Alpha System Requirements - Let the Upgrades Begin?

[Kurokikaze]

Seriously?

Don't build a system for the alpha/beta. Play the beta on ps3 if your current system can't handle it.


You'll save yourself money and get a WAY bettter system if you wait and build it when the game is about to launch, let alone if you wait until it's been out 6mo-1yr and is "fully" optimized.

Didn't build it for Alpha/Beta. I needed a new PC bad since my last desktop died and my laptop overheats watching youtube videos. Just saying the rig is ready to plow through this shit with ease. My last computer was able to run FFXIV just based on the alpha specs. So can my laptop but that ain't happening. lol

[Isiolia]

This makes me want to buy a PC and toss my PS3. One of the greatest things is that this shuts down anyone who thought SE was gonna come in with yee ole "PS3 limitations". This is gonna be a good game

Like I said though, that's only half the story. FFXI's problems are not just because the code started out on PS2, but because they want to make sure everyone has the same thing.

Inventory in FFXI is a "PS2 limitation". I doubt the PC (or even 360) versions would have issue adding more. They don't get it because SE is maintaining feature parity with the PS2.

The simple fact that the game will be on a less capable platform will likely mean it will be hindered by it.

assassins creed, god of war 3, most of the newer games coming out

GoW 3 was rumored to be 1080p, it's 720p (in the comments).

ACII is also a native 720p game.

Most PS3 (and 360) games are. The 360 has a hardware scaler to 1080p, PS3 software needs to include a software scaler. There's a short list of honest-to-goodness 1080p PS3 software, like Lair, Wipeout HD, Ridge Racer 7, and so on, but it's not "most newer games" by a long shot.

[Enos]

Like I said though, that's only half the story. FFXI's problems are not just because the code started out on PS2, but because they want to make sure everyone has the same thing.

Inventory in FFXI is a "PS2 limitation". I doubt the PC (or even 360) versions would have issue adding more. They don't get it because SE is maintaining feature parity with the PS2.

The simple fact that the game will be on a less capable platform will likely mean it will be hindered by it.

This is a very good point, one that i didn't really think about haha...

[Plow]

Like I said though, that's only half the story. FFXI's problems are not just because the code started out on PS2, but because they want to make sure everyone has the same thing.

Inventory in FFXI is a "PS2 limitation". I doubt the PC (or even 360) versions would have issue adding more. They don't get it because SE is maintaining feature parity with the PS2.

The simple fact that the game will be on a less capable platform will likely mean it will be hindered by it.

The thing is, inventory is the only thing that was really nailed by the PS2 limitations, and it's something that's too big of a deal to give to some and not to others.


Everyone has touted ps2 limitations for years, and it all basically comes back down to the "no more than 80 items per window at a time."

If they really want to give us more inventory, they can, they just have to add more windows. They don't *WANT* us to have more inventory. Fuck if I know why, though.


Graphically, we'll be fine.

Also, the reason everything is 720p is that the xbox just upscales, the ps3 is the only one with raw 1080p graphic capability. If the wii and xbox had ps3 level capabilities, we'd probably be seeing a lot more true 1080 stuff.

[Isiolia]

The thing is, inventory is the only thing that was really nailed by the PS2 limitations, and it's something that's too big of a deal to give to some and not to others.


Everyone has touted ps2 limitations for years, and it all basically comes back down to the "no more than 80 items per window at a time."

If they really want to give us more inventory, they can, they just have to add more windows. They don't *WANT* us to have more inventory. Fuck if I know why, though.


Graphically, we'll be fine.

Also, the reason everything is 720p is that the xbox just upscales, the ps3 is the only one with raw 1080p graphic capability. If the wii and xbox had ps3 level capabilities, we'd probably be seeing a lot more true 1080 stuff.

Well, inventory is an obvious one. However, I wouldn't be surprised if there were more things behind the scenes that we don't realize. Why don't we have a shell running all the time, even when zoning? How does it influence the maximum zone size, mob density, etc.
We're not shown things like party TP or alliance MP due to the low resolution interface either.

I agree to the point that giving PC players a lot more inventory or something would be unfair. However, that's the situation you have. They want everyone to have the same thing, same info displayed, same inventory, same macro capabilities, and so on...so it's the lowest common denominator.

Some of it, sure, is probably by design as well.


The 360 is actually capable of 1080p in hardware as well. Even fewer games actually take advantage of that (Sacred 2, Virtua Tennis 3, etc), but it can technically do it.
It was not capable of it at launch, but it was updated to allow for it.

Even then, true 1080p would be a selling point, one would think. Many PS3-only titles are still just 720p. Or you have plenty of cross-platform titles that have higher-resolution assets for the PC version.

Could be they don't want to further tune the game for 1080p due to the progressively smaller market segment that'd see a benefit, I dunno. I don't have anything against the consoles, I own all of them, just are what they are is all.

[Arthars]

if your PC got the graphic requirement of a PS3 equivalent, i bet your fine

not hard really XD

[Sephiroth]

The simple fact that the game will be on a less capable platform will likely mean it will be hindered by it.

I agree in concept, but the cell in the PS3 is more powerful than the processors in most PCs around today, and unlike a PC, that processor is almost all dedicated to running the game. Graphical differences are fine, they don't affect gameplay.

I guess memory is the biggest issue, but look what the 10 year old PS2 manages in XI, surely the PS3 can do so much more. Sure the inventory issue was big, but that's not an issue on the PS3. Memory issues such as that can usually have work arounds, whereas if a processor can't handle a feature you're screwed.

If the game is released on the 360 then console limitations will have a more noticeable effect. The cell is a lot more powerful than the processor in the 360.

