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Size does matter: Project Gotham Racing 4 is too big for DVD

4:15 PM on 07.31.2007, Dale North 61 comments

Size does matter: Project Gotham Racing 4 is too big for DVD photo
     Xbox 360
Microsoft took some criticism in the beginning of the Xbox 360's life because of their choice to continue to support the standard DVD format for their game titles. They defended themselves saying that the DVD storage medium was more than enough space for upcoming games with their new compression techniques, but now it seems that the format's limitations have causes a negative effect on one Xbox 360 title.

Bizarre Creation says that the DVD format is too small to fit all of the features they wanted to include in Project Gotham Racing 4. A Bizarre Creation's staff member says:

"You won't see different times of day per city because this involves recreating all the textures again (one for day and one for night). Whilst this wasn't a problem for our dev team, it was a problem fitting all this data onto a single DVD."

A post on Bizarre Creation's forums explains that the fix for this was to create different lighting models for each locale depending on weather. So, in other words, each city will only have one time-of-day setting.

Before you throw out the 'two disc' question, another staffer explains:

"Having the game spread across two discs isn't an option for a number of reasons. Sorting out gameplay both in single and multiplayer where you always have to swap discs around would be difficult, and detrimental to the flow of the game. Also, having two discs puts the price of manufacturing up, and that's one we'd have to discuss with the publisher."

"As it stands, we've got the best of all options. We've got tonnes of cities, the best lighting effects we've ever done, and weather which dramatically changes the look of the cities too. And it all fits on one disc."

[Via 360 Advanced, Bizarre Creations ]

Next page: More Project Gotham Racing stories




Professor Pew's Avatar
Professor Pew at 07/31/2007 16:19
@Lemon: like the dual-layer discs you can flip over? Quickly! Patent the idea!
Lord_Satorious's Avatar
Lord_Satorious at 07/31/2007 16:23
This is bullshit, if they used decent enough compression, they could fit everything on a single dual-layer DVD. Sorry, but the Xbox 360 isn't the PlayStation 3 with it's Blu-Ray and 30 GB of space for uncompressed textures. That may be easier, but you can compress anything down to a fraction of its original size. Stop being lazy Bizarre Creations.
Lord_Satorious's Avatar
Lord_Satorious at 07/31/2007 16:23
This is bullshit, if they used decent enough compression, they could fit everything on a single dual-layer DVD. Sorry, but the Xbox 360 isn't the PlayStation 3 with it's Blu-Ray and 30 GB of space for uncompressed textures. That may be easier, but you can compress anything down to a fraction of its original size. Stop being lazy Bizarre Creations.
DeusPayne's Avatar
DeusPayne at 07/31/2007 16:23
Now, without the game actually being released, I can't say for certain, but PGR doesn't really seem like it'd be the type of game that wouldn't be able to fit on a single disc. I'm going to assume that they're not compressing certain files in an attempt to access them faster. However, with games like OBLIVION fitting on 1 DVD, I can't see PGR not being able to. Maybe they have some really cool features that I'm just not thinking of, but my money is on lazy developers.
Darkknight37's Avatar
Darkknight37 at 07/31/2007 16:24
Darkknight37's Avatar
Darkknight37 at 07/31/2007 16:27
Isn't this where the 360's hard drive should come into play even if they can't compress it? I'm not the most technically inclined person, but is that even a possibility?
BahamutZero's Avatar
BahamutZero at 07/31/2007 16:28
ditto lord sartorious. also, they've never heard of procedural textures?
fatmanjoe's Avatar
fatmanjoe at 07/31/2007 16:32
Good thing you know more about developing their game than the dev's do, Satorious.
kawitchate's Avatar
kawitchate at 07/31/2007 16:32
haha - "Whilst"
automagV's Avatar
automagV at 07/31/2007 16:34
Rockstar had complaints about this when developing GTAIV right?
Copyright 2008 Agent Chieftain's Avatar
Copyright 2008 Agent Chieftain at 07/31/2007 16:36
SCORE TWO POINTS FOR KAZ AND THE CRABS
miketava's Avatar
miketava at 07/31/2007 16:50
Restating a previous comment, they could scrap a few of the cities we've seen in 2/3 games (ie New York). And also there is no way this game once compressed correctly would not fit on one DVD. From my experience with their recent outings (PGR3 - more precisely), Bizarre Creations have no idea how to optimize code for speediness whatsoever. I think PGR 3 is probably the slowest of all next-gen games I've tried so far, its ridiculous load times totally kill the fun.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents, don't know if any1 else might agree. But coming from a programmer's perspective, they are probably doing a shitty job to start with. Microsoft's proposal makes the most sense on the short term.
entrager's Avatar
entrager at 07/31/2007 16:51
@ DarkKnight

