Hey Everyone!
I live in sweden so my English is not the best when it comes to Writing, but I found this video from Gamespot to day and is it SO hard for developer to make good PC ports or even a PC port at all?
The reason I ask is becuse, I in the beginning of the year changed from being a console gamer to PC gamer and I don't really wan't to go back. But if it is true what she is saying then it sounds that developers don't want to focus on PC.
I don't no but I wanted to ask people here and read what you Think about this.
Also didn't mention that I am 26 years old so I have been a console gamer a long time and change to PC this year.
I can't watch the video because I'm on my phone with slow data. But I can answer that question without knowing what the video says. The answer is no, it isn't ssooo haaard for developers to port a game. Most of them just suck at it. Also, keep in mind that most of what Gamestop says is total garbage. Ever watch their TV channel? Nothing but hype over this or that console game. They barely carry anything PC, it shouldn't surprise you that they'd say PC porting is hard. I should know, I'm getting a job there to support taking university classes.
It's easier to code for console, that's true. But only because it's one system with specific parts. Compare that to literally hundreds or thousands of PC part combinations. That's the one thing coding for console has going for it. But is PC porting rreeaalllyy haaarrd? No, and don't ever let someone tell you that. It goes back to why console is popular. Easy, mindless, quick, effortless to use gaming. I don't necessarily mean that as an insult either, I'm just acknowleging why console is popular. And most PC vs console arguments involve that. In the end, PC is objectively better. You can even set up PC to be used like a console. But, again, console is a no effort, no skill required system. That's what keeps it popular and that's where the money comes from, that's why companies like gamestop want developers to keep pushing console exclusives and making shit PC ports. Some developers actually care about the PC community and you can tell who they are: they make PC ports and those ports don't suck, and if they do, they fix them.
PC porting isn't that hard, but it does require more work for optimization. As the hardware on consoles isn't really gonna change.
- Motivation $$$ - they get paid a lot more from the big companies
That's the biggest thing. I'll take the benefit of the doubt and go with the old 80/20 rule. You can get 80% functionality with 20% effort, but getting that last 20% of the project done will take 80% more effort. They ship it barely done, because money and people don't like waiting. So its like a loose-loose situation. But enough /rant
Think of it this way. All video games are made on a PC. People saying porting games to PC is hard is a truck load of crap. It's just pure laziness and Sony and Microsoft throwing money at developers. But it is slowly changing as PC gaming is becoming more and more popular
1 Like
The points she made in the video are valid. Consoles benefit from hardware uniformity and Piracy is an issue, however this doesn't explain the issues/bugs with some pc ports. Developers or contract developers do not need to validate or test the game on infinite different combination of hardware but only on the most recent and popular platforms. While the hardware might vary the programming does not it's still using the DirectX 11 API if your talking about Windows. It's not like changing hardware from ps3 to ps4. If hardware is an issue it should at least work on one set of hardware.
Piracy on the other hand effects all media not just games on pc. Sorry that all I have for piracy.
We've both said that hardware uniformity is a bonus to consoles but it's in no way an excuse. Especially when you consider that console hardware is shit for how much it costs. An equal dollar PC can be just as if not more powerful and PCs are multi function machines. Good luck writing that essay on Xbox.
Also, piracy is not a problem. It's an inflated scapegoat used to criminalize consumers while companies rake in money while being lazy. The CEO of Valve said it best. You don't beat piracy with laws, fines, and DRM. You beat it by getting off your ass and providing quality service to the consumer. That's paraphrasing but... Steam comes out and video game piracy plummets. Netflix comes out and TV piracy plummets. Windows 10 being free to upgrade from 7 & 8? Microsoft is catching on. They know this will take them to the bank in the end. Same can't be said about the Xbox department though. They tried to DRM lock everything and look how pissed people got. Same reason Game of Thrones is the #1 pirated show. It's stupid expensive and in some areas difficult to get. And people hate HBO because their legal department hounds people's ISPs.
Wouldn't optimizing be a bit easier nowdays? All they have to do is optimize it for the cpu/gpu drivers. Considering amd has the catalyst drivers, which cover just about every card. Nvidia's drivers just about do the same. Same goes for the cpu with Intel and amd.
Just guessing here, though
You're exactly correct. CPU and GPU companies have been moving towards ubiquity for years and it makes software development easier. Some developers are just lazy or they are payed for exclusives and Gamestop is full of it. Like I said, ever watch their TV channel? I'm going to get so annoyed with that thing behind me at the front counter.
I cringe every time I visit gamestop. About a month ago I actually got a bit angry because they had a mentally disabled dude talking about how much he loves shopping at gamestop and using their reward points. I shit you not. Straight up a dude in a wheelchair barely able to function talking about how much he loves his gamestop reward points.
Lol I went ahead and signed up for it because gamestop is where I get headphones and other stuff. Hate on Turtle Beach all you want but those marked down headphones I got so I could use mumble for Guild Wars 2? Mmm... I love me some cheap headphones that happen to have a great noise cancelling mic. Comfy headpadding too. But the wheelchair guy? Ugh...
I made a rewards account, and gave the keychain card thingy to my brother. He buys a lot of xbox games, so every so often I check my account and I have enough for free games, and headphones/mics.
I go there to pic up shitty ds/wii games for a buck a piece but in general popular used games are a rip
More like reality distortion rather than reality check.
Sure it is hard, if you are not skilled, are lazy, and are simply not willing. Everything in this world is hard if you think along those lines.
The reality though is that it isn't hard if you are a developer dedicated towards providing a quality experience and doing your job; and are capable of doing some proper planning ahead with your code and creating a good well organized foundation which enables porting to be a pretty straightforward task.
If it is so hard and impossible, then what about those countless devs who were capable of creating a proper port? Are they special? Have they found some programing messiahs and were endowed with the secrets of porting and hardware optimization through a divine heavenly light taking a shit directly into their brains?
Besides, for a "reality check" article, i don't see any empirical evidence for all their BS. If there is one field on this planet you can bullshit people with by twisting, turning, and farting out misinformation, and easily play on the ignorance with regard to the field, it's programing. I think this is exactly what is happening, and i bet a few people here in the forums with game programing experience can point that that this is just a giant pile of misinformation of half-truths and outright lies.
These people are bought. Don't trust a thing they say.
1 Like
Thank you to all people above that have answerd my question!
You have sett my mind at ease (Think that it's how you spell it), I will take all the salt I have next time I hear Gamespot say anything about PC.
And like MilkshakeBarrage said about devs who were capable of creating a proper port, I am playing Middle Eart: Shadow of Mordor right now and not long ago I played Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes on PC. Does games are very good PC port's I Think, Batman arkham Knight on the other hand...
I got the PC version of the game as a birthday gift from my parents, they know how much I love the arkham games. It was the Premium Edition with the season pass that hade like 10 pucks of if you pre order it.
So what happend, I Think I was lucky becuse after I downloaded the latest drivers to my AMD card, the game work more or less. Was able to finish the game without crashing or having really slow fps, but it was locked at 30 fps. And the game was really good but you could tell that the textures sucked for AAA game and that rain wasen't there on the batmobil. It had more problems but those where the first that came in to my head.
Tek_Elf I feel sorry for you that you have to be at Gamestop, they suck in sweden too. But sometimes we have to take the hard paths in Life. Have happy thoughts when you are there and it will work out for you!