Tessellation allows the GPU to employ its vast computing power to transform the low-polygon models used in most games into much higher-detail representations, with a relatively minimal performance cost. The highest profile of those features is probably tessellation, which seems to be the signature new capability of DX11 in the minds of many. The features list includes a host of techniques that represent the cutting edge in real-time graphics, including objects tessellated via displacement mapping, dynamically simulated and tessellated water, parallax occlusion mapping (where tessellation isn’t the best fit), shadows edges with variable softness, a variant of screen-space ambient occlusion that takes the direction of light into account, and real-time reflections. With the DX11 update installed, Crysis 2 becomes one of the most visually striking and technically advanced video games in the world. An awful lot of time had passed since the game’s release back in March, but the size and scope of the update sure felt like a good-faith effort at making things up to PC gamers. Then, in late June, Crytek and publisher EA unloaded a massive, PC-specific update to Crysis 2 in three parts: a patch to version 1.9 of the game weighing in at 136MB, a 545MB patch adding DirectX 11 support, and a hulking 1.65GB archive containing high-res textures for the game. Months passed, and rumors about a possible DirectX 11 update for the game rose and fell like the tide, with little official word from Crytek. Instead, the game became known as another sad example of a dumbed-down console port. Although the game’s visuals weren’t bad looking as released, they fell far short of fulfilling hopes that Crytek’s latest would be one of those rare games capable of taking full advantage of the processing power packed into a state-of-the-art PC. The promised DX11 support was nowhere to be found. Upon release, Crysis 2 supported only DirectX 9, with very limited user adjustments, like so many other games cross-developed for the consoles. Crytek assured its fans that no such thing would happen and, in a tale told countless times in recent years, proceeded to drop the ball dramatically. Developer Crytek, a PC favorite, decided to expand into consoles with this latest release, which caused PC gamers to fear that the system-punishing glory of Crytek’s prior, PC-only games might be watered down to fit the inferior hardware in the console market. By now, if you follow these things, you probably know the sordid story of DirectX 11 support in Crysis 2.

Crysis 2 mods back to the futue