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News Digital Foundry compares UE4 PC and PlayStation 4 ports

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 4 Apr 2013.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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  2. sandys

    sandys Multimodder

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    I would look at it the other way from what it can't yet do, it is impressive what they have achieved in a few weeks of having a PS4 dev kit, there is bound to be lots of work remaining to write custom shaders etc, for the graphics hardware, there will be a lot more spit and polish to come.

    Looks promising to me coming from a early PS3 owner experience of shoddy ports, this shows they can get stuff up an running in quick time, so it must be a doddle in comparison to Cell.
     
  3. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Flipping the bits manually with a magnetised needle and a very steady hand would be easier than porting to the Cell...
     
  4. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

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    Give 'em a little more time to code to the metal on the PS4 and we'll see an exact or even slightly better result of the PC-version running on a GTX680.

    There's some PS3 live-demos that are up to modern day graphics as they're heavily optimized for the platform.
     
  5. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    After what 2months they have the thing running at all is an achievement in itself. Maybe they should redo it on release and see how it looks as id wonder myself then.

    High end gaming pc is basically tripple the expected retail cost of a ps4 (£350-£400) once you include monitor, OS, Keyboard and mouse. And thats just for 1 card solutions start talking SLI and Crossfire and price can multiply fast.
     
  6. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    I'm not sure I agree entirely with Linus Blomberg's assessment that the "PS4 will out-power most PCs for years to come".

    Whilst this is technically correct, most PCs are neither used nor set up for gaming. One could equally argue that the PS3 is still out-powering most PCs in 2013, from a purely gaming perspective. My office PC sure as hell ain't going to play the latest AAA titles, and I'm pretty sure that the Smith family's casual gaming focused low-end PC with integrated graphics isn't either.

    He is using slightly emotive and/or ambiguous language for effect, and disregarding the fact that more powerful hardware already exists in the world of PC gaming. The hardware development cycle on our chosen platform will continue marching forward as devs find new and ingenious ways to unlock the potential of the new console(s), but whilst it will feel neck and neck for a few years the PC will invariably end up ahead before long.

    What should be more of a concern for PC gamers is not whether consoles are more powerful, but whether graphical fidelity has that much further to go. If a PS4 can output visuals that appear to be of equal quality to a high end PC on maximum settings - despite their lack of power - then PC gaming will lose its niche appeal in the long run, as 99% of people won't be able to perceive the subtle differences.
     
  7. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    People are also forgetting the architecture of the PS4 which is much closer to a PC than ever before. While it may not look too much different, those extra particles and effects put a massive extra strain on the PC's hardware. Also not taken in to account that many gaming PCs are run on monitors that far exceed the resolution expectations of the PS4.
    Games that will be designed with next gen consoles in mind will of course look great and will not look or perform too differently from the PC version. However, when a game is built with the PC in mind with all the variable options for adjusting graphics and such (I know, these games are very few and far between now) then the performance of a mid range gaming PC will be far superior to that of the console port.

    My biggest concern is as it's always been. While the PC is my chosen gaming format, I do miss and long for many, many gaming titles that only ever make it to the console formats. Hopefully the new architecture designs within the new consoles will enable games to port easier and hopefully developers will not be hamstrung from doing this. So as the demand for ever higher performing PC hardware falls rather than from a current gen GPU (at time of console lauch) to the next gen, I think I will stick with the PC hardware I have and then think about getting a console as well should these games I desire not be available for the PC.
     
  8. Griffter

    Griffter What's a Dremel?

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    impressive!!!! but still same problem in all consoles it seems, cant handle too much particles. so they only include particles that matter and IMO take out particles not crucial to the scene but crucial for the mood and to engross the player even more.
     
  9. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    I would also just like to point out something as well... It is not always about who has the best hardware, technology development is littered with the corpses of better machine that fell by the side of the road as other so called 'inferior' devices were better supported. This is even more true of the console history, just look at the Atari Jaguar, SEGA Dreamcast, 3DO, etc... It's all about who has the best range of games, accessories and who appeals to the greatest audience, just look at the innovation and sales figures of the Wii. It will be interesting to see what the consoles bring to the tech fight other than just games.
     
