Farming Simulator 19 will soon be coming to the fore and some of you are already thinking about changing your PC, or even switching to consoles.
It is of course the new revision of the Giants Engine which is the cause of this reflection. But beware, if owners of overpowered PCs will enjoy it, console players could well end up with a version at a discount. Explanations.
Material side
Current consoles released in 2014, the 2 headliners that are the Xbox One and PS4 have AMD Jaguar processors running at least 1,6 Ghz on 8 cores. These are unified type processors: the graphics chip is integrated into the central processor and the 8 GB of RAM which equip these machines are shared.
Rather than going into too much detail, I send you back to this article from overclockingmadeinfrance.com which compares the power of these platforms compared to current PCs. On the CPU side, the theoretical power is almost 2 times lower than that of an Intel Core i3 4150, a processor available during the same period (April 2014). So what, Sony and Microsoft sold us vulgar PCs? Not at all. We must take into account the specifications of a console concerning power consumption: a hundred watts in the game phase. What PC is capable of such a feat apart from laptops?
For the graphics part, it is somewhat the same observation, the graphics chips which equip the 2 consoles have a computing capacity close to an AMD R7 360. A powerful chip for the time, but today obsolete, globally. 2 times slower than an Nvidia 1060.
In 2018, saying that the PS4 and Xbox One are at the end of their life is therefore not a bad thing. There is already talk of a PlayStation 5 for 2020. It is therefore normal that these “old” platforms do not have the latest effects. “Ha good?”
The case of the switch
Are you starting to get scared reading the above lines? Do not be fooled by appearances. The Nintendo Switch, available since March 2017, is barely more powerful than a Galaxy S6 Edge and yet takes care of running a full version of Farming Simulator 17 ...
The Giants Engine
This is no longer a novelty, the Giants Engine cuvée 2018 releases heavy artillery with a slew of “new” graphic effects : light scattering, depth of field, bloom, HDR… Yes but… These effects were obviously topical in 2014, when the PS4 and Xbox One were released. AAA games, like Far Cry 4, have even made it their goodwill, putting some of the interest in the visual aspect. So why is the Giants Engine still lagging behind titles released during the same period?
To learn more about the history of the engine that drives Farming Simulator, we got in touch with the development team. Who better to explain to us why the console versions may have less “chiad” graphics than our high-end PCs.
Hello Giants Software
Bruno Giacobbé: Can you give us the history of the Giants Engine and its main evolutions?
Giants Software: Stefan Geiger (CTO) and Christian Ammann (CEO) developed this engine at university. There have been many additions over the years to focus on simulating farming activities, including the need to have crops with different growth stages and varying status modifiers for the soil.
BG: Is it now being used for other games?
Giants: No, Farming Simulator is the only game to benefit from it.
BG: Why did you wait so long to add effects that were already available on most engines in 2014? When did you decide to upgrade it?
Giants: Although graphics are an important point in a simulation game like Farming Simulator, the “less visible” characteristics of the engine are more important in terms of gameplay. Other engines can be optimized for FPS (as an example), but then lack other features needed to simulate crop growth cycles.
At the end of the day, it's always a matter of time. Spend time on the graphics and something else will have to wait. Of course, at some point you have to change the general aspect of the game. The graphics in Farming Simulator have been improved with each new version. Also between FS15 and FS17 (2014-16) the post-processing effects you mentioned were already under study at that time, but it was decided to focus on the gameplay features and then move on. add effects to FS19.
BG: How many people are working on the development of the Giants Engine?
Giants: I can't tell you, it's too variable. This represents less than 5% of the workforce dedicated to gaming.
BG: What programming language is used for its coding?
Giants: The engine is coded in C ++.
BG: The PS4 and Xbox One have technical limitations, just like the Xbox 360 in the days of Farming Simulator 17. For you, what are these limitations and what will be the visual effects that will not be available on these platforms?
Giants: One of the main constraints is RAM. The game needs to load all the vehicles in the game and keep them ready to juggle with each other instantly. In terms of visual effects, I can't go into details. (Editor's note: We have already had an echo of less precise lighting.)
BG: The Nintendo Switch, with these characteristics close to a high-end smartphone, will it see a special version of Farming Simulator 19?
Giants: We haven't announced Farming Simulator 19 for Nintendo Switch. We'll take a look at that later, but today we'll be focusing on launching FS19 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Mac.
BG: Is VR one of the upcoming developments? Or it remains in the experimental state (see Hololens Ideal)?
Giants: No plans for VR at this time. HoloLens was a cooperation for the AGCO IDEAL simulator in a real cabin.
Thanks to the developers for taking the time to answer these few questions.