Metro Redux: what it's really like to develop for PS4 and Xbox One
Carmack console/pc performance spec quote returns -
ESRAM stuff
Leadbetter takes a dig at Naughty Dog
Their next title could return to 30fps on consoles -
Thinking about pc? Spend more on the GPU
There's some more stuff on PBR, APIs, unified memory architecture and mobile as well.
As tech interviews go, this one's a corker. Readers of our previous Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light tech Q&As will know that 4A Games' chief technical officer Oles Shishkovstov isn't backward about coming forward on the matters that are important to him, and in the transition across to the new wave of console hardware, clearly there are plenty of important topics to discuss.
Digital Foundry: In our last interview you were excited by the possibilities of the next-gen consoles. Now you've shipped your first game(s) on both Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Are you still excited by the potential of these consoles?
Oles Shishkovstov: I think what we achieved with the new consoles was a really good job given the time we had with development kits in the studio - just four months hands-on experience with Xbox One and six months with the PlayStation 4 (I guess the problems we had getting kits to the Kiev office are well-known now).
But the fact is we haven't begun to fully utilise all the computing power we have. For example we have not utilised parallel compute contexts due to the lack of time and the 'alpha' state of support on those consoles at that time. That means that there is a lot of untapped performance that should translate into better visuals and gameplay as we get more familiar with the hardware.
Carmack console/pc performance spec quote returns -
Digital Foundry: Xbox 360 and PS3 were highly ambitious designs for the 2006/7 era. Xbox One and PS4 are much more budget conscious - have they got what it takes to last as long as their predecessors?
Oles Shishkovstov: Well obviously they aren't packing the bleeding edge hardware you can buy for PC (albeit for insane amounts of money) today. But they are relatively well-balanced pieces of hardware that are well above what most people have right now, performance-wise. And let's not forget that programming close to the metal will usually mean that we can get 2x performance gain over the equivalent PC spec. Practically achieving that performance takes some time, though!
ESRAM stuff
Digital Foundry: Is ESRAM really that much of a pain to work with?
Oles Shishkovstov: Actually, the real pain comes not from ESRAM but from the small amount of it. As for ESRAM performance - it is sufficient for the GPU we have in Xbox One. Yes it is true, that the maximum theoretical bandwidth - which is somewhat comparable to PS4 - can be rarely achieved (usually with simultaneous read and write, like FP16-blending) but in practice I've seen only a few cases where it becomes a limiting factor.
Leadbetter takes a dig at Naughty Dog
Digital Foundry: The Metro games have a reputation for pushing visual boundaries, but even high-end PCs can struggle to sustain 60fps. I've played Metro Last Light for hours on PS4 and Xbox One and that 60fps is basically locked. Obviously some of the PC high-end features are reduced or altered, but in an age where not even Naughty Dog can't run its last-gen title consistently at 1080p60 on PS4, what is the secret of your success?
Oles Shishkovstov: There is no secret. We just adapted to the target hardware.
[...]
Their next title could return to 30fps on consoles -
Digital Foundry: Surely the easier path would have been to lock at 1080p30 and concentrate on integrating as many high-end rendering features as possible. Why target 60fps over 30fps?
Oles Shishkovstov: Because we can! Actually for the next unannounced project, the designers want more and more of everything (as usual) and quite possibly we will target 30fps.
Thinking about pc? Spend more on the GPU
Digital Foundry: Console development trends do have an impact on PC gaming. If you were building a mainstream gaming PC now with the future in mind, what choices would you make?
Oles Shishkovstov: This is tricky to answer without going into 'fan wars'. Get the most powerful components your budget allows for, with the emphasis on GPU.
There's some more stuff on PBR, APIs, unified memory architecture and mobile as well.