Cloud Gaming Tech Is A "Cool Idea", Impact On Gameplay Is What Matters - The Park Dev

Funcom's Joel Bylos talks cloud computing in games and where it can go.

[gangsta_red]

"imagine an RPG like The Witcher with an AI driven Game Master who lives in the cloud and creates adventures for your player..."

This is what I am most excited about if the tech works as intended.

[magiciandude]

Xbox One will crush the PS4 with the power of the cloud. The 3% better hardware in the PS4 won't even stand a fight against this amazing technology. So excited!

[stuna1]

You really have a hard-on for anything PS4 related don't you? The sad thing is, if the power of the cloud isn't as effective as you hope it to be, you'll just try to find something else to dreg up.

On a side note, I actually hope "The Cloud" offer some benefits for the Xbox1, but I personally only see 1st party and exclusives to Xbox 1 really taking advantage of the technology. Because as it stands now the PS4 has built up a rather sizable fanbase that I don't see any really big multiplatform developers willing to alienate an entire ecosystem on as yet an untested concept on a large scale.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

*Rolls eyes here we go. Nothings being "crushed" here. MS does has something unique going on here with cloud but this means nothing to Sony or the PS4 or its games NOTHING. MS will use cloud to improve its 1st party, hopefully for unique 1st party gameplay experience.

But there's no need to bring in PS4 immaturely this is about X1.

[ShadowKnight]

I think games like Mass Effect can have huge benefits using cloud generating many planets conditions adding richness to the universe.

[Zero109]

The ability to off load work to servers can create many possibilities. Near absolute destruction (Crackdown already shows that). Far more advanced/intelligent AI. Loading up environments/weather/landscape s etc so the X1 can focus on frame-rate or other major things.

We just have to wait. I haven't been excited for something new to gaming since the Wii brought in motion controls. Hopefully it all works out fine. MS spent has spent millions on these servers. Their hard work should pay off.

Fanboyism aside, all gamers should be happy for any advancements in gaming. No matter which company starts it or who improves upon it.

[Niceman91]

Cloud Tech is also dependent on internet connection strength, right? For that reason, this all seems a little daunting and besides, third-party developers surely wouldn't spend the time and resources implementing such technology on a console which is selling far less each year in comparison to its main competitor, but Xbox exclusives will look more slightly or maybe even significantly more attractive. However, we have to wait and see as this could fail, at least during this generation.

[Zero109]

Staying online, hosting, surfing the internet quickly, multiple users on your modem all require a somewhat strong connection. Overtime, the requirements have been lowered drastically. If I recall, MS are targeting a pretty standard bandwidth for cloud gaming.

A lot of you make it sound like it's selling in the thousands or something? It's sold "millions" and is still going pretty well. Just because it's sold far less doesn't mean evreyone is just on the ps4 (or that it's the only platform that matters right now).

So you're telling me 3rd parties won't use something that could improve their game in far too many ways because it's selling less than the ps4?

If cloud gaming helped improve your framerate, AI, clothing/hair aesthetics, polyons and etc; why not use it?

[Niceman91]

@Zero109

Do you really think third-party developers will spend the extra time and money to implement cloud technology?

Many companies still struggle to release a product without launch issues... not to mention downgrades etc.

BUT, we shall wait and see.

[ninsigma]

The A.I side of things is what I'm really interested in. I don't care about 100% destructability, it's just a gimmick to sell people on the idea of Cloud. Using cloud to see how far we can push A.I to act more realistic on the other hand as far interesting and a better goal to reach. Looking forward to seeing games do stuff like that.

[ninsigma]

"
If cloud gaming helped improve your framerate, AI, clothing/hair aesthetics, polyons and etc; why not use it?"

That of course would be the most logical thing to happen but then that would require the devs to implement a whole new set of APIs in the xbox version to use cloud when the pc or ps4 version doesn't use cloud at all. That would require extra dev time and resources to implement it for just one version of the game. We all know pubs love spending extra resources on such things :p
Then we have to consider that if this is sp games we're talking about, then only one version of the game is going to require you to be online. It may benefit that version of the game but people went mad at ms for wanting to make them check in every 24 hrs so you can play your games. A lot of people won't buy that version of the game if it requires you to be online when other versions don't.

