'Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus' Update Improves Stability On Nvidia 10-Series GPUs
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus had a “Vault” option in its menu that wasn’t accessible at launch. However, it had a countdown timer, which meant that the Vault would reveal something when it hit zero. With the latest update, fans can now check out the its contents. PC players will also benefit from the update because it contains a few fixes for the platform.
Those using one of Nvidia’s 10-series GPUs should see a more stable experience during gameplay. However, it came at a cost: The studio disabled the cards’ ability to perform asynchronous compute tasks until a fix for the issue comes in a future driver update. If you’re playing on a Windows 10 system, you should also see improved stability on Nvidia’s GPU when playing at a resolution other than 4K when DPI scaling is set to 175% on a 4K monitor. There’s even more stability improvements on the same set of cards if you changed the resolution to 4K while the DPI scale is on 125% or 150%.
If you’re playing on the recently released Xbox One X, you’ll get a visual upgrade. In addition to 4K resolution support, the update also allows for dynamic resolution scaling.
Everyone can now access the Vault, and it contains 10 “combat simulations” that will test your skills with the game’s vast arsenal of weapons. You can access these simulations from the main menu or from the Eva’s Hammer U-boat. However, you’ll need to progress through Chapter 2 in the campaign in order to try out the scenarios. Each of these missions also comes with leaderboards so you can see how your performance stacks up with other players.
Once you’re done with the campaign and combat missions, you can play even more content with Episode Zero of “The Freedom Chronicles” season pass. You’ll follow the story of three characters—Joseph Stallion, Jessica Valiant, and Gerald Wilkins —as they embark on their own fight against the Nazi regime in another part of America. You’ll have some new abilities and weapons at your disposal in this first of a three-part series. Episode Zero is available for those who pre-ordered Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, but it’s also available if you buy the season pass for $25.
| Name | Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus |
|---|---|
| Type | First-person shooter, action |
| Developer | Machine Games |
| Publisher | Bethesda Softworks |
| Platforms | PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
| Where To Buy | SteamPlayStation StoreXbox StoreAmazonBest BuyTargetWalmartGameStop |
| Release Date | October 27, 2017 |
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Rexly Peñaflorida is a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware covering topics such as computer hardware, video games, and general technology news.
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derekullo So they knowingly released an unstable game with a stability patch locked behind a timer ...Reply -
kuhndj67 Patch and Vault don't seem to be related... but the way the article was written it sort of appeared they were. Vault appears to have the combat sim stuff that has cloud content (leaderboard...), I wonder if they delayed that content so they could get the backend infrastructure in place to support it. Like most games today they were probably down to the wire just getting the base game 'done' (if any new release can be considered done these days).Reply -
10tacle Massive downvotes/not recommended ratings on Steam. Most complaints revolved around crashes. However, as of the patch some of those initial downthumb reviewers have stated that upgrading their GPU drivers for this game has fixed their crashing issue (the ones I saw did not say if they were using an Nvidia or AMD GPU nor what series GPU). I'll wait until those goes on sale on Steam for $19.99 next year. I'm not paying $60 for this broken game up front.Reply
At some point, we as consumers MUST stop supporting rush releases. This keeps happening year after year. I think it's related to the console versions being fine and the backporting to PC being the issue. The developer and publisher don't want to hold up a release of a game just because of a PC port problem and they just release all versions for quick ROI sales. -
jaexyr I don't know where to begin with my complaints. However, regarding the headline, I had no issue with my 1080 on the release date. Only after their first fix for AMD issues did the game require a driver update. Game never crashed once on my system. Sound presets were indistinguishable and the guns need more emphasis. Odd Music. I was disappointed at how beautiful the visuals were, yet the game was absolutely dry. Anticlimactic. Moments and opportunities to make the game/story interesting... and IMO felt more like a chore to get through. Random ammo and pickups EVERYWHERE... like seriously, don't bother trying to be conservative or stealthy, just shoot everything.Reply -
Lasselundberg i preordered the game and im done with it....i have a 3770K 32gb ram 1070 ...(and 680ti+980ti thats mining in the background)....i have had zero crashes and i played from day one. however game will crash if you tab out to do something else....but thats it...there have been a few graphical mistakes in the game like white/black squares or shadows extending weird, but not enough to ruin the game.....what bugged me was when characters talk, the movement of their mouths is just garbage...Reply -
Lasselundberg ahh the hidden stuff....i hated them too, its used to extend the time it takes to complete the game, dont know if finding it all gets you something other than an achievement which i dont care aboutReply -
dstarr3 Can also vouch, I played it in its entirety on launch weekend, had zero problems running it. Running on ultra, solid 60fps the whole time. Indistinguishable from a perfectly polished piece of software for me. 980 Ti and 4790k.Reply -
wysir I didn't have any issues before this patch, now I have input lag which is frustrating and makes the game un-enjoyable.Reply
i5 4690K
GTX 1080ti -
king3pj Reply20353264 said:Massive downvotes/not recommended ratings on Steam. Most complaints revolved around crashes. However, as of the patch some of those initial downthumb reviewers have stated that upgrading their GPU drivers for this game has fixed their crashing issue (the ones I saw did not say if they were using an Nvidia or AMD GPU nor what series GPU). I'll wait until those goes on sale on Steam for $19.99 next year. I'm not paying $60 for this broken game up front.
At some point, we as consumers MUST stop supporting rush releases. This keeps happening year after year. I think it's related to the console versions being fine and the backporting to PC being the issue. The developer and publisher don't want to hold up a release of a game just because of a PC port problem and they just release all versions for quick ROI sales.
Like you mentioned I think many of the problems came from people not updating their drivers. It sucks that a game would have so many problems without the game ready drivers but I think I remember Doom having issues with older drivers too. Might have something to do with the game running on Vulkan instead of DX11 or DX12. Both AMD and Nvidia were quick to put out drivers specifically for this game and I really think many of the problems people are seeing would be solved if they just updated their drivers.
I'm running an i5-4690k and 1070 and getting about 130-135 FPS on Ultra settings with my 2560x1440 144Hz gsync monitor. The game runs and looks great and I haven't experienced a single crash or noticeable bug during gameplay. I did have one crash the first time I changed resolution from 1080p to 1440p but since then everything has been fine. -
10tacle Reply20356232 said:I'm running an i5-4690k and 1070 and getting about 130-135 FPS on Ultra settings with my 2560x1440 144Hz gsync monitor.
Wow. Most benchmark test suites I've seen show a 1070 at 1440p between 80-90FPS on Ultra. These guys were hitting low 60s with a 1070 on the super-ultra quality ("Mein leben!"):
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/wolfenstein_ii_the_new_colossus_pc_graphics_analysis_benchmark_review,5.html