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Baldur's Gate 3 dev shows off the level of optimization achieved for the Xbox Series S port (34% reduction in VRAM usage & 10% reduction in RAM usage)

ReBurn

Gold Member
Phil Spencer said they are losing $100 to $200 on every console sold. From a value perspective, I think you are right, but from a cost to build view I don't think they wanted to lose any more than they already were.
I wonder if they're still losing that much? We heard that just over a year ago. We'll probably never know, but would be interesting to.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
By the time it hits Xbox it'll be in the most optimized state *and* have the latest patches and content updates. Glad it's coming in December (or later) cause releasing at this time would be a nightmare, for me at least, considering all the other games.
 

sendit

Member
Did anyone actually read the article? Memory usage was reduced by % by lowering resolution and using lower quality textures. This isn't some revelation in optimization like some people here thinking it is. Series S isn't helping anyone. This optimization doesn't resolve the non-existent split screen feature on the Series S.

It delayed the release on Xbox and caused Phil Spencer to lie about all games being in parity between the Series S and X. I'm actually more worried about the mental state of Phil.
 
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FoxMcChief

Gold Member
By the time it hits Xbox it'll be in the most optimized state *and* have the latest patches and content updates. Glad it's coming in December (or later) cause releasing at this time would be a nightmare, for me at least, considering all the other games.
Yup. I’m in no rush. By the time I play it on either console, it will be at its peak optimization.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Yup. I’m in no rush. By the time I play it on either console, it will be at its peak optimization.

Plus I'm hoping either console vendor gets off their ass and requests physical copies to be published.

Surprised AW2 and Like a Dragon got so much flack for being digital only but people kinda just glossed over that BG3 is also digital only.
 

FoxMcChief

Gold Member
Plus I'm hoping either console vendor gets off their ass and requests physical copies to be published.

Surprised AW2 and Like a Dragon got so much flack for being digital only but people kinda just glossed over that BG3 is also digital only.
In all likelihood, I’ll either wait for a big sale or wait to see if it lands on one of the subscriptions.
 

NEbeast

Member
I wonder I all this was worth their time. Its clear xbox players don't like buying games. I wonder if they regret spending all this money when the sales numbers come in.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Sure, just like the switch ports helped the other consoles.

The whole Alan Wake 2 comparison too is some funny shit, as if they unlocked something via XSS optimization that turned a 30 fps game on PS5 into a 60 fps game, when in reality what you get is the standard higher framerate option that looks clearly worse. Wow such optimizations, making the game look worse to run at higher framerates.
 

Calverz

Member
I wonder I all this was worth their time. Its clear xbox players don't like buying games. I wonder if they regret spending all this money when the sales numbers come in.

And this isn’t even on gamepass.
 

Clintizzle

Lord of Edge.
Honestly $299 is a good price, but for what it is it should be even cheaper. No disk drive, half the SSD, a third of the power and you don't even get it at half the price of the X.
Yeah definitely. It's crazy that for $100 more you can get a full strength PS5 with no disc drive. Crazy.
 

Elysium44

Banned
Did anyone actually read the article? Memory usage was reduced by % by lowering resolution and using lower quality textures. This isn't some revelation in optimization like some people here thinking it is. Series S isn't helping anyone. This optimization doesn't resolve the non-existent split screen feature on the Series S.

It delayed the release on Xbox and caused Phil Spencer to lie about all games being in parity between the Series S and X. I'm actually more worried about the mental state of Phil.

It says:

Clearly, we have no idea what Larian has specifically done to achieve this, but it's unlikely to just be a case of rendering at a lower resolution or using smaller textures. The evidence for this is that the memory testing shows only small improvements throughout September and October. If merely lowering the settings was the only thing required, then the developers would have done this much sooner.
 

Dr_Ifto

Member
While it's great to hear this benefits everyone, I see this as confirmation that devs are grossly underutilizing these consoles and using the power they have on tap as a way to brute force through poorly optimized code.
As is with all developers.

Get it working first and optimize later. That later part just never comes.
 

