Next-Gen Thief: ‘There’s No More Loading’

X360: Next-gen consoles are making all sorts of promises, but can we really dream of a world without loading? Thief producer Stephane Roy at Edios Montreal seems to think so.

[1OddWorld]

I really hope this is true. Load times on games this gen were horrible.

Thief Looks Amazing! I cant wait to rob all you taffers.

[Dailynch]

It would be awesome, but they've made these sorts of promises before (not Eidos Montreal), but I distinctly remember someone saying this about the PS2.

Or was that just that loading would be greatly diminished?

[MariaHelFutura]

Some games this gen did a great job of disguising load times and some had only one at the start. But some were brutal, look at Lego City Undercover.... The 1st Motorstorm was really bad too, but worth it. :]

[1OddWorld]

Between the PS2 and PS3 the loading times increased drastically.

I just don't think there should be load times for the load times, like in Fight Night: Round 4

You would schedule a fight and then watch a calendar tick away at the days then a loading screen for the training then another loading screen for the fight.

[hakesterman]

No, Not the PS2, maybe the PS3.

[joab777]

Very true. Imagine the witcher 3 in an open world in which u simply walk and walk and walk...enter buildings...exit...and even fight bosses without a loading screen. The best will be tough games like dark souls. U don't have to die and then wait to get ur 20th shot at it. I loved Bioshock Infinite. ..definitely top 5 this gen but the loading times were terrible...especially if u were trying to get certain gear. I finally platted it.

[GamerToons]

There is no less loading either!

Hahhaa I kill me...

...no really... kill me!

[NastyLeftHook0]

load times never bothered me, but nonetheless its next gen and technically better so its a welcome feature for theif.

question is, i wonder how many titles would have no loading.

[Gimmemorebubblez]

So Thief has gone and stolen loading times...COOL

[e-p-ayeaH]

Pretty sure i heard that a gen ago.

[febreeze1]

god of war 3 had only one loading screen so it's def possible.

[talisker]

Citadel elevators, we will remember you, but please go away.

[steve30x]

Rockstar said there would be no loading times in GTA IV but in some parts of the game there were loading times , but with 8GB of ram some of the game can be loaded onto the ram and stop loading times.

[Lone_Man]

noo!!! i love loading times...loading gave me time to let me look away from the screen, eat food, and even poop....cough sarcasm cough...

[hakesterman]

Your going to have loading times when you first start the game, but after that it should be sweet sailing.

[mrmancs]

Wonder what happens if caught? Death or maybe thrown into the dungeons where a large guard sits at the end of the corridor with the keys to escape. Que another gameplay segment.

[BrianC6234]

The only way that will be possible is if they use low end graphics. If they keep pushing the graphics it will always take some time to load. I don't see how any console can get rid of load times.

[Neixus]

maybe because you haven't tried sony games? as most of them had no loading screens. Including Uncharted,God of war 3 & ascension, LBP (minus community levels), Infamous and Jak and Daxter.
btw, jak and daxter made it without loading, and that was on ps2 hardware, so your statement is really,really wrong.

[steve30x]

I have GT5 and the loading times are horrible. I have to wait almost a minute to get into every race

[Neixus]

@Stebe30x

I didn't mention GT5

[hesido]

They are not talking about instantly starting a game, they are talking about not having to require any load screen mid-game. A game is first loaded (indeed, it would take a while), then you won't see loading screens. It is achieved through streaming.

For example, Uncharted 3 improved streaming to the point that you won't be greeted with a textureless mess even if you skip cutscenes. That game loads the required assets once, and never shows you a loading screen from then on, a seamless movie-like experience. I hate loading screens too, totally destroys immersion. Older games even had stuff like "loading vertex data" "initializing texture decompression" (making these up :) ) which took you out of the game completely...

The graphics won't have to be low-end for streaming.

[steve30x]

A SATA III SSD would decrease loading times a whole lot.

[steve30x]

The disagree just shows how much that person knows about SSD's

[plaZeHD]

Why don't every game developer doesn't use Pre-rendered video files like Naughty Dog does? Worked great for Uncharted.

[WUTCHUGUNNADO]

because it's cheating

[plaZeHD]

Not really

[stuntman_mike]

I feel a bit like their over promising a lot with this game, and if they don't come through on these things there could be a backlash.

[LOL_WUT]

'No more loading' a feature that all true next-gen consoles should aim for IMO. ;)

[Urusernamesucks]

Loading screens killed fable 3