Why is the Beta PC only and not consoles?

[wes 1,293]

Thought I would do a brief write-up to help explain why the beta is PC only. Some think it's because we dislike consoles. That couldn't be more untrue. I'm a console gamer myself and I own the company. So it has zero to do with a "PC Master Race" mentality. It's also has nothing to do with the amount of PC vs Console pre-orders. On the contrary, there's been a tremendous amount of console preorders. What it comes down to is time. Let me explain.

 

So the three companies we have to work with to put this game our are Steam, MS and Sony. Each has their own certification process. So what does that mean? After we have a build of the game that's ready for the public, we have to send that code to Steam, MS and Sony. They have their own internal teams that playtest it. Each entity has their own set of rules that their internal team uses during said playtest. Steam's guidelines are pretty straight forward. Their certification process is not hard to pass. Most of the time you pass either on the first try, or second. If the game boots, is playable, supports controllers and you have all your marketing images (the little pictures on the steam page) then you're pretty much good to go. MS and Sony are a completely different beast. 

 

Both Sony and MS have different rules for certification in different countries. So it's not just one rule book to follow. You also have to think about consoles and their audience. When you buy a console game, you expect to turn it on and play it. No hoops to jump through. No out-dated drivers to update. You don't think about screen resolution or the near endless configurations that PC players might have setup. It's a box that plugs into your TV and it just works, right? Sure there are still issues with console games needing patches, etc. But the reason why this "just works" is due to their incredibly rigid certification process. And that's not a bad thing. It should be rigid because you just want to plop down on the couch and play something without hassle. 

 

Some examples of certification failures might be; "Player boots game and has controller plugged into the second port, and a Rockband/Guitar Hero guitar plugged into the first port. Player should be able to back out of game, back to dashboard using guitar." That's just one example of an edge case that we have to test for. Sound ridiculous? Maybe. But Sony/MS want to account for almost any scenario that a gamer might be in, to assure the player can still perform the basic operations of the console. Next think about all the features the XB1 has now. The ability to hot swap from app to app, while still playing a game. The ability to "minimize" a game, turn off console, come back a few days later and the game should play instantly from where you left off. Etc, etc. 

 

Again, this tough certification isn't bad, it's very much needed. The only problem is that it takes the dev team a MASSIVE amount of time to account for this. Most studios, even AAA ones will fail the first 2 or 3 times going through certification. So what happens when you fail? If you're lucky it's a quick fix and you can resubmit and get bumped up to the front of the line so the cert team can retest. Sometimes you might only be 2nd or 3rd in line. It really depends on the time of year and how many games are trying to get certified at that time. Every patch, every DLC pack, all has to go through cert. So you can only imagine how crazy it is at Sony/MS for the cert team. They are going through multiple game certs every month. So the time it takes to fail, resubmit and then hear back from the cert team varies. Sometimes it's as fast as 2 weeks. Other times it can be a month. It depends on the severity of fixes and the workload of the cert team.

 

So we're not leaving console gamers out because we don't like them. It was a decision made sheerly for time. If we did support a console beta, it would push our launch date much, much farther into 2017. We're a small team. Less than 40 total working on this. A game like COD, BF1, etc, has 500+ people. They have the luxury of a 40-50 person team that is ONLY working on the beta for all platforms. We simply can't do that unless we pushed the launch a lot more. I confident that fans would be very unhappy if we did that. I hope this helps explain the reason why we're not supporting a beta on console. 

 

-W

 

[JPops 2,181]

Wes great to see you posting! And a great post at that. Thank you for this!

[GunMedia_Ben 3,027]

We were going to make one of the IllFonic guys do both a PS4 and Xbox One beta and get it ready for everyone, but our lawyers said it was 'cruel and unusual' and that 'beating them until morale improved' was not a good strategy.

[evil_weasel 2]

We were going to make one of the IllFonic guys do both a PS4 and Xbox One beta and get it ready for everyone, but our lawyers said it was 'cruel and unusual' and that 'beating them until morale improved' was not a good strategy.

Haha thanks for the laugh 

[JPops 2,181]

We were going to make one of the IllFonic guys do both a PS4 and Xbox One beta and get it ready for everyone, but our lawyers said it was 'cruel and unusual' and that 'beating them until morale improved' was not a good strategy.

Lawyers ruin everything. lol

[SCREWNUT 256]

Thanks for the update.  I figured that certification through MS and/or Sony would be a bitch.  It does leave me wondering about two questions though....


1. What's certification like for a Nintendo Product?  

2. Can we expect a delay on consoles when the game is fully released because of the rigid certification process?

[IronKnight55 340]

This was a great post. Very informative

[Davidt 763]

Great information wes hopefully this settles the questions of "will beta be on ps4/xbox one?"

[greywolf1319 20]

Lawyer to Wes and Ben

 

Lawyer: Im here to talk about the labor conditions in your shop

 

Ben: Labor conditions in my shop? I dont sweat them

 

Lawyer: ...

 

Wes: Looks like someone needs the motivational cattle prod or the whip of enthusiasm 

 

Ben: Get the shackles of morale 

 

Lawyer: LET ME GO,,,,,NOOO!!!!!

[GunMedia_Ben 3,027]

Thanks for the update.  I figured that certification through MS and/or Sony would be a bitch.  It does leave me wondering about two questions though....

