As always, I must begin with the disclaimer that job listings are not indicative of anything. The language in job listings is specifically written out to seem attractive, and to invite as many applicants as possible. That said, on the crudest, barest level, it does act as some sort of indication of where the corporation that put out the job ad is planning to go in the future.
That is the case with the inFamous: Second Son developer Sucker Punch. They already pushed the graphics envelope when Second Son, the newest entry in their inFamous franchise, released exclusively for PS4 last year. Now, it seems, they are planning on pushing it even more, judging by the wording of their new job listing for Senior Character Texture/Look Dev Artist:
“We’re proud of the work we did on inFAMOUS Second Son, which helped show what the new generation of hardware was capable of. But we’ve got big ambitions, we’re not satisfied, and we know there are people like you out there who can push us even further.
Responsibilities
- Define the direction for textures and shading on our upcoming title. Using your strong sense of surface and texture—organics, textiles, metal, leather—work with the rest of our rendering team to create jaw-dropping character visuals and have a huge impact on how real our characters look.
- Create comprehensive map sets for our physically-based rendering engine, combining photo source with traditional hand painting techniques.
- Collaborate with other art departments at Sucker Punch to define and optimize reusable texture properties for use in tools like Substance and Mari.
- Develop innovative ways for us to effectively and efficiently create character visuals on a small, tight-knit team of artists, designers, and programmers.”
Whether or not Sucker Punch can push Sony’s hardware further remains to be seen. The PS4 may be the most powerful console of this generation, but it seems like it is already been pushed to its limits- and with its architecture being a fairly straightforward x86 type, it’s not like it is hiding any secrets either.
Oh, and of course, I remain excited about the new game that Sucker Punch will have as well. Stay tuned for more information on that.