Uncharted 2 almost didn't 'fit' on PS3

Wednesday 5-Jan-2011 3:53 PM Naughty Dog talks "seat of the pants" development style

Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 is inarguably one of the greatest games of recent years. But according to its creators, it almost didn't "fit" on PS3 - thanks to the firm's ceaselessly ambitious development style, and the need for a whole lotta memory.

The studio is now, of course, working hard on Uncharted 3 [pictured] - but says it hasn't learnt its lesson about "shooting for the moon", or, indeed, its "seat of the pants" approach. Then again, with a track record like ND's, who can blame it?

"If anyone on the team makes a face like, 'Oh, we're f*cked', then we know we're good," ND co-president Christophe Balestra told Edge issue 223 (which is in stores now).

"We have to be uncomfortable. Three weeks before shipping Uncharted 2, we couldn't even fit the game in memory. The day we have no solution to that, that's going to be a real problem."

The solution in the case of U2 was, as it continues to be, to simply "make it fit".

"We shoot for the moon, which is what the artists want to see," added Balestra. "We're driven by artists, and it's the job of the programmers to make it fit, in terms of memory and frame-rate. The artists will always go beyond what we have at our disposal, and [newly previewed U3 level] Château is a perfect example."

How then, we hear you ask, is Uncharted 3 ever going to top a predecessor that maxed out memory? SPUs, friends, SPUs.

Balestra uses the analogy that of PS3's "six-lane freeway" of SPUs, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune used two. Uncharted 2 used all six, but at 'street cars' level of performance. Uncharted 3? Guess what... That's 'more like Formula One'.

"We're at full speed, optimising code specifically for the SPUs," explained Balestra. "It's a great resource because [SPUs] are extremely fast, and if you optimise they get faster than you ever thought they could be. That's where the quality of our images comes from."

And what quality. We suggest you remind yourself just how stunning Uncharted 3 is looking right now:

(please go to link below to see video)

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is due for release on November 1, exclusively on PS3.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=282236

Sounds like they're doing a fantastic job with U3.Inarguably one of the best studios out there!

Wow, Uncharted 2 used 6 of the SPUs, and they didnt even them at full capacity. i'm actully not supprised at this, imo the PS3 has a very long time to go until it can be maxed out. but i'm interested to see how UC3 turns out if they are using the cell like 'Formula 1'.

I remember in an interview with Corrine Yu of 343 Studios, she was talking about how, due to the ease of programming for the 360, developers didn't use SPU's like she wished they would and cited how the challenge of coding on the PS3 FORCED their devs to use them to get good results.

Well we see the results for sure with this series, right?  It also would stand to reason that this may be the reason why we don't hear too often about the 360 hardware being taxed like we do the PS3, because devs aren't trying to tax it due to the ease of getting the results they want.

So because the 360 is easier to program for the devs get less juice from it than the harder-to-develop-for PS3.

Right.

Ok, I've seen some of your posts so I'm going to do this once for the sake of everyone and then I'm done.

The POINT is that, because the PS3 was harder to developer for than the 360, the PS3 devs had to make good use of the SPU's to get good results.  That allowed them to really get the best out of the console.  With the 360, because its easier to get good results out of due to the tools, developers use those tools instead of taking the more difficult road of pushing the hardware.

Did I come up this?  Hardly.  I'm not coder.  I got it from these videos, so I'm informed.  They're long and VERY technical, but it sure beat how ignorant I was before I watched them:

Part 1:  http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/InsideXbox/Corrinne-Yu-Principal-Engine-Architect-Halo-Team-Microsoft-Part-One

Part 2:  http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/InsideXbox/Corrinne-Yu-Principal-Engine-Architect-for-Halo-Team-Microsoft-Part-Two

Before anyone tries to right this off as 360 dev spin, not that she actually is COMPLIMENTING the PS3 developers, just as I was doing in my original post.

this is wht i expect from every dev; the drive the passion, the never say die atitude that gets the job done. this (not a stupid gamers war) is wht it's like to know wht its like to be a reall gamer. this is true dedication thats wht some gamers and all fanboys will never comprehend.

a passion for the job: thats wht gets it done!

sounds like Yuu is complimenting while trying to come up with exceuses as well. But that's a whole different topic which shouldn't be discussed here.

OT: UC3 is gonna blow our minds....that lil vid of gameplay has me wanting more and more :( it's so far away...too far away actually.

Really good news to hear from ND and Uncharted 3 (Uncharted series being one of the best IP's out there imo) and good to hear that they keep working hard and more importantly they ENJOY working hard on the artistry that they create. It must be so gratifying seeing both games sell so well and being received by reviewers and gamers amazingly!

They sure have come a long way since the days of Crash Bandicoot (being an awesome game at the time but falling into mediocrity) to be one of the best developers and most praised out there! Sony made a very good purchase here anyway

True and not true.  The not true is because Microsoft is always updating their toolsets so it's not to say their apis arn't taking full advantage of the 360.  True cause devs make use of these apis that can be stagnant until updated.  But it's not like the PS3 doesn't have any tools that Sony doesn't give, it's just which are better?  Probably Microsoft's.  Though I will say I think Sony is going to push out this massive engine soon that takes advantage of what Santa Monica, Guerrila, Insomniac and Naughty Dog are doing but that's a hunch.