We’ve heard a lot about how the PlayStation 4 versions of open world titles such as Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Watch Dogs would have especially impressive weather effects. However, speaking to Simul Software founder Roderick Kennedy, whose company created the environment and weather simulator TrueSky, we asked whether the Xbox One or PS4 was better equipped to handle realistic weather effects.
Kennedy stated, “There’s little difference really. TrueSky works very well for both, and most of the underlying code is the same. The real difference is between this generation and the last, and that’s reflected in the level of demand we’re seeing for TrueSky now.”
With more games taking advantage of DirectX 11/11.1 in the coming years, how will they be able to take advantage of Simul’s programs in comparison to current-gen games? Kennedy responded that, “One area with huge potential is volumetric rendering. In the DX9 era we were able to effectively simulate raytracing for volumetric clouds, and got great results. But the shaders were too limited to do some of the more advanced volumetric effects we wanted.
“Now those restrictions are removed, we’re able to really go to down – our new crepuscular rays was not feasible on DX9, but on DX11 it’s not only possible, but super-fast.”
Stay tuned for our full interview with Roderick Kennedy next week.
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