[This post is currently Text-Only Mode, for now. I will be returning and adding some Screenshots gradually,
but I wanted to quickly get this Posted, to help others that were initially disappointed, like me, possibly enjoy 76.]
Before I even finish a 'First Impressions, From The B.E.T.A. And Beyond' post I am working on, I wanted to quickly post something here that might help those that are feeling 'frustrated' with Fallout 76... 'Disappointed' perhaps, as I was at first - although I couldn't put words to the feeling right away - all I knew is I was looking forward to this 'next fallout game' and thinking it was going to be "bigger and better than Fallout 4", only to feel... well, 'disappointed' is about the best word I can utilize really. All other words I would say, would come out of that feeling. The feeling that Fallout 76 gave me - a long-time player of Fallout games - having played every one in the series, spending over 2000+ hours in the Commonwealth of Fallout 4, building up Settlements and ignoring the Main Questline... it wasn't initially a good feeling, this game; and so I wanted to help other Gamers, here. Others that felt like I did. Gamers that enjoyed past Fallout games and really wanted to enjoy this one... #ReallyWantToEnjoyFallout76
While trying not to repeat too much of what I am putting into my 'First Impressions' posting, in progress, let me summarize what I went through - see if it is the same as you, my fellow Appalachian Vault Dweller [no big spoilers, some Game Concepts and Tips included]:
Start the game with wide eyes, big smile, drink nearby, ready to start exploring a huge, new Fallout world!
See the models/meshes are mostly the same as Fallout 4. That's fine, I guess. They are allowed to use their own assets over again.
See the controls are odd, different for every 'category' of gameplay (such as Building vs Combat). Oh it was designed for Console first. That's fine, I guess. I'll get used to the controls over time. [I personally don't want to bash Consoles, I like them as well. Although it makes game developing companies 'hold back' a bit, to try to stay within the limits of consoles (as opposed to pushing the limits of what PCs can do these days); I think we should all try, as Gamers, to get along #GamersNoMatterWhat ]
See that there is not much to interact with in Vault 76. It seems not only 'abandoned' but 'dead'... That's fine, I guess. They want to push you out into the big world quickly. Here we go!
See that the world looks beautiful... even if a 'dated' still. Some aspects are fantastic, so pretty; but some seems to be rehashes of Fallout 4 capability. That's fine, I guess. Is it a new engine that can't fully utilize yet? Or is it the old game engine with a bunch of tape and gum and Band-Aid™'s on it - enough to make it look almost like a new game engine?
See that the animations and movement and combat are a bit... 'clunky'. V.A.T.S. is odd and doesn't slow down the game. That's fine, I guess. It can't slow down other players, due to there being some kind of PvP in this game, I heard, so that's fair I suppose. It's like a weird Aimbot really, one that only works if you have enough Action Points. That's ok.
See that 80% of the models/meshes are the same as Fallout 4 - along with the issue of "many Textures 'loading in low-rez versions' sometimes" - just like Fallout 4. That's fine, I guess. If it's their old engine, with the old texture problems... Maybe they'll solve that someday. It doesn't look bad on HIGH Textures Setting, even though it makes it 'choppy' or 'stutter' for me.
See that there are literally no other Humans, other than a few Players you bump into - but you don't see many, often. How many people are on this world? Oh, it's just one Server out of many? Oh, it's only about 20 people? That's fine, I guess. They can't put thousands of players on one server, I suppose. Still, I'm not seeing people that often. That one guy tried to kill me. That one person tried to Trade but it didn't work. Oh well, I'm going to play more 'solo' style anyway - I usually play that way.
See that the 'no Human NPCs anywhere' takes a lot of the 'fun' out of the game. There is no longer a purpose or reason to do all of these things, it feels like. It's fun for a while, but soon gets 'dull'... That's fine, I guess. They are trying to make it more of a desolate, isolated world I suppose. Trying to really make it feel 'dead' and sad... Aren't they? That has to be why.
See that you don't seem to bump into other Players very often, other than at the very start, and when you do they either try to kill you or help you with one Quest then run off on their own. That's fine, I guess. I was going to play more 'solo' anyway. Oh, this House I can build (the C.A.M.P.) is cool. Maybe I'll leave these benches out in the open so others can use them. Oh, I can lock the door? Nah, I'll leave it open, so other Vault Dwellers can use my stuff and maybe have a pick through my garden!
See that you can only hold 400 'pounds' of items in your Bank/Inventory (called a Stash). What? It's already full and I'm not even Level 10! How the heck am I supposed to collect anything for Building, Crafting, Maintenance of Armor, Maintenance of Weapons, I have to Plant Food and collect Water... This 400 'things' limit is going to be rough...
See that the Quests are all given by Robots or Holotapes. See that the world is large, but it also takes a long time to get anywhere - unless you want to spend Caps to Fast Travel. That's fine, I guess. I'll sell some of all this Scrap and stuff I have, I'll get lots of Caps soon. Especially since I have to Sell so much, due to the '400 Stash Limit'.
See that the Vendors/Merchants are all limited to 200 Caps. What? That's fine, I guess. Fallout 4 had Vendor cash limits too, I'll just hop between different Vendors and clean them all out, which will also allow me to see what they all have for sale...
See that almost all the Vendors are 'linked' [by Faction] where you can't just 'go to a different Vendor and Sell more stuff'. What?? Only 200 Caps? And these guys are LINKED? How the heck am I supposed to get rid of all this Scrap and Ammo and things, without being able to Sell to different Vendors? This is getting wacked...
See that you can go far across the Map, to find different Vendors of different Factions, that will have more Caps to Sell to - but find that they too, are limited to 200 Caps. Also, see that it costs Caps to Fast Travel - and you can't Fast Travel while Overencumbered anyway. That's fine, I guess. You couldn't Fast Travel in Fallout 4 while Overencumbered. But I really want to Sell all this stuff I'm not using. Hell, I Scrapped those 16 Weapons from that last Quest alone...
See that your Stash is Full, you can't Sell to Vendors, everything takes up Space, while everything still has Value (to Build, or Craft, etc etc). What the heck?? I basically have to stop Looting... Have to stop picking up things... in a Fallout game... this doesn't make any sense...
See that it is possible, that they are trying to force Players to interact. Make you Trade with others, selling or giving your stuff away, instead of Collecting to Build/Craft with and/or Selling to Vendors for money. That's fine, I guess. I also see that you can only build 'ONE HOUSE', which is mine (the C.A.M.P.), so that's ok I guess. I suppose I don't need all this building material. But still... this is crazy that I already feel like I 'can't pick anything up' as often. In a Fallout game!
It was at this point, that I realized that this game is so different ('yet so much the same') that it required a change of state of mind. I was playing Fallout 76, 'like Fallout 4' - and was coming up against walls and limits and differences - and becoming more and more disappointed...
