PS3 specs, facts, speculations and rumours !

global illumination = droooooooooooooooool

[BizioEE]

I\'ll stay tuned...it\'s curious...

I can unofficially confirm that the RSX will be based off NVIDIA’s upcoming G80 technology. The latest IP has been done for quite sometime (actually 3 months); NVIDIA will be announcing details soon. Anyhow, my source is very legit…works for NVIDIA!! You don’t have to believe me…but my source is a very honorable person. Maybe not to NDA agreements...

Nerve-Damage  

http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=62604

...and we know...PS3 ia amazing in any case   ...some games are already wonderful !

[Evi]

Sounds like BS, but we\'ll see.

[BizioEE]

and it\'s interesting...

Sony and Codemasters working on PS3 graphics middleware !!!

Everyone knows that next-gen game making has brought with it a slew of challenges and that the step from, say, PS2 to PS3 is for some more painful than that from PSOne to PS2.

Codemasters knows this better than any other development resource, having managed to pretty much wing it in the current generation. By development VP Gavin Cheshire\'s own admission, PS2 games for its leading Colin McRae series were based on repurposed PSone technology. This wasn\'t an approach possible for making the next version.

"One of the things we thought long and hard about was how we were going to exploit the next-gen cycle. One thing that Codemasters didn\'t do particularly brilliantly in the last cycle was get ready in time" admits Cheshire. "We didn\'t want to make that mistake again, so for this gen we\'ve had to restructure, plan, and gear up for what\'s coming next. It didn\'t catch us off guard, but we\'ve really had to focus our efforts."

GETTING CONNECTED

Knowing that much of future development will demand a reliance on tailored middleware solutions, Codemasters shopped around, but couldn\'t find exactly what it wanted.

Explains Chesire: “We looked at the middleware solutions we could use - we had no axe to grind, frankly, and just wanted to find the technology we could have ready for th next-gen so we weren’t left catching up in ten years’ time. We looked around at the Renderwares and the Unreals, but nothing really fulfilled our requirements – specifically for the PS3, anyway.”

So what do you do when your ideal platform is PS3? The answer is to speak to Sony. And together, Codemasters and Sony have come up with another answer: Neon.

A new next-gen engine built from scratch over the past year and a half, it’s been a significant investment – and is a new tool with an unique and
interesting backstory.

“Sony knew early on that it was going to be hard to get the very best out of the PS3 early on, so the Japan office commissioned a team in Europe to start devising new technology and tools,” says Cheshire. “We really only found out about it because a guy on that team is friends with a coder at Sony, but our guys have worked very hard on building that relationship with them. What we were able to do is exploit something that Sony was developing internally, which we were the first to see – and since then we’ve worked very closely with Sony. It’s a two-way street.”

According to Cheshire, "Sony isn\'t into exploiting" the relevant component that makes Neon work, allowing Codemasters to do so instead. Wholly-owned by Codemasters (Cheshire says 30 of the in-house programmers have been responsible for build building 80 per cent of the result), Neon will eventually power all the Codemasters in-house next-gen games - and that includes titles for the 360. Having Sony provide the springboard for the next-gen development on another platform isn\'t as unlikely as you may think, however.

"The odd thing is that we wouldn\'t have wanted to use it if it wasn\'t cross-platform," explains Cheshire. "But Sony said that was fine. Sony realises that the only way to make next-gen viable for everyone was to allow everyone to exploit the technology."

Of course, the two-way street has provided Codemasters with an invaluable glimpse into the PS3 earlier than the other third-party developers that will prove beneficial to Sony in the long-run. "We\'ve had a very good look into PS3 know how and ethics," adds Cheshire. It\'s therefore not unreasonable to think that Sony\'s playing it cool is just another of the platform holder\'s views to investing in the future of its machine - especially when you realise that the high potential for Neon to join Sony\'s tools and middleware programme could be a coup for the format holder.

GETTING DIRTY

The first game to benefit from Neon is Colin McRae Dirt, due in June 2007. About to hit its first playable milestone, the game utilises Neon for everything from shading effects, through to terrain, damage models and even simulation of real wind.

A next-gen exclusive - there will be no current gen version - Dirt\'s conception, and the part it has played in Neon\'s creation, has been lengthy.

