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[Eurogamer] - Here's How Character Switching In Spider-Man 2 Works
- Thread starter ChiefDada
- Start date
akaFullmetal
Member
Sounds nice, can't wait to see the new moves and powers between them.
March Climber
Member
Zathalus
Member
It took around 10-12 seconds or so to switch. Yes the PS5 is faster but the concept is the same.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
And? I heard most games have a jump button too.
It's still impressive how far tech has come with higher res assets and how instantaneous it is.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
It depends on what's being switched between; if there's a lot of shared data for both source and destination its not an issue. However the more you need to swap in and out the bigger the load on i/o and thus more load times either during or following the transition.
While it can be worked around somewhat with small self-contained teleport locations (that stay resident in memory) while the rest gets streamed in after warping, its never going to be seamless when you have gigabytes of data needing to pulled in. It simply takes time to pull that in from the HDD and then be properly initialized.
Bear in mind that especially on systems like last-gen consoles where transfer-rates were severely limited due to needing to work on 5400rpm laptop drives just supporting streamed data at full throughput demanded that it all be ordered sequentially in order to mitigate seek-times, so doing this would massively complicate and expand the footprint of the world data on the drive (lots of duplicated sections etc.).
So yeah, its pretty radical. And precisely the sort of application I predicted when the PS5's advanced i/o setup was first revealed.
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Thirty7ven
Banned
Ratchet and Clank is proof of how good it is to NEVER deal with loading screens. It’s such a simple thing that completely changes the flow of the game.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
It also made Demon's Souls Remake feel so much better in that regards as well over the original.
ABnormal
Member
You can do it only if the whole level and all soldiers assets are already full in RAM. Otherways you have to load them at drive speed. Obviously in the case of SM2, being open world, you cannot have the whole installation data on RAM, so you have to constantly load from SSD. Switching to a different character in an open world requires to load full RAM each time. It's just fast travel, but if you have a tech that allows to do it basically latency free, you can use it for gameplay.
arkhamguy123
Member
It’s uhhhh… a little faster?
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
Sounds friggin awesome!
This is gonna be good.
This is gonna be good.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Show me an open world game with this (or similar) level of detail where you can instantly teleport anywhere on the map, without a very fast SSD. Because that's the point here.
Games that load full levels into RAM don't count, because obviously you can do it in such games. But you can't load the full open world of a game like this into RAM, so you need very fast storage to do instant teleporting or character switching. Otherwise you get GTA V (which is also exponentially less detailed than this game, i.e. there's much less data to load when switching characters).
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Yoboman
Member
GTA5?
IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Not a big fan of character switching but whatever, glad it's instantaneous.
The only thing the SSD does there is not require you to store the 2 characters in memory at all times.. something any game could have done. I mean we have co-op games that run on 1 machine folks lol.. this isn't something impossible in the past, just better.
Same with most SDD related tricks; the improvements are in data management and that allows you to maximize the memory for what you are currently doing in the game vs. "What's next, or what is possibly next".
The only thing the SSD does there is not require you to store the 2 characters in memory at all times.. something any game could have done. I mean we have co-op games that run on 1 machine folks lol.. this isn't something impossible in the past, just better.
Same with most SDD related tricks; the improvements are in data management and that allows you to maximize the memory for what you are currently doing in the game vs. "What's next, or what is possibly next".
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Fbh
Member
Would be cool if they really integrated the character switching into missions.
One thing I never liked in GTAV is how the character switching during missions was always very scripted and guided, it always felt like the game was telling me "ok now switch" instead of making dynamic missions that encourage you to change characters on the fly as you see fit.
I want missions with both characters on different locations having to coordinate between them as you go back and forth. Or objectives that can be solves in completely different ways depending on who I'm playing as and where I'm at.
That's next gen
"Same shit we've been doing since Ps3....but it loads faster"
One thing I never liked in GTAV is how the character switching during missions was always very scripted and guided, it always felt like the game was telling me "ok now switch" instead of making dynamic missions that encourage you to change characters on the fly as you see fit.
