Formula One CE Online

[rounin]

Gamespot's Impressions of the online play

Formula One Championship Edition is set for its debut on the PlayStation 3 just a couple of weeks before the launch of the real 2007 F1 season. The series is coming to American shores after a lengthy absence for F1 games, and though we've had a chance to try out the game multiple times in the past, there was one aspect that we had no experience with: online play. However, that little problem was remedied today, as Sony producers held an hour-long test-drive session for F1 CE's online play, which we got to take part in.

A total of 11 people can race online in F1 CE, with the remaining 11 seats on the grid filled out by artificial intelligence drivers. During our online session, we raced with as many as seven racers, and for the most part, the frame rate held together nicely. We only encountered hiccups a few times, though it was nothing that caused us to miss a corner or completely screw up a lap. Still, it's nice that the first few races we ran had collisions turned off--as it takes a few minutes to acclimate yourself to the twitchy nature of F1 cars.

Sounds good, but I was hoping they would include headset chatting.

 

[DieH@rd]

They should enable voice chat integrated in OS... But great news for F1, multyplayer sounds fun.

 

[aldo]

Interesting Newsweek Interview

How difficult was it to get 22 cars on the track at that level of detail?
Actually, it was not as difficult as you might think--especially considering that just one of the Playstation 3 cars we have in F1 CE requires the same memory budget as all 22 cars combined on the PS2 version!

The rain effects are pretty spectacular. Without getting extremely technical, tell us what's going on underneath the hood to make that effect possible. How is it different from rain effects on the PlayStation 2?
The rain drops you see are image processing effects that utilize the hardware's extremely powerful SPU's for a physics simulation to calculate the movement of the rain droplets based on forces/velocities per pixel. What this basically means is that as you drive around in the rain, the game calculates the speed and forces on the car to move the rain drops accordingly on your visor, down to a per-raindrop level of detail. You also notice the splashes that the raindrops leave as they hit the tarmac and this is done using the landscape collision system - again, running on the SPUs - to calculate individual positions for each splash.
This effect was simply not possible on the PS2. On PS2, we had to use a plane with a rain texture in front of the screen. On Playstation 3 we accurately simulate heavy rain conditions which give us incredibly realistic results and this also directly feeds into the gameplay. You really have to think about where your car is on the track in the rain and where your opponents are, as the visibility is sometimes reduced to virtually nothing--just like what real F1 drivers have to contend with in those conditions.

Are these visual effects being shared with other Sony studios, or will they remain unique to F1 CE? Does F1 CE share any tech with other released or forthcoming first-party titles?
The Playstation 3 has created an unprecedented climate of studio cooperation within Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios. The F1 CE development team has shared technologies and experience with many internal and first-party development teams around the world, including full support from the Worldwide Studios Advanced Technology Group.
This is a trend we expect not only to continue, but to greatly expand as the Playstation 3 platform matures. The rain effects in particular and other aspects of the F1 CE game code are currently being prepared for other first-party development teams that have requested them.

Please detail how F1 CE is using the Cell processor's components, the PPU and the seven SPUs. (Example from an actual launch title: PPU for game logic; SPU 1 and 2 for shader effects; SPU 3, 4, 5 for PhysX physics simulation; SPU 6 for particle effects; SPU 7 for audio. Also SPUs 1-5 used during loading to reduce load times.)
We don't really use the concept of reserving certain SPUs for specific tasks. Instead we employ the concept of prioritized job lists that are executed by the SPUs whenever one is available. We use the SPUs for the following jobs: audio effects, particle system, physics (landscape collision, narrow phase and collision resolution), rain effects (rain droplets and rain splashes) and various render side jobs. The game logic is driven largely by the PPU. We use the SPUs together to collaborate on working through each frame that's displayed by the game. The SPUs are extremely versatile so they can be used to accelerate any in-game system.

