Star Wars: Battlefront Dev Talks PS4: “We’re Really Able to Get the Maximum Out of the Hardware”

There has been a lot of talk about the console versions of Star Wars: Battlefront, especially since the initial footage we saw has been mentioned as “representative” of the PS4 version. Senior Producer Sigurlína Ingvarsdóttir provided a bit more info

[DarkOcelet]

So does that mean they will use the PS4's full power?

With the gap between the PS4 and the Xone, i think the only thing that might be different between the two is the resolution.

I have yet to see a 3rd party developer use the full power of the PS4 just like the 1st party devs.

[BitbyDeath]

Nope, they'll likely use the same line again on their next game. It is just a tag to say we are doing our best with the state of our current engine.

Nothing more, nothing less.

[Eiyuuou]

Bingo! Someone who gets it.

[miyamoto]

So many drowning gamers are grasping for straws down there...

Kind a sad actually...

They put their hopes on many promises that actually should have been there at launch and not out of damage control.

"Brand loyalty is a terrible master. So go for what is the best there is regardless of brand." - Anonymous

[gangsta_red]

The resolution will more than likely be the only difference between the two consoles.

Everything else will pretty much be the same across all platforms.

[GenuineGamer]

You are probably right, although i wonder if they are using dx12 for this game or not. With the recent confirmation of the Frostbite engine supporting dx12 they may end up hitting 1080p on both platforms.

[gangsta_red]

*Whew* Thank goodness that we're talking about Battlefront and not Witcher 3.

[Rookie_Monster]

Gamenamefeame

No duuuuhhhh genius! That is because Witcher 3 is not built with DX12 in mind. Keep your hope alive that games built specially with DX12 won't do anything at all on a console built with DX12 ready.

[GenuineGamer]

@gamenamefame

Keep spouting that nonsense. Just because one dev says he 'THINKS' it would not help their game does not mean it wouldn't.

DX12 is not even finished yet, I would bet CDPR haven't even played around with dx12 yet so what he was saying was his OPINION not a fact.

Also, for games to really take full advantage of dx12 they need to be built from the ground up.

The Witcher 3 has had a LOT of work put into xbo version with dx11 to get it where it is today. If they were to move over to dx12 it would undo everything they have done in that regard and set them back big time, which would result in delaying the game, again.

DX12 is literally better/more efficient than dx11 in every single way, by quite a large margin i might add. I really don't understand how anyone can think it will offer no improvement.

[GenuineGamer]

@gamenamefame

I forget that there must be a lot of children on this site. You are taking things out of context to suit your own agenda.

Phil spencer said it will help devs do things the xbox one is already good at but it wont be a dramatic change. (quite an old tweet i may add, things change)

Meaning the box has always been capable, but it has been hard for devs to utilize it. DX12 offers many improvements that will make a BIG difference, but also makes it much easier for devs to get the most out of the system.

The new dx12 eSRAM api will also help immensely.

Phil spencer has never said it wont do much. That's your words not his.

Look, i get you have a preference, like many other fans on this site. But QUIT trying to downplay dx12. It is futile and childish, the results will speak for themselves and that day can't come soon enough.

Don't worry, PS4 will still be GREAT. DX12 is not going to change that, so you can sleep at night knowing your precious console won't be affected.

btw, xbox one already does 1080P native on a lot of its games. So saying it can't is pretty ignorant.

[remixx116]

I find it weirdthat people ccanspit facts and get madd disagrees, its more of a I like what you say vs I don't like what you say kinda system.

[RegorL]

Star Wars Battlefront (2015) uses Frostbite.

Frostbite will be DX12 (and Vulkan)

https://twitter.com/repi/st...

If Frostbite version that ships with Battlefront has DX12 remains to be seen. But considering BF4 was the first game to get Mantle (now Vulkan) I would really be surprised if not.

[OB1Biker]

I'm guessing it's a figure of speech since just like the xbox the PS4 keeps improving

[GUTZnPAPERCUTZ]

I don't think Battlefront will be 1080p on PS4, We know DICE is going to go with 60fps and the new FB3 build looks noticeably better than the BF4 build.

I think it will still be 900p on PS4 and 720p on X1 but it will graphically look much better than BF4. That's just my opinion

[DarXyde]

"Maxing out" hardware this early on is a common thing said by developers who are, if I'm being candid, overconfident in their optimizations.

When the next developer finds an even better way to optimize games and they look/run better than what the last developers could do, you can be sure that consumers will have words for the developers who made that claim to begin with. Sometimes, developers outdo themselves after making that statement and the next many games perform even better than their own previous outings.

Granted, I expect developers do get the most out of the PlayStation 4's hardware faster than most are probably thinking given the simplified architecture, but it has stagnant hardware which is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, games are made to run within the parameters of the system. On the other, games are made to run within the parameters of the system. Yes, I said the same thing twice, but to be more particular, thanks to the stagnant hardware, developers can eke out performance tweaks and hone their process. Because PC gamers have very various CPUs and GPUs, there's no way to get the utmost out of the hardware. In the case of consoles, you can have everything made with a very particular process.

[subtenko]

THEY will to their best ability. Then a Sony first party like Naughty Dog will blow it out the water. Same statements were made years ago when PS3 was out, then you saw games like GOW3, UC3 TLOU, etc.

[RegorL]

Keep one thing in mind...

