PlayStation 4 Console Thread

[Graham S]

I'm guessing there's an option somewhere to actually enable suspend / Resume in rest mode that you haven't turned on?

Correct, thanks, it does need to be turned on in the options. Works great.

[mogawoods]

I don't understand how it can possibly work with Bloodborne. In Offline Mode, yeah, but if you're playing online (which everyone does, I presume) how is that gonna work? Maybe it automatically switches to Offline Mode?

Anyway, Suspend/Resume. Can you have more than one game open at the same time now? If not, what's the point? I suppose if you use your PS4 for stuff other than games it might be useful.

[MansizeRooster]

It doesn't actually leave the game running, it just saves the game state out and then quits it. When you suspend, it loads the games state back into memory, giving the illusion that it was never interrupted.

[mogawoods]

Oh! So you can suspend one game, start up another, suspend that, start another, go back and resume the first one, suspend that, go back to the second one etc etc? Because that is pretty cool.

[KriessG]

So this update doesn't include the Spotify integration?

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

The idea is to be able to just pick up where you left after you put the console to sleep, right? So you stop playing, put it in sleep/rest mode (and not necessarily having to play until the next save point), and when you continue the next day you can just continue where you left off without having to reboot the game.

[mogawoods]

So it's an energy saving feature?

[Clipper]

Oh! So you can suspend one game, start up another, suspend that, start another, go back and resume the first one, suspend that, go back to the second one etc etc? Because that is pretty cool.

I dont think it does multiple games does it?

the suspended state remains in RAM I think... certainly does on Vita. It's more like Napoleon describes.

On Xbox One you can do certain things alongside a suspended game.. so I can suspend a game , watch Amazon Instant video then go back to game and resume. As I recall the basic rule is you can suspend a game and then use "apps" and go back to game but not from game to game as the whole game state is using the game ram.. the apps ram is safer to use.

not sure how PS4 one pans out as I haven't used it yet.

[Kryptonian]

Oh! So you can suspend one game, start up another, suspend that, start another, go back and resume the first one, suspend that, go back to the second one etc etc? Because that is pretty cool.

That wasn't my understanding how it works. I thought it was for 1 game and it's to eliminate having to get to save point or whatever on games where that would be the norm.

[Chooch]

Imagine the PS4 is now a big Nintendo DS. When you go into rest mode its like closing the screens together, when you come out of rest mode (reopen the screens) you're right at the point you left things.

[mogawoods]

It's useful on Vita/DS because you're trying to conserve battery power and because you're on the move with it. I guess it's useful in a similar respect on PS4, but instead of saving battery you're saving electricity? That's cool too. I just didn't realise people were so hyped for this new feature to reduce their electricity bill. I tend to leave the PS4 on the entire time I'm home (a bad thing, I guess) and just switch sources on my TV if I want to watch/play something else, so I've never felt the need for the Vita's suspend/resume thing. Still, options are good.

[bradigor]

I am playing a game such as Bloodborne, but need to rush out, sort the tea, take a work call, have an emergency, anything. However I am between save points. Instead of having to start from an earlier point, I can suspend the game, put console in rest mode and pick it up from that exact point.

If is a wonderful thing, especially for family types.

[Stanley]

It is 100% stupid that it doesn't have it and is the only console to not have it, it should have the option to switch off for strange folk like you but to not have it on launch was silly but this far down the line is madness.

It's another file filed under psn is shit and Sony don't have a clue

Oh boo hoo.

[mogawoods]

I am playing a game such as Bloodborne, but need to rush out, sort the tea, take a work call, have an emergency, anything. However I am between save points. Instead of having to start from an earlier point, I can suspend the game, put console in rest mode and pick it up from that exact point.

If is a wonderful thing, especially for family types.

Yeah, I'd just ... leave it on?

[bradigor]

Yeah, I'd just ... leave it on?

What for half a day? An entire evening? Until the next morning?

[mogawoods]

All day, yeah. Probably not overnight.

Actually, it could be super useful for games with unpauseable cutscenes. If someone comes to the door or the phone goes and you're halfway through some MGS V scene, and it lets you suspend and resume from that exact point in the scene, that'd be excellent. Some games already let you do this by pressing the PS button, but often the game just keeps running.

