PS4 Post-livestream FAQ
- Thread starter Brett C
- Start date
Not sure about PS4 but XBO now supports using the Keyboard for game controls, but developers have to add it to their games.
I've heard many times wasd is supported in BF1 but haven't tried myself. No mouse support yet :-(
They were very fuzzy on base ps4 details and would only say it looks and performs similar to the xbox version.
The xbox version does look and perform fantastic so I'll be able to compare on Tuesday
I have the XBOX and PC versions and enjoy them both. While I run on ultra on PC, the XBOX still looks great.
That's why I decided to save $150 and get the PS4 slim for Elite, since if it looks as good as the XBOX, it's going to look pretty good!
Over time I would expect the slim to look better than the XBOs.
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stormyuk
Volunteer Moderator
PS4 already supports keyboards in games, FDev have chosen not to support this. No idea why.
Javert
Volunteer Moderator
For those asking whether the PS4 version will be available at midnight on launch day, based on FD's past rollouts, this is highly unlikely.
FD have, I believe, also stated that the 3.1 version that has been in beta testing on PC will also roll out to Xbox and PC on the same day.
This means that the servers will be down for a period of time that day, most likely in the UK daytime, to update the live servers for 3.1, and also to support PS4.
Therefore, if you base it on past history, it's highly unlikely that the PS4 version will be available to play before the UK business hours on launch day, and it's much more likely that it won't be available until later in the afternoon or early evening.
It's possible that they may surprise us and completely change their way of doing things this time around, but I doubt it.
FD have, I believe, also stated that the 3.1 version that has been in beta testing on PC will also roll out to Xbox and PC on the same day.
This means that the servers will be down for a period of time that day, most likely in the UK daytime, to update the live servers for 3.1, and also to support PS4.
Therefore, if you base it on past history, it's highly unlikely that the PS4 version will be available to play before the UK business hours on launch day, and it's much more likely that it won't be available until later in the afternoon or early evening.
It's possible that they may surprise us and completely change their way of doing things this time around, but I doubt it.
stormyuk
Volunteer Moderator
The FAQ says they are aiming for the training missions and linking/creating accounts to be available from midnight local times. When the Open/Solo/PG is up is anyone's guess, sometime between 00:00 and 16:00 UTC.
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Awesome stuff, thanks to all that have been involved in this and getting ED to PS4 in general. Can't wait to pull a late one at 12:00 on the 27th, glad I can get going on the training. Hopefully I should be able to get out of the mail slot before the servers go live (at least once)
You don't know this. Just because a game makes use of the keyboard doesn't mean PS4 supports the keyboard as a controller. I highly doubt Sony provides APIs for this, so any game that uses the keyboard in this way likely has to do so through low-level non-trivial "trickery". Otherwise we'd have way many more games taking advantage of KBD. I address this over here.
ps - unless you do know it, in which case please share your source.
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stormyuk
Volunteer Moderator
Some do, Epic games have said so. They use Keyboard / Mouse support in Paragon on PS4 and its official support, the PS3 even used to have an licensed branded full size keyboard from Sony for Dust514, it didn't sell well. The support is there, its not Sony stopping anything, its up to the developer.
This is licensed by Sony for PS3/4:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/HORI-Tactical-Assault-Commander-Pro/dp/B01K7JEII8
Pargon, Final Fantasy and War Thunder all officially support Keyboard on PS4 and you can use any USB keyboard (not sure about BT), not just the TAC Pro.
Some games like Overwatch as you mention are potentially non-official kludges or work arounds. But if they were so bothered why don't they block keyboard support, like FDev.
Its purely up to the developer as to what they want to do. Sure its probably easier to just have it for chat from FDevs point of view.
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Old Duck, you play Overwatch have you heard of anyone using the Hori 'keyboard' and mouse?
Iirc, Blizzard actually blocks the use of KB&M in Overwatch. However, you can get round it with certain adaptors that trick the PS4 in to believing the inputs are coming from a controller.
Their reasoning is that they don't want players to have an unfair advantage over others.
Does the Hori register itself as a KB&M though? The wording on the website claims it is compatible with all games; I was under the impression to do that they made it appear as a controller.
It don't think it does, which leaves it in some sort of weird grey area when it comes to Blizzard. I was talking about KB&M in general, apologies if that wasn't clear.
