Crysis 2 DirectX 11 features revealed

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 22 June, 2011

Ultra Upgrade shown, then pulled.

The Crysis 2 DirectX 11 Ultra Upgrade for science-fiction shooter Crysis 2 has been revealed.

A post on MyCrysis.com, since removed but captured by user BeeDog on NeoGAF, revealed what the free upgrade will bring to PC gamers.

The screen grab is below.

To enjoy the fancy DirectX 11-fuelled visuals you'll of course need a DirectX 11 graphics card.

The DX11 Ultra Upgrade also adds visual improvement and performance optimisation to the DX9 version of the game.

A high resolution textures download, which supports the DX11 and DX9 versions of the game, will also be made available.

German developer Crytek was last week rumoured to be using DX11 as a target for next-generation console development.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 11 months ago

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  • streetmagix #1 11 months ago

    Wow, I can ALMOST read the writing on that screen grab. Any higher quality version floating about?

  • lucifonz #2 11 months ago

    #1 - I can read it fine?

  • argus_raphite #3 11 months ago

    @street

    if you click view all, click the image, then full resolution it will be in slightly better quality. A little long winded but I hope that helps :)

  • ISmoke #4 11 months ago

    About time too

  • StooMonster #5 11 months ago

    ALMOST read it? I can absolutely read it. Sounds brilliant!

    After the debacle with multi-GPU not working on Crysis 2 I haven't played it yet -- and will now wait until the DX11 Ultra Upgrade plus the DX11 Tessellation Pack and High Res Textures is available.

    Last time I asked if this would be on Steam I was negged. But I do wonder how my Steam version will be updated.

  • CamberGreber #6 11 months ago

    Finally.

    Too bad it doesnt say anything about MSAA.

  • sheldipez #7 11 months ago

    what resolution you got your monitor? I can read the screengrab text fine

  • ISmoke #8 11 months ago

    Good point, Stoo. I hope they sorted out the multi GPU issue as i was forced to play it with one card when i completed it.

  • systems #9 11 months ago

    Cool, I'll take a punt when that's out then. It'll be my first DX11 game. Should be a tenner by then as well.

    Can read screengrab fine too.

  • brod #10 11 months ago

    Now with 100% less Steam!

  • bad09 #11 11 months ago

    Makes me glad I didn't get around to finishing C2 before my old PC died, will look forward to sampling what high res textures and DX11 can do for the game.

    I still don't understand them doing this though, Crytek are basically saying to PC owners "don't bother buying our games straight away they don't get finished for a few months after launch anyway".

  • RaySwore #12 11 months ago

    @StooMonster

    Multi-GPU works perfectly on my GTX 570 SLI, versions 1.4 Steam and 1.2 retail. Knocking out around 125 FPS on Extreme settings.

    @CamberGreber

    MSAA is already in the game, enabled via the command variable r_postMSAA. r_postMSAA = 1 for 2x, r_postMSAA = 2 for 4x, and so on.

  • StooMonster #13 11 months ago

    @RaySwore: it does now, only since v1.4 for my dual-Crossfire rig but it didn't work before then :)

    I don't quite get that FPS, but then again I run at 2560x1600 :D

  • Darren #14 11 months ago

    There's an On/Off comparison here: http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,83...o...

    I'm looking forward to this; may even restart the game if the DX11/hi-res texture enhancements are substantial and not just obvious in specific parts of the game.

    Still there's a sense that this is more than a little late as the game came out months ago. That said, Crytek didn't have to release these and it is free so we shouldn't grumble too much.

  • Darren #15 11 months ago

    "Crysis 2 is out now on PC, and PlayStation 3"

    So was the Xbox 360 version cancelled/vaporised then, EG? ;)

    Would be nice if Crytek would finally put a date on this DX11 update and put us all out of our misery. It has been rumoured for months, the game arrived DX9 only then we had half-confirmed reports it was coming soon along with a summer release date for the editor yet over two months later we're still waiting. Surely, they know by now roughly when it'll be released so why have they still not said anything. If you ask me communication is not one of Crytek's strong points...

  • Sunyavadin #16 11 months ago

    I switched to 1024x768 and could read it fine. Was too small to read on 1600x though.

  • Darren #17 11 months ago

    DX11 patch is out next week: https://secure.mycrysis.com/forums/v...p...

