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Xbox June GDK: More dev memory for Series S and more.

Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war


Memory allocation on Xbox Series S consoles has been optimized.
“Hundreds of additional megabytes of memory are now available to Xbox Series S developers. This gives developers more control over memory, which can improve graphic performance in memory-constrained conditions.

Improved performance for graphics allocations

‘Titles can now take better advantage of recent memory enhancements’. “We’ve addressed an issue where graphics virtual addresses were being allocated considerably slower than non-graphics virtual addresses…”

Improved PC game development experiences
Auto-synchronized cloud saves and sign-in
A simplified user model
Startup screen that is displayed before the title is rendered
Game update checks that are performed for packaged builds
Capability for debugging packages and testing a title in a retail environment
Platform now enforces DLC age restrictions
‘If you’re attempting to mount age-restricted DLC, the new API prompts age-restricted accounts for parental consent by providing a notification.’

New in-game API to manage DLC storage
‘Developers can now manage how storage affects a player within their game. They no longer have to go to their storage settings to free up space’

This is one of the more consumer-facing updates as in previous titles you often had to go out to the UI/Windows itself to change up what DLC was installed per title if you wanted to remove it.

HDR Support in Xbox Manager Remote Control view
‘View accurate HDR content when you connect to remote consoles’

This is beneficial for smartphone and PC users on HDR-capable displays as previously the signal could look off as it was tone-mapped from HDR to SDR.
 
Tim Allen Power GIF by Laff
 

GametimeUK

Member
In terms of the consoles graphics / performance it seems the Series X is really coming into its own now. Its starting to pull away from the competition and I'm buying / playing on this device more than ever. I look forward to every incremental update and optimisation they release as it really adds up in the end even on UI related stuff.
 
This pushes back against the narrative that the XSS will become harder and harder to develop for. Like all consoles new techniques will become available to allow the system to do things it couldn't before. Just compare launch software on a console to games that release during its final year of support. The XSS will be no different. MS will continue to refine its development kit.
 

ManaByte

Member
This pushes back against the narrative that the XSS will become harder and harder to develop for. Like all consoles new techniques will become available to allow the system to do things it couldn't before. Just compare launch software on a console to games that release during its final year of support. The XSS will be no different. MS will continue to refine its development kit.

It's almost as if it's a next gen console after all.
 

BlackTron

Member
This pushes back against the narrative that the XSS will become harder and harder to develop for. Like all consoles new techniques will become available to allow the system to do things it couldn't before. Just compare launch software on a console to games that release during its final year of support. The XSS will be no different. MS will continue to refine its development kit.

I can't wait until the next refinement that unlocks additional processing power!
 

Astral Dog

Member
This pushes back against the narrative that the XSS will become harder and harder to develop for. Like all consoles new techniques will become available to allow the system to do things it couldn't before. Just compare launch software on a console to games that release during its final year of support. The XSS will be no different. MS will continue to refine its development kit.
We haven't reached Xbox Series S final form!
 

Snake29

RSI Employee of the Year
In terms of the consoles graphics / performance it seems the Series X is really coming into its own now. Its starting to pull away from the competition and I'm buying / playing on this device more than ever. I look forward to every incremental update and optimisation they release as it really adds up in the end even on UI related stuff.

How many times have we heard this bullshit? The only thing it shows is that it performs the same as the competition and we haven't seen anything shocking from third party games that shows that the Series X is "pulling away".
 
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Duchess

Member
People are asking how much extra memory?

The video says, "hundreds of megabytes".

So, there's a number between 200 and 1900 (two hundred, nineteen hundred).

Previous gen consoles made about 500 available to devs as time progressed, so the Series S will likely be in the same ballpark.
 

GametimeUK

Member
How many times have we heard this bullshit? The only thing it shows is that it performs the same as the competition and we haven't seen anything shocking from third party games that shows that the Series X is "pulling away".
When I look at it from a neutral standpoint I see the Xbox pulling away in resolution and framerate in games. The numbers are what they are. Coupled with the best VRR available on console along with backwards compatability with FPS boost and now the optimisations discussed in this thread I just think the Xbox has flourished into the most technically impressive and feature rich console in the world right now. No bullshit about it, lad. No other console is doing these things on this scale.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Its a GDK update not an Xbox OS update. It won’t have retroactive effects unless the game is updated targeting the new GDK.

I would agree with you 100% in most cases, but Control is one example where the game launched with hitches on SX and over time, and without any game updates, it ironed out all the hitches and actually became DF's preferred console version. They think it was because of improvement in development tools/drivers. They directly say that the system getting updated over time is what resulted in the game performance being improved.


 

Topher

Gold Member
When I look at it from a neutral standpoint I see the Xbox pulling away in resolution and framerate in games. The numbers are what they are. Coupled with the best VRR available on console along with backwards compatability with FPS boost and now the optimisations discussed in this thread I just think the Xbox has flourished into the most technically impressive and feature rich console in the world right now. No bullshit about it, lad. No other console is doing these things on this scale.

