Mass Effect Andromeda: 4K Gameplay

Wait... there are two new PS4 consoles coming out? What are the differences?

Lot of different information out there. This article says they'll be using up scaling and checkerboard rendering and some games may even be native. It also references mark cerny, lead architect for Sony saying games would be upscaled.

http://wccftech.com/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-4k-screenshot-comparison-native-maxed-pc-vs-ps4pro/

It sounds to me like it will mostly be smoke and mirrors and not native 4K which isn't surprising based on the hardware used even when it can be fully optimized. That's not to say though that it's not still pretty impressive considering the $399 price tag. I wonder if Sony is eating any of the cost to hit that number.

Considering I've yet to play a ps4 game that didn't suffer from slowdowns and long loading times I'm wonder how these games will perform. Are they crawl along at 25-30fps like many do now. Personally I'd like 1080 with consistently smooth gameplay over a barley 30 fps pseudo 4K.

At the end of the day though I only play console exclusives on console anyway so it's not that big a deal to me.

JDR13 said:

Wait… there are two new PS4 consoles coming out? What are the differences?

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One is the PS4 Slim which is almost exactly like the original one just with a facelift. The other is the PS4 Pro also known formerly as the PS4neo which is an all new PS4 with better hardware so console peasants can shed off some of their peasantry .

It will allow console gamers to play games at higher settings. Games will keep working on all consoles (i.e. full backwards compatibility) but the games will automatically run at the higher settings on the PS4 Pro (and Xbox S whenever that comes out).

The console makers are basically trying to correct the mistake of launching with inferior hardware, although a case could easily be made that the new consoles aren't exactly breaking any records either. They are still firmly in mid range PC territory.
All slagging off aside for a moment, I do welcome the new iterative release policy though. This is certainly miles better than being stuck with crappy consoles holding everything back for another decade yet again.

Eh, I heard the new consoles are not going to play games in 4K, but rather stream video in 4K. If you listen to the advertisements, the XBOX console ads clearly states it supports 4K video. 4K gaming at 60 FPS is a whole different beast and likely the technology is still too expensive to support it in a console form. So yeah, it will probably be upscaled from 1080p to 4K, maybe (it might not even do that much) unless they pull off a miracle and can offer some mega GPU that can handle 4K@60 FPS for the price of a console.

Sony decided in the end not to let fanmade mods on playstations, fresh input from Bethesda:
https://bethesda.net/#en/events/game/ps4-mod-update/2016/09/09/199

Whatever. If norespawn mod didn't exist, I'm not sure if I'd ever finish either Skyrim or FO4. Out of pure luck Sony is asked nothing about when it comes to PC.

Moriendor said:

All slagging off aside for a moment, I do welcome the new iterative release policy though. This is certainly miles better than being stuck with crappy consoles holding everything back for another decade yet again.

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I agree. I don't know how much it will it help though, since the guarantee of compatiblitity with the older versions means that everything still has to be designed with the limitations of the lowest common denominator in mind.

Ripper said:

I agree. I don't know how much it will it help though, since the guarantee of compatiblitity with the older versions means that everything still has to be designed with the limitations of the lowest common denominator in mind.

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That's a valid concern but with the scalability of modern engines like UE4 I believe there is hope.

I do not think that too much will change anyway. Some games will be developed with 30fps for the legacy consoles and 60fps for the newer versions or higher resolutions on the newer ones but I would not expect anything too complex.

It would add a lot of development work (= time = budget increase) if developers had to fine-tune the settings and the gameplay to a tee for the various console versions *and* the PC.
I'm willing to bet that publishers won't easily fund such extra work. In the vast majority of games it will be something "lazy" and simple as 30fps vs. 60fps. or very high vs. high details and stuff like that.

Also see here (both times with developer quotes):

http://kotaku.com/the-ps4-pro-will-help-launch-a-new-more-complicated-er-1786366610

It’s just a visual enhancement. It doesn’t drastically change the nature of your games… We do the same calculations. Normally we’re just limited by whatever the TV can display. We remove the cap and all of a sudden there’s something quite beautiful underneath. It doesn’t drastically change a thing. It’s just prettier and nicer, for the enthusiasts who are into that sort of stuff.

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... or here...

http://wccftech.com/playstation-4-pro-patches-charged-fees-developer/

We are not allowed to charge you for patches or pro feature updates.
The “fees” include anything we have to swallow to update our past games for you.
The internet can calm down. There is nothing we can do to leverage pro features or patches with price. Nothing.

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