At one point last year, when new ideas were being prototyped, Colin was potentially going to appear in a version more suited to the street racing genre popularised by EA Canada\'s Need for Speed Underground and Criterion\'s Burnout. Bu, unhappy with what was just a reaction to the market rather than what the game needed both conceptually and technically, the team put its foot on the breaks.

"We fought quite a bit for when Dirt would come out and compromised - we didn\'t want to rush it out with out the polish it needed to carry it through, and of course all our other games will use this technology.

Indeed, that\'s the key - Dirt has driven Neon which will soon drive the whole studio. While projects such as Brian Lara Cricket are curretnly managed using the engine acquired from previous developer Swordfish, the engine devised for creating racing environments will set the tone for locations in other games and set the tone for the whole studio\'s development environment. The tool, says Cheshire, "Allows us to exploit not just the racing genre, but it has been designed to exploit the huge open terrains you need for all our games."

and...

Visually, from what we’ve seen so far, DIRT is looking phenomenal. As cars in the current-gen took damage, DIRT will be taking the concept even further. Cars will crumple and be able to wrap around objects, so going off the road and into a tree will severely debilitate your ride. Scraping up against a canyon wall will scratch your vehicle’s body down to the metal or carbon fiber. All of the environmental track elements, from the potholes, manholes, and bumps are all physics based.  Even the trees will be modeled down to their leaves, with soft shadows and specular shading. If everything comes together as promised, DIRT could be the most beautiful rally title ever created.

http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200610/N06.1003.1502.05105.htm

http://www.codemasters.co.uk

Great !

[BizioEE]

SONY to present the PLAYSTATION 3 platform
 
SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE
A new games platform always presents new challenges and opportunities for game developers. Igor Makaruks of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, introduces the PLAYSTATION 3 at Digital Scarborough 2006 - a new state-of-the-art entertainment platform from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. due for launch next year. This technical presentation will provide an overview of the system architecture including the Cell processor and the new graphics processor (RSX) along with the Blu-ray storage medium. It will also include information about the new development tools and is aimed to give potential developers and new media companies an insight into PLAYSTATION 3 title development.

TALK 1 - Developing for PLAYSTATION 3 (with 30 minute Q&A Session)
 
CENTRAL LIBRARY (Saturday 14th October 2006: 11AM—12.30PM) - Igor Makaruks of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Charles Cecil of Revolution Games . Coffee & biscuits provided.
A new games platform always presents new challenges and opportunities for game developers. Igor Makaruks of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, introduces the PLAYSTATION 3 - a new state-of-the-art entertainment platform from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. due for launch next year. This technical presentation will provide an overview of the system architecture including the Cell processor and the new graphics processor (RSX) along with the Blu-ray storage medium. It will also include information about the new development tools and is aimed to give potential developers and new media companies an insight into PLAYSTATION 3 title development.
 
Igor joined the SCEE Technology Group in the summer of 2005 after completing his Computer Science Degree in Riga, Latvia. Igor\'s primary role is supporting PSP (PlayStation Portable) and PLAYSTATION 3 developers by creating graphic related sample code to improve game performance. He is also involved in consultancy and training developers throughout Europe and actively participates in public game developer conferences worldwide.
 
This session is aimed at individuals who are currently working in the games industry, for students from the School of Arts & New Media (The University of Hull) and for those who are interested in developing PLAYSTATION 3 games with help from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe\'s developer support programme. Over a few cups of coffee you will also have the chance to discuss and listen in on PLAYSTATION 3 games development topics with Igor Makaruks in a 30 minute Q&A session chaired by Charles Cecil of Revolution Games .
 
If you would like to attend please book your place via the Digital Scarborough website http://www.digitalscarborough.org. Just click on the link - \'Book Online\'.

TALK 2 - PLAYSTATION 3 Technical Overview & Graphics Demonstration
 
CENTRAL LIBRARY (Saturday 14th October 2006: 2PM—3PM) - Igor Makaruks of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Igor Makaruks of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, introduces the PLAYSTATION 3 - a new state-of-the-art entertainment platform from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. due for launch next year. This basic introduction will provide an overview of the PLAYSTATION 3 system architecture including the Cell processor and the new graphics processor (RSX) along with the Blu-ray storage medium.

http://www.digitalscarborough.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19

Yes !  Great chances to know everything !