 

 

1. What's certification like for a Nintendo Product?  

 

2. Can we expect a delay on consoles when the game is fully released because of the rigid certification process?

 

 

1. Very, very, very, very, very arduous. 

 

2. We've already factored in our cert for the game well before we got started on the project. A console beta was always seen as a luxury outside of our schedule and budget, depending on how the Kickstarter performed. 

[SCREWNUT 256]

1. Very, very, very, very, very arduous. 

 

2. We've already factored in our cert for the game well before we got started on the project. A console beta was always seen as a luxury outside of our schedule and budget, depending on how the Kickstarter performed. 

HA ha ha ha ha.  That explains why we only ever see the same old IPs on any Nintendo Product.  

 

Thanks for the reply.  You guys are on the ball!  

[Absoluttion 33]

I got myself a PC copy of the game, but as someone who has an Xbox as well I completely get the hoops that need to be jumped through. I know people get pissy about no console beta, but they're going to just have to understand. It's not a choice, it is a result of money and time. Glad to see you on here and it's a very well-written post. I hope this can open peoples eyes and show them that making a game isn't drag and drop stuff

[Sanetsuken 116]

CAN we use a controller on the beta?

Is that a consideration, or is it more "if it works go ahead" type of deal?

 

Dunno why, but something tells me i'll prefer controllers for this particular game.

[wes 1,293]

CAN we use a controller on the beta?

Is that a consideration, or is it more "if it works go ahead" type of deal?

 

Dunno why, but something tells me i'll prefer controllers for this particular game.

 

Yes we will support controllers in the beta. As long as your PC has the proper drivers in place, you can connect a PS3/4, 360/XB1 or just about any other USB controller within reason, and it'll work. I can also confirm that playing with a controller "feels right". But that's just me. I've always struggled with M+KB on 3rd person games. 

[Konrad939 0]

Hello everyone! I am blood hungry murderer waiting for this game from a loong loong time! I want to try it sooo bad, but i havent got any opportunity to do it. If somebody have one beta key i would appreciate it and maybe give something in exchange. Please be kind and share this experiance with me! 

http://steamcommunity.com/id/kodzius/   - this is my steam account if you want a contact and maybe we can try beta together  ! I am really up for teaming up!

[Bishi Boshi 13]

As a console player for me that sucks why your doing it i can understand.

[SCREWNUT 256]

As a console player for me that sucks why your doing it i can understand.

Yeah.  Xbox One gamer here.  It does suck, but like you said, I too understand why they have to do it this way.  The worse part going to be the next 3 or 4 months as the PC master race enjoys the Beta.  Think I might just retire from this forum until the actual release date.  

[ResolutionBlaze 587]

Yeah. Xbox One gamer here. It does suck, but like you said, I too understand why they have to do it this way. The worse part going to be the next 3 or 4 months as the PC master race enjoys the Beta. Think I might just retire from this forum until the actual release date.

I'm sure Closed Beta will be soon after Friends and Family. And game play vids will be up by then.

[SCREWNUT 256]

I'm sure Closed Beta will be soon after Friends and Family. And game play vids will be up by then.

I will be getting 5 beta codes.  I pre ordered the game fully before it was funded.  I got the "early bird" level, so it only cost me 25 US dollars.  

[Bishi Boshi 13]

I may just be able to hit minimum specs on my pc i used CAN YOU RUN IT its not been updated in a while but heres the games stats
 

Minimum Spec

 

Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit OS required) 

4 GB Ram

Intel Core i5-3550 3.3 GHz/AMD FX-6300 3.5 GHz or equivalent 

Radeon HD 7700 2GB / GTX 660 2GB

10 GB Hard Drive Space

 

 

Recommended Spec

 

Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit OS required) 

8 GB Ram

Intel Core i5 4750 3.2 GHz/AMD FX-8350 4.7 GHz or equivalent 

NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB/AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB or equivalent 

10 GB Hard Drive Space

 

Heres Mine will i be ok on this for minimum guys im a pc n00b
VIDEO CARD

Minimum: DirectX 11 COmpatible GPU with 2GB Video RAM

You Have: AMD Radeon HD 7000 series

 

 

CPU

Minimum: Info You Have: AMD A10-6700 APU with Radeon HD Graphics

 

RAM

Minimum: 8 GB

You Have: 6.0 GB

 

 

CPU SPEED

Minimum: 2.0 GHz Dual-Core 64-bit CPU You Have: 3.7 GH

 

[SCREWNUT 256]

 I can also confirm that playing with a controller "feels right". But that's just me. I've always struggled with M+KB on 3rd person games. 

This.  This is yet another reason I'm a console bitch as opposed to the Master Race PCers.  I love a good old joystick!

[Bishi Boshi 13]

This.  This is yet another reason I'm a console bitch as opposed to the Master Race PCers.  I love a good old joystick!

That sounds soooooo sooooooo wrong lol

[SCREWNUT 256]

That sounds soooooo sooooooo wrong lol

Not all of us play for the same team, mate!     HA HA HA HA

[AZATIONIE 39]

Hey guys, if you read some of my post I'm not a PC gamer I run Xbox & PS4. but I came across the Alienware Alpha Ad, been reading a lot of mixed reviews and before I spend the money would like some 1st hand feedback, any of you own it? have any feedback, will it run this game no problem,would it be a good purchase? thinking about getting it so I can play beta and order PC version too then I'll have game on all 3 systems and at gamestop only $375 

[JPops 2,181]

If its $375 probably not, but if you have a link with specs I am sure someone will take a look.