Call of Duty 4: Modern combat trailer up

[Asher]

Everything included (to max out the extra power as much as possible) ? Facial expression, muscle emulation, blended animation, great shadow, hair, trees that sway with wind, good looking water, ... and then finally physics and AI ? I will have to play Orange Box to see if it does all of them.

You seemed to mix in a lot of vertex and pixel shader work in that list to make it sound more impressive. Yes, it's a good looking game with passable AI and physics, but let's be reasonable here and not pimp the game as a showcase for AI and physics. There are other titles with more impressive implementations of both out there. It's even a bit more silly to somehow equate this to the obviously superior power of Cell, when even the things you're mentioning are not really Cell related all the time and when they are Cell-related, there's nothing we haven't seen on other platforms.

I remember the DiRT developers mentioned in a E3 2007 interview that the PS3 version has better sound (something like 7.1 surround sound dedicated to 1 SPU ?)

Would be cool if you could find a link, maybe start a thread on PS3's clearly superior sound. I've got a 5.1 system myself, but I'm not sure 7.1 is automatically "better" nor am I convinced it's a feature of Cell...

 

[Neb]

Is really 5.1 -> 7.1 so taxing or? I mean I have had 7.1 surround on my "acient" Audigy2zs since 4 years back... huh.

 

[patsu]

You seemed to mix in a lot of vertex and pixel shader work in that list to make it sound more impressive. Yes, it's a good looking game with passable AI and physics, but let's be reasonable here and not pimp the game as a showcase for AI and physics. There are other titles with more impressive implementations of both out there. It's even a bit more silly to somehow equate this to the obviously superior power of Cell, when even the things you're mentioning are not really Cell related all the time and when they are Cell-related, there's nothing we haven't seen on other platforms.

The system contains Cell and RSX together, and some of the critical job (e.g., vertex work) requires both to work properly. So I don't generally separate them into Cell power or otherwise.

The AI for Uncharted offers a different experience from the FPS ones I have encountered so far. You can certainly rate it as 'passable', but I think that's not giving the AI enough credits. The quick path finding these guys do in a complex map to look for me running around in the level (I have not seen them getting stucked in corners yet), and the way they avoid danger and coordinate with each other (also very quickly) to corner me is something refreshing. Most FPSes have pretty simple levels in comparison (They hardly chase me down in a map full of obstacles).

As for the physics... the demo doesn't show much, but the original E3 snippet showed the car crashing into stack of boxes, a table with one or two pirates scurrying away from the impact. In the demo, we only see people reacting to my bullet shot and explosion. The first 10 minute cutscene showed a great looking boat explosion but that may be video playback.

As for sound, I think Uncharted plays them in DTS.

Would be cool if you could find a link, maybe start a thread on PS3's clearly superior sound. I've got a 5.1 system myself, but I'm not sure 7.1 is automatically "better" nor am I convinced it's a feature of Cell...

There is a link to that E3 interview in this forum (Searched for it in the Dirt thread, but unfortunately it has expired). The quickest I can find on google is:
http://www.theigdb.com/news.php?id=147

On the PLAYSTATION 3 system, one 3.2 GHz SPU vector co-processor is dedicated to audio and delivers 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound.

Is really 5.1 -> 7.1 so taxing or? I mean I have had 7.1 surround on my "acient" Audigy2zs since 4 years back... huh.

That's dedicated hardware though. This is all done in software. Just like AVC decoding can be done in dedicated hardware quickly, but software is a different matter altogether.

 

[almighty]

[Offtopic] I have both 360 and PS3 and im telling you straight. On my system PS3 sounds sooo much better then 360. More detail and better transistions between channels[/Offtpoic]

 

[patsu]

Sorry for derailing the thread, going back to CoD4... who has played the C130 level and can you tell me what's so special about it ? I keep hearing good things about that level from a friend (but I'm stucked in a place away from my PS3 for the entire week). I don't mind spoilers, but you probably want to spoiler tag your responses.

