Call of Duty 4 S-3D Review

[Neil]

Nathan Steinke put this great game review together for Activision's Call of Duty 4.

I haven't had much luck running the game on my 8800GTS 512 with the NVIDIA Vista driver. Has anyone else had any luck with an 8800GTS 512? For me it stutters every 4 seconds, and I can't find the cause. The problem is unique to this game.

Regards,
Neil

[LawnDart]

The problem is not unique to the game. It is unique with that card I think. It is fine with my 8800GTX.

I put my 8800GTS in and tried it. It stutters like mentioned but with the sniper rifle only. I turned off the laser sight "Ctrl+F12" and the stutter went away with that gun. Which doesn't matter for that gun since it doesn't have a laser sight anyway.

So... Use laser sight most of the time. If the stutter bothers you with the sniper rifle, Ctrl+F12 to turn it off for that mission, turn it back on for the other missions and go on your mary way.

As you know, the driver is beta, so maybe it will be fixed in a later version.

I hope this helps.

Cheers...

P.S. COD4 is "FAR" from unplayable with a 8800GTS

[cybereality]

Yeah, I have the same problem with COD4 on the 8800GTS 512MB. I only have the demo, but it stutters really bad at one part. I think I narrowed it down to the smoke effect. Not the regular smoke, but that really sick smoke at the beginning of the level on a highway. Its the first part of the COD4 demo. Anyway, it slows the game down to a crawl. I am usually getting well above 60 fps (probably over 100+) in 2D. In 3d, at those parts it will slow to like 2 fps if even that. Clearly a bug. Even setting all settings to low did not fix it. You can escape this easy by looking down, or walking backwards (away from the cloud of smoke). Later in the level the FPS will return to around 45fps+ in S3D. Its just on that one part for me. I haven't tried the full game yet but I think its the same problem (I have it for Xbox, not for the PC).

[Neil]

I had the stutter problem on the Epilogue (the ship) and "All Ghillied Up" levels. I'll update the review as soon as it is compatible with my equipment.

Regards,
Neil

[LawnDart]

Niel: Try turning off the laser sight and trying it in the "All Gillied Up" levels like I mentioned. It would be interesting to see if it stops the stutter like it did on mine.

I Can't remember the name of the level that has the tanks on the overpass. I'll try to find it and see what happens.

[Neil]

I never got far enough to turn the laser sight on!

That's the problem. I'll test it again.

Regards,
Neil

[android78]

Thanks for the review Nathan!
After reading the review, even though I only have an 8800GTS320MB (and am still only running an AMD 3200 ) I thought I'd give it a go. With the final IZ3D beta and my trusty anaglyph glasses I booted it up, not expecting much... I was wrong!!! It played with very reasonable framerate and I rarely have issues with it. There were a couple of times when I thought it had crashed, but 5 seconds later it resumed as if there was nothing wrong. Probably because I'm too lazy to turn off my zone alarm.
I have to say the detail and everything in this game has given me the most realistic virtual experience I have ever had. I don't know what it is, but it seems 100* better then crysis in S3D. The only thing that detracts is, as per nearly all shooters in S3D, the gun is rendered at the wrong size and depth (looks like it's about 20 Ft long and, when the environment is rendered realistically, the end of it is behind objects that are closer then about 20 Ft away, any programmers can explain why they do this). This does make it easier to aim since the site is much closer to the target, but not realistic.
I was impressed by how well the normal mapping, shadows and reflections were rendered to a point where I didn't even notice them, I was just there in the war. The cut scenes in S3D are also of cinema quality. I think the makers of Beowulf could actually learn a thing or two, I was sucked in with heart in throat being lead to my own execution. And this is only using Anaglyph... I can only dream how it would be with good shutterglasses or IZ3D monitor.
The only thing that didn't work for me, because I using anaglyph (nothing wrong with the IZ3D drivers or the game) was night vision. Since this is green, it is only really rendered in the right eye, which is a shame. I wonder if there would be a way for anaglyph drivers to convert the green filter used for night vision to B&W so it would still be rendered in both eyes. Just a thought. Or maybe it's time for me to get a better S3D solution.
It's Friday... Can't wait to get home and play some more!!!

[LawnDart]

Neil: I understand what you're saying. There may be a bit of confusion.

The COD4 laser sight works in stereo correctly in game. That is differant than the NVIDIA stereo laser sight. The stereo aspect of the COD4 laser sight is on by default when the game starts. Selecting Ctrl+F12 Turns it off and on. You can switch it off as soon as the level is loaded. It will stay in that state until you restart the game.

Hope this helps.

[nathansteinke]

I'm glad you liked it, Android! For whatever reason, COD4 has probably been my best S3D experience yet, and I really loved the game.
-Nate

[Neil]

Hi Guys!

I'm trying to record a timedemo of this game, but I can't figure out how to play it back. I have an SPD file, but I have no clue what to do with it.

All help appreciated.

Regards,
Neil

[yuriythebest]

I'll definitely give this game a shot once I have some free hard drive space..

regarding why programmers make giant guns- a large object far away can look the same as a smaller version of the same object close up in 2d. It's one of those things they didn't count on being open to scrutiny since how on earth would a 2d gamer be able to tell? In fact, as any CG artist will tell ya, all CG art is the art of illusion, and of hiding stuff from the public and 'cheating' them into an awesome experience. This is one of those 'cheats' that got away.