Support NeoGAF

[travisbickle]

Sony/MS really dropped the ball this gen going with AMD. Not even 2 years in and the hardware shortcomings are starting to cause problems. APUs are certainly not the future.

Third parties are less and less a good barometer of what a console can do. Signs were there last year when games were releasing without AF on the PS4, which shows developers aren't exactly coding for individual systems and instead sharing where in some cases it doesn't translate.

 

[RulkezX]

If it's even remotely comparable to what I've spent the last 3 days playing, normal people are not going to give a fuck it runs sub native on consoles.

They know their audience though and getting crazies to rage over performance months before games come out is obviously generating them traffic.

 

[Lirrik]

I remember EA/Visceral lying Hardline will be 1080p.

I remember EA/DICE saying Battlefront will be 1080p.

Fool me once...

It's not that it will look bad, but come on, stop promising and not delivering. You had almost two years and several SDK improvements from console manufacturers.

 

[Gemüsepizza]

Third parties are less and less a good barometer of what a console can do. Signs were there last year when games were releasing without AF on the PS4, which shows developers aren't exactly coding for individual systems and instead sharing where in some cases it doesn't translate.

That might be true, but somehow I doubt this game would be 1080p / 60fps if a dev like Naughty Dog was the developer. Even they struggled with their own game. There is a limit to what they can do. And the people at DICE aren't stupid.

 

[SatansReverence]

Is it normal to write an article about a game's performance months before it is released and conclude with "it needs work"?

In this day and age of games getting released broken and with god awful performance issues, this is a good thing.

 

[PodcastFips]

This thread man.

 

[Prine]

Never mind the performance the gameplay sucks. Feels way too arcadey and lacks the immediacy of BF4.

Sounds great, less BF4 the better

 

[FordGTGuy]

Seriously though, interesting article. Lots of people were massively unconvinced when the early teaser was revealed. The loss of DoF and motion blur is unsurprising. Framerate is disappointing - if that doesn't improve (and past history suggests that EA are ok with a wobbly framerate) then it would be a shame.

I haven't played BF4 on PC - does that have motion blur? If so I think the PC version could live up to the reveal trailer fairly well.

You jest but I stand by that comment even in this case.

 

[Dictator93]

Here is me highly doubting it will ever get near 60. Perhaps they should up the resolution and lock @ 30 adding in the obmb.

It would probably be much more aesthetically pleasing and consistent.

 

[Clarkus Darkus]

That's not going to happen.

At this stage I'm thinking of ditching consoles and moving to PC. It's obviously not the best place to play any more. And reading thedsips from the target 60 down to mid 40's etc etc are starting to wear a little thin if I'm honest.

All we hear these days is targeting 60 fps on consoles, when that drops you know it's not going to hit that and will be anywhere between 30-55 fps

Batman AK disagree's with your statement aswell.

 

[Omni]

Batman AK disagree's with your statement aswell.

Batman is the result of incompetent developers. Nothing more.

PC is still the best place to play games and has been for some while.

 

[Kysen]

PC is still the best place to play games and has been for some while.

Until Japan gets onboard nope imo. And before anyone brings up extremely late/or previous version ports (BB/FF13 etc) still nah.

 

[kitch9]

Sony/MS really dropped the ball this gen going with AMD. Not even 2 years in and the hardware shortcomings are starting to cause problems. APUs are certainly not the future.

Uhm, yes they are.

Some are going to have to deal with it.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

So it runs like shit. Like BF4.

Jesus these consoles are already struggling...

You do realize that optimization is usually one of the last things a developer does. The E3 build was a relatively old build according to DICE.

 

[leeh]

Come on DF, Halo 5 and now Battlefront. You should know better than this.

 

[kitch9]

Batman is the result of incompetent developers. Nothing more.

PC is still the best place to play games and has been for some while.

"Exe has stopped working."

Que 2 hours of trawling forums to find dozens of "fixes" to try one by one.

Much fun.

