Final Fantasy XIV devs faced memory issues on the PS3
Final Fantasy XIV is set to come out on the PC later this year. However, the PS3 version has been delayed to early next year. It appears that Square Enix was having some difficulty getting the game on the PS3.
According to Now Gamer, Hiromichi Tanaka, producer for FFXIV spoke about the challenges of development for the PS3 version. Tanaka explained that the limited amount of memory on the PS3 compared to the PC was something that caused some difficulty for the team earlier on.
Tanaka stated:
The PlayStation 3 has a limited amount of memory compared to the PCs we’re aiming at… We have to optimise the data so that it will fit on the console and that’s taking a lot longer than we first thought…
Well it’s obvious that all of the consoles have less memory compared to PCs. I would hope that instead of just optimizing the data, Square Enix will be programming the game to take advantage of the PS3’s unique architecture. Square Enix may want to reach out to Guerilla Games, as the studio recently revealed that Killzone 3 will stream completely off the Cell BE processor with no load screens.
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20 Responses to “Final Fantasy XIV devs faced memory issues on the PS3”
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July 17th, 2010
psst, mike, you can’t go around reporting such sacrilegious statements. everybody knows the ps3 is a perfect piece of future proof equipment without faults and no hardware limitations. it is obvious that any developer that mentions running into said non-existent hardware limitations is obviously lazy and untalented, because the ps3 is perfect.
July 17th, 2010
@Rimmer
lmao
If square is bitching about there not being enough memory on the PS3 for FFXIV then they must really be aiming high on the PC end.
July 17th, 2010
This must be the limitations roca spoke of earlier.
July 17th, 2010
Not necessarily Fahkin, 256mb is quite small compared to 4gb, my PC isn’t that high end and that amount of memory is practically stnadard nowadays.
July 17th, 2010
@Torn_Steel
256mb? Is that all the PS3 has? Shit… I thought the PS3 was supposed to be some uber powerful super system?
July 17th, 2010
yea I never got why they don’t put much memory in consoles.
July 17th, 2010
*sigh*
The PS3 has the exact same amount of memory as the 360, 512mb. It is split into two banks, one of which is directly connected to the Cell, the other which is directly connected to the RSX, and both banks are directly connected to each other.
This means that both banks are accessible to both the cell and the RSX, and thus developers can chose how much of which ram to use for what resource. They are also a very fast version of Ram, with very direct connections to the GPU and CPU, meaning that less is needed, as data can swapped out faster than a standard PC model allows. This means less quantity of ram is needed, once the devs learn how to hot swap (they have).
The real problem is that the PS3 is just so drastically different from a PC, that standard comparisons do not work. Add to this, that the FFXIV benchmark has shown that there isn’t even hardware in existence that can max out the PC version of the game, as of yet.
This is a much more complex issue that just “PS3 short on memory”. FFXIV is going to be a gamechanger for PC if the release specs match the benchmark, and trying to perfectly replicate that on a console will be impossible. As a core PC gamer, I can fully recognize the shortcomings of the consoles compared to the 2-3 thousand dollar liquid cooled and overclocked computer that will be needed to come close to maxing out this title. If it is popular enough, it may even have something of a Crysis effect.
July 17th, 2010
Wow when you put it like that I can’t help but wonder why I didn’t get picked for the FFXIV PC beta. I have a sweet PC lmao.
I really wish I woulda got picked now.
July 17th, 2010
Beta will test the network, Alpha already went through flogging the graphics and AI hardware. For network testing, they want a cross section of users (low-to-high-end rigs) but the people who apply for betas are by and large far more likely to be in the Higher End part of the hardware spectrum.
Thus, People with bitchrod hardware get picked for betas less often than people with standard fare gateway and dell PCs/laptops. It sucks, hah.
July 17th, 2010
Seems like everyone and anyone could get into the Starcraft 2 beta lol. I had access but i was so busy with everything else I didn’t even bother to DL it. I plan on getting SC2 anyway though so that didn’t matter too much to me.
