Jason Ronald’s job involves managing the structure Microsoft and software decision making Xbox Series X. As a partner director, he leads the development of the next-generation console, which is due out for the Christmas holidays of 2023. The engineer was at the forefront and participated in the creation of the Xbox Series X from beginning to end, so no one knows the console like him.
The developer gave a great interview to the portal Eurogamer, where he told about everything: from power to price, and also tried to dispel concern about the upcoming system library. For a detailed retelling of the conversation, see below.
Innovations
The Xbox Series X is not only unbridled power, but also innovation: ray tracing to display volumetric lighting, spectacular reflection effects and better shadows and sound. Microsoft provides developers with many tools that increase the efficiency in programming needed to unleash the power of the console.
However, a true innovation in terms of gameplay and game design will be the speed of data transfer to the CPU provided by the I / O system. It is its limitations that often have a significant impact, becoming a bottleneck in the creation of games of the current generation.
Developers have to change their creation, working within the limits. For them, the engineering team introduced many technological innovations to the Xbox architecture, for example SSD NVMe.
One of the first technology used by the studio Bloober teamcreating psychological horror The medium. In the game, it is necessary to constantly switch between two worlds – the real and the spiritual, which caused developers big problems. For many years, the Polish team could not translate their idea into reality until, finally, the barriers collapsed. That is why The Medium will be released exclusively on the Xbox Series X and will not support Xbox One.
Frame frequency
Microsoft does not limit developers in choosing frame rates, saying that creative control is now in the hands of the creators themselves. They can choose 30fps if they consider that it will be correct in terms of gameplay.
In the previous generation, sometimes it was necessary to sacrifice a stable frequency for the sake of resolution. In the next – it will be completely under the control of the developers. In competitive games, 60fps will no longer be the ceiling.
Cost
Microsoft designed the system with a certain price in mind, and this affected the overall console architecture we got. The company is confident in the system, and at the same time will try to be flexible in terms of price.
She understands that she must provide a device with an attractive price tag that people around the world can afford. This was a key moment in the development of the system.
Xbox One Support
Microsoft is still silent about what will happen to the Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox One X at the time of the release of the Xbox Series X on Christmas Day. But Microsoft understands that not all owners of the Xbox One family of systems, the number of which is currently tens of millions, are going to immediately move to the next generation.
Therefore, the company and developers will continue to support XO / XOS / XOX for some time, releasing games there simultaneously with the Xbox Series X.
Ronald himself is the owner of the console of the current generation, so he considers it important to provide people with a choice so that they continue to play as they please.
Technical limitations due to Xbox One support
In the field of game development for a particular system, Microsoft again provides their creators with a choice. However, the company does not deny that in the future there will be unique or exclusive games designed exclusively for the Xbox Series X.
The toolkit will be the same for projects for the Xbox Series X, and for the Xbox One c PC. The company tried to make it as easy as possible for developers to create games for several platforms, and at the same time use the unique capabilities of each specific device.
Microsoft itself will develop projects, triple Halo infinite, for all platforms, to reach the widest possible audience. For internal teams, this will not be a big problem, because the company has been releasing games on the Xbox One and PC for many years. Developers already have a number of tools, including dynamic resolution scaling.
Comparison with PlayStation 5
Ronald refused to directly compare the Xbox Series X with a competitor’s console, taking the conversation in a different direction. He noted that Microsoft is proud to have designed and built, and the first results from the developers are really amazing.
It will be very interesting for the company to find out where this generation will go in the next three, five, seven and ten years. Ronald believes that when the platform holder designs and creates the platform, as well as a new generation of consoles, he sets the direction for the next decade of game development.
Teraflops comparison
For Microsoft, brute power is not important at all; the company developed iron, trying to get around bottlenecks so that the system was well balanced and uncompromising. In addition to 12 TFs, the Xbox Series X will have support for Direct Storage, Sampler Feedback Streaming and Variable Rate Shading.
It’s not enough to integrate a powerful graphic component into the system, it’s much more efficient to create suitable tools with which developers will reveal its potential. Of course, they can achieve amazing results, and so, traveling on the raw power of the teraflops, which are enclosed in a box.
Games size
Microsoft believes that there is no magic solution that will make games less in weight in no time. The company is trying to use new compression technologies to reduce the amount of space occupied by the game and the size of patches.
It also provides developers with many tools so they can better understand which files are installed and when. For example, is it worth downloading the voice acting in French and Spanish if the system has English installed.
Two years ago, Microsoft introduced a technology called Fast Start that allows machine learning to be used during file installation. Today, the company is working closely with engineers and developers to create a number of tools that will help reduce the size of games, and not only minimize the amount of downloaded and installed content.
Xbox Series X will not have restrictions on the size of the installation file or the space it occupies after unpacking. But the publisher is trying to help developers as much as possible to reduce the size of games and updates, as gamers have made it clear that they are not ready to download hundreds of gigabytes. The company wants to remain the most flexible at this point, taking into account the network bandwidth of users and the size of the hard drives.
Download Animation
When developing video from the Xbox Series X on-screen, the company was guided by the word “premium.” Microsoft wanted to emphasize that this is a new generation of consoles.
Ironically, the console turns on so fast that it leaves little time for animation. Ronald says solving this issue was one of the most interesting challenges for designers. They worked out a lot of options before determining the exact length of the roller.
Download speed
For the first time playing a game on the Xbox Series X, Ronald did not even suspect that there were loading screens in it until he switched to the current generation console.
Microsoft believes that the SSD will not be able to eliminate the download completely, but it will greatly affect the game design. It will be interesting to see how developers take full advantage of the new features. Already now, the company is passing tests of games that are not designed for a system with the same level of performance as the Xbox Series X.
The Xbox Series X is scheduled for release in late 2023. Earlier, Microsoft made a presentation of the first gameplay of games specially adapted for this console.
Read also: The history of development and the first details of The Medium – a psychological horror with music from the composer Silent Hill
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