490°

Working On The Xbox One Has No Challenges Out of the Ordinary, eSRAM Posed No Issues - Dev

Mel Kirk, the Vice President of Publishing over at Zen Studios, the folks that brought you Pinball FX 2 on the Xbox One recently mentioned that the Xbox One's eSRAM caused no issues when they were developing their game.

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gamingbolt.com
Neonridr3529d ago

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that depending on how demanding your game is on the console will or won't pose challenges in regards to utilizing eSRAM. My guess is that Pinball FX 2 isn't particularly demanding, so there may not be any bottlenecking that could potentially show up with a more CPU/GPU intensive game... especially when trying to render at 1080p.

D-riders3529d ago

people really disagree with this

Saigon3529d ago

Man...got to love gamingbolt.com. It just never ends.

Why o why3529d ago

Lol.... obviously those disagreeing believe the games zen make are on par with ryse......lol

XBLSkull3529d ago

Ha, of course there wouldn't be any problems with pinball. You know developers had to work with the awful CELL architecture on the PS3 last Gen, I'm sure esRAM has its challenges but it'll be quicker to master than the CELL. Xbox One still has the best looking console game ever released, and that was a launch title. It's only going to get better from here on out and now we also see the multiplatforms reaching parity with the PS4. This is going to be an epic generation, hope it tops the last generation, though its going to be hard to top what the 360 did, easily the best console I'd ever used.

sonarus3529d ago

Why bother? We'll just let the games speak for themselves as they have been doing so already.

fr0sty3529d ago (Edited 3529d ago )

Ryse is not the best looking console game, others beat it by a long shot. Get over yourself. P.T. looks WAY better, and doesn't run at 18fps.

GameNameFame3529d ago

Not to mention the fact that weaker gpu can be a bottleneck too on more demanding games

MysticStrummer3529d ago

"Xbox One still has the best looking console game ever released, and that was a launch title."

What's the over/under on how long this falsehood will be repeated?

OT - What Neonridr said.

warczar3529d ago (Edited 3529d ago )

@mysticstrummer

2 years

I'm gonna say over.

vishmarx3528d ago

'xb1 is the best gaming platform - a guy'

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 3528d ago
XtraTrstrL3529d ago

Yeah, basically what you are saying. I wouldn't expect Zen Studios's Pinball FX 2 to run into any major issues to begin with.

Illusive_Man3529d ago

I disagree. The problem isn't really the ESRAM, its been that 90% or more games to date have not been utilizing the full capabilities of the GPU. Think about what your asking developers you tell them only 90% of a systems power is available. That is why we've seen improvements in games like Destiny and Diablo when the new SDK has been utilized. As far as ESRAM goes when render targets are properly allocated and the ESRAM is utilized concurrently with the DDR3 can provide large bandwidth gains that can match or exceed the memory bandwidth of the PS4's GDDR5. Also one great thing about the X1s memory subsystem is that the CPU and GPU do not have to share the same memory bandwidth.

cell9893529d ago

I still think down the line Xbox is gonna struggle. When new techniques are developed that require more resources. Just like devs are getting the hang of these new consoles so are they with new graphics technology. I'm sure there is still potential to be unlocked in the xbone, and lots of optimization always helps but this is still just the first year of these console cycles, yet we are already seeing limitations.

Kingthrash3603529d ago (Edited 3529d ago )

Oh my.

Doctor, he's getting worse.
Lol I kid, I kid.
But you do realize just how incorrect you are right.
You really think 10% more power pushed the x1 over the hill?..

You can put as many big words in your comment as you want, it still doesn't make any sense.

The words unlocked surly tripped up a lot of people.
The x1 and ps4 both will get better as devs continue to learn more about the system and come up with tricks and techniques to fully utilize each systems hardware.
that said the ps4 has better hardware that can handle more. No unlock power or software will make the x1 better .
both are great systems but lets not get into wishful thinking and guesswork.

The fact of the matter is exactly what neon said above. Period.
Destiny and cod:aw basically glimped ps4 owners as they have been downgraded so x1 and ps4 versions are the same.
look at Diablo ...x1 struggling run it at1080p. Really now.

fr0sty3529d ago

Don't you hate it when people pretend to know what they're talking about? (looking at you illusive, that paragraph had more bullshit than every farm in America combined).

