Consoles Are a "Massive Barrier" for Crysis 3 Development

[Zetatrain]

A good carpenter doesn't blame his tools.

True, but asking someone to put a game like Crysis 3 on the XB360 and make it look good is basically asking for a miracle and the guy ain't exactly Jesus the Carpenter.

However, the Crysis team did kinda put themselves into this position by agreeing to make the game for the consoles.

 

[Strazdas]

and yet you develop for it. If consoles are ancient (which they are) then stop developing for them. as lnog as you limit your PC players "Becuase console cant run it" consoles wont improve. they will only improve when they see that consoles are loosing games.
and no, consoles port arent your biggest moneymakers. that is, if you ever created a decent game.

Ah, this thread is already turning into the weekly asinine "PC vs. Console" yelling match, nice.

Guys: You won't win, each side will leave the argument feeling exactly the same, albeit frustrated from a useless debate.

the whole point of this "news" existing is that we already won.

 

[Freaky Lou]

A good carpenter doesn't blame his tools.

Umm he isn't. Tools would be the cry engine. He is complaining about the house that he is supposed to work within.

OT: You wanted console money, you gotta work for it. Deal with it

Actually it is kinda the tools, as the consoles sets the limit for what you can do, the engine would be more the materials - still at the moment using the current consoles' tech is like using a worn butter knife to cut out that ancient wooden oak cabinet in fine detail. It is gonna be ruggy, uneven, and more effort put into "tricks" and "imitation" than actually using your fine craftsmanship to its fullest and make a real authentic thing that you could proudly say "I did the very finest of a work I have ever done", but rather "I did all I could... This will not get any better".

Aside from all this, "a poor craftsman blames his tools" is a terrible saying anyway. Having good tools makes a gigantic difference, and if he's stuck with awful tools that does put a huge limitation on what even the most skilled artisan is capable of. One could still find some way to do something good with the shoddy materials, but it will probably not be what was envisioned with the quality ones.

 

[Frostbite3789]

No, I'm sick of PC elitists going on and on about how superior their gaming platform is to everything else. If you prefer the PC than fine, but for pete's sake every time individual game platforms are discussed we can never seem to avoid this and I'm freaking tired of it,

Can we take back years of 'PC gaming is dead and PC gamers should get over it' from the other then?

OT: Eh, as many have said, driven by greed to make the game for consoles, you get to live with the shackles you put on yourself.

 

[NoeL]

WHY DON'T THEY MAKE IT FOR THE WII U!? THEN THEY WON'T HAVE THE LIMITATIONS!!!

 

[DrBonBon]

Wow, I'm surprised no one blames EA on this. This is the Escapist-forums right?

 

[surg3n]

Some might say that consoles actually grounded the Cryengine to a level where more PC gamers could enjoy it. Key word there is ENJOY - With Crysis2, my PC could barely run it, even though it was far and away better than a 360. Now that consoles are a concern, they have to optimise, they HAD to rip the engine apart and optimise it - boo bloody hoo!, we all benefit in the end.

Now I'm sure that my current PC will deal with Farcry3 handsomly, shaders will look pretty and the whole thing won't play like some elaborate tech demo. If it wasn't for consoles, then we'd need to spend a lot more on our PC's to be able to play along. Like it or not PC elitists, your PC is probably a lot cheaper thanks to the 360, the console market has done more good than harm to PC's.

 

[Folji]

Wow, I'm surprised no one blames EA on this. This is the Escapist-forums right?

What is there to blame EA for here? Other than that it was definitely their idea to build Crysis 3 for the current console generation instead of holding out for the next one (because monies to be had)? It's pretty tough to be a developer like Crytek right now, only ever looking to push through the boundaries for what they can do with their games, when they have to make it run on hardware that's steadily coming up on its tenth year anniversary.

If a PC gamer were to come and rant about a game running poorly on their 7800 GTX[footnote]PC and console GPUs are hard to properly compare since PC hardware have to support multiple tasks and a wide variety of configurations, whereas a console's GPU only has to worry about one task and one configuration, so the console GPU gets a lot more breathing room and can squeeze way more performance out of the same crappy gear (a console GPU can pour itself 100% into rendering the game, that's really unusual for a PC GPU), yadda yadda yadda wibbly wobbly reasons and so on. But a 7800/7900/8800 GTX is close enough for comparison and it's old. Like seriously, it's "what the shits why aren't you just upgrading already" old, and yet it's still the kind of hardware that developers like Crytek need to cut corners for in order to fit games like Crysis onto![/footnote], that'd only end in laughter and a notion to piss off and upgrade.

 

[Hunter65416]

Even as a console gamer: I wish that devs would just stop trying to develop games for consoles.. maybe that way MS/Sony might get the message.

 

[karloss01]

Do you know what wouldn't make consoles a barrier?

Timesplitters.

where is it Crytek?

 

[Marik Bentusi]

and yet you develop for it. [...] and no, consoles port arent your biggest moneymakers. that is, if you ever created a decent game.

In every major AAA release I've been following recently, console sales were ahead by quite a bit, in addition to having a lower piracy rate (which doesn't equal lost sales, but contains a certain amount of them). Current AAA games are insanely expensive, and thus really high risks for a publisher to take. Thus, you gotta fine the largest audience possible to make back the money + some profit.

