Difference between revisions of "Watch Dogs 2"
From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
(WD2 is DX11 only game, remove the wrong fix for WDLegion) |
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* The game will crash when ALT-TAB'ed (Does not appear to occur anymore with 2.3) | * The game will crash when ALT-TAB'ed (Does not appear to occur anymore with 2.3) | ||
* Use ALT+F2 to access Ubisoft Connect overlay in order to close any graphics driver warnings | * Use ALT+F2 to access Ubisoft Connect overlay in order to close any graphics driver warnings | ||
+ | }} | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{Fixbox|description=Prevent GPU usage over 90% for RTX 3000 users<ref>{{Refcheck|user=Qinlili|date=2024-02-16|comment=For my laptop with 11800H and 3060, disable turbo and set affinity to only 5 cores provides 55-65fps with no flicker.}}</ref>|fix= | ||
+ | Once the GPU usage is lower than 90%, the flicker disappears on RTX 3000 GPUs. However simply limiting FPS won't work since GPU frequency automatially turns down as the game needs less GPU resource. | ||
+ | |||
+ | # Set Power Management Mode in NVIDIA Control Panel for WD2 to "prefer maximum performance". This can ensure the GPU frequency never turns down. | ||
+ | # Tweak your CPU perfoamance to ensure the game has a bottleneck on CPU instead of GPU. Here are some different ways to limit CPU: | ||
+ | * Use Task Manager or Process Lasso to set affinity of WatchDogs2.exe. This game is highly multithread optimized so just try set less core affinity. You can try from only one core and keep adding cores until the framerate is acceptable while bottleneck still on CPU. | ||
+ | * Disable turbo by ThrottleStop or in BIOS. This can significantly cut down CPU frequency to make a CPU bottleneck. | ||
+ | * Windows power plan can also limit CPU power. Try set maximum processor state to a lower value. | ||
+ | * For those are good at hardware replacement but poor at tweaking, simply install a weaker CPU. A low-end i3 or even Pentium with high-end GPU can always result CPU bottleneck. | ||
}} | }} | ||
Revision as of 03:15, 16 February 2024
Developers | |
---|---|
Ubisoft Montreal | |
Ubisoft Paris | |
Ubisoft Toronto | |
Ubisoft Bucharest | |
Ubisoft Reflections | |
Publishers | |
Ubisoft | |
Engines | |
Disrupt | |
Release dates | |
Windows | November 29, 2016[1] |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 75 |
OpenCritic | 82 |
IGDB | 81 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase, DLC |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | Third-person |
Controls | Direct control |
Genres | Action, Adventure, Open world |
Vehicles | Track racing |
Art styles | Realistic |
Themes | Contemporary, North America, Sci-fi |
Series | Watch Dogs |
Watch Dogs | |
---|---|
Watch Dogs | 2014 |
Watch Dogs 2 | 2016 |
Watch Dogs: Legion | 2020 |
General information
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | ||||
Amazon.com | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. Only activates in the United States. | |||
Amazon.co.uk | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. Only available in the United Kingdom. | |||
Epic Games Store | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
GamersGate | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | ||||
Green Man Gaming | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
Humble Store | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
Microsoft Store | Included exclusively with Xbox Game Pass for PC. | |||
Steam | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. | |||
Ubisoft Store | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition also available. Gold Edition included with Ubisoft+. |
|||
Origin (unavailable) | Deluxe Edition and Gold Edition are also available. |
- All versions require Ubisoft Connect and Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM.[2]
- Easy Anti-Cheat DRM is enabled by default but can be skipped by
-eac_launcher
command.
Version Differences
- The Deluxe Edition contains the Deluxe Pack, containing cosmetic items not sold separately.
- The Gold Edition contains both the Deluxe Pack and Season Pass.
