Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for PC will use DirectStorage 1.2 GPU compression, full requirements...

[Daniel Sims]

What just happened? With two weeks remaining until the PC release of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, developers Insomniac and Nixxes have unveiled the complete hardware specifications. Of particular interest is how the port handles storage and loading, utilizing Microsoft's latest DirectStorage API while also accommodating HDDs to support the game's unique environment loading mechanic.

The PC adaptation of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, set to launch on July 26, will be among the earliest PC titles to employ DirectStorage 1.2 and GPU-based compression. The advancements aim to deliver load times comparable to what PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series console users have enjoyed over the past two years. It will be interesting to see how the game and the API perform on different SSD and HDD models.

For those who are unfamiliar, DirectStorage is an API utilized by Microsoft on Xbox Series consoles that leverages the system's internal NVMe SSD to enable ultra-fast load times. The tool recently became available for developers to use on Windows, allowing it to utilize the GPU of a system to process data much more swiftly than the CPU. Currently, Forspoken is the only notable PC title that incorporates DirectStorage, but the feature will eventually be implemented in Diablo IV.

Click to enlarge

Confirmation came courtesy of a now-deleted blog post in which Nixxes elaborated on the enhancements made to the game. The loading system of the PC version is particularly noteworthy due to its ability to seamlessly load new environments near-instantaneously as players traverse through portals. Sony originally attributed this feature to the PS5's SSD.

As a result, some speculated that the PC port would require an SSD. However, both the complete specification sheet (above) and the blog post have confirmed that the game supports SATA SSDs and HDDs. Although NVMe drives will get the most out of DirectStorage, SATA SSDs can also benefit, and the latest DirectStorage SDK introduces a feature called buffered IO mode that improves HDD loading.

Nixxes, Insomniac, and Sony covered the other PC enhancements for Ratchet & Clank in late May. These include ray-traced shadows, ray-traced reflections, multiple aspect ratios, DLSS 3, FSR 2, XeSS, and haptic feedback through the DualSense controller.

The system requirements appear reasonable compared to other major titles released earlier this year. For 1440p gameplay without ray tracing, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6800 will suffice, although Nixxes suggests a minimum of a 3070 or 6800 XT for ray tracing. For most resolutions, 16 GB of RAM is sufficient, although the game recommends 32 GB to achieve 60fps at 4K on maximum settings. The spec sheet assumes players will utilize super-resolution methods but does not mention DLSS 3 frame generation. The minimum storage requirement is 75 GB.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/99392-ratchet-clank-rift-apart-pc-use-directstorage-12.html

 

[ZackL04]

This just tells me GPU manufacturers are looking for reasons to create more and more powerful cards

And that people are growing tired of “eye candy” and requirement scales

 

[Lounds]

Some of these specs make no sense. I feel the RX 470 would easily run 1080p very low @60fps. GTX 960 is weak AF.

 

[bexwhitt]

I really enjoyed this game on the ps5, if you like this sort of game it's worth getting it on the pc

 

[poshflamingos]

Some of these specs make no sense. I feel the RX 470 would easily run 1080p very low @60fps. GTX 960 is weak AF.

Yep, almost every game has minimum/recommended specs that make no sense.

Another example here, they recommend a Ryzen 5600 for the "high" preset and then the 5600X for the first ray tracing preset, despite the fact that the performance difference between the 5600 and 5600X is insignificant. If a 5600X can run those ray tracing settings, then so can the 5600.

Also, the RX 6800 is a lot faster than the 3060 Ti.

 

[Burty117]

This is a great game, I'll happily re-buy it on PC to support the devs. Plus I get to experience it with Ray-tracing above 30fps.

 

[dangh]

Really great game, nice that more people will be able to enjoy it.

 

[Puiu]

Some of these specs make no sense. I feel the RX 470 would easily run 1080p very low @60fps. GTX 960 is weak AF.

It might simply be because the 460 can't run it well enough.

 

[money]

I will never understand how adults can play these kiddy cartoony games, it almost makes me feel sick just thinking about it.

 

[dangh]

I will never understand how adults can play these kiddy cartoony games, it almost makes me feel sick just thinking about it.

That's fine, there will be many other things you will never understand, so good idea (but maybe too innovative) would be to let people enjoy what they do like whatever you understand that or not (as long as it is obviously under control)

 

[Theinsanegamer]

This just tells me GPU manufacturers are looking for reasons to create more and more powerful cards

And that people are growing tired of “eye candy” and requirement scales

Hey, you dont have to be part of the problem! Set the game to 720p low and enjoy your ideal graphical fidelity!

For the rest of us, we have evolved from the PS2 era.

