Comic Book Guy Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 You don't need to be a 1970s stand-up comedian to know that there's a large lexicon of monosyllabic, four-letter words for describing something you don't like ? but only PC gamers use the word ?port? with such a fervent degree of repulsion. Common complaints about console ports include meagre graphics options, dodgy third-person camera angles, poorly thought-out controls and sparsely distributed save points. Making games for multiple platforms can't be easy though. After all, each current gaming platform has radically different processor architecture, as well as completely different controllers and graphics APIs. That's before you've even considered storage, memory and online abilities. Just how do you develop a game for so many different types of hardware, and is it possible to make a great game across three consoles and the PC? Let's start with the different CPU architectures. PCs use CPUs with Intel's x86 instruction set, the Xbox 360 and Wii use CPUs based on IBM's PowerPC architecture, and the PlayStation 3 uses the Cell architecture. You'd think that generating code for each CPU would be a job for master coders, but there's apparently little work involved here. This is because a huge chunk of the code for a game is written using a high-level language, such as C or C++. This is where the core code for the actual game is written, often using a number of industry-standard tools, such as Microsoft's Visual Studio, or specifically developed in-house tools. A particularly popular language is Lua, which has a C API and is used by plenty of developers, including Bioware, LucasArts and Telltale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridlas Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 So the conclusion is, they're just lazy and too busy making games for the consoles to remember about the pc gamers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sethos Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 So the conclusion is, they're just lazy and too busy making games for the consoles to remember about the pc gamers. There's a surprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeta_immersion Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 :omg: ... well ... pc's are versatile machines ... always upgradable and tweakable ... games for consoles ported to pc always take a hit ... sad though because before consoles they needed pc's and yet they still make **** games for both give the power of the pc ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Teej Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Closed systems, with easier profit margins, and severely less chances of piracy vs. Open systems with thousands of configurations, lower profit margins and a very high chance of piracy. Take your guess at why devs choose consoles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deletedxyz Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 So the conclusion is, they're just lazy and too busy making games for the consoles to remember about the pc gamers. That's pretty much how it came across to me. Mass Effect, Fable: The Lost Chapters, Call of Duty 4 + 5, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Orange Box, Dead Space show that PC gaming is not even close to being dead. Gaming studios should not be stating that they don't release to the PC because of how piracy on the PC is eating into their profit margins. The people who torrented it in the first place were not going to play it anyways if they were forced to pay. In fact, I see as many Xbox 360 game torrents as PC ones. They need to stop arguing about the theoretical money they lose because of how many people pirated it. The people the devs need to actively chase after and sue the hell out of are the guys who pirate it and then sell the copies. Those are the ones who are hurting the gaming industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanManIt Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Closed systems, with easier profit margins, and severely less chances of piracy vs. Open systems with thousands of configurations, lower profit margins and a very high chance of piracy.Take your guess at why devs choose consoles. Exactly, it is much easier to code a game on a console. Much less work needed than if they had coded the exact same game on the PC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comic Book Guy Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 Exactly, it is much easier to code a game on a console. Much less work needed than if they had coded the exact same game on the PC But they are coding for the game consoles on the PC. It's just getting kind of stupid backporting a game to a PC. I haver Bionic Commando for PC, and I tried playing it with the mouse & keyboard, it's extremely hard to do, now I have to go and get myself an Xbox controller so I can actually play it. Hell, look at what they did to Ghostbusters, they paralyzed it, by taking out the multiplayer that can be found in the console version, and possible DLC. There are many other examples, and I am sure other members can point them out as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sethos Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 There are many other examples, and I am sure other members can point them out as well. Let me give you a prime example of a terrible triple A port - GTA IV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comic Book Guy Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 Let me give you a prime example of a terrible triple A port - GTA IV. My friend had that for PC, and I kept telling him about the porting problems, and everytime a "new" patch came out that fixed some of the problems yet seemed to introduce other problems he'd tell me I should buy the game because I'd like it. I am not a big fan of GTA, and I kept telling him I am not going to buy it, but when a new patch came out around we went again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookie Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 That's pretty much how it came across to me. Mass Effect, Fable: The Lost Chapters, Call of Duty 4 + 5, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Orange Box, Dead Space show that PC gaming is not even close to being dead. Fable - A port which game, what a year? After the xbox release. TF2 - Part of the Orange box. Dead Space - Control issues due to the consoles. PC gaming isn't dead, it's just an after thought to most developers. Valve & Blizzard are keeping the life support on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digitalx Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Let's start with the different CPU architectures. PCs use CPUs with Intel's x86 instruction set, the Xbox 360 and Wii use CPUs based on IBM's PowerPC architecture, and the PlayStation 3 uses the Cell architecture. You'd think that generating code for each CPU would be a job for master coders, but there's apparently little work involved here. Wow just... wow. Seriously, is it hard to comprehend CBE is a PPC architecture too :huh: .. certainly not a good start to an article specific to the subject.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deletedxyz Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Fable - A port which game, what a year? After the xbox release.TF2 - Part of the Orange box. Dead Space - Control issues due to the consoles. They all sold very well on the PC. There's a huge market for PC gaming. GTAIV even sold well on the PC platform. Dead space's controls were fine when I used my wireless controller... The PC isn't restricted to keyboard and mouse. Oblivion on the 360 and PS3 pales in comparison to the one on the PC, especially after installing all the mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eviljedi Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Gaming studios should not be stating that they don't release to the PC because of how piracy on the PC is eating into their profit margins. The people who torrented it in the first place were not going to play it anyways if they were forced to pay. In fact, I see as many Xbox 360 game torrents as PC ones. They need to stop arguing about the theoretical money they lose because of how many people pirated it. The people the devs need to actively chase after and sue the hell out of are the guys who pirate it and then sell the copies. Those are the ones who are hurting the gaming industry. Like it or not, gaming studios aren't going to make as much money on PC due to piracy. It doesn't matter if 90% of those who downloaded wouldn't have purchased the game, there's still a percentage who would have and the gaming studios are losing out. I actually believe the internet is hurting the PC gaming industry far more than the guys selling copied DVDs. It's so easy to torrent the latest games at absolutely zero cost or effort. I hate people who try to defend piracy (and I say this as a pirate myself). There's no two ways about it. It's stealing and it hurts the developers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Teej Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 But they are coding for the game consoles on the PC. It's just getting kind of stupid backporting a game to a PC. I haver Bionic Commando for PC, and I tried playing it with the mouse & keyboard, it's extremely hard to do, now I have to go and get myself an Xbox controller so I can actually play it. Hell, look at what they did to Ghostbusters, they paralyzed it, by taking out the multiplayer that can be found in the console version, and possible DLC. There are many other examples, and I am sure other members can point them out as well. They're developing on the PC, but they're not coding for the x86 architecture, which is what's needed to make it a PC title. For example, I can code Nintendo DS Homebrew on the PC, but I wouldn't be able to run it on the PC, it'd be for the DS. They develop it on the PC because all the tools are for the PC. No manufacturer in their right mind would code their dev tools for their console, considering the massive RAM limitation and the necessity to switch to-and-fro the game and the tools every time you need to test the game after a build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aero_Rising Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Consoles are easier because it's always the same hardware so everyone gets the same experience with pcs you have to make sure it works with tons of graphics cards and then you get people complaining that they can't play it with good enough graphics. With consoles everyone sees the same quality of graphics everyone gets the same bugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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