There is only 32mb of ESRAM. You can allocate that however you like, you still won't get more bandwidth than all 8gb at 176gbps.

Pogmathoin3529d ago

As King said, both will improve, and PS4 will continue to look better...... What will not get better is the same drivel that comes out on N4G..... Almost 1 year later and we have not advanced a day....

marcofdeath3529d ago (Edited 3529d ago )

Here is where a little common sense comes in.
XB360 had 10MBs of EDRAM it did 1080p.......
It's not about it being a bottleneck it's how hard it is to use the tools to take advantage of ESRAM.
AS far as speed well XB1 has the advantage.
PS4 GDDR5 is 176GB/s PEAK.......
XB1 ESRAM is 204GB/s PEAK.......
What a lot of you forget is that your render target,

"The Xbox 360 was the easiest console platform to develop for, it wasn't that hard for our developers to adapt to eDRAM, but there were a number of places where we said, "Gosh, it would sure be nice if an entire render target didn't have to live in eDRAM," and so we fixed that on Xbox One where we have the ability to overflow from ESRAM into DDR3 so the ESRAM is fully integrated into our page tables and so you can kind of mix and match the ESRAM and the DDR memory as you go."

ESRAM + DDR3 = 272GB/s PEAK

"That's not some diagnostic or some simulation case or something like that. That is real code that is running at that bandwidth. You can add that to the external memory and say that that probably achieves in similar conditions 50-55GB/s and add those two together you're getting in the order of 200GB/s across the main memory and internally."

200GB/s..... effective bandwidth.......

So as the developers get use to XB1 it will get better over time......

larrysdirtydrawss3529d ago (Edited 3529d ago )

myth,not in real time,and we havent seen close to this happeneing in any one game... theoretical shit is and always will be pointless over real world guaranteed usage/performance....i havent heard of one dev actually say you get more real world usable bandwidth per cycle/instruction ect on the xone over the ps4......most say its around a total of a constant low 130's gb's of bandwidth when used properly ...exclusives speak for themselves when looking at ps4 over xone exclusives...from graphics to framerate,ps4 wins easily... all multi plat games look run better on ps4,and would look even better if devs werent going for near parity so the xone side dont freak out

marcofdeath3529d ago (Edited 3529d ago )

@larrysdirtydrawss

Where have you seen where developers have said, PS4's memory is FASTER than XB1? (other than the ones working with SONY) I count 0... As far as game's go XB1 first party games have shown to be superior. The hardware is doing more, AKA FMS5 (1080P 60FPS), FH2 (open world), and QB(best looking at GC), and you forgot one line that i didn't add last time,
"That's not some "diagnostic or some simulation" case or something like that. That is "real code that is running" at that bandwidth"
This is not from a second party like a developer
it's from a first party source like FH2 FMS5 or QB (in house).

"exclusives speak for themselves"
first party games
FH2 V.S. DC
dynamic weather FH2........DC
1080p FH2........DC
30fps FH2........DC
dynamic
night and day FH2........DC
open world FH2 (higher GPU/CPU RAM use)
destructible environments elements FH2 (higher GPU/CPU RAM use)
rewind FH2 (higher GPU/CPU RAM use)

This is the short list. RYSE, QB and FMS5, so you are right exclusives speak for themselves.
Most of you PS4 fans are fixating on what has not been said, not what is real.

"@larrysdirtydrawss
total of a constant low 130's gb's of bandwidth when used properly"
Where have you read this?
And you have forgot about the DDR3 which adds 40-50GB/s more to that 140GB/s.

cfir3528d ago

@marcofdeath.

Your list of proof that XB1 is better than ps4 is a bit disappointing. You make a list of features of FH2 vs DC and then claim that because FH2 is open world than XB1 is more powerful. The fact that in each of the catagories where they have the same feature, DC wipes the floor with FH2.

And has no one told you that you can't simply add memory speeds together. It doesn't work that way. The slowest speed is always the bottleneck. If you have to ship memory too/from the GDDR3

Then you have Ryse - the supposedly "best looking" game with severe frame rate issues, not a good example really, and as for FH2 it's plain for everyone to see how they had to cut down the effects to get it to run at 1080p. Again, not a good example.