The world does seem huge, that's good. It doesn't look 'bad' but it looks 'wierd'. The graphics aren't too bad, but if I turn them down just one notch, they start to look 'ugly' really fast. That's a bit wierd. Also, things seem to be 'lumped together' somewhat. For example, Bump Mapping and Ambient Occlusion seem to be controlled as part of the "Shadows" Setting ('bumps on things made by shading' and 'shadows that objects cast on nearby objects', respectively). If I turn down "Shadows" even one notch (from ULTRA to HIGH), these elements look 'bad' quickly...[I'm not a Developer or Programmer, so maybe that's how those things are supposed to work - personally, I thought those elements fall more under "Lighting", etc].
As of the time of starting this Posting, if I turn everything up with the ULTRA Setting, it looks pretty good actually, but it's 'choppy' and 'stutter' is there, for me [kind of like how it ran for me when I tried the High Resolution Texture Pack in Fallout 4 - yet some Textures still load in 'low rez' (like Fallout 4 did) lol]. Oh well, I'll put up with that, for now. Maybe someday I'll be able to Upgrade and enjoy it with the ULTRA Setting all over again [I often do this with older games, going back to them and 'maxing them out', enjoying them all over again at their highest settings]. Since I play more 'solo' style anyway, I don't have to worry about it leaving me open to dying to other players nearby as much, or ruining other teammates' experience with my 'lag' (by being affected by the stuttering/lag due to graphical settings).
There are other players in this Fallout iteration - one of their main Selling Points - but I don't seem them too often... In the Screenshot above, there are actually a couple other Players in Vault 76, during the B.E.T.A. when this image was taken; but I seem to be the only one interested in exploring the Vault itself, playing with things and actually watching the Training Video [lol]. I don't mind that I rarely saw people in the game, especially when some of them are just trying to fight or kill me anyway. Come to think of it, why don't they make PvP servers and PvE servers? ARK, another 'open world, survival game' does this - heck, one of the most successful MMO games of all time, did this - World Of Warcraft. If they made different servers for each game type, both parties would be happier, I think. PvP'ers can attack and fight anyone at any time, something I think they wanted to do in this game (my personal idea is to have PvP Servers be "Always On PVP" - that means no Pacifist Mode! Isn't that what PvP is about?). PvE'ers can Explore and Quest on PVE Servers to their heart's content, not having to worry about getting killed or their C.A.M.P. vandalized while they are away [I personally had some of my house destroyed by vandals already - oh, animals can attack your home? Maybe it was them, too - either way, in a fully-PVE Server, you won't have to worry about others wrecking your home].
I also notice that I am constantly stuck at 400 Stash Limit and opening my Pip-Boy everywhere I go, to play "Inventory Management 76" after doing anything... You can see just above, my Weight Capacity (carrying items on person) is 230 units at the moment, and the Stash is shown on the right (the 'bank'), and it is almost topped out at 400; and this happens very easily and is like that almost all the time afterward. It's getting pretty annoying, frankly. I am seriously feeling like I am 'not wanting to pick things up' - and that's bad, for a Fallout game... Doesn't everything have Value, even Junk, since Fallout 4?
Maybe, I thought, I have to change my approach this game...
Playing Fallout 76 'like it was Fallout 4' is just getting me more annoyed and disappointed every game session. So, I took a moment to step back and look at how Fallout 76 operates (and how it is different than Fallout 4 - remember, it is a 'side step' or 'spinoff' of the Fallout Series - they even stated specifically that it is not to be considered "Fallout 5").
In Fallout 76, you don't build up Houses on end, entire Towns like you do with Fallout 4 (the Settlements, something I had a ton of fun building up for my little Settlers, keeping them happy). OK. Then I don't really need all this Building material/Scrap for that, now that my C.A.M.P. is pretty much complete.
I have a little Cabin, Water, some Food growing, some Turrets up on the roof, all the Crafting Workbenches I could build, my Stash and a Bed to Rest in. I'll leave my Door open/unlocked so others can use my C.A.M.P.; I'm pretty much set, anyway. I'll just try to collect less of Building mats now then. Maybe I'll Sell what I can to Vendors [that 200 Caps limit, ugh] and I guess... I'll have to Drop the rest. That makes me sad, but I guess that's the way it is in Fo76.
In Fallout 76, the game limits how much you can Carry (which is the same as Fallout 4, limited by your Strength) but 76 also limits your 'bank' or 'workshop inventory' (the "Stash" mentioned above). It is no longer 'Unlimited' like in Fallout 4 Workbenches, but capped at "400"... That's crazy to me, but maybe it's to force people to interact with other Players more. Sell stuff to them, or give it away to new players. Hmmm. I guess this means, I'll be 'dropping' a lot of stuff, since I still need Materials for Ammo, Armor and Weapon upkeep, Food and Drink crafting, etc. Literally just throwing stuff away will take some getting used to (since in Fallout 4 I could eventually Sell it all, somewhere or another..). Maybe I'll drop it near the Starting Areas, to help others out! That will help make dropping all that stuff feel better [to me, heh].
The world is huge. Not 'absolutely immense', but it does seem larger than Fallout 4 so far [I personally have seen less than half of the Map, but more than 1/4 of it, so far]. Fast Travel costs Caps, the farther away, the more it costs. I'm paying about 30 to get horizontally across the map, crossing two large areas... Okay, I'll have to walk more, instead of Fast Travelling (especially since I'm Overburdened after clearing out an area, or doing a Quest).
Capture by Bethesda
The world is also 'empty' feeling. I mean, it looks pretty good actually - the architecture, the surroundings, the visual effects - but this "No Human NPCs" thing makes the world feel pretty depressing... Why even do Quests? Who am I helping, doing them, since everyone is dead? I rarely run into Players, so it can't be them. There really is something psychological, to 'picking up' and 'turning in' Quests/Missions to human beings in games... Maybe they'll increase the number of Players on a Server someday. I dunno.
You know what? The huge, open world. The lack of NPCs - the only 'mobs' (mobile NPCs) are enemies, and they are kind of spread out a bit. The game seems to be more 'exploring' and less 'interacting with others' (as a 'Solo' style player). You know what this reminds me of? Minecraft.
With Fallout 76's huge, open world, the ability to 'fight' with other players if you really wanted to; but mainly the goals seeming to be Explore and Experience the world, 'open but barren' as it is - to me, this is indeed much like Minecraft, or even more apt perhaps, No Man's Sky [Now Including "Game Release Disappointment"™! lol BTW, No Man's Sky is more fun now, with Base Building and more NPCs and Missions and Shortcuts put in it]. Maybe I'll play 76 that way... Explore. Quest. Survive. [don't make Metal Gear: Survive joke... don't make Metal Gear: Survive joke...] Less like Fallout 4 and more like Single Player Minecraft, or No Man's Sky, yeah. A huge world to explore, mostly barren of other NPCs, save for Enemies. Think: MC or NMS...
You know what? After playing a while with this mindset; I am really enjoying the game more!
It's weird, the less I play the game like 'Fallout 4' and the more I play it like Minecraft, more like a "Fallout Metal Gear: Survive" [sorry I couldn't resist] - the more I am finding I am actually enjoying Fallout 76! The more I play the game like 'No Man's Sky' [trying not to make the 'game release disappointment' joke again...], the more that I just Explore and Quest and kill the Enemies I run into along the way - and try not to think of Fallout 4 - the more I am actually enjoying this game.
