Unreal3 Engine--Pc vs Console?

[legacy-McGyver]

Hello

I saw the topic about Unreal-3 and the Nex-Gen games but it seems most of the talk still centers around the PC gaming side. With MS anouncing they have choosen the Unreal-3 engine for the "Nex-Gen" console what's the difference between it and for the pc side?

I've been a fan since I put Unreal Tournament on our P3 450 with a Viper 32mb card. But in the console area seveal of my fellow gamers don't know or understand what Unreal is or the engine is about in terms of what it means for the Nex-Gen XBox? Is MS using it for "their" games or is looked at as being the choice of game development? Their asking me and I'm unsure of what to tell them. Thanks for your time and congrads all around with MS, UC2 and Envy.


Kenny J.

[legacy-iReProphecy]

A PC will always be better because of upgrades. But the Next Gen Xbox will be high up there in standards so will Sony. But after time the PC will come out higher. But theres no point of upgrading year after year when you have a great console.

[The_Deacon]

"what's the difference between it and for the pc side?"

One is optimised for xbox, one is optimised for PC. Feature sets are likely to be very similar, at least from the outset.

[legacy-Olav]

I think consoles will take more and more over for PC games. Mostly because as we've seen the last years, PC games hardly has any better graphics. Which is one if the biggest reasons why a PC system is better, its mostly just higher resolution on textures.

Still the strength with games on PC is multiplayer, I could never imagine playing Counter Strike or Warcraft 3 on a console. You need precicion from mouse and the keyboard and you need to sit correctly. This is also possible with a console, but you will need so much extra equipment and you cant bring all that over to a friend either.

I think the Unreal engine will fit the next generation consoles well, especially the streaming world part.

[legacy-Retodon8]

Of course optimising for the Xbox is easier in some ways, due to the fact that it's "just" that.
If you optimise for the PC, you are really optimising for a lot of different configurations, when you think about CPU speed, graphic capabilities, amount of memory, etc..

This means the Xbox variant doesn't have to have all the cool features optional because there might be somebody that can't use them on his older computer.
(Of course engine licensees can always decide not to use features, add some of their own, or even make features optional, although that could make the game unfair if you think about some special screen distortion effects that make things harder to see.)

On the other hand PCs are more powerful... or can be, so as long as you make features optional, people with powerful computers can enjoy some nice eyecandy.
I'm generally talking about graphics, since that's the main thing here.
Again comes the "unfair" thing, which is why competitive players turn of the special effects, so they don't have to cope with distorting effects, so they're even with people with slower computers, and get the extra FPS at the same time, making it uneven again.
I suppose it's never a fair game when you think of it.

So, the Xbox version will be more specialized, the PC version will be designed for a broad range of systems, could include some extra features, but not too much, because not everybody can/will use them anyway.
Then again, it would still be worth it for Epic to add them if they want to show of the engine to potential licencees. :)

[legacy-DoMiNaToR]

PC is the best for everything, PC will be always better than console for the next reasons:

- better gameplay
- you can always have the ultimate graphics
- all games can be in a PC
- multiplayer hardcore gaming
- you can easier make mods for a PC game
- much more options, a lot more
- much more suitable for everybody

but a console will always be more confortable for play:

- just put it on, and insert the disc
- much easier, the controls you set, the options.
- you dont have to think if this will be compatible with this and all that crap
- sometimes you have more fun with the console than with the PC
- you can move it everywhere
- console is ment for play only, so, all the options and graphics are already made

in my opinion, if you have a PC you dont need a console, but well, sometimes, a game doesnt come out in PC and its great, and you need the console.

by the way, never compare a console with a PC.
PC is always the best.

[The_Deacon]

There's nothing like 4 people squashed on a sofa in front of the TV bashing each other up (and all because of an argument about the console game they were just playing :p)

PC multiplayer is awesome, but consoles battles can be more personal and fun in some respects.

PC still owns imo though :D

[legacy-Olav]

Ive not played a good PC action single player game since Deus Ex, I feel they come once a month for consoles.

A great game like Resident Evil makes PC games today just a sad experience.

[legacy-DoMiNaToR]

PC is the best. if you have a PC, you dont need a console. try playing Half Life, Unreal UT2004 , Counter Striker, UT2004, the best games are in PC.
Multiplayer is much much better in PC.
when i said console sometimes can be more fun than a PC i ment that, when you are playing with your friends aty our home, but nothing more, MP owns in PC.

[legacy-nELsOn]

yeah - consoles are nice if you got some friends and you don't know what to do. it's a nice pastime to just sit on a couch and do some races in nfsu2 oder burnout or something... but that's it.
pc gaming TO ME is a lot more serious and a lot more professional. it mostly requires more time and knowledge and there's some genres that simply work much better on a pc. like fps (they really work better with a higher resolution and mouse/keyboard) or strategy games.
i guess consoles and pc's just need some more time to find way to co-exist peacefully cause right now it's more like a fight about which is better...

