Mulaka Dev: PS4 Pro is Beefy Hardware, 4K Enhancements Easier With 4K Ready Assets

The advent of mid-generation refreshes – or whatever you want to call the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X – has opened up a lot of options for developers. While sticking to the older console’s specifications and providing enhanced visuals on the newer systems could prove challenging, somey developers are having a relatively painless experience with the process. Furthermore, it allows games like Lienzo’s Mulaka, an action adventure based on the Tarahumara culture, to come to life in new and exciting ways.

How are such developers dealing with the new hardware? GamingBolt spoke to Adolfo Aguirre, Lienzo’s marketing and PR manager, and asked about the improvements to Mulaka on PS4. Aside from the enhanced resolution of course.

Aguirre said that, “We’re still working on the improvements that the game will have on the PS4 Pro. It’s certainly beefier hardware, but we’re evaluating what would be the best way to make the best use of it. Since we’re still working on optimization of the game, we can’t really say what we’ll be able to do with the Pro, but expect news soon.”

He also offered his own take on PS4 Pro lead engineer Mark Cerny’s estimate of converting PS4 games to the Pro requiring only 0.2 to 0.3 percent of the total development effort. Is the actual number a lot higher?

“It’s hard to say since a lot of it depends on the planning of the project, specifically in terms of the art assets, since the beginning. If you didn’t plan to have the game on 4K and need to redo assets for 4K displays, then it’s definitely a lot more work than that. If the assets you have are 4K-ready, then I do see the workload being significantly smaller, although I’d say it’s more than that percentage for us, but that is because of optimization and other stuff that is fairly new for our small team,” said Aguirre.

Mulaka will be releasing later this year for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. PS4 Pro enhancements aside, it will be interesting to see how the game takes advantage of Microsoft’s Xbox One X which is even more powerful and out on November 7th.