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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Hellblade could be an interesting test case

twintail said:
curl-6 said:

It's unique in that there hasn't yet been an advanced 30fps PS4/Xbone game ported to Switch.

Out of curiosity which more demanding ones do you think would be better suited?

Sure but the game runs on UE4 and considering Switch supports UE4 and that the engine is scaleable (I believe?), this isn't exactly an overly difficult port to do.

Something like RDR2, or even not open world would be a better test case. Anything UE4 is pretty much fair game for Switch and hardly surprising if announced for the device.

Switch may support UE4 but that doesn't necessarily mean anything running on this engine is an easy port. Hellblade is still a demanding game that's 30fps even on PS4 wasn't designed with the limitations of a mobile SoC in mind. 



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curl-6 said:
Angelv577 said:

This is a game that was made by a few people and it was launched as a $30 game.  That should tell you something that even if the game looks impressive, that is pretty much it.  If you have played the game, you would realize this game wouldnt be a good exemple about the possibility of other graphical demnading games on switch.  Yes, focusing on less thing happening on screen means better graphics but that isnt the reality of most ps4,xb1 games that tried to push graphics as well as a lot of things happening on screen.  Most games that looks like hell blade also tried push a lot of things happening on screen as well as being more open, less linear unlike hell blade.

The difference though largely comes down to how resources are prioritized and allocated.

The limit for what is considered doable on Switch has been a moving target for a while now. First many insisted that "Switch can't handle AAA PS4/Xbone games" but Doom 2016 proved them wrong. Then it was "Okay it handle a 60fps PS4/Xbone game, but not an advanced 30fps one". If Hellblade turns out okay, this assertion will also have been proven wrong.

Megiddo said:
Keep in mind that Hellblade's "low" settings are fairly low, able to be ran at ~50 fps on an overclocked 10 year old processor and 5 year old graphics card.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBrGro3gHtc

Is that 5-year-old desktop GPU though? Cos if so even a card from 2013 is likely going to have more grunt to it than a mobile GPU from 2015. Furthermore, we can see here that the aesthetic of the game is basically completely broken by running at these settings. It's more likely the Switch port will try to maintain the core look as much as possible which means it won't have the luxury of stripping things back in this way. The footage shown in the direct suggests they're taking an approach closer to Doom 2016 and Wolfenstein II where as much of the rendering pipeline as possible is kept intact with the tradeoffs being made in things like resolution, alpha, etc.

Nogamez said:
Ninja theory wouldt release a bad port of a bafta winning game that much i am certain. Im pretty sure yooka laylee was also Unreal engine? That was a really impressive port compared to base XBox. Hellblade has alot of excellent lighting and effects in place so i too cant wait for the DF analysis. If ports good ill pick it up again, just to support the game ( its that good).

Here's hoping they have enough pride in their product to ensure the port is a good one. Yooka Laylee ran on Unity, but there are examples of Unreal Engine 4 working well on Switch, such as Snake Pass, Fortnite, and Octopath Traveler. None of those were even close to as advanced as Hellblade though so it's still uncharted territory for the Switch.

So looking good but not offering anything else is considered a demanding 30 fps nowadays.  And here I thought graphics is much more than just textures.  For all we know, this game could have been a 60fps title on ps4 have they had a bigger team than 30 devs with more time to developed.  They managed to make a profit with just 500k of sales.  You can tell their time and resources was extremely limited.  I still feel you need to play the game to realize why the game looks they way it looks with just 30 devs.  By the record, I still believe switch can run most of the ps4/xb1 with the due sacrifices but dont feel hell blade is the showcase to proof that once you play the game.  Switch problem is that a lot of d3velopers don't want to put the time and money to makes ps4/xb1 titles playable on it as you can tell it is not as easy to port as we might think.



curl-6 said:
twintail said:

I am failing to see what makes Hellblade unique in this regard. I believe there are far more demanding games which would be better suited

It's unique in that there hasn't yet been an advanced 30fps PS4/Xbone game ported to Switch.

Out of curiosity which more demanding ones do you think would be better suited?

RDR2, FF15 or even Witcher 3 would be a good test. I dont think any of them can be ported to the switch. I havent played  Hellblade to know how that game looks and runs but i just read it was developed by a small team so i doubt its  a game that pushed ps4 to its limit



I still think the great majority of current gen (if not all) games could run and be playable even on ps360. Specially if all development efforts were for these platforms. And maybe GTAV is the example why.
Same applies to switch.
Better hardware is not to make things run on the system. Better hardware is just to demand less effort to make it run.