SenkiDala

Member
Surprised AW2 and Like a Dragon got so much flack for being digital only but people kinda just glossed over that BG3 is also digital only.
Oh yes I wanted to say this. I witnessed it too and don't get why BG3 is getting a "our good bros at Larian" but it's complaining everywhere for AW2 and Like a Dragon ?! I thought maybe it's because 95% of BG3 players are playing it on PC since maybe PS5 users might have passed on it because Spider-Man 2 was coming right behind and they don't like CRPGs that much, while Like a Dragon games and Alan Wake are clearly more "console couch games" than PC games.
 

Three

Member
Oh yes I wanted to say this. I witnessed it too and don't get why BG3 is getting a "our good bros at Larian" but it's complaining everywhere for AW2 and Like a Dragon ?! I thought maybe it's because 95% of BG3 players are playing it on PC since maybe PS5 users might have passed on it because Spider-Man 2 was coming right behind and they don't like CRPGs that much, while Like a Dragon games and Alan Wake are clearly more "console couch games" than PC games.
People complained about BG3 being digital only but Larian had at least confirmed that they might release a physical copy later in December and you can import a physical copy from Japan for it. AW2 there is no physical version and they said there are no plans for physical. BG3 topped the download charts on PS5 so it has nothing to do with nobody caring.
 

dotnotbot

Member
Plus I'm hoping either console vendor gets off their ass and requests physical copies to be published.

Surprised AW2 and Like a Dragon got so much flack for being digital only but people kinda just glossed over that BG3 is also digital only.

Well, BG3 has japanese physical release at least. If someone really wants physical they can get it:

 

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Plus I'm hoping either console vendor gets off their ass and requests physical copies to be published.

Surprised AW2 and Like a Dragon got so much flack for being digital only but people kinda just glossed over that BG3 is also digital only.
Come on mate, you even posted in the thread I made about BG3 getting a physical release in Japan. :p


Anyway, I'm reasonably convinced that Larian will have a BG3 physical release ready for both PS5 and XSX in the west once it launches on Xbox. If the time-frame is too short, then we'll have one early next year.



Believe Jason Sudeikis GIF by Apple TV
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Come on mate, you even posted in the thread I made about BG3 getting a physical release in Japan. :p


Anyway, I'm reasonably convinced that Larian will have a physical release for both PS5 and XSX in the west once it launches on Xbox. If the time-frame is too short, then we'll have one early next year.



Believe Jason Sudeikis GIF by Apple TV


But so did like a dragon, that game also has a physical release in Asia only.

But, unlike that game, my excitement for bg3 is not high enough that I would want to import it anyway.
 

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
But so did like a dragon, that game also has a physical release in Asia only.

But, unlike that game, my excitement for bg3 is not high enough that I would want to import it anyway.
While I'm not a betting person, I'm reasonably convinced it will get a physical release in the west soonish based on that tweet there I linked. Not to mention that there must be many physical game distributors lining up to help them with this release (if they want the help, ofc). We'll see soon I guess since I want a copy as well, but I'm not willing to import one from Japan due to the game being censored there.
 
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lmimmfn

Member
I've only just started ACT 3 inside baldurs gate, FPS is still on 97FPS with a 4070Ti and 7800x3d, that was the main issue on PC but looks like it's resolved?
The additional optimizations for XBox will obviously benefit everyone.
 

SenkiDala

Member
People complained about BG3 being digital only but Larian had at least confirmed that they might release a physical copy later in December and you can import a physical copy from Japan for it. AW2 there is no physical version and they said there are no plans for physical. BG3 topped the download charts on PS5 so it has nothing to do with nobody caring.
You can also buy the last Like a Dragon game in from Japan and all the languages are on the disc. But still people complain about it. I don't agree with you, the "possibility of an eventual retail version in the future" isn't the reason why people are ok with BG3 being digital.

Also AW2 is 59€, Like a dragon is 49€ both in digital while BG3 is at least 69€ so they didn't even decide to sell the game cheaper because it was digital only.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
You can also buy the last Like a Dragon game in from Japan and all the languages are on the disc. But still people complain about it. I don't agree with you, the "possibility of an eventual retail version in the future" isn't the reason why people are ok with BG3 being digital.

Also AW2 is 59€, Like a dragon is 49€ both in digital while BG3 is at least 69€ so they didn't even decide to sell the game cheaper because it was digital only.

Wow, I thought it was $60. Didn't even know it was a $70 game.
 