I was more interested in FFXIV testing because I am not so sure I am going to get it and wanted to check it out anyway
July 17th, 2010
Being an MMO, I can’t see myself investing in it, because I burned out on MMOs many years ago, played Everquest for 8 years, starting with beta. Today’s MMOs are made for Dummies compared to what EQ offered, anyway, heh.
July 17th, 2010
Yes, Jofa’s right about the memory there is technically 512mb, but I thought it was seperated? Either way, no matter how fast it is, it doesn’t make up for the considerably larger amounts on PCs, it’s funny to think that all the consoles, despite their visuals technically have IGPs.
July 17th, 2010
Yes, the graphics are integrated, only as far as there is no graphics slot to swap out cards, it is a single hardware sku. Comparing them to IGPs in the sense of the PC world is highly innacurate. The connections between the GPU and the memory on consoles is far superior to an IGP in a PC, which has to route so much of its data through the System memory, through a much longer and slower path in competition with other system resources. Consoles do not have the same issue, the ps3 even less so.
July 17th, 2010
No I understand that, I’m only meaning that the graphics chip does not have dedicated memory.
July 17th, 2010
@Jofa and Fah
I got into the FFXVI beta(the current one, not the first) and my rig is pretty shitty.
Maybe it is because of the fact that I had(well, still keeping it, just inactive) a paying PlayOnline account(to play SE’s MMO games) since 2004 for FFXI which I mentioned in the application.
I am on the same boat as Jofa in regards of being burned out on MMO’s because of the time I put into FFXI..that game was a huge time sink and just too hardcore for many gamers nowadays as Jofa puts it.
July 17th, 2010
@Sorral
I have a Playonline account too. I used to play FFXI as well.
Some of the questions at the end of the beta application were very interesting… They wanted to know if you ran a fan website or something like that and they didn’t even give you a “No” option. What kind of question was that?
July 18th, 2010
FFXI was very similar to EQ from my limited experiences with it, but with more rounded classes. In EQ, a group absolute needed certain elements to survive, let alone be successful when either grinding xp/loot, and ridiculous class requirements for Raiding (Only 4 clerics? Call off the Raid). These severe class limitations forced an incredible amount of interplay between people. I was blown away playing wow, how much could be done on your own, regardless of class. Of the 14 classes in EQ, only a couple could do anything at all by the themselves.
July 19th, 2010
” I was blown away playing wow, how much could be done on your own, regardless of class.”
That was one of the things I loved about WoW. My main character was a hunter. You can do almost anything with a hunter. I had just gotten my mount when I had to stop playing. Sometimes I think of starting back up again. I do miss it from time to time.
July 19th, 2010
I actually thought it was a bad thing, so much solo-ability. EQ was a very social beast, and good players got rewarded, poor players were quickly rooted out. Having that much solo-ability in EQ would have severely harmed the social matrix of the game.
Some bosses needed 72+ players to kill. And not just 72+, but all of them fulfilling their specific roles, paying attention to event changes, leadership, etc. It was madness, but very rewarding as you reigned in all the chaos.
July 19th, 2010
“Some bosses needed 72+ players to kill. And not just 72+, but all of them fulfilling their specific roles, paying attention to event changes, leadership, etc. It was madness, but very rewarding as you reigned in all the chaos.”
The problem with this JOfa, is, im a pretty hardcore gamer myself ( FF11/WoW/GW/WAR) but i find that having to put so much reliance on other people, defeated the whole purpose of playing: You gear up your class, your good at your class…your about to tank/heal/dps the 72+ person boss, when…ONE healer has to go pee…THEN another tank goes afk for a smoke….then another…by the time everyone gets back to ‘play’ over an hour has passed, you just staring at your character screen…THAT is what kept me from playing EQ (that and i didn’t dig the universe/lore)