At this point it is abundantly clear that the PS4 Pro is not anywhere close to being as “pro” or high end a console as, for example, the Xbox One X is. It seems to be a rather conservative and moderate half-step measure. But in this rhetoric, which can often be inflamed and fuelled by console wars, it is sometimes easy to forget that, on its own terms, the PS4 Pro is actually a really powerful system.
Speaking to GamingBolt, Anna Terekhova from Endnight games, developers of The Forest, spoke about how the Pro’s relative power and capabilities have made it extremely easy for the game to be ported over from PC to it.
“There’s always challenges in bringing a game from one platform to another, in this case from PC,” she said. “However the Pro has made this process a lot easier than it otherwise would have been. The bulk of our optimization work has been geared towards making sure the original PS4 offers the same experience as the higher powered console, or a high spec PC.”
However, this emphasis on the PS4 Pro doesn’t mean that the base PS4 experience will be compromised. Anna confirmed that the base PS4 version and the PS4 Pro version will both run at 30fps, although the PS4 Pro will have more enhancements.
“Both the original and Pro versions will run at 30fps, with extra visual improvements on the Pro compared to the original PS4,” she said.
She went a bit more in depth into how the base PS4 version is running from a frame rate and resolution perspective, too.
“We’re targeting 30fps and currently locking down final resolution. The tricky part with The Forest is players can build their own structures, and so one of the major challenges has also been optimizing and loading buildings so that when players start building massive towers and bridges across the map things still run well.”
Hopefully, the final game is something that is worthy of the PS4 and the PS4 Pro alike. You can already pick up The Forest on PC if you don’t want to wait, since it launched on it last year after four years in early access—although, as Anna specified, the PS4 version should deliver an experience equivalent to that of a high end PC. Stay tuned for our full interview on The Forest in the coming days.