    "Hi guys,

    Below are the patch notes for Patch 1.9, this is also the patch that will enable DX11 Support (available via a separate download). We're aiming to have this patch live and available to you all next week. As always we're interested to hear your comments/thoughts on these changes so please post them below.

    Crysis 2 Patch 1.9

    • Added Contact Shadows
    • Added DX11 benchmark level
    • Added DX11 support for Crysis 2 (the following features only work when downloading the optional DX11 package here):
    • - Tessellation + Displacement Mapping
    • - High Quality HDR Motion Blur
    • - Realistic Shadows with Variable Penumbra
    • - Sprite Based Bokeh Depth of Field
    • - Parallax Occlusion Mapping
    • - Particles Motion Blur, Shadows and Art Updates
    • - Water Rendering improvements and using Tessellation + Displacement Mapping
    • Added Realtime Local Reflections
    • Added support for Higher Res Textures Package
    • Added various new console variables to whitelist
    • Fixed bullet penetration, which had been broken by a bug introduced with the DLC 2 patch
    • Fixed issue in MP where player stats weren't always saved at the end of a game
    • Fixed issue in MP where player stats would sometimes randomly reset
    • Fixed issue with MP time played statistic, which would sometimes be too low on leaderboards and in stats
    • Fixed issue with JAW rocket not firing through window's containing broken glass
    • Fixed rare issue where a user could not access MP with a valid CD key if they had previously used an invalid CD key
    • Improved advanced graphics options menu
    • Improved anti-cheat measurements: fixed exploit which could prevent vote kicking working against a user
    • Improved multi-GPU support
    • Improved Tone Mapping
    • Re-added possibility to enable r_StereoSupportAMD via config file (unsupported)"

  • Darren #18 11 months ago

    P.S. @ EG - You might want to update your article with this news as there's nothing more annoying IMO then being told something exciting is coming but you don't know when. ;)

  • Darren #19 11 months ago

    @twinberettas - There's more than just tessellation added to DX11 though, there's SSR, SSDO (a more advanced version of ambient occlusion), POM and lots of other acronyms which most people, including myself, have never heard of before! :p

    Plus there's additional hi-res textures. Looks like a good deal to me. Would have been nice to have had these in the original release but, hey, it's free.

  • Darren #20 11 months ago

    Hopefully, Digital Foundry will update their Face-Off once the patch and textures are released. It'll be interesting to see how it compares with the vanilla PC version through those HD videos.

  • Darren #21 11 months ago

    It's up now apparently as someone on Guru3D.com is downloading it.

    [link url=http://www.mycrysis.com/dx11
    ]http://www.mycrysis.com/dx11
    [/link]

    DX11 pack is 546 MB and the hi-res textures are 1.7 GB.

    Sweet! :D

  • Darren #22 11 months ago

    Direct links:

    [link url=http://www.mycrysis.com/download/Crysis_2_DX11_Pack.exe
    ]http://www.mycrysis.com/download/Crysis_...[/link]
    [link url=http://www.mycrysis.com/download/Crysis_2_HiResTexture_Pack.exe
    ]http://www.mycrysis.com/download/Crysis_...[/link]

    You still need to install patch v1.9 in order to use these though. If you have the non-Steam version then the game should automatically update to that version when you run it (assuming the patch is live). Not so sure about the Steam version though.

  • sabbede #23 11 months ago

    Will there be a .txt explaining why they didn't release the game with this already included?

  • Rack #24 11 months ago

    "If you can't read this text then you don't need the upgrade"

  • Inmediasress #25 11 months ago

    Isn't this the case of too little too late????
    Crysis was supposed to be a real treat to hardcore PC fans.
    I remember how they whined and moaned that PC people are all prirates and you better damn well buy our game or we'll never make another for the PC, then they release it in a piss poor state.
    I sincerely hope they go bankrupt unfortunately it's just wishful thinking.
    They certainly shown they don't care much for their costumers.

  • StooMonster #26 11 months ago

    Darren: Improved multi-GPU support

    Sounds good, although my Crossfire issue seems to have been fixed with 1.4 and the latest Catalyst drivers (from the five minutes I've ran it) I have read that other people still have issues. I hope that 1.9 finally fixes multi-GPU support in Crysis 2.

    Definitely going to be giving my launch-day purchase of Crysis 2 a proper go now that multi-GPU issues finally appear to be solved and DirectX 11 and high definition support is included. Hurrah!