A discussion on Framerates

[PeteJ]

As a gamer I personally don't give two hoots about the framerate, so long as it isn't gamebreaking. If a game runs at 1fps, and is still fun, then that's fine by me. That's unlikely, but hey, could happen.

Likewise, if a game is 30fps and is still fun, then that's all that matters to me. In fact, the framerate isn't even something I consider and to be honest it surprises me that anyone actually cares about it.

But clearly some people do, hence this thread.

It has come to the point where threads such as the PGR4 headline (and PGR3, 2 and 1 before it!) are being full up with framerate discussion. People like me, who actually care about the game and the series, do not want to have to wade through endless talk about 60 and 30fps to get to the talk about the game itself. This framerate discussion is influensing far too many topics in my opinion.

So here you go, discuss framerates!

[Kongster]

LOL - It has already been done here. Quite a thread that was - it lasted for 26 pages!

[PeteJ]

Yeah I know, decided to start another clean

[Mr_Skinny]

So.... how many fps do you guys get on Minesweeper?

Edit by charlesr: please don't spoil it for the guys that actually want to discuss it.

[El Leone]

I'm just going to come in and say that a good frame rate won't hide a ****ty game.

[Crisp_Rapper]

60 for me, i don't mind if the graphics have to take a hit, i just needs smoothness.

[JP]

Lol I can't believe that we have one thread about this let alone two...

The fps is just one part of many different things that make a game work well/badly. The fps need to be correct for each individual game and need to balance with everything else involved in the game.

You can't dismiss a game just because it has 30fps or crappy graphics or terrible story or awful music or anything else like that. Either a game works...or it doesn't.

Obviously, all the things I've mentioned above and many more can affect the final quality of a game but wouldn't necessarily ruin it.

There are probably games which were crap in all the areas I mentioned and still ended up being fun to play.

I can't think of any though lol.

[stormbreak]

Most people won't be able to tell the difference between 30 or 60fps, whereas they can see the difference between a lot of graphical details, and not so much.
I can't tell the difference between both, although it may be fairly obvious if a fast game like F-Zero ran slower. I prefer having the fancy graphics in this case.

I hope I will never be able to tell the difference as it seems a lot of people are pissed off when certain games run at 30fps, and I don't want it to ruin my enjoyment

btw, I can tell when there are frame-rate drops, I'm not so useless

[On The Edge of Insanity]

I'm just going to come in and say that a good frame rate won't hide a ****ty game.

But a ****ty framerate can hurt an otherwise good game

[El Leone]

It can work both ways indeed.

[Dogg Thang]

For me, it totally depends on the game. Most games are fine at 30fps for me. I have no problems with that. However, for a game that relies on speed, like a racing game, I would far prefer 60fps. If something has to give, I'd rather it was track detail or something.

I think if frame rate is sacrificed in favour of pretty stills in a racing game, it's a problem.

[MarioMark]

The frame rate topic only ever comes up in racing game threads because racing games are all about speed. Halo 2 was fine at 30FPS, because FPS's (First Person Shooters) are slower paced. Having said that; Metroid Prime 1 and 2 on the GameCube we're great at 60 FPS, very smooth.

I think all racing games these days need to be 60, a game about speed needs to be fast. Look at F Zero for the GameCube fan an example!

FPS means Frames Per Second and First Person Shooter. I've got a headache now.

[PeteJ]

But is PGR really made worse because it runs at 30fps? I don't think it is. It's all about the sensation of speed, and PGR is very good at that.

[in5ane]

Halo 2 was fine at 30FPS, because FPS's (First Person Shooters) are slower paced.

Woah, you try telling a PC-gamer that 30fps is ok for a shooter... I used to have Quake 3 locked on 160something frames per second because it gave you the best jump physics. I think that's why driving people like high FPS as well, more chance to see things on screen quickly, and more polling for player input = more chance to react quickly and precisely.

[Dogg Thang]

But is PGR really made worse because it runs at 30fps? I don't think it is. It's all about the sensation of speed, and PGR is very good at that.

If it's made better by running at 60fps (and I think it is), then I think by default that makes it worse at 30fps. PGR may well be very good at speed. But it would be better at it running 60fps.