[BizioEE]

Sounds like BS, but we\'ll see.

Oct. 14 and Nov 8 are here....we should wait but more and more strong rumors suggest RSX sharing similarities with the G80...we\'ll see...

You can choose to believe me or not; or even flame me more. I still like sharing info regardless of what I’m called.  

Well my friend gave me a little bit more details on the RSX capabilities. He stated that a newer version of OpenEXR API format will be specifically geared towards the PS3 RSX and NVIDIA upcoming graphic cards HDR capabilities. He states there’s no GPU capable (pr?) in the consumer market that can handle true 128-bit HDR rendering, except the PS3 and NVIDIA upcoming products. Both Sony and NVIDIA have been working closely with the Lucas Firm on improving film-like effects (consoles, PC, ECT…) for the consumer market.

I always thought the latest NV47 based cards were or had 128-bit (HDR) float-ops? He states the opposite (not really!?). He also reiterates that a Sony/NVIDIA press conference is coming late this October.

Nerve-Damage  

http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=62927

 I understand this as his insider saying there are distinct similarities between the HDR handling of G80 & RSX & something that is UNIQUE & NEW to the GPU market. Remember people RSX does not have to be a full blown G80.. Could be a NV47 core with some G80 technology tacked on or possibly a cut down G80 core (essentially derived from NV47) chip i.e 8600 of 8800 like 7600 was of 7900 - All the tech of G80 but lesser power e.g 128bit bus instead of 300+, fewer ROPS & pipes etc.. All very possibly when you picture it like that & take into account reasoning already discussed in another thread* I created.

archy121

http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=59665

The PS bug is coming back... can\'t .... resist.....

Damn.  I have a feeling I\'m going to end up with a launch PS3 no matter how hard I want to sell it for money (just like I did with my 2nd PS2).

[BizioEE]

Cell is a Monster !  And Lair is showing that.....
...I don\'t know if all of you read this interview...it\'s very interesting...

thanks to Cell we are running every single object in the game through a real-time LOD method called progressive mesh, something that makes the incredible detail was well as loads of objects on screen possible. We also have a unique and extremely flexible shading and light system, all real-time and of course all in HDR. Every light and shadow in the scene is real-time generated, thus making it possible to change the time of day dynamically while the level progresses. Nothing is pre-baked as many other games do it.

We are also quite proud of our landscape engine, which allows us the seamless transitions from high altitudes all the way to the ground. We have levels the size of the Bay Area in Lair in which you can land in any spot and have dirt and gravel detail right in front of you and all of the texturing on the landscape is done based on erosion shaders which are running in real-time on RSX. So artists can get these huge areas together in relatively short-time-frames.

Another area that is really cool on Cell is the real-time dynamics. We simulate hundreds of cloth and physics objects in the scene at any given moment, the enemies and heroes of course all are running ragdoll and physics-driven animations. The single hero dragon you ride is more complex than all objects in our prior games combined, down to little details like the flutter of the wings being dynamically driven....

and...

IGN: What are your thoughts on 1080p? You\'re rendering some stuff out at that resolution now, do you think it\'s necessary for games to be standardized as 1080p and is it doable?

Eggebrecht: First of all, we are not only rendering some part of Lair in 1080p. The whole game is in 1080p native, from front-end to all in-game bits.

We absolutely love 1080p because of the detail that you can see. When we went up from 720 to 1080 I was blown away how much more of the artwork was visible. We started out being true 720p proponents, but since switching over to true 1080p via HDMI a few months ago I can\'t go back.

 Lair is not upscaling or cheating to get to 1080p, we are natively running at the full 1920x1080 progressive resolution. Earlier this year we were quite skeptical if that would be possible, but the final kits really were a revelation in terms of power. Sony delivered what they promised and after a bit of tweaking we had the game up-and running. One thing that did help us was that our engine always was heavily reliant on data streaming, so the larger frame buffer memory never was an issue. By now half of our staff has 1080p monitors, and believe me, the 720 guys are jealous.

