Why is the PC version Inferior to PS4?

[Richard B]

PCs have more or less unlimited potential. Some of them are more powerful than PS4s. Why should they not be able to play the game with all the good stuff the PS4ers get?

 

[hammr25]

Sony made a deal with Farsight. That's why.

 

[Biff]

A deal to have a launch title.
Fs said PC will get the definitive version.
(.. someday)

 

[superballs]

I thought it was because snakes don't have armpits

 

[PC.Doctor]

Farsight did announce that they will release a major DX11 update to the PC version so it can have the same lighting option as the PS4 version does; unfortunatly, we do not know when FS will release that update. Also, this is like some promotion for the launch of a brand new gaming console.

 

[hawk]

PC, Y U NO good anymore

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Personally, I still feel the PC version looks better than a lot of the PS4 tables where the lighting looks really fake. Although Star Trek and Funhouse really do look very nice on PS4 (shame they sound like garbage).

Also, the fact I can run the PC version on an Atom tablet in low settings and it still look/play better than the PS3 version (to me anyway) but also run it on my desktop PC looking even better, is a huge bonus. I just hope they do not break compatibility with my tablet when the add DX11 as its a HUGE improvement over the Android version. I'm kinda hoping they will figure out a way to enable ball reflections on such a low spec machine, although using ball skins offsets that quite a lot as the shinier ones look good even without reflections.

 

[Richard B]

If the PC version is the lead platform, how can a port to the PS4 have superior graphics and physics to the original? Are they doing post-port enhancements for PS4, or are they crippling the PC version so Sony's platform can have the "best" version?

 

[Biff]

xbox360 was lead platform and the pc version is a port.
This will change in the future.

 

[Mike Reitmeyer]

PC Version engine was written years ago and is based on DirectX 9 tech and the PC's at that time. When Sony asked us to be a launch title on PS4, we created a new graphics engine for PS4 that could do the fancier lighting. To put this on PC requires an engine upgrade. Which takes quite a lot of work to do. It's not simple copy/paste code since the hardware and libraries for PS4 are not the same as PC (although they are more similar than previous Sony hardware). Now that we are doing Xbox One, that code (DirectX based) will be easy to port into the PC engine. So as Xbox one gets done, PC will get the same update.

Also want to clarify. Sony and Microsoft do NOT pay developers for exclusivity. Maybe really large developers, but not small ones. Usually it's more like "give us something exclusive or be excluded from our platform"

In the case of PS4, Sony asked that the PS4 version look next gen. So we implemented that functionality. Afterwards decided that it should be on PC as well.

And finally, we only have one engine programmer. (There are 4 programmers working on TPA + 1 engine programmer). Our studio is very small compared to many companies. So for one programmer, it's a lot of work to implement a new platform (Xbox One for example) and do a full graphics engine change on PC. As well as fix engine related bugs on each platform.

 

[Biff]

But Mike, the pc version is a port from the xbox360, right? You said it before..

 

[Mike Reitmeyer]

But Mike, the pc version is a port from the xbox360, right? You said it before..

I did all the gameplay programming on Xbox 360 when we started the project. That gameplay code was ported to every other platform. The engine code (graphics etc) were written for each platform individually. We use an in house cross platform engine. So you could say that the iOS, Android, Mac, PC, PS3, PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One and any other platform that we ship on is a port of the Xbox 360 version.

I now use PC to develop the tables because we release the Steam version before Xbox 360, and this allows more QA in our office to test the build. I do keep the Xbox 360 up to date, because there are a few people here who still prefer to use the Xbox dev kit.

 

[Biff]

Thank you for your detailed answers.

 

[AshleyAshes]

The PC port works at any resolution, let's me use a vertical display if I want, works on multiple PCs (My desktop, my HTPC, my laptop while I'm at school!), it works with my 360 controllers, and it's freakin' PINBALL at $2-$3 per table. I wouldn't call it inferior.