How is F1 CE using the RSX graphics processor? Do the Cell and RSX work together on any part of the graphics pipeline, and if so, which one?
The SPUs are heavily involved in the graphics pipeline and do an enormous amount of work to eliminate inefficiency before anything arrives at the PPU and RSX. For example, the SPUs are powerful enough to decompress and check every triangle [polygon] before passing it on to the RSX. Triangles that are facing away from the player, or that are not on the screen can be 'trimmed' away by the SPUs, which hugely reduces the amount of redundant work sent to the RSX. This in turn lets the RSX get on with what it does best--drawing stuff on screen.
The SPUs can also be used to augment the RSX vertex shaders, making far more vertex-heavy tasks possible which is very useful for character animation. Additionally, the SPUs can be used to implement behavior very similar to geometry shaders--F1 CE uses them in this way to render seamless interpolated levels of detail for some scene elements. So in answer to the question "Do the Cell and RSX work together?" the answer is a resounding "Yes," and I think this is one of the real strengths of Playstation 3 that we'll see increasingly exploited by development teams going forward.

Interesting read. Check out the Newsweek article for more details.

-aldo

 

[Kingsgoon]

Interview - F1 Championship Edition Game Director

Please detail how F1 CE is using the Cell processor's components, the PPU and the seven SPUs. (Example from an actual launch title: PPU for game logic; SPU 1 and 2 for shader effects; SPU 3, 4, 5 for PhysX physics simulation; SPU 6 for particle effects; SPU 7 for audio. Also SPUs 1-5 used during loading to reduce load times.)

We don't really use the concept of reserving certain SPUs for specific tasks. Instead we employ the concept of prioritized job lists that are executed by the SPUs whenever one is available. We use the SPUs for the following jobs: audio effects, particle system, physics (landscape collision, narrow phase and collision resolution), rain effects (rain droplets and rain splashes) and various render side jobs. The game logic is driven largely by the PPU. We use the SPUs together to collaborate on working through each frame that's displayed by the game. The SPUs are extremely versatile so they can be used to accelerate any in-game system.

How is F1 CE using the RSX graphics processor? Do the Cell and RSX work together on any part of the graphics pipeline, and if so, which one?

The SPUs are heavily involved in the graphics pipeline and do an enormous amount of work to eliminate inefficiency before anything arrives at the PPU and RSX. For example, the SPUs are powerful enough to decompress and check every triangle [polygon] before passing it on to the RSX. Triangles that are facing away from the player, or that are not on the screen can be 'trimmed' away by the SPUs, which hugely reduces the amount of redundant work sent to the RSX. This in turn lets the RSX get on with what it does best--drawing stuff on screen.

The SPUs can also be used to augment the RSX vertex shaders, making far more vertex-heavy tasks possible which is very useful for character animation. Additionally, the SPUs can be used to implement behavior very similar to geometry shaders--F1 CE uses them in this way to render seamless interpolated levels of detail for some scene elements. So in answer to the question "Do the Cell and RSX work together?" the answer is a resounding "Yes," and I think this is one of the real strengths of Playstation 3 that we'll see increasingly exploited by development teams going forward.

http://ncroal.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=486210

 

[Todd33]

Can anyone verify if what he is saying is plausible or is it just PR?

 

[luke76]

Can anyone verify if what he is saying is plausible or is it just PR?

So can be used seven spe and don't only six ? Please someone can confirm ?

 

[aldo]

http://ncroal.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=486210

Nice first post Kingsgoon. Sorry to steal your thunder a bit. I put off posting a whole day thinking someone else would post this. Apparently I should have waited another 4 minutes. What are the odds?

Anyway nice find. And welcome to the B3D forums. :smile:

-aldo

 

[Nesh]

Interesting read. Check out the Newsweek article for more details.

-aldo

Thats extremely interesting news. Not for F1 only but for PS3 as a whole.

The involvement of Wolrd Wide Studios and the information about the Cell's SPU's and PPU show of things to expect from the future. Things look extremely promising.

Btw I remember reading somewhere the number of games coming from Sony's internal studios. Does someone remember the number?

 

[Arwin]

What an awesome article. I wish each developer interview was at least this good.