 

[b3rdm4n]

Really looking forward to this, from a technical standpoint and it looks like a fun game. Theres certainly a lot of fun to be had playing 'kids' games as an adult, it's almost like... if they're good anyone can enjoy them. Over the course of 25-30 years playing video games, and the countless thousands of hours into many different genres, some of my biggest joys in gaming have come from playing Kirby and the forgotten land with my son, I had a blast start to finish. Might also help it was on Yuzu at 60fps and rendered at 8k downscaled to 4k... but nonetheless.

 

[ZackL04]

Hey, you dont have to be part of the problem! Set the game to 720p low and enjoy your ideal graphical fidelity!

For the rest of us, we have evolved from the PS2 era.

Baha

I hope you are being sarcastic, because the only “problem” is artificial visual “enhancements” and overly high gpu requirements to run them. Let alone this new storage tech thats going to need gpu power too. There are plenty of games continuing to come out that offer all you are looking for and require not only overly powerful pc components but also you time. Time to keep up with dailys, time to build skill trees, time to memorize botton combinations.

Anything triple A these days feels more like a job than a game. Dont get me wrong, I can enjoy getting into a good single player game, and I enjoy quality visuals, something like the last of us, red dead, or zelda. But jeez, if I take a few days off from playing I sure feel like it takes too long to get my bearings again, feels like a chore vs drop in fun.

I own a respectible 12700k and 3060ti system, but check this irony out….Ive been playing PS2 and SNES with my sons and friends almost daily on a CRT the last few months vs not touching my pc for a game in over a year. The nostalgia is definitely a factor, but some of these games are just down right FUN and easy for anyone to pickup and play.

I digress, but Im not part of the problem, for some reason I still buy pc parts

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Baha

I hope you are being sarcastic, because the only “problem” is artificial visual “enhancements” and overly high gpu requirements to run them. Let alone this new storage tech thats going to need gpu power too. There are plenty of games continuing to come out that offer all you are looking for and require not only overly powerful pc components but also you time. Time to keep up with dailys, time to build skill trees, time to memorize botton combinations.

Anything triple A these days feels more like a job than a game. Dont get me wrong, I can enjoy getting into a good single player game, and I enjoy quality visuals, something like the last of us, red dead, or zelda. But jeez, if I take a few days off from playing I sure feel like it takes too long to get my bearings again, feels like a chore vs drop in fun.

I own a respectible 12700k and 3060ti system, but check this irony out….Ive been playing PS2 and SNES with my sons and friends almost daily on a CRT the last few months vs not touching my pc for a game in over a year. The nostalgia is definitely a factor, but some of these games are just down right FUN and easy for anyone to pickup and play.

I digress, but Im not part of the problem, for some reason I still buy pc parts

I'm not sure what you point is trying to be? Like, yeah, of course we are pushing the visuals with new hardware, that's what we do, that is what we have always done, and yes your 8 year old GPU wont be enough when consoles are more powerful then it is. If you dont want nor like the "artificial visual enhancements" then you can continue to use your 8 year old GPU to play at 720p-30 like it was the PS2 era. Then you bring gameplay in, which has nothing to do with graphics? Like, just because I said "PS2" you think I'm talking about how good the PS2 library is? Which, it is great, but we were not discussing gameplay at any point. This is all about graphics.

 

[ZackL04]

I'm not sure what you point is trying to be? Like, yeah, of course we are pushing the visuals with new hardware, that's what we do, that is what we have always done, and yes your 8 year old GPU wont be enough when consoles are more powerful then it is. If you dont want nor like the "artificial visual enhancements" then you can continue to use your 8 year old GPU to play at 720p-30 like it was the PS2 era. Then you bring gameplay in, which has nothing to do with graphics? Like, just because I said "PS2" you think I'm talking about how good the PS2 library is? Which, it is great, but we were not discussing gameplay at any point. This is all about graphics.

I did say “ I digress”

I do however feel all these “enhancements” are only to push sales of higher end equipment while giving little back to the consumer besides a big price tag to swallow.

And I never mentioned 720/30c, thats all you. My 3060ti can still crank respectable frames at 1440p

 

[kira setsu]

Why cant we all just buy the damn game and enjoy it? whats with all the stone throwing over specs?

on a nerd website of all places...

 

[EdmondRC]

Can you please do a benchmark with RT games like Jedi Survivor and now this Ratchet and Clank with 8 core vs 12 core processors. The 5800x for example, most often performs on par with the 5900x, but the 12700 and 5900 listed are both 12 core processors. Do you really need that for ultra RT in the latest games? What does that do to the 7800x3D?