
We had our first look at upcoming Xbox Series X space combat shooter Chorus during Inside Xbox the other day, and Johannes Kuhlmann, head of core technology at developer FishLabs, has spoken more about what it's like to develop for the system in a new in-depth interview with Eurogamer.
The Chorus creator talked about a bunch of different Xbox Series X related topics, including how the team is targeting 4K resolution and 60fps for the next-gen version of the game. In terms of how challenging the process has proved in adapting to the console, Kuhlmann admitted it's been straightforward:
"I've got to say, the transition from coming from Xbox One to Xbox Series X was straightforward. We felt right at home on the new devkit. There weren't any particular challenges. You have way more freedom. You don't have to worry about the framerate as much. You can instead crank it up to a higher framerate. In the end it's easier to develop for Xbox Series X than any other console."
Regarding the differences between the two versions, Kuhlmann revealed that while both are "going to be awesome," the team is attempting to make the Xbox Series X edition of Chorus "a whole lot more dynamic," highlighting the ability to simulate more physics, ramp up the effects on destruction and explosions, and more.
"One thing we are now working on with the help of Xbox Series X is procedural destruction, so actual objects are broken apart at runtime, exactly where you shoot them. And of course, that feels like you're actually having an impact on the environment. And I feel that is super awesome, if the stuff actually breaks were I shot at it."
What do you make of Kuhlmann's comments? Are you looking forward to Chorus? Share your thoughts below.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 19
I always take these developer comments with a pinch of salt. For every Xbox is easier comment, there's one PS5 is easier. My takeaway is that both the consoles should be developer friendly.
Who else finds Sony’s silence during this time eerie? Either they’ve got a literal game-changer on their hands or a disaster that hasn’t been publicly exposed yet.
Kinds feels like Xbox is competing against nobody.
@pip_muzz
Please. This dev is an actual, verifiable person being interviewed by a reputable tech outlet and speaking on his own behalf about his personal experience working on ALL current and future platforms. Not an anonymous, unidentifiable first-party dev who whispers rehearsed answers to an industry journo, nor a complete nobody interviewed on a poorly translated article that needs to be taken down almost immediately, in order to avoid embarrassment.
@gingataisen
My point merely being that there are also other veritable developers, taking to other reputable tech outlets that would also say the PS5 is easier to develop for. It's a case of preference and how each individual developer works. Game development is not a "one size fits all" thing. Either way it's always good to know developers are finding it easier rather than harder to develop for. No one wants a return to the N64 days...
Normally, I'd take this with a pinch of salt as well, but this time around,
I definitely believe it has merit. Phil Spencer has made leaps and bounds, to tie down each and every loose end that was left last generation, or might possibly count for this generation, so making your platform very easy to develop for, seems like a given in that regard.
And the Xbox brand has something to prove, so a claim in favor of them would most definitely seem far more plausible than one in favor of PlayStation.
And until recently, Sony's platforms have also NEVER been easy to develop for, so there's that as well. They've always chosen weird hardware and weird CPU's and GPU's, so only since this generation, have they come to their senses, choosing more common components.
Having said that though, they're VERY quiet, and I'm not expecting them to hit anything out of any park any time soon, especially with inferior hardware, so far as I'm concerned, Microsoft has already won.
Regardless of a rather tepid first reveal this week...
@nofriendo I'm thinking this, the silence is deafening. They either have a major trick up their sleeve so to speak or are panicking...
I do reckon that overall the majority of developers will potentially prefer developing for Xbox, simply because of the similarity to PC architecture. Smart delivery is in essence what PC games have been offering for decades with minimum specs and recommended specs.
Sony's faster SSD makes file compression/loading easier to work with, and Xbox's faster GPU makes fancy effects easier to pull off. I'm glad Sony has something sane, unlike the bad old days of the PS3. And Microsoft has always been easy to dev for aside from Xbox 360-era patch fees and whatnot.
@nofriendo Sony at minimum has back compat. That's a big advantage with their market share, but if they had superior hardware they probably would have showed it by now. Either they're making last second changes or they're nervous they can't offer what MS can at the price point. MS could especially claw back market share if they were a loss leader. Not to mention the first party acquisitions.
hmmmm.... I don't know. There's so many backroom politics in the video game industry I'm pretty skeptical about every pre-launch comment.
Unless he specifically mentions PS5, I'm going to assume he's talking about what it is like to move from XBone to XBseX and is just being coy with his choice of words.
*edit: After reading the actual interview, one of the questions asks him to compare development between XBseX and PS5 and he says no comment.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
( o_o)
@Vincent294 But is it 100% backwards compatibility with EVERY PlayStation generation? No, it isn't. From what I've read, it's predominantly just with PS4 titles, so regardless of their supposed larger library, that's not a point in their favor at all, because Microsoft is leagues ahead of them in that regard, with a FAR more extensive backwards compatible catalog.
