Today, Nvidia went ahead and revealed some brand new GameWorks features for the upcoming Tripwire game, the hyperviolent (as the name implies) Killing Floor 2, due out on PC some time next year, followed by a release on the PlayStation 4.

Nvidia confirmed that features such as NVIDIA’s HBAO+, NVIDIA’s Motion Blur D3D Advanced Sample and PhysX Flex will be supported in Tripwire’s zombie shooter. In addition to all of this, Killing Floor 2 will feature advanced graphical features such as  sub-surface scattering based on Jorge Jiminez’s screen space sub-surface scattering , bloom effects, depth of field and screen space reflections.

All of this is possible because all the calculations for these techniques, such as screen space reflections, are being handled entirely by the GPU, with no load on the CPU- a definite notable achievement that is to be considered.

Nvidia talked more about this:

“In the past, achieving this level of reflective detail was difficult because each reflector required the scene to be re-rendered, inflating CPU draw calls and severely impacting performance. As a result, developers switched to less intensive, less realistic techniques with limited reflective properties. Tripwire Interactive’s solution, however, sees SSR run entirely on the GPU, reducing the performance impact greatly”

Okay, so this sounds like Killing Floor 2 will indeed be a PC game first and foremost, and that the PS4 port shouldn’t really detract from it. Rejoice, PC gamers!

A lot of developers on the PlayStation 4, particularly Sony’s own, seem to target 1080p on the console while sacrificing other, vital components of gameplay. Such as, I don’t know, frame rate. A lot of them actually justify lower framerate with bullshit excuses such as ‘lower framerate looks more cinematic,’ and the like.

Now, the developers of Killing Floor 2, who will also be bringing their game to the PS4, have aimed their guns squarely at these developers, first by claiming that their game will be 1080p and 60FPS, and then by pointing out that claims of lower framerates being more cinematic are bullshit.

“We don’t have the full answer for this, as we are still in development. Our goal is to get to 1080 and 60 frames per second. We can’t guarantee we will hit that goal, but we wanna make the game look as good as possible and try and achieve that goal. We’ll see where we’ll get to and we’ll keep the community informed along the way on where we manage to get,” they said, before adding, “Yeah, we’re fans of the 60 frames per second. We don’t think that a lower frame rate looks more cinematic.”

I support you on this, Tripwire, now please actually hit the goal of 60FPS. Sacrifice the resolution if you absolutely have to.

When Killing Floor 2 was announced for the PlayStation 4, a lot of people were happy. I mean, a (presumably) pretty great game now gets to be played by more people, that’s always a good thing, right?

Well… some PC players took issue to the announcement, as they feared, not altogether unreasonably, that the game would be dumbed down to accommodate the PS4’s lesser capabilities. Tripwire has now taken to defending the PS4 port, also promising that the PC version will not be dumbed down or held back.

“Lets say we could afford to spend $2m making a game for the PC only, but we could afford to spend $4m if we released it on PC and console,” they said on the official forums, discussing the reasoning to take it to PS4.

“In the end PC gamers get almost double the features and content as the developer could have afforded to make if they released the game on a single platform alone. Over the past few years you’ve been benefiting from this but never knew it. Great multi-platform games like Far Cry 3, Dishonored, etc all wouldn’t have been possible at the scope that they were released at if they were only on a single platform.”

“In other words, Tripwire is not being ‘consolized’, rather we plan on ‘Tripwirizing’ console gamers. The time has come when we can put games on the consoles on our terms, without compromise, and we’re excited for this new frontier and the experiences we’ll be able to provide gamers.”

All of this, but the game will still have PC as its lead development platform, and will release first on PC, though Tripwire promised that console players would not get a compromised experience either.

Killing Floor 2 is a first person shooter with a twist, albeit that twist is that this game is somehow even more ridiculously gory and bloody and violent than regular first person shooters ever are. As a matter of fact, that does seem to be the selling point of the game, if this new development diary is anything to go by- it seems to be insanely and inanely over the top and violent, and the developers proudly proclaim that the game will offer ‘bullets, blade, and blood.’

Of course, excessive, over the top violence in video games isn’t bad, as it gets so granular after a point that you fail to relate to it or associate it with anything real, and a lot of other games have made good use of stylized, over the top brutality- Madworld on the Wii, for example, or Bulletstorm on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The original Killing Floor itself was one such game.

So yes, if you think you have the stomach for it, be sure to check out the video above, and stay tuned for more of our coverage.

Tripwire Interactive presents Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad which has been delayed but only until September 13th.  The game will only be available for the PC as a digital download or in retail.  Above is the slightly humorous and latest trailer called ‘Remembering’.

Steam store page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/35450/
Official Site: http://www.heroesofstalingrad.com/

Steam for Mac has started well with a few releases of major games, however prepare yourself for Killing Floor and Red Orchestra to also be ported to the Mac!

Tripwire’s president John Gibson confirmed that both Red Orchestra and Killing Floor would indeed be released for the Mac. As well as the games Mac users will have use of all of the DLC packages available for both titles via Steam, Achievements and cross-platform multiplayer with the PC market, however a release date has not yet been confirmed.