 

[rehtroboi40]

The PC port works at any resolution, let's me use a vertical display if I want, works on multiple PCs (My desktop, my HTPC, my laptop while I'm at school!), it works with my 360 controllers, and it's freakin' PINBALL at $2-$3 per table. I wouldn't call it inferior.

I cannot believe my eyes-people thinking the PC version is inferior to the PS4 version. Let's see...

1) PC version gets up-to-the-minute updates (as opposed to twice every five months)
2) Actually sounds better than PS4 version
3) No limits on trophies or achievements

Now, my PC version is inferior because, well, my computer is. But it still plays competently-just can't do 1920x1080 at more than 1 fps.
If I had a grand burning a hole in my pocket, I'd get a PC powerful enough-and never have to worry about supporting a console version.

 

[superballs]

The PC port works at any resolution, let's me use a vertical display if I want, works on multiple PCs (My desktop, my HTPC, my laptop while I'm at school!), it works with my 360 controllers, and it's freakin' PINBALL at $2-$3 per table. I wouldn't call it inferior.

I like you, we can be friends.

I cannot believe my eyes-people thinking the PC version is inferior to the PS4 version. Let's see...

1) PC version gets up-to-the-minute updates (as opposed to twice every five months)
2) Actually sounds better than PS4 version
3) No limits on trophies or achievements

Now, my PC version is inferior because, well, my computer is. But it still plays competently-just can't do 1920x1080 at more than 1 fps.
If I had a grand burning a hole in my pocket, I'd get a PC powerful enough-and never have to worry about supporting a console version.

Yeah the PC has technically inferior lighting and that's about it.
Portrait mode will likely never come to the consoles.
The PC version shouldn't dent you a grand for hardware (my laptop is 5 years old, and was an 800$ refurb when i bought it and plays it well at ok settings at 1050x1680 portrait).
We sure can boast about the sound for now, I guess we should enjoy that while it lasts.

The PC crowd has it pretty good.

I do like the physics tweaks I've seen on the PS4 though.

 

[AshleyAshes]

Now, my PC version is inferior because, well, my computer is. But it still plays competently-just can't do 1920x1080 at more than 1 fps.
If I had a grand burning a hole in my pocket, I'd get a PC powerful enough-and never have to worry about supporting a console version.

Yeah the PC has technically inferior lighting and that's about it.
Portrait mode will likely never come to the consoles.
The PC version shouldn't dent you a grand for hardware (my laptop is 5 years old, and was an 800$ refurb when i bought it and plays it well at ok settings at 1050x1680 portrait).
We sure can boast about the sound for now, I guess we should enjoy that while it lasts.

The PC crowd has it pretty good.

Yeah, a grand is way high just to play this game. I'm running it mostly on my HTPC, which is an AMD A8-3870K (It's a glorified AMD Phenom II X4) and a hand me downed Radeon HD 6850, no problem, even 1080p, all the settings up high. You could run the game happily on like any mid or even lower-mid range box.

 

[mpad]

Thank you mike for the update. Very much appreciated.

From a business case view:
Is it not possible to hire some temporary programmers to get everything straightened out and then start selling the polished product now? Not in a year, when it looks last gen again.

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Like I said, the game as it stands today can run on the new Atoms and I REALLY hope that doesn't change. You don't get the ball reflections or post-processing (or anti-aliasing for that matter) but when you are playing on a 10" screen that stuff doesn't bother you either. It still looks and play infinitely better than on my Galaxy Note 3.

I enjoy the game far more in portrait at 768x1366 with all the graphics settings effectively off, than at 1920x1080 in landscape with everything on.

 

[Shaneus]

I do like the physics tweaks I've seen on the PS4 though.

Thiiiiis. Graphics I can deal with taking their time as they obviously would take a while to implement, but something like physics when it's already done on a console has no reason not to be on PC as well (assuming it's something that applies to all tables and doesn't need to be tweaked per table like lighting would). Now that I've noticed it, I can't un-notice it