Coming this week on Digital Foundry (Week 46, 2021) (Patreon)

Hi everyone, Rich here with your regularly scheduled update on what's happening here at Digital Foundry, after this morning's #content meeting. Thankfully the issues of the hack are now behind use - touch wood - and we can move on! Looks like the big concerns we had about content visibility and momentum via the mighty algorithm in the wake of being suspended have not impacted things too badly. 

So let's get into it.

* Rich (ie me) will be circling back to the Playground Games tech interview. Yes, we've covered a ton of Forza Horizon 5, but in terms of technology, the conversation has really only just begun. This is a little delayed as for the upcoming GTA3 video, we literally covered EVERY version of the Definitive Edition and every mode, so I helped out John there. I'm also going to be keeping an eye on any potential Xbox20 content.

* John took point on GTA3, which is just about finished now and is... 40 minutes long. After this, it's back to the Splatterhouse DF Retro episode, which does indeed drop this week. Oliver will be picking up the GTA pieces with a look at Vice City and San Andreas, with a slightly more constrained series of platforms tested. 

* Tom is working on an in-depth Elden Ring network test analysis. Timings were tight but we've got a bunch of test clips from all versions of the game. Tom will also be covering Battlefield 2042. We've got code but have taken the decision to review the day one experience as opposed to what we understand to be a poor early access version.

* Alex is super-keen on taking a look at Sword and Fairy 7 but there may well be something embargo-related that will see that dropping back into next week.

* Will is benchmarking the 12th Gen Core i7 12700K,  but it's Black Friday week and he'll be making sure that ALL OF THE DEALS are at your disposal. Please ensure you're following our Twitters for that: @DealsFoundry and @DealsFoundryUSA.

Beyond that, I guess I can now confirm (if I haven't already) that I visited Infinity Ward's tech hub in Poland during October to get a look at enhancements to the IW8 engine for Vanguard. I think it's pretty clear that this isn't the finest COD game, though the campaign is a very nice deployment of some great tech. This won't be happening this week, but I will be going into depth on that in a bespoke video. Personally, I'm blown away by some of the new tech, particularly the enhanced software-driven VRS solution that's far more granular than the AMD hardware version in RDNA2 hardware... and it's used on ALL console versions of the game, even last-gen. More on that soon. 

The only other news is that after 6.5 years of solid service, it may well be time to sunset my 13-inch MacBook Pro. Don't get me wrong, I love Windows gaming laptops but I've tried to transition away from Mac for work and I just can't do it. Nobody seems to understand the importance of the keyboard, trackpad and display in the way Apple does - Windows display scaling continues to be an embarrassment. On top of that, my Mac lasted 6.5 years, something I've never been able to achieve with a PC. I wasn't happy about paying so much at the time vs Windows equivalents, but amortised over six years, it works.

I'm no Apple evangelist: I've long since left iOS behind, I have no particular interest in Apple as a brand, and in terms of desktop work, it's PC all the way. However, I've decided to go with the fully enabled M1 Pro with the 14-inch model. Not sure when I'll buy, but the decision is made! Again, we're looking at a small fortune here, but if it lasts for another six years, the overall cost will be OK. On top of that, I'm certainly looking forward to having a reasonable amount of M1 power to check out too.

In the meantime - I hope everyone has a great week and as always, thanks for your support!