Oh and I agree with Plow that if SE wanted more than 80 inventory spaces, they could find a work around. I remember them saying PS2 limitations when it was at like 50 or 60. Less inventory space is a money maker. Who would use mules if you had unlimited inventory? Blaming the PS2 is a good excuse.

[Katlan]

game isn't being made for the 360, dunno why ppl still think it is

[Kaelan?]

They haven't directly stated but have more or less implied that it's going to be on the 360 at one point or another. I remember the major obstacle to it happening had something to do with Microsoft not wanting to have people on XBL & PSN talking to each other or something like that.

[Katlan]

They haven't directly stated but have more or less implied that it's going to be on the 360 at one point or another.

Don't get ur hopes up until you hear that its being developed, its not on their home page and any other sources. It was something they considered a while ago and afaik dropped. If the game was still being planned for an eventual 360 release they would have made such a statement, since that type of news leads to a bigger hype and more excitement for a wider range of players.

[Aodh]

Don't get ur hopes up until you hear that its being developed, its not on their home page and any other sources. It was something they considered a while ago and afaik dropped. If the game was still being planned for an eventual 360 release they would have made such a statement, since that type of news leads to a bigger hype and more excitement for a wider range of players.

The announcement that went also mentioned that it was a limited exclusivity, so it was something that wasn't supposed to be said/announced now or something that's no longer true. I don't think that it'll never come to the 360, they want subscribers and after finishing the PS3 version, it's not hard to assume they'll move to the 360 if possible

[Kaelan?]

its not on their home page and any other sources.

Well yes, obviously. They wouldn't put it in their home page until it was officially confirmed.

What I'm saying is the developers have expressed interest in doing it, it would make financial sense for them to do it as well, and they've got experience doing that with XI and want to continue carrying the flag for cross-platform MMOs, so it's likely they'll overcome whatever problems are in their way now at somepoint down the road unless it happens to be something completely insurmountable.

It was something they considered a while ago and afaik dropped.

I've never heard them say anything remotely close to that. Where did you get this information from?

If the game was still being planned for an eventual 360 release they would have made such a statement

Not if they weren't sure whether or not they'd be able to go through with it. This is especially true if the problem is indeed dealings with Microsoft, because then, until those dealings were completely solved, they could actually not be legally allowed to say anything about a 360 version, even if they were already working on it.

[Tankjr]

I'm set on the specs but I'm wtf@DX9c... inb4 welcome to page2. I am just in abject disbelief on this point

[Isiolia]

I'm set on the specs but I'm wtf@DX9c... inb4 welcome to page2. I am just in abject disbelief on this point

C'mon now, DX9 is only two generations behind current. They're focusing on the PC this time! /sarcasm

But hey, maybe they'll actually make optional DX11 stuff by the time it releases. Though I doubt it.


Re: 360 version, what I have seen is along the lines mentioned, it's more a matter of negotiating MS policies than not wanting to do it for the platform http://kotaku.com/5342774/whats-hold...v-for-xbox-360 etc.

[Katlan]

It is very plausible that they intent to start w/ DX9 and push it to DX10 or 11 before it goes live, or even after it goes live. I mean Aion is doing it, and AoC has alrdy done that.

[Uzor]

I thought they said they would aim for DX11, no?

[Don Katsu]

Like I said though, that's only half the story. FFXI's problems are not just because the code started out on PS2, but because they want to make sure everyone has the same thing.

Inventory in FFXI is a "PS2 limitation". I doubt the PC (or even 360) versions would have issue adding more. They don't get it because SE is maintaining feature parity with the PS2.

The simple fact that the game will be on a less capable platform will likely mean it will be hindered by it.



GoW 3 was rumored to be 1080p, it's 720p (in the comments).

ACII is also a native 720p game.

Most PS3 (and 360) games are. The 360 has a hardware scaler to 1080p, PS3 software needs to include a software scaler. There's a short list of honest-to-goodness 1080p PS3 software, like Lair, Wipeout HD, Ridge Racer 7, and so on, but it's not "most newer games" by a long shot.

Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4 are some other titles that support 1080p

I'm not sure why they go with 720p on most of their games to be honest..

[Isiolia]

FFXIII is not 1080p, it's 720p (well, I'd assume the Blu-ray video segments are 1080, but the gameplay isn't), MGS4 actually runs at 1024x768 of all things. SF4 is 720p, so unless they're changing that for Super, it's also 720p.

Listing 1080p on the back of the box does not mean it's native 1080p. It just indicates that the game has a scaler, which has to be included in software because the PS3 hardware options for that are very limited. A game supporting output in 1080p is not necessarily rendered at 1080p to start with, but the former is what the 1080p symbol on the back of the box indicates.

I thought they said they would aim for DX11, no?

I dunno, they mentioned continuing to push it, but this is the company that gave up on updating FFXI's compatible DirectX version. SE could come out and actually release efficient, scalable, feature-ready code for the PC...but it'd be the first time they ever have. Skepticism seems logical.

[Rai]

C'mon now, DX9 is only two generations behind current. They're focusing on the PC this time! /sarcasm

But hey, maybe they'll actually make optional DX11 stuff by the time it releases. Though I doubt it.

And we're back to "crying over the minimum specs required to run the alpha version of a game".

Setting the min requirement to DX10+ means that everyone running Windows XP won't be able to play since there's no (official) DX10 for XP. Which is also the reason why you'll barely find any current game releases that require you to have DX10 installed, even those with omgwtfawesome graphics.

Also, just because the min requirement is set to DX9 doesn't mean a game can't use DX10 features; given that the game engine supports it you can enable advanced functions and effects based on what the OS and hardware is capable of.

[Trocian]

XP is also 2 generations behind. Get with the times!