Ghostbusters: The Video Game

[ShootMyMonkey]

Then, Mark Randell of Terminal Reality goes on about how great the PS3 is, how powerful it is. How the 360 only has 3 processors and the PS3 has SEVEN!!!!111ty!

When confronted with the abysmal quality of the PS3 version, he states:

MR : Personally, I want to show off our PS3 technology. We’re one of the few developers who love the PS3 and have a great time with it. We have great technology for the PS3 and we want to show it off.

So.. why didn't they?

He then goes off about how they reserved one SPE for the dolby audio and how they couldn't do this on the 360.

sigh.. developers

Well, given that it is Mark Randel we're talking about here, I don't think I'd doubt his enjoyment of working on the PS3 or for that matter, having a strong preference for the PS3 over the 360. When I was at TRI and the 360 codebase was still early in development, he couldn't stop screaming about how much he hated the machine and how he felt that it may have 3 CPUs, but each one ran stuff slower than the original Xbox, or that something as simple as a floating point divide was slower on the 360 than on the PS2, and that he pretty much wanted to center around the PS3 more than anything. Infernal even when it was a previous-gen engine was wholly PS2-centric.

That coupled with his undying hatred for Microsoft (which makes you wonder considering he once worked at Microsoft), and Mark being very involved with the core code, especially on rendering and physics meant his philosophies about how the engine should operate would take a lot of precedence over any other priorities. I mean, we weren't even using Microsoft compilers for anything other than the Xbox and 360 builds (that too, only because there's no other choice).

Either way, things like texture resolution is stuff that gets decided at build time, so it's not like artists are doing things to the assets for one platform or another. Why the build settings for textures or what not for one platform as opposed to another are set to downsize before archiving is another matter. Maybe they felt the lower screen res and savings on fill limitations meant they could afford lower-res textures. Maybe they wanted to keep the memory footprint for the XMB menus available at all times. Who knows? Either way, it's not going to mean anything wrt any licensees of the engine because they'll each make their own decisions about how to manage assets.

Still, it's a questionable decision considering that he should be well aware that the visuals are always the first line of judgment and that any failing in that area will color any analysis of other aspects about the game.

 

[neliz]

Thanks SMM, I'm curious now if this story can be linked to your journal of game developer antics I love to read so much.

 

[RobertR1]

Tried the demo out yesterday. Not for me. I rather watch the movies instead.

SMM, thanks for the insights. Always good to get real background info vs regular internet make believe.

 

[gongo]

I still stand by my PS2 comments. Could be the drape grey library textures and low geometry overpowering the smoother shader effects, shrugs. I love Ghostbuster, the film was one of the best cartoon -> movie conversion but the game sucks. The TPS controls are very archaic, the camera to is too clunky and closed in, the game progression is boring.

Hardocp did a benchmark of it, though i would love to see them focusing more on the CPU physics they had been hyping. About 60% load on quad cores, not that much, no? Anybody noticing the physics effects running faster on PS3? Maybe DigitalFoundary could do a benchie on a physics heavy scene?
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTY2MywxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

 

[nightshade]

the film was one of the best cartoon -> movie conversion but the game sucks.

Just wanted to correct you on one point
The cartoon series started after the movie.
The Movie introduced the Ghostbusters universe.

 

[obonicus]

Just wanted to correct you on one point
The cartoon series started after the movie.
The Movie introduced the Ghostbusters universe.

We all know who the Real Ghostbusters were.

 

[DrJay24]

Anybody noticing the physics effects running faster on PS3? Maybe DigitalFoundary could do a benchie on a physics heavy scene?
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTY2MywxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

I noticed the frame rate dropped during the library fight on the 360 demo, lots of books and stuff.

 

[ShootMyMonkey]

Thanks SMM, I'm curious now if this story can be linked to your journal of game developer antics I love to read so much.

If you mean to ask if those antics occurred while I was working at Terminal Reality, that is not the case. Mark's philosophies created a few headaches here and there like the need to keep 5 separate makefiles up to date for every build alteration, but a lot of the headaches were just typical of working for a small, ill-funded company wholly dependent on one or two publisher connections. The creature was the employer I had before working at TRI. Mark Randel is neither Lebanese in descent (as far as I know), nor did he steal fire hydrants, and he is more than sharp enough to know how many sides an octagon has. He is also quite aware of his own weaknesses, so he's often relied on people he can trust to cover for those weaknesses. While there was a history with TRI having a co-founder who was later discovered to be among the nation's top sex offenders, that was before my time. That was Brett 1.0, and I was there during the time and the final days of Brett 2.0.

Some of the "wackier" things that happened at TRI were related to the usual sorts of things that people hear about with small independent developers which are largely very dependent on one publisher relationship. Some of the hell came not from Mark, but from Majesco, and a lot of people I've spoken to who have had to deal with Majesco before often tell me that these sorts of things sound like what one should expect of them. This includes things like telling the press which platforms we're supposed to release a game on, but not telling the developers.

 

[neliz]

We all know who the Real Ghostbusters were.

That.. hurts. .the pain... "let's go ghostbusters, let's go.. let's go, let's go!"


Thanks for clearing that up SMM.

 

[I.S.T.]

If you mean to ask if those antics occurred while I was working at Terminal Reality, that is not the case. Mark's philosophies created a few headaches here and there like the need to keep 5 separate makefiles up to date for every build alteration, but a lot of the headaches were just typical of working for a small, ill-funded company wholly dependent on one or two publisher connections. The creature was the employer I had before working at TRI. Mark Randel is neither Lebanese in descent (as far as I know), nor did he steal fire hydrants, and he is more than sharp enough to know how many sides an octagon has. He is also quite aware of his own weaknesses, so he's often relied on people he can trust to cover for those weaknesses. While there was a history with TRI having a co-founder who was later discovered to be among the nation's top sex offenders, that was before my time. That was Brett 1.0, and I was there during the time and the final days of Brett 2.0.

Some of the "wackier" things that happened at TRI were related to the usual sorts of things that people hear about with small independent developers which are largely very dependent on one publisher relationship. Some of the hell came not from Mark, but from Majesco, and a lot of people I've spoken to who have had to deal with Majesco before often tell me that these sorts of things sound like what one should expect of them. This includes things like telling the press which platforms we're supposed to release a game on, but not telling the developers.

Wow, no wonder Majesco floundered for years...

I think he meant that you should put a link into your thread about the antics of The Creature, BTW. It sort of fits, you know?

 

[neliz]

I think he meant that you should put a link into your thread about the antics of The Creature, BTW. It sort of fits, you know?

I already linked there.. I am just hoping for more stories... and chrome, more stories, chrome and future effects.. yes.

 

[ShootMyMonkey]

I already linked there.. I am just hoping for more stories... and chrome, more stories, chrome and future effects.. yes.

Hmm... well, I'll be out of town for a couple of days, but when I get back, I'll see what I can do to accommodate your request . One which I'm sure is probably being echoed in the backs of a lot of people's minds.