Ostriig on 18/6/2009 at 00:20
Quote Posted by Namdrol
Eidos Montreal take note.
In earlier interviews with EM devs regarding DX3, it was stated that the game was, at that point, only confirmed on the PC platform with others still being uncertain. Personally, I see it as marketing talk, and I'm fairly certain that the game has already been internally confirmed on at least one console, but I did appreciate the gesture. However, regardless of how much truth there was in that, I'm also fairly confident that, given such a statement, the PC release for DX3 will come either before or at the same time with those for any other platforms (inclined towards the latter).
I suspect the same might apply to Thief 4.
Quote Posted by Platinumoxicity
How can the console port suffer from the game being primarly developed for the PC? Are there any good examples of this?
Assuming that a game developed primarily for the PC is to take full advantage of what the platform has to offer, two issues arise.
First off, assuming the game isn't launched right at the beginning of a new console generation's life cycle, there's hardware performance. Typically, on launch, a new generation of consoles will have more powerful hardware than top-of-the-line gaming PCs, but this superiority usually (or at least so far) fades away in under two years, and from then on it's straight out reversed. Think back to DX:IW's small levels and all the complaints about the loading times. This was, if I recall correctly, due to the limited memory present on the Xbox, whereas PCs at that time could have more. Levels had to be designed and implemented in such a way that they could be handled by the less powerful platform. If IW had been created to take full advantage of the PCs of the time, there would've been need to either scale down in the graphics department or straight out redesign and implement levels for the console.
Next, and this is probably the more important of the two, you have the controller issue. A game targeting the PC primarily will make full use of the Mouse & Keyboard scheme. Then, when you want to port to console, you must find a way to map all functionality previously spread out over a lofty keyboard to the scarce buttons of a gamepad, which with some games is very difficult or nearly impossible, and you have to consider the use of an analog stick pointer instead of the mouse. The former should be fairly obvious, and as an example for the latter (since you always getting someone arguing for how precise gamepads really are), you can find (
http://news.softpedia.com/news/PS3-Version-of-Unreal-Tournament-3-is-Slower-73076.shtml) here an article explaining how this led to Epic making UT3 slower on the PS3 than on the PC.
Namdrol on 18/6/2009 at 10:36
Quote Posted by Captain Spandex
I would imagine it will come out on 360, PS3 and PC simultaneously. Eidos did this with Batman: Arkham Asylum, so I see no reason why they wouldn't follow suit with Thief.
I mean, if the heavens opened and they made a PC exclusive during an all-time-high for internet piracy... especially for such a niche game... even fellow PC snobs would agree it probably wouldn't equal profit for Eidos. Starcraft and The Sims can get away with that because these franchises can sell over a million copies in one day. I just don't see Thief doing the same.
I know, Thief is a niche game, while StarCraft will probably sell more units in Korea alone than Thief 4 will shift worldwide.
It's just a vain hope that EM are genuine.
And yes it will be on consoles but....
Quote:
Our mission, at EIDOS-MONTREAL, is simple: to continue the pursuit of excellence that is the hallmark of Eidos products and to reach a broad market of gamers.
To attain this objective, we are banking on four strategic choices:
1.
AAA games, designed to earn world-wide critical acclaim and commercial success. ((
http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/05/26/what-are-aaa-titles/) http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/05/26/what-are-aaa-titles/ hmmm?)
2. Next-generation games for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC consoles, and for the Wii. (Well this sort of answers our questions)
3. Longer production cycles - approximately 24 months - to give our teams time to develop high quality games.
4. Closely-knit teams that do not exceed 80 people.
(As you can see, at EIDOS-MONTREAL, we don't confuse video game development with assembly-line production.)
True, one or the other of these four strategic factors often show up in game companies' business plans. However, the four are rarely seen together, and it is even more unique to see them make up a studio's mission.
That's what makes EIDOS-MONTREAL different!
My anotation in small writing
(
http://www.eidosmontreal.com/en/difference-en.html) http://www.eidosmontreal.com/en/difference-en.html
The website's worth a look for anyone who hasn't been there yet
belboz on 18/6/2009 at 14:03
well you only get games coming out on xbox first if microsoft stick there nose into the development of a game and tell them in which direction the game should go, the you get xbox ports to pc and ps3 these then get released 6 months after the xbox version.
take halo the pc version was finished a year before the xbox version but because of microsoft the pc version got delayed and thats one of the reasons it looks so dated. Although a leaked report from the company that make Halo said that if they knew what microsoft were going to be like then they would have never signed up to them in the first place.
MoroseTroll on 18/6/2009 at 15:26
Quote Posted by belboz
take halo the pc version was finished a year before the xbox version but because of microsoft the pc version got delayed and thats one of the reasons it looks so dated.
Maybe. But please don't forget that Halo 1 has been chosen by Microsoft as a start platform-seller, which make a huge difference between that game and Thief 4. Thief 4 will be one of hundreds, and it definitely won't be a platform-seller, because it's a niche game.
hexhunter on 18/6/2009 at 17:21
"Thief 4 comes out as either a summer release or a holiday season release, say Novemberish 2010/2011 (more likely).
on X360.
4 months later, say, Januaryish, it is released on PC.
Either shortly before the PC release or shortly thereafter, it is released on PS3 (or other way around)."
Yeah, like that would happen, maybe a couple of years ago, but they consider T4 to be a 'AAA title' and you don't see any other AAA titles getting scattered releases. If anything they will release the PC version 1st then the consoles...
Brian The Dog on 19/6/2009 at 23:24
Quote Posted by Platinumoxicity
How can the console port suffer from the game being primarly developed for the PC? Are there any good examples of this? :weird:
Just to expand on Ostriig's post earlier, a direct-to-console port of a technically-advanced PC game would (say Crisis) would be very slooooowwwww... at least for the previous-gen consoles such as the XBox or PS2. Crysis would still struggle to be ported directly to the XBox360, given it's system specs. As a result, this is never actually done, since most of the sales come from the console versions, and hence they optimise this first.
The controls issue he mentions does happen though, for instance using guns in GTA Vice City is harder with gamepads (e.g. PS2) than on the PC (I guess something similar may occur in GTA4 and the more recent Tomb Raider games, but I've not tried them).
belboz on 20/6/2009 at 04:05
I have a really hard time running crysis on a 4 core 2 gpu's sli machine, due to bad optimation at certain points in the game, bendy road bit, and the big open area with the tanks. frame rate goes from 75fps to 3 frames per minute.
Too Much Coffee on 20/6/2009 at 17:10
PC first? Hah. I wish, but dream on. Time for a reality check.
Henri The Hammer on 20/6/2009 at 18:28
PC first, consoles later (if at all.)
Otherwise, I'm not buying it.
Or even playing it.
Reliance on 20/6/2009 at 21:25
It will be a simultaneous, multi-platform release. Period. It will be developed for 360 and PC, maybe even a third developer for the PS3 instead of a port.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it has been a few years where Eidos has done an exclusive or timed exclusive.
