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What Red Dead Redemption 2 absolutely needs for PC
Rumours abound of a PC port, so here’s our in-depth skinny on what Red Dead Redemption 2 needs to be a runaway steal on PC
Let’s get this out of the way upfront, PC pardners. Red Dead Redemption 2 isn’t officially coming to PC. Not yet anyway. But while the internet leaps at any rumour with ‘Red Dead Redemption’ and ‘PC’ in the title, there are some things Rockstar would need to get right for a PC port to work.
Thankfully, Rockstar has a strong recent history of quality PC ports. Just look at GTA V and Max Payne 3. Here’s a breakdown of what Rockstar needs to take in stride if it wants a perfect PC launch of Red Dead Redemption 2 (should that ever actually happen).
Red Dead Redemption
As in, the first game. It doesn’t help that Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel to Red Dead Redemption, despite the slapped-on numeral that implies it’s a sequel. Put simply, there’s a greater richness to the already lush storytelling in Red Dead Redemption 2 for those who’ve played the preceding, uh, sequel. Even if a remastered version of Red Dead Redemption comes after a PC release of Red Dead Redemption 2, it’d mean single-platform PC devotees don’t have to passively discover what comes next in the story of Arthur Morgan and his gang of loveable outlaws.
Reach for the skyyyyyyyyy (in your best Woody voice)
© Rockstar
Eye-candy Customisation
Red Dead Redemption 2 is already one of the – if not the – purtiest games to ever grace consoles. With the right optimisation and a high-end PC, it could well be the purtiest game to ever grace any platform. This means Rockstar would do well to add in an epic list of visual customisation sliders that let tweakers push the game to its limit.
Crossfire and SLI support for AMD and Nvidia GPU owners, respectively, would help eke out more fidelity at a higher frame rate. Speaking of Nvidia GPUs, it’s tough to ignore the eye-candy potential of ray tracing care of Team Green’s latest RTX 20-series graphics cards. Given the collaboration between Rockstar and Nvidia for the PC versions of GTA V and Max Payne 3, it might be safe to expect the same treatment here.
A postcard, no matter where you look
© Rockstar
Eye-candy Experts
As noted by Digital Foundry, the reflective potential of ray tracing wouldn’t be as noticeable in the mostly frontier setting of Red Dead Redemption 2. That said, it would still be noticeable near water and in towns.
Every extra bit of eye-candy helps. Speaking of that particular Digital Foundry video, the renowned engine analysts rightly called for the open-API support of Vulkan, which Linux fans would surely heartily agree with.
These same high-end rigs could also benefit from improvements to volumetric fog and an increase in shadow-casting lights...
They also make note of the potential for high-end PCs to take advantage of increased detail in the draw distance, most notably in terms of vegetation. On top of this, multi-sampling antialiasing (MSAA) would help improve the overall stability and detail of objects stacked next to the temporal antialiasing (TAA) used in the console versions of Red Dead Redemption 2.
These same high-end rigs could also benefit from improvements to volumetric fog and an increase in shadow-casting lights. In short, what looks great on console has the potential to look even better on PC.
Walk towards the light, PC players
© Rockstar
Michelin Star Menu
While GTA V has a lot of options for tweaking graphical fidelity, the actual menu where you perform the changes leaves a lot to be desired, in terms of design and even a locked 30fps frame rate. Rockstar really should take note of Ubisoft’s recent PC ports.
Both Far Cry 5 and the two latest Assassin’s Creed games had a great transparency for changes, short-but-effective benchmarking tools and limited requirement for restarts between changes. A Red Dead Redemption 2 port would benefit from these, too.
Even if the restarts can’t be avoided, UI transparency about where a minimum option starts and a maximum choice ends would be appreciated. On top of this, the addition of basic static preview images of how a higher/lower graphical option impacts the overall look are fast becoming standards in PC ports and should be in Red Dead Redemption 2.
PC GTA V life... life is good
© Rockstar
Tweaking the Ivories
Customisation isn’t merely limited to graphical fidelity options, either. Comprehensive keyboard configuration options wouldn’t just be welcome, they’d actually help improve the game. Rockstar needs only look to the nuanced control options in the PC version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 for guidance in this area.