Also for MP (I'm not there yet), do you fight alone or can you form clans ?

 

[Asher]

[Offtopic] I have both 360 and PS3 and im telling you straight. On my system PS3 sounds sooo much better then 360. More detail and better transistions between channels[/Offtpoic]

This is definitely worthy of its own thread. I've both as well and don't hear any discernible differences. If you hear real differences, please start a thread where we can discuss why (eg, are you using HDMI for both?)

Edit: http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?p=1092208#post1092208

 

[Asher]

As for the physics... the demo doesn't show much, but the original E3 snippet showed the car crashing into stack of boxes, a table with one or two pirates scurrying away from the impact. In the demo, we only see people reacting to my bullet shot and explosion. The first 10 minute cutscene showed a great looking boat explosion but that may be video playback.

Again, none of this is at all special. But this is more apt for the Uncharted thread...

As for sound, I think Uncharted plays them in DTS.

I'll have to confirm when I get home. Pretty sure it was DD5.1.

There is a link to that E3 interview in this forum (Searched for it in the Dirt thread, but unfortunately it has expired). The quickest I can find on google is:
http://www.theigdb.com/news.php?id=147

Yes, we all know PS3 games use Cell for audio while the 360 uses its CPU. There's no dedicated hardware on either. I don't see this as anywhere close to something saying "PS3 has better audio", unless we're of the mindset that anything on Cell is automatically superior (which is an argument that seems to be rearing its head here)

That's dedicated hardware though. This is all done in software. Just like AVC decoding can be done in dedicated hardware quickly, but software is a different matter altogether.

The last time I checked, 7.1 vs 5.1 is rather trivial from a performance perspective. The Audigy wasn't a computational beast, specialized or not.

 

[kyleb]

That's dedicated hardware though. This is all done in software. Just like AVC decoding can be done in dedicated hardware quickly, but software is a different matter altogether.

That doesn't mean 7.1 is that much harder to do than 5.1 though, and I don't see anything to suggest it is. But where as the 360's design was limited to a signal digital optical output, the PS3 was built to support mutichanel PCM output though HDMI. I highly doubt calculating two more channels in PCM mode is any more of a workload than dynamically compressing 5.1 into Dobly Digtal to support srround sound though optical, quite likely less.

 

[wco81]

Well at least in Blu-Ray movie mode, isn't the PS3 supporting the newer formats, not to mention uncompressed soundtracks on some Blu-Ray movies?

As well as lossless audio which is not available on any DVD.

Of course, if you get the HD-DVD add-on, you would presumably get lossless audio on some HD-DVD movies as well.

 

[PARANOiA]

As well as lossless audio which is not available on any DVD.

I thought PCM was lossless?

 

[JPT]

Sorry for derailing the thread, going back to CoD4... who has played the C130 level and can you tell me what's so special about it ?

I played one C130 mission, not sure if there are more, since I havent completed the game.
But to me the C130 mission looks basically like every youtube clip and tv news segment with ir video and c130 firing on small figures on the ground.
My first reaction was it was a bit to real and might be the reason I didn't really like it, strange that a green background and white dots seems more real

 

[NRP]

Sorry for derailing the thread, going back to CoD4... who has played the C130 level and can you tell me what's so special about it ?

There is only one C130 mission in the game. I guess it's cool because you have access to three uber powerful weapons than can rain death with impunity. Other than that, it's pretty standard shooter fare these days to have a mission where you shoot from an aircraft.

 

[Acert93]

Sorry for derailing the thread, going back to CoD4... who has played the C130 level and can you tell me what's so special about it ? I keep hearing good things about that level from a friend (but I'm stucked in a place away from my PS3 for the entire week). I don't mind spoilers, but you probably want to spoiler tag your responses.

Also for MP (I'm not there yet), do you fight alone or can you form clans ?

