If you look back on the current generation, majority of the multiplatform games performed better on the Xbox 360 compared to the PS3. Of course, things have straightened now as developers managed to find tricks and optimize their code on the PS3 resulting into similar performance across the two platforms. But according Harry Krueger, Lead Programmer of RESOGUN at Housemarque, that will change with the PS4.
We asked him whether other developers will be using the extra GDDR5 RAM and more GPU compute to churn better exclusive and multiplatform games on the PS4, to which he replied:
“Definitely. In this generation PS4 seems to be the console with fewest quirks – no embedded DRAM. Just raw power. Sony’s signature low-level graphics API may leave some developers with bloodied knuckles but also gives access to a lot more of its potential. This time PCs and consoles have more in common than ever before, making multiplatform easier, but this time people will ramp up effects for PS4.”
The move to GDDR5 was praised by several developers when Sony first revealed the PlayStation 4 back in February this year. Due to the power the PS4 brings, Housemarque have been able to add complex destruction affects in RESOGUN.
“Basically, the entire world of RESOGUN is built out of individual voxels. Using our custom toolchain we export the levels as large 3D textures, which are then loaded to our engine and polygonized on the fly to build the “centrepiece” of each level. The environments are all fully destructible (though we do mark certain cubes as “indestructible” to maintain some gameplay readability) so when an explosion happens nearby, the voxels of that part are detached and chipped away,” Krueger explains.
He further adds that “these detached voxels that you see in game are not just particle effects or point sprites; they are actual individual cube s, with their own geometry, collisions and physics, and each has its own lighting and casts its own shadow. All these cubes are fully dynamic and reactive, so for example when the player boosts through the cubes you will notice them being pushed away. Our engine supports up to 500,000 of these at any time, though in normal gameplay we rarely exceed 200k.”
Stay tuned for our full interview with Housemarque next week.
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