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Season Pass | ||
Ultra Texture Pack | Free | |
Human Conditions | Included in the Season Pass | |
No Compromise | Included in the Season Pass | |
Mega Pack | A bundle that includes: Retro Modernist Pack, Glow_Pro Pack, Ride Britannia Pack, Kick It Pack, Velvet Cowboy and Bay Area Thrash Pack | |
Supreme Pack | A bundle that includes: Black Hat Pack, EliteSec Pack, Guru Pack, Dumpster Diver Pack and Home Town Pack | |
Ultimate Pack | A bundle that includes: Psychedelic Pack, Pixel Art Pack, Ded Labs Pack, Glam Pack, Ubisoft Pack, Punk Rock Pack, Urban Artist Pack, Private Eye Pack and Guts, Grit and Liberty Pack | |
Bay Area Thrash Pack | ||
Black Hat Pack | ||
Ded Labs Pack | ||
Dumpster Diver Pack | ||
EliteSec Pack | ||
Fully Decked Out Bundle | A bundle that includes: The Pixel Art customisation pack, The Guts, Grit and Liberty customisation pack, The Twitch hoodie for Marcus, 5,000 DedSec followers | |
Glam Pack | ||
Glow_Pro Pack | ||
Guru Pack | ||
Guts, Grit and Liberty Pack | ||
Home Town Pack | ||
Kick It Pack | ||
Pixel Art Pack | ||
Private Eye Pack | Free | |
Psychedelic Pack | Included in the Season Pass | |
Punk Rock Pack | ||
Retro Modernist Pack | ||
Ride Britannia Pack | ||
Root Access Pack | Included in the Season Pass | |
T-Bone Pack | Included in the Season Pass | |
Ubisoft Pack | ||
Urban Artist Pack | ||
Velvet Cowboy | ||
Zodiac Killer Mission | Pre-order bonus, also included in Root Access Pack. Can't be purchased individually. |
- (Un)Lawful (Dis)Order and Bitflip Suit DLC are PS4 exclusive.[3]
Essential improvements
Skip launcher
Use the -nosplash command line argument[citation needed]
|
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Skip intro videos
No intro mod |
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|
Game data
Configuration file location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Watch_Dogs 2\ |
Microsoft Store | |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/447040/pfx/[Note 1] |
Save location of photos taken with the in-game camera
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Watch_Dogs 2\LocalStorage0\ |
Microsoft Store | |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/447040/pfx/[Note 1] |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <Ubisoft-Connect-folder>\savegames\<user-id>\2688\ |
Steam | <Ubisoft-Connect-folder>\savegames\<user-id>\3619\ |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/447040/pfx/[Note 1] |
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Epic Games Launcher | ||
Origin | ||
OneDrive | Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers. | |
Steam Cloud | ||
Ubisoft Connect | ||
Xbox Cloud |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | |||
Multi-monitor | [1] | ||
Ultra-widescreen | In-engine cutscenes are 16:9 with black bars. | ||
4K Ultra HD | [1] | ||
Field of view (FOV) | 70-110°. | ||
Windowed | [1] | ||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | [1] | ||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | Up to 16x. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | FXAA, SMAA (1x and T2X), MSAA, TXAA,[1] and SSAA via Pixel Density setting (up to 1.5, aka 2.25x SSAA) | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | [2] | ||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | [1] [1] |
||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | [4] |
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | [1] | |
Mouse acceleration | Off by Default.[1] | |
Mouse sensitivity | Off by Default.[1] | |
Mouse input in menus | [1] | |
Mouse Y-axis inversion | X-Axis also available | |
Controller | ||
Controller support | ||
Full controller support | ||
Controller remapping | Presets only. | |
Controller sensitivity | ||
Controller Y-axis inversion | X-Axis also available |
Controller types |
---|
XInput-compatible controllers | ||
---|---|---|
Xbox button prompts | ||
Impulse Trigger vibration |
PlayStation controllers | ||
---|---|---|
PlayStation button prompts | ||
Light bar support | ||
Adaptive trigger support | ||
DualSense haptic feedback support | ||
Connection modes | Wired, |
Generic/other controllers |
---|
Additional information | ||
---|---|---|
Button prompts | [1] | |
Controller hotplugging | [1] | |
Haptic feedback | ||
Digital movement supported | ||
Simultaneous controller+KB/M |
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | ||
Surround sound | Dolby Atmos[citation needed] | |
Subtitles | ||
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
Royalty free audio | Uses licensed music for radio music and during certain cutscenes. |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
Arabic | ||||
Simplified Chinese | ||||
Traditional Chinese | ||||
Czech | ||||
Dutch | ||||
French | ||||
German | ||||
Hungarian | ||||
Italian | ||||
Japanese | ||||
Korean | ||||
Polish | ||||
Brazilian Portuguese | ||||
Russian | ||||
Spanish | ||||
Latin American Spanish | Uplay only. Other versions can be converted. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
LAN play | |||
Online play |
Disable Easy Anti-Cheat and online play
- Besides using the multiplayer options found in the game configuration menu, you can also prevent online play by disabling the Easy Anti-Cheat protection.
- Can be useful if you plan to mod the game, as Easy Anti-Cheat does not allow modified game files without in-game warning messages, and possible risk of an account ban.