Nah....you are buying into marketing way too much here, dude. Sony doesn't market their APIs like Microsoft does. Sony doesn't sell their APIs like Microsoft does. So you are never going to see videos explaining how Sony is improving their console. That doesn't mean it isn't happening. XSX and PS5 are evenly matched even if Xbox has the edge. I think both are trying to make improvements and that's a good thing.
 

modiz

Member
So this should definitely have a retroactive effect on games with DRS. More RAM/VRAM would mean higher adherence to higher DRS bounds and less drops.
Nah. Resolution is something that depends on calculations. More RAM is for more assets being in memory.
 

reksveks

Member
Nah....you are buying into marketing way too much here, dude. Sony doesn't market their APIs like Microsoft does. Sony doesn't sell their APIs like Microsoft does. So you are never going to see videos explaining how Sony is improving their console. That doesn't mean it isn't happening. XSX and PS5 are evenly matched even if Xbox has the edge. I think both are trying to make improvements and that's a good thing.
I would just want to say that this video is posted on a very specific channel, one that isn't really consumer focused. The effect ends up being that consumers starts to over-react to this videos.

The alternative would be to put this videos (ones that don't break their own NDA) behind a paywall but given devs can sign up for the gdk relatively easily, not sure that works.
 

modiz

Member
Nah....you are buying into marketing way too much here, dude. Sony doesn't market their APIs like Microsoft does. Sony doesn't sell their APIs like Microsoft does. So you are never going to see videos explaining how Sony is improving their console. That doesn't mean it isn't happening. XSX and PS5 are evenly matched even if Xbox has the edge. I think both are trying to make improvements and that's a good thing.
Hmm, with their PC strategy I wonder how long Sony will keep their magical API - for PC development they need different APIs anyway.
 

01011001

Banned
Hmm, with their PC strategy I wonder how long Sony will keep their magical API - for PC development they need different APIs anyway.

their high level API is apparently very similar to Direct X anyways, most likely to make ports as easy as possible
 
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THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
The S is a little beast and I’m glad to see MS opening up more resources for the console. Have one in my bedroom and it’s a damn mighty fine a fuck console. I love to see MS always moving forward with optimization and OS updates.

Same, took it on a trip recently and it was great due to it's size. The lack of 4k in both situations really made no difference.
 

modiz

Member
their high level API is apparently very similar to Direct X anyways, most likely to make ports as easy as possible
I am not arguing their high level API but their "standard" low-level API. The "code to the metal", "secret sauce and weapon"-API.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
How many times have we heard this bullshit? The only thing it shows is that it performs the same as the competition and we haven't seen anything shocking from third party games that shows that the Series X is "pulling away".
gonna cry tobey maguire GIF


No hard feelings, just a joke and your post reads perfectly for it. :D
 
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Snake29

RSI Employee of the Year
When I look at it from a neutral standpoint I see the Xbox pulling away in resolution and framerate in games. The numbers are what they are. Coupled with the best VRR available on console along with backwards compatability with FPS boost and now the optimisations discussed in this thread I just think the Xbox has flourished into the most technically impressive and feature rich console in the world right now. No bullshit about it, lad. No other console is doing these things on this scale.

From the beginning of the generation. The PS5 has most games with an edge in fps or even better fps compared to the XSX. In some cases the XSX had a slight edge in it. But in both res and fps it is all small between the 2 consoles. VRR only covered it for the XSX back when the PS5 didn't have VRR, but WITHOUT vrr, the PS5 has a big lead in most games.

When a console "pulls away" from the competition. It has to perform better and look better (graphics). It has to show better resolution and not just a small difference, better in frame rate and not a small difference, and it has to show graphical features that can't or less on the competition's console.

All these 3 things are not really happening and we won't see it either, because devs have said before these consoles were that they were going to match each other. Nothing more, nothing less. Both companies improve their tools and api's. There is a reason why Nintendo and Sony not talking openly about all their inhouse tech and api's. It's because they don't have to sell it. Microsofts largest competitor in this field is Vulkan api.

gonna cry tobey maguire GIF


No hard feelings, just a joke and your post reads perfectly for it. :D

Jonah Hill Ok GIF
 
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clampzyn

Member
All these 3 things are not really happening and we won't see it either, because devs have said before these consoles were that they were going to match each other. Nothing more, nothing less. Both companies improve their tools and api's. There is a reason why Nintendo and Sony not talking openly about all their inhouse tech and api's. It's because they don't have to sell it. Microsofts largest competitor in this field is Vulkan api.

This is true but it's all thanks to DRS, if all the game was running native for example a game on Series xcan only run stable 60fps on 1800p while PS5 can run it 4k 60. Then you try to run it on Series X at native 4k , the difference will surely be felt because of inconsistent FPS. But yeah DRS saves the day so games on either consoles have better performance at will feel likely the same.
 
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