[legacy-Olav]

I think first person shooters does well on console, Metroid Prime is a friggin good example.

Half Life 2 was just a braindead shooter with no challenge. No wonder why japanese peeps dislike FPS games.

[fuegerstef]

>> I think first person shooters does well on console, Metroid Prime is a friggin good example.

Although you see the game (Metroid Prime) in 1st person, it plays a whole lotta different than an FPS with keyboard and mouse.
So I consider it two totally different gaming experiences...

[legacy-iReProphecy]

Think an PC will always be upgradable. And that to many people is why they'd rather game with a PC.

[legacy-DoMiNaToR]

''I think first person shooters does well on console, Metroid Prime is a friggin good example.''

omfg, first person SUX in consoles.

and there cant be any fight between consoles and PC, PC its NOT comparable to a console, my god...

HOW CAN YOU COMPARE A FREAKIN CONSOLE WITH A PC. ITS UNBELIABLE.

[legacy-Retodon8]

"better gameplay"
"all games can be in a PC"
"multiplayer hardcore gaming"

Just a matter of opinion.
The most important thing standing in the way of creating certain games for systems is the interface between computer an human, and to a lesser degree things like the amount of memory and other resources.
Hardcore gaming is just as easily possible on a console.
That is up to the game developers really.

"you can always have the ultimate graphics"

Well, in theory, but you need to be filthy rich to be able to upgrade your graphics card all the time.
Also games not always include all those fancy features anyway, only 3D Mark and similar programmes do.
(See my previous post.)

"much more options, a lot more"

What kind of options are you talking about?

"much more suitable for everybody"

What?
Consoles are much easier to use, therefore much more suitable for everybody than difficult PC's.
Of course you can only play games with consoles, making them severly limited (but maybe you only want/need to play games), but that's precisely why they are so easy to use.

In short, I agree, if I had to choose, I would much rather have a PC, but I think you missed some of the good points and mentioned some that wouldn't convince me, if I wasn't convinced already. :)

"sometimes you have more fun with the console than with the PC"

Well, yeah, I guess so.

"console is ment for play only, so, all the options and graphics are already made"

If I want to make a game for a console, I would still need to create textures, models, everything.
Nothing is already made.
If you're talking about things like making the hardware do what you want... think DirectX for Windows PCs.
Of course that's only for Windows PCs, but most of them are.

[legacy-DoMiNaToR]

sorry retodon, but i dont agree with you.

''If I want to make a game for a console, I would still need to create textures, models, everything.
Nothing is already made.''

im not stupid retodon, i told you im modeler, i know how this works. with that i meant graphics, the graphic card, you dont have to change it the best of the best, the console ha always a very good card, the options, i ment those are easier to set, you dont have to look if this is compatible with that and stuff.

[Spaz]

When a Console first comes out it is better then a PC only because the developers will make games to make full use of the system. It takes a year or so before games on the PC look like them. Thats only because game makers make games that a 3 year old computer can still play while the console game maker doesn't need to worry about that.

[legacy-Retodon8]

"im not stupid retodon, i told you im modeler, i know how this works."

Sorry if the tone of my message implied I thought you were stupid, I didn't mean it to be like that.
Also I did read you said you were a modeller, but I didn't remember/think about it when I posted that.

"with that i meant graphics, the graphic card, you dont have to change it the best of the best, the console ha always a very good card, the options, i ment those are easier to set, you dont have to look if this is compatible with that and stuff."

Then I don't understand what you mean exactly.
You originally said:

"console is ment for play only, so, all the options and graphics are already made"

So, you were saying you don't have to put in a new graphics card (and audio card, memory, etc.) every now and again to have a decent system?
Well, you don't have to with the PC either.
Because of the fact there are so many different PC's, games usually have options to turn off details yours can't handle.
Of course that does complicate things a bit.
As for the Xbox... no, you don't have to change anything to have the best of the best, simply because soon enough PC's will be better than the Xbox.
Again, this doesn't matter, since Xbox games can still look better, considering games can be specifically tailored for all the new features, whereas the latest games really can't, unless the developers doesn't mind only selling to the PC owners that can afford the best of the best. :)

Anyway, my point was about DirectX, that there is still a standard interface to build your games around, so you don't have to completely reinvent the wheel for every unique system that's out there.
For Linux there is OpenGL, and for Mac there is... I have really no idea, I've only really worked with DOS/Windows PC's so far.

[legacy-DoMiNaToR]

well i run with a 64 bit processor actually :D
no problem retodon, yesterday i was just pissed off.
i know you didnt ment that, you missunderstood my post. with that i ment all options are already set and yes, you dont have to update the Xbox or any other console when a new ub3r game comes out. just that. the graphic card is already in, sound, processor...
anyways, i fear something, i wont Epic always making the damn games for console, im fearing that.

[legacy-Olav]

since Epic needs help from someone that knows the japanese language I think they have some ideas for consoles in the future