Tim Sweeney Interview Pt 3

Armagon917 said:

I think I may be the only one here who thought the Gears of War port to PC was utter crap. The keyboard and mainly the mouse controls were not implemented well at all. While roadie running which is so integral to multiplayer you could not turn worth a sh** which made it useless when playing people who plugged their 360 controller up.
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Seems like someone forgot to check the manual
The roadie run does not allow for quick turns on the 360-version of GoW either, because that is how it is supposed to work and god knows I could have used it in the sp-campaign when facing that berserker.
In other words : it is a feature, not a bug.
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I think that for engine-stability it makes perfect sense for Epic (and other developers) to focus on consoles first and pc's second, because consoles offer a relatively stable platform.

I also think that the certification-process is overrated by end-users.
It is not a 'free' testing-process for companies to use.
It is there to check the software has all the features it lists (there are guidelines/checklists to check) and that basic stability is ok .
It's there to prevent 'hot coffee'-problems ...

Check the "works for Windows" and "designed for Windows"-logo tests at the MSDN-site, because those are the certification-processes available for pc-software and you'll see why they're not going to catch every bug in software that uses these logos.

That's not to say that it couldn't benefit from being done by an independent third party, however such a thing would be just as susceptible to bribes and other efforts to ensure a 'speedy' certification as MS themselves are. In fact I'd even say that they'd be even more vulnerable as you get the possibility of government-intervention on top of all the other problems as that's the only way to ensure it remains independent.

Yeah I guess you got a point but its obvious any MS marketed title on 360 is gonna get special treatment and thats without bribes. Same goes for Sony and the PS3 and Nintendo and the Wii.

The ERSB is a government agency isnt it? or is it like a goverment sanctioned private company.

One of the arguments against an R rating for games here in australia is that "how bad will games like GTA get" which I think is total bull. Slap a supernatural theme tag on it and you can get away with barbed wire up a womans neather regions with a MA rating, right silent hill? There should be a place for mature content on all platforms, just thought Id mention that since someone brought up hot-coffee, which in my eyes if pretty timid.

Certification should have caught the Gears of war saved game bug and the UT3 SP lockup bug, but UT3 wasnt certified on PC so I left that one on Epic.

I certainly agree it does make sense to concentrate on a stable platform but I have said PC's can be very stable, also it takes an actualy Console to concentrate on developing for it. Like any UE4 work that gets done before Epic gets the SDK consoles will be done on PC no doubt, otherwise by the time the engine is done there will be games hitting the platform already.

One thing I can say Im not happy about, is the proliferation of MS gamepad support and the neglect of other companies gamepads. If you make a MS compatible one no doubt you are good (and have to pay royalties no doubt) I dunno if its just me but my gamepad doesnt seem to work on UT3 so Im iffy about getting Gears because of that fact. Gears, UT3 and Bioshock all support the MS gamepad on PC as far as I know, yet games like Tomb Raider Anniversary and PoP: Warrior support my gamepad.

You can see where Im coming from, this concentration on consoles seems to have neglected PC somewhat, my gamepad happens to be a 3in1 which means it supports PS2, PS3 and PC yet it doesnt work on UT3 PC. Go figure, so if thats what console concentration brings to the market then Id rather not have it even if it takes extra time for the engine to be developed from unstable platforms. Atleast then as a consumer I have a level of choice instead of being forced to use specific components.

I just think USB was one of the best things to happen, the gaming industry could really grasp this technology, yet it still isnt in proper use because of developers like Epic. Seriously I dunno what the problem is, perhaps its something Im not doing right but UT3 doesnt even pick up the digital buttons on the gamepad. I am going to post in tech support alittle later but I looked through the code and the ini's, Im kinda convinced that my gamepad isnt supported by UE3 at this point.

I could make a list of games it does work in and what modes in works in with those games perhaps (it has 4, 6 and 7 axis modes) but basically UE3 titles are standing out as the sole engine which I could use a gamepad with and its not working. I would hate to lay down money for Gears to find out I cant play it with my gamepad

Sir_Brizz said:

Hah! I know when I'm running as fast as I possibly can, I can do a 360 on a dime!

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even with that much armor and heavy weapons?
also, why would you do a 360? that sounds useless

MonsOlympus said:

The ERSB is a government agency isnt it? or is it like a goverment sanctioned private company.

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No and no.

Well then I dont see what the problem is with an independant certifications board.

JaFO said:

Seems like someone forgot to check the manual
The roadie run does not allow for quick turns on the 360-version of GoW either, because that is how it is supposed to work and god knows I could have used it in the sp-campaign when facing that berserker.
In other words : it is a feature, not a bug.
// ---

I think that for engine-stability it makes perfect sense for Epic (and other developers) to focus on consoles first and pc's second, because consoles offer a relatively stable platform.

I also think that the certification-process is overrated by end-users.
It is not a 'free' testing-process for companies to use.
It is there to check the software has all the features it lists (there are guidelines/checklists to check) and that basic stability is ok .
It's there to prevent 'hot coffee'-problems ...

Check the "works for Windows" and "designed for Windows"-logo tests at the MSDN-site, because those are the certification-processes available for pc-software and you'll see why they're not going to catch every bug in software that uses these logos.

That's not to say that it couldn't benefit from being done by an independent third party, however such a thing would be just as susceptible to bribes and other efforts to ensure a 'speedy' certification as MS themselves are. In fact I'd even say that they'd be even more vulnerable as you get the possibility of government-intervention on top of all the other problems as that's the only way to ensure it remains independent.

Click to expand...

No, you misunderstood. I know during a roadie run you can not make a 90 degree turn. What I am saying is that in comparison to the wide turns you make while in roadie run on 360 the PC version is not identical to that controller movement. Your turning in the PC version significantly increases when you plug in a 360 controller and doesn't turn for sh** while using mouse and keyboard. This is not a feature.

This means that the controls were not polished for keyboard and mouse. All you can make using keyboard and mouse is a very wide turn while with a 360 controller plugged in it plays just like its 360 counterpart. So the time wasn't taken to get keyboard and mouse controls to work correctly. That is one of the most important factors when making a port, is that everything translates over perfectly.

With all do respect, you're last statement is presumptuous that I don't know what I'm talking about. I know the controls in and out for Gears of War. This is not a mistake on my part.

Test it! You will see what I am talking about. I played the 360 and PC version so to be honest its a little irritating to be talked to like I'm a newb. Although I'm sure you didn't mean it that way. I just kinda feel like you told be that the lancer has a chainsaw. hahah Its all good. Trust me on this one.