 

[zed]

For example, the SPUs are powerful enough to decompress and check every triangle [polygon] before passing it on to the RSX. Triangles that are facing away from the player, or that are not on the screen can be 'trimmed' away by the SPUs, which hugely reduces the amount of redundant work sent to the RSX. This in turn lets the RSX get on with what it does best--drawing stuff on screen.

he didnt actually mention if theyre doing their own backface culling on the spu with their game (certainly possible + very indicative of the power of the cell, if they have enuf in reserve after physics etc to do this, i wonder if its possible to set a flag in the rsx to dont check backface culling then?), the rest is pretty straight forward + exactlly how ild use the cell, is an uberpower vertex shader, just let the rsx to do vertex tranformation.

personally the rain effect sounds a bit of a gimmick (though will look sweet onscreen) im guessing its gonna be raining half the time aka get as much value from the effect as possible

also its the interviewer that saiz 7spus ingame not thew interviewee

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

Nice Article

That Newsweek game developer interview; has to be one of the best reads, in quite sometime. :smile:

 

[patsu]

I concur ! I like the scoops on SPU usage, SCEWW sharing and also the PS3 dev kit cluster. Will look out for PSP rear view mirror too (may be gimmicky but I am curious to see the result when the cars are going at high speed).

 

[Crayon]

The rain is a nice effect, but if youve ever ridden a motorbike in heavy rain, you know it doesn't look like that at all. It's not nearly that pleasant looking!

I'm considering a purchase for this one. It'd be nice to have a racing game to really sink my teeth into so long before GT5 arrives.

 

[Titanio]

he didnt actually mention if theyre doing their own backface culling on the spu with their game (certainly possible + very indicative of the power of the cell, if they have enuf in reserve after physics etc to do this, i wonder if its possible to set a flag in the rsx to dont check backface culling then?), the rest is pretty straight forward + exactlly how ild use the cell, is an uberpower vertex shader, just let the rsx to do vertex tranformation

This sounds like backface and view frustum culling:

Triangles that are facing away from the player, or that are not on the screen can be 'trimmed' away by the SPUs

There's a flag in OpenGL that lets you turn on or off backface culling. I suspect they're doing it on Cell at least partially because it will save them setting up back-facing triangles on RSX.

 

[xmu]

Latest EDGE gives this a staggering 4 out of 10. Quite surprising as I've heard nothing but good things about it so far.

 

[Arwin]

Latest EDGE gives this a staggering 4 out of 10. Quite surprising as I've heard nothing but good things about it so far.

When did that Edge come out? Considering the time it takes for a magazine like that to come to press, how could they review it that soon?

 

[DuckThor Evil]

The rain is a nice effect, but if youve ever ridden a motorbike in heavy rain, you know it doesn't look like that at all. It's not nearly that pleasant looking!

It's especially "fun" when it's not only raining but also sun shines to your visor, it looks like every water drop has a sun in it, and it feels like there is huge fireball right in front of your eyes :smile:

 

[AntShaw]

I concur ! I like the scoops on SPU usage, SCEWW sharing and also the PS3 dev kit cluster. Will look out for PSP rear view mirror too (may be gimmicky but I am curious to see the result when the cars are going at high speed).

Might?

I'm still wondering where I would comfortably put my PSP? In my lap? Hold it in one hand? Maybe I'll dangle it in front of my face like a carrot?

While I am all about added features, unless it's functional some way, it would be purely gimmick.

 

[Gradthrawn]

Might?

I'm still wondering where I would comfortably put my PSP? In my lap? Hold it in one hand? Maybe I'll dangle it in front of my face like a carrot?

While I am all about added features, unless it's functional some way, it would be purely gimmick.

On a folding "TV Dinner" table in front of you while being propped up by a case like Logitech's which flips all the way open turning it into a stand.

 

[Arwin]

Might?

I'm still wondering where I would comfortably put my PSP? In my lap? Hold it in one hand? Maybe I'll dangle it in front of my face like a carrot?

While I am all about added features, unless it's functional some way, it would be purely gimmick.

I can think of two other good uses for the PSP ... a telemetry display (which drivers tend to have integrated on their wheel), and slightly less useful but still a lot of fun would be a map.

You can put the PSP on its side quite easily, maybe on a slight elevation next to the TV. Though when you are using a large wide-screen TV, the thing might become too small in comparison, and you'd have to have it nearer, and then it would lose some of its use I guess.