I want missions with both characters on different locations having to coordinate between them as you go back and forth. Or objectives that can be solves in completely different ways depending on who I'm playing as and where I'm at.
That's next gen
"Same shit we've been doing since Ps3....but it loads faster"
Pedro Motta
Member
FalsettoVibe
Member
rodrigolfp
Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Did you missed that this is about character switch?Yep 100% exactly like that. Graphics, fighting style, and all.....
FalsettoVibe
Member
Nope.
Lokaum D+
Member
This character fast transitions is a thing since the 90'
Insominiac did nothing new, jk
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rodrigolfp
Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
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bitbydeath
Member
Would be great to get a Spider-Gwen game next, then Spider-Man 3 can switch between all three of them.
EDMIX
Member
I don't think the point is that it could only be done on PS5, but the idea that CURRENTLY, it was only done on PS5.
What PC game with an SSD installed is doing this? As in, what AAA PC game requires a SSD or M.2 in order to actually doe exactly what we are seeing?
Before you waste your energy mind you, I own multiple gaming PCs and been gaming on PC for decades, I understand for 20 plus years of SSD being a thing, it existed on PC, that doesn't fucking mean it was required, used like this or some main thing for games to run and actually fully 100% utilized to even been making it seem as if BEING on PC, means being USED 100% on PC.
Holy shit, using this fucking logic, it would be like saying PS3 or PS4 can do this since they both support SSD, why don't they have those blazing speeds too? Are some of you not really getting that HOW its being used and actually being 100% in ALL PS5's is why its now able to be used like this or?
So it existed on PC, it wasn't being fully used on PC, shit even right now, the first games that will likely even start doing this on PC, will be the games that come out only for PS5 and Series X.....as in they must have the feature on PC as that is how the game will be built going forward. So it being on PC for 20 plus years didn't do shit other then minor speed differences no different then if you put an SSD in a PS4 Pro or something, but this being in ALL PS5's and ALL Series X is a very, very big deal for the industry's future.
So this doesn't mean anything is wrong with that SSD sir...it means PS3 was not made with SSD's in mind, PS3 games were not made with SSD in mind, same with PS4, XONE etc. Thus PC games similarly had this as an option, not a requirement to do anything even fucking near what we are seeing with Spiderman or Ratchet or any of the other PS5 games using that feature.
AeonGaidenRaiden
Member
Right, lets pretend how you need a PS5 SSD to change characters with a press of a button on a huge open world map. People already forgot GTA 5 did this like 10 years ago? Obviously with more loading because of old tech but they make it sound like this was never achieved before.
Lokaum D+
Member
bitbydeath
Member
StealthGoblin
Banned
I think it’s great and the speed of it is impressive. It’ll definitely make me want to switch between the characters more if I don’t have to wait.
ProtoByte
Member
It's a shame that this is the most notable thing they can talk about from the gameplay demo.
I mean, what else was going to happen? If there wasn't character switching and freedom to do so during freeroam, it would've been bizarre and stupid.
I'm just not enthused by the direction here; the gameplay looks too similar to the first and Miles Morales given the power of the characters and of the PS5; in fact, the gameplay demo is significantly less exciting to watch than actually playing either of those games because how slow the pace of the encounters they showed off are, and the fact that the enemies are literally standing around and waiting to get hit.
The writing on display is also shabby at best, and their black suit plotting so far is extremely predictable. I can't count how many times I've seen people predict a Miles vs. Peter confrontation in the game, and they couldn't even stop themselves from planting those seeds in the first showcase of the game.
The waste is this black suit design is pretty fantastic. I think they could've used some new rendering techniques to really sell the inky, fluid nature they're trying to get across, but it really does look alien and alive, in a way most othe black suits don't. It would've been nice to have that visual there, somewhat contrasted with a more subtle and balanced interpretation of "bringing out Peter's shadow", but alas.
