Hideo Kojima has always been known for his relentless march towards the latest and greatest tech available on hand; his games are technical marvels, and there is truly a joy to be derived for the technology enthusiast at dissecting just al the new technologies that went into their making, and all the really creative ways Kojima put them to good use.
With Death Stranding, however, you would have been forgiven had you thought this would not be the case. After all, Kojima is using a third party’s engine here with Guerrilla’s Decima Engine, isn’t he?
However, Kojima being Kojima, he has managed to figure something out after all. Speaking to Sugoi Japan in an interview, Kojima talked about the new photogrammetry techniques he is using for Death Stranding. “Death Stranding uses Photogrammetry scans made from 360° photographic data, and performance capture technology to record actor/actress performances. These are then integrated and rebuilt in the game engine. These methods are completely different from those used in movies, so performers need to first think “This sounds interesting, I’d like to try this new stuff”, or they won’t take part in the project,” Kojima said.
Honestly, I don’t understand the exact specifics, but I do understand that Kojima is going to painstaking lengths to recreate a sense of space and scale in his game. Death Stranding truly looks set to be great.