[frankdrebin72]

You state PC and ps4 as being ignored by potential devs using the cloud when in fact it will be just ps4.
PC/ Windows 10 devices I would think will capitalise on the cloud tech.
After all Xbox, PC is Microsoft.
The potential cunsomers on PC alone dwarfs consoles, so Xbox,PC it will be.
Devs will create the best they can with minimal time on various platforms, and since its been stated PC gets Xbox games dx 12 easier to port games, then common sense tells you PC/Xbox games will become Windows 10 games.
Playable on both.
Yes it's just an opinion but as you see micro have a far larger game plan to intregate PC Xbox together.
How many devs will turn that away, Dev for Xbox minimal time to port t PC and bingo..money rolling in.

[ninsigma]

When the bigger console user base is on ps4 (by a huge margin) they aren't going to risk those potential sales by alienating that audience (unless you're Square Enix it seems). Besides, if cloud computing is something they wanted to implement then they could implement it on ps4 as well. Ps4 is capable of Cloud computing just as much as the xbox and Ms has even said that playstation can use azure if it likes (for a fee of course) so there's absolutely no reason it would be ignored. Let's say ps4 can't do cloud though, for arguments sake, devs aren't going to put the resources into adding extra capabilities for cloud for the x1 version to make it head shoulders better than the ps4 version because they aren't going to risk those bigger potential sales.

Also, my point in my previous comment was based on a scenario where cloud was used to bump up x1 performance to match ps4.

[skydragoonityx]

here we go again

[Roccetarius]

Yep, always online games is a cool idea. /s

Going this route will have consequences.

[ninsigma]

That's the thing. If we want this in all our games, every game would require to be online and if I remember correctly, that's something everyone rallied against at the start of the gen. For games like destiny, the division or crackdown mp it's perfect because they require a connection anyway but we're a long way away from people accepting that single player games be connected to the Web.

[Roccetarius]

Yeah, that's the thing. I have no problem with this being used for games that have a focus on online, but using it for every game will not exactly make people happy.

That would also ruin the point of something like GOG, because you no longer have DRM free games if this is the route taken.

[rainslacker]

I think if the implementation warrants it, there's nothing wrong with it.

On the other hand, I can see publishers abusing it to put in the most cursory of features to require the user connect their game to the internet. I think we all know who would be the worst offenders of this, and unfortunately, they do publish some of the more desirable games.

I'd hope they'd leave an offline option available, but I'm not holding out hope should the tech work. This would not give the game an expiration date, and allow those who have no internet, or want to play when their internet is being crappy, the chance to play normally.

Luckily, I think a lot of games still won't use it, because it would require an ongoing cost to run the servers.

[Roccetarius]

Imagine them spending resources on a game with both an online only, and offline version. I doubt some of the larger publishers would care about that, and maybe even cripple the offline version to promote online.

[ninsigma]

I think if it was going to be put into an sp game and make that game require an Internet connection, that is the only option that will be available. I know bloodborne has an offline and online mode but the online is only notes and coop. If they were to use it for something like A.I, I can't see them developing two different sets of A.I, normal for offline and advanced for online. We know what pubs are like on spending resources so I can't see them spending resources on two sets of A.I. I'm happy to keep sp games offline tbh but I can see online being implemented in all games in the future though.

Edit: Roccetarius beat me to it.

[rainslacker]

I guess it depends on how much they want to force the player online vs. having more sales.

Online stuff makes sense in MP, but for SP, it should be optional stuff IMO.

It also depends on what kind of AI is being used. One common type/aspect of AI is pathfinding. The cloud can compute more paths at once, but even then, those paths have to be mapped out within the program, which will take resources, although there are 3rd party tools to help with that. Anyhow, the offline component could have a subset(more basic) set of those routines, while the cloud could have a larger data set to work off of. It wouldn't take substantial resources to make this happen, because the data would be generated anyways.

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot that AI does within the subroutine, so offloading it to the cloud seems like overkill, and reactionary type data(like should an NPC shoot) could be hampered by lag, as well as their actual shot could be affected, so these kinds of things have to be taken into account or else we get things like the lag jump where the program predicts something, but then is updated after the frame buffer is drawn...a common thing seen in many MMO's.

There is merit to supporting the offline player. There are a lot of them, and to cut them off from the game means lowering sales with the only return benefit being that the pub can cut off access early, and force a player to be online for whatever reason they may have to do so. I don't think every game needs this kind of thing, and publishers will be hard pressed to make a case which doesn't sound like PR spin. However, we know some are going to find some reason why it has to be online all so the game can be so much better.

I think as time goes forward, should this tech be adopted more readily, that it will simply become another type of gaming thing. Kind of like MP became a thing. It doesn't mean every game will utilize it. There will be a lot of water testing, which will probably annoy gamers before they get it right.