But lets look at the here and now. With MS working with developers to reach the magical 1080p. Lets take diabolo 3. Was 720p with a locked frame rate. Now 1080p with graphical reductions compared to ps4 and an unstable frame rate.

And has no one told you that you can't simply add memory speeds together. The slowest memory is always the bottleneck. If you have to ship data to/from the DDR3 then that's a massive slow down. And exactly how many xbox 360 games were actually Native 1080p. As far as I can remember all of the big cross platform franchises were all less than 720p (on both PS3 & xbox 360)

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 3528d ago
MasterCornholio3529d ago

I agree. In the end it depends on how complex the graphics are in a game. A simple 2D sidescroller won't have any issues with the ESRAM but an extremely complex openworld game might. This is something developers have said many times on the past.

Muzikguy3529d ago

Pinball FX2 has no problems when it comes to top notch graphical quality and using the X1 to achieve the best greatest masterpiece you've ever seen... In PINBALL! /s

These articles are getting old. Previous gen/non demanding games are going to have an easier time achieving what they want than heavily taxing ones. One dev says yes, one says no. Ok back to the games!

iain043529d ago

As an XBONE owner I also thought pinball game not gonna tax the machine to much. Don't quite understand the disagrees your getting.

Neonridr3529d ago

I wasn't really making my statement for agrees or disagrees, so it doesn't really phase me.

But obviously the whole eSRAM is going to work or not work on a case by case basis.

I still think devs will figure a workaround anyways, so I don't think we will continue to hear about these stories a year or so from now.

Artemidorus3529d ago

It's called an Xbox One. Shall I start the Lamestation 4 cracks with you??

loulou3529d ago

lol @ siagon..

gotta keep them hits rolling. gamingbolt/dualshockers absolutely abuse n4g

FanboyKilla3529d ago

Sighs. Lol where is the powa? Are we awaiting that too? Best looking game, Ryse xone. They got the trophy to prove it. Look it up. Soooooo what good is it doing for you, except looking good on paper and the comment section on n4g?

Lol when we got these systems they were already out dated. So what makes it worth having. C mon smart arses, you know the answer. Say it, say it, shoot yourself in the foot. F it ill do it. Software. Just think of that powaful ps4 with no games, aka software. What would that powa do? What would you do? I know, i know, go around talking about how much powa you got. Cant brag about what you dont got, i suppose.

Just a PSA for sony fanboys, not sony fans.

reko3522d ago

ryse sucks,get over it LMAO!

AndrewLB3529d ago

Many developers who create FAR more demanding games have publicly stated that PS4 is still the harder system to develop for due to the way it uses memory as well as their API which is based on OpenGL. One developer that comes to mind is CD Projekt Red, who makes The Witcher 3.
Anyone who has made PC games in the past is well versed in the use of Direct3d API, making programming for the Xbone very easy. People seem to forget that most PC game developers PAY Microsoft to use Direct3d as the games API even though they can use OpenGL free of charge. There is a good reason for this. It's because Direct3d is a more efficient API (50-100% faster in Heaven Benchmark), it's SDK and available tools are FAR superior, and it's the industry standard. If OpenGL was so good in it's current form, developers would be adopting it in droves and save the money required to use Direct3d.

http://www.craveonline.com/...

callahan093528d ago

They aren't saying it's objectively easier to develop Xbox One vs PS4. They are saying it's simpler for them, because of their experience. This is a developer that has never worked with a PlayStation console before, but they have worked on Microsoft machines for their entire existence. The APIs are familiar to them for Xbox One, while they are new and alien to them on PS4. That doesn't mean the PS4 is tougher, it means it's less familiar for them, so their is a learning curve involved in figuring out the new APIs. Is it easier for you to write a paper in Pig Latin or in Hungarian? Chances are, you don't know Hungarian, so you'd have a learning process where you need to get some familiarity with the language before you can write one word in it. But that doesn't mean Hungarian is "harder" than Pig Latin. For all intents and purposes, Hungarian should be "easier" than Pig Latin, because you can just "know the language" (be familiar with the grammer, syntax, and vocabulary), whereas Pig Latin requries a constant "processing" of a known language (English), by plugging the English word into an algorithm which results in the Pig Latin equivalent. That is an objectively more convoluted and difficult process than just plucking from a known language... the only difference is in whether you know the language in the first place! So for me, it would be relatively easy to translate this post to Pig Latin, because I know English and I know the Pig Latin algorithm... but it would be very hard to write this post in Hungarian, because I don't know any Hungarian.