[Rob Rymond]

My first trophy screenshot was a black loading screen. Oh well. It shows a thumbnail in the list now which is pretty cool. Unless they all turn out to be black loading screens.

[MansizeRooster]

I dont think it does multiple games does it?

the suspended state remains in RAM I think... certainly does on Vita. It's more like Napoleon describes.

On Xbox One you can do certain things alongside a suspended game.. so I can suspend a game , watch Amazon Instant video then go back to game and resume. As I recall the basic rule is you can suspend a game and then use "apps" and go back to game but not from game to game as the whole game state is using the game ram.. the apps ram is safer to use.

not sure how PS4 one pans out as I haven't used it yet.

I doubt it saves the state in RAM - the RAM would have to stay in a powered-up state, which kind of defeats the purpose of a stand-by mode, from a power-saving perspective. Stand-by mode is meant to be low-power as it turns off the CPU/GPU and memory, and leaves a secondary low-power CPU running to poll the PSN for updates and downloads etc.

The states of the CPU/GPU will have to be saved out in any case.

[Chooch]

I cant believe Ann cant understand that normal people switch off their consoles when not using them. Leading to a tedious Dekay-esque post and counter-post episode.

[Spacehost]

I doubt it saves the state in RAM - the RAM would have to stay in a powered-up state, which kind of defeats the purpose of a stand-by mode, from a power-saving perspective. Stand-by mode is meant to be low-power as it turns off the CPU/GPU and memory, and leaves a secondary low-power CPU running to poll the PSN for updates and downloads etc.

The states of the CPU/GPU will have to be saved out in any case.

The amount of power needed to keep the RAM active is pretty feeble in the grand scheme of things, probably less than the update-management CPU uses by a considerable margin.

[FishyFish]

Well, I was looking forward to the button customisation facility, but it appears that it's a global thing so changing the buttons to suit one game will mean changing the settings for every other game (or the dash) that uses those buttons.

[robdood]

I'd always assumed that was exactly the case, since it was billed as an accessibility option..

[Sng]

Yeah it's a system-wide change. No idea how people expected it to work on a game-by-game basis. Surely that is down to the devs.

[FishyFish]

It could be so much more though.

It amazes me that user-defined controls - a feature that was widespread on home computer games 30 years ago - is such an underused option these days. By all means provide us with tested control schemes, but how much develpment work is required to allow people to suit themselves? PC games don't seem to have an issue with allowing it.

[Jazz Glands]

Is there an option to invert look on all games, like the 360 (but Bone doesn't) has? Thought that was a great little feature.

[Cyhwuhx]

You can create one set of use defined mappings, then toggle them on and off through the quick menu (long press PS button).

To be honest I find it amusing that a feature is introduced that's basically a first for consoles (and in this case specifically meant to reach out to people with physical handicaps) and then everybody starts moaning about it that it doesn't suit their own two capable hands. Sometimes it's the PS Blog comment section in here. ("YOU ARE POSTING TOO MUCH ABOUT BLOODBORNE," was a blog favourite this week.)

[SozzlyJoe]

I doubt it saves the state in RAM - the RAM would have to stay in a powered-up state

This is exactly how it works. In fact, the PS4 has a special auxiliary ARM CPU that it uses in low power mode and for stuff like background downloading.

[David Kenny]

It could be so much more though.

It amazes me that user-defined controls - a feature that was widespread on home computer games 30 years ago - is such an underused option these days. By all means provide us with tested control schemes, but how much develpment work is required to allow people to suit themselves? PC games don't seem to have an issue with allowing it.

Don't most games let you redefine the controls already though? This feature is to allow you to change the controller completely in case you aren't able to use all the buttons. It's a very good addition in my view, but it's not aimed at people who just fancy moving jump to the triangle button.

[MW_Jimmy]

On Xbox One you can do certain things alongside a suspended game.. so I can suspend a game , watch Amazon Instant video then go back to game and resume. As I recall the basic rule is you can suspend a game and then use "apps" and go back to game but not from game to game as the whole game state is using the game ram.. the apps ram is safer to use.

not sure how PS4 one pans out as I haven't used it yet.

Been able to do that on PS4 since launch with anything that is an app (Netflix, YouTube) and the Web Browser aswell.

[Lovelyman]

It is pointless for Bloodborne. You just quit and the game saves the state. You can then play any other game in between you sessions.