After a bit of troubleshooting it looks like its related to v-sync, changing:

gfx_vsync:1

to

gfx_vsync:0

within %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.MinecraftUWP_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\games\com.mojang\minecraftpe\options.txt

Seems to fix the issue and brings performance back to a more reasonable level. If you do want to re-enable v-sync you can force it with the nVidia control panel without the issue being re-introduced.

Disappointingly the maximum view distance in Minecraft with raytracing enabled is only 24 chunks, at least as far as setting it in the user interface. I know its a massive resource hog, but I was confident my 3080 could handle more at 4k 60fps (with DLSS enabled). And it can, I’ve managed to get a pretty stable 60fps with a 36 chunk view distance.

To do this you’ll need to modify options.txt which can be located in %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.MinecraftUWP_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\games\com.mojang\minecraftpe and change raytracing_viewdistance to your desired viewdistance, for example raytracing_viewdistance:36

Going any higher on my 3080 would result in random chunks sometimes failing to render at all. Be warned.

However a few months ago it was announced there would only be one submarine, a Type VII. Now I don't know about you, but I started my career as a U-Boat captain in a Type II before the start of the war, then to get a Type VIIB, and then a couple of years later to start longer range patrols in IX. Desperately trying to hang on until 1945 and with a bit of luck somehow manage to get the epic Type XXI, I could never survive long enough personally but it gave you a goal to try and achieve.

It was also announced the game would end in 1943. Say what?

Both of these facts diminished my interest. But not as much compared to what I heard last week. Ubisoft's new copy protection system that they've got coming down on their games this year has firmly squashed any intentions of getting this game close to release. May be I'll pick up a version when it's cheap somewhere. But I'm not getting it on release and not paying full whack for it, not when there's the possibility of the game not working half the time.

With this new copy protection scheme you're completely reliant on your internet connection to play, and Ubisoft's ability to maintain its servers. You need to stay connected to Ubisoft's servers or else you can't play. If you connection drops while playing you're kicked out to the main menu.

On the plus side there's no disc check. Or an activation limit. There's other cool things that I've been keen to get for a while, server-side saved games (ideally with a local cache but not in this case) and config. Like some of the Steam cloud stuff we've been seeing lately, so that's all cool. But then of course there's the bad things...

My opinion has always been that copy protection systems are pointless and that they only inconvenience your paying customers. After all the people who pirate it don't have to worry about the copy protection systems, they've already been ripped out.

If a game does have to require some form of copy protection, in my opinion these days it's reasonable to have an install-time activation over the internet. However, and importantly, your activation count should reset over time. Like it does with Windows, you can activate it once, try again the next day on a different computer and not be able to. But try again in a few months time and it'll activate again. This is more reasonable and takes into account people getting new computers.

There is of course always the danger that the company will go under, which is why they should always have a patch developed to remove the activation either at the end of the supported life, or if the company is about to go under. Ubisoft have however said that they will release a patch if and when the online service is shut down so that "core" gameplay remains unaffected.

Discs checks nowadays are also getting less viable as people start having computers without optical drives. And let's face it, it's annoying.

A Steam-like system is borderline usable. However the one big issue with Steam is you're required to be online to put Steam into an offline mode. Meaning if your internet connection dies and you want to play a game. You're screwed. A big issue for me as I'm much more likely to waste time playing games if the internet goes down.

Something like Fallout 3 is a good example of copy protection done right. It checks the disc on install. And then if you want all the cool stuff like being able to sign-in to Xbox/Games for Windows Live you need to use the Live access key and be connected the internet. But the game doesn't suddenly break if you lose your connection.

The minimum I would like to see Ubisoft change would be scrapping the whole booting you to the menu when the connection is lost. If the connection goes down, fine, keep playing, cache the save games locally until the connection is restored. That way most people at least won't notice if their connections dies. That's my biggest issue with this. Nothing would be worse than preparing to strike at a convoy you've been following for 3 days and losing all your progress because the connection dropped briefly.

Ideally though. Stop bothering with DRM, too much money is wasted developing it, it wastes more money in support costs and just hassles paying customers, and let's be honest. It doesn't stop people from pirating.

Silent Hunter 5, aside from the one submarine type and the game ending in 1943 and the obvious questionable DRM issues, looks like a fantastic game, and it is sad that so many people will not be buying it, at least on release due to the restrictions that Ubisoft have placed upon it, but we have to send a message saying that we aren't going to accept this level of copy protection.

Below is my buying the [Chef's Hat] off Derek how exciting! Hi Derek how are you doing?

Now at long last I can wear my new silly hat in raids, and show everyone how much low level rubbish food I can cook, and more importantly how quickly I can do it.

What did you expect me to start pumping out Fish Feasts? Damn those things are expensive and time consuming to get the ingredients, too pricy for this Night Elf.

