Next-gen cross platform development still difficult? *spawn

[hesido]

I didn't know where to post this:
http://www.oxm.co.uk/57868/bethesda...t-machine-cross-platform-work-is-a-nightmare/

But I'm surprised the differences between platforms (Xbone vs PS4) is enough to call cross-platform development a "nightmare", tho they admit the new platforms are easier to develop for. I'd assume there'd be differences but still...

 

[Arwin]

It's purely that having multiple (some closed) platforms working together online is difficult. And this is known - very few games have supported even just PC and one of the consoles, let alone cross-platform for all. Closest I know of is a game like Most Wanted, which links all accounts on all platforms to one EA account, and uses that to bring in high-scores from all platforms. In that game, I can see on the Vita version what my 'EA friends' have done on PC, 360, or PS3 (and maybe even Wii U?)

 

[dagamer]

Is that even allowed for non-MMO games? I thought online gaming systems were totally insular for the most part.

 

[BoardBonobo]

I guess openness is one benefit that Sony has brought to the table with the PSN. In that they seem to be far more open to cross platform play than MS do.

As for Bethesda saying this, I wonder if they are looking at the the next Elder Scrolls epic supporting MMO out of the box? It would be cool to be able to do a solo campaign and dip into a richer milieu every now and then. It's be the ultimate D&D game.

 

[Arwin]

Is that even allowed for non-MMO games? I thought online gaming systems were totally insular for the most part.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...to-microsoft-not-allowing-cross-platform-play

 

[Rodéric]

Just a PC only developer entering console market, nothing more.

I expect things to be much better this generation with all systems being quite similar, of course API will be different, but that's a given and something anyone having done a least a little cross API/platform dev knows how to handle quite well already.

 

[Arwin]

Just a PC only developer entering console market, nothing more.

I expect things to be much better this generation with all systems being quite similar, of course API will be different, but that's a given and something anyone having done a least a little cross API/platform dev knows how to handle quite well already.

I was getting the impression that the problem is much more specific than that. It's about how you can connect through different accounts to your own servers and how you can roll your client-server updates. Microsoft has a long history of being 'difficult' about this, and it looks like that for now, they're keeping that reputation.

 

[ERP]

There are many reasons cross platform development is harder outside of just the hardware.

To name a few

Probably the largest cost is that the TRC's and TCR's can contradict across platforms.
Things like Network services will be different across the platforms.
You need well designed platform abstractions.
Compiler differences can be a pain in the ass.
Testing cost is dramatically higher

Hardware is one part that affects usually one small part of your code.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I guess openness is one benefit that Sony has brought to the table with the PSN. In that they seem to be far more open to cross platform play than MS do.

As for Bethesda saying this, I wonder if they are looking at the the next Elder Scrolls epic supporting MMO out of the box? It would be cool to be able to do a solo campaign and dip into a richer milieu every now and then. It's be the ultimate D&D game.

Not necessarily. Blizzard, for example, recently commented that they had to implement multiplayer code differently for PC, PSN, and Xbox Live. So even there, they couldn't do interoperability between PC and PSN.

I'm guessing that perhaps it may work, as long as you force PC users to use PSN possibly. Or get Sony to loosen things up to allow non-PSN specific networks (which they wouldn't do for Blizzard, why would they do it for anyone else?).

Regards,
SB

 

[betan]

I think somewhat omitted yet something that requires a little more investigation (from Richard's ESRAM piece):

On paper, Sony retains a clear specs advantage, but it was difficult to see that reflected in the quality of the games at E3. Based on what we're hearing about the approach to next-gen development, it could be quite some time before any on-paper advantage translates into an appreciably better experience on-screen.