XBOX 360 to be Carmacks Primary Development Platform

I meant what the guy I quoted meant; he said "changing", I used "switching", both meaning the same.

What I meant was that I think John Carmack will still be/is using an OpenGL renderer, and not D3D, for the next game. I assumed the guy I quoted thinks it's the other way round, judging from his "changing to DirectX" words.

Of course, I also asked if this has been confirmed or not.

 

Well, I just confirmed it myself. I asked Mr Carmack and he said that it's OpenGL for Windows, adding that API specific codes are just a small fraction for his engine's renderer (and thus even less for the entire game). Looks like things are more "universal" compared to his previous engines.

 

Carmack likes the latest technology, and right now the 360 has a nice development evironment, a high "minimum spec" for a target platform, and newer APIs that even Windows has at this moment.
Within the next 18 months or less, this will no longer be true and Carmack will no longer be as smitten with the 360.

 

I think he is "smitten" as well with the consoles based on the continued diminishment of the PC market and continued growth of the console market.

I'm sure he can see the writing on the wall. Console titles=more money.

 

Especially when you start talking about "hi-end". He could make a dx10 only title on pc and sell all of two copies, but by focusing on ps3/360 he has millions of hi-end machines patiently waiting for his hi-end games.

 

OTOH I dont know of very many strict console developers with Mr Carmack's fame.

He's probably best served by continuing to do high end engines/titles on the PC, and then porting to consoles.

He can get away with consoles first right now because the specs are reasonably high. But 2-3 years into the cycle when PC's have raced well ahead, that wont be the case.

 

True - but the concepts should be the same for the most part. That along with an ever growing userbase of 360's COULD ensure he stays developing with it as the primary target and just scaling the game down to match 360 release and going with the higher spec models/textures on the pc.

I read an interview that Team Ninja does something similar in that they don't develop to the target, but rather above it and scale it back to fit.

 

I can't say this suprises me, nor should it suprise anyone. With the costs and time of developing for the PS3 I highly doubt that anyone but the largest developers and Sony (depending on whether or not you consider them to be large) are going to bother with the PS3. Furthermore, I don't even know how many people will bother buying a PS3 due to the cost, and the fact that initially its not going to be so much better than the 360 or the Wii that its going to warrent the extra $200 its going to cost for the premium system.

The problem for the PS3 isn't going to be major titles. Its going to be the niche games made by developers no one ever heard of before that everyone loves. The same games that made the PS2 so wildly successful are the games that Sony has basically issued a death sentence on in the PS3.

 

Ah, that's nonsense. These 'unknown' developers you are talking about are the kind of devs like Naughty Dog and Insomniac, who like challenging hardware and pushing the limits as much as they can, which is why they were so successful on the PS2 - I mean, look at the Ratchett / Jak engines, and then squeezing all that out in 480p no less.

Besides, the support for OpenGL ES out of the box, and the Playstation Distribution Network, are only going to make it easier for developers to produce cool, quirky titles and reach a larger audience with them.

Carmack's current stance is solely in the interest of PC development. He will remain loyal to the PC, and developing for a lucrative platform like the 360 allows him to do so, and has the added advantage of being able to experiment with a multi-core platform on a fixed configuration.

However, I also remember him saying that his games will nevertheless also be released on the PS3.

But first and foremost, I think he has shifted his goals and instead of wanting to be the hottest developer, he wants to be a rocket scientist, and is, quite literally, shooting for the starts.