“Also, we wanted to go a step beyond what the typical console game offers – there aren’t too many current-gen titles that run natively at 1080p without upscaling.
“The game actually supports 1080p and 720p via HDMI, but the full HD (1080p) version is the one that excites us the most,” admits Murray. In addition, as in all the titles for iOS that we have seen so far, the v-sync is also activated. There’s no question: even if it doesn’t have anti-aliasing, the framebuffer actually operates at native 1920×1080, with an exemplary frame-rate for a mobile game. Still, the technical achievement is clear.
The fact that a similar situation can be seen in other titles for iOS such as Infinity Blade or Rage HD (even on the iPad 2) suggests that the problem may not be from the developer. Instead, there are single and duplicate frames grouped together, resulting in motion that doesn’t seem as smooth as a true 30FPS locked game, like the HD console versions of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit or Fight Night. Although 30 frames are generated every second, the output does not follow the usual cadence using a 60Hz output with duplicates. This analysis shows that what Firemint promises is fulfilled, although there is something very curious. Of course, that is something that we can test with our tools and our capture equipment, at the same time that we can demonstrate the visual quality achieved by Firemint when operating at this resolution.
HDTV and circuit data and telemetry on the tablet itself. The Australian developer claims to achieve 30 frames per second consistent with the new hardware, displaying the game on the screen. Last week, Real Racing 2 HD was updated to support full HD output using the new HDMI cable that Apple sells as a complement to the iPad 2. Yes, you read that right – Firemint has implemented native 1080p resolution in a mobile video game. When you’ve seen the 1080p output running, I think you’ll agree that Apple’s estimate of a nine-fold increase in original performance is quite correct.
If it were possible to run the iPad 2 code on the iPad 1, then it would work very, very slow. However, we have managed to find ways to make the game look great on older hardware. “The original specifications of the iPad did not allow these improvements. “The iPad 2 hardware allows us to run the game with anti-aliasing, polygon loading, and higher texture resolution at a higher frame-rate with numerous extra effects enabled,” insists Murray. Apple surprised by not choosing a modest GPU for the new A5 processor, betting on the powerful dual-core PowerVR SGX543MP2. When we saw the keynote we quickly focused on the second, finishing a new graphic set that we had worked on “.Įven the most optimistic predictions from the Firemint team turned out to fall short of the performance of the final device, and various extras could be added to the graphics setup without affecting performance. One was more conservative, with a performance increase of 25 to 50 percent, while the other was a brutal performance improvement. “We basically worked on two versions for the iPad 2. As time passed and new rumors appeared, we adjusted the probabilities of each configuration,” explains Firemint CEO Rob Murray. “To anticipate the launch of the iPad 2, we were working with different possibilities of what the device could be in the end. One such developer was Firemint, the studio behind Flight Control, eager to bring its new racing game, Real Racing 2 HD, as soon as possible to the iPad. Even basic spec information was guardedly guarded, presenting a serious challenge for developers who wanted to support the iPad 2 from launch. There we saw the excellent Infinity Blade Epic Games with a level of performance and graphic finesse that far exceeded what was seen in the original version of Apple’s tablet.Īlthough it is clear that Epic had access to prototypes of the new device, most developers were as dark as we are. Much speculation surrounded the recent launch of the iPad 2, with Apple managing to keep the technical setup of the new device a secret until almost the unveiling event.