quenomamen3529d ago

Yea it's like " We had zero problem achieving 1080p 60 fps in our new Stick figure shooter " Ooooh really ?

TruthInsider 3528d ago

True, there is no complications, it's nothing like PS3 was/is.
Pure and simple weak hardware, PS3 had the power but it was difficult to get the most out of it.
Xbox has nothing, it's already maxed out, they had to give up on Kinect and use its resources to give it a bit more grunt but its still not good.

PS4 has headroom and GPGPU isn't being properly used yet either.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 3522d ago
3529d ago Replies(1)
christocolus3529d ago (Edited 3529d ago )

That's good to know. : )

PS4OUR3529d ago

Well for a Pinball game how is ESRAM expected to be an issue.

Somnipotent3529d ago (Edited 3529d ago )

Not surprising coming from the publisher of an Xbox Arcade title. In fact, they're a small studio pushing out multiple pinball games. I wouldn't call this an adequate benchmark.

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Bethesda Needs to Reduce the Gaps Between New Fallout and Elder Scrolls Releases

Waiting a decade for new instalments in franchises as massive as Fallout and Elder Scrolls feels like a waste.

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gamingbolt.com
-Foxtrot13h ago

Microsoft have Obsidian but I feel it's Bethesda who just don't want to play ball as they've always said they want to do it themselves.

Once MS bought Zenimax in 2020 they should have put the Outer Worlds 2 on the back burner, allow Bethesda to finish off its own Space RPG with Starfield (despite totally different tone why have two in your first party portfolio with two developers who's gameplay is a tad similar) and got Obsidian for one of their projects to make a spiritual successor to New Vegas.

When the Elder Scrolls VI is finished Bethesda can then onto the main numbered Fallout 5 themselves.

The Outer Worlds 2 started development in 2019 so putting it on the back burner wouldn't have been the end of the world, they'd have always come back to it once Fallout was done and it would have been nicely spaced out from Starfields release once they had most likely stopped supporting it and all the expansions were released.

If they did this back in 2020 when they bought Zenimax and the game had a good, steady 4 - 5 years development, you might have seen it release in 2025.

We are literally going to be waiting until 2030 at the very earliest for Fallout 5 and all they seem bothered about is pushing Fallout 76.

RaidenBlack11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

Its not just only Todd not playing ball.
Obsidian have made a name for themselves in delivering stellar RPGs, but most famous once have always been sequels/spin-offs to borrowed IPs like KOTOR 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Stick of Truth etc.
Obsidian wants to invest more in their own original IPs like Outer Worlds or Pillars of Eternity with Avowed.
Similar to what Bluepoint & inXile wants to do or Kojima is doing (i.e not involving anymore in Konami's IPs).
So yea, even if New Vegas has the most votes from 3D Fallout fans, Obsidian just wants to do their own thing, like any aspiring dev studio and MS is likely currently respecting that.
But a future Fallout game from Obsidian will surely happen. Founder Feargus Urquhart has already stated an year ago that they're eager to make a new Fallout game with Bethesda, New Vegas 2 or otherwise. Urquhart was the director of the very first 1995's Fallout game after all.
And don't forget Brian Fargo and his studio inXile, as Brian Fargo was the director of Fallout's 1988 predecessor: Wasteland

KyRo7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

Obsidian should take over the FO IP. They're do far better with it than Bethesda who hasn't made a great game for almost 15 years

RaidenBlack1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

@KyRo
So, by 15 years, you mean Fallout 3 was the last great game Bethesda made?
You don't consider Skyrim a good game, which came out 13 years ago?
I'd consider Fallout 4 a pretty decent game as well. It's Story & RPG elements were a bit downgrade from New Vegas but the exploration and shooting on the other hand, were upgrades.
FO76 was disappointing and Starfield could've been better at launch I'll agree.