Below is me proudly wearing my new hat over the frozen wastes of Northrend.

What's next? Well that goofy looking Kalu'ak fishing rod of course! Only 22100 odd more reputation to go.

By making URLs out of corpses. Sigh.

New features:

Walk through highly detailed submarines in the new first-person view and access every part of your U-boat.

Interact with your crew, watch them perform their daily jobs and experience the tension and fear inside the U-boat through the new advanced order system.

Choose your own strategy and select your targets with a new objective-driven, dynamic campaign.

Open new locations, upgrades and resupply possibilities, while the Allied ships adjust dynamically to your approach. Your actions will directly impact the evolution of the campaign.

Prowl the waters with a brand-new user interface. Now, every beginner can successfully command a sub while remaining free of confusion. In expert mode, experienced players will be provided all the necessary information and controls to command the sub completely on their own.

Experience the most realistic and immersive Silent Hunter ever created. Improved environment graphics create a powerful level of immersion as you operate authentic, highly detailed U-boats and fight against surface ships.

Let's hope they don't make it too arcadey so any monkey can play. I would embed a trailer, but until they have a trailer where the crew are speaking German, not English with a bad American accent there's no point.

It took six attempts to get the install to work off the discs when I tried about 2 hours ago. You'd run the installer from the disc, Steam would throw an error saying its too busy to handle the request, and the installer would die. Upon checking the 'My Games' tab you'd see Empire Total War trickling down from Steam, not from the disc.

To sort this out, exit Steam, and re-run the installer from the disc and select the re-install option - if Steam throws another error about being too busy try it again. You'll need a patch downloaded from Steam but that isn't too big.

Trying it on my second machine 30 minutes ago was a bit better, Steam again said it was too busy but upon the second attempt the install worked properly, so it looks like the servers are getting a bit better.

Why bother? Installing from the discs is faster than downloading 15GB off Steam, which at the current rate would takes days...

Like previous Total War games this feels a bit glitchy - in fact it has crashed once.  Load times are also a bit on the long side.  Performance other than that seems great, runs flawlessly at 1920x1200 here with the detail maxed out (Windows 7, Core 2 Duo @ 2.4Ghz, 4GB RAM, Radeon 3870) and yes the game looks stunning.

The demo has one land battle, the Battle of Brandywine Creek of 1777, which historically takes place on the British march to Philadelphia.  But also, best of all features naval battles hurrazz!  Again only one in the demo, the Battle of Lagos in 1759 during the Seven Years War.  In both battles you play as Great Britain, I've heard quite a few of our separatist friends complaining about that already.

Impressions: good easily up there with the previous games in the Total War series and already I have to say better than Medieval 2 (no matter how cool slaughtering King Harold in 1066 was).  But I'm a little worried about the AI.  After attempting to send my cavalry a couple of miles down river to flank the rebel's artillery and seeing them completely wiped out by infantry hiding in the woods (argh) you might of expected me to lose, after all sending my infantry in, across a river, against dozens of 16 pound guns in a very well defended position doesn't sound too clever.  But for some reason the AI sent their infantry out to attack mine, which were already nicely formed up and positioned behind a hill to try and avoid their artillery.  So for some reason the AI shot themselves in the foot and basically wiped out most of their forces.  Obviously a welcome turn of events from my point of view and perhaps one a fresh faced separatist general might make.

The biggest addition is of course naval battles!  We've not had naval battles in a computer game like this, ever.  There's literally no comparison.  Although there's less strategy involved then the land battles you do need to keep an eye on things, such as the wind direction as I've lost one battle by allowing my fleet to break up too much, and the French picked off the few stragglers before I could turn my ships around and get back there as the wind was against me, other than that all you need to worry about is keeping your guns facing the enemy ships - but this is where I have a problem, the ships turn way too fast, which means you don't get penalised as much for screwing up as you can get your ships back into position too fast.

To sum up, despite my niggling issues I have with it this game is looking to be fantastic, easily up there as a potential game of the year.  Now I just have to wait a week and a half for the full game to be released.

War rages throughout our lands. Only the bravest heroes dare strike the Horde where it hurts them most. You are among such heroes.

The blows you have delivered to the leadership of the Horde will open the door for our final assault. The Horde will bow down to the might of the Alliance.

Your deeds will not go unrewarded. Ride on proudly!

-- Your King

One Black War Bear for my troubles.

For those wondering - we encountered virtually no Horde resistance, at least none that could slow us down as we stormed through all the Horde capital cities.

Seems they wanted to include an extra little bit onto...

Halo 3, the third game in the best-selling Xbox game franchise, is a highly anticipated first person shooter video game under development by Bungie Studios for the Xbox 360 and is expected to "set a new high water mark" for next generation games, Although it wont look any better than Halo 2.

Right...