A really big chunk of that production cost goes into graphics, so of course Crytek will have the biggest problems with it. Meanwhile Activision laughs and keeps codblops profitable by not focusing as much on graphics as others, which also makes it accessible to a larger crowd with low spec PCs.

 

[Strazdas]

and yet you develop for it. [...] and no, consoles port arent your biggest moneymakers. that is, if you ever created a decent game.

In every major AAA release I've been following recently, console sales were ahead by quite a bit, in addition to having a lower piracy rate (which doesn't equal lost sales, but contains a certain amount of them). Current AAA games are insanely expensive, and thus really high risks for a publisher to take. Thus, you gotta fine the largest audience possible to make back the money + some profit.

A really big chunk of that production cost goes into graphics, so of course Crytek will have the biggest problems with it. Meanwhile Activision laughs and keeps codblops profitable by not focusing as much on graphics as others, which also makes it accessible to a larger crowd with low spec PCs.

console profits usualyl get ahead because PC releases are multiple months late and gamers are impatient people that woudl rather play inferior version on eggsbox if it meant trying ot out 1 month earlier. FOr games released at same time, PC is a clear leader. Consoles have huge unreproted piracy rate, because there is no consistem system of reporting piracy, black market and all, so if you take a PC based piracy site, and claim that since its mostly PC games PC is pirated more you would just make a fool out of yourself.
I did add that you have to create a deceont game. not a piece of poop that you just throw 300 millions are "just because" and expect to be entitled to buys. Gaming is the only indsutry that thinks their costumers "have to buy" or "they must be evil pirates if they dont". whiel the rest of the world would just think their products are crap and try to get better.

 

[Nieroshai]

A good carpenter doesn't blame his tools.

Agreed. Let's also not forget that the PS3 has a lot of untapped processing power. If anything, this is a problem of designing an engine that requires something about a PC. Maybe the engine required .exe's or DOS or something? Some other software requisite consoles aren't built with because they're exclusively for games? PS3 can handle it, so what's the problem? Besides, here comes the age-old problem that started with Crysis. They're building a game intentionally too complex for what it's going to run it on. Crysis had to be played on minimal settings for all but the best computers, if any of us remembers. And all that just to make an average shooter win awards for looking better than any of the others. Does anyone remember playing Crysis, or do they remember not being able to run it?

 

[DTWolfwood]

Beggars can be choosers apparently.

Quit your bitching Crytek.

 

[Griffolion]

Cry me a river.

 

[UberNoodle]

Interesting. Title says consoles are a barrier to the game's development. Developers say that the limitations of the consoles have forced them to make a better product.

Pearls can't grow without adversity.

 

[surg3n]

A good carpenter doesn't blame his tools.

Agreed. Let's also not forget that the PS3 has a lot of untapped processing power. If anything, this is a problem of designing an engine that requires something about a PC. Maybe the engine required .exe's or DOS or something? Some other software requisite consoles aren't built with because they're exclusively for games? PS3 can handle it, so what's the problem? Besides, here comes the age-old problem that started with Crysis. They're building a game intentionally too complex for what it's going to run it on. Crysis had to be played on minimal settings for all but the best computers, if any of us remembers. And all that just to make an average shooter win awards for looking better than any of the others. Does anyone remember playing Crysis, or do they remember not being able to run it?

Not sure where you get your facts from dude. Console sales always outweigh PC sales, no matter what - that is why a lot of publishers leave the PC til last. You think that the PC sells more games than a console? - that's just crazy, console sales are always more than double the PC sales, sometimes as much as 10 times more across all formats. Developers won't prioritise 10%-20% of their sales in favor of 40-50% on the 360.
As for piracy, well piracy does a lot more harm to the PC market than the console market. With the PS3 and 360, people tend to avoid piracy because they know it could end up with them being banned, and people like multiplayer games, and there are so many barriers put in front of people who pirate console games. On the PC on the other hand, people tend to buy the multiplayer games, but then single player games are pirated left right and centre. The only console that is really heavily abused with piracy is the Wii - I know lots of people with cracked Wii's, I don't know anyone with a cracked PS3 or 360.

 

[Woodsey]

So make it a PC exclusive. Crysis did sell 3 million copies.

 

[kasperbbs]

Perhaps you should think about making your game more interesting instead of making it pretty if it's not working out so well?

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

I get it, we all like money and this is probably more true for EA, the producers of Crysis, than some others. But with the outcry surrounding Skyrim on PS3, why wouldn't you just put the game out as a PC exclusive. If it's going to blow chunks and people are going to complain about the console versions -- why bother. All Cevat Yerli ever does is harp about how great his graphics are, so just use the platform that allows you to do what you want; ie showcase graphics.

Or as some people have mentioned, wait for the next console generation. Crysis 3 isn't even slated until next year. They could pull a Bioshock Infinite and just push it back another year while waiting for consoles.

-Crysis seems to be having this identity crisis as well. It jams multiplayer in each of its games, because that's what we expect nowadays (apparently), but I haven't heard of a following for Crysis multiplayer. And the story is pretty awful. So it's neither a devoted single player game nor a devoted multiplayer. Console players have a number of other eggs in their basket if it comes down to Crysis being a pc exclusive.