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Koko Ricky

Why does the Doom Wiki say the PSX versions have a higher frame rate?

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I've always felt everything in the game moved just a little slower, and it's pretty obvious the frame rate is not as high the PC. Most of the time it seems to be around 15-20 fps.

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In my extremely unscientific test of watching PSX E1M1 on youtube, it looks like the framerate might be higher than 35 fps, but the sprites have fewer frames of animation, and everyone moves a little slower.

Also, you should probably use doomwiki.org, not the wikia one. The bit about a faster frame rate is not on doomwiki.org as far as I can see...

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As someone who has played Final Doom PSX since 1996, I can absolutely attest to the framerate generally being lower than 35fps. There are very few moments that I can remember that were in the 30s.

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I don't know who would make such an outlandish claim. I don't think any of the old console ports have a framerate higher than the PC version; most of them were abysmally bad - 32x, Jag, 3DO, and Saturn all had enough of an FPS issue for reviewers at the time to make it a complaint, to varying degrees. The PlayStation isn't terrible but I'm going to venture to bet it *tries* to run at 30 FPS just like Doom 64 does, which is based on it.

The reason being, by my conjecture, that a NTSC television signal is suited for 60 Hz interlaced or 30 Hz progressive displays. Targeting half the maximum framerate would have kept all ordinary television users happy.

I am pretty sure it does not hit its target framerate even close to all the time, however, and particularly not while you're in complex scenes or there are a lot of monsters active.

EDIT:

* Quasar`` pokes Kaiser 
<Kaiser> ?
<Quasar``> do you know off hand if PSX Doom tries to run at 30 Hz, like 64?
<Kaiser> renderer runs at 30hz, game ticks runs at 15
<Quasar``> lovely
<Kaiser> renderer is in its own thread
<Quasar``> this is going straight on DWF
<Kaiser> Quasar``, thats why if you look at thing/mobj movement, they move jerky/slower than the actual renderer

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chungy said:

YouTube only does 30 fps, so judging the game's framerate based on that is pretty useless.


Good point.

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chungy said:

YouTube only does 30 fps, so judging the game's framerate based on that is pretty useless.

Well it is his VERY unscientific test so what do you expect :P

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Okay, this makes sense about the ticks, because even if the game was running smoothly, the actual interpolation always appeared choppier, and this is especially noticeable if a door is being opened/closed or an elevator is activated.

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Quasar said:

The reason being, by my conjecture, that a NTSC television signal is suited for 60 Hz interlaced or 30 Hz progressive displays. Targeting half the maximum framerate would have kept all ordinary television users happy.

I wonder if the European release are even slower then, since PAL/SECAM has a field rate of 50 Hz, so the half-rate is 25 Hz.

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It certainly felt a lot slower to me back then. I haven't played it for a long time though. I do remember being stunned that the PSX game ran slower than my lowly Amiga port at the time. My guess would be that it was, indeed, 25 fps or there abouts as I didn't even get the full 35 fps on the Amiga port and it definitley felt smoother to me.

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The CD case for PSX Doom brags about high framerate being a feature of the game claiming something along the lines of "LIGHTING FAST FRAMERATE! "UP TO" 30 FRAMES A SECOND!!!"

Note the "up to" 30 frames. This means the game can sometimes be running at 30 frames, but typically it will be somewhere closer to 20-25 frames.

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GoatLord said:

Why does the Doom Wiki say the PSX versions have a higher frame rate?

Because you're reading the wrong wiki.

End of thread :)

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Shhh! Don't speak aloud about framerates...or worse, ticrates!!! I know a (former) DW member that has an unhealthy obsession with unusual Doom frame rates, ticrates and resolutions....still better than having an elevator fetish, I guess...

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PSX Doom maxes out at 30fps. Average framerate varies greatly depending on the map. Maps from Jaguar Doom average in the higher 20's. Most other maps average in the lower 20's, with a few averaging in the higher teens. The worst maps average in the lower teens. Worst place is the centeral room in Perfect Hatred, where the average framerate is in the single digits.

PSX Final Doom fares a bit worse, where although the max framerate is still the same, the average is much worse. Average is around 20fps in smaller rooms and corridors, with framerates dipping into the lower teens/upper single digits in larger rooms. Worst place is the blue key area in Aztec, where you get a lousy 6fps (which feels much worse, due to the slowdown and lag).

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What about the PAL release of PSX Doom? I think it's the same resolution as NTSC release (NTSC resolution is cropped to something like 256x224) but different FPS target...?

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Funny how I dont remember ever lagging out in Perfect Hatred. Is that exclusive to the NTSC version or was I just really lucky or forgetful?

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Before complaining about the PSX's framerate and whatnot, place it in context: it's 1996, and very few (non-Pentium) home PCs can run Doom (or any other 3D game) at a smooth 35 fps all the time, let alone the maximum 70 fps allowed by the standard VGA display. And let's not even speak of the other official ports of Doom on various consoles, or worse yet, the first Amiga ports that popped out after the source code release....planar display = performance killer.

Most other PSX games, being 3D, could also not be made to have a guaranteed 50/60 fps with action slowdown, like 2D/platformer games did, so having "movie-like" (24-25ish) frame rates in a game was always welcome, over having a slideshow.

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Holering said:

What about the PAL release of PSX Doom?

Most likely limited by the TV's 25Hz refresh rate.

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