110°

Ubisoft Talks AC4 Tech – AnvilNext Engine Features, Global Illumination, DX11.2, AMD’s Mantle

DSOGaming writes: "A couple of days ago, we had the pleasure to interview Ubisoft’s Luc Poirier, team lead for the rendering team for AC4 at Ubisoft Montreal. Luc shared some interesting tech information about Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and detailed some of the features that have been implemented in the next iteration of the AnvilNext engine. Luc also talked about Windows 8 and DX11.2, as well as AMD’s upcoming API, Mantle."

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dsogaming.com
xKugo3875d ago

Seems like Windows 8 is a must have for next-gen; It helps significantly in BF4 beta and now helping in AC4. Glad I opted for it instead of Windows 7.

lsujester3875d ago

It really does, under the hood it is a very good OS. I still hate Metro on a desktop, though.

SniperControl3875d ago

It's my only bugbear about w8, absolutely loathe metro, hopefully the new 8.1 update makes it a little more bearable.

Idba3874d ago

you could download a mod to make windows 8 look like windows 7, but still not lose any performance

TomahawkX3875d ago

Very informative interview, thanks!

CrossingEden3875d ago

Can you confirm whether the PC version will be identical to the next-gen version? If yes, can we expect any PC exclusive features that won’t be present in the next-gen console versions (apart from DX11 and TXAA)? If not, what will be the differences between the PC and the next-gen console version?

LP: All the next gen features will be available on PC. On top of that, the team at Ubisoft Kiev worked on several PC specific features, like improved HBAO, MSAA, contact hardening soft shadows and improved god rays. The UI has been updated for the PC version. Also, Nvidia card owners will have access, like you mentioned, to TXAA, but also to the GeForce Experience: graphics options will be automatically adjusted in accordance to the user GPU and machine.

PC version confirmed to be the best.

pete0073875d ago

And when we have pc versions outpacing consoles even before launch......
Cant imagine the future for those devices.

ZBlacktt3875d ago

Because common sense says PC people can replace parts at will. New stuff comes out often and Consoles with fixed hardware sit for some years. But seeing that a PS4 console by itself would be $340 ( $60 DS4 controller value ). Yet still look very very good. Is there really a reason to complain? No.

pete0073874d ago

You have your point. But If we look all console gens before, it was pc catching up because consoles had budgets on the billions. And mostly sell at a loss making up on royalties. Last gen broke everything, sony didnt make à dime and went cheappo. You get what you Pay. Msft hides behind kinect and other Nintendo phylosophy.
Well see

Letros3874d ago

I guess it would have been nice if these new consoles were actually close to high end PCs. They are struggling to hit 1080p60, meanwhile PC is shifting into affordable 4k gaming, likely a 4k tv is the next big upgrade for every home in a few years.

ZBlacktt3874d ago

Sony gave players a console that had never been seen before. A Blu-ray player with a Cell chip. At a time there was no Blu-ray market at all. Then before long the Blu-ray wins the format war. Now fast forward to today, Sony's still using it and now MS has finally caught up. Sony took that loss just to get the product out there. Yet, if you research, you'll see the PS3 did start making a profit. So you are not actuate in that statement.

I used to PC game way way back in the day. I own a IT company now. So I more then get it. Just on the scale of things. A PC will never match the value of a console and more so these Next Gen ones. So PC guys justify their spending habits by going around trying to belittle the console gamers as if they are so inferior. Meanwhile, AC4 has been being shown to the world all this year on a PS4. While everyone was going WOW that looks so damn good! Yeah... on $360.

Letros,

Lets face it. It's not even a contest because again. The PC can swap parts everyday if users wanted to. A console is and has always been a fixed pieced of hardware. Two entirely different methods of gaming. If only the console guys could replace graphics cards at will right, lol.

120°

Leaked Early Prototype Footage Reveals Development Stages Of Several Assassin's Creed Games

Prototype footage from several of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed titles has leaked, revealing early stages of their development.

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twistedvoxel.com
90°

The Best Pirate-Themed Video Games (Not Skull and Bones)

BY JASON MONROE: The very best pirate-themed video games that you should play instead of the disappointment that is Skull and Bones.

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growngaming.com
thorstein79d ago

PoE: Deadfire, Unless you have a or PS5 or an SSD don't bother, loading times are insane. A minute and a half to go into a room to investigate a desk in an inn and then an additional 1 1/2 minutes to leave the room and then load to leave the inn???

And they never fixed it.

220°

Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag vs Skull and Bones Video Comparison Is an Eye-Opener

Ubisoft has just released Skull and Bones on PC and consoles. And, from the looks of it, the game wasn’t received well by some gamers. Not only that but it appears that Skull and Bones can be worse than Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, a game that came out a decade ago.

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dsogaming.com
OtterX93d ago (Edited 93d ago )

I wanted a Black Flag sequel so bad. It's still my favorite AC entry. The fact that they ignored everything that we loved about that game in this "spiritual successor" is making me enjoy watching this game crash and burn quite a bit. Either do it right or don't do it at all. (I understand the legal binding they got themselves into with the Singapore government to release this game at all costs)

/grabs popcorn

isarai93d ago

My thing is, if the Singapore govt was forcing you to do it at all cost, why not make what people wanted? How did ubi delay it for 5yrs, then again for 1yr and not just make a similar experience to black flag? How do you spend so much time and make so little?

Chocoburger92d ago

Ubisoft did make a sequel, Assassin's Creed: Rogue. It has a short campaign, and its packed with filler side quests for upgrades, but it's still a decent time.

It released on the same day as Assassin's Creed: Unity, so it was mostly forgotten.

porkChop92d ago

11 years of development. Multiple restarts. All the while people have been saying they don't want some pirate game where you can't even get off your ship. 11 years of people telling Ubisoft all they want is a pirate game that's basically Black Flag without any of the assassin or animus stuff. Yet they still served up this trash that no one wanted, charged $70 for it, and had the balls to call it AAAA.

The Guillemot family honestly needs to be forced out of Ubisoft. They've doubled down on everything players don't like about their games, they want AI to create "rough drafts" of their stories rather than letting their writers do their jobs, and they literally do not give a shit what their playerbase actually wants. 5-6 years ago their stock was worth more than 4x what it's currently worth. The company is dying.

Jin_Sakai92d ago (Edited 92d ago )

What has happened to developers? How can you possible make a worse looking game 11 years later? It’s honestly mind boggling.

darksky92d ago

It's because the older developers were better at it. The new generation pass most of their exams by copying code from around the web so are not nearly as good at understanding what they are developing.

LucasRuinedChildhood92d ago (Edited 92d ago )

No, here's the truth:
https://www.channelnewsasia...
This was made in Singapore and it's the first game of this scale to be made there. Ubisoft would probably cancel it normally since it clearly wasn't shaping up well but they were getting government grants to try build up the industry there.

Do you really think game developers are radically different than just 10 years ago? And this game has been development since Black Flag released.

Using one crap game to trash a whole industry of developers is stupid. It's like saying "Alien Colonial Marines proves that game developers suck now."

yeahokwhatever92d ago

i know this to be at least part of the puzzle from experience.

senorfartcushion91d ago

It's the multiplayer aspect of the world. MP games look worse than single player games, period. Every comparison we keep seeing are for games like Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad and Skull and Bones. They all have multiplayer focusses.

SyntheticForm92d ago

God, I'd love a remake of Black Flag.

Yi-Long92d ago

Enough has been said about this game already. The gaming world shrugged when it was announced so many years ago, and instead of listening to all the criticisms from the community back then, Ubi just sailed on and kept making a game nobody really wanted. What a waste of money and effort.

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