Yerli on consoles ...

[JardeL]

... The reason for no consoles is simple: any console development would have deviated from our efforts. It would have distracted us, it would have forced compromises because of memory limitations on those platforms. We'd have to design different levels, and it would have been more difficult to create the sensation of a living world.

So there are no plans to bring Crysis to consoles in future?

The only way I can see Crysis on consoles right now is as a variation of it. And I don't have any plans right now for a variation of Crysis.

You have a PlayStation 3 R&D room here, but there doesn't seem to be an Xbox 360 room. Why is that?

Actually we have one, but it's separate. PC and 360 are in one room. The PS3 room is separate because we have some secret technologies being developed there which are not related to CryEngine 2. Our PS3 development is going deeper than many people assume right now.

There are competitors right now who have PS3 technologies up and running. We had our initial version up and running, but we said there are too many compromises.

Yes, we could have commercialised the engine business et cetera, but we felt that if you want to make console games one day - if you want to get groundbreaking results and do things people think are impossible, you need technologies and solutions for that.
The platform itself has a lot of power, but the technology has to provide a framework for the developer so we can unleash that kind of gameplay.

Do you have a room for Wii R&D?

We have Wii development but it's very small, it's more like testing ideas. We don't have a project at this stage.

We have a console game in development right now which won't be announced for a while. It's a complete departure from Crysis and Far Cry, it's not a first-person shooter. For that, we're optimising technology, but for another reason, the future in general, there is a dedicated PS3 team.

Nintendo Wii is certainly on the radar. We will do something for Nintendo Wii - the question is when. I think some time maybe in three or four years, but nobody knows when.

[ http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=27946 ]
That " secret technologies for PS3 " statement made me excited ...

 

[inefficient]

This is very cool news indeed.

I wonder how many people they have working on their secret PS3 project.

 

[archangelmorph]

The PS3 room is separate because we have some secret technologies being developed there which are not related to CryEngine 2.

So does this mean that the Xbox360 project which is already in development IS related to the CryEngine 2?

 

[AlNom]

So does this mean that the Xbox360 project which is already in development IS related to the CryEngine 2?

It would seem so if they lumped PC and 360 together in the same room.

I wonder what that means though. How can it not be related to CE2? A different engine entirely?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It sounded that way to me. And it'd make sense. PS3 is a different beast. If you want to make the most of it, you need an engine that's designed to work with SPEs. And engine that's shoe-horned into working on SPEs will be a messy compromise. Teh good news here is that CryTec sound like they're seriously targeting the hardware. The downside is probably how long before they have a product to show!

 

[DJ12]

How many other games used the Far Cry Engine?

I don't recall seeing many that thought to mention they were using it, not like those using UT Whatever always seem too.

 

[inefficient]

How many other games used the Far Cry Engine?

I don't recall seeing many that thought to mention they were using it, not like those using UT Whatever always seem too.

From wikipedia

Games Using CryENGINE

* Far Cry (2004, PC) - Crytek, Ubisoft
* Far Cry Instincts (2005, Xbox) - Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft
* Far Cry Instincts: Evolution (2006, Xbox) - Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft
* Far Cry Instincts: Predator (2006, Xbox 360) - Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft
* Far Cry Vengeance (2006, Wii) - Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft
* Aion: The Tower of Eternity (2007, PC) - NCsoft, NCsoft

Games using the CryENGINE2

* Crysis - Crytek, in development (2007).
* Merchants of Brooklyn [4] - Paleo Entertainment, in development (TBA).
* Entropia Universe - signed a license agreement on 25 July 2007.[5]
* Unannounced MMVW - Avatar Reality, inc., in development (TBA).
* Game based on new intellectual property- Crytek, in development (TBA).
* New, possibly non-fps game- Crytek, in development (TBA).
* New, MMORPG - XLGames, in development (TBA).[6]

 

[DJ12]

Thanks, so not many then.

I wonder if having a specific build for PS3 is going to be worthwhile for them long term.

UT has already captured the hearts and minds of devs everywhere, so if they "cannot do Crysis" on consoles, like they have said a few times, will there be reason for devs to use their engine over the one they already know from Epic?

Not that I'm not grateful for them making the effort of course

 

[inefficient]

Thanks, so not many then.

I wonder if having a specific build for PS3 is going to be worthwhile for them long term.

UT has already captured the hearts and minds of devs everywhere, so if they "cannot do Crysis" on consoles, like they have said a few times, will there be reason for devs to use their engine over the one they already know from Epic?

Not that I'm not grateful for them making the effort of course

They could sell it cheaper. Target features UE3 doesn't have. Just plain be better in certain areas. Or just work better for certain genres. There are a lot of things they can do to be competitive.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

There's no one-engine-fits-all. Different engines provide different experiences and options for the devs. Just because there's one middleware solution out there, isn't reason to never make any others. If that was standard human thinking, there'd be only one console, only one physics library, one model of car, only one aeroplane... There's always ways to compete.

 

[BoardBonobo]

Definately good news for the PS3 as a games platform. I have utmost confidence in Crytek delivering bleeding edge technologies to whatever platform they concentrate on.