IGN: Quick Fanboy wars question -- Could Lair be done under its current spec on the Xbox 360? If so, why go with the PlayStation 3 "only" instead of going cross-platform?

Eggebrecht: Lair in its current form couldn\'t be done on 360. We are using large amounts of Cell\'s SPUs for all of our geometry, landscape, simulations, animations, even troop AI. When we create a game, we absolutely focus on the platform it is designed around. Would we do one for 360, it would be a different game and a different engine -- most crucially perhaps though: Lair is an entirely different game without the motion control and gesture recognition since it was designed around it.

IGN: What advantage does Blu-ray afford you now? Everyone talks about how great the extra storage space is but are you actually using it for Lair?

Eggebrecht: The single level at TGS alone takes up 4 Gigabytes of data. We are using every ounce of that due to streaming of our textures. Sure you could chop them all down to tiny sizes and we would fit, but then again, it would not be the same game. In addition to all the textures and geometry, we also do have video on the disc, and all of that is in native 1080p resolution. Thanks to Blu-Ray we don\'t need to worry about that and can still fit the whole game on a single disk.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/733/733921p4.html

:fro:

and...

That fat A/V socket on the rear of the $600 model PS3 gives the home-theater fanatics at Factor 5 a funny feeling in their video cables. For one thing, it\'s letting them display Lair in cutting edge 1080p, an incredibly sharp video mode they claim won\'t take a hit on performance. For another, Lair will support 7.1 uncompressed digital surround sound. "Once you hear it for the first time in uncompressed audio, there\'s no going back," says Eggebrecht , adding the game\'s super sound in one area that most consumers won\'t own the right A/V gear to enjoy. "I hope enough people put down the cash for [a compatible receiver]," he says. \'Maybe we\'re just doing it for ourselves."

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/lair/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-31136166&pid=929230

I can\'t wait !

[Paul2]

wow, that sounds very impressive and truly next generation....

[BizioEE]

wow, that sounds very impressive and truly next generation....

Yep ! ...and look at this !











Amazing !

The next generation is coming !!! :thumb:

^ Still, the animations looked somewhat mechanic and stilted in preview footage , same goes for the XB360 version btw. ; but it\'s just that more realistic looking graphics will accentuate any unnatural movements.

Of course, EA has never been a smooth framerate king imho...

Cell is a Monster !  And Lair is showing that.....
...I don\'t know if all of you read this interview...it\'s very interesting...



and...


http://ps3.ign.com/articles/733/733921p4.html

:fro:

and...

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/lair/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-31136166&pid=929230

I can\'t wait !

I saw none of these when I saw the latest gameplay video of the game. It looked bad

[BizioEE]

I saw none of these when I saw the latest gameplay video of the game. It looked bad

I know this developer are very very talented and I\'m sure the final game will deliver everything they promised !

I hope so. I had lots of expectations about this game

[BizioEE]

GDC 2007: IBM shows off real-time Cell rendering !

At the Game Developers Conference 2007, IBM displayed a Linux-based PS3 rendering of a complex – 3 million triangle – landscape in real-time and in full 1080p resolution using only software rendering techniques. Yes folks, full 1080p rendering despite the PS3\'s RSX being inaccessible under Linux.

GameTomorrow informs that IBM\'s system is set to workaround the RSX hurdle by reaching out across the network and leveraging multiple IBM QS20 blades to render in real-time with software based ray-tracing. The scalable iRT rendering is set to enable the PS3 to decompose each frame into manageable work regions and dynamically distribute them to blades or other PS3s for rendering.

Whew, okay, that\'s a whole mouthful that even we don\'t exactly understand. So here\'s a video of the GDC 2007 demo in action.

Will this eventually allow for decent Linux homebrew games and applications for the PS3? Better emulation on Linux perhaps? This blogger isn\'t exactly sure about how this Cell-based RSX side-step will ultimately impact graphics on Linux PS3, but it seems safe to say that it does look promising.

http://ps3.qj.net/GDC-2007-IBM-shows-off-real-time-Cell-rendering/pg/49/aid/85572

PIC
http://www.gametomorrow.com/minor/barry/city_1080p.jpg