John Smedley: Expected PC multi-core optimization in 2-4 months

[Rolfski]

As everybody is so desperately waiting for this, I thought you might be interested in Smed's reply to this topic: http://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/1kago4/pc_optimization_multicore_patch_release_date/

[camycamera]

for those of you who can't access it for some reason, this is what Smed said:

Quick comment - we have members of our tech team actively working on making PS2 play better on multi-core. We recognize performance is an issue and so we're working hard on it. This isn't an easy task. It comes down to rewriting some pretty important stuff. It's going to be a bit. My best guess? 2-4 months.

:3

[KarrdeBRBU]

Good news there. Also in before ppl complain that this should have been in earlier vs content. You have NO idea how hard multithreading code is XD (and I only have knowledge by proxy of a friend who tries to make it work XD)

[HereticusXZ]

2-4 months?

HALF LIFE 3 CONFIRMED

[maradine]

I'll believe it when the other 3/4 of my tower catch fire. :)

[camycamera]

2-4 months?

HALF LIFE 3 CONFIRMED

nah, by the time we get actual stable performance on PS2, Half-Life 3 would have been confirmed a long time ago....

/lame joke

[CzuukWaterson]

Awesome.

[DOUBLEXBAUGH]

So we can expect this sometime in 2015?

[Selerox]

I'll believe it when I see it.

It means that a game with crippling performance issues will have gone without multicore support for almost a year.

[Falcon_br]

I'll believe it when I see it.

It means that a game with crippling performance issues will have gone without multicore support for almost a year.

Dude, you have no ideia of how bad it was before!

They forgot to mention it, but now on GU 14 the game is finally using more memory!

From 2gb now my game is using 5 gb!

It is awesome! Finally I don´t need to wait 10 seconds to open the map, or 20 seconds in the middle of a fight to use a infantry terminal! All menus opens real fast now that the game is using more memory!

Maybe in 2-4 years the game will run great to everyone! I think in 6 months we will be close to the end of the beta!

PS: yeah, troll post, but it is a troll topic.

[Maidere]

I'll believe it when I see it.


This.

[Dragonskin]

No surprise here. What also comes out in 2-4 months? Oh that would be Playstation 4.... Kinda a no brainer that it needs to be implemented by the time the console comes out.

[Assist]

As everybody is so desperately waiting for this, I thought you might be interested in Smed's reply to this topic: http://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/1kago4/pc_optimization_multicore_patch_release_date/

I want to believe it but iirc he said the same thing just before x-mas.

[Aaron]

Sooooo, I've only been using one core this whole time? Wait, don't a lot of games make use of multiple cores these days? I'm confused.

[Dragonskin]

Sooooo, I've only been using one core this whole time? Wait, don't a lot of games make use of multiple cores these days? I'm confused.

A lot of games use dual-core or single core. Most don't use 4 cores and I can't think of 1 that uses more than 4... so me having 8 cores is kinda pointless and has been for awhile. I am hoping they will bump PS2 up to using at least 5-6 cores.. the full 8 would be nice, but I doubt they want that since it sounds like the PS4 will have at least 1 dedicated core for system processing.

To go along with that having more than 8gb of ram is largely pointless. Never seen my system cap out. If I ever do then I will just pick up another 8gb for the 2 un-used slots I have so I can have 16gb total.

[Roderick]

Anything that would help make this game perform better on my rig would make me a happy camper.

I hope this does happen as stated.

[ChipMHazard]

No surprise here. What also comes out in 2-4 months? Oh that would be Playstation 4.... Kinda a no brainer that it needs to be implemented by the time the console comes out.

Hehe, indeed.

[Hamma]

Good stuff! Look forward to the optimizations.

[DevilzRightHand]

So do I understand this correct?

That me with an i5 760 @ 3.4 ghz
Will FINALLY have more then 30 ping in tight battles?