I've seen vids of the Tac Pro running on Overwatch, but knowing Blizz, they'll figure out a way to block it eventually -_-
No problem I am just trying to understand it in my own mind. I might be tempted to get one for certain games, but if individual game companies can ban it that's not a good thing! I'm not sure what Sony's stance would be as I originally case the Tac Pro on the PS4 site where it said it would work on all games. Not that it's a big issue as I am a couch player and I think you would really need a desk but if I struggle with the text on the screen with Elite I am considering switching to a desk setup. I can imagine Fallout 5/Red Dead Redemption 2/GTA 6 being great on a Tac Pro.
Paragon and War Thunder are anomalies. War Thunder supports all sorts of HOTAS & sticks that nothing else supports; this implies hardware-level coding (vs OS APIs). Paragon somehow allows cross-play between PS4 & PC, which baffles me because supposedly Sony is opposed to this. Final Fantasy supports voice controls, again another example of an advanced feature not provided by the PS4 APIs.
I agree when you say, "its not Sony stopping anything", but I don't agree with "the support is there." The ability to access the hardware directly must be there, but I really do question if there's a simple API available to use the keyboard as a game control input.
We should both disclaim that we're speculating, as neither of us has access to the PS4 developer framework documentation. So Lloyd, master of the PS4, can you confirm or deny that Sony provides APIs that would allow you to read the keyboard as a game control input? If not, how much work do you have to do to write your own "driver" to access the keyboard in this way?
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stormyuk
Volunteer Moderator
Why would Sony licence products that it does not support? That makes no sense.
Edit: Again, Sony is not opposed to PC <> PS4 cross play, both Paragon, Street Fighter, FF and Rocket League support it. What Sony is opposed to is cross-play with competitors, namely Xbox One (and Switch). The reason Sony don't want this cross-play is pure brand driven no matter what they say. The PC is not really a direct competitor to PS4. The Xbox and Switch are. If roles were reversed and Xbox had sold 60m units and PS4 less, you can bet your bottom dollar, Sony would not be opposed to cross play.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...-cross-play-with-xbox-one-and-nintendo-switch
(absence of PC is noted)
Edit: Again, Sony is not opposed to PC <> PS4 cross play, both Paragon, Street Fighter, FF and Rocket League support it. What Sony is opposed to is cross-play with competitors, namely Xbox One (and Switch). The reason Sony don't want this cross-play is pure brand driven no matter what they say. The PC is not really a direct competitor to PS4. The Xbox and Switch are. If roles were reversed and Xbox had sold 60m units and PS4 less, you can bet your bottom dollar, Sony would not be opposed to cross play.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...-cross-play-with-xbox-one-and-nintendo-switch
(absence of PC is noted)
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I can only speculate (disclaimer), but HORI doesn't appear to be an actual "keyboard and mouse." I think it's DS4 in KB/M clothing. I don't know, this is the first I'm seeing it, but reading the reviews about how it works leads me to think this is what they are doing. Other companies have done the same thing, and I do know that's what those companies are doing (converting KB/M inputs into DS4 outputs).
BTW, if this is true, then HORI should work with ED, yes? Not that I have any interest flying by mouse, LOL.
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stormyuk
Volunteer Moderator
Yeh I agree, it looks like it might be. So are Epic and Square Enix etc doing some deeper digging to get "proper" keyboard support? It is interesting.
Still at the end of the day, I am going to be happy with DS4 slumsville
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That's my thinking, but I'm basing this on my experience with writing software for a completely different hardware platform / different "Sony", so I'm making a lot of assumptions. We used to do some crazy low-level stuff to get around the APIs, and it worked, and "Sony" allowed it, but it was not as easy as it sounds because sometimes the default APIs try to override your own attempts to do something clever.
At least some of the games you mention are PS4 exclusives, and I find that exclusives tend to do better at doing clever things with a platform than games that work on multiple platforms. If Frontier is trying to maintain a manageable codebase across PC, XBox, and PS4, doing "clever" stuff on one platform can cause all sorts of headaches as they strive to keep this codebase in sync. It may just not be worth the trouble to do this. ROI.
"Sony" != Sony
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stormyuk
Volunteer Moderator
Yeh that makes total sense to be honest, I think Xbox is getting "official" MS keyboard support soon, so will be interesting to see what happens going forward.