The upcoming sci-fi Soulslike RPG Hellpoint from Quebec based indie development studio Cradle Games is looking like an exciting prospect, with its isolated space station setting and the prospects of some excellent exploration holding plenty of promise in particular.
As per Cradle Games’ Marc-André Jutras, who’s the technical director on the upcoming game, frame rate is going to be prioritized for the game regardless of which enhanced platform it is on, with their main aim being to ensure “smooth engaging gameplay”, even, for instance, when co-op splitscreen is active. As for 4K, while it’s not completely out of the question, the developers will only consider it based on how much of an affect it has on the game’s frame rate.
“The Xbox One X is an odd beast that can offer a lot, but we also must be careful,” Jutras told GamingBolt. “Our first goal is smooth engaging gameplay. We target 60 FPS on all platform so that when co-op splitscreen starts, the game stays smooth. On other consoles, that would mean the frame rate dropping in the 40is in splitscreen. We would love to be able to stay at 60 on the Xbox One X even in splitscreen mode! 4k isn’t impossible, but it will really depend how much it impacts the frame rate.”
As for the PS4 Pro, Jutras said that the system is “similar in power to the Xbox One X” in many ways, but that right now, other than the frame rate, no other enhancements have currently been planned. “On a lot of aspect, the PS4 Pro is quite similar in power to the Xbox One X,” he said. “Currently we haven’t set specific “enhancements” beyond the butter smooth frame rate on both those boosted consoles.”
We went on to ask Jutras about how he, from the perspective of a developer, feels about the Xbox One X in particular, and the added power it affords to developers, and he had some pretty positive things to say. “We don’t really see the X/Pro as a way to add new features, but more as a way to access 4k and more stable frame rate, which in turn is what we feel is the most important for a great gameplay experience,” he said. “However, as a developer I love the Xbox One X devkit, as it’s the first kit I’ve seen with a frame rate counter on its front, and the remote control is just very useful.”
Recently, Cradle Games’ Mathieu Boudreau, creative director of Hellpoint, also spoke to us about next-gen consoles, and what he expects to see from them from a development point of view. Read more on that through here. Hellpoint launches for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC some time in 2019- a more specific release date has not yet been announced. Stay tuned to GamingBolt, our full interview with Jutras will be going live soon.