But not all Xbox360 owners have hard drives. Developers are very cautious about excluding people that bought the basic system.
Namelessted's Avatar
Namelessted at 07/31/2007 16:54
1. Since when the fuck do you need two whole sets of textures? One for daylight, and one for nighttime? What the fuck is that about. Correct me if I am wrong, simply not shining a bright light on the fucking level would make it night. Why do the textures need to completely change just because there isn't sun light? There is still street lights and stuff, there is still light on teh level.

2. There must be some compression issues. I have a 15kb file on my computer that is a super compressed file that renders a 15 minute video in real time. And like Deus Payne said, they fit Oblivion on one disc. As far as I understand it Mass Effect is on one disc as well. Why can't PGR4 fit on one disc?
skullivan's Avatar
skullivan at 07/31/2007 16:58
Microsoft catches flak for supporting DVD, but what was the alternative? If they waited for HD-DVD they'd have come out a year later and at least $100-$150 more expensive. Microsoft would not be in the lead position they are in now if that was how they played it.

In 3-4 years when it's time for the next Xbox, Blu-ray will be much cheaper, HD-DVD will be ancient history, and 50GB discs (if not larger) will be standard. They'll be able to put together a system where the most expensive component isn't the disc drive, as is the case with the PS3.

I love Blu-ray but it was a huge mistake for Sony to force it down people's throats by including it in the PS3 and they're paying for it.
thisissami's Avatar
thisissami at 07/31/2007 17:03
2 things... first of all i don't think compression technology is good enough to fit the newest games on a single DVD if you want them to run fast... AKA I agree with fatmanjoe... and what he said goes to namelessted too.

now i don't know too much about game development either, but as far as I know, oblivion doesn't have the same speeds that PGR does because oblivion isn't really a high speed racing game... i'd assume that the textures change a lot faster in a racing game than in an RPG, and therefore need much faster loading times.... i could be wrong, but that's just my intuition
ElRhino's Avatar
ElRhino at 07/31/2007 17:03
sounds weird to me....
it almost sounds as if instead od doing proper lighting and level design they are relying on just textures to change the atmosphere...
I know for a fact you can use the same texture of day and night...you just change the lighting....now i am sure their engine is different than what i have experiance with but i don't see them needing multiple versions of each texture on the disc
hexix's Avatar
hexix at 07/31/2007 17:21
@skullivan:
I think that's precisely why they "catch flak". They decided to go with DVD-9 to beat Sony to the punch and keep prices down. It's worked out well so far, but we'll see how far developers can push the system in the years to come with the capacity limitation.

Also, if people actually clicked the link and read the source (yeah, I know, crazy thought), they'd see that they couldn't simply reuse the same textures for night and day because some cities have dramatically different look at night than at day and just shining a light source on them or taking it off of them wouldn't work the same.

Jumping to the assumption that they're just not using compression also seems a bit naive. I'm sure they're either already using compression or have a very good reason that it wouldn't work.
HighPSi's Avatar
HighPSi at 07/31/2007 17:28
Score yet another for Sony! I'm sorry but we all knew it was coming.. BD is faster (then dual layer DVD9) and we knew it had more storage capacity 50GB. Killzone 2 has roughly 2GB levels.. we've all seen what GT5P looks like. It's a great time to own both consoles, but clearly the PS3 is much more future proof.