Note: this thought concept (line of thinking) is probably geared more for a Solo-style player of the game. A PvP'er might have more fun thinking/playing it like Planetside 2 or even more so, Ark or Rust. I personally still think they should have separate PvP and PvE servers though - as it is, both parties are not happy with how they play together. PvPers can't start proper fights and PvE'ers are annoyed at the ones that want to fight... Beth, wouldn't separate servers that allow both parties to experience the game how they want, solve that?
Anyway, I've stated my point and now I'm rambling [well I guess I did call this an 'editorial' so it's sort of allowed, heh]: the less that I approached the game like Fallout 4 and the more I played the game like it was Minecraft or No Man's Sky, the more I enjoyed Fallout 76... They did say it was 'different', they did say they were 'trying something new'... So maybe we shouldn't approach this game like it was "Fallout 4.5"...
There are a lot of issues with the game, a bunch of bugs (insert Bugthesda joke here), a lot of changes that can happen to improve the game; but as it stands, it is not a total loss, even though the game does 'feel' quite despondent (lonely)... This is a different 'branch' of Fallout, a different experience. They've even stated that "this is not Fallout 5" and "the next Fallout 5, which will be Single Player" is going to come - which is fantastic and awesome for us Fallout Fans - but that also means that this is not it. The more I keep this in mind, the more I play this game like the open-world, exploration, survival game that it seems to be; the more I am enjoying it. At least, it has helped me. Perhaps it will help you, too.
This article has been initially posted as Text-Only at this time, to speed up publishing, focusing on a certain issue. I will return to this posting and add more data on Quality and Performance, Screenshots and then eventually Share it on Twitter/Google+/etc... Soon™
[This past Christmas, my father gave me a neat little tablet to play on - Thanks, Dad! I have been enjoying the heck out of it, learning what it does (cough how to use a tablet cough), what applications it can run (I can write a Blog Post laying down!) and of course, what games I can play on it, heh. I hope to give some Tutorials/Walkthroughs and Reviews on Games and Apps from it sometime... Oh wait, here's one now! haha]
The Google Store page for the app, with the 'Play' button removed [I felt it was a bit distracting, making people think there might be a 'video to play' here at The Blog], replaced with The Blog's 'G' brevity logo version.
The Google Play logo in the upper-left will be used to denote images that come 'directly' from the Google Play website/page for the app for these types of App Reviews/Posts (Unedited other than logos or helpful arrows/etc added).
Google Play App - Screen Recorder by Kimcy929
Straight to it: while this app did in fact ‘record the screen’, it could not record the game sounds themselves ('internal' gameplay audio), it only recorded microphone sounds ('external' audio outside the device). While this is useful for some, especially Vloggers, I was personally looking for a screen recorder for my tablet that recorded gameplay and the audio from the game, for Tutorials, Walkthroughs, etc.**
Also, an issue arose where ANY video I viewed after installing this app (even videos I had on my device BEFORE installing it) only came up as a black screen, with the message:
“...Video Is Playing On External Display...”
Now, I had not enabled any such option, nor did I connect any External Displays...
I did some research online and found many people running into this issue with various apps and devices (tablets, phones, etc). Looking at the App configuration in the Settings of my tablet for Screen Recorder, I found this app giving itself the ability to ‘draw over other apps’ (which it can do to create on-screen writing, or arrows, which it advertises that it can do on the Google Play Store page for the app).
This is fine and these features are no doubt useful; however, I could no longer view any videos with the built-in Video Player ("complete action using > Video") - I literally could no longer view any videos I had on my device, at all. [Even with third-party Media Players, such as VLC Media Player, simply viewing any videos was now 'broken'...]
Video playing of the Video portion of Videos on the Video Player that
plays Videos was like, really broken now
Even after disabling this option that it gave itself without prior warning (found in Settings > Apps > ScreenRecorder > DrawOverOtherApps), all videos still came up with just a black screen and that message - that is, just Disabling the Setting did not 'undo' the inability to no longer watch videos in the Video Player. Disabling this setting, then Uninstalling this app, then Restarting the Tablet, fixed the issue [in my case, the only way it was fixed].
While this app does record the screen, allows for microphone use, doesn't seem to affect gameplay performance very much, and seems to have a decent selection of Resolutions and Bitrates (eg. 1280x720, 8000kbps), also having some additional helpful things like drawing arrows on the screen, etc; it does not record 'built-in' gameplay audio - which I personally was looking for** - and it gave itself a power which interfered with normal tablet video viewing afterward... Not only that, but it only recorded a few videos before no longer working, with a message just repeatedly showing up stating, "Unfortunately, Screen Recorder has stopped".
No changing of Settings (of my tablet or the app itself) was able to remedy this or get past it [the message coming up and no video being recorded]. Reinstalling the app made it work again, but after a few recordings, only that message repeating on the screen was the result, once again. Therefore, considering all of the above [but including the fact that the app must have worked for other people, that is, those not running into this 'Screen Recorder has stopped' message problem], this app earned Three Stars at Google Play from me, as of the time of this writing.
Being 'completely free' (No Fee and No Ads), and having a nice selection of 'standards' like Resolution and Bitrate choices, and having 'extras' like being able to draw on the screen; perhaps with some improvements to bugfixing, enhancements to how it handles itself (asking/warning what would happen before utilizing the “Draw Over Other Apps” ability would be helpful to users that might run into a problem with it) and adding the ability to record internal gameplay audio**, Screen Recorder could potentially be a very capable and 'feature-rich' screen recording application.
[Note: I am not affiliated with Screen Recorder or Kimcy929 in any way, and I have not and will not be compensated by them for writing about them here. I am merely a user of their application and like to help others with helpful information, when I can. The information in this post was obtained on an LG G Pad IV, and therefore might vary slightly from your own experience (Settings, Menus, Performance, Problems, etc) - but I hope that it was still found useful in some way.]
...
** More on this later... I have recently found out that Google has taken away the ability [temporarily?] to record game output AND game audio at the same time ("internal audio") in the latest Android versions - save for a small number of possibilities on LG and Samsung devices. But, I'll cover this at a later time, when I find out more solid details...
I love movies - who doesn't? I like reading Reviews of them sometimes (not all of the time) - who doesn't (sometimes)? Now, while this is more of a game-centered blog [well, supposed to be haha] I wanted to start sharing some Reviews of movies I write, here. Not often maybe - and don't worry, they won't be 'long' [my personal illness along with ADHD takes care of that]. Maybe I'll call them a movie 'revue' - borrowing from the term for 'review' in the sense of smaller summaries, jokes and plays that were based on larger works. Yeah, that's it: The Game Tips And More Blog Presents... fadeawayto...REVUE...fadeawayto...insert-movie-name-here... [Heh. Hmm, kind of cheesy, but not too bad..].
Note:
All "Revue" articles will be SPOILER FREE (and to help with that, also image-free, other than a Title Screen / Header image) and Safe-To-Read even before viewing [I personally don't like to read Reviews before movies, but I know many do - please let me know if any of my Revues are 'too spoiler-y' and I will adjust them]. Enjoy!