Seriously, I've got a beast pc but for your average person they are a complete pain in the ass. I've literally lost count of the times I have found a free hour to game and spent that time fixing problems instead.

 

[Backfoggen]

Sounds great, less BF4 the better

Yea, the more I read about it not being BF the more interested I get.

 

[R1CHO]

Is it normal to write an article about a game's performance months before it is released and conclude with "it needs work"?

I think it is interesting.

To see how the game looks and runs now, and then compare it with the final product.

 

[Clarkus Darkus]

Batman is the result of incompetent developers. Nothing more.

PC is still the best place to play games and has been for some while.

Opinions man, But if i went PC only i would have missed out on some right gems last gen that were on 360/PS3/Wii.

The only game on PC i ever play is football manager.

 

[The Janitor]

"Exe has stopped working."

Que 2 hours of trawling forums to find dozens of "fixes" to try one by one.

Much fun.

Seriously, I've got a beast pc but for your average person they are a complete pain in the ass. I've literally lost count of the times I have found a free hour to game and spent that time fixing problems instead.

Well that has very rarely happened to me. And if there's a fix on the internet, it certainly doesn't take 2 hours to find it.

 

[Circinus]

Considering how good the graphics look, I think it's pretty impressive that they're running it at 40-60 fps at 1600x900p on console.

I mean, with large levels, 60 fps target, 1080p target, dense geometry (well it doesn't look that taxing on that level in Battlefront), high-fidelity graphics with various taxing rendering techniques and FX it is not surprising that developers are going to run into bottlenecks with the specs that PS4/XB1 have. Obviously developers have to make trade-offs somewhere.

People shouldn't be surprised by this.


If you want the best possible game experience for an AAA multiplatform game and you're willing to spend a lot of money to get that experience, it's pretty obvious that the best option would be to play on PC. Of course, sometimes ports can be pretty bad on PC or some multiplatform console games don't come out on PC (like Destiny, Vanquish etc), but for a big chunk of the AAA multiplatform games you'll probably get a superior gameplay experience on PC when it comes to performance and graphics. The PC version of Battlefront will highly likely be great, going by DICE's track record.

Sony/MS really dropped the ball this gen going with AMD. Not even 2 years in and the hardware shortcomings are starting to cause problems. APUs are certainly not the future.

AMD is certainly not to blame for this, SCE/MS just chose weaker, less expensive, less power-consuming. They could have gone for a more powerful APU.

AMD probably just delivered what they asked for.


From a commercial point of view (of SCE/MS), SCE/MS probably made a good deal, I think they found a good compromise between cost (price) and performance.

 

[KillerMan91]

Sony/MS really dropped the ball this gen going with AMD. Not even 2 years in and the hardware shortcomings are starting to cause problems. APUs are certainly not the future.

No they didn't. They had certain price range they had to hit with these consoles and AMD APUs were the best solution for that. Sony and MS are trying to make business with these consoles (and going by sales Sony is doing good business). I would love more powerfull hw as much as the next guy and would be willing to pay more for it but mainstream consumers are not.

 

[kitch9]

Well that has very rarely happened to me. And if there's a fix on the internet, it certainly doesn't take 2 hours to find it.

Ok.

 

[PdotMichael]

Sure, it smells like a PC vs console thread again

Batman is the result of incompetent developers. Nothing more.

PC is still the best place to play games and has been for some while.

 

[stryke]

I find it interesting, so it benefits me.


Or these games simply run into bottlenecks much quicker on these consoles.

DICE are not incompetent, so this seems far more likely.

I wouldn't describe DICE as being incompetent but being good PC developers don't automatically make you good console developers.

 

[Kölsch Bloot]

Batman is the result of incompetent developers. Nothing more.

PC is still the best place to play games and has been for some while.

Of cause this is a matter of opinions.

I really don't give a fuck regarding resolution and framerate as long as the game has good performance. And I have yet to play a console game (Unity aside) that has, by my definition, performance issues.