Angelv577 said:
curl-6 said:

The difference though largely comes down to how resources are prioritized and allocated.

The limit for what is considered doable on Switch has been a moving target for a while now. First many insisted that "Switch can't handle AAA PS4/Xbone games" but Doom 2016 proved them wrong. Then it was "Okay it handle a 60fps PS4/Xbone game, but not an advanced 30fps one". If Hellblade turns out okay, this assertion will also have been proven wrong.

Is that 5-year-old desktop GPU though? Cos if so even a card from 2013 is likely going to have more grunt to it than a mobile GPU from 2015. Furthermore, we can see here that the aesthetic of the game is basically completely broken by running at these settings. It's more likely the Switch port will try to maintain the core look as much as possible which means it won't have the luxury of stripping things back in this way. The footage shown in the direct suggests they're taking an approach closer to Doom 2016 and Wolfenstein II where as much of the rendering pipeline as possible is kept intact with the tradeoffs being made in things like resolution, alpha, etc.

Here's hoping they have enough pride in their product to ensure the port is a good one. Yooka Laylee ran on Unity, but there are examples of Unreal Engine 4 working well on Switch, such as Snake Pass, Fortnite, and Octopath Traveler. None of those were even close to as advanced as Hellblade though so it's still uncharted territory for the Switch.

So looking good but not offering anything else is considered a demanding 30 fps nowadays.  And here I thought graphics is much more than just textures.  For all we know, this game could have been a 60fps title on ps4 have they had a bigger team than 30 devs with more time to developed.  They managed to make a profit with just 500k of sales.  You can tell their time and resources was extremely limited.  I still feel you need to play the game to realize why the game looks they way it looks with just 30 devs.  By the record, I still believe switch can run most of the ps4/xb1 with the due sacrifices but dont feel hell blade is the showcase to proof that once you play the game.  Switch problem is that a lot of d3velopers don't want to put the time and money to makes ps4/xb1 titles playable on it as you can tell it is not as easy to port as we might think.

I'm no expert but Digital Foundry cited Hellblade as a "tech showcase", so it doesn't seem that manpower held it back. I do understand that it is a 30fps title by virtue of its visuals rather than its scale or how many characters it has on screen.  But even a linear 30fps of this technical caliber is something we haven't seen on Switch yet.



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Pinkie_pie said:
curl-6 said:

It's unique in that there hasn't yet been an advanced 30fps PS4/Xbone game ported to Switch.

Out of curiosity which more demanding ones do you think would be better suited?

RDR2, FF15 or even Witcher 3 would be a good test. I dont think any of them can be ported to the switch. I havent played  Hellblade to know how that game looks and runs but i just read it was developed by a small team so i doubt its  a game that pushed ps4 to its limit

You don't really need a big team to push PS4 close to its limits, it is simple, straightforward hardware that's very easy to develop for and they were working with a read-made cutting edge engine.



twintail said:
curl-6 said:

Switch may support UE4 but that doesn't necessarily mean anything running on this engine is an easy port. Hellblade is still a demanding game that's 30fps even on PS4 wasn't designed with the limitations of a mobile SoC in mind. 

And we don't know how it overall runs on switch yet either. 

Nonetheless,  if it is ue4, it is always possible and not surprising. It's not easy of course but it's alot easier than porting a non ue4 game.

Anyways DQ11 is ue4 and I'd argue that would be more difficult. Hellblade is a very linear experience.  

I honestly think you are overselling what this port means.  

DQ11 is open world and does run at a lower res on PS4 than Hellblade, it's true. On the other hand a cartoon art style tends to give the dev more leeway to make trimmings without it being quite as noticeable. And yeah, as I prefaced in the OP, this is speaking theoretically, if Hellblade turns out okay.



Why is this even a question? Have you not seen Wolfenstein 2? It was downgraded so much it's like another game altogether. 



Microsoft porting one of their games to the Switch. :)



Drakrami said:

Why is this even a question? Have you not seen Wolfenstein 2? It was downgraded so much it's like another game altogether. 

Making a mountain out of a mole hill much? It's really hard to have a proper dialogue in this subject. Every time somebody goes to this way



 

 

We reap what we sow