Revue #1 - Fantastic Four (2015)
What an oddly finished product to make an opinion on... I just watched this on Netflix, and while it's not just that the movie feels disappointing, it also left me feeling 'empty' or even ‘sad’ somehow. Like the movie was a small animal that someone found, took in to care for, then forgot it out on the street again later on... That odd mixture of disappointment and sadness is what I came away from this movie with.
Without getting into the ‘technical’ or ‘background’ details of it (how they handled the Origin Story is what most people did not like, for example), the first two-thirds of the movie is actually not bad, if a little slow-paced. It develops their backgrounds slightly and places them together, trying to get you to have empathy for the characters somewhat. It does in fact feel like a caring hand was hanging over it all, keeping it ‘realistic’ and the work put into that made me ignore the slow pace of the development. The cast themselves by the way, seem like they could become decent actors, but they all feel ‘held back’ and are almost stoic here.
Then, after about three-quarters of the movie has gone by, they throw everything out the window and ‘chop together’ a 1980’s-quality “battle-with-the-bad-guy” that has none of the feeling of care and pace of the first majority of the movie. Now, I know production houses, crews and casts all have time limitations that put chains on a movie - turning into whips at times, urging completion; but this last section of movie feels like someone forgot about the animal they found out in the wild that they cared for so well up to now and left it out in the elements again... In my opinion, they could have even eliminated the ‘final battle’ and just finalized the development of the Origin of the characters - maybe with some ‘competition’ or other plot point, to end on; at least then, this could be an Origin Only movie and you would be left with some feelings for them after it was all over, not minding 'the wait' until the expected Sequel with 'real action' could come along.
While the 2005 Fantastic Four is a bit ‘campier’, it still is in my opinion a better movie than this, because of its' overall polish and the mistakes of this one. In the end, I gave this movie, not a Zero like many, but a 2 out of 5 because of the effort that was put in ..at times
Review submitted and published on Netflix
[Personal Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Netflix in any way, pay my own account with them, and have not received any compensation, in any form, for mentioning them here. I am merely an enthusiastic user of their service; but have also utilized other, similar services as well, such as Amazon's PrimeVideo and Sony's Crackle and other online streaming services. All opinions herein are my own personal opinions and do not reflect in any way, any opinions or influences of the companies, production houses, peoples or persons involved with the projects mentioned (movies). These articles which are "Revue" posts are my own personal ideas/opinions/predictions and are not open to 100% re-posting or re-distribution (please try to stay ~50% re-posting of the text involved). Some Rights Reserved.]
Update 1: Added that it is possible to disable the Indicator and how to do it (the "***" herein)
Update 2: Added that the Notification Pop-Up cannot be disabled and example of it
Update 3: Added "Tip" of information on the 'minimum requirements' to run ReLive
Update 4 (2016-12-22): I am currently testing Game Recording with ReLive on an AMD FX-6100 with 8GB RAM, to see the effects of Recording ('vs Not') on a slightly lower spec system. I will include those Results when completed
Update 5 (2017-02-01): Half of the Benchmarking Tests have been repeated on a system with an AMD FX-6100 and 8GB of RAM, as stated above, to see the difference when recording with ReLive. Those Results are now included
Over the last couple of days (since it was released publicly), I have been testing out AMD's new, free Game Recorder, "ReLive". ReLive [pronounced 'ree-LIV' as in 'lived through an event', not 'ree-LYE-v' as in 'a live event that is live again', which I thought at first, for some reason]is a free game recording 'add-in', that is included for free with the latest version of Crimson Radeon Drivers from AMD, for free (did I mention that it is free?).
Now, NVIDIA videocard owners have been enjoying Shadowplay (NVIDIA's 'free-with-the-drivers' game recording 'add-in') for a couple of years now; but currently owning an AMD GPU myself, since just before Shadowplay was released, it was nice to see AMD finally release their own 'free-with-the-drivers' game recorder and I was excited to see the Notification appear in the Radeon control panel. [At the time of this writing I currently own an AMD GPU, but I have no preference towards either manufacturer - I like them both! I have purchased from either 'team' in the past and will do so in the future as well..]
The Notification for Upgrading the Radeon Crimson Drivers, seen in the Radeon Settings Control Panel.
Don't ignore this one! Go get it and try out the new Game Recorder that comes with it! Go now, gogogo!
(Click to see Full Size)
For a quick overview of ReLive - before we get into the Overview, Tests and Results - here is AMD's own blurb about it and its' release:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRSm12lwRe4
For this TestRun, I will be putting ReLive through some general paces, testing it out as a Game Recorder in various games, from slightly-older or less-demanding ones like World Of Warcraft to somewhat-newer games with higher resource demand, like Grand Theft Auto V. I am going to focus more on the relative Performance of ReLive in this post (comparing how games run with and without recording with it), where I will be talking more about the Quality of the output (with Screenshot and Video Still-Frame comparisons, etc) in a future QualityTest article.
Getting It Going (A Problem Encountered)
To begin, I have to say that at first, the Game Recording portion didn't work at all. As in, at all (no error messages, no notifications why, nothing). I upgraded my Drivers to the 16.12 Crimson Edition, which looked like it Updated ok and installed ReLive; but I couldn't get it to start recording, no matter what settings I configured. I tried older games, games with different versions of DirectX (running GTAV in DX10 and DX11, etc); but nothing worked. I talked about this very briefly in a quick posting I made here at The Blogthe day the Update came out. I also shared what finally got it working for me. Although it is in that previous post, I will mention it quickly here...
If the ReLive recorder, part of AMD's 16.12 Crimson Radeon Drivers, is not working for you; try what eventually got it working for me:
Uninstall the main AMD Drivers via the Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall/Change Program
Reboot
Install AMD Drivers via the Download from their Website (the first step)
Reboot
That's it!
After those steps, even though I have a 200 Series AMD GPU at the time of this writing, I was able to get ReLive up and running.. [The AMD page on ReLive at their main website (http://www.amd.com/en-us/innovations/software-technologies/radeon-software/gaming/radeon-relive) shows only 400 Series GPUs as 'Officially Compatible', at the bottom in a chart, which is why I mention my card series here]. Here is what the ReLive section of the Radeon Control Panel in the Crimson ReLive Edition looks like (before and after Enabling it):
The ReLive portion of the Radeon Settings Control Panel, I
Although not an upsetting issue for me personally, I am sure there are some who are delighted that you have to Enable it to use it [that it does not come pre-enabled by Default, without User knowledge, affecting game performance, etc]
(Click to see Full Size)
The ReLive portion of the Radeon Settings Control Panel, II
Screenshot showing the Default Settings that came up, after Enabling the ReLive recorder
(Click to see Full Size)
Each 'button' on the interface can be clicked on, to change that setting. [For example, one of the first things I changed, was the location of where ReLive was going to save Recordings and Screenshots ("Save Folder")]. Simply click on the "Save Folder" 'button' and a browser window will open up, where you can choose the new location to save the output from ReLive.