 

[ghst]

Batman AK disagree's with your statement aswell.

is this you trying to set your native res and deciding you'd instead just rather play on a console?

 

[Seanspeed]

I wouldn't describe DICE as being incompetent but being good PC developers don't automatically make you good console developers.

I really doubt they're just 'not very good' at developing for consoles. They've built a very powerful multiplatform engine, they did very well with BF3 and Mirror's Edge on last gen consoles(BF4 being cross-gen is a bit of a different scenario) and have led the way in low level programming with Mantle on PC which means they aren't inexperienced with getting into the nitty gritty details to get the most out of what they've got.

I think it's far more likely these Battlefield/front games, being PC-led, don't port downwards super efficiently with the console hardware. Of course, you could argue that they should then go back and make some changes to their design philosophy and develop more with consoles as priority, but well.....since when do we want to gimp the potential of these games for the better hardware, right?

 

[stryke]

....since when do we want to gimp the potential of these games for the better hardware, right?

They gimped BF on 360 and PS3. They can do it again.

 

[Seanspeed]

They gimped BF on 360 and PS3. They can do it again.

I don't think you understood what I said there.

They did not, at least not significantly, gimp the PC version to accommodate the consoles. The PC version was far, far more impressive in quite a few ways.

 

[Corleth the Fey]

As much as we'd all like it to hit 60fps and 1080p, DICE hasn't done with their previous games and it hasn't stopped them selling millions.

It won't this time either. I think we are looking at a situation this year where a "Battlefield" game could sell more than Call of Duty. Maybe Call of Duty's last gen sales might help keep it on top. Just.

The marketing push for all things Star Wars come the end of the year is going to be insane. And people who want the game will need a current gen console or decent PC. Sony was wise to align themselves with this product.

EDIT: Seanspeed - Mirror's Edge was created with Unreal 3 engine.

 

[Seanspeed]

EDIT: Seanspeed - Mirror's Edge was created with Unreal 3 engine.

Never said it wasn't.

 

[zoukka]

The fact that they get these modern games to run on these little boxes called consoles is magic enough. People expecting 1080p/60fps is just dumb.

 

[biglittleps]

Batman is the result of incompetent developers. Nothing more.

PC is still the best place to play games and has been for some while.

PC is the best place to play for 3rd party games (some ports are worst at launch) only if you have money and time/skills to build a high end PC, but for average person consoles are best place to play as its Plug n Play, Exclusives and affordable.

 

[Caayn]

The fact that they get these modern games to run on these little boxes called consoles is magic enough. People expecting 1080p/60fps is just dumb.

People have always wanted the best places for a nickel.

 

[KojiKnight]

Seriously though, interesting article. Lots of people were massively unconvinced when the early teaser was revealed. The loss of DoF and motion blur is unsurprising. Framerate is disappointing - if that doesn't improve (and past history suggests that EA are ok with a wobbly framerate) then it would be a shame.

I haven't played BF4 on PC - does that have motion blur? If so I think the PC version could live up to the reveal trailer fairly well.

Losing motion blur is a plus, not a minus.

 

[Max_Po]

So it runs like shit. Like BF4.

Jesus these consoles are already struggling...

What shit? BF4 runs well on ps4 and xbx1 even with lower resolution

 

[BokehKing]

This is why DF should stop doing these pre release analysis. People read it and think the game will be shit, despite the fact the game is still months away from being finished.

Articles are still interesting, but people have such black and white reactions to them

I.E

"great so it will run like shit"

Idk.. Bf4 ran fine to me, I didn't think it was shit.. It's been two years no? We know these consoles are not power houses, why act like that will magically change over night

 

[stryke]

I don't think you understood what I said there.

They did not, at least not significantly, gimp the PC version to accommodate the consoles. The PC version was far, far more impressive in quite a few ways.

Being a good console developer is more than just knowing how to do low level coding. Why do you think Nintendo is so well regarded despite having the weakest machine on the market to work with? They respect the console's limits.