@ThePrettySenshi And yet, he literally says "In the end it's easier to develop for Xbox Series X than any other console".
Seems like a pretty decisive answer to me, regardless of what he said later on in the interview...
He also didn't really say "no comment", he said he couldn't really go into detail and is only focusing on the Xbox Series X version.
So, that could mean either one of two things: he really doesn't know yet, which seems highly unlikely, or he doesn't want to speak negatively of the hardware, which is actually to his credit, because he's decent enough to not reveal even the tiniest bit of info about Sony's upcoming console, which could undermine their upcoming reveal.
On a side note: he also highlights the power and benefits of the Xbox Series X CPU several times in that interview, indicating that he actually IS comparing it to other platforms.
Well Sony has always been a wee bit more complicated to developed for minus the recent one. That’s not necessarily a bad or good thing. Judging from the rather advance SSD that ps5 has, it’s possible that it also has presented some new challenges. But considering that MS is leveraging Smart Delivery it makes sense that the dev kit is close enough to the previous one. To make it easier for developers etc
I’m glad to hear this news just because it should mean smoother new pgames and enhancements on current games
@ThanosReXXX I don't think 360 or OG Xbox compat is shipping consoles next gen. 360 support factored into me selecting the One this gen, but won't be as important to me next gen. OG Xbox support is a great novelty, it's so cool a 20-year-old disc can still be inserted. Glad MS supports it though, super cool stuff.
@mousieone Their SSD is just faster, that would make dev easier not harder. The RAM on PS5 is slightly faster too. The PS5 GPU is slower, the CPU is too if I recall. GPU will probably be the bottleneck so I anticipate PS5 would be harder to dev for. Haven't developed games before so I have no idea how friendly the PS5/Xbox dev kits are to debug. Probably confidential info right now.
@Vincent294 Xbox series X Ram is faster than ps5
Xbox Series X.
Memory 16Gb GDDR6,
Memory bandwidth
10GB at 560GBps
6GB at 336GBps
PS5
16GB GDDR6,
Memory bandwidth
448GBps
@Vict33 Yeah, I said that. The PS5's inferior GPU will be the bottleneck. Never argued otherwise, merely stated the fact that the PS5's SSD is faster. It's also about 100GB smaller, which will hurt.
Edit: Derp, misread. The Xbox Series X RAM is a mix, some is faster, some is not.
@Vincent294 But that's just the thing: it's not just about OG Xbox and Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, it's about ALL generations of Xbox being backwards compatible on Series X, and that IS a big thing. You should definitely not underestimate that.
If it wouldn't be a big thing, Spencer wouldn't be going all out on this. And he has already more or less confirmed that they will start adding new titles to it again, once they've got the console in people's homes, so that should already tell you something.
In comparison, Sony only has partial backwards compatibility, which apparently shows that it is basically more of an afterthought for them, whereas Microsoft wants you to feel like it doesn't matter which model Xbox you have, you'll STILL be able to play most, if not ALL of your previous generations Xbox games.
That's what they've been working towards all along, and that is basically also what smart delivery is about for the current generation, which will probably also be a thing for whatever comes after Series X.
On a side note: not saying that you claimed it would, but I firmly believe that the whole "faster" SSD thing will not be a game changer at all. If that is the only thing they can bring to counter all the stuff that Microsoft is offering in their hardware, then that's actually really pathetic:
Microsoft: we have the most powerful console this generation.
Sony: yeah, that may be, but we have a slightly faster SSD...
EDIT:
I'll just add this video, which goes into quite a bit of detail on both the hardware and the UI. It's an interesting watch:
@ThanosReXXX Their SSD is more than a little faster, it's twice as fast. Regardless the GPU is more important, the XSX SSD is already crazy fast, and the XSX has over 100 GB more storage than the PS5 (I expect storage space to be an issue next gen). Microsoft can always ship faster SSDs in later Xboxes, I suspect the user will also be able to replace it with a faster one down the road. I'm pretty sure the XSX motherboard can make use of a faster SSD. And of course you can just add more storage via the expansion instead of replacing your SSD entirely, the only option on the PS5.
@Vincent294 Yeah, I know, I was just over-exaggerating it a bit. Should perhaps have made that a bit clearer. Either way, that faster SSD alone isn't going to mean or do a damn thing, if the rest of the hardware isn't up to the task, and it certainly does seem like Microsoft has done a FAR better job of it, this time around.
It's about the sum of all the parts, and how well they "sing" together, not about the individual components being better or faster.
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