Question about the porting process...

Just something I've always wondered about...

Say a game was being developed for PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox. Do developers usually develop the game solely on one platform and port it to the others after completion, or are multiple builds created throughout development for each platform?

 

There's no one answer. It's *possible* the same source code could be used to build each version with all the system specific things handled by definitions of which version you're trying to build. It's also possibly that the core of the game is developed independently and the system specific parts are done by different teams. Or like you said they could have a platform lead and then port that to the other platforms later.

Older platforms actually aren't always ports. Instead the game may be developed for both platforms at the same time with the same game design concept in mind, sharing assets too.

All sorts of variations are possible. I think during the PS2/GC/Xbox generation they often had the PS2 version as the lead. But that's just a guess.

 

Yeah, right on. I figured it would definitely be different depending on the studio, guess I was basically wondering what the most common approach was. It isn't very surprising that the PS2 would have been the lead last gen in most cases. I mean, I've heard from a few people that it was the easiest to develop for. That might not be accurate, though.

 

PS2 the easiest to develop for? Absolutely not hah.

 

and depends on Developer's skills, time and money.

Most of port are bad, For example XBOX360 to PS3 which PS3 get the most horrible result at the end.

 

depends how lazy they are, how much time they have and how much effort is afforded to the porting process, there has been and are some horribly lazy ports especially between pc > console and console > pc over the years.

 

Yeah it should start from PC to PS3 and then XBOX360. It unfair that PS3 didn't get a chance to show the power of it apart from PS3 exclusive games and some separate port games aswell.

 

Yeah, well... like I say, I really don't know anything about developing for consoles. The whole porting thing is just something I've been thinking about recently, because it's interesting how things are lost in the transition between platforms, or gained, even if all versions are made around the same time.

I guess it really does boil down to how develop time is managed. I would figure that a lot of developers concern themselves primarily with the console they think their game will sell the strongest on, which is a shame, but understandable to some degree.

 

how to do things right? "Hitman: Absolution" how to screw things up beyond all screwage > "Rage" < shame on you id software! just two examples off the top of my head

 

The games are now usually made on either pc or xbox 360 since its pretty much almost the same, and then are ported to the PS3. There is a reason the PS3 didnt shine with third party titles and its because the development tools and enviorment was absolute shit.

I don't think any cross platform game was original meant to be designed on PS3 and then ported to xbox or pc...

 

Some developers split their teams to work on different platforms. One team works on PS2 the other on xbox. Something like that.

But now days developers are lazy and develop for 1 console and port to the others, usually causing severe problems.

GTA IV is fine on PS3 and 360, but due to being developed for and on console hardware, GTA IV pc is one of the worst ports ive ever had the misfortune of playing.


Avoid it at all costs. Probably why Red Dead Redemption was never ported, and why GTA V likely wont come to PC.

 

That correct but PS3 development tools wasn't shit, it was difficult to work with, just like Sega Saturn. Yet since this gaming industry business was all about getting the game out the door fast as possible to make money quicker before deadlines and trying to stay ahead of the competition rivals like Activision . No wonder why EA is doing the worst in stock marketing since past the six years all due to that EA shorter the deadlines.... most of case it 95% of mutiplatform games needs patching.

Lack of time learning PS3 cell in 2007 to 2009. Since then PS3 multiplat games got slightly better over the years. Far Cry 3 is the best/reliable mutiplatform game on PS3 without downgrading so far.

Developer was lazy and did not bother putting much effort into it either and publisher shorting the deadlines to save the money which put more pressures on the developers and eventually we end up having so many updates like patches to fix the problem.

Naughty dog is defiantly the best/ most talented gaming developer's in whole Gaming industry. They take care of their stuff and reputation. No wonder why they got so much rewards.

Sony treat their developers better and extended more time as far I concern.

I'm not surprise if it does happen. Especially PC gamers pirate the PC games.