Launch the game with the -eac_launcher command line argument[5]
|
---|
VR support
3D modes | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Native 3D | Nvidia 3D Vision Discover | ||
Nvidia 3D Vision | See Helix Mod: WATCH_DOGS2. |
Devices | |||
---|---|---|---|
Tobii Eye Tracking | Supports: Aim at Gaze, Bungee Zoom, Cover at Gaze, Extended View - Eye & Head Tracking, Hack at Gaze. |
Issues unresolved
Nvidia RTX 3000 and 4000 series flickering issues
- With the series 3000 and 4000, the game has an ongoing long-standing issue with flickering of in-game world elements.[6][7] Changing the graphics settings, limiting the game's FPS or reverting to an older driver version doesn't fix or alleviate the problem at all.[8] Nvidia recognized the issue as a known driver bug and will thus likely fix this issue through a future driver update.[9]
Workaround for RTX 30x0 and 40x0 GPUs[10] |
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Note that this workaround has the following undesirable side-effects in my testing:
|
Prevent GPU usage over 90% for RTX 3000 users[11] |
---|
Once the GPU usage is lower than 90%, the flicker disappears on RTX 3000 GPUs. However simply limiting FPS won't work since GPU frequency automatially turns down as the game needs less GPU resource.
|
Issues fixed
Stuttering during gameplay
Install the game on SSD[12][13] |
---|
Turn off multiplayer features in game options or disable Easy Anti-Cheat and online play[14] |
---|
Disable "Control Flow Guard" for WD2[15] |
---|
|
Game doesn't launch
Turn off or unplug the monitor[citation needed] |
---|
|
Black bars during cutscenes or squished image
- Game incorrectly renders at 4096x2160 (17:9) resolution, resulting in display oddities.
Remove all references to the 4096x2160 resolution[16][17] |
---|
|
Edit configuration file[citation needed] |
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|
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 11 |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Physics | Havok | |
Audio | Wwise | |
Cutscenes | Bink Video | |
Multiplayer | Easy Anti-Cheat | [18] See Disable Easy Anti-Cheat and online play. |
System requirements
Windows[1] | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 7 SP1 | 8.1, 10 |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz AMD FX-6120 3.5 GHz |
Intel Core i5-3470 3.2 GHz AMD FX-8120 3.9 GHz |
System memory (RAM) | 6 GB | 8 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 50 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 AMD Radeon HD 7870 2 GB of VRAM | Nvidia GeForce GTX 780/970/1060 AMD Radeon R9 290 4 GB of VRAM |
- A 64-bit operating system is required.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (447040) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Watch Dogs 2 PC Specs and System Requirements Revealed - UbiBlog - Ubisoft - last accessed on 2016-10-18
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Watch Dogs 2 PC FAQ | Watch Dogs 2 official website | Ubisoft
- ↑ PLAYSTATION EXCLUSIVE CONTENT FOR WATCH DOGS 2
- ↑ Verified by User:Aaronth07 on 2020-07-14
- Tested by enabling Windows HDR. No toggle in-game either way.
- ↑ Cheat Happens - Watch Dogs 2 Message Board - How to Disable Easy Anti-Cheat in WD2 - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Watch Dogs 2 (PC) flickering issue on RTX cards - ad44 - YouTube - last accessed on 2023-03-12
- ↑ Watch Dogs 2 - Flickering Bug - gameswecan - YouTube - last accessed on 2023-03-12
- ↑ Verified by User:Mrtnptrs on 2023-03-12
- Limiting FPS to 60 at lowest settings on a RTX 4090 did not help; did that as a lot of users suggested this issue only happened when the GPU was at 99% usage. My testing thus concluded that this wasn't the case and lots of people also said that didn't work for them.
- ↑ Release 530 Driver for Windows, Version 531.18 - Windows 11 / 10 - Release Notes - Nvidia - last accessed on 2023-03-12
- "[GeForce RTX 4090] Watch Dogs 2 may display flickering when staring at the sky[3858016]"
- ↑ PSA: Watch Dogs 2 Sky Flicker Workaround By Ubisoft, last accessed July 2023
- ↑ Verified by User:Qinlili on 2024-02-16
- For my laptop with 11800H and 3060, disable turbo and set affinity to only 5 cores provides 55-65fps with no flicker.
- ↑ W2D SSD vs HDD test - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Similar issue fixed - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ fix for 970/6600K
- ↑ Reddit - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Steam Community :: Guide :: Fix black bars in cutscenes and aspect ratio issues with 4K/UHD TVs on PC - last accessed on 2024-01-07
- ↑ Verified by User:Keith on 2024-01-07
- ↑ Easy Anti-Cheat - last accessed on May 2023