Do they see enough similarities between the 360 and the PC to lump them together as one development platform? I could see that with the old Xbox as that was just a PC in a small form factor case. But the 360? Same programming paradigm as a multi core PC with a modern graphics card?

 

[Crayon]

Do they see enough similarities between the 360 and the PC to lump them together as one development platform? I could see that with the old Xbox as that was just a PC in a small form factor case. But the 360? Same programming paradigm as a multi core PC with a modern graphics card?

I think what makes the PS3 "out there" from their perspective is the memory structures. The main ram pools and especially the Cell's internal memory can be viewed as designs meant for full-effort SIMD-centric software.

Alot of cross platform games are using the PS3 in much the same way they would use the 360 or the PC for that matter. This seems to work "just fine". Games targeted for the architecture however, can approach it by designing heavily vectorized game engines. Look at KZ2, Heavenly Sword, R&C, GT5, and Uncharted. These games, developed with tools and engines made specifically for PS3, are clearly a world apart from the cross platform stuff made with traditional methods.

The PS2 is the perfect example. It had a really unconventional "lighweight" design meant for streaming vector code very quickly and blasting it out of a hi-speed rasterizer. Those that approach it as a box with limited ram, crude pipeline, and lighweight cpu with some vector units tacked on end up with ragged, choppy, slow-loading games even right at the end of the life cycle. Meanwhile those that approach these "qualities" with the view that they are part of a sleek, highly integrated design end up with stuff like GT4 and God of War 2. Games that still can't bring stuff like complex shaders to the table, but manage other performance traits that might choke an XBox.

That's my opinion on why Crytek is not so much "lumping" the 360 and PC, but seperating out the PS3 for specific "secret technologies".

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That does raise the question why not have a specific targeting of XB360 in the same way. the other explanation is using DirectX to access the hardware on both platforms, they can treat XB360 like a PC with unified shaders. They can use the same basic engine in principle, retuning their multi-core code to fit the IO cores of Xenon. I'd guess there's a fair bit of cross-platform code and techniques if the devices are being developed on. As the interview says, the PS3 engine is a distinct technology. It's not CryEngine2. What they're producing for XB360 presumably is CryEngine2.

 

[Skrying]

Seems to me they simply do not need a Xbox 360 team, that the work and ease at which it can be done is simple enough on Xbox 360 and PC for one team to handle, where as the PS3 needs its own team.

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

Seems to me they simply do not need a Xbox 360 team, that the work and ease at which it can be done is simple enough on Xbox 360 and PC for one team to handle, where as the PS3 needs its own team.

I don’t think it’s that cut and dry; hence Yerli statement:

Our PS3 development is going deeper than many people assume right now.

I believe a project between Crytek & Sony may exist. A NDA maybe in place to keep prying eyes (and big mouths) from announcing something that isn’t ready to be announce. Hence this statement:

The PS3 room is separate because we have some secret technologies being developed there which are not related to CryEngine 2.

The less people in the loop...the less chance for leaks.

 

[Jesus2006]

That does raise the question why not have a specific targeting of XB360 in the same way. the other explanation is using DirectX to access the hardware on both platforms, they can treat XB360 like a PC with unified shaders. They can use the same basic engine in principle, retuning their multi-core code to fit the IO cores of Xenon. I'd guess there's a fair bit of cross-platform code and techniques if the devices are being developed on. As the interview says, the PS3 engine is a distinct technology. It's not CryEngine2. What they're producing for XB360 presumably is CryEngine2.

Are they producing anthing for 360 right now at all (regardless if CryEngine2 or not)?

It sounds to me as if they were developing some kind of engine or better say platform like EDGE is -specifically for PS3- which sounds a little unfinished though still.

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

It sounds to me as if they were developing some kind of engine or better say platform like EDGE is -specifically for PS3- which sounds a little unfinished though still.

Which kind-of reinforces my belief of a project between Crytek & Sony.

Why would a company of Crytek size (smaller the Epic) would invest so much R&D into a platform that doesn’t quite yet have the install base (i.e. Xbox 360) to recoup their investment or isn’t first party too. I can truly picture Sony eating some (err, lots) of the R&D cost for something that can possibly push more systems.

Could Crytek do for Sony what Epic did for Microsoft, push systems with a hot product?!

 

[Crayon]

That makes sense too. Sony has been reaching out alot to collaborate with outside companies for their tools.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Why would a company of Crytek size (smaller the Epic) would invest so much R&D into a platform that doesn’t quite yet have the install base

R:FoM did all right for Insomniac. With a few million consoles, if you can pull a Halo and produce something a large percentage want to play, it can be worth it. Furthermore if they're developing an engine with a view to licensing it (and Yerli says they could have licensed their original compromised engine but wanted 'one day' to create console games) then it's a long term investment not dependent on current install base.

 

[RollingBalls]

Thanks, so not many then.

I wonder if having a specific build for PS3 is going to be worthwhile for them long term.

UT has already captured the hearts and minds of devs everywhere, so if they "cannot do Crysis" on consoles, like they have said a few times, will there be reason for devs to use their engine over the one they already know from Epic?

Not that I'm not grateful for them making the effort of course

The UT engine hasn't really captured the hearts minds of PS3 developers. For this reason I can see why id and crytek are making noise about PS3 development.