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PC / PS3 cross-platform play is in... (maybe)

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:32 pm
by Urtho
PC and PlayStation 3 gamers to play together in Unreal Engine 3 games

Epic Games today announced a licensing deal to incorporate GameSpy's suite of online technology into Unreal Engine 3. Under the terms of the agreement, the technology will be immediately available to any publishers or developers that license Unreal Engine 3. The partnership will span both the PC and PlayStation 3 platforms within Unreal Engine 3, enabling PlayStation 3 and PC online functionality.
Full article and comments here:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8470

My initial read seemed to suggest this will apply to UT3, but it must be pointed out that the game's name is never explicitly mentioned, only Unreal Engine 3 game licenses.

EDIT -> Further confirmation or more reading too much into a press release? You decide:

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs. ... gh-gamespy

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:33 pm
by d2frob
Surely players using controllers wouldn't stand a chance...

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:39 pm
by zeus
There seems to be a lot of confusion over this at this point.

In the article I posted, I believe they were talking about how they were going to have to change the speed of one of the systems either PC or PS3 and they were not sure how that that was going to effect gameplay.

Also, there seems to be some concerns that the hit box for PS3 is larger than on PC.

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:30 pm
by DW_WailofSuicide
I would love it if they have cross-platform play.

But only if cross-platform play entails equal footing in terms of game rules for everyone. Preferably using PC rules settings (PC gamespeed, PC collision, no auto aim, etc).

If console players think they can play with KB/Mousers then let them, if they get schooled they can always go back to their own servers. I'm sure there are some console players who will be good players regardless, and I'd be happy to have more players around to frag.

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:44 pm
by alyosha
UT3 on cross platform. I said this before and no one believed me.

The PS3 will support a keyboard and mouse. There is no reason to gimp play. Like I said before I will be getting a PS3, because it is a lot cheaper than a complete overhaul of my system, and my system does everything else fine.

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:08 pm
by DW_Bomzin
Folks,

I checked with Steve Polge and he said that YES we are supporting keyboard and mouse in Unreal Tournament 3 on PS3. He is confident we are doing it in a way that will be balanced without feeling "gimped" for either side. We'll also allow people to choose whether or not they want to allow mixed controller vs. keyboard/mouse games or not.

I think you guys are going to love UT3!

More details to come later.


From the epic forums..Mark Rein.

http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=574996

Things that make you go hmmmmm.....

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:41 pm
by zeus
Just last week, Mark said:

Cross platform play isn't decided yet. Please keep this thread about keyboard and mouse for PS3. There are other threads on cross platform.

http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread. ... st24959918

Not too sure if the inclusion of GameSpy is worth anything or is more detrimental.

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:50 pm
by alyosha
zeus wrote:Just last week, Mark said:

Cross platform play isn't decided yet. Please keep this thread about keyboard and mouse for PS3. There are other threads on cross platform.

http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread. ... st24959918

Not too sure if the inclusion of GameSpy is worth anything or is more detrimental.
Your forum was dated 8/8
Mine was dated 8/16 and ARS is very studious about fact checking. It actually leads to their articles taking longer to be released.
Instead, it has been announced that Epic is partnering with GameSpy to allow PS3 and PC gamers to duke it out online.

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:35 am
by kaeolian
I dare say auto aim etc is a setting that the hosting server will be able to disable on the client machines ???

Just to put everyone on a even playing field.

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:51 am
by zeus
I understand that. But, until I see official word from EPIC, it remains up in the air. Hell, they have constantly changed stuff about UT3.

As posted yesterday as well:
Jeff Morris: The main challenge is the changes we made to the PS3 version. On the console players move slightly smaller and have marginally larger collision cylinders. PC/PS3 play would require one of the platforms to play at the others speed, which has some negatives. We’re still deciding though, so it could go either way.
*******************

And then, we really still not have talked about custom content, which looks like you are gonig to have to download to a memory card and move over to the PS3. And it may or may not have been tested on a PS3 by the modder/mapper.


Jeff Morris: I think it would be very difficult for a mod maker to know how their mod would perform on a PS3 without actually having one. Next-gen consoles are profoundly powerful pieces of hardware, but have less memory that PCs, as well as a locked hardware base. Mod makers will want to test on consoles, so if they don’t have one themselves, they’ll need a good volunteer test team that does.