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You couldn't be more wrong.

Galaxy on Fire 2 does it. You have to go and enable retina graphics in the settings.

You have no idea what you are talking about. The iPad is not "always running" all the pixels regardless of content. If something is not full res for the screen it is simply scaled up aka stretched to fit the screen. So, obviously, it doesn't require the the same amount of graphical power to output lower res graphics and stretch the picture to fit the screen than it does to output to full resolution on a 1:1 scale.

+1
thank you sir
finally someone with a brain.


maybe hes never switched his computer monitor to a lower resolution ;)
 
I'm glad you've brought up Real Racing 2.

That game now runs at the higher resolution while at the same time keeping and even improving some of the effects. It looks better on the new iPad in every way.

The reason RR2 looks better on the iPad 3, is because the dev's never really made an iPad 2 version. The game started out designed exclusively for the iPad 1, and its SGX535. After the release of the iPad 2, all they did was add a few extras, such as increasing the anti aliasing, and adding shadows and what not. Then, when the iPad 3 came out, they did a large update, and compiled the app with larger textures, more AA, and other similar massive changes. When you compare the app on your iPad 3 to the same app running on your iPad 2, you are really comparing an iPad 3 app to an iPad 1 app. If there was a "real" iPad 2 compilation, again, the iPad 2 version would win, as its GPU is overall faster for what it does. That is not something anyone can change, as it is a limitation of the iPad 3's GPU itself.
 
I thought the general thinking was most games--especially the graphic-intensive--would be upscaled on the iPad 3. Is that not the case?
 
I thought the general thinking was most games--especially the graphic-intensive--would be upscaled on the iPad 3. Is that not the case?

The issue is that 2048x1536 is a monster of a resolution - even desktop computers struggle with running games at that resolution. The iPad 3's GPU was not upgraded enough to maintain the same performance as the iPad 2 does at 1024x768.

The ideal compromise would be to render the game at 1024x768, but render UI elements and text at the retina resolution.
 
Judging from the video link, the Retina version is missing some pretty large pieces. I wonder two things...

Could the developer have simply not completed the Retina version in time? Knowing that the majority of users will be buying it on an iPhone or earlier generation iPad, maybe this was a compromise they were willing to make in order to get it launched in a timely manner? If so, I'd imagine we'll se an update.

Is it possible that the developer, knowing the value of early reviews and the volume of people checking out the app when it's brand new, simply pulled those elements to be 100% sure there were no hiccups with playability? While those of us with 3rd gen iPads are the minority in the larger market, it's still a significant number of people. If any of those graphical features made the game lag or caused some problem, it may have incited large numbers of negative reviews all at once. Again, if this is the case, we'll see an update.

Even without those elements in there, the game is stunning to look at. It could be a tradeoff in the end. Hi res, perfect pictures--or shadows and heat waves. There is unquestionably more detail in the Retina version.
 
Gameloft have confirmed, via CNET, that the upcoming update to NOVA 3 will give new iPad owners the option to play the game at iPad 2 resolution with all effects, or at Retina Display resolution, but not both at the same time (obviously).

"In a statement, Gameloft said it plans to add an option in an upcoming update that lets users pick whether they want to use the third-generation iPad's resolution, or switch down to a lower resolution to view the extra effects.

"Those who play N.O.V.A. 3 Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance on the newest iPad will be able to choose between the Retina resolution or Motion Blur and Particles effects in the next update," the company told CNET. "Both options can unfortunately not run together."

In the meantime, game enthusiasts are unlikely to care too much about missing these bits of eye candy, considering the core gameplay is the same. However, this does illustrate one of the potential drawbacks of running games at these resolutions. PC gamers have run into similar trade-offs for years, but those games often offer the option to toggle various processing effects, and pick different resolutions, to find a happy medium. In the iPad's case, there's simplicity in that end users don't have to make those kind of choices."


Full comparison and confirmation of the update by GameLoft can be found here, if people really want a link as proof.
 
If apple wanted particle affects at that resolution they should have made the cpu quad core as well
 
If apple wanted particle affects at that resolution they should have made the cpu quad core as well

You know Apple purposely leaves something out for the new iPad (2013) since it will probably be an internal only update. But, it would had made sense to include it in this update.
 
