Watch Dogs 2 from Ubisoft features improved lighting and antialiasing from GameWorks

Watch Dogs 2, the latest hit game from Ubisoft, features amazing graphics and is set in the San Francisco bay area. The PC version features some stunning ray marched volumetric fog which is so characteristic of the bay area in summer. For the PC version, Ubisoft and NVIDIA engineers worked together to raise the graphics appearance and performance by implementing advanced ambient occlusion, shadow and temporal anti aliasing algorithms to create the ultimate version of the game.

Watch Dogs 2 on PC uses the following GameWorks features:

  • TXAA

    A film style anti aliasing technique designed specifically to reduce temporal aliasing (crawling and flickering seen in motion when playing games). TXAA has improved spatial filtering over standard 2xMSAA and 4xMSAA. For example, on fences or foliage and in motion, TXAA starts to approach and sometimes exceeds the quality of other high end professional anti aliasing algorithms.
    Learn more about TXAA.

  • Percentage Closer Soft Shadows

    PCSS is a more realistic way of modelling shadows. As the distance between the shadow caster and receiver increases the shadow’s penumbra becomes larger and the shadow becomes softer. PCSS correctly models this effect for increased realism.
    Learn more about PCSS.

  • Hybrid Frustum Traced Shadows

    HFTS enables geometrically correct contact hardening shadows, meaning that shadows are accurate and realistic when the shadow caster and receiver are close together.
    Learn more about HFTS.

  • Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion

    HBAO+ is an ambient occlusion technique that provides a combination of performance and appearance. Ambient Occusion simulates the uneven distribution of Ambient light in the scene and adds greatly to the sense of depth and presence around objects.
    Learn more about HBAO+.



Watch Dogs 2: PC Trailer - NVIDIA GameWorks

Other PC Exclusive Features

The PC version of Watch Dogs 2 also supports a raft of NVIDIA features like G-Sync, Dynamic Super Resolution and Surround. Check out the settings guide on GeForce.com to see how the game performs with a variety of settings and learn about these features.