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Forza 5 wouldn't have been 1080p, 60fps without access to Xbox One's cloud

F

fluffydelusions

Member
Forza Motorsport 5 owes its 1080p visuals and 60 frames a second performance to Microsoft's furnishing Turn 10 with easy access to scalable servers, creative director Dan Greenawalt has told OXM. The ability to tap into Xbox Live Compute has allowed the developer to lavish more time and resources on the game's visuals and complex physics systems; without this advantage, it would have "struggled" to achieve Forza 5's final resolution.

"A lot of it comes down to how easy it is to tap into things like the cloud," Greenawalt told our contributor Richard Wordsworth, when he asked why the game was "only possible on Xbox One", as billed during a recent trailer (below). "But first off, it's a bespoke engine, so the engine will only run on Xbox One. So that's the freebie answer.

Click to view larger image
"The reason we say that, though, is because we could have done cloud-powered opponents last generation, but we would have had to have done all the infrastructure," he continued. "Now with Xbox One we get servers, we get Azure, we get Thunderhead, and it's so easy to plug into."
Microsoft's Azure server network "allows you to bring a lot of computational power and server bandwidth to bear," Greenawalt explained. "It scales automatically and you don't have to write for it, so it's an instant server. It's basically a technology that allows you to do cloud computing very cheaply and very easily. It just automatically scales for the amount of people.

"That is really easy to hook up to with the [software development kit] for the Xbox One platform, that allows us to focus our resources in coming up with fun and innovative features, rather than making backend infrastructure. That frees up a lot of people.

"So, would [cloud AI] have been possible last generation? Sure. And last generation we could have done 1080p, 60fps. But we wouldn't have been able to do that and the physics we did in Forza 4. So Forza 4 was 720p and 60fps, with the physics we had. Now we're doing things in the physics that requires so much more computational power, we would have struggled to be 720p, 60fps."

Asked to clarify that Turn 10's ready access to the cloud has allowed it to spend more time improving Forza 5's resolution and physics, Greenawalt responded: "Right. And that's what's allowed us to, in three years, have a game that has innovation like Drivatar, looks beautiful as well as having the new things we're doing in physics, like the tyres and suspension."

Turn 10's creative director has previously suggested that next generation innovation is partly about what you can't see - the AI, the physics, and the streamlining of the development practises necessary to create a game like Forza 5. The new racer is apparently the "hardest thing Turn 10 has ever done".



You can read more about the game's server-run opposition care of our Forza 5 Drivatar feature. As for Xbox Live Compute in general, this constitutes free access to dedicated multiplayer servers for all developers, among other things.
Click to expand...

http://www.oxm.co.uk/65749/forza-5-wouldnt-have-been-1080p-60fps-without-access-to-xbox-ones-cloud/
 
F

fiyah

Member
original.gif
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
I've read it three times already and I still cannot believe that the cloud gives them better resolution and frames per second.

So if I play offline I'm boned screwed?
 
I

Imbarkus

As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
th-72_57940961080d6f002540.jpg


Finally something has supplanted The Cake.
 
S

Sydle

Member
So the ease of Azure on online infrastructure components allowed them to spend time on squeezing more performance out of Xbox One.

Neat, I guess.

Edit: I was going to comment in B4 people misread it, but I see I'm far too late, lol.

Edit: *looks down* maybe not...lol
 
M

Mrbob

Member
I'm sorry, but michaeljordanlaughing.gif

Being true would only highlight the lack of an upgrade the XB1 truly is. Might as well keep the game on 360 and let TEH CLOWD do the rest of the work.

Instance servers, ladies and gentlemen, key to power.
 
E

EvB

Member
The person being interviewed never even says that 1080p/60 wasn't possible the article writer is the one who has made the claim.

So, would [cloud AI] have been possible last generation? Sure. And last generation we could have done 1080p, 60fps. But we wouldn't have been able to do that and the physics we did in Forza 4. So Forza 4 was 720p and 60fps, with the physics we had. Now we're doing things in the physics that requires so much more computational power, we would have struggled to be 720p, 60fps.
Click to expand...
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Guys, GUYS. They found a way to use the cloud WITHOUT INTERNET. Amazing. Truly the deserved follow up for the creators of DirectX.
 
K

Kyzer

Banned
Oh...theyre saying the load of computations that the cloud takes off the system allows that power to go toward the graphics. But what? Wouldnt that imply that offline it wouldnt be able to handle those graphics then?
 
F

Finalizer

Member
prwxv3 said:
Nope this can't possible backfire.
Click to expand...

We're all gonna have a good 'ole laugh when the system launches and folks do framerate/resolution comparisons between online and offline.

Oh shit, there's a way for DF to get more articles! Just do cloud/no cloud comparisons.
 
D

Dinjooh

Member
...


He isn't saying that Xbox Servers is making the game 1080p. He is saying that because of them, they have been able to spend more time optimizing, and less time creating their own server solutions.

Quite simple, and logic even.


This thread is gonna be fun.
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
So the obvious question here is...what happens to the resolution if you're playing offline?

...

Seems like a pretty stupid thing to say really.
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Something tells me that if they didn't have a turn-key cloud solution they just wouldn't have done cloud based features ('drivatars'), and still focussed on graphics anyway. I don't think they'd have spent 'graphics dev time' instead on cloud infrastructure dev.

edit - he's not saying they're using 'cloud power' for resolution/rendering - he's saying that having it let them do drivatars easily/more quickly, so they could spend more time on graphics optimisation. But like I say above, something tells me they'd have just not done the drivatar stuff if the infrastructure wasn't there. I don't think they'd have built that out themselves at the expense of graphics or other development.
 
Z

Zemm

Member
Sounds like they were able to put less time into making internet infrastructure and everything that goes with that because MS already had it all setup for them so were able to spend more time on physics and graphics? It's a bit confusing tbh.
 
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