Keeping Control (ReLive Controls and Shortcut Keys)
Hotkey Combinations can also be configured in this first panel (shown above, the "Global" panel). While the Default Hotkey combos were actually pretty intuitive (CTRL+SHIFT+R for togging Recording, for example), they require the use of one (or a combination of) CTRL, SHIFT and ALT. This means you can have a Screenshot combo be CTRL+S or CTRL+SHIFT+S or ALT+S - the problem is, many games use these supplementary keys for various actions, such as:
CTRL is Sneak toggling (Skyrim, The Elder Scrolls Online, etc)
SHIFT is Run toggling (various games)
ALT is Secondary Attack (Fallout 4 and other various games)
CTRL+S is Audio toggling (turning on and off sound in some games)
... and so on.
The required use of one of these keys means that somewhere along the line, hotkey combinations are going to have to be changed, most likely in the game itself, and then set again on any configurable mouse/keypad accessories one might be using (eg. a mouse with a small number pad on the side, or a gaming control pad that can have shortcuts assigned to various buttons on it). It would have been nice to have it not require one of SHIFT, CTRL and ALT keys, as then a User could assign a key that is not being used in their game(s), such as "P" or ";" (semi-colon) - configuring keys that might not be used in any games that User plays - where they would then not have to worry about any configuration overlap.
Also, while most of the key combinations do make sense and are easy to get used to as they are, some would not work [for me] at all. For example, SHIFT+Z did not seem to 'take' when trying to assign it to toggling the main Toolbar of ReLive, but CTRL+Z did. There was no explanation why (no error message, etc). Also, some combinations do not seem to work properly in some games. For example [in my case], CTRL+SHIFT combinations were not being recognized while GTAV was running - but it seemed to work fine in other games.
Since I am talking about niggles with ReLive for a moment, I should mention the only other thing that, while not a huge deal, slightly bugged me [and may bug others]: the indicator for Recording (a small red circle with a Recording Timer on it, in the upper-left corner by Default) is always present throughout any recordings made*** - even when the "Show System Info" option in the Overlay section is left "OFF". That option seems to only toggle a larger information box that gives a short summary of the CPU and GPU in the system that recorded the video. This information box does go away after a few seconds of the recording. Below is what both of these indicators look like as they appear at the beginning of a recorded video [containing System Information for my computer at this time]:
Example of the indicators shown in the upper-left of recordings (by Default) when recording with ReLive. The smaller indicator is always present in recordings [no matter what, it seems***] while the larger box is the "System Info" that can be toggled on and off in the Overlay section of the ReLive options. If left on, it will be shown in the Recording, disappearing after a few seconds. It is shown here in 'actual size' [how big it will be] in a cropped frame extracted from a 1080p recording.
The main control interface for ReLive, which can be called up in-game at anytime, is the "Toolbar". The Toolbar shows you what utilities are turned on or off, shows you what Shortcut Key Combinations are set, and allows you to make some changes, like what corner the Indicator/Information is shown, etc - but does not allow you to re-configure the Hotkey Combinations themselves, the Save folder or other large changes (those must be made in the main Radeon Settings interface). Below is an example of what the ReLive Toolbar looks like in-game:
Example showing the ReLive Toolbar, as it normally looks when brought up in-game (shown in The Elder Scrolls Online).
[The Toolbar normally is not recorded into the video, when brought up during a recording session. At the time of this writing, I am not 100% sure what caused it to be captured the couple of times I was able to during my testing. When I find out what causes the Toolbar to be captured/notcaptured with reliability and repeatability, I will share it in the future.]
(Click to see Full Size)
The ReLive Toolbar allows most functions of ReLive to be instigated in-game, allowing the User to Start/Stop Recording, Start/Stop Streaming, Change the Overlay location, Start/Stop "Instant Replay" (the buffered/loop recording capability, similar to that found in Shadowplay, MSIafterburner, FRAPS, etc) and more. It does not allow the changing/setting of Hotkey combinations; but it does show them in the Toolbar itself, which can also merely be clicked on, to start or stop one of the above functions.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of ReLive's functions are not only intuitive to use, but also intuitively labelled. For example, during Recording, when bringing up the Toolbar to cease Recording, the icon for it is labelled "DONE" - as opposed to the label remaining "RECORD", as bringing up a button labelled such, might cause the User to sometimes question whether or not they have been recording up to that point (seeing RECORD pop up onscreen)... This is an aspect of the User Experience that may be better experienced, than explained, but suffice it to say that utilizing the Toolbar becomes comfortable to use quickly. Here is what The ReLive Toolbar looks like, showing a quick overview of all of the functions available on it:
An animated overview of the functions available in the main Toolbar interface.
(Click to see Full Size)
While there are a number of functions available in ReLive, including Streaming and Wattman (Crimson's Power Management utility, similar to that found in EVGA Precision and MSI Afterburner and other utilities that control Power, Fan Speeds, etc), for this post, I will be mainly talking about the Game Recorder portion, from the approach of the Performance drain seen with it (the 'performance hit').
Since the NDA has been lifted, here is an Official release slide from the AMD presentation showing the ReLive Toolbar
(Click to see Full Size)
Screenshots taken with ReLive are output in PNG (Portable Network Graphic) format. This is a lossy format, but the PNG Quality is kept high in ReLive. In fact, PNG output files from ReLive are consistently larger in file size than PNG Screenshots from Bandicam and FRAPS, as seen from a few quick tests. While in a quick glance, the screenshots from each appear to be practically the same, I will explore their output quality in more detail in a future post.
[In a future QualityTest article, I will go over comparisons of Screenshots and
the Quality of recordings from the various Profiles found in ReLive, in more detail]
Performance and Benchmarking Radeon ReLive (Vs ...Not)
For this TestRun, I kept things simple, doing some short recordings in various games and benchmarks, taking note of the Framerate Change (fps difference) for each, both while recording and while not recording. The Average Frames-Per-Second was measured by FRAPS [a great capture program in its' own right, one which I purchased a License for long ago]. For games that did not have built-in benchmark utilities, I ran through the same area a number of times, using the 'benchmarking' portion of FRAPS to output a min-max-average of frames-per-second, then comparing the averages of 'recording with ReLive' against 'not recording at all'.
Since the NDA has been lifted, here is an Official release slide from the AMD presentation, regarding recording performance deltas
(Click to see Full Size)
It should be noted that when beginning recording, there was [for me] a distinct drop in frames-per-second for a number of seconds as it started up [I saw anywhere from a 4fps dip to a 20fps drop each time]; but the performance quickly returns and the recording then seems to affect gameplay very little – which was great to see! Here then, are some Benchmarks and Tests that I ran, running them with and without ReLive recording the entire time, to see the potential difference in afps (average-frames-per-second) ReLive makes when recording [the performance ‘hit’]:
Primary Testing System Main Specifications CPU: AMD FX-8350 @ 4200 MHz GPU: AMD R9 280 @ 1000MHz RAM : 16GB Patriot "Gamer" RAM Secondary Testing System Main Specifications
All tests below were performed utilizing the HIGH Recording Profile in the ReLive presets (which configures ReLive recording as 60fps at a 30Mbps video bitrate).
