Ubisoft: AMD's Mantle API is a double-edged sword

Alexious · 2013-10-11T07:13:23Z

Ubisoft speaks on some of the potential drawbacks of AMD's new Mantle API.

- Comments (8)

The_Truth_24_74633d ago

Twice the slicing power? Cool!

Reply Agree 1 Disagree 1

SPAM Inappropriate

HelpfulGamer4633d ago

A Free Game Engine can make a Difference, Sony's Phyre Engine is optimize for PS4, thus plausibly discarding the need for API optimization.

Reply Agree 0 Disagree 0

SPAM Inappropriate

thejigisup4633d ago

I think mantle will do quite well in terms of becoming a viable option. It will be tough to handle more renderers however those that are determined, even those with less staffing or man power/money to make it worth while will find a way

Reply Agree 0 Disagree 0

SPAM Inappropriate

Kleptic4633d ago (Edited 4633d ago )

I don't see it as something intended to take off any time soon...As GCN architecture is only in a handful of newer AMD cards (i think the 7970 was first, so the oldest, and that was at the very end of 2011...may be wrong on that though)...So if anything, mantle may be a way to extend the life of modern equipment a bit longer through optimization...

I don't really care what Ubisoft has to say about it, either...Only because they aren't developing games that have a very narrow window of performance...If you can't get Assasin's creed to blister along at 60fps...you simply deal with it...its not that big of a deal...

on the other hand...something like BF4, in the competitive sense...its generally common to not even bother if you can't lock in at least 60fps...as you'll stand little chance against those that do...if mantle helps some mid range PC's perform significantly better without upgrades...it'll get consumers attention VERY quickly...especially since this api is related to cpu loads, and reducing them...and ask any PC gamer, upgrading cpu's and boards is the absolute last thing you want to have to do...

so if mantle comes along and makes a handful of hardware perform better with specific titles...I don't see how that is bad...BF4 will support it...if it helps, great...if not...oh well...but it definitely won't hurt...its not like its being forced on the owners of the hardware...

Rest assured, though...if EA/DICE pulls of something remarkable with mantle in bf4...ALL pc developers of major titles will look a little more closely at it...especially because of its benefits for consoling porting back and forth...

Reply Agree 5 Disagree 0

SPAM Inappropriate

jamstorr864633d ago

well for indie developers who will be focusing mainly on pc platforms this is good news. we may see programmers favor the mantle API and see some truly outstanding games for the pc platform.
I think the article hit the nail on the head when it says "This can only mean more fragmentation and more problems for poor developers". Good developers should have no problem

Reply Agree 1 Disagree 1

SPAM Inappropriate

LightofDarkness4633d ago

Not necessarily good developers, LARGE developers will have little problems because they'll have the man-power to handle multiple renderers.

Smaller developers will have to make a choice, and that choice will likely be direct X in most cases. At least with DX, they're guaranteed compatibility with all GPUs and are not limiting themselves to roughly 25% of the PC gamer market.

That said, I wonder if it makes porting between PS4 and AMD powered PCs easier. Will PS4 be using some variation of Mantle?

Reply Agree 1 Disagree 1

SPAM Inappropriate

Kleptic4633d ago (Edited 4633d ago )

^its been back and forth...one report said it was very close in design to Xbox One's 'version' of DX (which is a significantly lower level version than that of directx 11.1 or 2, its much more specific to the one's hardware)...

while digital foundry said 'nope' to that, and that its very similar to the Ps4's proprietary API...to the point where they said it was so similar that it may have been stolen haha...

either way...yes...mantle is being pushed on the business end as a very easy cross platform tool set...making pc to console or vice verse as simple as possible...on the consumer side, its supposed to allow a level of hardware optimization on specific architecture that hasn't been seen since the 3dfx days...for better, or worse...

Agree 0 Disagree 0

SPAM Inappropriate