For this update I focused on the ES 3.1 mode which did appear to develop a few issues after very recent updates. I’ve changed how this mode is handled to avoid a repeat of it developing issues in this way as well as tidied up any issues I could see.
Running in ES 3.1 from the launch options essentially puts the game in a form of DirectX mobile emulation meaning the performance cost of specifically graphics is much much lower, even against the lowest settings in DirectX12. It of course doesn't look as good visually as the regular DirectX12 version, but it does allow the game to run on very low end hardware with pretty decent performance.
I've attached a couple comparison screenshots below if you are curious as to how 'bad' running Golfing in Aether in this mode actually looks.
Can you guess which is which? Upper image is ES 3.1 and lower image is DirectX12, a give-away kinda is theres some lower quality assets like flag in play but overall its certainly not a bad experience. It should be said that the game will comfortably run at well over 60 fps on something like a Vega 3 Ryzen APU in DirectX12 mode on medium, but I wanted to ensure as many people could play the game as possible.
If you are enjoying playing the beta then please don't forget to add the game to your wishlist :)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1914980/Golfing_In_Aether/
Patch Notes
General
- Fixed a crash running in ES 3.1 mode as a result of recent power meter changes.
- Fixed ball being overlapped by power meter in ES 3.1 mode.
- Added improvement to the way ES 3.1 is detected and handled within the game. Its now detected and defined in a singular spot to improve error prevention.
Environment
- Added improved flag quality for ES 3.1 mode.
- Fixed appearance of water in ES 3.1 mode.
- Fixed appearance of bamboo looking very dark in ES 3.1 mode.
- Fixed appearance of flag having various artifacts in ES 3.1 mode. I’ve moved the flag to a static version but will look at adding a custom wind effect when the engine better supports it. This only effects ES 3.1 not the regular appearance.