All tests were performed at 1080p with the highest configurable settings, with '4x4x' (4x Anisotropic Filtering and 4x Multisampled Anti-Aliasing), unless otherwise stated.
Secondary System tests are presented second, for those that were done, in italics (FX-6100, 8GB RAM system)
Unigine Valley Benchmark (EXTREME HD setting with 8xMSAA)
ReLive REC = 38.4 afps
No REC = 39.3 afps
Difference ~ 1 afps
ReLive REC = 29 afps
No REC = 30 afps
Difference ~ 1 afps
Hitman: Absolution Benchmark (ULTRA settings with 4xMSAA)
ReLive REC = 47 afps
No REC = 50 afps
Difference ~3 afps
ReLive REC = 34 afps
No REC = 35 afps
Difference ~ 1 afps
TombRaider (2013) Benchmark (ULTIMATE settings, 4xSSAA including TressFX)
ReLive REC = 39.9 afps
No REC = 39.9 afps
Difference ~ 0 afps
ReLive REC = 36 afps
No REC = 38 afps
Difference ~ 2 afps
Metro: Last Light Redux Benchmark (Highest Settings minus PhysX)
ReLive REC = 31 afps
No REC = 32 afps
Difference ~ 1 afps
Batman: Arkham City Benchmark (EXTREME detail setting, 4xMSAA, No PhysX)
ReLive REC = 83 afps
No REC = 88 afps
Difference ~5 afps
ReLive REC = 66afps
No REC = 69 afps
Difference ~ 3 afps
Grand Theft Auto V (DX11, Custom Settings Very High when possible, FXAA)*
ReLive REC = (Rounded)
Pass 0, 35 afps
Pass 1, 35 afps
Pass 2, 40 afps
Pass 3, 47 afps
Pass 4, 38 afps
No REC = (Rounded)
Pass 0, 39 afps
Pass 1, 38 afps
Pass 2, 44 afps
Pass 3, 55 afps
Pass 4, 41 afps
Difference ~ (Rounded)
Pass 0, ~4 afps
Pass 1, ~3 afps
Pass 2, ~4 afps
Pass 3, ~8 afps
Pass 4, ~4 afps
Aliens Vs Predator Standalone Benchmark (DX11,Highest Settings, 4x4x)
ReLive REC = 92.6 afps
No REC = 99.3 afps
Difference ~ 7 afps
Just Cause 2 Benchmark, Dark Tower (Highest Settings, 4x4x)
ReLive REC = 102 afps
No REC = 106 afps
Difference ~4 afps
Left 4 Dead 2 TimeDemo 'Benchmark' (“GTAMblog4h.dem”**, Highest Settings, 4x4x)
ReLive REC = 139 afps
No REC = 147 afps
Difference ~ 8 afps
ReLive REC = 89 afps
No REC = 99 afps
Difference ~ 10 afps
World of Warcraft 'Benchmark', ‘Short Run In The Ruins Of Silvermoon’ (Graphics Quality 10 with CMAA)
ReLive REC = 55 afps
No REC = 56 afps
Difference ~ 1 afps
ReLive REC = 48 afps
No REC = 52 afps
Difference ~ 4 afps
The Elder Scrolls Online 'Benchmark', ‘Short Run Through Glenumbra Market’ (Ultra-High with AA)
ReLive REC = 30 afps
No REC = 31 afps
Difference ~ 1 afps
Diablo III 'Benchmark', ‘Do Not Let Him Re-arm’ Section (High Settings with AA)
ReLive REC = 117 afps
No REC = 118 afps
Difference ~ 1 afps
*ReLive seemed to have a bit of trouble with GTAV (I had to run it in Windowed Mode, not even Windowed Borderless would work at the time of these tests [on my system]) **If you would like a copy of "GTAMblog4h.dem", the TimeDemo I created and utilized in these tests (it includes a Tank battle, on the level Hard Rain, for extra video effects testing), just send me an email and I will Reply with it as an Attachment. If many people begin to ask for it, for their own testing, I will make it publicly available for Download via Dropbox or other similar services (no ads)
As can be seen by the tests above, there is very little drain on performance when recording with ReLive - an overall average difference of only ~3 fps, for both systems tested! Since all of the tests were done with the HIGH Profile configured, there should be even less of a performance hit with lower profile settings [lower profiles were not tested at this time, for this post - I may compare the differences between all of the Profiles in a future QualityTest article]. Here are the differences of configuration within the Profiles that were found built-into ReLive at the time of release:
HIGH Recording Profile in ReLive = 60fps, 30Mbps at "In-Game Resolution"
MEDIUM Recording Profile in ReLive = 60fps, 10Mbps at "In-Game Resolution"
LOW Recording Profile in ReLive = 60fps, 5Mbps, restricted to 720p
A CUSTOM Recording Profile can be configured as well, with any combination of setting that ReLive allows, including anywhere from 360p to 2160p Resolutions [2160p is limited to 30fps according to AMD's ReLive page; but I did not specifically test it at the time of this writing]. Up to 60fps can be set (the only other setting being 30fps) - it would have been nice to see up to 120fps or 144fps recording framerate - but perhaps it is just not offering it as a result of it detecting my limited hardware at this time - a 200 Series GPU [this is an assumption on my part]. BitRate can be configured up to 50Mbps and set down to as low as 1Mbps.
Testing out the HIGH Recording Profile, I was satisfied at the results, most likely due to their being a good balance in the configuration of some of the extra features found in H.264/AVC(MPEG-4 Part 10), the codec utilized by ReLive. For example, ReLive appears to be configured to utilize Deblocking, a function in h.264/AVC encoding, that allows a 'softening' of the edges of potential Macroblocks (areas of compression where the higher compression artifacting would be more visible, seen a 'blocks'). An example below, created for an earlier posting here at The Blog on h.264/AVC compression, shows the usefulness and result of using the Deblocking feature:
An example of the internal filtering, a form of compression compensation, found within the h.264/AVC codec, two frames extracted from two AVC recordings, done one after another in quick succesion in the same area in the same online game.
(Rift, recorded @ 1080p with H.264/AVC having Deblocking disabled (left) and enabled (right), cropped and zoomed)
Click to see Full Size
[Although a lengthier discussion of BitRate and the apparent Quality of output in detail will be discussed in a future QualityTest article on ReLive (along with Testing of ReLive's Desktop Recording capability and Comparison of output of all the Recording Profiles available in ReLive); as a general Suggestion, if I may give one now is, I personally do not recommend capturing at a BitRate below 15Mbps, even at 720p or lower resolutions [for a Recording Source, as opposed to a Final Output Render for Sharing] as theQuality may suffer too greatly, especially when there may be high motion on the screen (many areas of the screen changing at one time) - it is difficult for the codec to decide what to compress (where is usually compresses flatter/darker areas more than ones with high motion or detail, 'smoothing them out' more) - the codec will either 'over-compress' flatter/darker areas (such as areas with sky) or may end up compressing 'everything' and the result will be 'blotchy' or 'blurry' in many places onscreen]. Continuing to speak more technically for a moment longer, let's take a look at the recording format utilized by ReLive.
