The problem with Consoles

My guess is there are problems running it on the old consoles, but that’s just a guess.
Without clarity from fdev it’s impossible to know but I arrive at this conclusion based on a few factors.

1. When consoles were introduced the fidelity on PC had to be reduced just to get it to work according to people here and Obsidian Ant. Odyssey contains better graphics across the game so is no doubt heavier on the specs.

2. connected to point 1, the old gen consoles struggled at times quite badly with lag around planets and loading the system map and would even freeze the game when checking the module panel for a couple of seconds. All these issues were highlighted, documented and brought to frontier regularly till we were blue in the face.. silence was the response. No consideration, no acknowledgement, no discussion.

3. connected to 1 and 2, I personally found that an increase in hardware capability solved most of these problems when I bought a new gen console (Series X) so the old gens were already suffering before anything new has been introduced.

I can only guess then that is a cyberpunkesque situation but so far frontier have blamed it on just COVID and not acknowledged any of these issues. It’s high time we had a discussion on it instead of the stone-walling.
 
It's possible they pulled developers off the console version to finish the PC version and get something out to make the shareholders happy.

Of course, this doesn't explain the initial lack of console pre order options. It seems likely that the console version was never going to be ready on time. Given the PC delay its probably true that COVID has messed with their deadlines.
 
Last edited:
My guess is there are problems running it on the old consoles, but that’s just a guess.
Without clarity from fdev it’s impossible to know but I arrive at this conclusion based on a few factors.

1. When consoles were introduced the fidelity on PC had to be reduced just to get it to work according to people here and Obsidian Ant. Odyssey contains better graphics across the game so is no doubt heavier on the specs.

2. connected to point 1, the old gen consoles struggled at times quite badly with lag around planets and loading the system map and would even freeze the game when checking the module panel for a couple of seconds. All these issues were highlighted, documented and brought to frontier regularly till we were blue in the face.. silence was the response. No consideration, no acknowledgement, no discussion.

3. connected to 1 and 2, I personally found that an increase in hardware capability solved most of these problems when I bought a new gen console (Series X) so the old gens were already suffering before anything new has been introduced.

I can only guess then that is a cyberpunkesque situation but so far frontier have blamed it on just COVID and not acknowledged any of these issues. It’s high time we had a discussion on it instead of the stone-walling.

No not really.

There is no issues with consoles tbh
I dont really think there is a reduction in fidelity due to consoles. Unless you actually play on consoles and see that in a ring you only get half the asteroids a pc user get.
Or trying to plot a route in WHN, between 2 stars situated at 10 ly from each other, takes you 30s instead of 3s as it takes for a PC user
And so on.
So the PC gets all the flavors and the Consoles gets cuts and bits where ever is necessary - and as i pointed above, that is not only in terms of graphic quality, but also a cut in content.

Their cobra engine (*) also is not platform dependent. So it's not like they have to "port" and re-write the game to consoles
So i guess they just have some sliders for graphic quality and scenery complexity and they move those sliders towards minimum for consoles and towards maximum for the pc version.

So no. The Delays are not related to consoles.
They have probably issues with the PC release and they need to focus most resources there to get it out in time. And the consoles get the short end of the stick as usually.

*()
The current engine is the fourth generation of our cross-platform technology. The engine provides a common platform-neutral core API and resource pipeline that isolates both the game code and resources from the underlying hardware, while maximising use of the multi-processor, multi-threaded environment
 
Last edited:
Has Sony perhaps tightened the approval rules after the disaster with CP2077?
That’s actually a good point Uchuu but I doubt it would create a 6 month delay..it was mentioned in a previous broadcast that the verification for Xbox took roughly one week to pass so I’m sure Sony wouldn’t take half a year but they may have made it more stringent.

@Northpin that’s precisely what happens I do play on console and the density of asteroids is less than on pc in the asteroid rings of San Tu and other places.
 
@Northpin that’s precisely what happens I do play on console and the density of asteroids is less than on pc in the asteroid rings of San Tu and other places.

my point exactly - the consoles are not really affecting the PC game.
We consolers get our game toned down, while we usually pay more for the game than the master race does.

