Horizon Forbidden West is likely one of the visible showpieces for the PlayStation 5, making it simple to overlook that it’s additionally on PlayStation 4. And based on Guerrilla Video games, that translation was no simple feat to the purpose the place some options have been nearly reduce.
The Horizon Forbidden West PS4 nearly didn’t have flying
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, sure staff members from Guerrilla Video games spoke in regards to the open-world RPG at Develop:Brighton, an occasion centered on the sport growth neighborhood. Artwork director Jan-Bart van Beek talked about how the studio tried to push the envelope with the sequel, which then led to hitting technical boundaries on the ageing PS4. He mentioned the flying function, which gamers unlock on the finish of the sport, nearly obtained taken out because of this.
“A big a part of [keeping the momentum up from the first game] was additionally including the 2 layers of exploration, underwater in addition to aerial,” mentioned van Beek. “These have been very, very difficult from a technical perspective. It was nearly up till the final second that we didn’t know whether or not we may assist the flying on PlayStation 4. We have been like, ‘Do we have to reduce the entire function of the sport? That’s going to make such a multitude’ however we obtained it to work. We sacrificed some coders to the gods.”
Angie Smets, who was studio director and government producer at Guerrilla however is now head of growth technique for PlayStation Studios, expanded on aim to get the PS4 model up and operating.
“Within the early a part of the undertaking, it was actually exhausting to get the concentrate on the PS5 and push the standard bar there, and within the second half it was actually exhausting to get the PS4 to catch up,” mentioned Smets.
Technical director Michiel van der Leeuw went into extra element. He acknowledged that the studio needed to juggle making Forbidden West appear to be a showpiece for each the PS4 and PS5, whereas nonetheless making it clear how a lot better the PS5 model regarded.
“We pushed the standard bar as a result of we knew it needed to look so a lot better than different PS4 video games, however we additionally needed it to look considerably higher on PS5,” mentioned van der Leeuw. “We needed it in order that in each Horizon screenshot, you may see the distinction. So there was the clouds, the vegetation, the material, pores and skin, and we had to have a look at all these components and see what we may do as a result of if you happen to had a screenshot, you must at all times be capable of inform which model it’s. And I feel we succeeded.
“The issue was we made a PS4 sport I’m tremendous happy with, however then we made the PS5 sport so a lot better that lots of people mentioned, ‘Truly, I need to play it on PS5 so I’ll wait till PS5s can be found as a result of I don’t need to miss out.’”
A few of this echoes what Guerrilla beforehand talked about on the PlayStation Weblog earlier than the sport’s launch. When noting of the PS5’s further options, lead character artist Bastien Ramisse defined that the PS4 port wouldn’t be compromised.
“We truly developed and examined the sport concurrently on each PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, as a result of it’s essential to us as a studio to make sure PlayStation 4 gamers get an equally immersive expertise,” mentioned Bastien in that outdated publish. “With our data from Horizon Zero Daybreak, we knew that we nonetheless had some unexplored sources that might push the realism and high quality of our character belongings ahead; it’s nice to now be capable of faucet into that data and expertise for the sequel.”
Guerrilla didn’t point out the Burning Shores DLC through the Develop:Brighton panel, which is simply on PS5. Recreation director Mathijs de Jonge beforehand implied that the enlargement’s remaining battle wouldn’t be potential on PS4 with out compromises because it required “a LOT of reminiscence and processing energy.”
The Horizon Forbidden West PS4 port was praised for its visuals, even regardless of the superior PS5 model. Digital Foundry’s comparability famous that the PS4 iteration had fewer options, much less detailed textures, extra pop-in, a weaker depth of discipline impact, and fewer noticeable clouds, however acknowledged that it regarded higher than Zero Daybreak and that Guerrilla “efficiently served each consumer bases” on the 2 methods.