  10. bowman

    bowman Minimodder

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    It will look better to begin with, then it'll become medicore the year after release, and **** after that. Just as always.
     
  11. Woodspoon

    Woodspoon What's a Dremel?

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    Blah, blah, blah, every time a new console is released it's always "this is going to be better than PC's" or "look at this demo it's better than a PC" or some other comparison to PC's saying their going to be better than them for longer this time.
    Still waiting.
    Impressive stuff though.
     
  12. Yslen

    Yslen Lord of the Twenty-Seventh Circle

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    Lets put this in perspective. Imagine, if you will, that this is 2010, and the PS4 has just been revealed. Early demos indicate that with some settings turned down, this new console will almost match the current flagship GTX 480.
     
  13. maverik-sg1

    maverik-sg1 Minimodder

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    It's all relative - console graphics will not be as good as the PC even at launch, but that's not really important.....is it?

    Consoles will be the thing that's connected to the TV in the living room and the PC to a monitor on a desk....they're no longer in competition with each other.....this is all bad news for the future of pc games ported from consoles though.

    Consoles will kill PC gaming and OUYA's (or variants of) will kill consoles.
     
  14. will_123

    will_123 Small childs brain in a big body

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    Yes i was thinking that myself. Well said, the hardware will become out of date pretty quickly. When the console is released will we not be looking at a new set of GPU's a couple of months later..?

    If they can start putting games like ARMA on consoles then maybe ill listen more, but the games I want to play just are not on the consoles.
     
  15. abezors

    abezors Lurking since '08

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    Resolution.

    Consoles won't have to output anything above 1920x1080 (1080p). This res is standard for a 22" monitor, or maybe 24".

    Bear in mind they will also be sitting a few metres from their TV display - so graphics can be cut down further.

    This is not an apples-to-apples comparison when you look at it in real world terms.
     
  16. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    That isn't quite true and is getting less so as time goes on. With APUs becoming more powerful people are starting to build much more powerful yet still tiny HTPCs but then there are also the Mini PCs that will use GPUs like the new ASUS mini GTX670. A lot of these machines will indeed be connected to monitors but also to the TV in the front room. My PC hardware isn't even new and up to date but it has been connected to the TV for years. Gaming PCs and consoles for the mass market never were in competition with each other and as for things being bad news for gaming PCs, they can't get much worse than they already are and hopefully with the 'very-close-to-PC-architecture' inside the new consoles games will be easier to port and so we should be getting many more titles on the PC in the years to come.
     
  17. Yslen

    Yslen Lord of the Twenty-Seventh Circle

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    For me, the most exciting thing about the PS4 is the possibility of better performance out of hardware we already have due to better optimization/ports. I have no interest in console gaming whatsoever; my leanings towards strategy games and my love of the keyboard as an interface device mean this will likely always be the case.
     
  18. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

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    Oh c'mon people... small powerfull HTPCs won't compete against consoles ever.

    Consoles don't need to be setup, you don't need to deal with drivers, installations or whatever. You simply connect it to your 40" TV, power up the damn thing and you can happily play away, sitting on the couch with a controller in your hand.

    The only thing better on the PC is games that actually need a keyboard and mouse. All sportstitles, beat'em'ups, actionRPGs or racing-games are totally in the hands of the console-gamers with their gamepads.

    Look at titles like GTA for example, or even better, watch out for Diablo3 getting released on the PS3 next month.

    The real competition for consoles are smartphones and tablets, but not the PC.
     
  19. Yslen

    Yslen Lord of the Twenty-Seventh Circle

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    They're welcome to it >.<
     
  20. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

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    No auctionhouse, better loot-distribution, no forced online-mode and better action-oriented controls then on the PC ;)
     

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