 

I know Earthworm Jim 1 and 2 were both originally developed for the Genesis/MD and later ported to SNES and PC.

 

would just like to note, as a PC gamer we don't all pirate PC games. the vast majority of PC gamers legally purchase their games. Rockstar have a decent record on PC games going back a while. Max Payne 3 being a good example.

im not sure how bad GTA IV is as i've not played it, and red dead i dont think would have sold well on PC platform its more of a console title

 

I have been download/ pirate two PC games on my PC, Crysis 2 and Far Cry 3. Since I already own Crysis 2 and Far Cry 3 on PS3 but I want to see what the comparison between PC and PS3 but of course nothing much different from PC to PS3 anyway. Since I always prefer PS3 consoles.

Reason I mention that is how easy is to Pirate PC game all in less than two hours. you are right, not all PC gamers do pirate however most PC gamers do Pirate the PC games all the time since PC games always get the low sales all the time and nobody should not be surprise that the developers will discontinue making PC games soon in the future.

Games like Crysis series and Far Cry series were originally from PC as exclusive but then move to console to increase sales and fanbase.
Bottom of this, everybody can steal PC games easily. Like PSP

 

consoles can be softmodded / chipped / flashed etc. if most pc gamers pirated everything then services like steam would be canned and EA wouldn't be trying to push its origin service. the games have been ported to the consoles as the consoles had "caught up" and are able to match at least to an acceptable standard visuals and performance. there are still genres that consoles just cannot match like RTS, and they still lag behind on FPS in my opinion.

i can't see the PC gaming market folding. if it did there'd be a huge impact on the gaming industry and not a positive one.

 

No, it's really very difficult to build high-performance stuff for. :/

Unlike other systems, you have 3 processors (The EE, VU0 and VU1) to control simultaneously on the PS2, just to pump out polygons. While using only the EE will get them somewhere, it'll obviously not bring out the power of the system.

Plus that system has got a really big problem with a lack of VRAM, so VRAM management is crucial too. High-resolution textures are a big no-no for it (Sony, why? D: It had the power for 1080P, but doesn't have the VRAM for it!).

 

Having Console modded may take time or goes wrong. PC is the easier to do it without using any method or software. All you have to do is Download a games from site as 6GB per game can download in 2 hours and then boom, you good to go. Simple as it is.

I don't understand much about steam though. All I know that Steam has good deals.

 

Of that generation, the Gamecube was the easiest to develop for from what I gather, in it's very similar to OpenGL style code.
The Xbox was a tad trickier, in a DirectX type fashion, and the ps2 was an utter nightmare due to Sony spending it's time making the harrdware optimum and not supplying that great libraries. I reckon this is why the ps3 kept getting better and better as time went on, whilst the Gamecube was showing most of it's cards up front with the likes of the stunning Rogue Leader.

Again for that gen, I reckon you'd develop for the ps2 simply because it's the least powerful / oldest / most popular of the bunch. Add in some specific effects for an xbox powerhouse version, and don't bother with the Gamecube and job done

I also heard back then that EA had a compiler that, with the change of a drop down list, would compile to any of those 3, which seems mightily impressive if true.

As for any console getting the rough end of the stick (ps3 currently?) it's the exclusives that make a console anyway right!?

This could all be hearsay of course

 

^Gamecube is actually my favorite console, which is why it was pretty unfortunate that a lot of ports got shafted with that console. The smaller media was often the reasoning for it, and that seems fair enough when it comes to FMVs and whatnot.

Occasionally developers at least make some effort with the less popular hardware. For example, the Tony Hawk series was way more popular on PS2 than Gamecube, however Neversoft included 480p support for the Gamecube versions as early as THPS4, whereas PS2 users didn't get the option until the fifth game of that generation (American Wasteland).

It was probably more to do with THPS3 selling reasonably well on the console, so they added the option to THPS4, and then it was easy enough to keep it in future installments since they all used the same engine...

Anyway... rambling.