Thx GOD 4 that _ Not that the 30fps have made me dislike the game.
BUT FINALLY I can start doing some good in those 60 vs. 60 indoor battles ^^

[Rolfski]

No surprise here. What also comes out in 2-4 months? Oh that would be Playstation 4.... Kinda a no brainer that it needs to be implemented by the time the console comes out.

It is a surprise actually. Optimizing for PS 4 is not exactly the same as optimizing for your average Intel quad core. As PS 4 is expected to be released within three months, his reply kinda suggests that they are already busy optimizing for PC at the same time. I was expecting them to do the PS 4 optimization first and then have that same team move to PC optimization.

[Boildown]

My freshman computer science programming class at Purdue taught multi-threading as a basic concept. However that was a recent development. Older programmers have to learn how to program for multi-core processors the hard way, and have to learn new ways to think about problems. Its going to take time and some of the programmers probably will struggle or be unable to make the transition.

They need to make the transition though. Intel and AMD aren't pushing clockspeed forward any more, you just get slightly improved IPC and that's about it. Which means we're stuck with the single-core performance we have now for the foreseeable future. The only way to make games better going forward is to use all the cores available.

So they need to hire young programmers who've proven the ability to write highly threaded code. And tell their current staff to learn to do the same if they want to keep their job. The situation in the PC version of PS2 is nearly unacceptable, for the PS4 version it will be completely unworkable.

That said, making threaded code from my limited experience (I wasn't a CS major, I was just required to take that class that was 95% filled with CS freshman) isn't something that binds you to a particular processor. It should be portable to any multi-core CPU. They might have to do optimizations because the AMD multi-cores share a lot more resources than Intel's do though. If they can get PS2 to run acceptably on the PS4, it will run awesome on any modern PC with 2 cores + hyperthreading, or 4 actual cores. My question comes from believing they can actually pull it off with a staff of programmers that have never written highly threaded code before.

[mrmrmrj]

So do I understand this correct?

That me with an i5 760 @ 3.4 ghz
Will FINALLY have more then 30 ping in tight battles?

^^

How does a CPU affect PING? Did you mean fps?

[camycamera]

So do I understand this correct?

That me with an i5 760 @ 3.4 ghz
Will FINALLY have more then 30 ping in tight battles?

Thx GOD 4 that _ Not that the 30fps have made me dislike the game.
BUT FINALLY I can start doing some good in those 60 vs. 60 indoor battles ^^

you mean FPS, and yes, it will/ should have a dramatic performance increase, as it will utilise all the cores on the CPU instead of just one and a half, like it does in my CPU (my CPU is an i5 3570 @ 3.4 ghz, obviously a quad core processor), and in large battles, i would get 30-40 FPS, 50-60 in smaller ones, and 70+ with no one.

i'd expect those numbers to dramatically change for large battles, say from 30 to 60, hopefully, because it will be using twice the power it would when it is optimised for multi-core support, from 1 and a half cores to probably 3 and a half cores.

[NoXousX]

As everybody is so desperately waiting for this, I thought you might be interested in Smed's reply to this topic: http://www.reddit.com/r/Planetside/comments/1kago4/pc_optimization_multicore_patch_release_date/
4-8 months it is.

rgr thx

[DevilzRightHand]

How does a CPU affect PING? Did you mean fps?

yea fps *facepalm*
And awesome to hear

[Methonius]

I'm just glad they are finally working on this. I get decent frames already but with multi-core optimization this game will run amazing in massive fights.

[Root Hade]

I have no idea how this stuff works, but will this solve the culling/render issues? With the issue cropping up in a bunch of other MMOs I assumed it was an inevitable problem.

[Ghoest9]

I have no idea how this stuff works, but will this solve the culling/render issues? With the issue cropping up in a bunch of other MMOs I assumed it was an inevitable problem.

"Culling" is done server side and its mainly because of network/server bus/etc issues.