Did I mention is plays Blu-ray movies!?! :P
Magesx's Avatar
Magesx at 07/31/2007 17:31
BLU RAY SUX. >:[
Quest's Avatar
Quest at 07/31/2007 18:10
Is it the right place to say to those 360 fanboys who still bashing the PS3 all the time ... yeah but we have blu-ray on our PS3 :)

Anyway ... you still have your HD-DVD to read your games .... Oh i forgot ... it's only for movies .... sry me bad :)))


Velirno's Avatar
Velirno at 07/31/2007 18:25
So...DLC tracks right off the bat then?
Namelessted's Avatar
Namelessted at 07/31/2007 18:44
@hexix. Yes, it is true that cities do look drastically different at night. But it is all about the lighting. It isn't whether light is on or off, it is about the color of teh light, and angle of the light, the intesity of the light.

Do you think buildings and cars change their surfaces at night in real life? If they want to get a night effect in the game, they should completely rely on a good lighting system, not redoing the entire set of textures.
Copyright 2008 Agent Chieftain's Avatar
Copyright 2008 Agent Chieftain at 07/31/2007 18:45
@namelessted

You've obviously never watched Christine.
Crunshii's Avatar
Crunshii at 07/31/2007 19:10
Yea blame the lazy developers!

they prob want to introduce a live night with street signs glowing, kinda like "Las Vegas" oh but wait, they should just scratch that cuz Las Vegas looks the same in the day as in the night.

Were are moving on People; from old to new, we don't just want a couple of boxed buildings with a light(sun) that makes it day & night.

btw, I bought today 300 the movie on blue ray... it was 7$ cheaper than HD-DVD ;[

HawtPawkitHero's Avatar
HawtPawkitHero at 07/31/2007 19:53
lol... I love how the first 10 comments are pretty good... then come the sony fanboys. Lil' slow today eh?
XeroxMe's Avatar
XeroxMe at 07/31/2007 20:01
Hmmm Bizarre lets see if I can solve your problem. *Deletes motorcycles from PGR4* "Hey look I found more room!"
DoctorEuphony's Avatar
DoctorEuphony at 07/31/2007 20:01
NO NIGHT RACING WHEN I WANT IT???? WTF BIZARRE????


Again MikeTava hits it on the head...take out the cities we've been driving in since Metropolis Street Racer and give us the variety we've known and loved.


*Sigh...stop giving me bad news about one of the few franchises i still have faith in as an aging gamer Dx
DoctorEuphony's Avatar
DoctorEuphony at 07/31/2007 20:02
Btw, I in no way mean that last comment towards Destructoid...it's my sulking towards Bizarre :p
DoctorEuphony's Avatar
DoctorEuphony at 07/31/2007 20:03
XeroxMe HERE HERE, sir!
Quest's Avatar
Quest at 07/31/2007 20:26
@ HawtPawkitHero i'm think the same when i see 360 fanboys on a PS3 news bashing for no reason .... wich is every fucking day ... so welcome to my world ;)))

Crunshii's Avatar
Crunshii at 07/31/2007 20:43
@ HawtPawkitHero: First 10 comments are good? check #5

