WCCFDragon Age: Inquisition get AMD’s Mantle API

[csbin]

There had been speculation that AMD would lay off with Mantle now that DX12 is entering the battlezone but those rumors appear to have been just that. This is the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the vacuum created by the lack of a low level DirectX and establish a firm ground in the eyes of the developers and gamers. We saw some really decent performance increase in Battlefield 4, especially in CPU bound situations and I think it goes without saying that owners of AMD GPUs can expect the same performance bump in the upcoming Battlefield Hardline and Dragon Age: Inquisition games. Now since both of the games were made on the Frostbite 3 Engine which already had the Mantle overhaul thanks to BF4, it would have been relatively easy to bring it into BFH and DA:I as well.
Battlefield Hardline is releasing on October 27 and Dragon Age: Inquisition comes a little early on the 7th of the same month. We have no word whether it will follow the Mantle-Update-Patch schematic or include the API from the get go. However there is one more game I have my eyes on, and that is Mirrors Edge 2. Mirrors Edge 2 is still pretty much in its prototype stage as could be seen from the E3 demo which contained only basic entities and assets along with a primordial environment. So that means that by the time it lands, we would be ever near the DX12 mark if not after. Infact Mantle API games that arrive after DX12 lands are going to make all the difference in the world, because they will accurately depict developer sentiment and shine light on the API of the future. Admittedly, the prospect looks a little grim for Mantle since even AMD admits to DX12 as a leading API (Red is a major stake holder in the consortium) but I believe that Mantle can have its own place alongside DX12.


Read more: http://wccftech.com/battlefield-hardline-dragon-age-inquisition-mantle-api/#ixzz34R0uVFE5

 

[wand3r3r]

The list just keeps growing...

 

[PingviN]

Always nice with extra performance. Not to mention lighting a fire under Microsofts' feet.

 

[96Firebird]

We know:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36436373&postcount=11

 

[frozentundra123456]

Yea, this has been known for a long time hasn't it?

This is the one mantle game so far that interests me. Given Bioware/EA,s recent record though, definitely will wait for gameplay and performance reviews before purchasing, and will most likely wait for a sale.

 

[blastingcap]

All EA games get Mantle by default now since it's in Frostbite. It's the ENGINES that matter. Mantle is not a game-by-game thing since most non-indie games are built off only a handful of engines.

The latest Frostbite and CryEngine engines have Mantle. Nitrous has Mantle support. The new Firaxis game (SMAC sequel, Civ Beyond Earth) supports Mantle. I haven't heard anything from Zenimax yet either way, ditto Unity and whatever Creative Assembly is using these days. CA really needs something like Mantle, btw, as they can't code for multi-core CPUs worth squat.

Epic of course is sucking NV's dingdong as usual and refuses to incorporate Mantle into Unreal Engine 4. I will retaliate by boycotting Unreal Engine 4 games and encourage other consumers to do so as well.

 

[NIGELG]

Epic of course is sucking NV's dingdong as usual and refuses to incorporate Mantle into Unreal Engine 4.

A lot of people also do that....:hmm:.

 

[blastingcap]

A lot of people also do that....:hmm:.

Epic's Sweeney isn't even being opaque about it, as UE4 get Apple Metal support but not Mantle support?!?!?: http://venturebeat.com/2014/06/03/g...ill-make-games-run-10-times-more-efficiently/

Yeah because so many hardcore gamers game on their iOS devices, right? Give me a break, Sweeney, you are an NV sellout, please just sell Epic Games and become an official NV subsidiary.

 

[zlatan]

I'm pretty sure if Mantle will have a public SDK, then somebody will write a render back-end to UE4. The source will be shared on GitHub, and job done. That's why I like the UE4 licensing scheme. The developers can help each other.

I think Sweeney don't want to harm anybody. They just focusing on mobile now. From a business standpoint, this is logical.

 

[frozentundra123456]

So anybody that doesnt embrace mantle is selling out to nvida? Must be nice to have such a black and white view of the world and be able to decide what someone else should be doing.

 

[monstercameron]

All EA games get Mantle by default now since it's in Frostbite. It's the ENGINES that matter. Mantle is not a game-by-game thing since most non-indie games are built off only a handful of engines.

The latest Frostbite and CryEngine engines have Mantle. Nitrous has Mantle support. The new Firaxis game (SMAC sequel, Civ Beyond Earth) supports Mantle. I haven't heard anything from Zenimax yet either way, ditto Unity and whatever Creative Assembly is using these days. CA really needs something like Mantle, btw, as they can't code for multi-core CPUs worth squat.

Epic of course is sucking NV's dingdong as usual and refuses to incorporate Mantle into Unreal Engine 4. I will retaliate by boycotting Unreal Engine 4 games and encourage other consumers to do so as well.

they are hypocrites, because they are supporting apple metal api...