Duke197h ago(Edited 7h ago)

I disagree. Part of these games is the support for the mod community. If they move to releasing a "next game" every 2 or 3 years, the modding support plummets and the franchises turn into just another run of the mill RPG.

Make the games good enough to withstand the test of time, to keep people coming back to them and expanding on them with mod support.

--Onilink--4h ago(Edited 4h ago)

I dont think anyone is saying they need to come out every 2 years (not to mention almost no game is released that quickly anymore)

By the time Fallout 5 comes out, it will be more than 15 years since Fallout 4 came out (same with ES6 coming out 15 years after Skyrim). Even if you want to use F76 as the metric for the most recent release, that one came out in 2018. It will be a miracle if F5 comes out before 2030

The point is that for a studio that doesnt seem to operate with multiple teams doing several projects at once, that their projects normally take 4-5 years as a minimum, and that now they even added Starfield to the rotation, it becomes a 15+ years waiting period between releases for each series, which doesnt make sense. Imagine that Nintendo only released a mainline Mario or Zelda game every 15 years…

They either need to start developing more than 1 project at a time, let someone else take a crack at one of the IPs or significantly reduce their development times

Duke193h ago(Edited 3h ago)

Why should someone else take a crack at one of the IPs? Look at what happened to Final Fantasy as a recent example - there is pretty clear FF fatigue setting in because they are now pumping out titles in the franchise every few years. Pumping out more games faster doesn't always make a series better.

There are plenty of options to make new games, not just create more titles in the same universe at a faster pace.

-Foxtrot41m ago

"Why should someone else take a crack at one of the IPs"

He's literally just told you why

We're waiting like 15 years before a sequel comes out, it's insane

Skyrim came out in 2011, the next game is expected to come out in 2027 at the earliest so that's 16 years apart while Fallout 4 came out in 2015 and might not release until 2031, again 16 years.

We're fine with Bethesda trying new things and doing new IPs like Starfield but adding a new game to the cycle now means a bigger wait. Also Starfield didn't meet most peoples expectations, can you imagine waiting 15 years or so for a sequel and it's disappointing? It would feel even worse because you would have to wait another 15 years to see if they manage to come back from it.

They need to give it to another developer, we don't need main numbered titles but a spin off of Fallout and Elder Scrolls should be cycled in between the long gaps of the main releases.

Once again you are making out people want these games as quick as possible when all we want is a standard development time of at least 4 years or so rather than waiting 15.

mandf4h ago

Yeah I’m going to say it, who cares about the modding community when making a game? Half the time developers only tolerate modders because they fix there game for them.

Skuletor6h ago

Yeah, let's all advocate for smaller gaps between series' releases, then we'll probably get headlines about how the series have dropped in quality and they could have benefited from more time in the oven. Let them cook.

SimpleSlave5h ago

"how the series have dropped in quality and they could have benefited from more time in the oven" So every Bethesda game then? Got it.

Listen, I would agree if this was about From Software or something, but Bethesda?

🤣

C'mon now. What timeline are you from?

Skuletor3h ago

Think about it, they're already bug filled messes on their current schedule, can you imagine how much worse it would be if they rushed things?

-Foxtrot38m ago

@Skuletor

Who's saying to rush the releases? No one is saying that...

People just don't want to be waiting 15 years for a sequel, they aren't working on the game for that long, you do realise that right? The issue isn't coming down to them working on the game and us "rushing them", it's the fact they are working on other games like Starfield now meaning bigger gaps before they even get started on them.

I bet you any more Elder Scrolls VI only entered full development last year when Starfield was finished despite being announced in 2018.

Duke193h ago

I mean you aren't wrong. People are going to complain about anything

isarai5h ago

Hows about you focus on quality, just a thought 🤷‍♂️

Sciurus_vulgaris4h ago

Bethesda [or Microsoft] would have to reallocate internal and external studios towards fallout and elder scrolls titles. Bethesda has the issue of developing 2 big IPs that are large RPGs on rotation. If you want more Fallout and Elder Scrolls, development will have to be outsourced.

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