[Kail]

My freshman computer science programming class at Purdue taught multi-threading as a basic concept. However that was a recent development. Older programmers have to learn how to program for multi-core processors the hard way, and have to learn new ways to think about problems. Its going to take time and some of the programmers probably will struggle or be unable to make the transition.

They need to make the transition though. Intel and AMD aren't pushing clockspeed forward any more, you just get slightly improved IPC and that's about it. Which means we're stuck with the single-core performance we have now for the foreseeable future. The only way to make games better going forward is to use all the cores available.

So they need to hire young programmers who've proven the ability to write highly threaded code. And tell their current staff to learn to do the same if they want to keep their job. The situation in the PC version of PS2 is nearly unacceptable, for the PS4 version it will be completely unworkable.

That said, making threaded code from my limited experience (I wasn't a CS major, I was just required to take that class that was 95% filled with CS freshman) isn't something that binds you to a particular processor. It should be portable to any multi-core CPU. They might have to do optimizations because the AMD multi-cores share a lot more resources than Intel's do though. If they can get PS2 to run acceptably on the PS4, it will run awesome on any modern PC with 2 cores + hyperthreading, or 4 actual cores. My question comes from believing they can actually pull it off with a staff of programmers that have never written highly threaded code before.

I was trying to think of a constructive way to explain the issues with your post.

But I couldn't. So Ill just say that you have quite a lot wrong in there.

[Belhade]

So by the time this is out and it can take advantage of my PhenomII x4, I'll have swapped motherboards and upped my RAM to DDR3 for MOAR POWAR!

[Dragonskin]

It is a surprise actually. Optimizing for PS 4 is not exactly the same as optimizing for your average Intel quad core. As PS 4 is expected to be released within three months, his reply kinda suggests that they are already busy optimizing for PC at the same time. I was expecting them to do the PS 4 optimization first and then have that same team move to PC optimization.

You make it sound like all PCs are Intel......

This isn't surprising because the PS4 uses a AMD processor that is similar to other PC multi-core AMD processors. Once they get the PS4 optimized they can roll out that to PC users that have AMD processors really fast. Intel users will still see an improvement more than likely since they have quad cores, but I believe it will really benefit the AMD users far more.

I know it's strange, but the PC world doesn't always revolve around Intel and Nvidia. In fact for the most part Intel and Nvidia have been cut out of the console war completely. Which is what will be really interesting to me because we all know PS2 was originally made for Nvidia. Well ATI cards can't do the PhysX stuff. So if we see any PS4 footage with that in it then you know it isn't true PS4 footage unless they developed something for the ATI crowd.

[Rolfski]

I'm not suggesting it's all about Intel (although there's no denying that for the high end gaming market, Intel is the preferred choice).

I'm just saying I was expecting a different path from SOE:

optimize for PS4
optimize for AMD PC after that (small tweakings I assume)
And finally optimize for Intel PC (probably needs more tweakings)


Apparently, they are doing this parallel.

[Boildown]

The more threaded the code is, the better AMD appears for the money. The FX-8350 is a beast with the right application. Unfortunately for AMD, it is rarely that way for games. The FX-8350 is AMD's top gamer CPU, but its 20-25% slower for games like Planetside 2 than Intel's three-generation-old i5-2500. For the money, you're better off with Intel (for PS2), and its not even close. If PS2 can be refactored to take advantage of all the cheap cores AMD is providing, it might reverse itself... it'll have to reverse itself... to get PS2 to run on the PS4. Intel will still be faster, but you'll have to pay more for the speed, at least.


I was trying to think of a constructive way to explain the issues with your post.

But I couldn't. So Ill just say that you have quite a lot wrong in there.

If you couldn't think of a constructive way to say it, maybe there's less wrong with it than you claim. Otherwise it would be a simple matter of pointing out and correcting the factual inaccuracies. Your post, even in avoiding being unconstructive, is unconstructive, because it adds nothing to the thread. The most constructive thing you could have done would be to not post until you have something constructive to say.