Optimising Black Myth: Wukong Settings for Mainstream-Level PC Hardware
At Digital Foundry, we’ve already delved into the high-end PC experience of Black Myth: Wukong, showcasing the ‘full RT’ (path-traced) lighting. However, for the majority of players who will be using mainstream-level PC hardware, we understand the importance of scalable settings. We’ve curated optimised settings that ensure a visually pleasing experience without compromising on quality.
Redefining Ray Tracing Settings
Upon closer inspection of the ray tracing settings in Black Myth: Wukong, it became apparent that the scalability is limited. It’s an all-or-nothing scenario – opting for maximum settings delivers a beautiful experience, but lowering the settings results in a significant reduction in the quality of reflections and specular elements. Water rendering is particularly affected, with denoising issues on medium settings and the complete removal of caustics. Opting for low RT settings leads to subpar cube-mapped reflections. The current lack of granularity in settings is a drawback, and we recommend sticking to maxed-out options for now.
Optimised Settings Comparison
| PS5-Equivalent | Optimised Lower-End | Optimised High-End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| View Distance | High | High | High |
| Post Effects Quality | High | High | High |
| Shadow Quality | High | High | High |
| Texture Quality | Low/Medium | Very High | Very High |
| Visual Effects Quality | High | Medium | Medium |
| Hair Quality | High | High | High |
| Vegetation Quality | High | High | High |
| Global Illumination Quality | High | High | Very High |
| Reflection Quality | High | High | Very High |
Our analysis led to the creation of two distinct profiles for Black Myth: Wukong, comparing the PS5 version with PC settings to understand the developers’ optimisation choices. The goal of optimised settings is to save system resources without compromising on visual fidelity at the high-end. In a dense forest scene, there was a notable 48% improvement in frame-rate compared to the maxed-out ‘cinematic’ mode without RT. Even with these optimised settings, Black Myth: Wukong remains demanding, especially on hardware equivalent to an RTX 4060 desktop GPU, where frame rates may dip. Adjusting global illumination and reflection quality can yield a significant frame-rate boost.
Black Myth: Wukong faces performance challenges such as traversal stuttering and shader compilation issues. The developers need to address these issues to enhance the overall experience. On mainstream PC hardware, our optimised settings should provide a satisfactory gameplay experience. We will continue to monitor the game’s performance and provide updates as necessary.