At the very least, hotkeys for go-to guns and beloved tonics are essential. It should also go without saying that auto-aim is disabled by default, particularly for Red Dead Online...
One of my biggest frustrations with Red Dead Redemption 2 is the subtly shifting contextual controls, most likely due to the limited input options of a controller. Left trigger is to engage in conversation and aim your gun. Right trigger fires, but sometimes it pulls out your weapon. Hold that same trigger in slightly, and that’s something else. Interact buttons shift depending on the item in question. To compound matters, sometimes command inputs don’t register if you’re standing in the wrong place for the animation to play out.
With the option to granularly map out controls to the nth in-game function, this gripe could be negated. At the very least, hotkeys for go-to guns and beloved tonics are essential. It should also go without saying that auto-aim is disabled by default, particularly for Red Dead Online, and raw mouse input would help to keep the online foray as responsive as possible.
How good is rearing?!?!
© Rockstar
FPS and fps
Speaking of controls, fans of first-person perspective are at a disadvantage on console as far as muscle memory is concerned. Left trigger aims from the hip, but you have to press down on the D-pad to aim down sights (ADS). While there’s an argument to be made that Rockstar should follow the PUBG Corporation's approach to hip-fire vs ADS on consoles – wherein tapping aims down sights and holding fires from the hip – this could easily be separated to different keystrokes or buttons on PC, particularly when you include the multi-button functionality of a gaming mouse.
In terms of the other ‘fps’ – frames per second – this is the easiest benefit for a PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2. While high-end 4K gamers running hypothetical ray-tracing features in a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC release might not be able to max out their frame rate, other PC gamers would definitely appreciate the option.
Rockstar should aim for 60fps as the minimum, with a view to an unlocked frame rate for those who favour frames over fidelity and, more importantly, PC gamers seeking a competitive edge in Red Dead Online. Speaking of Red Dead Online, all platforms would benefit from dedicated servers and 60Hz (minimum) tick rates to ensure smooth online gunplay.
On the topic of smoothness, as mentioned above, the animations sometimes don’t play out if you’re not standing in the right spot. A higher frame rate on PC would help speed things up, especially when inching around trying to find the right angle to engage with something. Needless to say, higher frame rates would also make Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC feel a whole lot more responsive than its console counterparts.
Welcome to New Hanover
© Rockstar
Vote to Skip
It’s fair to assume that a number of PC gamers forked out for a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One console to play Red Dead Redemption 2. For those players who like the idea of another playthrough on PC, it’d be great to skip the opening hours of the game. The opening section acts well as an introduction to the core game mechanics, but like other long-winded game intros, it’s unlikely to fare so well on repeat playthroughs.
HDR and Supersampling
According to another Digital Foundry video, Red Dead Redemption 2 on consoles is using standard dynamic range (SDR) posing as high dynamic range (HDR). With the rise of HDR PC screens – particularly those of the 4K, high-refresh-rate variety – it’d be a shame to have a visually superior version of Red Dead Redemption 2 without the option to experience it in full HDR glory.
For those gamers who haven’t sold a kidney to buy such a display, it’d also be fantastic to have a supersampling option (or slider) that lets PC gamers with high-end towers but lower-end displays experience the joy of higher-resolution textures, albeit at popular resolutions like 1080p and 1440p.
Moonlighting your horse choices
© Rockstar
Min-maxing
Rockstar has done a great job of ensuring that owners of base PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (and Xbox One S) consoles haven’t lost out to their respective refreshed, younger siblings. While you’ll likely never see a min-spec PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2 showcased in a trailer, those with lower-end PCs would appreciate the option to play Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s not that Rockstar has to take a Sea of Thieves approach to making its latest game playable on a potato, but a reasonable min-spec option would make the game accessible to a wider gamut of PC gamers.
Should a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC release eventuate, there’s a good chance it’ll be great. Rockstar clearly learnt from the missteps of the GTA IV PC port and improved the attention to detail for the PC versions of Max Payne 3 and GTA V. Assuming this trend continues, there’s a good chance that the sting of not receiving a PC version alongside the console releases will be soothed by the very likely reality that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be best played on PC.
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