DICE: Graphical Parity On All BF4 Versions is "Coward's Way Out"

[Steven Bogos]

DICE: Graphical Parity On All BF4 Versions is "Coward's Way Out"

The game will look very different on current-gen and next-gen platforms.

Battlefield 4 on the Xbox 360 will look different to Battlefield 4 on the Xbox One. This is a seemingly obvious thing to say, but DICE have gone out of their way to stress that the game will be tailor made for the specifications of each platform it will release on, as making each version of the game look the same graphically would be the "coward's way out".

"You could take the coward's way out, and just set the bar at Xbox 360 and PS3, and make it so that all games look the same on all platforms, but that's not who we are. We want to do our best with the hardware."

Battlefield 4 executive producer Patrick Bach, speaking to OXM [http://www.oxm.co.uk/64205/dice-making-battlefield-4-look-the-same-on-all-platforms-would-be-the-cowards-way-out/], said that even with Battlefield 3, a lot of players would "nag" and complain to the developer about why the PC version was graphically superior to the console versions. "You had a game that looked amazing on PS3 and Xbox 360, but it didn't look as good as on PC, and people kept nagging us about that."

Bach says this isn't fair, and that players should instead "compare it to other games on the same platform," rather than comparing versions across platforms. He says his team is really pushing the PC and next-gen console versions to their absolute limits with Battlefield 4, while still making sure that the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions look the best they can, and are a clear step up from Battlefield 3.

Which platform will you be getting Battlefield 4 for? If you're considering getting it for the PC, you may want to check out the open beta that's running, and if you want to get it for your current gen console and upgrade to next-gen in November, you'll be able to do so for as little as $10 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127793-Battlefield-4s-Open-Beta-Opens-October-1].

Source: Official Xbox Magazine [http://www.oxm.co.uk/64205/dice-making-battlefield-4-look-the-same-on-all-platforms-would-be-the-cowards-way-out/]

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[Battenberg]

Am I the only one thinking this should be a given rather than something they have to clarify?

 

[Yuuki]

Open Beta ended on October 15th, now it's all down to the final release on October 29th.

"You had a game that looked amazing on PS3 and Xbox 360, but it didn't look as good as on PC, and people kept nagging us about that."

I guess there will always be people who are ignorant/uneducated enough to think 7 year old hardware can run games as well as current hardware.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Am I the only one thinking this should be a given rather than something they have to clarify?

No you're not, but the fact is that there are always people completely ignorant of how their box works or what it's capabilities are, but now they all have internet access and a line to nag the developers, which they didn't in 1995!

I'm wondering how Battlefield 5/BC3/2143/whatever it is in 2015 will be chopped to fit consoles, especially if BF4's sales mirror BF3's enormous disparity between console and PC sales (out of seventeen-ish million sales so far more than half are on PC/Origin). It's obviously profitable for them to go to the consoles but as a relative money spinner it's also obvious that DICE/EA tend to focus on PC after the experiment that was Bad Company 1.

 

[Pyrian]

Am I the only one thinking this should be a given rather than something they have to clarify?

"Should be a given" is fair enough, but regardless of whether it should be, it certainly isn't a given, so clarifying is frankly a good move (why not advertise a feature?).

 

[oldtaku]

So they'll be putting the PC version on the XBone and PS4 - not exactly rocket science.

At least then they can tweak the hell out of the settings for the specific machine.

 

[InvaderTim]

I don't understand why devs are still making games for the current platforms. If they want to sell the next gen they shouldn't provide an alternative to the next gen version, and have they seen BF on current consoles? It doesn't necessarily look bad but the maps have to be made tiny with about half as many control points and that makes me sad.

 

[RicoADF]

Well, I suppose its true, never underestimate the stupidity of some people. "Hurr why aint my 7 year old box as good as a brand new box!?" Truly, the voice of a generation those people are.

As for the question at the end; Im not. I bought BF 3 not too long ago, I have my modern combat battlefield, I want a god damn future one again!

Agreed on both point, where the heck is Battlefield 2143? (from 2142). That'd be a Battlefield game I'd pay for, not this same game resold with some DLC (BF3-4)

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Which platform will you be getting Battlefield 4 for? If you're considering getting it for the PC, you may want to check out the open beta that's running,/quote]

Umm, what open beta?

They just closed it down for... reasons. If I had half a brain, I would have thought about DLing it before. After all, I don't want to get this game just to find it melts my processor into a pile of goo. Then again, I play Planetside 2 and framerates only drop when things go insane(like 4 full Galaxies dropping on the same base that is currently under and armored assault).

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

I don't understand why devs are still making games for the current platforms. If they want to sell the next gen they shouldn't provide an alternative to the next gen version, and have they seen BF on current consoles? It doesn't necessarily look bad but the maps have to be made tiny with about half as many control points and that makes me sad.

Honestly it's because it will be of the fact there is already an established install base on the older systems. On top of that they already know how that system works and less money to use the most out of it.

 

[snekadid]

DICE: Graphical Parity On All BF4 Versions is "Coward's Way Out"


Bach says this isn't fair, and that players should instead "compare it to other games on the same platform," rather than comparing versions across platforms.

..... what? it isn't fair to compare a game TO ITSELF on different platforms? One would think that would lead to the most accurate comparisons, rather than comparing two unrelated games. This line makes Bach come off as a whiner, complaining that it isn't fair for you to judge the differences between their products. I mean freaking hell, if two versions of the same game are different, I god damn well want to know.

 

[Joccaren]

So they'll be putting the PC version on the XBone and PS4 - not exactly rocket science.

At least then they can tweak the hell out of the settings for the specific machine.

Well, a scaled down PC version at any rate. The Xbone and PS4 are quite weak compared to modern PCs - even mine I built a couple of years back outmatches them.
Likely it will go, from lowest to highest:
X360
PS3
Xbone
PS4
PC

With a massively visible disparity between 2 and 3, and a noticeable but not huge disparity between 4 and 5, and barely any noticeable difference between 1-2 and 3-4.

..... what? it isn't fair to compare a game TO ITSELF on different platforms? One would think that would lead to the most accurate comparisons, rather than comparing two unrelated games. This line makes Bach come off as a whiner, complaining that it isn't fair for you to judge the differences between their products. I mean freaking hell, if two versions of the same game are different, I god damn well want to know.

He has a fair point. Its not fair to go "BF3 doesn't have great graphics. My PS3 version doesn't look anywhere near as good as the PC version!", and whine about how DICE was lazy, whilst in actuality it looks amazing compared to many other PS3 games, but the PS3 does not have the power to make it look as good as the PC version. As was said at the start of this thread, that should be a given. Just by buying it on a console you should know it won't look as good as it will on a good PC. Some people, however, don't seem to get this.

 

[Metalrocks]

its obvious that the pc version is better in graphics then consoles. if some console players are upset about it, then they are pretty ignorant.

and the beta is down, which was fun to play but it was very similar to bf3 that i might stick with it and just wait until bf4 is available as a premium version or just cheaper.

 

[Evonisia]

"So we're boosting the graphics as much as we can."

"But what about the gameplay?"

"WHAT ABOUT THE GAMEPLAY!?"

 

[LazyAza]

People seriously complained BF3 didn't look as good on consoles as on PC? Are these people fucking morons? do they know how games work at all? geezus.

You buy a low end console you get low end graphics, you buy a high end pc you get high end graphics. This is how technology works people.