Hopefully there's a demo.
Speaking of physics engines, will this game's physics be more in line with GRID, Forza/GT, or GTR2?
IB: You can't really compare SHIFT's physics to any of those games. The physics are tuned for realistic behavior on top of the most advanced simulation engine in this generation. We'd rather have you play SHIFT and tell us how it feels. We're confident that we'll be seen as the most accomplished racer of the current generation when the demo is released.
Might just be because the player was not very good.
Hard to tell without playing it. Hopefully there's a demo.
http://www.nfsunlimited.net/shift/screenshotsNew SHIFT Screenshots
Kikizo: With all of this activity on screen what frame rate are you expecting to achieve?
[Jesse Abney, SHIFT producer]: Well this is a multi-threaded application and absolutely there are compromises that you have to make to retain a solid state system, there's a whole series of trade offs for performance, and the render thread's running at 30 frames. Whereas the physics and AI threads are running at a full 120hz, so what that you get a very smooth and silky performance attribute in rendering, and a much needed processing route. Again it's a series of compromises, 16 cars on the track fully modeled, fully damaged, fully physically affected which all present a challenge to a render thread, so you really have to compromise, as you see today we don't feel 30fps has an impact on the experience, we're running very fluidly and I think those elements are not mutually exclusive to the 30-frames-to-60-frames argument.
Kikizo: What can we expect in terms of car tuning? Many arcade players can't be bothered with that but some fans are going to thrive on it?
Jesse: It's something that our fan base really looks forward to, and you get performance tuning in a deeper and far more complex way than we've ever done with NFS, thanks to the enthusiasm of SMS. So not only is their engine pushing times of day but it’s also pushing weather effects which then affect the surface conditions, requiring that you use a bit more strategy in things like tyres, pressure, aero, down force, suspension and all around general tunes on your car. While we understand that this is a simulation fan's big interest, we also understand about accessibility; I'm an example of someone who's an arcade racer, and we are giving somebody who wouldn't normally care about the pressure in their tyres the ability to just say "I need a different set-up and here's the button, click to get it". So there's a spectrum of accessibility options that we're bringing for much deeper and more comprehensive.
I like how they downplay 60fps importance in racing games by throwing 120Hz physics refresh rate in our face!
I like how they downplay 60fps importance in racing games by throwing 120Hz physics refresh rate in our face!
For racing games, I disagree.True, but I would still rather have a game that looks twice as good running at a smooth 30fps than sacraficing graphics for 60fps.
Plus PC gamers can get 60fps anyway so much better to have the better base graphics regardless of framerate in the console versions.
http://www.vvvgamer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7579NFS Shift Gets Drift
http://noaddedsugar.ie/?p=421Interview: Slightly Mad Studios (Need for Speed: Shift)
Mark: You mentioned earlier Patrick Soderlund from EA Europe. He said recently that developers have ‘maxed out’ the Xbox 360 in terms of graphical achievement, but not the PlayStation 3.
Suzy: Oh did he? (Laughs)
Mark: Yeah, he did. So my question to you is a double one- firstly, do you feel that you’ve maxed out the Xbox 360, and secondly, after the heavy criticism of the previous Need for Speed title’s PlayStation 3 conversion, will there be parity between the two versions?
Suzy: Yes- it’s critical to us that the the game plays the same on all platforms. The art assets we use is shared over all platforms, including the PC. It’s absolutely critical that you don’t play on one platform and have a poorer experience. But yeah, the PS3 can be quite trick to develop for, actually. There’s more common ground between the PC and the 360. The PS3 is quite different. Our background is obviously in PC titles so the change to PS3 development is a challenge. It’s not like we’ve just ported it over and hoping it’ll all work- we’ve got dedicated guys working on each platform, and they’re all making sure that the experience is the same. We sit there with the game on both consoles on screens, side by side, to make sure they look the same. It’s not acceptable to have a lower performance on PS3.
Suzy also confirmed to me that a demo would be made available prior to the game’s release in September.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIDJrpr8sjM&fmt=22Need for Speed SHIFT: Drift Reveal Video
I like how they downplay 60fps importance in racing games by throwing 120Hz physics refresh rate in our face!