Technical / Format Information (ReLive Output Analysis)
Taking a superficial look at the recorded output files from ReLive, it appears to record using H.264/AVC, in the Main Profile, at Level 4.2, using Variable Frame Rate and Variable BitRate, both in the Video and Audio streams (the audio being in AAC format). Analyzing it a bit more in-depth, here is an example of the full details from a MediaInfo scan of a recorded output file from ReLive (recorded using the HIGH Recording Profile):
General
Complete name : D:\REC\ReLive\2016.12.09-00.26.mp4 Format : MPEG-4 Format profile : Base Media Codec ID : isom File size : 22.1 MiB Duration : 7s 422ms Overall bit rate mode : Variable Overall bit rate : 25.0 Mbps Writing application : Lavf57.25.100
Video
ID : 1 Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec Format profile : Main@L4.2 Format settings, CABAC : Yes Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=30 Codec ID : avc1 Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding Duration : 7s 422ms Bit rate : 25.0 Mbps Width : 1 920 pixels Height : 1 080 pixels Display aspect ratio : 16:9 Frame rate mode : Variable Frame rate : 59.823 fps Original frame rate : 60.000 fps Minimum frame rate : 57.894 fps Maximum frame rate : 60.015 fps Standard : Component Color space : YUV Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0 Bit depth : 8 bits Scan type : Progressive Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.201 Stream size : 22.1 MiB (100%) Color range : Limited
Audio
ID : 2 Format : AAC Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Format profile : LC Codec ID : 40 Duration : 7s 275ms Bit rate mode : Variable Bit rate : 4 893 bps Maximum bit rate : 192 Kbps
As can be seen by MediaInfo's output, AVC and AAC (for Video and Audio) are utilized in the recording, with Variable BitRates for both. Variable Bitrate means that while 50Mbps may be configured [for example], ReLive will only use as much Bitrate as is required to display/compress the incoming video data (less complex motion/detail scenes will use less Bitrate than more complex/detailed scenes).
In testing 720p recording, for instance, the Bitrate seemed to reach a maximum of about 25Mbps (when tested with the Unigine Valley Benchmark). Even with a much faster-motion source, The Street Fighter IV Benchmark - with Unlocked Vertical Synchronization, reaching over 400fps (when Anti-Aliasing is turned off as well) - with all of the colour flashes and insanely fast movement going on; the Bitrate still only reached a maximum of ~27Mbps, about half of the configured 50Mbps. Below is a still-frame extracted from that ReLive game recording test:
Still-frame extracted from a ReLive Game Recorder test
(The Street Fighter IV Standalone Benchmark - 720p, Highest Settings, NoAA)
Click to see Full Size
While ReLive also uses Variable Frame Rates in its' recordings, I did not experience a problem Importing the recordings into Sony Vegas Movie Studio and did not experience any issues with 'trails' or other corruption on playback/shuttling [that can potentially occur with Variable Frame Rate sources in Non-Linear Editors like Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, et al] - I have written a few posts about these compression artifacts here at The Blog, here is one of them. For now, know that this issue did not occur (at least in my testing) with ReLive and Vegas - which was great to see. Below, is an example of importing a ReLive recording directly into Sony Vegas Movie Studio 13 - and although this example is a scaled-down GIF of a screen capture of the test I performed, the absence of any of these 'trails' or other forms of corruption (due to VFR input) occurring can still be seen in the Preview area:
A ReLive recording of the Hitman: Absolution Benchmark, imported into Vegas Movie Studio 13.
[Note that there are no 'trails' or other compression artifacting occurring, things that could potentially happen with h.264/AVC, depending on how it is configured and contained - it was refreshing not to have to worry about it!]
(GIF resized down to lower size and transfer time, displayed at Scaled Down Full Size)
[One reason, possibly contributing to why VFR usage in ReLive is not a problem for importing recordings into Vegas, is that the GOP (Group Of Pictures) is somewhat small, at 30 frames (seen in the MediaInfo output). This, combined with the 4 Reference Frames (up to four Keyframes or I-Frames within those 30 frames) allows the video editor to not have to calculate very far, to obtain all of the frame information between the next keyframe(s). Although even a GOP of 10 could potentially cause issues (anything other than one (1) can have 'trails' or other 'corruption' problems in NLEs (Non-Linear Editors), it is nice to see that ReLive's recording output does not... I hope it works this way for you Premiere/Lightworks/Edius/Avid/otherprogram users, as well..]
The range of Bitrates and other options that appeared to be configurable for recording [again, possibly limited by my hardware, this is unknown 100% at the time of this writing, if other options open up with more capable hardware] are:
Audio (AAC): 32kbps up to 320kbps
Video (AVC): 1Mbps up to 50Mbps
Resolution: 360p up to 2160p
Frame Rate: 30fps and 60fps
Instant Replay (Buffered Recording): 15 seconds up to 20 minutes
One of the features I was most happy to see, was the Buffered Recording capability (called "Instant Replay" in the ReLive interface and "Radeon RePlay" in the information popup in recorded videos that have System Info enabled). Briefly reiterated for those unfamiliar with 'loop recording': RePlay allows a constant 'treadmill' of recording to occur, using the amount of time configured as its' length, re-creating that same file containing the same amount of time as a game is played (eg. 30 seconds). If during this recording, the 'buffer' is not Saved, it will erase and over-write the same file on the drive, doing this process over and over again. At any point in the gaming session, if the user hits the key combination to Save the 'buffer', the last 30 seconds of recording (to use that example of timeframe) will be saved into a file by the program. It will then create a new '30 second buffer file' (to continue with that example) and re-create and over-write that file, over and over, until the user 'Saves the buffer' again. This type of recording allows users to be able to always 'save that last moment of action' that occurred in their gameplay session.
ReLive appears to create files [by Default] with the name convention of 'REPLAY (if the file was created using buffered recording), Underscore, Year, Month, Day, Hyphen, Time in Minutes and Seconds'. For example, Video Recording output (a "RePlay") is seen as:
Replay_2016.12.09-22.53
Screenshots created by ReLive appear as:
2016.12.10-16.47
If a user takes Screenshots in rapid succession (within one minute of each other), the filename is appended slightly, seen as:
2016.12.10-16.47_01
2016.12.10-16.47_02
And so on...
There does not seem to be a way to configure the naming convention, only the location of where the recorded output is saved. It would have been nice [in my opinion] to be able to create Prefixes or Suffixes for the files, or even if the Process Name [the program running while it was recorded] was added automatically (eg. Fallout4_Replay_2016.12.09-22.53). For organizational purposes, the ability to choose separate folders for the output of Images and Videos (each going to a different location) would have also been a nice option [in my opinion]; however these are superficial issues, perhaps.