I'm so happy Wolverine is getting a different creative team. I think Spidey's gonna need it after this entry.
I mean, what else was going to happen? If there wasn't character switching and freedom to do so during freeroam, it would've been bizarre and stupid.
I'm just not enthused by the direction here; the gameplay looks too similar to the first and Miles Morales given the power of the characters and of the PS5; in fact, the gameplay demo is significantly less exciting to watch than actually playing either of those games because how slow the pace of the encounters they showed off are, and the fact that the enemies are literally standing around and waiting to get hit.
The writing on display is also shabby at best, and their black suit plotting so far is extremely predictable. I can't count how many times I've seen people predict a Miles vs. Peter confrontation in the game, and they couldn't even stop themselves from planting those seeds in the first showcase of the game.
Treating it seriously? It's hard to take it seriously when Lowenthal is somehow outcornying his post-Pain arc Sasuke performance.
The waste is this black suit design is pretty fantastic. I think they could've used some new rendering techniques to really sell the inky, fluid nature they're trying to get across, but it really does look alien and alive, in a way most othe black suits don't. It would've been nice to have that visual there, somewhat contrasted with a more subtle and balanced interpretation of "bringing out Peter's shadow", but alas.
I'm so happy Wolverine is getting a different creative team. I think Spidey's gonna need it after this entry.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Nobody is saying this. So much insecurity in this thread.
Mr Moose
Member
That took ~10 seconds, this doesn't look like it will take anywhere close to that long. It's up to you if you think it is impressive or not.
rodrigolfp
Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
This takes less than 10 seconds on old game on slower machine with slower SSD. It's obvious that newer games on faster machines with faster SSDs can load faster. What's the news here?
Mr Moose
Member
The news is it's part of the new Spider-Man game and it's fast. That's pretty much it.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
This offends me.
Morrie’s wig shop
Member
And that was a launch game for the 360! 18 fucking years ago!!
Azurro
Banned
If he's in RAM, he's probably terrified, trapped motionless in a dark, endless void, lights, sounds and all material objects around him instantly turned off at the touch of a button.
sendit
Member
I avoided doing this a much as I could. Such a hassle.Hopefully this never has to return in GTA 6:
AeonGaidenRaiden
Member
Literally in the quoted interview:
"You'll be able to - in the open world - freely switch between them with a simple button press." This is thanks to the power of the PlayStation 5.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
And? The method they use is taking advantage of the i/o tech. Nobody said it’s needed for all methods, just their instant method. Frees up more RAM to be used for other things than the RAM duplication method.
midnightAI
Member
Just the two characters? So not the geometry, textures, NPC's, even audio?
ChiefDada
Gold Member
The last bit were the author's words, not the developer's. Notice where the quotation marks end. If you are focused on the developer words, they credit the PS5 for allowing the transition to happen "seamlessly" and "quickly". Considering the fact that we experienced monumental increase in asset quality from PS3 to PS4 gen without adequate storage to keep up (blu ray to hard drive was good, but not good enough to stay out of the way of game design), and the jump in asset quality and variety increased from PS4 to PS5, I don't think it's overly braggadocios to credit the PS5 in the way the developers have done here.
Unknown?
Member
Imagine people saying the same about GTA3 in 2001 because Driver 2 did something similar.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Kurotri
Member
Difference being that these 2 released 1 year from each other and Spidey 2 and GTA 5 have an entire decade between them. I'm not saying that this isn't neat, because it is, I just don't see why it should be treated as something major.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Only people making this a big deal, are those who seem to be offended by the article daring to paint the PS5 in a positive light due to this.
QoL speed improvements and no loading screens have been some of the best features this gen.
Kurotri
Member
I mean of course, I agree. What you are saying is far from wrong.I'm not into console warrior stuff as I own all major platforms. I guess this thing having an article is what kinda threw me off. To me this thing is something that I would've expected to be named in passing like in some small Q&A section of the game's website or something. Ah well.