And then we still get blamed for whatever delays the PC version gets. 😒

Edit:
Also check this if you want a clear picture (pun intended) about asteroid density on consoles vs pc

 
Last edited:
Someone will know: Is the new Xbox the same architecture as the previous generation? It appears (and I'm happy to be wrong) that the PS5 is on hardware different enough to require an entire new game to make use of that hardware - if the Xbox is similar in its dissimilarities then Frontier would be obliged to have 4 different versions of the game for 2 consoles - for old and new generation - and to maintain those versions equally until such time as the 'ancient' hardware (like my PS4) can be abandoned.

At least for the PC a single version works as the hardware running the game sorts out the drivers needed... (allegedly!)

Just a thought ;)

No, both consoles use RDNA 2 for their GPUs, with the new Xbox consoles featuring full RDNA2 support, and both are using Zen 2 CPUs compared to the old Jaguar CPUs.

MS have done great work in unifying the various APIs between PC and console. DirectX 12 for example, works on both Xbox and PC, and DirectX 12 Ultimate (allows access to RDNA 2 features like VRS, Mesh Shaders etc ) works on both Xbox Series S|X and any PC using a DX12 Ultimate graphics card. You've also got Direct Storage on Xbox Series S|X and PC which improves IO performance for SSDs.

So, development work done for an enhanced patch for Xbox Series S|X will also benefit any PC using one of the newer graphics cards and/or SSD. If that isn't moviataion for a patch I'm not sure what is.
 
No, both consoles use RDNA 2 for their GPUs, with the new Xbox consoles featuring full RDNA2 support, and both are using Zen 2 CPUs compared to the old Jaguar CPUs.

MS have done great work in unifying the various APIs between PC and console. DirectX 12 for example, works on both Xbox and PC, and DirectX 12 Ultimate (allows access to RDNA 2 features like VRS, Mesh Shaders etc ) works on both Xbox Series S|X and any PC using a DX12 Ultimate graphics card. You've also got Direct Storage on Xbox Series S|X and PC which improves IO performance for SSDs.

So, development work done for an enhanced patch for Xbox Series S|X will also benefit any PC using one of the newer graphics cards and/or SSD. If that isn't moviataion for a patch I'm not sure what is.
Thank you, kind sir, for your excellent response! That is my question answered in completeness.
 
And for that we should weep.

For the record, Microsoft Flight Simulator will be using DX12 for the Xbox version, and performance improvements from that will also benefit PC flyers with DX12 hardware, with no loss of visual quality.

Well, hopefully they will improve the Cobra engine (currently at 4th generation) to be DX12 ultimate compatible.
Not sure if that will happen during the lifetime of our beloved Elite 4 (hint?) or we will need to wait for Elite 5 for that *()


*(although it would be about damn time if it started in 1988 and the 4th gen came into fruition just in time to be used for ED since 2013/2014)
 
Well, hopefully they will improve the Cobra engine (currently at 4th generation) to be DX12 ultimate compatible.
Not sure if that will happen during the lifetime of our beloved Elite 4 (hint?) or we will need to wait for Elite 5 for that *()


*(although it would be about damn time if it started in 1988 and the 4th gen came into fruition just in time to be used for ED since 2013/2014)
hmm, do you ever think we will get an elite 5? what else could it give?
 
Can we hope and dare dream then that this 6 month delay is to give us an enhanced console version or is it more likely that they are going back over and removing some details like Northpin proved they did with the asteroids to make it run?
 
I really wish we had more clarity about these details from frontier themselves. Why is it working against their interests to acknowledge what they plan to do or what the stumbling blocks are. There must be reasons but if they can’t reveal them at least tell us why they can’t. I’m sorry I just think the “oh COVID” line isn’t enough.
 
hmm, do you ever think we will get an elite 5? what else could it give?

Andromeda?
Or at least The Magellanic Clouds and other dwarf galaxies satellite to Milky way.
Other aliens. No idea.
They are the devs, they should come up with something interesting. After all, we are paying them for that 😊
 
Back
Top Bottom