The last small thing about Screenshots [that slightly bothered me personally] is the Pop-Up Notification that accompanies taking Screenshots (which also comes up for Video Recording). Each time a Screenshot is taken with ReLive, a short summary of the action shows up in the Upper-Right corner, by Default. There does not seem to be a way to Disable this notification - and if the user takes Screenshots in rapid succession (more than one within one minute, to use the example just above) - this notification is captured in the successive screenshots. While still 'a superficial issue' [cosmetic], it would have been nice to see a way to either configure or disable this Pop-Up Notification. Just below, is an example of the notifier, seen while taking two quick screenshots, close together in time, while working on graphics for this very post:
Example of Screenshot Pop-Up Notification in Radeon ReLive, which is captured when the user takes multiple screenshots in quick succession. There does not seem to be a way to disable this notifier, at the time of this posting.
(Click to see Full Size)
Wondering if your videocard can run ReLive? The only requirement ReLive seems to have, is GCN (Graphics Core Next) Architecture. I was able to run ReLive on my Rx 280 GPU, but was not able to use it on an HD 6870 GPU I configured for someone else. Reports of 7950's are coming in, being able to record with ReLive, but there are conflicting reports of 7700's being able to use it [from what I am reading/finding]. If your videocard is even close to these numbers, try it out! There may be future Support for Mobile GPUs as well, down the line. I hope it works for you!
Conclusion
Overall, I was very satisfied with AMD's Radeon ReLive as a game recorder. It does everything the average gamer would need (video and audio recording, buffered (loop) recording, screenshots, etc) and many extra things others would enjoy (Desktop Recording, Streaming with Camera Overlay, etc) - unfortunately, I was not able to cover these extra options at this point in time. For now, dear reader, know that if you are an owner of a modern AMD GPU, you now have the option to do game recording, take screenshots, stream your gameplay and much more, with ReLive - all for 'free' [you must have purchased an AMD GPU]. I personally will continue to test out ReLive and experiment with it, using it as my 'main game recording app' for the next while - and I look forward to sharing my future findings with you all. Take care.
~Troy from The Game Tips And More Blog
Personal Version/Opinion
After purchasing an AMD GPU in my last videocard Upgrade and then seeing Shadowplay come out for NVIDIA GPU owners immediately afterward, it was fantastic to finally stop crying over it as I fall asleep at night and see a game recording add-on in the latest Crimson Drivers for AMD GPU owners - way to go, AMD! I plan on using it a lot, since it seems to work so well and will continue to fill my hard drive with material from it...
I was pleasantly surprised to see that it makes very little difference in gaming performance while recording, other than the little 'stuttering' when it starts buffering. After that ends, it is almost invisibly running - except for that darn indicator... While small and out-of-the-way (as opposed to it being larger and somewhere in the middle of the screen) it is still a minor annoyance that it cannot be turned off - at all***. I do like the System Info pop-up of information on recording (when Show System Info is enabled), which gives a small summary of the system that recorded the video. The custom overlay function is nice, too [for those that would utilize it]. It would have been nice to see some options to show GPU Temp, GPU Clock, VRAM usage, etc as part of the HUD (it appears in the main Radeon Settings UI, which is a nice addition) - perhaps an in-game HUD of these might come in a later version..? Edit: I figured out how to Disable the little Indicator that appears (a small circle of different colours depending on what function it is performing)! Here is the instructions on how to 'disable' it:
*** To hide/disable the Indicator (which shows Yellow when buffered recording and Red when recording fully), bring up the ReLive Toolbar and click on the "Indicator" button four times - this cycles through all positions of the Indicator and then 'hides' it from view (buffered recording and normal recording are still functional in the background)
[With the release of this utility, I am almost scared for all of these smaller game recording application makers that have started to make a life for themselves these past years (from FRAPS and DXTORY, to Bandicam, Mirillis' ACTION and lesser known ones like D3DGear, and more) - what's going to happen to them, now that there is an included-with-your-drivers game recording app for both 'teams' of GPU manufacturers? As an example, I already feel bad for the slowly-blossoming Plays.TV game recorder, only recently revealing its' own site, that seemed to try so hard to get their game recorder included with Gaming Evolved (which was Raptr before that) and became 'supported' by AMD...[dangit, I never did finish a Review/TestRun I was working on, about their game recorder..]. What's going to happen to them and others like them..?]
To mention one other negative, I did notice that the already-sometimes-sluggish Radeon Settings interface itself (the Control Panel for AMD GPUs) became almost unbearably slow to respond many times (going into Not Responding Mode, etc - which a user can wait through), even more often now [Note: This was in Windows 8.1, I did not experience this issue nearly as much in Windows 10]. I am not a programmer, so I do not know if it is related directly to ReLive's new functions in the Radeon Settings or not; but even with the RePlay buffered recording disabled, navigating through the Radeon Settings interface seems to have become even more of a 'waiting game' - not all the time, but sometimes it is almost unbearably so...[I wish I knew how to help fix this, for myself and others].
Overall, while not a 'dome-shattering', 'game-changing', 'ground-breaker' in terms of functions (FRAPS brought out Looped Recording in early 2011 and other free programs like MSI Afterburner can record the Desktop since Windows 7), it does everything well and looks good and is easy to use, too. What else could you want in a utility? If I had to 'sum up' AMD's Crimson ReLive Edition, In One Sentence™, it would be something like: "Feature-packed, Fast - and overall, Fantastic!" ~ The Game Tips And More Blog Wow, that sounds cheezy... But now that I have started testing out AMD's ReLive - I will almost be disappointed if Santa sees fit to answer my Letter to him (asking for a new videocard) with a shiny new NVIDIA GPU under the tree this year - as I am just now getting into AMD's driver-based recording add-in... Still, if it should happen that I get one: come back in the future for a somewhat-dated-but-recent "Shadowplay TestRun" and some Benchmarks from it! haha ...I hope that the information herein has helped you in some way, dear reader - if you are able to use ReLive, have fun with it - and See You In The Games! By the way, Merry Christmas and Best Wishes For The New Year! ~Troy from The Game Tips And More Blog
Copyright Notice: The above content, including text, tests done, results of the tests done, image compositions are all Copyright The Game Tips And More Blog, being created by myself, Troy (the administrator and sole representative of The Game Tips And More Blog and no other persons whatsoever) (that statement not including some original source materials that are not my original creations and are utilized under Fair Use for Review and Commentary and for Educational and Entertainment purposes). I have seen copies of this specific posting appear on a couple of websites now. I have submitted them for Legal Takedown and one of them has already been taken down for violating copyright, by copying my text/images/etc above. Note that I will continue to pursue any infringers of copyright and intellectual work here, of the above data/tests/imagecompositions/etc, including automated copy/paste "bots" and will not hesitate to take legal action where warranted, prosecuting any infringers on my intellectual property and efforts to the fullest extent of the law. It is unfortunate that I must take these actions, but I will and continue to do so, including my successive representatives, as the need arises. At the time of this posting, this material appeared on December 12th, 2016 at the ONLY "Game Tips And More Blog" website, located at gametipsandmore.blogspot.com (no personal domain). I am sorry dear readers, to have to speak this way, but recently, copying of my more popular posts has begun. I hope that these lawful responses will not take away from my ability to continue to create helpful material/reviews/opinions/images/etc for you all.
