Why ‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ feels so buttery-smooth
Image: Foundry
DOOM 2016 is one of my favorite shooters, and a big part of that is how fast and smooth it feels, despite being no slouch in the visuals department. Its threequel, DOOM: The Dark Ages, is coming out next week, and Will Smith gets to play it early. And for that, I loathe him. But he’s taking a hard look at what makes these games feel so good.
In short: DOOM doesn’t micro-stutter. In fact, it experiences micro-stuttering much less frequently than other visually intense games. What does that mean? Not only are the frame rates fairly consistent even when things get busy on screen, but also the time the game takes to generate frames is remarkably stable, which can affect the smooth output of the visuals. Comparing DOOM and Rocket League to the latest Call of Duty, even if the latter is running at a much higher FPS, it’s a lot less consistent in the frametime.
Will Smith/Foundry
The real juicy part of this comparison starts at about the 9-minute mark, when Will compares the frametime render difference from one frame to the next. DOOM consistently keeps it below just 2 milliseconds for over 99 percent of the time, with only Rocket League getting anywhere near that kind of smoothness. That’s what makes it feel so great.
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Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he’s the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop “battlestation” in his off hours. Michael’s previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he’s covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he’s always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.