[i]Lord_Satorious says:
This is bullshit, if they used decent enough compression, they could fit everything on a single dual-layer DVD. Sorry, but the Xbox 360 isn't the PlayStation 3 with it's Blu-Ray and 30 GB of space for uncompressed textures. That may be easier, but you can compress anything down to a fraction of its original size. Stop being lazy Bizarre Creations.[/i]

if this isn't fanboism I dont know what it is, lol. have u guys seen the rain effects in PGR4? its fucking incredible, looks like VFX for a movie.
TheBigBentley's Avatar
TheBigBentley at 07/31/2007 21:14
Umm okay so your telling me everygame i play has seperate textures for day and night? I guess thats what happens when you start to rush a title so it gets out for the holiday. Maybe if they had created a dynamic world instead of just lowering the lighting and changing some textures they wouldnt have that proble. Do they really think we are dumb?
uptonogood's Avatar
uptonogood at 07/31/2007 21:18
sony didn't make a mistake in trying to force blu-ray down everyone's throats. their other divisions have a lot riding on this, too. for blu-ray to be successful, it has to be adopted as many people as possible. the royalties from blu-ray will more than payoff the losses from ps3. the other aspect is that sony's hardware division -- specifically their HD TV's will sell as more people adopt blu-ray.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 07/31/2007 21:50
It has not been Microsoft's week. Will be interesting to see if this is indeed a balance of power beginning to appear.
Joe Burling's Avatar
Joe Burling at 07/31/2007 22:02
@HighPSi

BD is faster (then dual layer DVD9)

This is very wrong. The Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 is 2x speed, while the 360 DVD9 drive is (I think) a 12x speed.


Killzone 2 has roughly 2GB levels

That's just amazing, considering the combined system and vRAM in the PS3 (and 360) is 512MB. Are you telling me each level in Killzone 2 will have multiple loads?



There is a trade-off here. On one hand, we have a console with Blu-Ray and a much higher price tag. On the other hand, we have a console with DVD9 and a much lower price tag. Would you be happier if the 360 launched at $600 and had extra time effects, or would you be happy you have a cheaper console that looks amazing and know that the other console capable of these things will one day be affordable? I'd rather have the latter.
Joe Burling's Avatar
Joe Burling at 07/31/2007 22:04
I'm not making this sound good or the PS3 sound bad, just stating the truth. Are features like this worth the $200 price difference? It's a good question and a matter of opinion, and I'm sure we'll hear from supporters of both sides.
Crunshii's Avatar
Crunshii at 07/31/2007 22:29
In all honestly buck,

I would prefer the 360 be priced @ $500-$600 if you offered XBL FREE, no 50$ a year cuz that adds up (reality you pay $450+tax for a 360, so its 150$ difference). HD-DVD player as the mainstream gaming (that would actually help fight against BRD, bit more gaming space, and HD-DVD movie playing) and to compete against the Wii-mote & Sixaxis, a motion to the controller + make it wireless.

Now that will make it a next gen system worthy of beating the PS3. on your Killzone comment, you know how good Resistance play's, and thats a launch title, when UT3, KZ2, Haze come out you know its going to get better.
Joe Burling's Avatar
Joe Burling at 07/31/2007 23:42
Crunshii, like I said, I'm not saying bad or good about one or the other. I'm just glad there is an affordable next-gen console for the masses and a high end next-gen console for the elites.

Can you imagine if we had two $600 consoles? Ugh.
Clum-Z-Boy's Avatar
Clum-Z-Boy at 08/01/2007 00:48
Hells_666: "How is it a huge mistake for sony to put a blu-ray in the ps3.... They are winning the HD format..... and have more space for dev for gamming......

I don't see anybody complain about the disc space on the ps3 !!!!"

But you see many people complain about the price of the actual thing because of BRD, which is precisely why support for the PS3 is lacking from all over... in fact, the only thing that's going right for Sony (at this moment) are movies... which is fine and dandy, but this thing is supposedly made for games, and I have yet to see one that actually takes advantage of that technology... maybe Killzone 2 will. Time will tell. Not being a fanboy here... cocky comments from either side just kinda make me laugh.

