With all these new toys to play with, I mean the texture scaling modes, I decided to take screenshots so I can compare all modes under various settings to see which one I wanted to use.
All screenshots taken in the latest Ishiiruka (637 as of this post).
DirectX11 backend (OpenGL fails with the game's depth of field. and I can't use DirectX12... yet)
1920x1080 display resolution
3x Internal Resolution + Borderless Fullscreen (not exclusive fullscreen)
16x Anisotropic Filter
Texture Cache Accuracy: Normal (the middle position. Not "safe" or the default of "fast").  *Off-topic: Is this still a thing needed for this game? DoF blur works in DX11 at any setting but fails in OGL (works if you either start the game once, stop emulation and then restart the game without restarting the emulator or toggle Fast Depth Calculation. Well I say works, but what I really mean is that screwed up blur is not there. I don't know if the Dof is actually working or not). /off-topic*
No post-processing or scaling.
No texture packs.
Each mode is only at "2x", as I found some modes had no visible changes past 2x but the performance hit still increased.
Note #1: When dumping textures to make a different Playstation button texture pack I noticed a few bump maps were among what little I did dump (two sword, water and one enemy). I know I'm missing some textures I saw in the menu, which were obviously loaded in memory, so I'm assuming the environment bump maps exist because I've typically seen bump maps in the reverse order (environment and not weapons/enemies). Results of some scaling modes also supports this theory, like DDT-Sharp, but haven't been able to dump them. If I'm wrong, then I'll reassess and fix it later lol
Note #2: To lightly support the previous note, I can only dump 14 files total out of my FIFO file, and except for the text and sword none of them are shown on screen. It completely fails to dump the same number of textures as the actual game at the same point. If this is a FIFO limitation, then ignore this note.
My FIFO file. Used this for all screenshots for consistency and control so I can focus on the exact same frame without worry of minor engine calculation differences (because I'm an anal nitpicker).
Scaling Mode (OFF):
No AA 2xMSAA 2xSSAA 2xSGSSAA
For reference.
xbrz:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
The HQx-ness of xbrz makes things look like it was made with a paintbrush, which is fantastic for 2d/sprite/non-realistic games, but not a good choice for this game..
Hybrid:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
I like this more than xbrz, but still not suited for this game. Also, what is this really? xbr/xbrz + reverse anti-aliasing?
Bicubic:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
Very nice. Look at the ground by the swords in this and compare how pixels transition from one to another. No more pyramid/cross blending! And because of that this deals with with texture aliasing/pixelation without becoming blurry.
Hybrid Bicubic:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
Midrange crush/level flattening = loss of detail = image degradation. Very noticeable on the ground around the swords.
Is this literally "Hybrid + bicubic" or "xbr/xbrz + bicubic"?
Out of the four original modes, I would use Bicubic everywhere, with special exceptions for hybrid/xbrz depending on a game's art direction.
Now for the new toys!
Jinc:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
Also, very nice. Color samples in addition to what bicubic does (much smoother). Very close to Bicubic, so this could probably use some extra sharpness added in.
Jinc-Sharper:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
Ack. Too much sharpness! Also, tattoo now has visible ringing (darker edge on tattoo side with lighter edge on skin side).
Smoothstep:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
Note: I have no clue what "smoothstep" is or what it's goal is, and my googlefu only gives me text explanations that I'm too stupid to understand (I'm a visual person, all the text, formulas and graphs explaining the concept of smoothstep tell me nothing without a picture to act as a relative anchor to tie in to).
This is probably a good one to use with if you use any FSAA, downscaling, and/or with other shaders, but by itself it appears to be as close as one can get to being unfiltered without actually being unfiltered.
3-point:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
Note: Again, no clue about this or it's goal.
Do you have motion sickness? Yes? Well, go on and look! Dat motion blur! *barf* Heh, sorry. Like I said, I don't know anything about this one, but it's clearly not suited for this game.
DDT:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
Somewhat similar to xbr but vastly superior for this art direction--No more paintbrush appearance! I really like it vs xbrz/hybrid on the ground texture, but there is a few out-of-place pixels in the tattoo here.
@Hyllian, do you think this one could be refined a bit more? I think it could use two things: I) A small amount of "rounding" (like how bicubic "rounds" bilinear) and II) if you could preserve some of the original contrast. Look at the Chest's lid brackets and those single brightest pixels of the ground around the swords to see what I mean (can't tell if caused by bump map, which may complicate things). Do remember I don't know anything about what's technically involved here. I just wanted to share my opinion because quite this one
DDT-Sharp:
No AA,
2xMSAA,
2xSSAA,
2xSGSSAA
Yuck, look at what this does to the ground bump map. Reminds me of a metal plate floor. Arm tattoo, actually anything without a bump map looks much cleaner.
My favorites for this game: Bicubic, DDT and Jinc. Still undecided what I want to do with this game, "improved and preserve" the original look (Bicubic/Jinc) or "enhanced" it (DDT), and what post-processing shaders I want to use. I'll wait til I get to some town where it supposedly has the worst performance before touching the shaders though.
OK class, what did we learn today?
That Hyllian has made a bunch of damn good shaders. Seriously, thanks man.
Didn't know you had anything besides xbr and what you've posted in here until I used my googlefu for xbr, xbrz and hybrid.
appreciate the reply