Three

Member
You can also buy the last Like a Dragon game in from Japan and all the languages are on the disc. But still people complain about it. I don't agree with you, the "possibility of an eventual retail version in the future" isn't the reason why people are ok with BG3 being digital.
I've only seen the odd comment here or there for both. I'm not sure what you were expecting in terms of complaints for BG3. People are about as Ok with BG3 as they are Like a dragon to me. The only thing that's different between them is that Like a Dragon is a multiplatform game and only got a physical release on Playstation so perhaps some xbox users were pissed about that more, that a physical version didn't exist at all for their platform so there was no physical import option either.
Also AW2 is 59€, Like a dragon is 49€ both in digital while BG3 is at least 69€ so they didn't even decide to sell the game cheaper because it was digital only.
Why is that relevant? like a dragon is €49 and available physical in Asia while AW2 is €59 and is only available digital. By your logic shouldn't AW2 be 39€ instead of being more expensive than Like a dragon?

BG3 is a big game in terms of scope and Larian spent a lot of years on it. They've set their budget and business model and priced it at whatever made sense for them. What exactly are you after here, for people to complain about the game?
 
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The best thing Baldur's Gate 3 brought to the industry was its success, which forced Phil to drop the parity clause, thereby preventing the Series S from limiting the scope/creative vision of the games released this generation.
 

RedC

Member
Optimizing software brings benefits across the board… truly shocking
Isn't what's being suggested, specifically in this case, is optimizing software for a lower spec fixed hardware brings benefits across the board to similar and above spec hardware?
 
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DavidGzz

Gold Member
The haters who can't admit that a game that is ALREADY out for their precious console will be further optimized because of the work they did to get it to run on the Series S. Why is that so hard to admit?
 

Portugeezer

Member
Isn't what's being suggested, specifically in this case, is optimizing software for a lower spec fixed hardware brings benefits across the board to similar and above spec hardware?
If that's the case, you could argue that those optimisations (whatever that may be) could always have been done on the higher spec machines.
 

twilo99

Member
Isn't what's being suggested, specifically in this case, is optimizing software for a lower spec fixed hardware brings benefits across the board to similar and above spec hardware?

Well exactly but that has always been the case when it comes to software..
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Well exactly but that has always been the case when it comes to software..

Right, optimization via updates is always happening, but between this (and Aw2 before) we have a couple of examples of developers saying plainly how it's benefited the other consoles directly.

AW2, for example, would have been a 30 FPS game only on console otherwise. It has a (pretty damn solid) 60 FPS mode because of the dedicated lower-end optimization.

I'm sure the optimization and updates BG3 is getting in Patch 5 will remedy most, if not all,of the performance issues the PS5 version had in Act 3 of the game. Xbox owners are just going to have all those benefits from day 1 of the release on their platform in this case.
 

twilo99

Member
Right, optimization via updates is always happening, but between this (and Aw2 before) we have a couple of examples of developers saying plainly how it's benefited the other consoles directly.

AW2, for example, would have been a 30 FPS game only on console otherwise. It has a (pretty damn solid) 60 FPS mode because of the dedicated lower-end optimization.

I'm sure the optimization and updates BG3 is getting in Patch 5 will remedy most, if not all,of the performance issues the PS5 version had in Act 3 of the game. Xbox owners are just going to have all those benefits from day 1 of the release on their platform in this case.

all I know is that series s is bad for humanity
 

eNT1TY

Member
More devs should put that extra bit of love for the series S versions of games. Wonder how efficient or effective it would be if a game were lead developed on S then scaled upward for the stronger consoles rather than an X/PS5 baseline then scaling downward if they couldn't take the Larian approach. I would think it would produce better performing games that still look a tier above a AAA crossgen game.
 

twilo99

Member
More devs should put that extra bit of love for the series S versions of games. Wonder how efficient or effective it would be if a game were lead developed on S then scaled upward for the stronger consoles rather than an X/PS5 baseline then scaling downward if they couldn't take the Larian approach. I would think it would produce better performing games that still look a tier above a AAA crossgen game.

180 from the predominant narrative
 
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Kokoloko85

Member
“Holding us back”

Please dont do this shit again MS for next gen… Despite what “tech experts” and fans say.
Remember when Xbox fans and tech people were saying it has the same power and PS5 because of the CPU or some crap lol
 
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