If a developer wants to have PC as their lead, that's fine. However they shouldn't have to feel pressured to replicate the complete featureset on to consoles. They're obviously part way there already by cutting down on resolution but seem afraid to go any further.

 

[OnADock]

So it runs like shit. Like BF4.

Jesus these consoles are already struggling...

They were fairly low end upon release even. What did you expect?

 

[Seanspeed]

PC is the best place to play for 3rd party games (some ports are worst at launch)

It's very rare for a port to be *worse* than the console version. When PC gamers complain about a bad port, 9 times out of 10 its still better than what you get on consoles.

only if you have money and time/skills to build a high end PC

The old 'you need a $2000 PC and a mechanical engineering degree' argument. lol

but for average person consoles are best place to play as its Plug n Play, Exclusives and affordable.

It's not nearly as plug n play anymore. PC has lots of exclusives. And PC has ways that it is affordable too, particularly with game prices.

I'm sorry to get into this petty little PC vs console squabble going on, but when I hear these tired, generic and outdated or ignorant criticisms about PC gaming, I felt something should be said.

 

[zoukka]

People have always wanted the best places for a nickel.

Consoles have never ever offered that btw.

 

[Fennec]

Jesus I'm so f*cking pumped for this game! Can't wait.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

Sony/MS really dropped the ball this gen going with AMD. Not even 2 years in and the hardware shortcomings are starting to cause problems. APUs are certainly not the future.

Compared to last gen when consoles were mostly sub 720p and sub 30fps?

We are getting huge leaps in graphical fidelity and resolution and you think going with low power 8 core CPUs is a bad thing?

I'd rather pay less than £300 for a PS4 rather than the £425 I paid for PS3 at launch or the £1500+ I paid for my PC that is outdated within 6 months.

With a console you are guaranteed to be able to play every game over the 6-10 year lifespan without having to worry about graphics settings and paying more money to upgrade CPU or GPU.

 

[Seanspeed]

Being a good console developer is more than just knowing how to do low level coding. Why do you think Nintendo is so well regarded despite having the weakest machine on the market to work with? They respect the console's limits.

Nintendo, like any 1st party Sony/MS efforts, only have one target hardware to shoot for. That's a pretty big advantage and a different situation.

If a developer wants to have PC as their lead, that's fine. However they shouldn't have to feel pressured to replicate the complete featureset on to consoles. They're obviously part way there already by cutting down on resolution but seem afraid to go any further.

Really hard to go into any detail on this without knowing exactly where they are running into bottlenecks/issues.

 

[freakzilla149]

Don't fall for it. Wait until the game is out. Please don't pre-order.

 

[crazysapertonight]

Damn.. Seems, it will runs like BF4 on PS4.

 

[SatansReverence]

PC is still the best place to play games and has been for some while.

No, the amount of random bullshit you sometimes have to go through just to get a game to function will forever prevent PC from being the best place to play...

 

[nOoblet16]

Compared to last gen when consoles were mostly sub 720p and sub 30fps?

We are getting huge leaps in graphical fidelity and resolution and you think going with low power 8 core CPUs is a bad thing?

I'd rather pay less than £300 for a PS4 rather than the £425 I paid for PS3 at launch or the £1500+ I paid for my PC that is outdated within 6 months.

With a console you are guaranteed to be able to play every game over the 6-10 year lifespan without having to worry about graphics settings and paying more money to upgrade CPU or GPU.

I don't understand why people keep saying most games last gen were subHD...they weren't.
Majority (and by a good margin) were 720P or above...there are even real numbers to prove this on Beyond3D's forum regarding rendering resolution.


The huge leaps are only due to the fact that there is an 8 years worth of hardware difference between last and current gen though.

 

[OnADock]

No, the amount of random bullshit you sometimes have to go through just to get a game to function will forever prevent PC from being the best place to play...

What issues do you have? The worst I think I've had to do is run something in compatability mode.