 

[blastingcap]

So anybody that doesnt embrace mantle is selling out to nvida? Must be nice to have such a black and white view of the world and be able to decide what someone else should be doing.

No, it's more like Sweeney has been in bed with NV for years. This predates Mantle or Gameworks-UE4. Epic's lack of support of Mantle is a continuation of that tight Epic-NV partnership. Epic's reaction to Mantle being announced was lukewarm at best. Now news comes out that they spent resources doing Apple Metal??? If they have the resources for Apple Metal they sure as hell have resources for Mantle, too. See below.

I can't stand how in 2014 we are still stuck with Microsoft's de facto DX monopoly and no real alternative as long as most developers ignore Linux. If DX went open source and Linux-compatible I would want everyone to jump onto that, but it won't happen. So I am stuck rooting for OpenGL and Mantle, assuming Mantle goes Linux which I don't see why it can't.

they are hypocrites, because they are supporting apple metal api...

I wouldn't say hypocrite since OpenGL isn't a mobile standard the same way DX is on PC, but I agree with the sentiment that it's illogical for Epic to have spent their resources on Apple Metal when they could have gone Mantle first. Now that they did Apple Metal they have no excuse to not do Mantle too.

 

[hungtran]

This is not news, you can tell Sweeney was a sellout long before the Apple Metal support announcement. Remember his exuberant reaction to G-Sync?

 

[SlowSpyder]

So anybody that doesnt embrace mantle is selling out to nvida? Must be nice to have such a black and white view of the world and be able to decide what someone else should be doing.

Speaking of seeing things in black & white and missing the middle ground... Clearly, no one said that 'anyone who doesn't embrace Mantle is a selling out to Nvidia'.

 

[NTMBK]

This is not news, you can tell Sweeney was a sellout long before the Apple Metal support announcement. Remember his exuberant reaction to G-Sync?

And Tegra 2... and Tegra K1...

 

[Ventanni]

Epic's Sweeney isn't even being opaque about it, as UE4 get Apple Metal support but not Mantle support?!?!?: http://venturebeat.com/2014/06/03/g...ill-make-games-run-10-times-more-efficiently/

Yeah because so many hardcore gamers game on their iOS devices, right? Give me a break, Sweeney, you are an NV sellout, please just sell Epic Games and become an official NV subsidiary.

I understand your frustration here, but let's reign it in a bit. Apple doesn't use AMD hardware, so it can't support Mantle. Apple GPU's are designed by PowerVR. Secondly, Apple doesn't use Nvidia hardware either, so we can't say Tim Sweeney is selling out to Nvidia.

Metal = iOS
Mantle = AMD
DirectX 12 = Anything PC, probably coming to Windows Phone and Surface soon too.

They're probably all pretty similar, so porting shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[Enigmoid]

I don't care if its mantle or not, but it would be nice to have a game that doesn't need a stupid amount of CPU for what you get (Thief). Optimization would be very nice.

 

[Bateluer]

Interesting. Wonder if this means we'll see Mantle in most Frostbite 3 based games?

 

[frozentundra123456]

I understand your frustration here, but let's reign it in a bit. Apple doesn't use AMD hardware, so it can't support Mantle. Apple GPU's are designed by PowerVR. Secondly, Apple doesn't use Nvidia hardware either, so we can't say Tim Sweeney is selling out to Nvidia.

Metal = iOS
Mantle = AMD
DirectX 12 = Anything PC, probably coming to Windows Phone and Surface soon too.

They're probably all pretty similar, so porting shouldn't be too difficult.

Exactly. Last time I checked it was a free market. A developer is free to partner with any company that he desires. Sweeney partnering with nvidia, or even (gasp) apple is no different than Dice partnering with AMD.

 

[monstercameron]

Exactly. Last time I checked it was a free market. A developer is free to partner with any company that he desires. Sweeney partnering with nvidia, or even (gasp) apple is no different than Dice partnering with AMD.

nobody is denying[or can deny] a company from strategic partnership, they can only point out hypocrisy in the messages stated.

 

[bystander36]

This is not news, you can tell Sweeney was a sellout long before the Apple Metal support announcement. Remember his exuberant reaction to G-Sync?

Why would that mean you are a sell out? G-sync, as a tech, by anyone who know anything about how frames are displayed, is just awesome. Now AMD is coming out with adaptive sync (freesync). If it wasn't awesome, would they be jumping in on it too?

 

[Gloomy]

I don't care if its mantle or not, but it would be nice to have a game that doesn't need a stupid amount of CPU for what you get (Thief). Optimization would be very nice.

All Unreal Engine games are like that, lol. Always CPU hogs.

 

[Pottuvoi]

Interesting. Wonder if this means we'll see Mantle in most Frostbite 3 based games?

Yes, this is pretty much given.

I expect that keeping Mantle support for future games is less painful than having to deal with an additional constantly changing DX path/drivers..