Here's a genuine question that I assume someone will be able to answer for me.

Could the present generation of home consoles i.e PS3, 360 & Wii run something like Nova 3 at the iPad 3's resolution and also has the particle effects & motion blur? My guess would be the Wii couldn't, but I don't know about the 360 & PS3?
 
Anyone that thinks a game released 1 month after the intro of the hardware is indicative of "the final verdict" is clueless.

Look at your history. Educate yourself. You sound utterly naive and short-sighted.
 
If apple wanted particle affects at that resolution they should have made the cpu quad core as well

You do realize that rendering particles at a higher resolution doesn't use more CPU, right? It does use more GPU, which was upgraded...

Particles use a fixed amount of CPU at any resolution. What would change the amount of CPU is having MORE particles.

That being said, the iPad's GPU probably can't handle the fill rate needed for so much overlapping of particles and post processing at such high resolution.
 
I'll GLADLY sacrifice some particle effects and depth of field, for the gorgeous 2048X1536 resolution.... Nova3 is incredible looking.

People who know....know that at that resolution...you have to give up some effects. Same as a PC...you want all eye candy AND resoluion....you need to spend about $600 on just your graphics card...not to mention memory, CPU ...etc etc.

Gameloft did a great job with Nova3.
 
All I want is the particle effects. They can keep the blur. What is the point in outputting at retina display if you are just gonna blur the detail anyway
 
All I want is the particle effects. They can keep the blur. What is the point in outputting at retina display if you are just gonna blur the detail anyway

It's not blur. It's depth of field, and it looks great.

I'm happy they are at least going to give us choice.
 
The issue is that 2048x1536 is a monster of a resolution - even desktop computers struggle with running games at that resolution. The iPad 3's GPU was not upgraded enough to maintain the same performance as the iPad 2 does at 1024x768.

The ideal compromise would be to render the game at 1024x768, but render UI elements and text at the retina resolution.
Rendering the game at 1536x1152 would be sufficient for heavy titles like Infinity Blade 2, but for most games, such as N.O.V.A 3, Modern Combat 3, Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy, 2048x1536 or very near to it is fine.
 
Rendering the game at 1536x1152 would be sufficient for heavy titles like Infinity Blade 2, but for most games, such as N.O.V.A 3, Modern Combat 3, Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy, 2048x1536 or very near to it is fine.

Apparently rendering NOVA3 at 2048x1536 is not fine since they have to disable various effects.
 
Apparently rendering NOVA3 at 2048x1536 is not fine since they have to disable various effects.
They disabled a few little effect yes, but the game is still able to render at 2048x1536 without them. From my brief experience anyway, it runs smoother on the iPad 3 than the iPad 2.
 
They disabled a few little effect yes, but the game is still able to render at 2048x1536 without them. From my brief experience anyway, it runs smoother on the iPad 3 than the iPad 2.

Right, but it only runs smoother because they disabled those effects. So clearly the iPad 3 has some trouble driving apps at the highest quality level at its native resolution. It is also worth noting that if they disabled the effects on the iPad 2 as well, it would run *even* smoother on there.
 
I'll GLADLY sacrifice some particle effects and depth of field, for the gorgeous 2048X1536 resolution.... Nova3 is incredible looking.

People who know....know that at that resolution...you have to give up some effects. Same as a PC...you want all eye candy AND resoluion....you need to spend about $600 on just your graphics card...not to mention memory, CPU ...etc etc.

Gameloft did a great job with Nova3.

Sup Gameloft dev.
 
Blur is overused in console gaming for hiding hardware limitations. I like deph of field a lot but others don't so it would be great to have a choice.
 
Right, but it only runs smoother because they disabled those effects. So clearly the iPad 3 has some trouble driving apps at the highest quality level at its native resolution. It is also worth noting that if they disabled the effects on the iPad 2 as well, it would run *even* smoother on there.
Of course, for most high end games (or certain high end effects) the iPad 3's SGX543MP4 won't be enough to run it at the same frame rate at 2048x1536 as the iPad 2's MP2 at 1024x768. But it does pretty well. They have had to make a few sacrifices but still the game looks great and imo the crispness outweighs the lack of effects.
 
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