DICE has been a PC developer a long time. The new consoles are PC like. A first party developer no longer have that much head start.

PS4 features looks like they are taken from a DICE feature hardware request sheet written 2010.

http://www.frostbite.com/20...

page 34 and 35.

What is PS4 if not a GPU with an CPU as coprocessor! (Yes it is the CPU that are allowed to share a bit of the GPU memory bandwidth...)

[_LarZen_]

And still they cant show any actual gameplay to the masses. Gotta secure enough pre-orders first...

[Randostar]

Lol. If you went to star wars celebration and stood in line for 3 hours you could have. I know a few people who went and saw it, they said it looked pretty close to the trailer, just not as high fidelity. So yes the public did get to see gameplay, you just had to be an attendee at celebration.

[SilentNegotiator]

You just had to be enough of a Star Wars fanatic to buy tickets or be a journalist.

I'm sure there were no fan filters or journo boot licking involved in those viewings.

[Kingdomcome247]

My Gamestop district manager was in attendance for the behind doors exclusive gameplay reveal. He said that both gameplay wise and graphically that it looked great, but that it wasn't quite what we saw in the trailer.

[skulz7]

Wait till E3 and then decide whether you want to buy it. Thats probably what most will do.

[Sarah_Ch]

Indeed.

[uth11]

Yes they will show gameplay sooner or later before release. Just about every AAA game do teases like this. I don't know why people assume they are hiding something.

[sigfredod]

hope at the end doesn´t result to be 900p and nowhere near 60fps like bf4

[Randostar]

I think the fact that it has a 40 player cap will actually help this a lot. 32 player matches i rarely drop frames in Hardline and BF4. But when you get to 64 and you can see more than 30 people on screen things start to bog down.

[oasdada]

I wud prefer 1080p/30fps with highest settings for Singleplayer campaign (if there is one)

[_-EDMIX-_]

The game is MP only, so 60fps is likely the target.

[Izzy408]

The difference between 30fps and 60fps is more noticeable than 900p and 1080p.

[oasdada]

Yea i know its noticable.. but lower gfx settings are much more noticable than resolution and framerate.. an d if u guys didnt notice i did write i prefer these setting for the campaing which unfortunately isnt present in this game from what ive heard so this discussion is basically mute

[oasdada]

It would be really nice to see how they use current-gen console hardware not clinging to last gen.. i hope we see dynamic lit particle effects in this game as those effects were absent from ps4/xb1 version of battlefield4 possibly due to being launch titles and also felt like ports of their last gen console counterparts.

[Germany7]

Can't trust DICE for that. That will happen with studios like Naughty Dog, Guerrilla and Santa Monica.

[oasdada]

Now now.. we cant say that for sure.. i mean BF hardline gfx werent that bad on consoles

[Germany7]

Hardline was developed by Visceral. ^^

[oasdada]

^^

[oasdada]

@ratchet8
Yes. But it was also on frostbite engine

[SilentNegotiator]

DICE is just trying to win brownie points to distract from the controversy about the lack of content in their game.

[Debaitable]

Yes. The headline should have ended with "At the cost of content".

[thehobbyist]

"We chose realistic graphics over content. Because that's what matters"

Even though graphics influence less than 1/10th of purchases

http://www.gamespot.com/art...

[gbonez]

it took developers the lifespan of the xbox 360 to get its full potential (look at gears 3), these new gen consoles have only been out for 2 years and i dont think there has been an AAA game yet that wasnt on last gen in addition to this gen. I'd be very very surprised if it utilized the full power of the xbox one and ps4.

On another note, i dont care how beautiful a game looks, it needs the content and gameplay to be there. As far as consumers know now, this game is hugely lacking in content. Don't sacrifice content/gameplay for graphics

[Pathogenic]

I mean I'm just happy that I get to play a Starwars game again! Just deliver on what you say and I'm happy. Don't deliver and well you deserve to be called everything in the book for being a liar.

[oasdada]

Im mostly a singleplayer gamer and im kinda annoyed at 60$ games with no campaing.. if these sell well it will encourage others to cut campaing as well and that kind of scares me

[chaosx]

Full power ahead !! didn't the order use the full power of the ps4 and second son and kill zone ?

[The_Sage]

Shoot... Sorry chaosx... I meant to hit agree (all the devs saying full power this full power that) but my phone registered it a disagree. Stupid smart phones. Gotta love oxymorons.

[PersonMan]

Get ready for all of the "We used all of the PS4's power" and then a year later "We found even more power yet" and then a year after that "We realized we weren't actually use all of the power, but now we are"

[Brisco]

Boring, every developer says this.

[Izzy408]

Well I sure as heck hope so. Other wise there would be no reason to make new consoles more powerful. The only difference we'll see between X1 and PS4 is 900p/1080p. But some people with super human vision will claim to see a difference.

[00]

Is that why it has less content the it's decade old predecessor.

[Eidolon]

I don't think he means that they are using most out of the PS4 possible, what is sounded to me like is he just means that with Sony helping/collaborating with resources and help, that they are getting as much out of it as they can RIGHT NOW. The API and tools are still evolving and we will see games getting more and more impressive, technically at least.

[kamundo]

Well yeah, when you cut so many features out of your game that it has less to do than its predecessors that came out over a decade and 2 console generations ago did, I would expect you can at the very least make the game shiny.