As for PGR4... I dunno, I just don't see the game being that much of a space leecher. Comparing it to Oblivion might not be the fairest thing, since well, PGR4's way prettier... but compare it to Mass Effect, and suddenly one realizes that perhaps Bizarre is a little at fault here.
Namelessted's Avatar
Namelessted at 08/01/2007 01:32
Crunshii, don't even get fucking started with all this bullshit that if you buy a 360, and LIVE, and the HD-DVD play and blah blah fucking blah. NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT. First of all, the Sony Network stuff is completely shit compared to XBL, no argument. Secondly, all of that stuff is optional to buy, NOT REQUIRED. I will NEVER use a wireless adapter to play online games with, so i am not going to pay for it.

And besides, it is completely off of the subject. This discussion is about the fact that they claim that they can't fit day and night levels into PGR4. I find it as a huge excuse, they are blaming their shortcomings on the capacity of a disc, and its pathetic. If they developed a proper engine with a proper dynamic lighting system they would never have to make a whole new texture set for night and day. I understand that some games won't be able to fit on one disc, Blue Dragon uses 3, and there are legitimate reasons so to blame the 9GB DVD for not havign enough capacity, but saying that you have to make double textures as the reason it won't fit on a disc is just a pathetic excuse for shitty development and no forsight in the development of an engine.
Malhavoc's Avatar
Malhavoc at 08/01/2007 01:56
@namelessted

Just a heads up. Game developers read comments too, and everytime they see a comment like yours, where you think you know how to design and develop video games better than them, they laugh at you.

Unless of course you have already deisgned and implemented the perfect engine with a "proper" dynamic lighting system. I mean, how hard could it be? These guys are only industry professionals with countless years of experience. Surely you can do better than those lazy idiots.
Aequitas's Avatar
Aequitas at 08/01/2007 02:56
Damn, BuckF1tches beat me to the DVD-9 vs. BD-ROM speed retort. All I can do now is add some prettay numbarz. 2x BD-ROM reading pulls 9MB/s sustained transfer rate, 12x DVD-ROM (as is used in the 360) pulls 16.2MB/s.

As for the actual topic. I can understand not doing real-time lighting for every single light source. It would be fairly processing-intensive, to the detriment of the more important physics of racing. But duplicate textures for nighttime just sounds lazy. I've done a bit of programming; a "hardcoded" solution like that is never ideal.

I'm no expert. They are the professionals. However, while I'm armchair critiquing, I'll just go ahead and blame it on them being British.
Aequitas's Avatar
Aequitas at 08/01/2007 03:01
Dynamic lighting! Take a look at this. Note the lack of, y'know, racing there, and the hardware it takes to do it. =)
DrXym's Avatar
DrXym at 08/01/2007 03:51
@Lord_Satorious, you don't have the slightest clue. Compression is not some magic wand that compresses anything down to some arbitrary size. There is a point where data will not fit and the game must start toss features, content or go multi disc. People who claim they should "use compression" are wholly ignorant of development.

Personally I really don't care if 360 games are chopped to fit a DVD-9. Just leave the content in the PS3 version though.
Burnt Meatloaf's Avatar
Burnt Meatloaf at 08/01/2007 05:49
I'd rather the 360 didn't cost $500, thank you. Besides, that price would have ruined the machine for sure.

Since I started out with a C64, I really can't imagine filling up a DVD. Procedural synthesis can be done very quickly and effectively for normal maps and other things that suck up a lot of space.
brainderailment's Avatar
brainderailment at 08/01/2007 06:38
Compression is bad people, even if the graphics are the bombers, it's going to lose all of that detail when it gets compressed. Sucks for M$, this shouldn't happen before the console is 2 years old.

You all are idiots if you think that they just need to compress it more. In your argument, they should be putting games on CDs still.

BTW the reason they need a second set of textures is because they have to turn the lights on at night, and that required putting different skins on the lighted surfaces.
Quest's Avatar
Quest at 08/01/2007 06:59
@ namelessted

your are a truly M$ fanboys and Crunshii is right put every add-ons on the 360 and it's more expensive then the PS3 like it or not.

Stop being so fanboy and accept the truth that the PS3 is coming out strong and will shut your little fucking mouth !

uh should i compress my msg for you ??? lollllllllll
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