Wuchang's "Fallen Feathers" undergoes another update, seemingly enforcing upscaling against user preferences when it's intended to be off
In a move that has raised concerns among gamers, the game Wuchang: Fallen Feather is suspected to force upscaling on a majority of lower-tier graphics cards. This practice, which is particularly noticeable on graphics cards that top Valve's Hardware Survey, has been confirmed by several tests and observations.
The game's 'oversampling resolution' setting, in essence, acts as an upscaling setting. Developers implemented upscaling in patch 1.3 and refined it in the latest patch (1.4). However, this forced upscaling is causing controversy as it seems to be used at all times, even when it's disabled.
This suggests that the developers are forcing upscaling to be used, which means the game never truly renders at the native resolution but instead upscales a lower internal resolution to the display resolution. This practice artificially boosts frame rates while degrading image quality.
Players with hardware capable of running the game at native resolution no longer have the option to do so, as the game clamps internal resolution below native even at 100% scaling. This removal of player control over graphics fidelity makes the game look worse despite setting the graphics to maximum quality.
Moreover, the forced upscaling acts more like a placebo, improving performance superficially without true optimization of the game’s engine or rendering pipeline. Performance benchmarks show that even high-end GPUs struggle to maintain 60 FPS at native resolutions, which might have motivated the developers to force upscaling instead of proper optimization.
Upscaling solutions (e.g., TSR, FSR, DLSS) are industry standards to boost performance. However, forcing these solutions on players can be seen as an anti-consumer practice if native rendering options are deliberately removed.
Wuchang: Fallen Feather is a pixel-bound game, meaning its performance is almost entirely dependent on frame resolution. Patch 1.4 includes optimization for performance issues on certain device models. In the launch version, using 100% rendering resolution resulted in lower performance.
It's worth noting that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 is considered the best graphics card for playing Wuchang: Fallen Feather. The MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi is considered the best motherboard, while the G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32 GB DDR5-7200 is considered the best RAM. The WD_Black SN7100 is considered the best SSD.
Nick Evanson, a writer with a history in gaming and computers, has written extensively about Wuchang: Fallen Feather. Evanson, who has a background in physics and IT teaching, started his writing career in the late 1990s, working at Madonion and Beyond3D.com before joining Futuremark (MadOnion rebranded) full-time.
In the latest patch (1.4), the developers adjusted the supersampling resolution limits on select GPU models to prevent unintended performance degradation. This move indicates that the developers are aware of the issues and are working to address them.
However, the forced upscaling remains a concern for many gamers. The ability to choose whether to use upscaling or not is an essential aspect of a good gaming experience, and removing this choice can negatively impact the player's enjoyment of the game.
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- The controversy surrounding Wuchang: Fallen Feather persists, as players contend with forced upscaling, rendering the game never truly running at native resolution.
- developers implemented upscaling in patch 1.3 and refined it in the latest patch (1.4), but players argue that the forced application of this feature degrades image quality.
- Players with hardware capable of running the game at native resolution are frustrated by the game's clamping of the internal resolution below native, even at 100% scaling.
- The forced upscaling in Wuchang: Fallen Feather, which superficially improves performance without optimizing the game's engine, has been compared to a placebo by critical gamers.
