Next-Generation NVMe SSD and I/O Technology [PC, PS5, XBSX|S]

Is there any information about which games will be the first to use the DirectStorage API or SFS on Xbox? And the hardver decompression blocks?
 
PS5 SSD tech showcase = Fully fledged high fidelity AAA game with ray tracing at 80+ frames that showcases the actual usecase of the said tech by paving the way for blazingly fast world to world transition through portals, merely half a year after the release of the console.

DirectStorage = Announced since 3 years, no games to speak of, no showcase to speak of. Oh, here's a wonky demo. Here's what you get: Some pears and numbers.

Whenever I see those pears I get laugh. LOL
You've caught a lot of flack for your post but, I think the underlying message is fair. Direct storage has just been a lot of talk. A lot of talk I wish people would shut-up about until there's something concrete to show. The PS5's IO innovations while advanced has yet to really deliver any differentiating experiences so it's not really anything to write home about yet. However I agree, it's just some pears and numbers. It means nothing in until it actually starts to affect game design and there are meaningful implementations out in the wild.
 
You've caught a lot of flack for your post but, I think the underlying message is fair. Direct storage has just been a lot of talk. A lot of talk I wish people would shut-up about until there's something concrete to show. The PS5's IO innovations while advanced has yet to really deliver any differentiating experiences so it's not really anything to write home about yet. However I agree, it's just some pears and numbers. It means nothing in until it actually starts to affect game design and there are meaningful implementations out in the wild.

I think the issue is praising the ps5 io at the same time, while critizing DS/xbox/pc. Its not like the ps5 has that much going for it either, in the form of enabling new game elements never seen before as others have expressed here.
Cant blame any tech or platform for it as were barely leaving cross gen still.
 
The first Direct Storage game release in less than one month, the 24th January 2023. At least it will load fast.

Forspoken_DirectStorage.jpg


DirectStorage1-scaled.jpg
 
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Last gen game engines don't just magically gain the ability to use all new hardware features.
ASIC based lossless decoders on consoles isnā€™t new.

Plus, for most of console history, developers had to code to brand new novel architecture. Traditionally, dev kits are made available well before launch. So whatā€™s so special about DirectStorage as an API that requires delaying support until years into the Series Xā€™s life cycle?
 
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Can we expect DirectStorage game to take less space on the hdd/ssd when/if they detect directstorage decompression hardware ?
 
Direct storage has just been a lot of talk. A lot of talk I wish people would shut-up about until there's something concrete to show.

This is a technical discussion forum and the thread is literally about bleeding edge and future IO technologies. Where else is something like Direct Storage supposed to be discussed?

It always takes years from the point of announcement for any new PC API features - particularly where they tie into hardware - to get used in actual games so this is absolutely nothing new or unusual. I see no reason at all why we shouldn't discuss it's implementation and potential merits in the meantime, especially when we now have real world testable demoes to help us explore that.

It's not like anyone is being forced to read this thread.

Can we expect DirectStorage game to take less space on the hdd/ssd when/if they detect directstorage decompression hardware ?

Highly unlikely. The games will either ship pre-compressed in the DirectStorage compression format (GDeflate) or they will ship in some other, CPU decompressable format and thus be unable to use GPU decompression. There won't be any install time detection of hardware capabilities that can change the compression rate of the game. Not unless the devs package two different versions of the game and allow the user to download the one appropriate for their hardware capabilities. I find this very unlikely because the vast majority of PC hardware will already be capable of hardware decompression (any GPU since Maxwell or GCN), and where that hardware doesn;t exists, DirectStorage still has a CPU fallback path. It's also free for developers to use unlike some of the more popular CPU based compression formats, so there's simply on reason for developers not to use it.

What we don't know at present is whether GDeflate has a better, worse, or similar compression ratio vs something like Kraken and so there may still be some variation in install sizes vs say the PS5.
 
Which doesn't mean game engines magically gain the ability to use them.

It requires development time.
Iā€™m not saying it takes no effort. I just donā€™t believe it takes the time you are alluding. Games with DirectStorage support on the Series consoles started on launch day as AC Vahalla supports DS.

If DS isnā€™t prevalent now on XS games, itā€™s more likely due unified memory and the raw SSD performance jump being so big that devs donā€™t feel the need to exploit it. Versus, it presents too much of a coding challenge to incorporate for devs to include early on.
 
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Highly unlikely. The games will either ship pre-compressed in the DirectStorage compression format (GDeflate) or they will ship in some other, CPU decompressable format and thus be unable to use GPU decompression.

CPU's are programable and can decompresses pretty much anything, so decompressing GDelflate won't be an issue for them, the only thing is the speed at which they do it.

So a game could very well have a pure Direct Storage compression format and still use the slower CPU route for users who do not have a fully Direct Storage compliant system.

Windows 10 isn't fully Direct Storage compliant (One of the reasons I've moved to Windows 11 which is) and I imagine most developers have waited for GPU decompression to become available.
 
Iā€™m not saying it takes no effort. I just donā€™t believe it takes the time you are alluding. Games with DirectStorage support on the Series consoles started on launch day as AC Vahalla supports DS.

If DS isnā€™t prevalent now on XS games, itā€™s more likely due to the raw performance jump being so big that devs didnā€™t feel the need to exploit it. Versus, it presents too much of a challenge to incorporate for devs to include early on.

I've not alluded to any time frame.

It's always a case of time vs effectiveness.

Most games have seen a considerable jump in loading performance just moving to the consoles NVME drives so most developers might not feel the need to rush over to DirectStoarge (Yet)

AC Vahalla takes nearly 27 seconds to load on Series consoles, that it not Direct Storage level loading performance.
 
The games will either ship pre-compressed in the DirectStorage compression format (GDeflate) or they will ship in some other, CPU decompressable format and thus be unable to use GPU decompression.
Pretty sure GDeflate has fallbacks, including ability to run on CPU's if required.
 
I've not alluded to any time frame.

It's always a case of time vs effectiveness.

Most games have seen a considerable jump in loading performance just moving to the consoles NVME drives so most developers might not feel the need to rush over to DirectStoarge (Yet)

AC Vahalla takes nearly 27 seconds to load on Series consoles, that it not Direct Storage level loading performance.
Valhalla may take 27 to load from start up. It takes 5 from quick resume. Quick resume is tied to Direct Storage as QR is reliant on the Velocity arch on Series console.


Ronald said that Quick Resume wouldnā€™t be possible ā€œunless DirectStorage was [on PC] and stable in the ecosystem,ā€
 
Valhalla may take 27 to load from start up. It takes 5 from quick resume. Quick resume is tied to Direct Storage as QR is reliant on the Velocity arch on Series console.


Sigh.....Quick resume is not Direct Storage.

EDIT: Reading that article where do they say Direct Storage is tied to Quick Resume?

And parts of Velocity Architecture can be used without using Direct Storage API.

But back on point, AC Valhalla doesn't use Direct Storage as proven by its load times.
 
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