Like others said, it is very similar to a military released video of what AC-130 gunners see. You circle around the target area with a black/white saturated 'camera' view (that can be switched back and forth to a thermal view) and your friendlies are outnumbers. Luckily they have strobes, so your job is to protect the friendlies, not destroy the church, and wipe out legions of badies as they swarm your friendlies. And you have 3 huge guns, all feeling very much like the TV snapshots, at your disposal. The hum of the engines and excellent audio in the sequence provide for a very immersive experience.

Some may call it a shooting gallery (it is), but it is more of a change of pace/reward for getting past the previous sequence. The "cool" factor is pretty high, and the experience is fairly authentic. It isn't a "oh crap, we need some filler/change of pace" imo, but fits within the story flow well, even if easy. It offers a nice break from the YOU are the target sort of intensity and is some much needed payback

I like these sort of missions. It reminds me of some of the Conker's MP missions where they were "unbalanced", e.g. where one team had to snipe and the other team escape. Of course this isn't quite as sporting as you aren't shot at

 

[pipo]

Post mortem: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7911&Itemid=2

Infinity Ward lead artist Michael Boon writes candidly about how the studio made Call of Duty 4 one of the best-looking games around. (Trivia: CoD4 characters actually use less polys than CoD2's.)

 

[Mintmaster]

The AI for Uncharted offers a different experience from the FPS ones I have encountered so far. You can certainly rate it as 'passable', but I think that's not giving the AI enough credits. The quick path finding these guys do in a complex map to look for me running around in the level (I have not seen them getting stucked in corners yet), and the way they avoid danger and coordinate with each other (also very quickly) to corner me is something refreshing. Most FPSes have pretty simple levels in comparison (They hardly chase me down in a map full of obstacles).

What makes you think this has anything to do with hardware?

Unless you're doing deep game tree searches for something like chess, good AI is entirely dependent on the software you write. A couple orders of magnitude in processing power will make a difference in some cases, but what Cell brings over the competition won't.

 

[Rangers]

I like these sort of missions. It reminds me of some of the Conker's MP missions where they were "unbalanced", e.g. where one team had to snipe and the other team escape. Of course this isn't quite as sporting as you aren't shot at

I totally agree here. I think an unbalanced mission, or even weapon can really add a lot to a game.

It breaks up the pacing, rather than surviving by the skin of your teeth over and over, it is nice to be able to take a breather and have some fun here and there.

 

[-tkf-]

yep... Assassin's Creed was the next coming of the savior until it was announced for 360 and then all of a sudden.... "meh"

CoD4 is suffering the same fate since it can't be held up as an example of what can be done only by the "Powa of Cell!"

Or it could be that PS3 owners can see how 1st party games can look like and feel they are being shafted when they have to share with the 360 side.

Thought: You posts seem way more negative than they used to be, you used (to me) to be the one XBOX 360 die hard fan that didn´t relent to cheap shots like the above (Powa of Cell).

Since the "Halo 3 is not HD" threads your tone changed?

 

[PARANOiA]

Or it could be that PS3 owners can see how 1st party games can look like and feel they are being shafted when they have to share with the 360 side.

Probably not the best way to get third party support - or stopping the system from losing the few 3rd party exclusives it has left. The reality is the PS3 requires much more effort... it was a design choice for Sony. Punishing 3rd parties for it will simply result in a poorer library.

 

[-tkf-]

Probably not the best way to get third party support - or stopping the system from losing the few 3rd party exclusives it has left. The reality is the PS3 requires much more effort... it was a design choice for Sony. Punishing 3rd parties for it will simply result in a poorer library.

So i should support inferior software product just because?

And would that make the 3rd party developers try harder or just think "hey we got away with it"?.

It used to be a good idea to reward the good stuff i´ll stick to that.

 

[PARANOiA]

So i should support inferior software product just because?

And would that make the 3rd party developers try harder or just think "hey we got away with it"?.

It used to be a good idea to reward the good stuff i´ll stick to that.

Refusing to buy COD4 for the sole reason that you see it as an "inferior software product" on PS3 is in my mind absurd. Your choices are your own, of course... but don't whine when you will only be able to play a handful of titles year.