good ones because of misplaced elitism. I got to play FFXV a long long time ago.
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Glad you could share this with us all on a thread about FFXV PC performance. It truly added to the discussion.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Sorry I'm not single or poor so I don't need all forms of entertainment connected to one Tv. Neither am I wasteful of my money and as such I don't need multiple PC's connected to TV's for tasks that can be completely handled by a console. Also I like Games, as such I don't find it necessary to screw myself out of being able to play good ones because of misplaced elitism. I got to play FFXV a long long time ago.
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You basically showed up in this thread to tell people you already have this on PS4, it sounds like you have the regular elitism down pat.

What people are attacking is your logic that you play on console because you want to play it with a gamepad on your bed, as though that's somehow not completely doable on PC in whatever form factor you want. Want to play on console because it has games you can't get on PC? Fine, that's a real reason. "better enjoyed with a controller" makes it look like you're out of touch by about 20 years.
 
I bought this on the cheap for PS4 late last year, then the PC version was announced so I returned it. DRM performance aside it's still a better way to play it by miles.
 
Personally I trust DSO Gaming over PC gamer any day of the week. However I encourage any user who owns this game to grab the pirated version and record some footage of the two to share with us. See for yourself if there is a difference. Let that be your guide rather than conjecture on either side.

DPI said:
It's hard to take seriously the claims of a known pro-piracy blog that's tried many times to push the "Denuvo kills performance" FUD narrative, but they're not doing apples-to-apples here. They took the .EXE from the demo build of the game, and are comparing it to the final/current build. And they're using a bizarre test configuration with low-resolution + spinning disk to try to arrive at what seems like a preconceived conclusion.

But if their test results are reproducible, then the testing only suggests something changed between builds - its not conclusively that "DRMz killz performins" . Because I would bet a bitcoin that if the (pirate) demo .EXE had Denuvo copy protection enabled, then performance would remain exactly the same.

In any case I trust the analysis of Durante (of DSFix for Dark Souls fame) much more than a pro-piracy blog with an axe to grind. He concluded: Denuvo DRM has no performance impact on Final Fantasy 15
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Kim Kardashian West ? Is that you ? Anyone who frequents DSO will get it. You certainly look like the same kind of poster.
 
I totally agree with you and I'm big fan of DSOG too. I am curious though. Has anyone confirmed that none of the audio/video or texture files were compressed or altered? Back when I used to dl games this wasn't that of an usual practice and it too can improve performance. Just wondering.
 
theBrownLlama said:
PC gamer cannot publish articles based on Pirated content. They referenced the demo.

and there's the issue whether Denuvo check was only bypassed or completely eliminated in these cracked versions.
( from what i remember for some other game, Denuvo is still there working but the check bypassed so any performance hit is still there)
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I get that, I'm just not completely convinced by the DSOG piece because we know they are biased. I think it's clear the pirated version loads faster, but as for the other issues I'm not sure if its just margin of error or some other factor they may not be considering. Also, they didn't mention if there were scenes were the non-pirated version ran faster, and the issue could be Steam related not DRM related.

I'm willing to accept the DRM loaded version is slower but I need to see more evidence from other sources before I grab my pitch fork.

I hate DRM/Denuvo btw.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Sorry I'm not single or poor so I don't need all forms of entertainment connected to one Tv. Neither am I wasteful of my money and as such I don't need multiple PC's connected to TV's for tasks that can be completely handled by a console. Also I like Games, as such I don't find it necessary to screw myself out of being able to play good ones because of misplaced elitism. I got to play FFXV a long long time ago.
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so get an android box or steam link and stream them to your tv? The only things I have found not to be a good idea for streaming is FPS against other people but beyond that I have had zero issues streaming some good RPG games to my upstairs TV and just enjoying them with a controller.
 
Ragenrok said:
so get an android box or steam link and stream them to your tv? The only things I have found not to be a good idea for streaming is FPS against other people but beyond that I have had zero issues streaming some good RPG games to my upstairs TV and just enjoying them with a controller.
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Reference the not single part of my comment. A wife and two kids means other people like using the TV. Also as mentioned I game very differently on my PC vs my console. My PC is a multi monitor setup at a desk, my console's are connected to a TV in front of a couch or bed. Very different use cases. The whole PC vs Console nonsense is just silly. There doesn't need to be an or, there should be an "and".
 
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