Daniel Vavra showed 4 versions of the heroine's face from Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 in the DLSS 5 debate

Daniel Vavra returned to the DLSS 5 debate once again, calling the panic surrounding the technology overblown. The Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 creative director posted a side-by-side comparison using Katherine, the game character played by Czech actress Kristina Lajchtova.

The comparison consists of four images:

• An actual photo of the actress

• The in-game model with no enhancements

• The same model with DLSS 5 configured, in Vavra's view, correctly

• The result of DLSS 5 with every slider cranked to maximum

Vavra also explained how the model made it into the game. The actress was scanned in 3D without makeup, after which her appearance and textures were adjusted by hand, since the in-game model has to fit within a whole set of technical constraints.

His main argument centers on the third frame, the one with DLSS 5. According to him, that's where the model looks most like the real actress, with noticeably better lighting. The details in the nose, eyes, hair texture, soft shadows, and neck bones all look more natural, and the neural network isn't adding anything of its own.

The explanation comes down to engine limitations. All those details already exist in the model and textures, but the game lighting fails to bring them out, while DLSS 5 reconstructs the picture accurately by relying on the normal map and other data.

Для меня третье изображение – это улучшение и куда более близкий результат к тому, как я изначально хотел настроить свет.

Vavra also addressed fears about job losses, stating that this particular technology won't take anyone's job. He acknowledged the "uncanny valley" problem outright, comparing the effect to the soap-opera look that shows up when frame interpolation gets switched on in a TV. Developers will have to work around it, he said, but the technology is still young and bound to improve.

He'd been more blunt about it before. Back in late August, Vavra wrote that some people had "literally lost their minds," explaining that the head on the left side of his comparison was ruined by the engine's severely limited lighting system, one incapable of properly rendering shadows, skin texture, and normal map detail.

He also talked about how frustrated the team got over their inability to properly display shadows cast by small equipment pieces – hats, hoods, helmets, buckles, laces, and pouches.

The whole debate was sparked by a leak. Modders pulled the DLSS 5 library out of NBA 2K27, the only game with official support for it, and started plugging it into other titles, including Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Vavra noted that the leaked version has nothing to do with what NVIDIA originally showed off, and it doesn't change character geometry or appearance at all.

DLSS 5 is set to release in early September.